Riding For Hope

Chapter 1

Early on a beautiful summer morning, the sparse dewdrops descended from a thin mist, the landscape still shrouded in a gray shadow. The sun was just beginning to fight the gray haze, which would soon illuminate the landscape in a red glow. In the middle of the gently sloping fields was an old farmhouse, surrounded by the silence. The farm had once been a vibrant business. Everyone in the area would have liked to associate themselves with the famous Charlie Hopkins, a renowned racehorse breeder. Hopkins was able to deliver champions for generations. Every trainer, jockey, breeder or potential buyer knew Charlie Hopkins. However, the farm had lost its great glory. The large barns were once bright red and white, Hopkins colors were well maintained at the time. Every year the wood had been repainted and damage or dirty spots had always been removed immediately. In the meantime, the paint had peeled off in many places, revealing the underlying and graying wood. The long driveway, which had always been very tight with weekly mowed roadsides, now had many clumps of wild growing grass and flowers. The gravel was no longer a straight road, but a bumpy and dusty one. The past glory of the stable contrasted sharply with Charlie Hopkins' pride. Although the world had turned its back on him, the old man held his head high. The great and famous Charlie Hopkins, loved and feared on and around the racetrack, had fallen ill three years ago. When the cancer diagnosis was barely made known, his whole environment had abandonned him. As if he were contagious, people were running away from him. Life on and around the racetrack had always been tough. Charlie's poor prognosis had made people anxious about their own future. Charlie had known his health would impact his business. That it would have gone so fast had surprised and even exasperated him. Charlie Hopkins was abandoned and betrayed. His jockeys and trainers started looking for their careers elsewhere, buyers suddenly placed lower bids on Charlie's horses. Hopkins was and remained a proud man, but without jockeys to bring out his horses or grooms to take care of them, he quickly ran into trouble. His hospital bills had to be paid and soon he was forced to start selling his horses. Yet Charlie was still there and horses were still running in his yard. He had to fight to make ends meet, but Charlie held his own. After months of desperation, help had suddenly come from an unexpected source. When the help arrived, Charlie had stopped all sales and threw himself into his new opportunity in good spirits.

An alarm sounded through the small farmhouse. Sarah wearily pushed off her alarm clock. Yawning, she got up from her bed. It got very hot in California during the day, so she was forced to start early in the summer. In the meantime she was used to the heat, but getting up so early was difficult for her. In the bathroom she stared out the old and cracked window at the sunrise. A sight that she'd never get used to either. She tucked her blonde hair into a messy ponytail and went downstairs. In the kitchen, Charlie Hopkins handed her a plate. She smiled at her grandfather as she began to eat her toast. She knew that Charlie no longer slept, three years after his diagnosis the man was in a lot of pain. Too much pain to sleep, Sarah knew. Charlie, however, was a proud man and pretended nothing was wrong. He had lived longer than doctors predicted and that was proof to him that doctors knew nothing. Charlie watched Sarah eat her toast. Sarah had arrived to his farm three years ago, straight from school and with the world at her feet. He hadn't recognized her at first, but her gray-blue eyes were just like his. After an argument with his son, he hadn't seen Sarah in fifteen years. After his diagnosis, Charlie had been unable to call his son t first. When his "loyal" co-workers dropped him one by one, however, Charlie had been on the border of depression. Selling his horses at too low prices seriously affected him. His life's work was taken from him and in a moment of weakness he had called his son to tell him his diagnosis. Henry Hopkins had responded rather coldly on the phone. His daughter, however, was of a completely different opinion. After an argument with her own father, she had gathered up her things and booked a last-minute flight to California. 

