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Description

Previously:

“On we sweep with threshing oar,
Our only goal will be the western shore.
So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day
Despite of all your losing.”
~Immigrant Song, Led Zeppelin

Season: 8
SEPTEMBER
The storm that broke overhead was quick, fierce, and unexpected. Horses and people alike tucked themselves deep into the barns to avoid the deluge outside. Ghoul and Ohm, the most nervous of the BCC string, paced fretfully in their stalls while the rest slept on peacefully. Aztec in particular, now the senior racehorse in Cyrus’s barn, was completely unfazed by the crashing thunder and the rain pounding on the roof. Most of the horses seemed to instinctively take direction from him and remained calm, and Cyrus felt his heart clench once more at the reality that Aztec’s unique personality would never be passed on.
In lieu of any races for the first half of September, Cyrus left Eddie in charge and flew up to Kentucky to view the newest stock and touch base with everyone there--mainly Lia. And Emma. (Mostly Emma.)
The second matriarch of BCC picked him up at the airport herself and chattered in his ear the entire way to the farm, and if Cyrus wasn’t tired before, he certainly was now. Sometimes Lia’s energy exhausted him beyond all belief.
The farm was as beautiful as ever, all tree-lined drives and green pastures dotted with equine bodies. Lia’s car rumbled softly down the path and Cyrus noticed the nearby yearlings racing them along the fenceline. Hanson’s bright red hide was as noticeable as ever and Cyrus smiled at the familiar sight.
Suddenly, Lia slammed on the breaks with a curse and Cyrus threw out a hand to catch himself from cracking his face on the dashboard. A small blur of color and waving brown pigtails dashed past in front of them; had Lia not stopped so abruptly, they probably would have hit her. Close behind ran Mira, arms and legs pumping furiously as she shouted for Faith to stop. Through the closed car windows, Cyrus could hear Faith’s peals of laughter as she kept running, and a distant whinny sounded from the yearling pastures. Cyrus could see Hanson rearing and pawing the air out of the corner of his eye.
“I am never having kids,” Lia muttered under her breath. He scoffed at her in response.
“Where’s Scott?” he asked as he watched Faith slip under the fenceline and wrap her arms around Hanson’s muzzle. The colt seemed to freeze, ears listing sideways in contentment, and Cyrus understood that this was a regular occurrence.
“He said he needed to make an important call after lunch. I told him to use the house phone since he still doesn’t have one. Mira said she’d watch Faith.” Lia gestured to the girl in the paddock. “You can see how well that’s going.”
A call, huh?
Cyrus cut his gaze to Lia, but the woman didn’t seem aware of the significance. He glanced back at where Mira was now trying to pry Faith’s arms loose from Hanson’s face, mind spinning.
It had been nearly seven years since Scott had run away. Seven years of guessing, wondering if he was still alive. What would Jetta think? And what would she say when she found out that Cyrus had known since July?
***
Scott stared down at the phone in his hands, thoughts swirling in his head and nervous sweat beading down his temples. His shoulders were stiff as boards with tension and he could feel his pulse jumping in his throat.
What would she say? Would she be excited? Angry? Dismissive? What if she didn’t want to talk to him?
That last thought was what had frozen his hand all these years. He had been just seventeen when he had ditched, abandoning his mother to her asshole boyfriend; he hadn’t looked back for years. He had been so stupid, so full of anger and hatred for the world. It hadn’t been until he was knee-deep in alcohol bottles, the room spinning from a fresh rush of heroine coursing through his veins, and staring down at the double lines that he woke up from his haze of stupidity. Those two, precious little lines on that pink stick changed everything.
Scott glanced down at his arms, as if he could see the scars marking his veins through the long-sleeve shirt he wore. The inside of his elbows were welted and raised after just a couple years of recreational drug use. He had no doubt that, if not for Nicki’s pregnancy, he would have eventually killed himself from an overdose.
Once again, it all came back to Faith. The moment he saw those lines, he knew he had to get clean. He had to do right by his daughter.
And, courtesy of his uncle and the job the man had secured for him, that meant he had to make this call. Whether he wanted to or not.
Swallowed harshly pas the lump in his throat, he punched in the familiar number and brought the phone to his ear.
It rang once...
