Black Stallion and Satan (16 page)

Mr. Ramsay stayed with them, and Tony left only occasionally on short visits to the city to make certain his customers were being served. “This-a boy who has taken over my route is a good friend,” he told them. “But maybe once in a while he needs me, so I go to him. No, I’m no worried about my Nappy getting this-a swamp fever. He no get anything but good blood from Satan and the Black. He’s happy here, yes? Just eat grass all day long. He work hard all his life, so now he take it easy. That’s-a good … very good. An’ now he’s-a famous, too.… Everyone knows my Nappy.… That’s-a good, too.”

Napoleon’s picture appeared in the newspapers regularly, for the two test horses had become international figures. The world knew that the fate of Avenger, Cavaliere, Kashmir, Phar Fly, Sea King, Satan and the Black depended upon the state of health of these two horses. So each day their condition was reported by press services to the far corners of the world. And the daily message was repeated, “No change in test horses on fourteenth day.” … “No change on fifteenth day.” … “No change on eighteenth day.”

The third week passed and with it Henry’s optimism rose to greater heights. “Come on, Alec,” he kidded. “Crack a smile. Everything is goin’ to be okay.
Why, even the vet says the chances are getting better with every day now. If Napoleon or the other test horse had contracted swamp fever from their inoculations they’d be showing some signs of it. But they’re in better health than they ever were. Napoleon’s actin’ like a colt. See for yourself!”

Alec watched the old gray as he galloped and rolled luxuriously in the tall grass. “But I want to be sure, Henry,” he said, “… so sure, before I let go. And I won’t be until it’s all over, and I have clean bills of health for Satan and the Black in my hand.”

The last of September came, bringing rich and colorful fall dress to many of the trees. But the days remained unseasonably hot, and there was no sign of rain to break the prolonged dry spell that had existed since their arrival at the state farm. There were reports of small forest fires being fought to the north and west. And such talk didn’t lessen Alec’s anxiety while going through each day at the farm.

Napoleon remained in the field, although much of the grass had been burned out by the hot sun and hay was being fed him for a substitute. Alec spent part of each day with the old gray, watching him more closely perhaps than anyone else for any symptoms of swamp fever. But Napoleon remained active, and Alec would follow him as he sought green blades of grass along the wooded edges of the long and narrow field. It was on one of these days that the boy came upon a barred gate, half-hidden by creeping vines. He stood there for a moment, looking down the forest lane on the other side of the gate and wondering where it led. Perhaps it joined the road leading to the valley. Perhaps not. It could
have a dead end, just going to another clearing or farm building. But it wasn’t important, and he left the gate to follow Napoleon around the bend in the field to the lower pasture in the gray’s search of grass untouched by the sun.

With the coming of October, Henry’s optimism rose to still greater heights. “Another two and a half weeks an’ we’ll be on our way to our farm,” he told Alec. “We’ll spend the winter there and put up separate pastures for the Black and Satan. It’ll do ’em both a lot of good to be out most of the winter, if the weather is decent at all.”

“And there’s that school just a short distance away from the farm, Alec,” his father said. “I’ve been corresponding with them and you’ll be able to enroll even though you’ll be a little late.”

Eagerly Alec looked at them. “It sounds so good. I just …” He stopped, and the enthusiasm left his eyes. “It’s still too early to start planning,” he said. “We have seventeen days to go.”

During the following week, the nights turned cold but the days remained warm, and still there was no sign of rain in the cloudless skies. Leaves dropped from trees, and if it hadn’t been for the forest of evergreens the mountains would have stood bare and forlorn.

“I wish it would rain,” Alec told Henry. “I don’t like hearing all this talk of forest fires. That farm is a trap if anything happens around here.”

“There you go borrowin’ trouble again,” Henry retorted. “Natives always talk that way this time of the year. The forest rangers know their job. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Then came renewed activity in the village of Mountainview and at the state farm. For now that the test was coming quickly to its end, owners and trainers returned. Laughter and loud talk of races to be run the coming year were heard, and no longer were the faces of the men haggard with fear for the safety of their horses. Henry joined them in their discussions, but Alec stayed away, still counting off the remaining days as each went by.

