She went on, ignoring the tears. “When 1 think back, I think of all of us together. Such bright
promises, and all of them broken. Everything seemed to go bad and stay bad. They kept taking things
away from me. First you, then Teddy, then. . . oh, just everything.”
“Then what? You started to say something, finish it.”
“Lots of thens. I have this horse, a beautiful stallion, Georgia-bred. He had real promise. Chief gave
him to me when I turned thirty. He said Firefoot—it was a silly name but he had this white splash on
one foot, jet black only he had this white streak, so I called him Firefoot—anyway, Chief said Firefoot
and I would stay young together. I wanted to race him, oh, how I wanted that. But Harry got involved
with this racetrack thing. I guess inheriting Dunetown from Chief wasn?t enough. It wouldn?t look
right, he said, the racing commissioner?s wife racing horses. So Firefoot?s up for stud now. When I go
out there, he runs across the meadow to me with his head up, so proud.. . he wanted to race; it?s what
Thoroughbreds are all about, Jake, they?re born to run, to prove themselves. He really deserved the
chance. He deserved that. An animal like that, it has rights.”
She stopped and bit off another strand ravelling from her dress, wiggled it off her fingers, then turned
back to me.
“It?s been that way ever since you left. Everything went bad.”
“I?ll buy that,” I said bitterly.
“It just seems like nobody?s what they appear to be,” she went on angrily. “At first Harry reminded
me of you. He was fun and he laughed a lot and he made me laugh. Then Chief decided to retire and
Harry changed overnight. It was business, business, business!”
“That went with the territory.”
“I didn?t know he was so ambitious. Suddenly Findley
Enterprises wasn?t enough. Next it was politics and then the track.
It?s always something new. He?s like a man on a roller coaster; he
can?t seem to stop. I didn?t want that. There?s no reason for it.
We?ve got more than we?ll ever need.”
For a few moments I felt sorry for Raines, because I understood that drive. Harry Raines had to prove
himself. He couldn?t be satisfied with the role of Mr. Doe Findley, and for that I respected him. I
wondered if I would have done the same thing. But I didn?t say anything, I just listened. I had very
little respect for his political aspirations. in my book, politicians usually rank one step above bank
robbers and child molesters. That was my prejudice and my problem to deal with, of course, but I had
met damn few of them I either liked or trusted.
“I love Harry,” she said. “I?m just not in love with him anymore. He?s not Harry anymore, he?s
