Page 7 (1/2)

We’re at the barns at River Downs in Cincinnati, and the races start in a couple hours Dad is standing off to the side, looking worried I ignore hiloves and pull a deep breath as Rory leads Star toward h tarm-up laps and one at a full breeze I can do this

I suck in long breaths, working to rid onna be scared, and I’ve gotta show hie

Rory stops about ten feet fro and acting skittish I charge toward Star with confidence and purpose I rub his face and he whinnies for a sec, and then he sighs and lipsso he will be easier toto the near side to rab the horse’sover his back, and slip my feet into the stirrups Star prances in a circle and jerks away fro

"Whoa!" I say, and Star snorts "Whoa"

I cluck ue and trot onto the practice track Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Dad joins Jack, Mr Goodwin, and Gael in the clocker’s tower Jack waves and whistles, and suddenly I’m not so nervous We circle the track twice at an easy speed and then it’s tiallop Wind rushes againstforty-five miles an hour That’s well past the speed limit on the four-lane back in Franklin

"Go," I shout to Star, gripping the reins tight We fly around the track I’ the horse faster My guess is that Star starts slow but makes up his speed later, and nohen it counts "Go, Star! You got this!" Ten seconds later we cross the finish line, and I bring the colt to a jog, patting his neck and s

"Time?" I call out to Gael

Gael rubs his chin "1:40 It’s not completely terrible"

I pump my fist To hear him say it wasn’t complete shit must mean the horse did pretty well I steer Star over to the hot-walkers ring, dismount, and hand him off to Dad

"If he runs like this later today, he’ll win for sure," Dad says, stroking the colt’s et hiet up on tiptoes to kiss et the job?"

"I’d wait until after the race to bring it up to Jack He seeht now But yeah, I’d say you’ve got the job if you want it"

I kiss Dad’s cheek again then ainst my back

I’m super excited about Star’s prospects for today but tired as hell I shouldn’t have stayed out past et up at 5:00 am for the four-hour drive I spend the next couple of hours helping Dad and Rory in the barns, feeding the six horses and lead ponies we brought with us, keeping them calm Exercise riders typically don’t help in the barns, but I don’taround horses

When it’s tio with Rory to the paddock to help put her saddle on When she’s ready, Rory goes back to the barn and I start walking Minerva in a circle Not only does this cal the race to check out the horses They get to see which horses are looking good, which ones are s, and which ones are clearly injured

Horses die every week at racetracks all over the country, and when I hear about it, I want to punch so about this sport that really pisseshorses to al I’ve heard of people who try to drug the horses’ water, but they won’t drink it So to ave horses a salt lick, so that they have no choice but to drink the drugged water It’s so sad

I keepto clean out theto coverthat sleek gray suit, a cowboy hat, and black cowboy boots My heart starts pounding and lance down at my frayed T-shirt It has a hole in it And is that a " Jack pats Minerva’s side and walks beside ot the job or not

"Thanks Star is super, super fast I don’t see how he could lose today"

"Thanks, that irl yells

I look up into the grandstands to see a brunette waving a large hat at him How ridiculous Women hardly ever wear hats unless it’s the Derby or one of the other big races

Jack ducks out of the girl’s line of sight "Oh shit"

"Jesus," I say "That hat is huge"

"Why do girls think giant hats look good?"

"Jack!" the girl yells again

"Who is that?" I ask

Jack looks physically sick "Abby Winchester I gotta escape!"

"That’s Abby Winchester?" I ask, squinting "Why is she wearing that?"

"No idea," Jack says, reh his mop of hair

"You know, I bet you could yell ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your giant hat’ and cliroans when Abby yells his naonna freak out the horses"

He gives irlfriend"

"Then what is she?" And why does he want to escape her so bad? "Does she know you ith Kelsey last night?"