Horse Race

by Bonnie Bryant

  “That should do it for now,” one of the grooms said as Stevie swept the aisle. Carole and Lisa were putting the finishing touches on the tack that would be used in that afternoon’s races. “You three are a big help—I wish you worked here all the time. Now go reward yourselves with some lunch, okay?”

  The girls agreed quickly. “I’m famished,” Lisa said as they left the shed row.

  “Me too,” Stevie said. “Should we head over to the grandstand and get something there? There’s only an hour until post time.”

  Carole nodded. “That will give us just enough time for that Saddle Club meeting we’ve been trying to have.”

  “Right,” Stevie replied. “We don’t have much time if we’re going to stop Garvey from carrying out his dastardly plan.” She grinned ruefully. “Especially since we still have to figure out what it is.”

  LISA FOLLOWED HER friends as they walked between the rows of stables toward the gate leading to the public area of the track. Her mind had been nagging at her for a while now. She had the funniest feeling that they had missed a clue somewhere—maybe an important one that might tell them more about what Garvey was planning. What could it be?

  “Come on, Lisa,” Stevie said, pausing to glance at Lisa as she started to fall behind. “I’m dying for a huge, icy-cold soda. After all that hard work, my mouth is totally dry.”

  “That’s it!” Lisa exclaimed, stopping short in the middle of the path. “That’s the clue!”

  “What?” Carole stopped, too.

  “I knew that somebody had said something we should have noticed, but it just clicked,” Lisa explained. “It was that other jockey, Mack. He said something about going home to Dry River. That’s the name of the town Garvey is from, remember? He told Deborah that yesterday when she was interviewing him.”

  Stevie shrugged. “So they’re from the same town,” she said. “So what?”

  “I don’t know,” Lisa admitted. “Maybe nothing. But it’s kind of a funny coincidence, isn’t it?”

  “What are the odds of that, right?” Carole teased. “It is pretty weird. But I can’t imagine what it could have to do with whatever’s going on with Garvey.”

  “I don’t, either,” Lisa said. “But it’s just about the only possible clue we have right now. And we need all the help we can get if we’re going to figure this thing out.”

  “Carole! Hey, Carole! Wait up!” a voice called from farther down the path.

  “Don’t look now,” Stevie whispered. “It’s our good friend Win.”

  Carole glanced toward the voice out of the corner of her eye and saw Josh A heading their way. “Oh, no,” she groaned. “I don’t think I can face this right now.”

  “You don’t have to,” Stevie told her. “I have the perfect escape plan.” She pointed across the path, and her friends turned and saw that they were standing right beside a set of public rest rooms.

  “Perfect,” Lisa said. “It’s the one place none of the Joshes can follow us.” The girls darted across the path and soon were safe inside the women’s room. There was nobody else there at the moment.

  Carole sat down on a metal bench near the door and sighed. “I seem to be spending a lot of time in the bathroom on this trip,” she said, thinking of her escape from Garvey the night before.

  Lisa shrugged and headed for one of the sinks. “At least this gives us a chance to wash our hands before we eat,” she said.

  “How long do you think it will take him to give up and go away?” Stevie asked, glancing at her watch. “My stomach won’t wait much longer.”

  “Who knows?” Carole said. “I feel kind of bad for running away like that. He really is nice.” She stood and joined Lisa at the sinks. “I just never know what to say when he starts showing off and acting weird. It’s too bad in a way, because I like him fine when he’s talking about horses.”

  Stevie nodded. “Some of the stuff he was telling us yesterday was pretty interesting,” she said. “Like when he was talking about his job, and when he was talking about all the different habits and quirks that racehorses have.”

  Suddenly Lisa let out a gasp. “That’s it!” she exclaimed.

  Stevie cocked her head at her. “You’ve been saying that a lot lately,” she said. “What is it this time?”

  Lisa threw a balled-up paper towel at her. “Oh, nothing much,” she said. “I’ve just solved the mystery, that’s all.”

  “Really?” Carole grabbed her by the arm. “What is it?”

