"Suffering Pines - The Beginning"

[Ben_and_Me]

…I’ll never forget you" he thought as he pulled on a pair of clean, crisped jeans, a starched white polo shirt, and a pair of black Grand Prix paddock boots. Erik grabbed a quick bite of breakfast and headed downstairs from his hayloft apartment to the barn.

He passed by his newly purchased collection of winning hunters, a collection that was soon to grow with the addition of a gorgous bay Thoroughbred, owned by a new client.

His thoughts were interupted by the sound of a van, followed by a BMW, pulling up into the gravel driveway. His heart skipped a beat as a young woman climbed out of the BMW and walked up to the barn…

[Kryswyn]

Carleton turned down the manicured drive of Highborne without seeing the green sedan that was pulled off into the trees. He was oblivious to the groom, who noticing Carleton’s car, pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial.

The story he’d heard from Letitia was too outrageous not to have some truth in it. It would explain so much! He had to tell Jackie! He wondered how to get her away from Heath and Eric.

Fortunately the god Eros had decided to shine on Carleton today. Jackie was hand grazing what had to be one of the twin foals in front of the main barn. He quickly parked and walked over. Although incredulous at first, Jackie began to believe when Dr Mangelove’s name was mentioned. She knew from her braiding days that he was lacking in the ethics department.

Jackie said, “We’ve got to have blood drawn on all these horses to do DNA tests! That way, the two with identical DNA will be the twins! We can call Dr. Lock right now, we can have the answer in just a few days, maybe in time for the show!”

“Hold hard Jackie!” Carleton said. “DNA tests take weeks so don’t think this will resolve quickly. Besides the foals were twins, but not identical. I think they’ll have to have blood from the sire and dam in order to definitively prove which colts are which. We have to find the mare and unfortunately, The Prevaricator’s dead.”

“NOOO!” she wailed. “Can he be exhumed or something? Surely the farm has records of the mare?” Jackie reached out to grab Carleton’s arm. “We’ve GOT to find her!”

“Uhm, I don’t want to be there if they pull him up. Maybe they could use his documented offspring? I hope… We can call around about the mare.” he added. “But at least we can get blood from the three bays you have here. Let’s call Dr. Lock right now.”

As they turned to walk back to the barn, mystery bay in tow, the man in the hidden sedan adjusted his dish antenna that had allowed him to overhear the entire conversation. With their backs to him and the clop of hooves on the hard packed drive his reception had gone to hell. But he’d heard enough to report…

[This message has been edited by Kryswyn (edited 08-17-2000).]

[creseida]

Meanwhile, poor Destiny was struggling just to keep his feet during the wild van ride. He hadn’t been trailered this roughly in several years. Jackie had always made sure he’d been hauled carefully and gently with lots of soft pillows on his legs.

As the van sped down the twisting country roads up and down hills, Destiny was beginning to panic. The van ride was bringing back memories of that frightening trailer accident from three years ago. Although he escaped uninjured, Destiny still remembers the panic he felt when the trailer slipped off the road and side-swiped that oak tree and tipped on its side.

He couldn’t see as there were no windows, and the van was stiflingly hot. He began to kick and thrash about in his box, banging and scraping his delicate legs on the sides of the trailer. In his struggles, Destiny breaks one of his trailer ties…

[This message has been edited by creseida (edited 08-09-2000).]

[EquiMom]

Jackie waited for the tumult around the barn to die down before even thinking about going home. She was usually the last to leave, going through her ritual of passing out good-night carrots and kisses, and checking latches. Just as she was getting ready to kill the lights, Kelly walked in.

“Hi…you’re still here, too?” she said, smiling, “I just wanted to make sure my boys were settled.”

"They all seem a little restless, " Jackie observed, “…and they keep making the oddest little sounds–not exactly whinnies–it’s sort of like a conversational back-and-forth dialogue–as if they were long-lost friends needing to catch up on things!”

“If only we could understand what they were really saying…” Kelly laughed ruefully, “Too bad we can’t speak ‘horse’–you know–like Dr. Doolittle! Gosh, I loved that movie when I was a kid–still do!”

“Oh! Me, too!” Jackie enthused, and began humming the catchy signature tune.

At that, they both fell into a round of “Talk to the Animals” allowing the tension of the day to evaporate in a shared burst of silliness.

“…If we could talk to the a-ni-mals…what-a-neat-a-chieve-ment that would be…!” they sang in unison, sealing their instant ‘horsey’ sister-hood with a light-hearted hug.

