by Jean Carroll
Meg wasn’t doing quite as well with her new horse but enjoyed the challenge. Sometimes when Blackie was schooling her, he’d be tough and yell when she wasn’t doing what he wanted. It stung her ego but she knew he was right. Late, when they were alone, he’d apologize, wiping her anger away with a kiss. He’d tell her he couldn’t play favorites among the students and be easy on her just because he was in love with her.
“Well, okay, since you put it that way, riding master,” she said smiling.
“I want you to be as good as I know you can be. You’re a fantastic rider, you just need to work harder,” he said kissing her neck.
“Hmm, you want to show me how good I can be,” she said, trying to sound seductive.
“You bet. Hey, I keep forgetting to tell you there’s a huge dinner dance at the Jockey Club in Mclean.”
When is that?”
“Right at the end of the show season and it’s a grand night. We’ll have a wonderful time.”
“Are you asking me to go?”
“Of course, I can’t wait to make all the other men jealous because I’m with the most beautiful woman there.”
“In that case, I’ll go with you.”
“Mmm, that’s my girl. Come here.”
* * *
Blackie started calling his parents a couple of times a week, talking mostly to his dad about politics. Meg thought his father was slowly sucking him into it. She didn’t think he’d be happy taking time away from the training center that was finally up and running.
Blackie was adamant about quite a few issues in Ireland. One of the big ones was medical care. Compared to other countries, Ireland spent very little on health care. Blackie was almost obsessed with the idea that people had to have adequate medical coverage. He didn’t like the policy Meg had and bugged her until she switched to the huge policy he carried on everyone at the farm.
Sometimes he and Ken would get in heated arguments on the phone about Irish issues. Blackie would slam the phone down and fume for the rest of the day.
Occasionally he talked quietly to his Mom and Meg wondered about these conversations because sometimes, when he was done, his eyes were wet with tears. She didn’t want to ask about it since she knew his feelings were raw and close to the surface. He had a tremendous amount of guilt about his past.
Blackie and Sean continued to practice singing, mostly in the arena because the acoustics were awesome. She loved hearing him sing. He did it a lot now when he was grooming or cleaning stalls. If he wasn’t singing, he was whistling the tunes.
The show season was in full swing and they kept super busy. Blackie took the new van and every person and horse that was ready, to every show he could fit in. They were winning so much that the Killarney Farms dressage team was developing a stellar reputation. Blackie took them as far as New York to be in some prestigious show. He always drove the van, paid for hotels, stables, meals, and gas for the whole gang.
Meg didn’t compete every weekend and neither did Blackie. They both wanted the students to get as much experience as possible. He felt the better his students did the more credibility it gave to the training center and him as a coach.
Jamie and Curt were burning up the show circuit. Whenever Blackie rode, he drew an admiring crowd and naturally won every class. Blackie’s two new students, Tommy and Matt, were winning the lower level classes consistently, sometimes coming in second, but generally putting in credible performances.
When they were on the road and at shows, they had a ball. Blackie was pretty tough on the students and stern when he was teaching, but weekends were different. He was very playful with them and encouraging. In between classes, they’d get a touch football game going and other guys would join in. She loved watching them. The students admired Blackie tremendously and always deferred to him. He was their leader, coach and mentor.
* * *
One day after a big show, everyone was standing by the end of the barn watching Casey work a new chaser when Jamie and Curt pulled up in Jamie’s truck. They walked over carrying the trophies and ribbons from the shows.
“Hey, Blackie, what do you want us to do with this stuff? We’ve racked up a ton of it lately.” Curt asked him.
“Hell, I don’t know. Take your stuff home with you. Or you could put some up in the arena.”
“Why don’t you put them in your trophy room?” Keary suggested. Blackie groaned.
“What trophy room?” Meg asked.
“You mean she’s never seen that room? What’s the matter with you?” Sean said.
