Three weeks into his apprenticeship Capp felt comfortable enough to borrow a car from Bob Hench to drive to the Parkway Farm, the place Tilly’s family owned. He was excited to finally see it. Tilly had asked him to come spend Saturday with her. They’d have a picnic, ride horses, and play around, talk about raising horses. He liked the sound of that. He just needed to figure out how to get there. He’d been on this old country road for a while and couldn’t help but wonder if he was lost. There was nothing to inform him if he was still headed in the right direction. Pulling over to the side of the road, he looked at Tilly’s hand-drawn map but couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
He got back on the route. Around a bend he came upon a young man walking a large dog along the edge of the road. Capp stopped, rolled down the window and shouted, “You know where the Parkway Ranch is located?”
The man turned, walked to the window, and looked at Capp, but not before his dog had stuck his big muzzle into the opening. “Down, boy,” the man commanded. “Who’s askin’?”
“Friend of Matilda Coombs. I work at Churchill Downs.”
“Not much of a ranch if you ask me. ’Course, I never did see it when it was in its heyday. Had a big grass fire up there five years ago. Proud to say this big hound dog and me helped put it out. ’Course the wind changin’ helped.”
“So where is the Coombs place?” Capp repeated impatiently.
“Sorry, we all get carried away talking about the Coombs.”
“That so? Why?”
“Lots to talk about, I guess. They’s on hard times. Nearly sold all their horses. One day a bank officer was lost just like you. Asked me how to get there. Now a bank officer making a call during the Depression ain’t a good thing. Means there’s trouble. And that ain’t all. Matilda is pretty popular with the fellas. I guess, you could say she has a reputation. Seems there is always someone wanting to know where she lives. Like I said, plenty to talk about.”
“Please, can you just tell me how to get there?”
“Up the road a bit you’ll see a burned-out barn and a fork in the road. Keep to the right and Parkway’s entrance is a half mile.”
“I’m obliged.”
“You seein’ that girl?”
“No. We’re just friends from work.”
“Yeah? Just know, you ain’t the first friend she’s had up there.”
Capp smiled but the man’s words weighed on his mind. The part about the farm bothered him; the part about Tilly amused him. He put his foot on the gas and continued. Within ten minutes he could see the burned barn in the distance. As Capp grew close, the barn seemed long abandoned and of no use for horse farming, most of the roof gone or about to fall in. Next to the barn were the skeletal remains of a post and barb-wired paddock covered with tall, dry grass. There were no horses in the field. No livestock paths anywhere.
Approaching a driveway, Capp slowed and there, hanging off kilter on a split-rail fence, was a handmade sign that said, “Parkway Farm.” Capp turned onto the dirt entry lane. It wasn’t long before he saw a modest house and Tilly on the porch smoking a cigarette. She sat still while Capp parked the car. When he opened the door, she rose slowly while pushing her cigarette butt into a coffee can full of sand. She smiled broadly as Capp climbed the steps. He took her in his arms and hugged her. Kissing her neck and stroking her back, he whispered, “You smell like a cigarette.”
“Nothin’ like a compliment to start the day.”
“You look nice, just smell like a cigarette. Got your boots on. Surprised they ain’t high-heel boots. We going for a ride?”
“Not so fast. I want to show you around first. We have talking to do.”
“You mean about our partnership?”
“Yes, about raising thoroughbreds here in Kentucky.” Capp’s eyes scanned the porch. It was nice enough: a porch swing, a few chairs, and a chest of drawers. “What you got in the drawers?”
“Mice. Daddy says it’s the best mouse trap he ever had. Keeps the critters out of the house. They get in the drawers, eat a little poison and bam, they’re gone.” Capp laughed but Tilly’s mood grew serious.
“Look Capp. I want you to see the place but keep an open mind. There is so much potential here. You and I could make this farm a real ranch!”
“You know I don’t have money.”
“Oh, you have access to money.”
“What you talkin’ about?”
“Mr. Glidewell. He’ll jump at having a ranch here in Louisville.”
“Tilly, I can’t be askin’ him to give me a boatload of money.”
“I’ll invite him. Men usually do what I say. I have my ways. All you’ll have to do is convince him to come. Why the two of us together can do anything.”
Maybe the guy on the road was wrong, Capp thought. Maybe there was a potential ranch in this farm. He’d keep his mind open, at least for now.
“Come with me.” Tilly took Capp’s hand and led him into the house. It was clean and orderly, with well-worn furniture and lots of good light. But there was a palpable sadness. Capp couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt it.
“This is the house. Lots of room to expand. There are three bedrooms, one bath, living room, kitchen, reading room. I’ve lived here my whole life nearly as an only child. My brothers left home when I was a tiny girl. I’m the surprise baby of the family.”
“Where’s your folks? Thought you said they’d be here.”
“They caught