“What we need…is our own Dr. Doolittle!” they agreed, trying to catch their breath, “Maybe he could help us get to the bottom of all this intrigue!”

As if on cue, Heath entered the barn. He was followed by an animated little lady, with wise, all-seeing eyes. A processional of assorted canines led the way, snuffling and sneezing their way down the aisle.

“Jackie–!” Heath called out, “Helping here coming Bevvy Bojangles…!” he dithered, too excited to convey a proper introduction.

“What this fine young fellow is tryin’ to say…” the spritely woman merrily interjected, “…is just who-the-blazes I might be!” She stuck out her hand and gave them a friendly wink; “My name is Evie…Evie Beauchamps–but everyone just calls me Mama Evie!”

“Mama Bevvy reeks–I mean–speaks…to the–”

“Simmer down, Heath, honey…!” Evie’s voice soothed, “I’ll take it from here…”

[creseida]

…the same dark green sedan that has been observed driving up and down the main road nearly every day for the past two weeks. While it wasn’t unusual to have people drive by and gawk at the magnificent farm, no one seemed to notice that the vehicle only stopped when the horse everyone believed to be Destiny was in training in the main ring.

No one noticed the same man, with big dark sun glasses, dressed in navy coveralls leaning against one of the ancient oaks observing the sessions through his high powered binoculars.

As today’s session ends, the man returns the binoculars to their worn leather case, and pulls out his small cell phone. Dialing a number, he waits for the other party to pick up.

“They still don’t suspect a thing.”

The altered voice on the other side replied, “Exxxxxxcellent. Just wait until our little Jackie tries to take this horse into the show ring <evil laugh>. Just make sure when it happens that the show’s EMT’s are…“busy”…elsewhere. <click-beep>” Unknown to them, Jackie had hired Jeffrey to ride her horse in his first big show.

Coverall man returns the phone to his pocket and slips back into his car. While he drives slowly down the road, he’s mentally counting the Krugerand in his bank account…and laughing.

[This message has been edited by creseida (edited 08-09-2000).]

[Spunky]

Just then, the phone rang. It was Fiona Ford, calling for Carleton. “What?” he said incredulously into the phone. And then, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and turned towards the group, who had suddenly realized that something else had gone terribly wrong.

“Fiona’s Middleburg farm has just burnt to the ground,” he said numbly. “The FBI is there now. Luckily her best breeding stock are safe at her place down south, the one I manage. But she lost five good horses. She seems to think that Muffy is involved.”

Quickly Mama Evie asked, “Are any horses still alive? I can go with you now.”

Suddenly, it was all too much for Jackie. She swayed on her feet, and her knees nearly buckled. Catching herself quickly on a tack trunk, she sat down and buried her face in her hands. Carleton knelt down in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Jackie, hey, stop it. Hang in there, Jackie, please. I–I need you. Will you come with us? We’ll get this sorted out together–it’s somehow, in some weird way–it’s all connected.”

Jackie looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. No one else seemed to notice; they were all shocked by what they had heard. To burn Fiona’s place was daring beyond belief, even for the characters responsible for the mystery surrounding Destiny and Whozit and True Love. Fiona was eccentric, yes, but well-respected and certainly not hated.

No one noticed Jackie and Carleton, that is, except Heath, who watched them with a strange expression on his face, an expression that startled Vanessa . . . whose side was Heath on, anyway?

[creseida]

While they stood there, in the distance, the sound of a vehicle’s engine brought to life, followed by the squeal of tires was heard.

With the sound of the mystery car’s engine dispersing in the fog came the shrill peal of a distant siren approaching rapidly. Moments after the rescue squad came to a halt, sending gravel flying, the EMT’s rushed in. The taller of the two knelt down next to Vanessa’s prostrate body…

[This message has been edited by creseida (edited 08-09-2000).]

[creseida]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Spunky:
[B]Just then, the phone rang. It was Fiona Ford, calling for Carleton. “What?” he said incredulously into the phone. And then, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and turned towards the group, who had suddenly realized that something else had gone terribly wrong.

“Fiona’s Middleburg farm has just burnt to the ground,” he said numbly. “The FBI is there now. Luckily her best breeding stock are safe at her place down south, the one I manage. But she lost five good horses. She seems to think that Muffy is involved.”

Quickly Mama Evie asked, “Are any horses still alive? I can go with you now.”