“Nothing’s the matter with me, I just never thought about it.” Blackie replied, giving Sean a dark look.
“Where’s your trophy room?” Meg asked, puzzled.
“Shit! Sean you have a big mouth.”
“Keary’s the one brought it up, not me,” Sean whined.
“The trophies are in the apartment, Meg, and I can’t believe he never showed you.” Keary said.
“Where?”
“It’s a secret room. There are lots of secrets in that apartment, right, Blackie?”
“I guess,” he sighed.
“Well, are you going to show us, dude?” Jamie asked.
“It’s nothing, just a bunch of old junk.” Blackie said, obviously being evasive.
“Blackie, that’s ridiculous. It’s fantastic. Just take them and show everyone the damn room.” Keary said.
“Fine. Whatever.” Blackie said, resigned to his fate. He walked back to the apartment, everyone following him. When they got inside, he walked into his clothes closet, clicked something and part of the wall in the foyer popped open.
“Be my guest,” he said, waving a hand toward the open panel. He flipped a wall switch and lights came on in the opening.
Meg walked into this secret room and was blown away. The room extended the whole length of that huge barn and was approximately ten feet wide behind the existing wall of the apartment.
The most amazing part was what it contained. There was a glass showcase running the length of the outside wall containing hundreds and hundreds of gleaming trophies. There were silver bowls, colorful ribbons, crystal vases and huge gold and silver trophies, all neatly arranged. On a rack by the far wall was a racing saddle with jockeys silks draped over it.
Everyone gasped at the splendor.
“Omigod! Blackie is this all your stuff from racing,” Meg asked, turning to look at him. He was leaning against the door with his hands stuffed in his jeans.
Uh-oh. That’s not a good sign. He looks sad.
“Come on, Blackie, show them your trophies. You should be proud of them. You used to be,” Keary said.
“I used to be a lot of things. This stuff isn’t worth anything anymore.”
“Honey, they’re beautiful. Please tell us about them.” Meg pleaded.
“Yeah, come on, man. This is incredible.” Curt said.
“You show them, Keary.” Blackie said and walked out.
She started to go after him but Sean stopped her.
“Leave him alone, Meg. This is hard for him. Keary and I will show you.”
She hesitated but Keary grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room.
“Meg, he needs to get over this and move on. You will love seeing this.” They walked down to the end of the room and started looking in the case. One trophy was more beautiful than the next.
“Down at this end are the ones he won when he first started racing at fifteen.” Keary explained, “And it goes up to the other end in chronological order.”
“This is unreal! I’ve never seen anything like this. How many races did he win?” Curt asked.
“I’m not sure off the top of my head but we have the records in the computer.” Sean said.
“I can definitely tell you that he won more races and money than any other jockey, ever.” Keary said, proudly.
“Why doesn’t he like them?” Curt asked.
“It’s not that, it’s just since the accident, I don’t think he’s
been in here.” Keary said.
“I feel bad that we intruded and upset him.” Jamie said, sadly.
“No, he needs to get over it and get on with his life. He’s doing that in other areas, but he’s still bogged down with regret over not being able to race anymore.”
“Hey, you guys, want to see something really impressive? See those four huge silver trophies in the middle. They’re from the four Grand Nationals he won.” Sean said.
“Oh, God. He won four times? You mean the Grand National at Aintree, don’t you?” Jamie said, wide-eyed.
“The very same.” Keary said, beaming. Everyone just stood there, gawking at them in awe. Meg felt a lump in her throat. She was so proud of him. He accomplished all this and at that moment, she knew he could do anything if he could just believe in himself again.
FORTY-ONE
Meg was sitting in the kitchen watching Blackie enter show results onto a spreadsheet on his laptop. He kept detailed records for each student and horse. He was anal about everything concerning the training center. As usual, he was focused on what he was doing and ignored her, which was starting to irritate her.
Sean came in and sat across from Blackie and watched him for a couple of minutes. He rolled his eyes at Meg and smiled.
