The Island Stallion Races (11 page)

He went back to the stove and put his dinner on a plate. But when he sat down, he found he was toying with his food. Was his appetite never coming back? Or was it simply that whatever he cooked was tasteless compared to Pitch’s meals?

Long after night had fallen, he kept trying to convince himself that he had made up his mind, that he had no intention of taking Flame to Cuba. Actually it was this that was absorbing him, leaving no room for appetite or sleep.

When the first streaks of dawn appeared in the sky, Steve turned face downward on his cot. Closing his eyes, he sought the rest that had evaded him throughout the night. Once more he tried to rid his mind of every thought but sleep. He forced himself to see only a heavy black curtain. He concentrated on the blackness, and waited for sleep to come. But heavy hands seemed to part his mental curtain and divulge all that lay behind, all that had kept him awake for so many hours. He fought to keep the curtain closed, to see only the blackness. His head and pillow were wet and clammy with sweat, yet he continued fighting and refused to give up. But it was a losing battle. The hands were winning; he felt their pull. Then the curtain opened and his mind began racing again. He decided to get up. As tired as he was he couldn’t fight any longer.

He felt the hands on his shoulders, shaking him gently … only these hands were real, as was the voice.

“Steve, are you awake?” Jay asked.

As Steve turned over, he could see Jay’s eyes glowing in the semi-darkness of the cave.

“I’m sorry that I’ve awakened you so early, Steve, but I couldn’t wait any longer to tell you what I’ve learned!”

Jay sat down on the cot, but got up again quickly. “I’m a little too excited to sit still, I guess. I’ve found a wonderful place to land, Steve. Actually it’s much closer to Cuba than I thought we dared go. Even Flick seems satisfied that we won’t be seen.”

Jay chuckled before adding, “Flick thought I meant to bring the ship down between Cuba and Florida. Really, he doesn’t give me credit for having any sense at
all, sometimes. As though I weren’t well aware of the tourist traffic there.”

Jay moved past the cot, pacing the cave restlessly. “I feel just like a race horse going to the post. Really I do, Steve. Planning this trip of ours is the most exciting thing I’ve done in a long, long time. But it’s only natural, I suppose, when I think that we’re working this out
together
. Nothing like it has ever happened before to
any
of us.” He stopped abruptly and his eyes glowed less brightly. “Oh, my, if Julian ever hears of this! But he won’t. Flick wouldn’t dare tell him.”

Jay began pacing again, then stopped and sat down beside Steve. “I can see I’ve startled you by coming so early. You must have been sound asleep. Really, Steve, I
am
sorry, but you’ll understand my impatience when I tell you the rest.”

He rose and went to the ledge, talking all the while. “Quite close to Cuba is a small group of islands. We’ll come in off the most eastern of the group. Using your launch you won’t have any trouble reaching a small fishing village on the Cuban coast. This village is about fifty miles, I’d say, from Havana and the track. Really, Steve, it’s going to be much easier than we thought. I’m sure we won’t be seen coming in, and your trip to shore with Flame will be a very short one. We can only bring our ship down at sea, you know. It couldn’t have worked out better. Even Flick has raised no objections.”

Jay retraced his steps and stood in front of Steve. “You’re not saying much, Steve.” He laughed. “But then I haven’t given you much of a chance, have I? Aren’t you pleased with what I’ve learned?”

Only then did Steve remove his gaze from Jay’s
eyes. He saw what looked like a rope in the man’s hand. Jay was twirling it in his excitement and it too glowed in the semi-darkness. Jay must have noticed his interest for suddenly it was offered to him and he held it in his own hands. Only it wasn’t a rope at all. It was as soft as flesh and just as pliant. It had no weight and yet there was a good deal of it, fashioned in the shape of a hackamore, complete with reins. It had no color at all and yet contained the most brilliant of all colors. The fibers pulsated beneath his fingers, seemingly alive and warm. He was not frightened. Instead he held it close, looking at the long golden tassels that hung from it.

