"Hey, change the station," Wes complained. "Some of us aren't completely tone-deaf, you know."
I shot Jack a victorious look as I leaned forwards to toggle the radio until it swapped to a country station.
"I don't know how y'all don't like Led Keff-"
"Zepplin," I corrected with a grin.
"And quite easily," Wes chimed in from the backseat, accepting a high-five from me.
A colicky horse had held back Willifred, and Mr. Piperson wasn't heading up to Churchill Downs for another week, so it was only the "kids" that drove the priceless Thoroughbreds to the track, Lilac and Ned in one truck and Jack, Wes and I in the next. For once, BD had been voted the saner horse and loaded with Goodie, while Spain rattled belligerently in the trailer behind us.
"We should've aced him," Wes muttered as the truck lurched.
Jack snorted as he corrected the steering wheel, not caring if he rattled the horse at all. "That would've gone over well with the officials."
"Two strikes and you're out, I guess," Wes added bitterly. Jack and I had no response to that, so we drove on in relative silence until the famed racetrack came into sight, fighting back yawns.
Evening was beginning to dust the sky with gold and black by the time we reached Churchill Downs. Silhouetted by sunset, it looked more temple than track. The silence became reverent rather than awkward as Ned and Lilac pulled in front of us to the guardgate.
"I'm nervous," Wes suddenly confessed. "We- my parents- have never gotten this far with a horse before. Are you?"
"Yes," I said immediately.
"I don't really get nervous," Jack admitted. When I smacked him on the shoulder, he shot me a glare. Not a mean one. "No, really. I don't see the point in it. I'm racing either way, so why be nervous?"
"It also helps that you don't really stand a chance," Wes observed. There was something in her voice that reminded me of Jack's glare- not mean, really. Just a statement. "It's worse if you do, because you have all the more to lose.
Jack and I exchanged glances as the truck lurched forwards again, partly because Spain let out a blood-curdling scream and partly because of Wes. She was right, in a way. BD hadn't touched a single hoof to the track since the Santa Anita, and though he was perkier, the steadiness of Lilac's trailer in front of us proved he wasn't one-hundred percent yet.
I looked away from Jack as the guard ushered Lilac and Ned, and then us, through. "We'll just have to see."
We drove on, and the track unfolded before us. Green shedrows, trimmed grass, evenly cut shrubbery. No horses. "Where is everybody?" I asked, pressing my nose to the glass. "The reporters and stuff? Trainers and jockeys?"
"It's Sunday night," Jack said flatly, steering carefully behind Lilac and Ned. "Be here bright and early, tomorrow morning, and try again. Believe me, you'll be longing for the quiet."
I believed him. I also rolled the window down. There was something comforting about the drowsy heat, the occasional whinny and glint of golden sunlight against stable roofs. This was the Kentucky I loved, the kind I couldn't find in California.
As usual, a sharp pang, but it was more sweet than bitter. I was healing, well and truly.
"It's a good thing the reporters aren't here anyways," Wes added. "We're not exactly arriving in style."
"True." Goodie was the only horse tolerable enough to put a cooler on, a nice purple-and-blue with his owner's stable name monogrammed onto it. BD had balked at the sight of his Piperson colors, and Wes and her parents weren't dumb enough to even try it with Spain. Neither did they travel in large semi-trucks, which was a common route for racehorses to take.
Jack pulling up the brake dragged me from my thoughts. "It's time to get this beast unloaded. Anna, you do you but send Ned over to help. Between my leg and Wes's shortness-"
"Excuse you," Wes said, but she was kind of short. I punched the door open before the bickering could begin, making my way towards Lilac and Ned as they climbed from their truck.
"Anna!" Lilac's smile brightened the dusky sky. "How was your ride? Did you and Jack throw water on the witch? Hopefully melt her and her horse?"
I gestured at Ned to join Jack and Wes as they dealt with Demon Horse before narrowing my eyes at her. "Wes really isn't that bad, Li. I'd wish you'd give each other a chance."
"Anna, I promise you, I've tried," Lilac responded easily, turning to fiddle with the trailer door. Somebody stomped inside, rocking it. "She's only mean as long as she sees you as a threat. Right now, you're not. But if this time next week, your horse beats hers.... I'd stay away. Okay?"
The door fell, revealing two muscular Thoroughbred hind ends. In the darkness, the only way I could tell BD and Goodie apart was from the cotton cooler that swished softly as Goodie stepped backwards, preparing to unload. "Just a moment boy," Lilac murmured, turning her bright eyes towards me. "Anna. Promise me you won't get hurt."