  “First, tell me one more time what Garvey said on the phone last night,” Lisa said. “Try to remember the exact words.”

  Carole thought back carefully. “Let’s see. The first thing I heard clearly was Garvey telling the person he was talking to not to back out, and saying the race was tomorrow—that’s today.”

  Lisa nodded. “Then what?” she asked expectantly.

  “Then he said, ‘Ride her however you want,’ or something like that.” Carole could almost hear Garvey’s gruff voice again as she remembered the phone conversation. “And he said that when the time was right the person had better come through. And that the person should be loyal to where he came from.”

  Carole gasped as she realized what she had just said. “That’s it, isn’t it?” she asked Lisa. “Where he came from, as in Dry River, Virginia.”

  “You mean he was talking to Mack?” Stevie asked with a puzzled frown. “I don’t get it.”

  “Think about it,” Lisa said. “They’re both from the same place. And it sounds like that made Garvey think he could ask a favor.”

  “A big favor,” Carole said. “The next part of their talk was about the stewards finding out, remember? What could it be?”

  Lisa smiled and leaned back against the sinks, crossing her arms on her chest. “Isn’t it obvious?” she said. She turned to Stevie. “It was what you said about horses’ quirky habits that made me realize it. Josh told us that Leprechaun hates the whip, remember? So what better way to make sure she loses the race today than to convince her jockey to whip her?”

  Stevie’s mouth dropped open and she sat down on the bench. “That’s so sneaky,” she said. “But I guess it does fit our clues, doesn’t it? And since Mack will be riding Leprechaun in a race for the first time, he could say he just forgot in the heat of the moment.”

  “It is sneaky,” Carole said thoughtfully. “I’ve read about cases where jockeys have held their horses back on purpose and the stewards have caught them. But this is different. There’s no way anyone could prove he did it on purpose. At worst, he’ll probably get a warning.”

  Lisa nodded. “Leprechaun is C.C.’s only serious competition in that race. Everyone says so. Garvey obviously wants to do something to guarantee that his horse will win.”

  “But why?” Carole asked. “I mean, isn’t he taking an awfully big chance? I’m sure that would be considered cheating. He could get in a lot of trouble.”

  “Money?” Stevie guessed, tapping her fingers on the bench next to her as she thought. “That always seems to be a good reason around here.”

  “I don’t know,” Lisa said slowly. “I guess that’s a possibility. As trainer, I think he gets a percentage of whatever the horse wins, right?”

  Carole nodded. “That’s how it works,” she confirmed. “But would the difference between the first- and second-place money be big enough to be worth it?”

  “Probably not,” Stevie said. “And we already know he doesn’t gamble, so it’s not that.”

  “What other reason could he have for wanting to win so badly?” Lisa mused.

  Carole’s empty stomach let out a sudden growl of protest, and she briefly wondered if Josh was still hanging around outside. Then she forgot about her hunger as an idea occurred to her. “What if he’s doing it because he feels insecure?” she said.

  Stevie gave her a skeptical look. “What?” she said. “I doubt that anyone would really—”

  “No, wait. Listen,” Carole interrupted. “Everyone at Maskee Farms
is expecting C.C. to win this race, right? Maybe Garvey is afraid that everyone will blame him if she loses. He already had one career that was a big failure—he was a dud as a boxer. He might be trying to guarantee that his brilliant new career as a trainer doesn’t end before it begins.”

  “But Mr. McLeod wouldn’t fire him just because one horse lost a race it was supposed to win,” Stevie said.

  “We know that,” Carole replied. “But Garvey must be feeling a lot of pressure since this is his first time in charge. He might not be thinking totally logically.”

  Lisa gave Carole an admiring glance. “Wow, that makes a lot of sense,” she said. “How did you figure it out?”

  Carole shrugged and smiled. “Let’s just say I can relate to feeling a little insecure right now,” she said, gesturing toward the door.

  “Ah,” Stevie said wisely. “The Joshes.”