“That’s my race offering, Steve,” Jay said quietly. “I figured you’d need some kind of a headpiece in guiding Flame. I realize you use nothing of the kind here, but it will be different at the track. Besides, it would look very strange to have you out there with nothing on him at all, no bridle or saddle. I don’t suppose they’ll require you to use a saddle, but they’ll insist upon your having some obvious control over your horse’s head. They’d never believe you if you said you needed nothing at all. And I think you’ll need the hackamore, Steve. Really I do. I’m sure Flame won’t mind wearing it. He’ll hardly know it’s on. Try it today.”

Steve looked up at him. “We’re not going,” he said quietly.

For the first time wrinkles appeared in Jay’s high brow, and the light suddenly was gone from his eyes. He looked at Steve a long while, and then sat down beside him.

“You’ve changed your mind then?” he asked.

Steve nodded.

“All right, Steve, if that’s the way you think you want it. But you really don’t, you know. You’re very anxious to race Flame.”

With that he got up again and stood before Steve, watching him, waiting for him to speak. And when the boy remained silent, he said, “Of course I’m disappointed. But above all, Steve, I don’t want you feeling sorry later on that you missed this chance. Promise me that, won’t you?”

Still Steve said nothing.

“I know you’re worried about a lot of things, Steve, and I’m sorry that I can’t help you more. It’s impossible for me to reassure you that Flame will win the race. What Flame does on the track is strictly up to you and him. I’ve told you before that your part in all this is much more difficult than mine. But that’s the chance you must take. I can’t help you there.”

Steve said, “It’s not what might happen during the race that has made me change my mind.”

“It isn’t?” Jay was surprised. “I thought for sure …” He paused, looking more intently into the boy’s eyes. Then he said, “But I promised you that no one will learn of your secret valley, Steve. It just won’t be possible for anyone to see you and Flame travel between this island and Cuba. You have my word that I’ve gotten away with much more than this during my travels.”

Steve turned away. “I’m sure you have,” he answered. “But I don’t think you have any idea of what I’ll be up against at the track. The officials will want to know where we’re from. What will I tell them? And what will they do when they’re not satisfied with my answer?
They might even take Flame from me, thinking perhaps that I’ve stolen him!”

The frown returned to Jay’s face. “I don’t believe they would do that, Steve. But I never really considered
details
like that. I thought you’d just go and race, and then return to the ship. I can understand your concern now, but I’m sure something can be worked out. Let’s see….”

Steve interrupted before Jay could continue. “I’m certain there are many rules governing the running of a race such as this. We don’t just …”

“But you said it was
Open to the World
, Steve,” Jay insisted. “Doesn’t that mean what it says? If it’s an open race, it’s open to any horse in the world which may want to race in it. You have every legal right to race Flame. You can demand it!”

Jay was shaking his head angrily, and his blue-black hair fell down over his forehead, making him look very funny. The whole thing was so absurd that Steve laughed. Was he actually in this cave in a lost valley, listening to a man from another world remind him of his legal rights?

“Don’t laugh, Steve,” Jay said. “You have every right to demand that you be allowed to race Flame. After all, if you can’t believe what you read here on Earth, why …”

Steve interrupted again. “But I
still
have to answer their questions. And they’ll ask where we’re from.”

“You and Flame are from this world, aren’t you?” Jay demanded. “That’s all that is necessary to tell them.”

Steve made no reply. Instead he looked around
him, finding familiar objects … the stove, Pitch’s pipes and can of tea, the trunks and boxes, anything at all to help him keep his mental balance.

Jay lapsed into a moment of thoughtful silence, then his hand descended roughly on Steve’s shoulder. “I’ve got it, Steve. I know exactly what we can do.” Swinging around, he sat down on the cot.

“Flick’s been pretty insistent that we just drop you and Flame off near Cuba while I join you later for the race itself. But I think that when I tell him of your grave concern for Flame’s safety he might be convinced that it’s necessary for me to remain with you. After all, it’s pretty important to us too that you don’t run into any trouble with the officials. We mustn’t start a lot of talk.

“Now near this fishing village I mentioned there are several homes that are closed tight,” Jay continued. “I’m certain they’re available for rental, and one has a small stable behind it.”

“How do you know all this?” Steve asked.

“I told you I found out early last night, Steve,” Jay answered impatiently. “Flick was agreeable to my taking the cruiser and doing a little reconnaissance. It took only a few minutes. It’ll be nothing at all in the big ship. Whiff!… and we’re there.”