I stared back at her for a moment, kind of mad and kind of sad. My lip twisted with unsaid words, but I nodded. "Fine."
Seemingly satisfied, she returned to Goodie and unhooked him from the trailer. He backed easily out, shaking his head as he did so. Then it was BD's turn.
His dark, dark gaze fell upon me as I climbed into the trailer, looking a little impatient but not tired from the long drive. "I'm here, buddy," I said, yanking on the slipknot. It came undone, and Lilac lowered the butt bar that kept him from backing out.
With that gone, I guided BD backwards. He stepped easily, pausing once to whinny. It rang across the track in the murky evening, deep and powerful. But a little bewildered. A small part of me suddenly acknowledged that, really, Bloodless Day was only a three year old. He was just a baby.
What are we doing here?
But then the moment passed and he slipped from the trailer, stepping onto Churchill Downs.
*****
"Nervous?"
BD and I were standing quietly in his stall, trying not to let the activity of the day get to us. Reporters had been popping in and out of the shedrows all morning, dying to get the scoop on the next winner. It rattled me. Somehow, I'd forgotten that this race was important to the whole nation, not just BD. But now I remembered.
"Why is everybody asking that?" I snapped, dropping my brush as Lilac exploded over the wall. BD practically sat down in astonishment, then let out an insulted snort and struck out at the door with a newly-shod hoof.
"Because the race is in three hours and I'm about to lose my mind," Lilac shot back. Her hands were shaking. "I can't go near Goodie right now. If he sees how nervous I am, he'll lose."
"If that's your issue, get away from BD!"
Lilac managed a smirk, though it slipped off her face almost immediately. "He doesn't care about my opinion. Look."
This was true. I was nervous, but not shaking like Lilac. BD knew something was up. He snorted at me and shifted his weight from side to side, but he wasn't a wreck like Lilac. "I guess you're-"
"Is this Bloodless Day?" A new voice interrupted me and startled BD again. He shunted backwards, ears forwards. I sighed. Reporters had been coming by all day, and it was getting old.
"Yes," I said dryly. "Bloodless Day, by DoomsDay, 12-1 odds..." This should've bothered me more than it did. Compared to some other horses in the field, they were rather favoring, though not the best. I'd heard Dad placed a twenty dollar bet, which was reassuring.
"Oh, I know all that." This reporter was a male, the third of which I'd seen today. His smile was bigger than the notebook he palmed, and his hair was as dark as BD. He contrasted nicely next to Lilac, who was light and unsteady against the stall door. "I just asked because the last thing I expected to see next to him was So Far So Good's jockey."
Lilac and I shot each other questioning glances. Finally Lilac answered. "Bloodless Day is my family horse. I have just as much interest vested in him winning as I do Goodi- So Far So Good."
"Interesting." He made a note, eyebrows kinked. "Some would say that you have more of an interest in Bloodless Day winning than So Far So Good."
The jockey flushed. "If you're starting that shit again, you have another thing coming. I didn't throw the race- Bloodless Day did. He ran himself half to death, running at his top speed from start to finish. I'm not going to destroy So Far So Good to win when he's already qualified. None of my horses should have run the Santa Anita."
BD slowly came up next to me, ears flickering everywhere at the sound of pencil scribbling. I caught the way his eyes darkened at the reporter and placed a warning hand on his shoulder, pressing my fingers into his skin. He shivered.
"So, Bloodless Day ran himself half to death? Is that what you're saying? Do you think he stands a chance now?"
Lilac hesitated, and her gaze met mine. "I don't know," she answered. "Anna here is the one who would."
The reporter shot a surprised glance at me. He'd forgotten I was there; who cares about the groom when there's drama with the jockeys?
"So, er, Anna..." he waited a moment for a last name and didn't receive one. "What do you think are Bloodless Day's odds?"
"He's here, isn't he?" I asked coolly. Lilac chose that moment to disappear. Traitor. "I'd say that's good enough."
The reporter nodded, made a note, and checked something on a different page. "And you say he drew post eight?"
I hadn't said, but I nodded.
"And how do you feel about that?"
"It's our lucky number," I about snapped. It wasn't. We didn't have one. But I wanted to spend these last moments alone with BD before the eyes of the world spun onto him. He was only hours away from becoming either a legend or another has-been, and I couldn't decide which was more unsettling. What had we done to deserve this?
"What do we have here?" At Willifred's familiar voice, BD and I both relaxed. "Are you disturbing the horse?"
"Just an interview. You're the trainer?"
"Only on paper. That little girl in the stall did everything for that horse, but we're not open for interviews. If you want drama, go talk to Bloody Murder's team. They're perfectly happy to talk hogswash."