  “The Joshes,” Carole confirmed. “Every time one of them starts gazing at me like I’m the girl of his dreams, I feel like I’m suddenly supposed to be brilliant and amusing and everything else all rolled into one—you know, to live up to his expectations. So I can imagine how Garvey must feel, having such a promising horse being threatened with competition in her very first race—a race that he’s been training her for.”

  Stevie nodded. “Especially since he hasn’t been following the training schedule his boss gave him,” she said, remembering Toby’s comments. “Still, even if I were in Garvey’s situation, I would never cheat my way out of it. That’s just wrong. Besides, Leprechaun could get hurt if she panics when Mack whips her. Or cause an accident that hurts someone else.”

  “I know,” Carole said. “That’s why we’ve got to stop him. As much as I’d love to see C.C. win today, it won’t mean anything unless she does it fairly. And I’m sure Mr. McLeod and the head trainer would feel exactly the same way.”

  “But what can we do?” Lisa asked.

  The girls were silent for a moment. Finally Stevie looked at her watch. “Whatever we’re going to do, we’d better do it soon,” she said. “There’s only a little over a half hour to post time now.”

  “Maybe we can find Mack and talk to him,” Carole said, standing up. “It sounded like Garvey was having trouble convincing him to go along with his plan. We might be able to change his mind.”

  Lisa shrugged. “I can’t think of anything better to try.” She shuddered. “We definitely shouldn’t waste our time trying to talk to Garvey. But how are we going to find Mack?”

  “Let’s check the jockeys’ room,” Stevie suggested. “Maybe he’s there already, getting ready for the race.”

  The girls headed for the rest room door. As soon as they emerged into the sunlight, they saw that Josh A was leaning against the wall beside the door.

  He straightened up when he saw them. “Hi!” he said brightly. “I saw you go in there. I guess you didn’t hear me calling you.” He smiled at Carole. “So I decided to wait for you out here.”

  Stevie rolled her eyes. They had been inside the women’s room for fifteen or twenty minutes. She couldn’t believe that Josh had waited for them—or rather, for Carole—all that time. But since he was here, she decided they might as well take advantage of it. “Listen, Josh,” she said. “Do you have any idea where we could find Leprechaun’s jockey? We really need to talk to him.”

  Josh looked surprised. “Mack?” he said. “As a matter of fact, I do know where he probably is right now.”

  “Where?” Lisa asked breathlessly. “In the jockeys’ room?”

  “Nope. Every race day here at Bluegrass he has lunch at the same hot dog stand.” Josh gestured toward the grandstand. “It’s a little out-of-the-way place just past the lost and found. He always gets the same thing—a chili dog with all the trimmings and a cup of coffee. It’s sort of a superstitious thing he does for luck.” He grinned. “He’s the only jockey I know who could get away with that kind of habit and still make weight. In fact—”

  Stevie cut him off before he could finish. “Thanks for the info,” she said quickly. “We’ll see you around, okay?”

  “I can show you where the snack bar is if you want,” Josh volunteered eagerly, taking a step closer to Carole. “And actually, I was looking for you because I have some great news I wanted to tell you about. I just found out that I get to lead Leprechaun to the paddock all by myself. And if she wins, I get to—”

  Once again, Stevie interrupted before he could finish. “That’s great, Josh, but we’ve really got to go.” She dragged Carole away before the boy could say another word.

  Carole glanced back at Josh over her shoulder as the three girls hurried away toward the entrance to the grandstand. He was staring after them, looking dejected and a little hurt. “You could at least have let him finish his sentence,” Carole told Stevie, feeling bad about being so rude. “He seemed really excited about his news.”

  “We don’t have time for that right now,” Stevie replied, speeding up a little. “We’ve got a race to save.”

  Lisa gave Carole a sympathetic glance. “Don’t worry,” she advised. “The best thing you can do for Josh right now is to give Leprechaun a fair chance. Otherwise there’s no way he’ll get to take her anywhere near the winner’s circle.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Carole said reluctantly. She still felt guilty, but there was nothing she could do about it right now. Maybe later she could find Josh and apologize.

