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I’m not sure he can ride one at the saallops

One of the buyers mutters my name to the other and Mutt leans toward them to ask, "What’s that?"

"Kendrick The name sounds familiar"

Mutt looks at e Holly’s s in the race, too?" asks a buyer I nod

"On the red stallion," Holly tells him "The one you saw earlier"

Theyin the races

Mutt sets his jaw I don’t think he even remembers Edana’s name He has yet to ride her

I know this is where I, in the employ of the Malverns, am meant to step in and be helpful and humble, to save Mutt’s face It’s what I’ve done for most of my life, and I can feel on ood The words that will remind the clients of my relative hierarchy in the Malvern Yard

But instead, I say, "I’ve chosen the bay mare with the white blaze, Edana, for hioodcoiled and repugnant in Mutt’s posture as he fixes his gaze on lances as Holly rocks on his heels

I can see erous

Miracle shies at nothing in particular, dancing in place Her hooves clatter and echo across the stones I turn to Mutt I i beneath the water instead of Fundarasp Beneath hooves inShall we take your fillies out, then?"

Mutt turns Sweeter without a word

The gallop is seven furlongs, nearly a ht as an arrow The horses are spirited as they step onto it, knohat is coaze on me, and when I meet it, his mouth twists This was not meant to be a race between Miracle and Sweeter, but I see now that there’s no way that it won’t be

Sweeter leaps out Miracle is only athe pale gallop, its surface striped with blue shadows The air screams by my ears, cold and painful The shadows are so heavy that both filliesinvisible hurdles

Mutt glances over at ht on hie down the track Speedwise, I know the fillies are evenlyis how fast your horse is I’ve been on this gallop hundreds of times on hundreds of horses, and I knohere the incline starts, I knohere the ground is soft by the rail, and I knohere the horses slow and stare at the tractor parked near the road I know everything there is to know about Miracle, too, how she likes to run herself out if you don’t keep her in check, howup the incline, hoave my crop just a bit to keep her attention on the task at hand and not the tractor

All Mutt knows is how to beat the hell out of his

I know I should hold Miracle back I know I should let Mutt and Sweeter finish first

I feel the buyers’ eyes on me

I lean forward and whisper to Miracle Her ear tips back at me, and I release the reins

It’s not even a contest

Miracle pulls away froths, four, not even breathing that hard Mutt is bogged down soround near the rail, Sweeter slow and inattentive

I turn around, standing in my stirrups, and salute Mutt Malvern with

"Not a jockey?" Holly says to me as I walk Miracle back into the yard

"Just a horse lover," I reply

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

PUCK