by Jean Carroll
He was making a name for himself on the dressage show circuit, winning practically every class he entered and was taking Level 4 by storm.
* * *
One evening as they were sitting around watching a movie and Sean was absently rubbing Katie’s belly.
“You know Sean sings to the baby? He has a fantastic voice. Did you guys know he can sing?”
Everyone laughed but Katie and Meg.
“Yes, we know,” Keary said. “Sean sang in the boys’ choir at church from the time he was five until he was about eleven or twelve. In fact, Blackie was in the choir with him. They used to sing duets together because their voices blend so well.”
“I didn’t know you guys could sing,” Meg said to Blackie.
“Oh shit, here we go with the whole ‘boys choir’ thing,” Blackie said, groaning.
“What’s the matter? You guys sounded like two angels?” Jill said.
“That’s us, Blackie, a couple of angels,” Sean laughed.
“You can say that again.”
“Aw come on guys, you two had beautiful voices,” Keary said.
“Hey, Blackie, you remember Mary Sullivan?” Sean said, smiling.
“Mary Sullivan, uh … no, not really.” Blackie said, “Who’s Mary Sullivan?
“Mary Sullivan’s the little girl who got you thrown out of the choir.”
Blackie instantly burst out laughing.
“You got thrown out of the boys’ choir!” Meg said. Blackie, Sean and Keary were laughing so hard, tears were streaming down their faces.
“Oh, shit,” Blackie said, holding his side.
“You guys have to hear this story, it’s so damn funny,” Sean said.
“How old were you?” Meg asked him.
“Mom and Dad didn’t’ think it was funny and he was nine years old,” Jill said, chuckling despite herself.
“Hell, Dad beat me with a switch for that. My ass was sore for a week, but it sure was worth it.” Blackie said still laughing.
“Come on, what happened?” Katie said wide-eyed.
Blackie finally got control enough to talk.
“Mmm, Mary Sullivan. She was cute as a button. Red, curly hair, freckles, big green eyes. I was a very curious little boy. I knew girls were different but I wasn’t sure how.”
Blackie and Sean started laughing again.
“Well I got Mary behind the altar. I told her I’d give her a present if she’d take her panties off.” The three men started laughing again.
“That’s terrible, how old was she?” Katie asked.
“I think she was eight. Anyway, I wanted to see how girls were different but more than that, I wanted to feel it. So she whips her panties off and I got a handful. Suddenly, to my surprise, I did have a present for her.” At this comment Sean and Keary laughed so hard, Meg thought they might choke.
“That poor innocent little girl,” Jill said.
“Wait, wait. She wasn’t all that innocent. I’ve got a handful of her and she grabs hold of my, uh, present and she thought it was a great present.” More laughing, Blackie included. It took him a minute to get control. “So, we’re happily exploring each other, when around the corner of the altar comes Father Flaherty and catches us.”
More hysteria from the men and by this time all three women were laughing too.
“You know, he told her to put her panties back on and go home. Me, he smacked the shit out of and threw me out of the choir. I didn’t think it was fair that she didn’t get punished, since she was having as much fun as I was, but I guess Father Flaherty figured out it was my idea.”
They all laughed some more.
“Then Dad punished me. Mom wouldn’t talk to me for a week. Dad was more upset about me getting thrown out of the choir than why.”
“Yeah, actually, Blackie, I think the old man was proud of you, but Mom was pissed,” Sean laughed.
Blackie grabbed Meg and pulled her onto his lap.
“I was a bad little boy, honey,” he said.
“Mmm, can you be bad for me tonight?” she said, seductively.
“You bet,” he said, pretending to bite her neck.
“Hey, Blackie, do you still sing?” Katie asked him.
“No, I haven’t in years. I probably still have a squeaky ‘girls’ voice.”
“You couldn’t, Blackie, your voice has changed. It got deeper when you went through puberty,” Keary said.
“Blackie always sang an octave higher than Sean. They sounded fantastic when they sang together,” Jill said.
“Haven’t you guys sung together since then?” Katie asked.
