"Suffering Pines - The Beginning"

[creseida]

Leading her beloved Destiny back to the barn, Jackie spies Heath approaching to take the sweating horse to be cleaned up.

“Thanks anyways, buy I’ll give him a bath myself. I miss doing the little things with my horse.”

“But, ma’am, it’s my blob to bake care of the chorus so the winters don’t have to!”
“Slow down Heath…”
“My job to care for horses”
“But I don’t mind. Really, I enjoy it!”
“You’re filtered. You shouldn’t be doing the wordy fork of the moon.” replied Heath, as he reached for the reins.

“Again, sloooowly…”, said Jackie.

“Grooms job is dirty work”.

“No, that’s ok. I don’t mind. Really!”

“But, ma’am…”

Jackie stared into the scarred face. Was Heath upset about something? He seemed a bit pushier than normal, and maybe just a bit…nervous?

“I can take care of my own horse”, she smiled. “But thank you for your concern. You may come collect him from the wash stall when I’m finished if you want to make sure he’s been properly attended to.”

Heath stood there for a few nervous moments, then mumbled, “Yes, ma’am”, and shuffled off.

Jackie was enjoying her quality time with Destiny.  She was still getting used to the thought of being able to afford to let others do the so-called dirty work, but she missed being so involved with her horse. She liked to know every little thing about them, what makes them tick. 

She had noticed a few minor personality quirks had surfaced since his arrival at the barn, but simply attributed them to the strict training regiment to prepare for Florida. She resolved to spend more time with the horse, to learn him inside and out.

As she was sudsing the Rio Vista into her horse's legs, she bent down to take a closer look. Funny, she'd never noticed that he had some whitish hairs mixed in with the black around his coronet band. The area had some small crusty deposits, too, almost like after a horse has been blistered. She continued to run her fingers up and down her horse's leg, trying to figure out what had caused this reaction.

She glanced up and noticed Heath watching her from the tack room. How long had he been there watching her? When he saw her look up, he jumped back as if he'd hit an electric fence. Why was he was acting so skittish?

"Heath? Can you come here for a moment? I want to ask you about these white hairs on my horse's leg."  As Heath approached, Jackie asked him if he knew what could be causing this skin condition, and was it why the hair on his leg was turning white?

Heath stood there, nervously shifting his weight back and forth, a deep crimson blush slowly creeping up from his neck. What could he tell her that would appease her? Was she beginning to suspect.....? 

[This message has been edited by creseida (edited 08-11-2000).]

[Kryswyn]

“On the road again, I just can’t wait to get on the road again. The life I love is making music with my friends, and I can’t wait to get on the road again.” As Carleton and Willy Nelson came to a twanging close, Kelly piped up from the back of the dually,

"I always thought it was “the love I’m making is music to my friends.”

In the darkness of the front seat Carleton and Jackie traded a look. Then Jackie burst into her best Donna Summer (preGospel) immitation, “OOOOOooooo Love to love you baby, AAAAAAGGGghhhh Love to love you baby” and Carleton chimed in with perfect syncopated rhthymn “UUGA CHUCKA, UUGA CHUCKA, UUGA UUGA UUGA CHUCKA” while Mama Evie and her dogs contributed, “Voulez vous couche avec moi, c’est sois? Voulez vous couche avec moi?”

The four slap happy travellers broke into peals of laughter, that turned into gales of giggles, followed by tears of mirth and howls from the dogs (which may or may not have been due to the swipe the red Maine Coon gave the Jack Russell).

Carleton pulled off into a Sheetz station for a last potty break before reaching Middleburg. Only another hour or so to go and maybe, just maybe, they’d get enough pieces of the puzzle to solve it. The trip had already been productive. As they’d been talking over what each of them knew, Kelly pointed out it was like “those silly logic problems I had to answer on my LATs, you need a score card.” So in the scant light of the rear dome light they wrote down what they knew.

Jackie had been left a large 8 figure fortune, dependent it seemed now, on finding a certain horse named “True Love” and showing it to what they guessed to be a national title.
Six year before, twin foals had been born to a mare, sired by two different stallions. The mare had returned to Gitchiegoomie for a foal heat breeding with only one foal at her side.