“Boyo, someone called for you Sunday when you guys were at the show.” He said to Blackie and got no response. He winked at Meg.
“It was a person from the circus and they want you to train their elephants.”
“Mmm, okay, thanks.” Blackie mumbled.
“I got their number. You like training elephants, right?” Sean asked, barely suppressing a laugh.
“Yeah, thanks, Sean.” Blackie replied without taking his eyes off the computer.
“Blackie! Jeez!” Meg said while Sean started laughing in earnest.
“What! What’s wrong?” Blackie said, finally looking up.
“Could you please pay attention to what Sean is saying,” she said.
He looked from her to Sean and frowned. “What is it, Sean? I’m busy.”
“I said someone called looking for you when you were at the show,” Sean repeated slowly.
“Well who the hell was it?” Blackie said just as slowly.
“I don’t know. She hung up when I said you weren’t home.”
“She? Christ, now what? So you have no idea who it was?” Blackie asked Sean who flicked a quick look at Meg. Blackie caught the look.
“What, Sean?”
“Well ... she had a British accent, high brow. Very, very high brow.” Sean said, pointedly. Blackie stared at Sean for a long minute.
“Vicky?” He asked with raised eyebrows.
“Maybe. Could be. Sounded kinda like her ... maybe.”
“Who is Vicky?” Meg demanded a little too sharply.
Blackie sighed and rolled his eyes at Sean who laughed.
“Shut up, Sean. Uh ... Meg, Vicky is someone I used to ride for”.
“Yeah, she owned the nag he was riding when the accident happened.” Sean offered and Blackie scowled at him.
“Okay, so why are you giving Sean a dirty look?” Meg asked. Her eyes narrowed.
“Because her horses weren’t the only thing he was riding.” Sean snorted.
“Damnit, Sean! Why can’t you ever keep your mouth shut?” Blackie hissed at him.
“Oh, great! Some slut from your past is calling here for you?”
“Meg, calm down. She’s not a slut and we don’t know if it was her anyway. Just ignore Sean, he’s an idiot,” he said, glaring at Sean.
“Okay, okay. Sorry. She’s Lady Victoria Rupert and she’s married to a distant cousin of the Queen,” Sean said.
“Queen! Like the Queen of England?” Meg asked, wide-eyed.
“Yes. Why would she call me now? It’s been over two years and she never bothered to call after the accident. What the hell does she want now? I don’t need any shit from her.” Blackie said, flushing with sweat on his forehead.
Keary and Jill walked in and could tell something was going on.
“Hey, guys. What’s up?” Keary asked.
“Blackie got a call yesterday from some woman and we think it might have been Vicky.” Sean piped up.
“You mean Lady Victoria?” Jill asked.
“Maybe. I don’t know what she could possibly want after all this time. I never heard from her at all after the accident.” Blackie said.
Meg realized there was a lot going on in his head about this woman. She decided to back off and let him have space.
“Uh ... I never told you guys this before but she showed up at the hospital when you were talking to the surgeons, before they started working on him. I didn’t think you needed to deal with her at that point so I told her he was already in surgery. She got hysterical, accused me of lying, and said he must be dead. Then she ran out.” Sean told them. Blackie just stared at him for a few minutes then got up and walked out. Meg sat there with her mouth open.
“Meg, honey, he’ll be okay,” Jill told Meg gently.
“But ... tell me who this woman is? Is he still involved with her? Were they serious?” Meg, asked, fear heavy in the pit of her stomach.
“Meg, sit down.” Keary told her. He sighed, a weary look in his eyes and sat across from her.
“Meg, Vicky was married to Richard Rupert and, well, I guess she still is. Dickey is some distant cousin of the Queen and he ran around on Vicky all the time. Everyone knew about his philandering. Anyway, they own a huge racing stable and Vicky handled the training.