"Joey is here." Charlie proclaimed and Sarah frowned. Her eyes moved to the window behind her grandfather, where she saw an old pickup truck turning up the driveway. "My eyes are getting worse, but my ears are only getting better." Charlie explained and Sarah snorted, "I doubt that." Her grandfather smiled, "It's five o'clock," he said, pointing to the clock behind Sarah. "And Joey is always on time!" Sarah grinned and had another quick sip of coffee before running outside. "Hi Joey!" she called to the boy who had gotten out of the pickup. Joey, who had just greeted the dog, looked up. His dark hair shone in the morning sun. His slightly uneven but snow-white teeth bared as he smiled at Sarah. Joey was the only one who hadn't abandoned Charlie. Twenty years earlier, when Joey was only eight years old, his parents had died in a car accident. The boy had no other family and since his father had worked for Charlie, Charlie felt responsible. He had taken the boy in and had not regretted it for a moment. When Joey turned 20 he had bought a small house in the village, where he now lived. Although he had moved out of Charlie's house, he had never stopped working for Charlie. "Ready to get started?" he asked, and Sarah rolled her eyes. Joey gave the dog one last pat and followed Sarah to the stable. Her brief response no longer surprised him. Although he had lived with Charlie as a child, he had first met Sarah when she had moved to California three years ago. After Charlie told him that his granddaughter was coming to help him and so it was not necessary for Joey to come back to live with him, Joey expected she would take care of Charlie most of all. When Joey had seen her step out of the taxi, in high heels and with her perfectly styled haircut, he had been further convinced of that. Although he could hardly have averted his eyes from her the first moment he saw her, that had soon turned. Sarah had had wild plans to convert Charlie's stable into a jumping stable. She had absolutely nothing to do with racehorses, her own strong opinion about everything and had seemed to want to make as few friends as possible. Only with Charlie was that different. Still, she had immediately decided to come to his aid. Her father had protested and Sarah had accused him of not knowing her grandfather because of him. She was still a stubborn hothead, but Charlie was just as stubborn. Strangely, this had calmed Sarah down towards her grandfather over the years. This had made Joey tolerate her better. His respect for her had grown as he watched her adjust. How, despite her aversion to horse racing, she started to shorten her stirrups. She followed Charlie's advice and became a jockey, trainer and groom for her grandfather. Joey followed Sarah into the stable and asked her who she was going to ride today. "Inyanga and Cornflake," Sarah replied with a characteristic determined undertone in her voice that slightly frightened Joey. Sarah may have won his respect, but she remained a very special girl. Joey brought the horses outside to their stable while Sarah began to saddle Inyanga . "Ready?" Joey asked when he was done putting horses inside. Sarah had warmed Inyanga by now and snorted. "Me? Of course, you are the one who is slow today! " she snapped at him. Joey walked silently to his regular spot at the racecourse, he'd learned it was better to leave Sarah alone when she was having a bad day. Hopefully Inyanga did well and the rest of the day got a bit more enjoyable. "Okay" he called and Sarah, who had trotted back a little with Inyanga, turned again. Today was the first time she would do a real speed training and both Joey and Sarah were very curious about what this little filly had to offer. Every year they brought their foals to auction. This was necessary to get money in. They only released the foals that were not sold at the auction onto the racetrack, in the hope that they would be picked up from there. In Inyanga's case, they might as well not have taken her to the auction. Even for a mare, the foal was remarkably small. The chances of her reaching high speed were slim. When the dark foal with the broad white blaze was born, Charlie had shaken his head in disapprovement. Cornflake, the other two-year-old had had a greatly overbuilt shoulder when they went to the auction. The only offer that came had been so low that Charlie had gotten angry and taken his foal away from the auction. However, Inyanga had passed her training well so far. She had always been very willing to work and soon became Sarah's favorite horse ever. She had gotten all the times she should have and today Sarah wanted to know how fast the little thing could be. She started the horse in a gallop and let her accelerate. They passed the first pole on the training track and Sarah spurred the animal on. Inyanga, apparently waiting for this, accelerated and continued to accelerate. To the side, Joey's jaw dropped as he watched the young animal sprint across the track. He wondered if Sarah could feel her speed. The mare's short legs took increasing strides and Inyanga stretched as far as she could. Her hooves barely seemed to touch the sand. Joey's heart pounded in his throat as he followed the horse across the track. Inyanga flew, her hooves touching the bottom so softly that Joey wondered where she got the speed from. Sarah made it to the half mile mark and Joey hit his stopwatch. As Sarah let Inyanga slow down, Joey stared in disbelief at the time he held in his hand. Sarah would soon be much better disposed, he knew. They would soon get the young animal used to the starting gates, he foresaw no problems with this. Inyanga had cooperated so well with everything. This little filly would soon start to amaze people, he was sure. Finally, Charlie Hopkins would be okay.