“No, I pretty much quit singing after that,” Blackie said.
“Why don’t you sing now? I’d love to hear you two,” Katie pleaded.
“Leave him alone, Katie. I just fool around singing to the baby. I wouldn’t mind seeing how we sound though, Blackie.”
“I have no idea if I can still sing,” Blackie said.
“Come on, you had a fantastic voice when you were a kid. You should still be able to sing.” Sean said. “Do you remember how to do scales?”
“Not really. Let’s hear you sing. You do a scale,” Blackie said.
“Okay, dude, if I do it, then you have to.”
Sean proceeded to sing La La La La La in four or five different octaves. He had a wonderful voice, a light baritone. He finished and smiled at Blackie.
“Wow, you sound great. I can’t do that,” Black said, surprised.
“Yes, you can. You always could hit the high notes. Come on, let’s hear it.” Sean goaded him on.
“Come on honey, I want to hear you sing,” Meg said, still sitting on his lap.
“You keep wiggling around on my lap like that, I’ll be able to hit all kinds of notes,” he teased. Everyone laughed.
“Okay, Christ, how do I get myself into this crap?” He sighed big and then sang a low scale. It sounded perfect to Meg.
“Ouch, that hurt my throat.”
“That’s too low for your voice. Start higher, around here.” Sean sang a higher note. Then Blackie started the scale on that note. It sounded beautiful. He sang five or six progressively higher scales and one was better than the other. Everyone applauded when he was done and he, of course, blushed.
Meg hugged him. “That was fantastic. Come on you guys sing something together.”
“All we ever sang was church crap.”
“We used to sing lots of stuff. You know ‘Danny Boy’ don’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Blackie said, still reluctant.
“Come sit next to me, we’ll sound better together.” Sean said.
Meg got off Blackie’s lap and Katie moved to another chair, so Blackie could sit next to Sean.
“Ok, we’ll do this in the key of G.”
“Do I know what that is?”
“Yes, you do. You’re stalling because you don’t want to do this, so you’re making it more difficult than it is,” Sean hummed a note.
“That’s a G which you know perfectly well.”
Blackie rolled his eyes. They started the song and were in perfect harmony.
Everyone sat there transfixed. Meg had never heard anything that beautiful. After a minute, Blackie closed his eyes while his voice caressed each note. It was obvious that he loved singing and had forgotten. Both of their voices were clear and perfect. One line in the song was high and Blackie hit the note and the purity of it gave Meg goose bumps. Meg looked at Jill who had tears in her eyes.
When the song ended, Blackie opened his eyes, welled with tears and looked at Sean
“I’d forgotten how much I always loved singing with you.”
Sean hugged him. “Me too, buddy,”
“Hey, Blackie, you’re a perfect tenor,” Keary said.
“Rats, I want to be a bass,” Blackie said, making his voice really low, “It’s more macho.” Everyone laughed.
“You two sound incredible together,” Jill said.
“Oh Jesus, now the wom
en are going to start blubbering about it,” Sean said.
“Shut up, it was beautiful.”
“Let’s practice. It’ll be fun,” Sean said, enthusiastically.
“Okay. You know racing was great for me, but it took me so far away from you guys. It’s hard to get back, but I want to. It just came over me when we were singing. All the things I loved from my childhood and I’ve missed. I just realized how much,” Blackie said seriously. “I want to come all the way back.”
“Hey, sing some more. That was wonderful,” Katie said.
“What else do you remember?” Sean asked Blackie.
“All the stuff from choir is mostly in Latin. Do you remember ‘Tura Lura’?”
“Yes, let’s try that,” Sean said.
They sang ‘Tura Lura’. The song was beautiful and haunting. They sang it so sweetly and tenderly; you could almost see the baby being rocked. Blackie wiped his eyes afterward with the heels of his hands.
“Shit, this is getting to me,” he said, shaking his head.
“It’s bringing back a lot of old memories.” Jill said gently. Meg could see the muscles in his jaws working. He was trying to maintain control. He looked at Jill intensely and said, softly, “I really miss Mom.”
