The Black Stallion's Courage
Page 18
Alec felt the quick gathering of the Black’s body. Then came a tremendous surge and his horse was alongside Casey and Eclipse! Another jump and the Black’s head went to the front while above them flashed the finish wire!
“Pshaw!” said the old man in the stands. “If I’d given him another pound, I would have had it.”
BLACK-OUT
20
The Black knew the race was over, for his long strides slowed heavily without Alec’s bidding. He went all the way to the turn and around it before finally coming to a halt. He stood in the center of the track, his eyes on the infield’s soft green grass rather than the roaring stands beyond.
Finally, at Alec’s request, he turned and went back. There was no doubt that he was terribly tired, for he moved at a very slow pace. Yet his breathing was regular and came without effort. To the thousands awaiting him he probably looked disinterested, as if he’d just finished a routine work. Alec knew differently. It had taken every bit of the Black’s great heart and courage to win this race.
Gently stroking his horse, Alec could feel the multitude of blood vessels, tiny under normal circumstances but now raised and bulging beneath his wet hands. He would have liked to help the Black by dismounting, but according to the rules he wasn’t allowed to until he was given permission by the judges. With dismay he looked ahead at the jammed throng awaiting them at the winner’s circle.
“I’ll get you out of there soon,” he promised his horse. “You’ve done plenty just winning this one.”
The news photographers overflowed the winner’s enclosure and began taking pictures while Alec and the Black were still on the track. Henry came forward and took hold of the stallion’s bridle. Amid all the noise and confusion the trainer said nothing but his eyes spoke eloquently for him as he looked with wondrous pride upon horse and rider.
Alec called, “He’s real tired, Henry. Let’s make this short.”
A moment later they were within the circle and Alec overheard Mike Costello say into the television and radio microphones, “ ’Tis no excuse we have today but the Black.”
More pictures were being taken and Alec looked hopefully toward the judges’ stand for permission to dismount. Not until the tired Black struck out at the photographers did the signal come for Alec to dismount. Gratefully he slid off his horse and unsaddled him. Carrying his tack, he stepped onto the scales in the enclosure.
“One hundred forty-six pounds. Check,” said the Clerk. Only then was the Brooklyn Handicap officially over and the news of the Black’s winning flashed around the world.
Now the crowd pressed closer and Alec tried to return to his horse. Television crews stopped him and over their heads he saw the Black strike out with his hind legs again, making room for himself. Henry held the reins with one hand and with the other accepted a silver dish from a dignified-looking mayor who kept a wary eye on the Black during the brief ceremony.
The television interviewer put his arm around Alec, pulling him into camera range. “Alec. Alec Ramsay,” he said, with great flourish. “Congratulations on a great victory! Now, you’re one of the few riders who can come back with a winner and tell us something about him. How’d it feel to be coming down that stretch? We’ve never seen a more relentless drive than he put on during that last eighth of a mile. It seemed to us that the Black was undaunted, that he would have worn the others down at any cost! Did you feel it too?”
Alec nodded while looking anxiously at the Black. “I knew he’d overtake them but I wasn’t sure he’d catch them in time,” he said.
“What a finish it was! You know, of course, that Eclipse and Casey finished in a dead heat?”
Alec nodded. “They were nose to nose when we jumped by. It was a great job of handicapping, although no one knew it until now.”
“It’ll go down as the most sensational finish, the most famous, the most remembered of all races!” the interviewer said grandly.
Alec started to leave but the man grabbed his arm. “Just one thing more, Alec, please. What’s ahead of you now?”
“Offhand I’d say building a new barn,” Alec answered, smiling. “And just as fireproof as we can make it.”
“Yes, yes, we know about that,” the interviewer said impatiently, “but what about racing the Black again?”
Alec said, “You’d better ask Henry.” As he went toward his horse the interviewer, complete with microphone and cables and camera, followed in his wake.
Alec took the Black from Henry. “I’ll get him out of here while you take care of this guy,” he said. As Alec was carefully leading the Black from the enclosure he heard the high shrill voice of the television man.
“Henry, Henry Dailey! Congratulations on the training of a great horse! But a great horse can be a problem sometimes. He runs out of competition unless you accept new challenges such as the big international races in foreign countries—England’s Ascot Gold Cup, France’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Italy’s—”
“Now whatya know!” Henry exclaimed. “That’s not such a bad idea at that. Why, we might even get a break in the weights! But right now I’ve got a horse to cool off. So long, everybody!”