<snip> We’ll get this sorted out together–it’s somehow, in some weird way–it’s all connected."

<snip> To burn Fiona’s place was daring beyond belief, even for the characters responsible for the mystery surrounding Destiny and Whozit and True Love. Fiona was eccentric, yes, but well-respected and certainly not hated.

[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

After leaving the smoking remnants of Fiona’s farm, Jackie and Carlton started trying to piece together how these events were all tied together. What was the common thread?

What was the relation between these barn fires and the three bay horses? “Carleton? Do you know if Mrs. Evers-Oftinhead had any business relationships with Fiona Ford?” asked Jackie?

Mama Evie piped in that she had picked up on some sort of secret goings on, something about financial backing for a project.

Carlton speculated that perhaps Fiona had been one of the financial backers for the genetics program. Weren’t the other barns in the VA beach area also really top drawer farms, too?

Didn’t Mrs. Evers-Oftinhead buy a penthouse in VA Beach about 7 years ago? Could she have been arranging backing for the genetics program from people, away from the “horse country” circle, perhaps to keep her plans from being spread by gossip? Carlton continued to wonder aloud as to whether or not there was a connection between the owners of the burned barns and the genetics progect.

Kelly interrupted his musings with the thought that Muffy’s money came from the vet pharmaceutical industry. If horses were genetically engineered, their needs for dexamethazone, bute, Quietex, albuterol and other overused (and overpriced) medications would all but be eliminated. Imagine what these horses would do to the pharmaceutical industry!

Mama Evie commented that she supposed that to a sick mind, this would certainly be a motive to burn the barns of anyone involved in this genetics project, to deter them from further financial backing. The next question would be, how did Muffy know who was involved???

[This message has been edited by creseida (edited 09-04-2000).]

[Louise]

gave in to the feeling of warmth and safety for a moment, then pulled back, confused and upset with herself. This was neither the time or the place to let her feelings overwhelm her. Heath had so many good qualities, but, there were also too many unanswered questions about him for her be able to trust him completely. Moving slowly away from him she whispered “Good Night Heath.”

In bed later that night, she found that she couldn’t sleep. A confused series of events and questions ran through her mind. She could make no sense out of the happenings of the last few months. Jackie decided that she needed someone to talk to, someone that she could trust. With that thought, her mind turned to Carleton Phipps. He had always been somewhat of an observer, yet he was close enough to the situation to have some ideas about what was going on. Besides that, he had a reputation for unswerving honesty and reliability. Jackie decided that she would call him in the morning. She found quick comfort in that thought and drifted off to sleep, secure in the fact that she at last had some sort of plan of action.

In the morning…

[Jenn]

Please, please, someone finish!!!

[Ben_and_Me]

Savannah continued to run until she was totally out of breath. Then she walked. She finally came to a road that she recognized and gave a sigh of releif. “Diane’s barn should be somewhere up along here,” she thought outloud. But then she remembered the scene she had just witnessed.

The horse seemed oddly familiar to her. He was a big bay, white star, perfect conformation, except for an assortment of scars up and down his legs, and the sort of attitude that always comes with a champion hunter. Hadn’t Jackie just bought a horse like that? But Savannah quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. After all, Jackie’s horse was down in Southern Pines at Erik’s farm. Or was he?

There had been an awful lot of rumours going around about Jackie’s new horse. Savannah thought she remembered Jackie saying something about mysterious white markings that had been dyed black, but she wasn’t quite sure. Everytime Jackie even mentioned her horse, Vanessa suddenly changed the subject to what color Van Teal shirt she would be next purchasing.

But, if that had been Jackie’s horse, why would he be in Northern Virginia? And why would Diane Amos have him? Suddenly she made the connection. She had to get to a phone and call Jackie!

Savannah had been so preoccupied with her thoughts, she hadn’t realized that it was nearly dark. Nor had she realized the rusty pickup that had suddenly come up behind her until it was too late.

Savannah turned around just in time to see headlights bearing down on her. The fender made contact and threw her into the ditch next to the road.

The raven haired woman behind the wheel of the pickup picked up the phone and said, “Mission accomplished. What should I do with the horse?”…

[ClipClop]

Come on guys… please finish!