The reporter's mouth worked for a few moments, but he had no comeback for that. "All right," he finally said, and retreated. Almost immediately Willifred's face replaced it.
"You okay there?"
"He wasn't... doing anything wrong," I replied weakly. BD dropped his nose into my palm and whuffled. Hot air whooshed across it, somewhat comforting me. Willifred's eyebrows beetled as he stared at me, and then BD.
"No, but you don't need the added distraction. Get your horse ready- it's almost post time."
Twenty minutes later found us in the saddling ring. Reporters swarmed every single racehorse- Albaron, Pioneering Flight, Getcha Getcha Getcha, So Far So Good, Rocket Launcher, Bloodless Day, Maronini, CZ Speed Trap, Bloody Murder. All were big, bigger than life, and BD and I were tiny imposters. I'd been riding for a year and a half. BD still had a piece of hay stuck in his forelock. What on earth were we doing here? The world was watching.
I pulled the hay from his forelock and smoothed down my groom's uniform- a pair of jeans and a large vest with the number 8 emblazoned on it, BD's gate number. As I swung the saddle onto his back, he threw his head, eyes wide. He knew it was a big race, now that there was no hiding it. And he wanted to run.
"Steady," I whispered lowly, though my heart was already galloping faster than any Thoroughbred could. Willifred gestured to me as I reached under to tighten the girth, checking and then double checking, and then triple checking it. Willifred gestured at me.
"Come on, it's time to walk."
My heart doubled it's speed. I couldn't breathe. But BD definitely could- he charged forwards, nostrils distended as wide as they could go as he sucked in a breath and expelled it in a roaring snort. For a moment he was shoving me, but then he settled into the same smooth, bobbing motion every horse but Spain adopted.
The day was absolutely gorgeous- clouds dappled the sky, occasionally cracking to let golden sunlight seep onto the track. It had only lightly rained that week, so the track was not muddy but it wasn't dusty either. People had come in droves to watch the equine equivalent of royalty run, and everywhere I looked revealed a hat more ridiculous than the last.
And then Jack was there, and I looked at him, and his face was white.
"Riders up!"
As he boosted himself into BD's back, I accused him of being a liar. "You do get nervous!"
Color rushed to his face as he laughed and I dropped BD's halter from his face. Before they could turn away, onto the track, I grabbed the stallion's head and tilted it to face me. "BD," I said seriously. His ears, which had been swiveling everywhere, suddenly honed in on me. "This is the biggest race of your life. No pressure or anything. But remember that this is what you do, better than all those other horses. We fought to get here, and you're going to have to finish this fight."
His eyes hardened, suddenly, and I knew he understood. Impulsively I planted a kiss on his nose, cameras popping in the background, and released him. Jack tilted his crop to me as he turned BD away, and they were no longer Jack and BD, my wonderful friends. They were Bloodless Day and his jockey, and they were riding into the biggest race of their lives.
Willifred's hand fell onto my shoulder as I swallowed. "We've done all we could. Now it's up to the horse."
Maybe that was the scariest part of racing- you could prepare all you want, fight to get where you were, but at the end of it all, it was up to the horse. Maybe that was supposed to scare me. But my stomach settled and I breathed an easy sigh.
Bloodless Day wanted to win. Victory ran in his veins as surely as blood did. He'd never known defeat, and he wasn't about to try it on and see how it fit.
I looked up at the trainer. "If we have to rely on that horse, then we're going to be okay."
Ceremony commenced. Somehow I found my way at the railing, and Wes was next to me. All the adults were in their boxes, but we knew better. "Nervous?" I asked.
"I should be. But the only horse who's ever beaten Spain is yours. I think it's time for a trade."
I glanced at her, but her eyes were unreadable behind her dark hair. The last notes 'My Old Kentucky Home'' hung in the air. The birds stopped singing. The clouds condensed over the track, watching intently, darkening it with their shadow.
The world took a breath.
The gates opened.
*****
AIIEEEE TODAY IS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF BLOODLESS DAY
"And she's posting a new chapter at one in the morning despite needing to be awake in less than five hours in honor of this and for her dear, dear readers. Alyx is so wonderful."
Actually, no. I just got home. Want to know why I was out so late? Because I was driving somebody ELSE home. Wanna know why I was so late? BECAUSE SHE DIDNT KNOW WHERE SHE FCKIN LIVES.
But, alas.
Enjoy the chapter!
Also, as some of you may have noticed??? I'm starting a new story called 'Bronze' shortly. Anybody care to guess what discipline it's based off of? ;)
Goodnight!