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Eight ti in ley’s lead and lets out a long breath "Hi, Dad"
Mr Goodwin goes on, "Why aren’t you answering your cell--" He stops Takes one look at my red hair, freckled skin, and short, jockey-sized body, and then his eyes groide "Are you Danny Barrow’s kid?"
"Yes Savannah Barrow"
Jack furrows his eyebrows "You’re the new grooh his hair "Can I see you in my office, son?"
"Yes, sir Savannah, can I catch up with you later? Maybe we could--"
"Jack Now," Mr Goodwin says
Jack ties Wrigley to a hitching post, his voice changing from casual to super serious "Nice to meet you, Savannah If you’ll excuse me" Then he disappears inside the house with his father and the three hounds at his ankles
I gently pat Wrigley’s muzzle, as I stare up at the white rooures
The Tryout
On ear, I skirt the stone wall that doubles as a fence bordering the property Mom once told me, "They call them slave walls" It had e so un-PC, but when I confronted her, she said, "We can ignore history or we can learn froive to hear her voice now
She died when I was eleven after having been diagnosed with breast cancer the year before It was stage four by the tiht hard We didn’t have insurance, so we couldn’t afford the medical bills that skyrocketed to over 200K Then Mom was suddenly buried…and Dad was buried under a mountain of debt And without her, roo than the racehorses theive a crap that his employees didn’t have insurance, and he worked his horses into the ground, racing them when they were injured with stress fractures or worse
Shortly after my mother died, Dad said he needed ic ever since her first foal had been weaned Mr Cates didn’t care that the horse was sad, but I did I told ain
I rubbed the mare’s nose and searched her eyes "I kno it feels to lose so Moonshadow nearly every day, and she taughtI aot to know her, I told her all onna end up working for e like him I want more"
Back in Charles Town, Dad spent 99 percent of his tied that habit one bit So I figure he must be in Greenbriar, where the Goodwins’ best horses live It’s the fanciest barn I’ve ever seen; it has a digital contraption that keeps flies and mosquitoes at bay and classicalout loud
After grabbing hby two of the smaller barns The Goodwins own about forty horses, but they have enough barn space to house over 1,200 Apparently theystalls (studio aparthbred owners who use the Goodwin practice tracks to get ready for the real races on weekends Mr Goodwin keeps plenty of people on staff--veterinarians, farriers (blacksrooers
I arrive in front of Greenbriar to find Dad and a bunch of guys sitting in lawn chairs
"What a bunch of lazy asses"
Dad juh atI bury rass and leather and hay My dad’s only thirty-six, and his height er
When I pull away, I bounce on roup "Is Gael around?"
"Gael? What do you need hi--"
That’s when this douche of a jockey co out of Greenbriar Bryant Townsend is 5’1"--an inch taller than et the horse, Barrow Coestures with his pelvis What an ass Dad looks like he ht kill Bryant, but I hold him back--I can handle myself
"Tell uys say, laughing
"You’re all fired," Dad says He waves an ar horses and trucks, ignoring ives ie, and I duck away "Not the hair!" It takes forever to bind my red curls in a French braid
It doesn’t surprise room--he knohen to be strict, but most of the time he’s relaxed, which keeps his staff relaxed, which ultimately keeps the horses calm And he knows more about horses than anyone I know I completely understand why Mr Goodwin snatched him away from Charles Town
"So how about some lunch?" Dad asks
"Can you help me find Gael first?"
"We shouldn’t waste his tiet a job here, Dad?"
He inclines his head, set your hopes up They got some of the best exercise boys I’ve ever seen"
Exercise riderssuper-fast horses their daily workouts It’s way abovehorses, I can as station after high school
So watch out Cedar Hill--here I co a yearling’s hoof Dad told me he’s a former jockey from Spain He’s tiny, but he could still beat the crap out of uys on this farlance at loves out ofout today"
"Says who?" Gael asks