• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Bad lady has a bad feeling, I think to myself as I pin my credentials to my down jacket and walk toward the receiving barns. Not even the smells and sounds of the backside can do much to improve my bleak state of mind. I’ll probably feel better once I lay eyes on Attila and assure myself he’s in one piece. Maybe I’ll even relax and enjoy some races.

I reach the receiving barn and begin walking down the aisle, looking for Jack Valentine. It’s slightly embarrassing because there are so many bay horses that I stop in front of a few different stalls mistaking their inhabitants for Jack. I go all the way down the aisle before finally seeing a long bay face that looks intensely familiar. My recognizing the big gelding is aided by the fact that Violet Kravitz is standing at Jack’s side.

“Ruby!” Violet smiles but it’s a sad smile, still clouded by the day’s events. She comes out of Jack’s stall.

“Hi, Violet.” I find myself hugging her which is surprising because I’m not a big hugger. I try but I grew up in a family where demonstrativeness was reserved for animals. As a result, my sister and I are slightly hug-shy.

“I’m sorry about what happened this morning,” I tell Violet.

“Yes. It’s tragic.” Her lovely pale eyes are a world of sadness. “I’m very thankful that you’ve come though, Ruby. It helps.”

I have no idea how my being here could help anything but I’m pleased that she feels this way.

“Attila is quite glum. I’ll understand if you need to keep your distance from him, but I’d bet it would cheer him considerably to lay eyes on you.”

I doubt that. I shrug.

“Where is he?” I ask casually.

“I think he’s in the grandstands,” Violet motions in the direction of the track. “He likes to do that sometimes before going into the jockeys’ room. I think it centers him to sit gazing out at the track.”

“Oh,” I say, feeling slightly miffed. This is yet another thing Attila never told me about.

“Well, maybe I’ll go look for him,” I tell Violet.

“I think you have someone to say hello to first,” the lady says, indicating Jack Valentine who has his head hanging over his stall guard and is staring at me intently.

The horse looks like an eager puppy. I walk over and extend my palm for him to lick. He does this slowly and thoroughly. With my free hand I scratch between his ears. Violet stands to the side, beaming, as if she’d made him herself.

For a few lovely moments time stands still and I am utterly transfixed by the horse. Reality intrudes eventually. I tell Violet I’ll see her after Jack’s race. For a moment she looks forlorn. Then she nods, and turns to forage for something in a trunk she has sitting in front of Jack’s stall.

THE WIND IS ANGRY as I head into the grandstands to try finding Attila. Or maybe it’s just me. The grandstands are almost entirely empty. I see just one old man in a down jacket, staring at the tote board.

I go back inside and over into the clubhouse. It’s not exactly packed but the heat has been cranked and it’s toasty, almost homey in here. I wave at Johnny my favorite teller. Johnny’s a sad soul. We talk sometimes and he always asks me about myself but rarely reveals anything about himself. I nearly fell over when he told me he was once a jockey. I don’t know why. I guess I expect retired jockeys to do something more glamorous than being a teller. But for most of them, once their riding career is over, there aren’t that many options. A few go on to work for trainers or become trainers themselves. Some become jockey agents. Others end up selling real estate or drinking the rest of their days away. I guess being a teller makes sense. I’ve even met a few down-on-their-luck trainers who hold teller jobs for a while till things pick up. I wonder momentarily if I should become a teller, but then I remember that I don’t like handling money.

I walk by Nathan’s where the first batches of fries are just getting cooked. The clubhouse feels cheerful as the fans start filing in and the place comes to life. It’s forty minutes to post time for the first race. Attila has to go to the jockeys’ room soon