Willow Smoke (40 page)

Daisy
fought
back
the
tears
that
had
flowed
for the past twenty minutes
or so, ever
since
she’d
watched
RainbowBlaze
take
a
bad
step
during
a
race
over
the
turf
course.
She,
Nick,
Sam
Gallagher,
Cassie
Travers, and a
groom stared at the
mare
munching
on
grass
near
their
barn.
Rainbow
refused
to
put
weight
on
her
left
front
leg. It wasn’t broken, but they
didn’t
need
a
vet
to
tell
them
that
she
had
a
severely
bowed
tendon.

Nor
did
they
need
a
vet
to
tell
them
that
RainbowBlaze
would
never
race
again.

Arms crossed, Sam
Gallagher shook his head. “It’s a damn shame. But it
happens.
A
bad
step.
She
could
have
broken
her
leg.
Guess
we’re
lucky,
really.”

Daisy
nodded
through
blurred
tears.
They
were
lucky. If the leg had broken, they
would
have
had
to
put
RainbowBlaze
down.
Daisy
shuddered
at
the
thought.
Nick
again
placed
his
arm
around
her
shoulders
giving
comfort. What would she do if it
weren’t
for
him
and
her
friends?

She
never
cried.
Not
like
this.
It
was
like
there
was
a
leak
in
some
hidden
pool
inside
her
body
and
the
entire
pool
was
draining.
She
kicked
at
the
dirt,
angry
both
at
what
had
happened
to
Rainbow
and
at
her
inability
to
control
her
emotions.

She’d
never
let
people
see
her
like
this.

“When
RainbowBlaze
is
ready
and
when
you’re
ready,”
Cassie
said,
looking
at
Daisy,
“we
can
trailer
her
back
to
our
farm.
She
can
recuperate
there.
She’ll
welcome
the
rest.”

Again
Daisy
nodded.
Had
the
tears
drained
her
of her power of speech? “I know,”
she
managed
to
blubber.
“Oh,
shit.”
She
turned
and
buried
her
face
against
Nick’s
chest.

“It’s
going
to
be
okay,”
he
said,
rubbing
her
neck
and
shoulders.
“Sam
says
it’s
not
life threatening;
it just means her racing career is done.”

“So
now
what
are
you
going
to
do
with
her?”
she
whispered.

Nick
glanced
over
Daisy’s
shoulder
at
Cassie
and
curled
his
lips into a hint of a smile.
“Not
me,
partner.
What
will
we
do
with
her?
She’s
a
female.
Can’t
she
have
babies?”

Daisy
stilled,
then
pulled
abruptly
away
from
him.
She
whirled
and
looked
at
Cassie
for
confirmation.

“We’d
have
to
test
her
to
determine
whether
she
can
get
pregnant,”
Cassie
cautioned.
“But
she
certainly
has
the
pedigree
and
racing
record
that
would
suggest
she’d
be
a
fine
broodmare,
if
that’s
what
you
want.
There’s
always
enough
room at our place for a decent broodmare prospect.”

“We
wouldn’t
have
to
sell
her?”

“I
don’t
see
why.
As
you
know,
Daisy,
it
takes
time
and
patience
to
develop
a
broodmare
and
to
bring
a
foal
from
a
weanling
to
be
a
runner.
But
why
not?”

Daisy
looked
inquisitively
at
Nick.

“Why
not?”
he
agreed.
“All
that
studying
of
bloodlines
you’ve
been
foisting
upon
me
may
prove
valuable
after
all.
What
do
you
say,
partner?
Should
we
be
planning
a
meeting
between
our
gal
and
some
lucky
stud?”

Smiling
broadly,
Daisy
nodded
and
stabbed
at
the
tears
with
the
back
of
her
hand.
“Why
not?
If
Rainbow
can
be
as
successful
at
being
a
mom
as
she
has
been
on
the
track,
she
should
produce
some
very competitive foals.”

Her
equilibrium
returned.
Things
would
work
out.
Not
the
way
she’d
expected,
b
ut
they
would
work
out.
“I’m
going
to
brush
her
down,”
she
said
to
Cassie.
“Then
we
can load her for the trip to the
farm.
She’ll
enjoy
being
back
there.”

Two
days
later,
Daisy
and
Nick
visited
their
broodmare prospect at the
Travis
farm.
RainbowBlaze
hobbled
about
in
a
large
paddock.
Her
leg
was
wrapped
under
the
guidance
of
an
excellent
veterinarian
who
predicted
that
the
mare
would
recover
quite
nicely—and
that
while
the
tendon
would
never
be
strong
enough
to
support
a
racing
career,
it
shouldn’t
prove
a
problem
in
the
breeding
shed
or
in
the
horse’s
role as broodmare.

RainbowBlaze
came
to
the
gate
and
whinnied
softly.
Daisy
reached
into
her
pocket
for
some
carrots.
“You’re
gonna
be
a
bigger
mooch
than
ever,
Rainbow.”

Leaning
against
the
gate,
Nick
said,
“I
wonder
who
taught
our
girl
that.”

Daisy
jabbed
him
with
her
elbow.
“It’s
part
of
raising
the
foal.
They
need
to
know
that they’re cared for.”

“I’d
guess
Blaze
knows
that
all
right.
I’m
really
quite
excited
about
her
broodmare
career.”

“Hopefully,
she’ll
be
ready
to
breed
by
next
spring.
If
she
had
to
have
a
career-ending
injury,
this
wasn’t
bad
timing.
It
takes months to come down from the
intensity
and
competition
of
the
track
to
improve
the
odds
of
settling
in
a
pregnancy.”