Page 5 of Dangerous Stakes

As the auction got ready to start, Patricia picked up her bidder’s paddle and they found a good spot in the stands. The first horse they had thought might be a good match entered the ring under saddle. The auctioneer called for the first bid. As Patricia went to raise her paddle, Susan pushed it down.

“Patricia, can you give me a few minutes? There were quite a few horses you liked. I’d like to go check something out. If I’m not back when the gray gelding goes on the block, go ahead and bid on him. He’s the only one I wouldn’t want you to lose out on. But I should be back by then.”

Susan had run back to see the big, bay roan gelding. Working with him for just a few minutes had solidified her plan. She knew what she needed to do and knew that in the end everyone involved would have what they wanted and needed.

She climbed back into the stands next to her friend.

“Thank God, you’re back,” Patricia said, relief evident in her voice. “Only the gray and the pinto are left. The other three sold, but at more than you said I should spend.”

“Patricia, how serious were you about wanting Lucy?”

“Serious as a heart attack but even if you’d sell her, I couldn’t afford her. I might be able to push the budget a little, but not even close to what she’s worth.”

“What if I priced her at $15,000?”

Patricia looked at her in shock. “I would love you forever. But she’s worth at least twice that. Why would you do that? Screw it; if you’re serious, she’s sold.”

Susan laughed. “It’s simple. Lucy will never get me where I want to go. If I’m going to part with her, I want to know she’s going where she’ll be loved.”

“You know I adore her. Would you really let me buy her?”

“Yep, but you have to give me your paddle so I can bid on my new horse.”

“Which one? Who did you see? Did you think the gray might be better for you?”

Susan laughed again. “Gina is so going to wish I wanted the gray.”

The regular sale horses got through the sale and the crowd thinned out. Patricia was confused. Susan had obviously seen a horse when she had been separated from her. The sad business of horses being sold for slaughter to Canada or Mexico began. The seventh horse they shooed into the pen was the big gelding. He was a true bay roan with a black mane and tail. He had jet-black feathers from his knees down over his hooves. The only white, other than that which ran throughout his coat, was an almost perfect white circle on his forehead and a teardrop-shaped snippet of white between his nostrils.

The gelding had been weighed in at seventeen hundred pounds. Knowing that slaughter prices were generally less than a dollar per pound, Susan put in a pre-emptive bid of $2,000. That was far more than any of the kill buyers was prepared to pay. The auctioneer quickly closed the bidding, and Susan and Patricia went to pay for the gelding as he was shooed into one of the individual holding pens.

Susan was grinning from ear to ear. “Come on, we need to go buy a halter that will fit him. He’s at least half Clydesdale, if not more.”

Patricia was still in shock. Susan knew what she was thinking. Not only had she bought some mutant draft horse, but she’d let her buy Lucy at a hugely discounted price.

“I can’t believe you bought that gelding. Is he even halter broke?” whispered Patricia with a worried expression.

“I think so,” said Susan as she rifled through the available halters. She came across a draft-sized black nylon halter with a hand-braided lead. “He knew how to free lunge.”

Susan paid the tack dealer and walked down to see her new horse. The auction was breaking up. People were loading their individual purchases into their trailers and kill buyers were herding horses into large stock trailers. A general sense of anxiety filled the air. Horses liked consistency; change often caused them to become fractious. The big gelding didn’t seem anxious, but he did spot Susan and perked up. He put his head over the tall fence and called to her in a low wicker.

“I told you I’d be back for you,” Susan said climbing the fence and pulling another dried apple from her pocket. He accepted the apple and nudged her hand for another. “Glutton.”

Patricia laughed. “Gina is going to be thrilled … another spoiled pony.”

Susan grinned at her. “Why have them if you can’t spoil them? And she bitches about Lucy but has to admit she’s the best behaved and easiest to handle of any of the horses in the barn.”

Patricia returned her happy smile. “And now, she’s mine! Seriously, Susan, I owe you big time. I can’t thank you enough.”

“No need to thank me. I got a horse I believe will take me to the top … wait until you see him move. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. He’s got this huge, lofty trot and a cadenced canter to die for. And Lucy goes to the one person I can trust to love and spoil her as much as I have.”

Susan opened the gate into the pen and approached her new gelding. He met her halfway and deftly dropped his head into the halter and lowered his head so Susan could buckle the strap and attach the lead rope.

“I’ll get you a nice, new leather one with your name on it, but this was all they had.”

Susan led him once around the pen and he fell in beside her easily. She opened the gate and headed to the trailer. The big horse had manners. He didn’t try to push or crowd her in any way. They walked up to the trailer. The gelding stopped and looked at it.

“It’s okay, pretty boy. I need to get you home. Nobody is ever going to hurt you again.”

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