A good ride is one where you dismount voluntarily

[Kryswyn]

On the sun porch of F Roessels farm, the owner felt alarm bells going off in his head. My, my but 70+ Fiona Ford was a fit grey panther! She didn’t look a day over 49 and surely her tastes in fashion had changed? The Fiona Ford he’d met at the reception for Olympic riders years before had caused quite the stir with her polyester outfit. Roessel could tell the quality of the Nordstrom’s raw silk ensemble from across the porch. Not to mention she had not mentioned their earlier meeting…

[Regalmeans]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kathy Johnson:
Heath, for once speechless, started for Jackie…
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

“Jackie!” he cried. He ran to her side and took her in his arms. “Jackie, Jackie! Do you dear…I mean hear me? Jackie!” he cried frantically. Then he turned to Erik. “Fall 911! Ow!!!”

“What? You stupid bastard!” Erik cried.
" CALL 911. NOW!" Heath shouted back, unwilling to leave Jackie’s side.
Erik ran for the phone. “We’ll settle this later.” he said menacingly.

10 mintes laters sirens could be heard approaching the farm.

Meanwhile rhe horse ran madly around the ring and finally crashed through the exit gate. No one followed. It ran out into the night, away from the tragic scene.

The ambulance pulled up and attendents emerged and hurridly attended to Jackie. Heath was pushed back by them. His thoughts swirled insesantly, he was wracked with guilt, with what ifs. Had he lost the woman he cared about? Would she ever forgive him? How could he ever have hurt her? The Ambulance pulled off, leaving Heath standing alone in the garrish lights of the ambulance and the barn, to figure out how everything had gone so horribly wrong…

[Razumny]

Gerhard Roessel spotted the horse trailer entering the front gates of his Virginia estate. Again he thought to himself that this was the only truly irrational thing he had ever done in his carefully crafted life.

At age 54, Gerhard F. Roessel had accomplished everything he had set out to do in the world of finance. His children, all from his first, very happy marriage, were grown and had established successful careers of their own. Now, Roessel was looking forward to a very comfortable semi-retirement at his home in the Virginia Blue Ridge.

He planned to begin riding and training again. Roessel had amassed a considerable fortune - more than enough to stock his stables with proven, exceptional dressage horses. As in business, however, Roessel’s passion was to build from scratch; to take a raw prospect and train a champion -the same way he had transformed fledgling companies and banks into powerhouses.

In sending his property manager after the horse, however, he may well have placed all his plans in jeopardy.

If the fabricated Fiona and her soft-headed sidekick were indeed the rightful owners of the animal, he may have just committed a felony. Under current U.S. immigration law, his permanent resident alien status would be revoked and he would find himself deported and unable ever to return - assuming, of course, that he first survived the American prison system.

But Roessel had learned over the years to rely on his instincts and acumen. In his heart, he knew that that horse did not, could not, belong to those women.

Pushing all unwelcome and unpleasant thoughts aside, Roessel went out the back of the house to meet the trailer as it arrived at the barn, a large black dog close at his side . . .

[This message has been edited by Razumny (edited 08-12-2000).]

[AHC]

She whispered just loudly enough to be heard over the din of conversation and music, “Did you know that right before Erik dropped out of horses he was spending a lot of time outside the show ring with a certain ‘shamateur’ AA rider who ended up ditching him and marrying her trainer? Erik tried to keep it quiet, but there were a few of us who saw what was going on behind the scenes at WEF that year.”

“Who was it?” asked Muffy, Savannah and Jackie simultaneously?..

[Kryswyn]

It happened rather quickly after that. A phone call to Carleton by both Gerhard and Erik had gotten the wheels in motion. Not taking any chances, Carleton, Jackie, Erik and Heath hitched up the trailer, jumped in the dually and headed up for Warrenton.

Romantic tension was palpable as all three men where barely containing their testosterone levels. Jackie felt rather like a female dog being vied for by three stallion hounds. She tried various topics of conversation but all three would just answer monosyllabicly. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Jackie announced that until her horse, which ever one it was, had gone to a show and won a championship, she was not going to date ANYONE. She made a solemn vow to God, in return for His help, guidance and blessing in getting to the show ring.

The three men traded glances in the rearview mirror and immediately began talking about the Carolina Panthers prospects for a SuperBowl title. Which was just fine with Jackie, because not knowing a thing about football, she burrowed her head into the sweater she’d brought and slept the rest of the way up.

So now Highborne was home to a stunning set of bay geldings: Destiny w/o a sock and comet tail, Whozit who did have a comet-like star and a sock after the dye had worn off; and Rex, Maribeth Charles’ bay, who had been decidedly off form since coming to Highborne and had made some awfully green type of errors in the showring the few times he’d shown since his arrival.

Jackie concetrated on Whozit since Heath swore that was the horse she’d really purchased. Destiny was on a “back to health” regimine, and Rex spent a lot of time being ridden by Erik and loved on by Ruth since Maribeth had decided to tour Europe indefinitly.

Things were almost normal, or what past for normal at Highborne, when Jackie dropped into the Suffering Pines post office to pick up her mail. In a cream colored heavy bond envelope was a letter from Dewey, Cheathem
and Howe, Attorneys at Law. The news was shocking. She gave a slight moan and leaned against the mailboxes for support. She read over and over the words that would change her life.

“…your right to the inheritance of Madeline Evers-Oftinhead is being challenged on the grounds that you have not met the stipulation to “find True Love and show the world how good True Love can be.” You are hereby ordered to show cause why you should remain in possession of the late Madeline Evers-Oftinhead’s fortune.”

Oh God! What would she do?

[Anyplace_Farm]

Still a little groggy from the sleepless night, Erik focused intently on the stranger. He felt his heart nearly skip a beat as he realized the newcomer, his new client, bore a striking resemblance to Lacey. His dear, dear Lacey who had died so tragicly from a violent fall from Erik’s best Grand Prix horse. The horse that he had spent countless hours tuning. He tried to push back the memory of her death, still fresh in his mind although it had been nearly seven years since her passing.

Erik walked, albeit tentatively to his new client, “You must be Maribeth Charles.” The tall, leggy blonde responded by thrusting her hand out, “That I am! What a fantastic place you have here. I’m sorry I never had time to come out and see it for myself before shipping Rex here but I’d just heard such great things, I knew this would be the place for me.”

Needless to say, Erik was taken by the young woman. Not only for her gregarious personality but for the resemblance of his past love. Taking a deep breath, Erik attempted to keep his mind on business, “I’ve got a nice big stall for…Rex is it?” Maribeth replied, “Oh, yes! That’s my baby.” After a smile, Erik continued, “Well, it’s ready for him. Maybe you can fill me in on what I need to know about him.”

Maribeth’s expression changed immediately and Erik knew there was something behind it. “Well…” she started, “I should forewarn you that…”

[This message has been edited by Anyplace Farm (edited 08-08-2000).]

[EquiMom]

…and a warning carved in the wood of her Warner’s Celebrity Tax Box. The letters were hardly more than crude slashes–but clear enough to be discernible–spelling out the word, “ELIMINATED”…!

Jackie felt the blood rushing to her head in a sickening wave of heat. Everything suddenly seemed intensely bright. In the instant before her vision narrowed into a swirling, black vortex, she was dimly aware of being swept up and borne away.

[This message has been edited by EquiMom (edited 08-09-2000).]

[creseida]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by EquiMom:
[B]“My name is Evie…Evie Beauchamps–but everyone just calls me Mama Evie!”

“Mama Bevvy reeks–I mean–speaks…to the–”

“Simmer down, Heath, honey…!” Evie’s voice soothed, “I’ll take it from here…”

[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

As Mama Evie entered the barn, the big seal bay horse named Log Jam sensed that this woman was different. She was attuned to their conversations. He snorted loudly, warning everyone to be quiet, and the equine banter ceased very quickly.

“Hmmm…”, she said. “This is very interestin’. I’m sensing a…scandal?, no, no, nothing so dramatic, but perhaps a secret of sorts?” Mama Evie walked up to the stall of the horse who snorted. “Big Fella, you tellin’ everyone not to spill the oats, are you? You can tell Mama and she’ll make everythin’ juuuuuss fine.” LJ just snorted.

“Oh a skeptic, are we? Well, you’ll be talkin’ to me in no time a’tall. You kin trust Mama Evie.” Turning to Heath and the others, she directed them out of the barn, leaving behind her canine entourage.

“Why are we leaving?” asked Jackie.
“I’m lettin’ m’ boys and girls get the conversation started in there. Get them loosened up and chattin’ and all. We’ll give’em ‘bout 15 minutes or so, then head on back inside there. They’ll be talkin’ up a storm for sure.”

As they walked away from the barn, they could hear the low nickers picking right up where they left off, interspersed with low snuffles and woofs. Mama Evie smiled. She loved a good gossip session, and knew this one was going to be a doozey. She wondered what dirt would be dug up and spread around and about whom. These horses knew something important, and she was determined to find out what that was.

[This message has been edited by creseida (edited 08-21-2000).]