The Black Stallion Challenged by Walter Farley

Author:Walter Farley [Farley, Walter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-80486-0
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2011-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

FLAME

10

Two evenings after the television show Alec received a phone call and hurriedly left Hialeah Park. He caught a bus which took him the short distance to Miami International Airport where Steve Duncan and his horse, Flame, awaited him.

Intentionally, he had not called Henry at his motel, knowing full well that the old trainer would object to his going anywhere to meet Steve and what Henry continued to call a “phantom” horse. Glancing out the bus window, Alec saw the lights of a huge plane making its landing at the airport. Steve had said on the telephone that he had arrived three days ago, immediately following his race in Nassau. Flame was being held in quarantine by the Department of Agriculture, pending health tests and settlement of his racing status in the United States.

Alec felt confident that Flame would be allowed to race at Hialeah. The vacation dollar was as important to Florida as it was to Nassau, and Hialeah’s press agentry would not miss this opportunity to boost the track and the state’s economy by inviting the Bahamian champion to race. Contrary to what Henry had said, “phantom” horses did not break records every year and people would turn out to see them run. Flame was made to order for Hialeah’s press department. He could be one of the young year’s greatest attractions.

Alec settled back in his bus seat. Good horses could come from anywhere, and within a short time he’d see Flame and know more about him. But it was one thing for a horse to be invincible racing against native, island-bred horses and something else to compete against those racing at Hialeah Park. It took more than brilliant speed, providing Flame did possess it, to win at a major track. The speed had to be turned on and off, used when it would be most effective to get a position and keep out of trouble. And trouble could be a decisive factor in any big race.

Alec rode the bus to the end of the field, where the hangars and offices of the cargo airlines were located. He watched the signs for the name of Air Caribbean, the airline that had brought Steve Duncan and Flame to Miami. He had never heard of it before.

But then he knew few of the cargo airlines which the bus passed so quickly—Air International, Real, Tan, Aaxico, Seminole, Aerocondor, Lebia International, Rutas and many others. Most of them flew cargo to South America, Central America, and the West Indies. There were trailer trucks everywhere and huge areas filled with cargo planes for sale. It was a far different world from the glistening passenger terminal on the other side of the airport.

Finally Alec saw the sign, Air Caribbean, and left the bus. He walked up the road toward the hangars, his pace quickening at the prospect of seeing Flame. He recalled how similar this night was to one he had known long ago. He, too, had arrived in the United States with a strange “phantom” horse capable of a speed no one would have believed.

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