  As soon as The Saddle Club entered the grandstand, they found another obstacle looming in front of them. It was Josh B, also known as Place.

  “I was hoping to run into you,” he said, rushing over to Carole. “I have some time to give you a tour of the track now if you’re still interested. I might even be able to introduce you to my uncle if he’s not too busy. I told him all about you.”

  Carole blushed furiously at that, but Stevie and Lisa were already brushing past the tall boy. “Sorry, no time right now,” Stevie said briskly. “We’ve got an important errand to run.”

  “Oh, really?” Josh said. “Maybe I can help. I know this place like the back of my—”

  “Thanks, but no thanks,” Stevie said.

  Lisa shot him an apologetic glance. “Sorry,” she added, pulling Carole forward.

  The girls dove into the crowd that was starting to gather in the main concourse of the grandstand. Carole paused just long enough to peek back at Josh. The expression on his face was almost identical to the one the first Josh had been wearing just a moment earlier. Once again Carole felt bad. Still, she hadn’t asked the boys to like her. She couldn’t help it if their feelings were hurt now.

  Stevie paused in front of an ice-cream cart and looked around. “Let’s see,” she said. “He said it was near the lost and found, right?” She asked the woman scooping out ice cream for directions, and soon they were on their way, dodging around track visitors.

  “At least it isn’t as crowded as it was at the Preakness,” Lisa panted, jumping aside to avoid tripping over a toddler.

  “Thank goodness!” Stevie exclaimed. Suddenly she let out a groan of dismay. “Oh, no,” she said. “When it rains, it pours.”

  Carole glanced forward and saw that Josh C was standing in front of them, taping them with his father’s camcorder as they approached.

  “Hi there,” he called, lowering the camera. “I can’t wait for the racing to start, can you? It’s going to be totally awesome.”

  The girls had reached him by this time. “Sure, Josh,” Stevie said quickly. “Whatever you say.”

  She went past him, and Carole started to follow. But Josh reached out to stop her. “Hey, wait a second,” he said. “Where are you going? I was just about to invite you to come sit in the clubhouse with me. All three of you, I mean,” he said, turning away from Carole long enough to give the other two girls a brief smile. “My parents reserved a box of seats. That way, maybe you can help me with my taping.” He waved the camcorder. “My dad’s letting me use this for the whole afternoon. Isn’t that cool
?”

  Carole opened her mouth to answer, but Lisa didn’t give her a chance. “Sorry, Josh,” she said, smiling politely. “Maybe later.” She yanked on Carole’s arm, pulling her past the astonished-looking boy.

  “I really feel bad about this,” Carole said as she jogged alongside her friends in the direction the ice-cream vendor had sent them. “We’re being so rude.”

  “Desperate times, desperate measures and all that,” Stevie said firmly. “You can deal with the Joshes later if you want.” She tossed a glance toward Carole. “Anyway, since when do you want to hang around talking to the Joshes? Usually you can’t get away fast enough.”

  Carole just shrugged. She couldn’t explain it herself. But she knew her abrupt departures were making the boys unhappy. And she couldn’t help feeling responsible for that, even if she hadn’t asked for their attention in the first place.

  Just then Lisa pointed at a sign ahead. “There’s the lost and found. We’re almost there.”

  The crowd thinned out as they continued past the lost and found kiosk and around the corner beyond. When they reached the snack bar, which was set back off the main area, there was hardly anybody around at all. That made it easy for the girls to spot Mack. He was standing in front of the snack bar with a newspaper tucked under one arm. Garvey was standing right next to him.

  Carole gasped and jumped back behind a large pillar, out of the men’s sight. Her friends did the same thing.

  “What’s he doing here?” Lisa whispered.

  Stevie nodded grimly toward the two men. “Look.”

  The snack bar attendant had his back to the men at the counter as he prepared a hot dog. Garvey had just pulled a long white envelope out of his pocket. He gave a quick glance around, but luckily he didn’t see the girls. After checking to make sure the attendant still wasn’t looking, he shoved the envelope toward Mack.