Several years ago, she asked Blackie to ride her horses and it wasn’t long before they started having an affair, a fairly public one.”
Meg groaned, “That sounds like a bit more than a one-night stand.”
“Wait Meg, there’s more. Dickey was always off somewhere gadding about with his latest flame. He didn’t seem to care who Vicky slept with as long as he could do as he pleased.” Keary hesitated when Meg looked like she might cry.
“Meg, don’t get upset about this. It was a long time ago and you already know about his past. We’re sorry this has come up and I know that’s why he’s bugged.”
“I know but now I have a name for one of these women and she’s calling him. What will I do if he wants to get back together with her?”
Keary laughed. “Meg, I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening.”
“He wasn’t with her when the accident happened anyway.” Sean said.
“What do you mean, Sean?” Jill asked him.
“The Swedish bombshell showed up at the hospital too and asked if he was dead. I told her the same thing I told Vicky and she left.” Sean replied.
“Oh, great! Now who the hell is she?” Meg asked, throwing her hands up.
“Sean, really! Meg doesn’t need to know about all this stuff.” Jill glared at him.
“I was just saying he wasn’t exactly with Lady Vic at the time. I went to his hotel to get his stuff and it was obvious that a woman had been there with him. Anyway, she’s a blond model that he would see occasionally, nothing serious. Dickey was in town during the Festival so I guess Blackie and Vicky were off again.” Sean explained.
“You mean her husband was at the track and knew about her and Blackie?” Meg asked.
“He was probably there with some bimbo. Maybe she and Blackie had a fight but she still wanted him to ride the Gold Cup for her.” Keary said.
“But what’s going on now?” Meg said, close to tears.
“Not a fucking thing!” Blackie growled as he stalked back into the dining room and sat down next to Meg. “Meg, listen, there’s nothing going on between Vicky and me and hasn’t been for years. Not ever again either. It’s old news and I’m not interested in seeing her. You have to believe me, Meg. It’s you I’m in love with. Please trust me,” he pleaded.
“I trust you. It’s her I’m not so sure about.” Meg pouted.
“That’s my girl.” Blackie said and kissed her.
* * *
Not having seen Blackie for more than two years, guilt stabbed her heart. Now that she heard how well he was doing, it was time to face him. She knew she couldn’t bear it if he’d been crippled or impaired in some way. Swallowing and taking a deep breath, she proceeded toward the house and barns.
She parked next to a new silver Porsche that she assumed was his. Fond memories of his old black one flooded her mind, making her smile. God, we had some fun in that car, she thought. I wonder if he’s still that wild and crazy. She laughed to herself then her eyes welled up thinking of the terrible time he went through after the accident.
Oh, well, there’s nothing to do for it now .Bugger it all!
Vicky got out, turned into the barn and knew it was vintage “Blackie”. He always was so adamant about the cleanliness and order of the stables. No one was around, so she made her way up to the house taking a deep breath before she knocked on the side door.
After a few minutes, Jill opened the door and stared in surprise.
“Oh! Omigod! Uh ... Lady Victoria! Please come in.” Jill stammered.
“Hi, Jill. I hope I’m not here at an inconvenient time.” Vicky asked.
“No, of course, it’s fine. Please come in. How are you? It’s been a long time.” Jill said, flushing.
“Thanks, Jill. I don’t want to overstep any bounds, but I felt I had to see him, you see.” Vicky said quickly by way of an explanation. “Please call me Vicky.”
“Uh ... well okay. It has been a good while. I can’t speak for him, but ... come in Vicky and we’ll talk.” Jill said, indicating the way to the dining room.
“Oh, dear. Maybe I shouldn’t have come. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable.”
“I think he’ll be fine. He and Sean are down at the racing barns. They should be up here soon for lunch. Come in. Keary’s here and you can meet Meg, Blackie’s fiancée.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. I’m glad he’s finally settling down.” Vicky replied, her voice quavering.