Carleton had seen Fiona Ford and someone else load a colt into a van during the night several years earlier. He thought it had been a drug induced hallucination, but now he wasn’t sure.

Heath was being blackmailed, but refused to admit it; only insisting that the horse Jackie now called “Whozit” was really the horse she’d tried out and vetted who subsequently had been hidden away and nearly starved to death. “Destiny”, Heath maintained had been dyed to match the solid bay after the vetting and prior to arrival at Highborne.

Kelly claimed her horse “True Love” was the REAL “True Love” Jackie’s benefactor wanted her to find and show. The description of Muffy as “Rainbow Head” was what had earned Kelly a place in the truck. She believed Muffy was the client who’d given her late husband the horse.

The man who’d been spying on the farm in the now wrecked green car had claimed he was a private detective, and couldn’t reveal his employer. But when Erik had threatened to lock Whiskey in the car with him again, the man had flipped a business card out of his pocket, with a coy “Did I drop that?” On the card was the name of John Cheatham, Esq. Senior Partner of Dewey, Cheatham & Howe. This was the firm challenging Jackie’s right to inherit.

Someone was torching breeding farms in Virginia. Whether it was a coincidence or integral to their mystery was unknown. But Fiona Ford believe Muffy was involved.

And Muffy was acting strangely wasn’t she? Crying too much when Jackie’s horse had been taken from Highborne. Being in the barn at Highborne after hours, going through Erik’s desk, and feeding Destiny apples that smelled oddly according to the greedy chestnut mare that lived along side him.

Diane had been murdered in Virginia. With the same gun that had creased Vanessa’s head in Mosby’s Tavern.

“Well, that’s what we KNOW,” said Kelly. “What do we need to find out?”

[Regalmeans]

Jackie bit her lip to keep from screaming, and turned away to avoid the gruesome site. Heath stepped behind her and placed his arms around her, to support her. Jackie broke free of his grasp, breathing hard from shock.

She saw Savannah and Muffy sobbing in the corner of a nearby booth. Police officers were gathering around Vanessa’s body. One of them knelt down and pulled an object out from under the table - a black handgun still warm from shooting a bullet. The crowd gasped loudly. Jackie, shaken with terror, turned and tried to run from the scene. But a policeman held out a hand to stop her at the door, saying they would need to take a statement from her about the accident and they had reason to believe what happened to Vanessa was linked to her because…

[Jenn]

Please, someone, finish the story!!! I really want to know how it all turns out!

[Regalmeans]

Jackie woke to the phone ringing loudly. It woke her from what had been a troubled sleep, she had tossed and turned all night, dreaming first of the terrible events in Mosby’s, then of twisted versions of them, sometimes she was the one who was hurt, sometimes it was Heath, sometimes all she knew was that she was screaming so loudly that nothing else seem to exist. When she woke up she realized that she was trembling. The phone kept ringing, it almost seemed to get louder. “Dammit.” she muttered. She decided to let the machine get it, then at the last minute decided it might be important and ran accross the room to the extension. But she was too late, the machine had already picked up and all she could hear was her own voice, dictating the usual message “Hey, you’ve reach Jackie at 456-0798, I’m nt home right now so leave a message and I;ll get back to you.” Then she heard a CLICK and the caller’s voice came on.

It was a deep masculine voice, but it was muffled and almost unreconizable. “Jackie…” the voice intoned “Jackie…I’m watching you…and your horse…be very very careful” then the voice exploded into a taunting cackling laugh - the hung up

“Oh my god!” Jackie exclaimed. Quickly she hit caller ID - and realized the call had been made from Highbourne Stables. she had no idea what to think then she picked up the phone and called…

[Jenn]

Since this thread was mentioned a couple times on the “Best of 2000” thread, I’m bumping it up so someone can finally finish it! Please, someone finish it! I need closure! lol But really, someone needs to finish this awesome story!

[Inverness]

“What should I do with the horse?”…

… Diane Amos had seemingly been born with an evil streak. But despite having hatched and participated in numerous villainous schemes over the years, she had never learned to be careful. Thus, she sped off down the dirt road without bothering to verify that she had, indeed, silenced Savannah permanently.