Twice...
Three times...
And then, a click, and a breath.
“Hello?”
Tears immediately began to burn his eyes, and he closed them reflexively. The voice--pure, like a birdsong--transported him back to his childhood. Just one word, and he was a young boy again, crying on the ground because he had fallen off his bike and skinned his knee. One word, and he was celebrating sixteen different birthdays. One word, and he was having a pillow fight on a fort made of couch cushions. One word, and he remembered.
His sucked in a desperate breath.
“Mom?”
***
A week after Cyrus left for Kentucky, he was back and annoying the shit out of Dani. He was being fussy and overbearing, constantly nagging about this wrong turn here or that misstep there. She tried bitching to Alex about it, but the other girl was absent-minded at best these days, her head in the clouds.
“What’s going on with you?” Dani eventually burst out.
Alex blinked back at her, startled. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“You’re all…” Dani waved in front of Alex’s face vaguely. “Absent.”
“Oh.” This beatifical look overtook Alex’s face, lids drooping as a silly smile graced her mouth. “I met someone.”
Dani quirked an eyebrow and frowned. “Not that jockey that asked you out,” she fussed. “He’s a jerk.”
Alex snorted, immediately looking like her old, sassy self again. “God, no, he’s a dick,” she barked emphatically. “No, this guy, he works for Lia.” She tilted her head and corrected, “Well, for Mira, technically. But Mira works for Lia so technically he works for Lia, too, I suppose.”
Okay, now she was curious. “The new guy that Cyrus was talking about a few months ago?”
“Yeah--his name is Scott. He was actually here a few months ago. I spoke to him and somehow it never clicked in my brain until I saw him again at the farm.”
“Who is he?”
Alex shrugged. “No idea. He’s got a cute little girl, too. I didn’t see a ring on his finger, though.”
Dani squinted suspiciously. “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” she warned. “Some men don’t wear rings.”
Alex blinked before her eyes widened in alarm, as if she hadn’t thought about that particular possibility. She opened her mouth, but they were abruptly interrupted by the presence of another.
“What are you two whispering about?” Eddie inquired as he strolled up to where they were sitting in the barn aisle. Liam hovered behind him like a silent shadow, a small frown on his face. Dani wrinkled her nose at the other man. She was about to tell Liam off, too, but Alex spoke before she could.
“Do you know who Scott is? Back at the farm?” Alex was so focused that she seemed to be ignoring Liam’s presence entirely. Dani huffed and settled for glaring dangerously at the other jockey. Liam just blinked back at her, seemingly unaffected.
“No…?” Eddie responded hesitantly, as if afraid of giving the wrong answer. “Who is he?”
Alex groaned dramatically and flopped back on her stool to rest her spine against the stall behind her. “Why does no one know who this guy is? It’s not like he popped up out of nowhere!”
“Well,” Liam suddenly piped up, “he sort of did.”
Alex sat up abruptly and focused her eagle gaze on the other man. “What do you mean?”
Dani stared at him, too.
Liam looked back at all three of them, seemingly puzzled. “It’s not like Cyrus has been quiet about it,” he stated simply, like this was old news. “Don’t y’all ever listen to him?”
Alex leapt to her feet and Dani joined her for solidarity purposes. She was secretly hoping her friend would punch Liam out, but alas, Alex seemed more excited than upset.
“Cyrus?” the young blonde parroted excitedly. “He knows Scott?”
“Scott’s his nephew.”
All three of them goggled at Liam--Eddie, Dani, and Alex. “What?” they shouted.
“Cyrus has a nephew?”
“Since when?”
“For how long?”
“Are they estranged?”
Dani muttered under her breath in Spanish as Eddie and Alex talked over each other. Liam just stared back at the other two, eyes wide. He glanced over at Dani but she raised her chin and squinted at him with a sniff. What, did he think she was going to help him in this? No way.
Then, Alex shoved Eddie out of the way abruptly--causing the redhead to squawk--and shouted over her shoulder, “I have to go talk to Cyrus!” The three of them watched her dash off for a moment before Eddie huffed and followed, calling out to her to slow down so he could catch up.
And suddenly, Dani found herself alone with Liam.
The two stared at each other warily for a moment.
“So--” he started, but Dani threw up a hand, palm out, to stop him before he even started.
“Don’t,” she hissed. “I have nothing to say to you.”
She whirled and stomped off, fuming.
So wrapped up in her own thoughts, she completely missed Liam’s expression as she departed. His face was almost… hurt? And, perhaps, a little intrigued.