Steve’s head reeled. Only a few minutes … with Cuba almost two thousand miles away! Jay was going on, unmindful of the impact of his words upon Steve.

“I’ll stay with Flame while you go to Havana and find out if this race is open to the world or isn’t. If it is, you return for Flame and race him. If it isn’t, we bring you back here. It’s all very simple, and I can’t see that anything can go wrong.”

Steve rose from the cot. “But how will we get him to Havana? He can’t walk fifty miles and then race.”

“Of course not, Steve. There you go, bothering yourself with details again! We’ll hire a truck. I’m sure there must be a number available in the village. And don’t say that we don’t have any Cuban money. I’ll attend to that. Really, Steve, in some ways you’re so much like Flick. You don’t give me any credit for …”

Jay stopped, and then added apologetically, “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, Steve. I’m very fond of you, just as I am of Flick. But I wish you would let me attend to a
few
things. I’ve really been very busy, much more so than you may think. After I got back from Cuba I went right to work on this hackamore, and I still have plenty to do. I must make a blanket for Flame, Steve. I won’t have him uncovered while he’s hot.”

Jumping nimbly to his feet, Jay patted the boy’s shoulder. “You relax now, Steve, and leave all the details to me. You’ll have plenty to do just seeing to it that Flame runs the best race he can. Oh, I do hope he doesn’t let us down!”

Jay started for the ledge, stopped and said, “We’ll leave
tomorrow at sunset
, Steve. It’s very important that you be not a minute late. We’ll glow a bit coming in even though it is only a skip. Don’t fail me now.”

After Jay had gone Steve looked at the living, fibrous tissue of the strange hackamore. His fingers closed over it and he felt its warmth, the same warmth and trust Jay and Flick conveyed to him whenever they were near. Somehow he knew it had taken their place. He hoped they would let him keep it always.

He left the cave then, knowing what he had to do. He whistled to Flame before going down the trail, and the stallion was there to meet him when he reached the valley floor.

For a moment he let Flame smell the bitless bridle. Flame, nuzzling the long tassels of sheer thread, showed no fear of it.

When Steve slipped the bridle on him the fibers seemed to shorten, causing the bridle to fit snugly about Flame’s small head. But the golden tassels, hanging below and on either side of his large nostrils, remained their original length. Steve led Flame back to the trail and, after mounting, drew up the reins.

He sat quietly on Flame’s back, and the stallion made no move. Then Steve leaned forward, whispering. He looked down the valley at the long stretch before them. He waited and Flame waited too. Both were tense and eager to go. Eyes were straight ahead. Flame’s ears were pricked. The waiting became harder but neither moved. Muscles were strained almost to the breaking point. Then, just as the first rays of the morning sun struck the dome of Azul Island, came the unleashing, the end of waiting.

“Go!”
called Steve, and on either side of them raced the horses of the world.

Sunset the following day came swiftly to Steve Duncan, and now he stood beside his horse in the great sea chamber. He looked at the soft flow of water in the narrow canal as it rocked the launch quietly against the aged wooden piles. Even the sea was encouraging him to leave, for most days the canal was white with salty foam from great waves crashing against the outer wall before finding their way inside. How often he and Pitch had awaited just such a calm sea as this before undertaking the perilous passage through the coral rock!

Steve whispered to his horse but made no effort to lead him down the wide planks. Flame wore his hackamore and the long tassels seemed alive when he tossed his head, snorting at the launch. If it had not been for the hackamore, Steve might have believed that Jay and Flick had never been, that he could not be leaving Azul Island with Flame! He had not seen Jay since the early morning visit of the day before.

It was almost sunset. They had better be on their
way quickly and yet … Steve did not move and the seconds passed, long seconds filled with dread and doubts and yet wonderful dreams as well. He felt the lines of the bitless bridle contract in the palms of his perspiring hands, becoming as light as the sheerest thread yet heavy in their lifelike throbbing.

He knew what he was about to do, and that he had no
earthly
right to be doing it. Soon he and Flame would be passengers aboard that ship from outer space. It was all so fantastic, so incredible … but all so true. As true and real as his standing there beside Flame. And he was about to go of his own free will. That too was true.