In addition, figuring that Destiny’s recapture was imminent (after all, how far could a malnourished and injured horse travel in unfamiliar territory?) and not wanting to raise the ire of the formidable “voice” on the phone, she neglected to mention that the key to the entire plan was, at that moment, wandering the Northern Virginia backwoods. . .

[This message has been edited by Inverness (edited 08-10-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Inverness (edited 08-10-2000).]

[Kryswyn]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by EquiMom:
Later, she shared these very thoughts with Vanessa, saying; “…Only one thing out of all this insanity is for certain, Vanny! If that horse in Destiny’s stall isn’t Destiny, then I’m ready to hang up my Vogels–for good! …-and I swear to you–I’m going to get to the bottom of all this, even if it kills me!”
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

“Jedi knight, Jackie” Heath said from the doorway.

“Excuse me,” Vanessa said,“but what does Star Wars have to do with this?”

Screwing up his face in concentration, Heath said deliberately, “Can I walk with you Jackie?”

Going down the barn aisle behind him leaving Vanessa in the tack room, Jackie said, “Sure I’ve been wanting to talk to you for weeks.”

Heath shook his head and grabbing a shank, went down one of the many paddock lanes to bring in a horse from turnout. “I said ‘walk’ and I meant ‘walk’. This time anyway,” he said morosely. “It’s not safe to talk around her. Or anywhere in the barn. The walls have mice.”

Jackie puzzled a moment and said, “Mice… mouse… mouse ears… The walls have ears! I get it! Look Heath, this could take forever and I’m really bad at charades. Why don’t I ask the questions and you answer. Okay?” He nodded.

“First, is the horse in the barn Destiny?”

Looking down at his shoes, Heath shook his head ‘no’.

Jackie felt something burst inside her. “But it HAS to be! I know that horse! Every hair, his way of going, his little likes and dislikes, his sweet spot! That is MY HORSE!” she cried.

Heath looked out from under furrowed brows. “Your horse, not Destiny, fried eggs.”

“What!” Jackie exclaimed. “What the HELL do fried eggs have to do with Destiny? What are you trying to say?”

But the pressure Jackie was putting on Heath was not helping. Feeling an intense empathy with Ken the Stutterer from “A Fish Called Wanda”, Heath tried again. “Destiny doesn’t have fly sheets.”

Jackie literally turned and began banging her head on the oak board fence.

“White legs! Destiny doesn’t have white legs!” Exhausted with his effort, Heath sank to his knees. “But that’s your horse in there.”

Jackie dropped to her knees beside him and took Heath’s hand. “But Heath, I bought Destiny, or did I? Are you telling me that’s the horse I bought, but his name’s not Destiny?” Heath nodded vigorously. “Who is he then? What’s his name? And where is the real Destiny?”

“I can’t sell shoes…tell you that. I was just supposed to keep him looking like a black pointed bay with a star.”

“YOU were?” She pulled her hand from his. Jackie stared at him, “It was YOU?!?”

Looking deeply into her eyes, Heath said fervently, "I’m really sorry, Jackie. I had to, but I don’t want you to get Kurt… HURT…

[Regalmeans]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by creseida:

She doesn’t have to wait long before…<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

An ambulance came pulling up. Just as she was about to sigh with relief she realized there was still one problem - how in the world was she going to explain the dead body next to her? Should she tell the authorities all she knew about Diane and the horse or just keep quiet. Before she could think any further the ambulance attendents were at her side. After making her comfortable they saw the body of the man lying prone on the road. “What happened to him?” one of the attendents asked. Savannah almost panicked, instead in a flash of brilliance she…

[creseida]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kathy Johnson:
Hurriedly he fed them, checked their automatic waterers, then left them quietly munching, the stable alive with the sounds and smells of horses.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

As he headed out of the barn, Erik caught up with him.
“Did you see this morning’s paper?” he asked.
“Uhn…noo”
"They found Diane Amos dead in a barn in the middle of nowhere. Shot to death 5 times with a 9-mike. Found by a whip walking his hounds. The dogs locked on to the smell, and couldn’t be called off. When he got to this little barn…well apparently things were pretty ripe. Probably wouldn’t have been so bad except for heat of this Indian summer we’re having.

