“Yes, ma’am.” Kel replied.
“I’ll give you a leg up.” I laced my fingers together and bounced the slender brunette into the saddle. Her purple and black helmet cover had a wolf embroidered on it. She settled softly into the saddle, her feet finding the irons instantly. If anyone could coax the best effort from Flame, it’d be her. The senior exercise rider directed Flame toward the gate. “Your job is to push Flame without overtaking him. Keep with him stride for stride.” I offered a leg-up to Shel, a seasoned exercise rider. Part of the backside whispers revolved around how I only had women working for me. Far better to have the best people for the job, and I’d found no matter the century, women had a unique bond with horses. I went to the rail and at my nod the horses took off.
A clean break and Flame moved into the lead by a nostril as I’d directed. The gelding galloped like he did in the pasture, head up, as if this were a walk in the park. I shook my head. He needed drive, a mission, something to push him forward. Paulie, the other chestnut, matched him stride for stride, neither one really going very fast.
They reached the pole. A cluck, a word, a gentle nudge from Kel and Flame stretched out and bolted forward. I enjoyed the rush of speed, though my stop watch told me it wasn’t going to be fast enough to make it on the track. Shel held Paulie back.
“Let him go, Shel,” I said, thinking perhaps Flame was a stalker. The fractions in his previous three races had been honest, but not blazing. Paulie surged ahead by a head, then a neck.
Flame tried to keep with him for a few strides, then faded back. He knew he’d been beaten and the gelding didn’t care.
“Thanks, ladies. That’s all!” I called to them. The riders instantly slowed their mounts and by the time they circled back to me, I made my decision. “Kel, once he’s done on the hot walker, brush him out and then put him in with Dollar. He’s a good horse, but racing just isn’t his job.”
“I agree. Will do.” With a curt nod, she dismounted and led the horse from the track. If nothing else, that’d open up a stall for this rider Tyche had sent to me. I knew Flame would be in good hands, which I felt was the important thing.
“Good job,” I told Shel as she dismounted. “Let’s give him a fast breeze tomorrow, see what he clocks. Then we’ll decide where to point him.” There were a few grade III races at Oaklawn and the bigger competition might push him into a racehorse.
I turned and headed for my home office where I could make some calls without being overheard by riders and staff. Stopping by the barn and putting a note on the door telling them I’d be down after lunch, I went to the house. Dale’s success grated on my nerves, because the whispers told me it hadn’t come naturally.
I stretched out on the couch, my head on Forti’s shoulder while we watched a showing of Seabiscuit on television. Now that horse hadn’t needed any luck from Forti or my blessing, he’d created his own, and there’d probably never be another like him. “When do you leave for Rota?” I asked, reaching over to take some popcorn from the bowl sitting between us.
“Probably soon. The Council has been convened. It’s time we took direct action. Luck is out of balance. Didn’t you sense it with Flame? His pedigree says he should run faster than he does. His blood work, his bone size, everything indicated that he’d do well. Maybe not Triple Crown material, but better than not having broken his maiden yet.”
I admitted my partner had it right. “So you think the actions of some, like Dale, are stealing the luck from others? Those bastards!” I frowned. As the goddess of equestrian pursuits, I never worried about luck or the lack thereof. I left that to other goddess, like my Forti and her friend, Tyche. Cousin? Doppelganger? The pedigrees got jumbled up somewhere between the Greeks and Romans.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. Things have been out of balance since the 1800s really. I’m also not surprised it’s taken the Council this long to act.” Forti’s calm voice worried me.
“So Rota has decided it’s time to act now?” I arched an eyebrow. “Because like before global warming became a problem or maybe before millions of people died in wars?” I sighed. Even though I was a goddess, I didn’t understand those who held higher places in their pantheons than I did.
Forti shrugged. “The island moves in its own ways. It may be the Council’s home, but we have no say in the matter. Plouto is already there, as are many of the others. Tyche and I are the lone holdouts. And I guess that makes sense since we’re also the ones most invested in human affairs. Some of the others walked away centuries ago or even longer.”
“Their people aren’t around anymore, at least not in any large matter. Most of our original cultures aren’t. The Celts still love horses. Can’t take that away from them. I’ve said it before. Either they grow to embrace those who worship them, even if the people don’t know. Or they are forgotten. Ancient Councils and prophecies don’t mean anything in this world.”
“That’s about to change. If we’re being called, then the Council is going to be active again. Champions will be called.” She smoothed my hair back from my face. “I need you to be here, Epona. I need you to hold down our hearth and remind me that there are people out there. You know what being on the Council does to me.” She kissed my forehead and the tears leaking from her eyes