Shown:
Name: Hanson
Barn name: n/a
Gender: Colt
Age: 1
Breed: Thoroughbred
Height: 16.1hh
Color: Bay
Genotype: Ee/Aa
Markings: Star/stripe, small white spot on right shoulder
Build: n/a
Temperament: n/a
Discipline: Flat racing
Bloodlines: HARPG: Pipinoukhe x Moirai , Tied To Time

Art, Story, and Characters (C) me

Next on:

Description

Previously:

“On we sweep with threshing oar,
Our only goal will be the western shore.
So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day
Despite of all your losing.”
~Immigrant Song, Led Zeppelin

Season: 8
SEPTEMBER
The storm that broke overhead was quick, fierce, and unexpected. Horses and people alike tucked themselves deep into the barns to avoid the deluge outside. Ghoul and Ohm, the most nervous of the BCC string, paced fretfully in their stalls while the rest slept on peacefully. Aztec in particular, now the senior racehorse in Cyrus’s barn, was completely unfazed by the crashing thunder and the rain pounding on the roof. Most of the horses seemed to instinctively take direction from him and remained calm, and Cyrus felt his heart clench once more at the reality that Aztec’s unique personality would never be passed on.
In lieu of any races for the first half of September, Cyrus left Eddie in charge and flew up to Kentucky to view the newest stock and touch base with everyone there--mainly Lia. And Emma. (Mostly Emma.)
The second matriarch of BCC picked him up at the airport herself and chattered in his ear the entire way to the farm, and if Cyrus wasn’t tired before, he certainly was now. Sometimes Lia’s energy exhausted him beyond all belief.
The farm was as beautiful as ever, all tree-lined drives and green pastures dotted with equine bodies. Lia’s car rumbled softly down the path and Cyrus noticed the nearby yearlings racing them along the fenceline. Hanson’s bright red hide was as noticeable as ever and Cyrus smiled at the familiar sight.
Suddenly, Lia slammed on the breaks with a curse and Cyrus threw out a hand to catch himself from cracking his face on the dashboard. A small blur of color and waving brown pigtails dashed past in front of them; had Lia not stopped so abruptly, they probably would have hit her. Close behind ran Mira, arms and legs pumping furiously as she shouted for Faith to stop. Through the closed car windows, Cyrus could hear Faith’s peals of laughter as she kept running, and a distant whinny sounded from the yearling pastures. Cyrus could see Hanson rearing and pawing the air out of the corner of his eye.
“I am never having kids,” Lia muttered under her breath. He scoffed at her in response.
“Where’s Scott?” he asked as he watched Faith slip under the fenceline and wrap her arms around Hanson’s muzzle. The colt seemed to freeze, ears listing sideways in contentment, and Cyrus understood that this was a regular occurrence.
“He said he needed to make an important call after lunch. I told him to use the house phone since he still doesn’t have one. Mira said she’d watch Faith.” Lia gestured to the girl in the paddock. “You can see how well that’s going.”
A call, huh?
Cyrus cut his gaze to Lia, but the woman didn’t seem aware of the significance. He glanced back at where Mira was now trying to pry Faith’s arms loose from Hanson’s face, mind spinning.
It had been nearly seven years since Scott had run away. Seven years of guessing, wondering if he was still alive. What would Jetta think? And what would she say when she found out that Cyrus had known since July?
***
Scott stared down at the phone in his hands, thoughts swirling in his head and nervous sweat beading down his temples. His shoulders were stiff as boards with tension and he could feel his pulse jumping in his throat.
What would she say? Would she be excited? Angry? Dismissive? What if she didn’t want to talk to him?
That last thought was what had frozen his hand all these years. He had been just seventeen when he had ditched, abandoning his mother to her asshole boyfriend; he hadn’t looked back for years. He had been so stupid, so full of anger and hatred for the world. It hadn’t been until he was knee-deep in alcohol bottles, the room spinning from a fresh rush of heroine coursing through his veins, and staring down at the double lines that he woke up from his haze of stupidity. Those two, precious little lines on that pink stick changed everything.
Scott glanced down at his arms, as if he could see the scars marking his veins through the long-sleeve shirt he wore. The inside of his elbows were welted and raised after just a couple years of recreational drug use. He had no doubt that, if not for Nicki’s pregnancy, he would have eventually killed himself from an overdose.
Once again, it all came back to Faith. The moment he saw those lines, he knew he had to get clean. He had to do right by his daughter.
And, courtesy of his uncle and the job the man had secured for him, that meant he had to make this call. Whether he wanted to or not.
Swallowed harshly pas the lump in his throat, he punched in the familiar number and brought the phone to his ear.
It rang once...
Twice...
Three times...