“I know, honey, I do too. We’ll go over soon and see them.” Meg felt sad that he was so emotionally hurt. She hoped he could resolve a lot of whatever tormented him.
“You want to sing some more stuff?” Sean asked.
“Sure. What?”
“Sing ‘Ave Maria’,” Keary said. “You guys always did it so well. That and ‘O Holy Night’.”
“I don’t know if I remember all the words,” Sean said.
“I don’t either. Let’s try and see what we do with it,” Blackie said.
They sang Ave Marie and it gave Meg chills. Sean’s voice was perfect to carry the song and as a back drop for Blackie’s higher notes. They sang different parts and it was incredible. O Holy Night was unbelievable. Everyone applauded and they did these little bows. Very cute!
“Okay, that’s enough, my throat is sore. I’ll have to work into this. I do want to practice though,”
“Yeah, me too. You sound good buddy. That was fun,” Sean said punching him on the arm. Blackie threw a very fast punch to Sean’s gut but pulled it at the last minute so it made Sean flinch.
“Gotcha!” Blackie said laughing.
Ah, male bonding, I love it, Meg mused.
“Is anyone doing anything about dinner? I’m starving,” Black said.
“No, Gracie asked for the day off because her mother is sick. I thought you guys could get pizza. How’s that sound?”
“Fantastic!” The group yelled.
THIRTY-SEVEN
One night they were sitting around talking after dinner when Keary came in. He was in DC all day on business and looked tired.
“Hey, everyone,” he said kissing Jill and retrieving Maeve from Blackie.
She cried at the separation and Keary laughed. “I believe she thinks you’re her dad, Blackie, I need to be around more,” he said cuddling the baby to calm her. “Guess who I saw today?”
“I’m afraid to ask. Who?” Blackie said.
“Do you remember Duncan Mallory?”
“The name sounds familiar but I can’t place him.”
“You rode for him once about five years ago and won big. He never knew about the accident and just thought you quit riding. Anyway, he saw you at a show about a month ago in Florida and was impressed. He said he had to look at the program twice and couldn’t believe it was actually you. You won a bunch of 4th Level classes and he couldn’t stop raving about you.”
“Okay, so?”
“He wants to know if you’ll ride for him in the Washington International Horse Show in
about six weeks.”
“Does he have a horse?”
“Yes, he says a great one. His usual rider separated his shoulder and won’t be in shape in time. He says this horse is Grand Prix level and a spectacular mover. He’ll pay you $10,000 to do it.”
“I’ll do it for free for the exposure. Washington is a big show. I need to drum up business for the training center. If there’s ever going to be one.” Blackie said.
“Not so fast. There’s a catch,” Keary said.
“Oh, great! What?” Blackie said.
“He also wants you to ride his show jumper in the $100,000 President’s Cup.”
“Shit, I can’t do that. Did you tell him I don’t ride jumpers anymore?”
“Yes, I told him it was impossible, but he won’t let you ride one without the other,” Keary said, disgusted.”
“What an asshole! I don’t know. What do you think, Keary?”
“I think it’s taking a big chance with your health. You could be crippled real fast. There are other big shows, Blackie.”
“Honey, I don’t want you to do it. I’m afraid you’ll get hurt.” Meg said.
“I know, Meg. It’s taking a big chance, but I’m riding better now than I ever have, I’m
just not racing. The doctor said my hip is strong,” Black said, getting a gleam in his eyes.
“That sounds a lot like, ‘but Keary I really want to do this’, to me,” Sean said.
Blackie laughed and looked at Meg.
“Are you going to tell me I can’t do it because you’re afraid?” He said. She looked at him for a long minute, all the fear running through her mind.
“I totally believe in your ability to ride any horse, anywhere. I’m not going to stop you
because I’m afraid. I know you’re not afraid of anything,” she said.
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
“You just better not get your ass hurt,” she said.
“I’ll try my best.” He asked Keary, “Where are this guy’s horses?”
“New York State. He said he could ship them down immediately so you could start working with them.”
“Have these horses been entered?”
“Yes, the one is entered in the Grand Prix dressage and the jumper is in the qualifiers for the President’s Cup.”
“Wow, high class stuff.”
“Do you think this is a good idea, Blackie? Everything’s going good for you right now. I’d hate for you to be laid up again,” Keary said.
“Yes, I’m worried too. What if something happens,” Jill said.
“What if! What if! Christ, I could hurt myself walking down to the barn. I can’t live like
that. What if I win? I’d have to win local competitions for a year to get that much press. What do you guys think?” He asked Jamie and Curt.
“Oh, we shouldn’t put our two cents in. This if for you and your family to decide,” Curt said.
“No, I want your opinion.” Blackie said.
They looked at each other. “Well, it would be totally awesome to see you kick some ass,” Jamie said.
Blackie laughed at them. “Now that we’ve heard from my cheering section. I’m glad you guys have confidence in me.”
“Blackie, we all have confidence in you, it’s the damn horses that are so unpredictable,”
Keary said.
“I know. Okay, call him and tell him to ship the horses down and I’ll decide in a week after they get here and I have a chance to ride them. If I decide not to do it, tell him I’ll pay for the shipping down and back. Hey, what’s that guy’s name? Dick something?” Blackie said.
“What guy?” Keary asked.
“The jump guy. Do we have his number?”
“You mean Frank Martell?” Keary said.
“Yes, that’s him. I’ll call and see if he can bring some big jumps down here. We can’t put them in the arena; I’ll need that for the dressage training. I’ll have to school the jumper outside.”
“You know, Blackie it’s been a long time since you’ve had a challenge, hasn’t it?” Sean asked.
Blackie slowly smiled and said, “It has, yes.”
“What do you mean, Sean,” Jill
asked.
“I don’t think you guys ever appreciated just how competitive Blackie is,” Sean said. “Right, Blackie?”
“You’re right” he said still smiling. “I never thought much about it but I guess I am.”
* * *
Blackie worked hard the next week on their horses. He pushed Jamie and Curt so he could start taking them to shows. Duncan Mallory’s horses were supposed to arrive from New York the next week. Meg was having a ball riding and working with her new mare. Blackie was absolutely in his element.
He had huge jumps set up in the outside ring and was excited to start working with the New York horses. Most nights he fell into bed exhausted.
The Mallory horses arrived on Tuesday in a huge, nine-horse van with their own groom.
His name was Bobby Stahl and Blackie instantly disliked him. He was very arrogant and started off by telling Blackie who was in charge of Duncan’s horses. He said no one was to touch them but him and he would get them ready for Blackie to ride. Bobby led them out of the van one by one and they were both incredibly beautiful horses, obviously well cared for.
The dressage horse was an elegant, bay, Swedish warm-blood, gelding named Torsk.
“Wow, he’s beautiful. I can’t wait to get on him,” Blackie said. The jumper was a large, muscular chestnut gelding. Blackie wasn’t sure what his breeding was at first sight.
“That’s a big damn horse. He’s got the ass to get over some huge jumps,” Blackie said and whistled.
“What do you mean?” Meg asked him.
“Well, just look at his hind quarters. He’s got a ton of muscle back there. He should be able to take me over anything.”
The next day, Blackie worked with both horses and fell instantly in love with them. They
were pretty much all he talked about. It became a daily gathering of the farm crew to watch him ride them.
Torsk was a wonderful mover and Blackie quickly got him in shape for the show.
The jumper, named Shangri-La, was a bit difficult. Blackie said he was a handful, but was having a lot of fun riding him. Meg was terrified whenever he was jumping him. She had a lot of faith in Blackie’s riding ability but this horse was so big, strong and strong-willed, that she always worried. That was part of the reason everyone was always there to watch, because they were just as worried as she was. It was such a treat to watch him jumping a horse. She knew he used to be a champion steeplechase jockey but his control and timing were perfect.