The last day of the test arrived, and late in the afternoon the State Veterinarian called the owners, trainers and press to the porch of his home. In his hands were the certificates testifying to the good health of the racers stabled in the barn.

The veterinarian began by thanking the group for their cooperation and patience. But Alec wasn’t listening to him; instead he was whispering excitedly in Henry’s ear, “This is it, Henry! This is what I’ve been waiting for. Satan and the Black are …”

“Shh,” Henry said.

But Alec went on, his enthusiasm and happiness knowing no bounds. “They’re all right, Henry. Both of them. We can take them home. Let’s try to buy a couple of good mares for the Black right this winter, Henry,” he added quickly. “Then we can start breeding right away. Don’t you think that’s a good idea … to get going right now, I mean?”

Henry turned to him. “Sure, Alec,” he whispered. “It’s a good idea, providing we can find the right mares.”

Henry’s name was called by the veterinarian, and he went forward to get their two certificates.

A short while later the group broke up, with the veterinarian suggesting that they remove the horses from the farm the following morning, if possible.

They all went to the barn, where the news photographers were taking pictures. Napoleon was in the stall directly opposite the Black, and Tony was with him. Waving the certificate, Alec ran to the stall.

“He’s-a part Black and part Satan now,” Tony said with a grin when Napoleon pushed his head hard against the boy. “See, Aleec, he knows it. But now he mus’ go back to work and maybe he no like that.”

“Tony,” Alec said, “I’ve wanted to ask you something.”

The huckster stopped fondling Napoleon. “Yes, Aleec?”

“You said that Napoleon has worked hard all his life, didn’t you?”

“You betcha. I get him when he was three year old. An’ now he’s-a seventeen. That’s,” Tony stopped to count on his fingers, “fourteen years I work him.”

“Would you want to retire him then?”

Tony looked at the boy, and slowly the small pinpoints of light in his black eyes flared brightly. “You mean, Aleec …”

“We’d sure like to have him at the farm, Tony. But he’d still be your horse. He could take it nice and easy for the rest of his life. He’d be a big help to us, too, Tony, for he gets along so well with both the Black and Satan. But how do you feel about it?”

“Sure, I mees him,” Tony said. “But when you love a horse you think of him, yes? So I think of him and I say he go with you, Aleec … to rest and play.”

“But you’ll promise to come up to the farm every weekend, when Mother and Dad come up? You’ll do that, Tony?”

“You no can keep me away, Aleec. I come to see you and Nappy every week. We go now?” he asked excitedly.

“No, not until tomorrow morning. But we’ll get an early start and be at our farm before dark. And just think, Tony,” he added slowly, “all this will be behind us.”

“An’ forgotten, yes?” Tony asked.

“Yes, forgotten,” Alec repeated, rubbing Napoleon’s nose while behind him the Black neighed shrilly for attention.

Back at the inn that same evening, a party was held in the dining room. And now that the haunting fear of swamp fever was a thing of the past, each owner and trainer talked only of the speed of his horse … of Sea King and Kashmir, of Avenger and Phar Fly, of Cavaliere and Satan. For many hours they discussed the race that had never been run and what might have happened. And they talked about the possibility of their horses meeting this coming winter in Florida, or next summer, or perhaps not until next year’s running of the International Cup.

“And maybe never,” Alec heard Henry tell the group. “Things happen fast in this business. Who can tell what’s goin’ to happen even a few months from now? I’m not one for doin’ my racing ahead of time.”

“And what about the Black, Henry?” someone asked. “You must have some plans for him. He’ll need some real schooling if you intend to race him.”

“Alec is retiring him,” Henry replied. “Satan is going to do the racing for this stable.”

Jim Neville left the group and joined Alec. “They’ve all been talking a good race except you, Alec. What do you think about it?”

“The International, you mean?”

Jim nodded.

Shrugging his shoulders, Alec said, “What difference does it make now who would’ve won? I haven’t even thought about it for a long time.”

“For forty days?”

“Yes,” Alec said, “for forty days.” He paused before adding, “It wasn’t important then, and it isn’t now.”

“You’re right, of course,” Jim said. “But now that the danger is over, it’s only human nature for us to go back and try to guess what would have happened in a race of that kind.”

“I wouldn’t have been in it anyway,” Alec said.

“You were actually going to withdraw the Black from the race?”

