Mystery Rider

Allie raked the dirt floor of the barn shedroe with a diagonal pattern. When she reached the end of the long walkway in front of her stalls, she ran the rake in the opposite direction giving the floor a nice tight crisscross pattern. It was 2 p.m. and most of the horses were settling down to afternoon naps. Clean hay and pine shavings filled the air along with Absorbine astringent. She could hear the muted slap of hoofs. Just as she made it to the end of the long corridor she saw a lone rider gallop by. He was standing in the saddle in the typical stance used on racehorses. His facial features were hidden under his racing helmet and amber goggles. Sun streaked blonde hair covered the back of his neck, stopping at his shoulders. The horse and rider did not interfere with each other. They moved as a graceful unit oblivious to the world around them. Perfection in motion. Calm. Collected. Powerful. This guy had to be pretty sure of himself to gallop horses without a shirt. His back muscles rippled she noticed. At least he wasn't daft enough to forego blue jeans, leggings and boots. For one second Allie thought this was a man she could marry. Then he was gone.

As she finished putting her tools away and checking on the horses, Cale came around the corner. He was one of the grooms who worked across the road for another trainer. He always wore the same faded red cotton shirt and jeans. Allie wondered if he had any other clothes or just bought a dozen of the same things. It seemed every time she was in trouble with a horse Cale showed up. It had gotten on her nerves more than once.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey yourself."

"You going to break for lunch?"

"Yeah."

He leaned against the doorframe of her tack room, watching her work. "Everyone is headed to Pizza Hut."

"I'm not going, Tish already asked."

"You're pretty scrawny to be working out here. You need to eat."

She bristled. The only thing you could say to really piss her off was to mention her weight problems. And he picked on her every time he saw her. It was hard enough to keep weight on a 5'8" frame that worked manual labor 7days a week. She didn't need his constant reminders of her failure.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to eat, I just don't want pizza."

He shrugged his shoulders. Tish pulled up in her pickup.

"Arrogant man," Allie muttered as he sauntered off towards the truck.

Ever since she had started grooming for Brooks Smith two months earlier, the small community of race trackers in Elgin, Texas had taken her in. She was giving up on living with humans. Her last relationship had ended badly and she was on her own, needing a fresh start. Working with the horses had brought a sense of peace to her. The work was hard, leaving no time for her to feel sorry for herself. She even had a real live mystery on her hands, trying to figure out who the mysterious rider was that galloped by her barn every afternoon without a shirt. Being the new kid on the block hadn't earned her the right to be nosey. Plus knowing Tish and the other race trackers, the minute she said anything they would start match making. It was common for trainers and grooms, jockeys and jockettes to mix and match. Left some pretty good foundations for decent fiction most of the time. Ready entertainment for the transient community as they worked from season to season on tracks all over the country. She didn't want the drama.

Her favorite time of the day was evening. After the horses buckets were full of cooked oats and sweet feed a quiet spread over the track. The loudest noise in the barn was horses munching on feed occasionally broken as one of them stomped a foot or swished tails at flies. Pine shavings and clean horse smell was addictive. The whole world was quieting down and getting simple. It would stay that way until 5 am the next morning when the horses would wake up and start nickering for their morning oats.

The next day right on cue at 2 p.m. the blonde god came by on another 2 year old. Allie noticed he was tall for a jockey. Probably one of the young trainers trying to make his fortune on the tracks. Tish showed up as he went by. She chatted a few minutes about the party that night for David Harris, one of the leading jockeys this season. It was his birthday. The grooms were bringing side dishes and rolls. The track owner was supplying bar-b-que and a keg of beer. Allie offered to bring store bought oatmeal cookies. Tish headed home to see if her brothers could bring their guitars.

When they all gathered later, Allie was amazed at how quickly the party materialized and was set up on the picnic tables in their community space between the barns. The keg was iced down in a metal horse trough. There was a plastic tablecloth on the food table, though no one could tell the pattern under the dozens of bowls of vegetables, salads and sweet stuff. One thing for sure these people knew how to eat. And laugh. Tish and Cathy, another jockette, wandered over to Allie. They grabbed white 5 gallon buckets from the wash rack and turned them upside down to sit on them, balancing paper plates on their knees.

"What are you guys doing, taking the weekend off?" Allie asked.

They looked puzzled. She motioned to their full plates of food.

Cathy laughed. "I carry lead weight in my drawers if I don't eat like this. All the galloping is not good for my boyish figure."

Tish grinned. She was lucky and usually made weight, but to watch her eat, she should weigh double. Allie sighed. Tish caught it.

"You gain any weight yet?"

"Nope."

"You should drink more beer," Cathy offered.

"Hey where's Cale?" Tish asked purposely changing the subject.

"Who cares?" Allie replied.

"What have you got against him anyway?" Cathy asked.

"He's the most arrogant man I've ever met."

"What did he do?" Cathy asked.

"The first time I saw him we were on the track, and I was on a new lead horse. He came up asked my name and in the same sentence bet me a million dollars I'd be in his truck when he moved back to Oklahoma." Allie couldn't believe she blurted out so much information. She would not be having another beer.

"He's all right. He's good with the horses." Tish said.

"Good for him. I've only got one thing against him."

"What's that? He's a man."

"Oh," Cathy said. "You prefer women?"

Allie knocked her beer over. "No."

Tish and Cathy both looked confused. She didn't want to know where their minds were going next. "I'm holding out for the guy that comes by everyday with no shirt on." Definitely time for jumping on the wagon.

Cathy started to ask another question when Tish interrupted her.

"So, if you met the guy with no shirt you might go out with us?"

"No."

"But you just said."

"I know what I said. Look, the only males I'm interested in these days are the kind with 4 legs and a tail."

"But what if you met the guy you see galloping and you like him?"

Allie shrugged. "I may go eat pizza."

"Then let's go."

"What do you mean?"

"I know where he is. He's at the end of Barn 8."

"No kidding?"

"Why would she kid about that?" Cathy asked. Then fell off her bucket backwards, her plate of food landing on top of her belly.

"Oops." Allie said. "Hope she isn't galloping in the morning. I better get her to her truck to sleep it off. Meet me over at barn 8 in about 30 minutes if you want to meet your mysterious jock." She smiled as she pulled Cathy to her feet and walked her to the truck.

Allie finished her beer and watched the night sky. Diamond sequins danced in the indigo blue night sky. The breeze was gentle and Tish's brother Donny knew his way up and down the neck of a guitar. Allie relaxed. A person could get used to the life style. Much as she could kick herself for her big mouth, she knew if she didn't take Tish up on her offer to introduce her to the shirtless rider, a practical joke would follow. It could lead to weeks of torture and retaliation. People on the track lived with adrenalin filled jobs. No surprise they could go to extremes for the sake of fun.

She slowly threaded her way through the barns to number 8. The only bad thing about night on the track was running into Harold, the goat. He was an over weight angora male with two huge horns curling back from his face. Perfect butting tools and he liked using them. He and Allie had developed a mutual hate early on in her first months at the track.

As she entered the barn, she saw a man moving in and out of his tack room. He draped a gallop saddle on one arm and bridles on the other, disappearing into the tack room. Rubber buckets stood upside down outside of each stall still wet from being washed. Allie frowned. These were day chores. The guy was out of whack. Unbelievable she thought, as she got closer.

"What are you doing here?" Cale asked.

"I'm meeting Tish."

"Well don't get comfortable. I just cleaned everything up."

She settled on a ratty looking love seat set against the wall of the barn.

"You going to the party?" he asked.

"Just came from it."

He ducked into the tack room and slammed trunks closed on clean leg wraps.

She continued. "Like I said I'm meeting someone here, so if you don't mind you need to leave."

He stopped and looked her over. "This is my barn."

"Tish asked me to meet a friend of hers. She said it was his barn."

"Yeah? What's his name? Maybe I know him."

"Do you know everyone?"

"Pretty much."

Goose bumps jumped out on her arms.

"Don't take this wrong," he said. "But no goofing off around here. My horses need their rest; the party is over at the grandstand."

"Your horses?"

"Yeah. My horses."

"I thought you groomed."

"Groom. Train. Gallop. Whatever I can until I get my own barn. Then I'm heading back home to Oklahoma."

"Did you say gallop?"

"Yeah. Can't afford my own gallop boys yet."

Oh no. I've had too much beer.

Suddenly the whole track surrounded the two of them. Tish stepped forward. We just had to see your face when you finally realized Cale is the guy with no shirt. Can't believe you didn't put the two together. Everyone burst into laughter, slapping Cale and Allie on their backs. He didn't appear to get the joke, and she didn't want to admit the ridiculous turn of events.

As everyone headed out to the main area again, they left Allie and Cale alone. He sat down next to her and took a long swig on his beer. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

"Nope."

"You need to eat more."

"Why's that?" Irritating man.

"It's a long ride to Oklahoma."