The screen on television sets throughout the country showed Henry Dailey running through the crowd after Alec Ramsay and the Black. The viewers, as well as those left standing in the winner’s circle, would have liked to see his face. If they had seen it, they might have been able to tell how serious he was about racing the Black abroad. As the interviewer had said, there should always be new challenges ahead, even for the Black.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WALTER FARLEY’S love of horses began when he was a small boy living in Syracuse, New York, and continued when his family moved to New York City. Unlike most city children, he was able to fulfill this love through an uncle who was a professional horseman. Young Walter spent much of his time with this uncle, learning about the different kinds of horse training and the people associated with each.
Walter Farley began to write his first book, The Black Stallion, when he was in high school. He finished it and had it published in 1941 while he was still an undergraduate at Columbia University. The appearance of The Black Stallion brought such an enthusiastic response from young readers that Mr. Farley went on to create more stories about the Black, and about other horses as well. In his life he wrote a total of thirty-four titles. His books have been enormously popular in the United States and have been published in twenty-one foreign countries.
Mr. Farley and his wife, Rosemary, had four children—Pam, Alice, Steve and Tim—whom they raised on a farm in Pennsylvania and in a beach house in Florida. Horses, dogs and cats were always part of the household. In 1968 Pam Farley was killed in a car crash in Europe at the age of twenty. Mr. Farley memorialized her free spirit and love of horses in The Black Stallion and the Girl, and expressed his abiding grief in The Black Stallion Legend.
In 1989 Mr. Farley was honored by his hometown library in Venice, Florida, which established the Walter Farley Literary Landmark in its children’s wing. Mr. Farley died in October 1989, shortly before publication of The Young Black Stallion, the twenty-first book in the Black Stallion series.
THE ORIGINAL STORY ABOUT
ALEC AND THE BLACK
Alec Ramsay first saw the Black Stallion when his ship docked at a small Arabian port on the Red Sea. Little did he dream then that the magnificent wild horse was destined to play an important part in his young life; that the strange understanding that grew between them would lead through untold dangers to high adventure in America.
THE SECOND GREAT ADVENTURE ABOUT ALEC AND THE BLACK
What was the motive of the night prowler in attempting to destroy the Black, one of the world’s most famous horses? The prowler left behind him a gold medallion on which was embossed the figure of a large white bird, its wings outstretched in flight. Was it the Phoenix, the fabulous bird of mythology that symbolizes the resurrection of the dead?
ALEC MEETS THE BLACK’S COLT.
When the Black Stallion’s son arrives from Arabia, young Alec Ramsay believes his dreams have come true. Satan is everything a horse should be: beautiful, spirited, and intelligent. But veteran trainer Henry sees something dark and disturbing in the colt’s stony gaze.
THE FOURTH BOOK ABOUT THE BLACK STALLION
The Black Stallion’s colt, Satan, is a great horse. He has won many famous races. Then from far-off Arabia comes the Black—to start the greatest controversy racing circles have ever known. Which horse is faster? But as the match approaches, the great stallion and his colt find themselves in a different kind of race—not against each other, but against a terrible and deadly forest fire.
ANOTHER EXCITING TALE
OF THE BLACK STALLION
One morning, during their vacation in the Florida Everglades, Alec rides the Black down a path into a beautiful but mysterious swamp. Alec encounters a strange rider on a ghostly gray mare. Too late, Alec realizes that the man’s obsession with a supernatural curse has driven him mad—and he’s not only insane, he’s dangerous. Suddenly, what started as an innocent outing turns into a living nightmare!
A POWERFUL ADVENTURE SET IN THE NEVADA DESERT
Alec and the Black are heading out west to a huge ranch when their plane crashes in the desolate country of northern Nevada. The Black, unable to find Alec, reverts to his untamed heritage and becomes head of a herd of wild horses. But Alec has amnesia and doesn’t remember anything of his past, and his inability to explain his recent whereabouts makes him the suspect in a brutal murder case.
THE STORY OF THE BLACK BEFORE HE MET ALEC
Born in the mountain stronghold of an Arabian sheikh, the Black Stallion is a horse like no other. Big, beautiful, and savage, this magnificent creature is destined for greatness. But the Black’s bright future is eclipsed when a fierce band of raiders attempts to kidnap him—and he escapes into the wilderness, hunted by man and beast.