“Sure we were, Jim. You saw what happened with Kashmir. It isn’t fair to the Black or to the others. He’s not trained to race.”

“But he could be,” Jim suggested slowly.

“We’ve been through this before,” Alec replied a little angrily. “I don’t want it that way. You know that, Jim.”

“I know,” Jim agreed, trying to appease the boy. “I just thought you might have changed your mind.”

“I’m more certain now than ever before,” Alec said.

Henry joined them, and Jim Neville turned to him, asking, “You told me back at the track, Henry, that Satan wasn’t going to have any trouble winning the International. I was wondering if that was before or after you and Alec had decided to withdraw the Black?”

Henry turned to Alec and found the boy’s intent gaze upon him. Lowering his eyes, Henry said, “What difference does it make? They’re both in our stable.”

“None,” Jim replied, “except I thought I’d just like to know. You remember saying that Satan was the faster.”

“All right. It was before we decided to withdraw the Black,” Henry interrupted. “But that was only my opinion.” Henry met the boy’s gaze. “And certainly not Alec’s,” he concluded.

Mr. Ramsay and Tony joined them, and Henry managed to change the subject.

After the party ended, Alec and Henry went out on the inn’s porch. The night was clear and the strong wind felt good on their faces. Sitting down on the steps, Alec said, “We’ll put Napoleon and the Black in your van won’t we, Henry?”

“Yes,” his friend said, sitting down beside him. “I’ve hired another van and driver to follow us with Satan. Tony will ride with your father, I guess.”

“And we’re still figuring on an early start?”

“The earlier the better,” Henry replied. “It’ll be wise to get the Black outa the barn before the others start leaving … means less excitement all around.”

“It’s going to be good to get away from all this,” Alec said.

Henry smiled. “I don’t mind all this talkin’ that goes on though, Alec. Fact is, I kinda like it. The older you get the more you seem to talk about what your horse could have done or what he might do. None of us means any harm by it. An’ even the sportswriters—like Jim Neville—talk about it because it’s their interest just like ours. An’ the more they get us to talk the more stories they seem to get for their papers. An’ that’s the way it goes.”

“I know,” Alec said. “It’s just that it’s too soon after what …”

“You took it too hard for too long,” Henry interrupted. “I told you to relax a couple of weeks ago.”

“Sure you did,” Alec said. “But I couldn’t do it.”

The lights had been turned out, and the sound of footsteps on the stairs had long since died away, when a car came down the street, stopping before the inn. A man got out, carrying a small suitcase.

Alec and Henry had moved to one side of the steps to give him room to pass.

“ ’Evening,” Henry said.

“Good evening,” the man returned. He stopped, pointing to the north. “They got another forest fire up there. I passed it this afternoon on the way down the valley.”

Turning to the north, Henry and Alec could just make out the red glow on the horizon. “How far north?” Henry asked anxiously.

“Oh, must be a hundred miles. We don’t need to worry about that one,” the man added assuredly. “They had it under control all right.”

“ ‘That one’?”
Henry repeated. “Are there any other fires?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that there
are
other fires. It’s just that one never can tell with the woods so dry and no rain at all. It’s sure bad … all along the line it’s bad. Keeps the rangers busy, all right. But they have the equipment and never seem to let these fires get too far out of hand before they control them. Well, good night now.”

When the man had left them, Henry said sarcastically, “A real cheerful guy.”

“But I still don’t like the idea of having a fire so close,” Alec said. “This is the closest yet.”

“A hundred miles isn’t so close,” Henry said.

Alec sniffed. “Maybe it’s closer. I think I can smell smoke.”

Henry’s lip curled. “Naw, there’s nothin’. Just your imagination. Besides,” Henry added, “he said they had it under control.”

“But embers can be carried a long distance on this wind,” Alec said solemnly.

“You won’t be givin’ me any peace until I get you and the Black and Satan outa here,” Henry growled. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

They rose and went to the room they shared.

Alec had no idea how long he had slept before he suddenly found himself wide awake. He reached for the clock on the small stand between his and Henry’s beds. The luminous dial told him that it was five o’clock, and he knew he had another half-hour before the alarm
would go off. It would give them enough time to eat breakfast and still be at the barn before daylight. They’d be well on their way before the others even reached the barn.