“The real kicker to this, though,” he continued, “is that they believe that the bullets came from the same gun that shot Vanessa. Apparently, somewhere between Mosby’s and the Sheriff’s department, the gun in that shooting disappeared.”

Heath’s eyes grew large, as he remembered the scene at Mosby’s, and feared for Jackie’s safety. The killer was still at large. One dead and one injured…

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

[Twister]

Vanessa nodded at the raven-haired beauty striding directly to the table shared by Fiona Ford and Erik Booth. She joined them without a word. Erik reached to pull out her chair without rising from his own. They looked anything but the former lovers Vanessa’s gossip suggested.
Fiona was clearly in charge of the meeting and she did not look pleased…

[FlightCheck]

As her knees failed to support her, she sank to the ground. Visions of Destiny on the auction block whirled about her as she fought to regain her composure.

Suddenly, her hand closed onto - a braiding comb! Memories of nights spent braiding horses for Indoors crowded into her head, bringing with it the suppressed rage that she would no longer have her chance. Struggling to her feet, she raised the comb in her hand and shouted, “As God is my witness, I’ll never be a braider again!”

“Hmmm,” she thought, “How DOES one go about getting in touch with Johnnie Cochran??”…

[EquiMom]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ben & Me:
… His heart skipped a beat as a young woman climbed out of the BMW and walked up to the barn…<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

…and for a maddening instant the sun-streaked hair framing the clean-scrubbed, smiling face made everything else fall away. It registered with his sleep-deprived brain that what he perceived was nothing more than a cruel trick of the mind. Yet as her purposeful stride brought her closer, the impression only intensified.

“Hello…” she said, extending her hand, “hope we’re not too early!”

Even her voice reminded him of Lacey, light and almost musical to the ear.

“Better early than late…” he answered, wincing at the terseness of his own words.

Just then, a nicker of recognition came from the two-horse. The sound of Jackie’s voice made Destiny eager to be off the trailer, and he shifted a bit in anticipation of her always welcome touch.

“Let’s get this boy out where I can see him.” Erik said, willing himself back into the moment. He was prepared to see a quality piece of horseflesh–but this was something more. He was…

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

[EquiMom]

Evie Beauchamps was spending a restless night. Her tossing and turning was also playing havoc with the snooze-time of her assorted bed-mates–especially the cats. She was ordinarily loathe to jostle the puddies once they had settled in, usually atop her chest–or curled into a halo around her head. Re-positioning made them highly indignant. The dogs were more tractable–except for the Russells. Disturbing their slumber usually set off a round of annoyed yawns, scritch-scratching and snorting, before they retreated to the oxygen-deprived recesses of the bed-covers. Only they knew the secret to deep-sleep-diving–without suffering brain damage. The non-JRT’s just jumped ship to sprawl on the floor, where Evie’s inconsiderate disruption of their beauty sleep wouldn’t be a factor.

“Yeeoww-rr!” the ‘halo’ cat throatily vocalized, “Mama…stoppit!”

“…Can’t sleep–sorry, children…!”

“…Don’t need no diggin’ up that big Daddy horse…” snorked the foot-of-the-bed Russells, “Mama Evie! You gots what they needs…!”

Evie picked up the “vibes”–but what did it mean? Her restlessness was coming from the sense of distress carried on the night wind. Shrill whinnies of horses calling to one another…then a fragment of human helplessness…and a vision of bones being unearthed! Horrible images! Why would anyone want to…?

“You have the key, Mama…”

"I do…?

Suddenly the Russell at her feet wriggled his way up to her face, sneezed, and hopped off the bed. When he hopped back up, he was jangling her keys, dragging them by the multi-hued plaited tie that held them together. He dropped them on her chest and waited for the ear-massage he felt was coming. But instead, Evie sat bolt upright, scattering cats and dislodging dogs in a single, rude upheaval.

She fingered the thick braid, her treasured talisman made up of tail-hairs…her remembrance of horses gone over “The Rainbow Bridge”…!

“Now sleep, Mama…tomorrow’s another day…!”

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

[EquiMom]

A pungent smell assaulted Jackie’s senses. It made her choke and feel nauseated. Opening her eyes, she saw Erik’s face poised above hers–and behind him stood Vanessa, her head wreathed in cigarette smoke. It was all coming back to her now. She, driving the lead to Highborne Farm, followed by Savannah trailering Destiny…accompanied by Muffy and Vanessa. The rest was still a blur.