And then, a click, and a breath.
“Hello?”
Tears immediately began to burn his eyes, and he closed them reflexively. The voice--pure, like a birdsong--transported him back to his childhood. Just one word, and he was a young boy again, crying on the ground because he had fallen off his bike and skinned his knee. One word, and he was celebrating sixteen different birthdays. One word, and he was having a pillow fight on a fort made of couch cushions. One word, and he remembered.
His sucked in a desperate breath.
“Mom?”
***
A week after Cyrus left for Kentucky, he was back and annoying the shit out of Dani. He was being fussy and overbearing, constantly nagging about this wrong turn here or that misstep there. She tried bitching to Alex about it, but the other girl was absent-minded at best these days, her head in the clouds.
“What’s going on with you?” Dani eventually burst out.
Alex blinked back at her, startled. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“You’re all…” Dani waved in front of Alex’s face vaguely. “Absent.”
“Oh.” This beatifical look overtook Alex’s face, lids drooping as a silly smile graced her mouth. “I met someone.”
Dani quirked an eyebrow and frowned. “Not that jockey that asked you out,” she fussed. “He’s a jerk.”
Alex snorted, immediately looking like her old, sassy self again. “God, no, he’s a dick,” she barked emphatically. “No, this guy, he works for Lia.” She tilted her head and corrected, “Well, for Mira, technically. But Mira works for Lia so technically he works for Lia, too, I suppose.”
Okay, now she was curious. “The new guy that Cyrus was talking about a few months ago?”
“Yeah--his name is Scott. He was actually here a few months ago. I spoke to him and somehow it never clicked in my brain until I saw him again at the farm.”
“Who is he?”
Alex shrugged. “No idea. He’s got a cute little girl, too. I didn’t see a ring on his finger, though.”
Dani squinted suspiciously. “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” she warned. “Some men don’t wear rings.”
Alex blinked before her eyes widened in alarm, as if she hadn’t thought about that particular possibility. She opened her mouth, but they were abruptly interrupted by the presence of another.
“What are you two whispering about?” Eddie inquired as he strolled up to where they were sitting in the barn aisle. Liam hovered behind him like a silent shadow, a small frown on his face. Dani wrinkled her nose at the other man. She was about to tell Liam off, too, but Alex spoke before she could.
“Do you know who Scott is? Back at the farm?” Alex was so focused that she seemed to be ignoring Liam’s presence entirely. Dani huffed and settled for glaring dangerously at the other jockey. Liam just blinked back at her, seemingly unaffected.
“No…?” Eddie responded hesitantly, as if afraid of giving the wrong answer. “Who is he?”
Alex groaned dramatically and flopped back on her stool to rest her spine against the stall behind her. “Why does no one know who this guy is? It’s not like he popped up out of nowhere!”
“Well,” Liam suddenly piped up, “he sort of did.”
Alex sat up abruptly and focused her eagle gaze on the other man. “What do you mean?”
Dani stared at him, too.
Liam looked back at all three of them, seemingly puzzled. “It’s not like Cyrus has been quiet about it,” he stated simply, like this was old news. “Don’t y’all ever listen to him?”
Alex leapt to her feet and Dani joined her for solidarity purposes. She was secretly hoping her friend would punch Liam out, but alas, Alex seemed more excited than upset.
“Cyrus?” the young blonde parroted excitedly. “He knows Scott?”
“Scott’s his nephew.”
All three of them goggled at Liam--Eddie, Dani, and Alex. “What?” they shouted.
“Cyrus has a nephew?”
“Since when?”
“For how long?”
“Are they estranged?”
Dani muttered under her breath in Spanish as Eddie and Alex talked over each other. Liam just stared back at the other two, eyes wide. He glanced over at Dani but she raised her chin and squinted at him with a sniff. What, did he think she was going to help him in this? No way.
Then, Alex shoved Eddie out of the way abruptly--causing the redhead to squawk--and shouted over her shoulder, “I have to go talk to Cyrus!” The three of them watched her dash off for a moment before Eddie huffed and followed, calling out to her to slow down so he could catch up.
And suddenly, Dani found herself alone with Liam.
The two stared at each other warily for a moment.
“So--” he started, but Dani threw up a hand, palm out, to stop him before he even started.
“Don’t,” she hissed. “I have nothing to say to you.”
She whirled and stomped off, fuming.
So wrapped up in her own thoughts, she completely missed Liam’s expression as she departed. His face was almost… hurt? And, perhaps, a little intrigued.

Shown:
Name: Hanson
Barn name: n/a
Gender: Colt
Age: 1
Breed: Thoroughbred
Height: 16.1hh
Color: Bay
Genotype: Ee/Aa
Markings: Star/stripe, small white spot on right shoulder
Build: n/a
Temperament: n/a
Discipline: Flat racing
Bloodlines: HARPG: Pipinoukhe x Moirai , Tied To Time

Art, Story, and Characters (C) me

Next on: