All Hat by Brad Smith

Author:Brad Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

14

Before leaving for New York City, Jackson had to tend to his rose bushes. He’d be gone at least a week, maybe ten days, and there might be cold weather, snow even, before he got back.

The blooms were long gone, but the plants still required work. He’d already covered the beds with a mulch made from horse manure—he had a ready supply of that—and wood chips and a fertilizer mix. Now he pruned the bushes back and then wrapped them in burlap, securing the wrappings with binder twine. Then he used a square-mouth garden shovel to heap the mulch around the roots to protect them from the elements. He had to hurry the job, and it irked him; he hadn’t intended to leave until later in the week, but his plans had changed, rather abruptly, the day before.

Sonny’s car was parked half on the grass and half on the driveway. The driver’s door had been hanging open when Jackson arrived, and he’d closed it before the interior light killed the battery. Sonny hadn’t shown his face yet, but then it was only ten o’clock. When Jackson was done with his plants he leaned the shovel against the barn wall and then made a trip over to the other farm to pick up the double horse trailer.

Back at the home farm Dean and Paulie were standing in the yard, Dean drinking a take-out coffee and yawning, Paulie looking at the rose bushes in wonder.

“It’s like they got little parkas on,” he was saying when Jackson got out of the truck.

“Come on,” Jackson said. “You can help me load the Flash.”

With Paulie there to quiet him, the big stallion went into the trailer without incident. Then they loaded an older dapple gelding as well for a companion horse. Not that the stallion was much for companionship, but Jackson reasoned that the other horse might help to keep him quiet. He didn’t want to tranquilize the animal, which was why they weren’t flying him to New York City.

When Jackson went into his office for the paperwork that he would need for the border, Dean followed him.

“We got to talk about money,” Dean said. “We’re gonna need a credit card, Jackson.”

“What’re you gonna need a credit card for?” Jackson asked.

“Expenses, for fuck’s sake. Motels, gasoline, food—little things like that, Jackson. How else we gonna get this horse to New York?”

“You don’t need a credit card.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not going to New York,” Jackson told him. “I am.”

Paulie came in then. “I filled that twenty-gallon water tank,” he said. “That gonna be enough?”

“That’s good, Paulie,” Jackson said. “Thanks.”

“We’re not going to New York,” Dean said.

“We’re not?” Paulie asked.

“I’m taking him down myself,” Jackson said. “I want you guys over at the other farm; you can help put in those new stalls.”

“This sucks, Jackson,” Dean told him.

Jackson tucked the papers inside his jacket and walked around the desk. He stepped close to Dean, looked down at him. “Why does it suck, Dean?”

“We’re supposed to trailer the horse to the Belmont,” Dean said.

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