When she tried to sit up, the world turned upside down. Falling back in the moist grass, she desperately tried to regain her equilibrium.

“I saw the tack room…” Erik’s comment jolted her back into the reality of her waking nightmare; “The police are on their way.”

Just then, Heath stepped into view. His were the strong arms that had caught Jackie and carried her to her present location outside the barn.

“Destiny…where–oh, God! Someone’s taken him…!”

Vanessa sidled up to Savannah to whisper in her ear; “I tried to warn her–but you wouldn’t let me!”

“Shut up, Vanny! Now isn’t the time!” Savannah pushed her in the direction of her Tahoe, where a pale and sniffling Muffy sat curled up in the back seat. “Go keep Muffy company.”

“But–”

“Just go, Vanessa! And don’t go burnin’ up my leather with your damned cigarettes!”

[Razumny]

Jim Muldoon pointed his Lexis south on I95 heading to the Tidewater area. The drive on I95 and I64 from Washington to Norfolk was one of the most boring stretches of road on the planet. Not quite as bad as I95 in “South Of The Border” land, but not a whole hell of a lot better.

Muldoon grew up in Norfolk, son of a Navy officer. After four years at Annapolis he’d been stationed in Norfolk himself. He’d lived in Virginia Beach, though - a small two bedroom cottage on 84th Street only a few yards to the water. The daily commute into the Naval Operations Base (“NOB”) in Norfolk had been worth it.

So, he knew the area well. That was an advantage. His first stop would be First Colonial Stables - site of the most recent and most devastating of the fires.

Someone had been determined to take out this facility. The fire was secondary to the explosion that had ripped through one of the barns. The evidence was still being examined but preliminary analysis pointed to a bomb.

The squirrel had miscalculated, however. The owner of the stables was having an automatic fly spray system installed in the barn and the horses normally housed there were on 24 hour turnout until the work was completed.

This fact meant that 45 horses were spared an untimely death. Muldoon frowned at his next thought. It also meant that the bomber would be back . . .

[This message has been edited by Razumny (edited 08-23-2000).]

[Regalmeans]

Jackie frowned, looking at Destiny’s leg. “I want to call a vet - now. I can’t afford to take any chances with this horse. Eric would agree” She ordered.

But instead of calling the farms vet, whose number Hearth immediately began to dictate, she picked up her cell phone and began to dial another number.

“Who are you calling?” Hearth asked, trying to keep his voice from sounding desperate.

“Dr. Lock Thompson.” Jackie said calmly, “he’s the vet I’ve always used and luckily he’s here at the show grounds.”

Jackie turned away and spoke quietly into her cell phone while Hearth cursed quietly in the background.

After arranging for Thompson to meet her in 15 miuntes at the stall, Jackie hung up the phone, and found Hearth gone. As she walked to the end of the aisle to look for him a passing horse caught her eye, it was a tall elegant bay, complete with chrome, a total eye catcher. Then she realized who the horse was, it was, Riveredge, the horse who had been second year green champion at all the shows this year…then she gasped when she reconized the rider - Vanessa! But she thought Vanessa was broke, there was no way she could have afforded this horse, and no way anyone would have offered her a ride this prestigious. Vanessa didn’t see her, and as she rode away a man in a blue shirt came up to her and pressed an envelope into her hands. Vanessa smiled and said something Jackie couldn’t hear, then opened the envelope and counted the money it contained. Then Vanessa stuffed the envelope in her pocket and trotted off, fading from view. JAckie puzzled over the scene, then turned back to studying Destiny’s leg and waiting for Dr. lock Thompson to come…

15 minutes later…
Across the show grounds Hearth picks up a pay phone and dials a number he has memorized…

“Listen,” he says “We’ve got trouble here. The bitch is calling Thompson in to look at her horse. We have to take action immediately or else…”

On the other end of the phone a low, gravelly voice gave Hearth precise intstructions as to what to do. And then he walked away from the phone, and head towards…

[Ben_and_Me]

“Well, to start with, we need a motive,” replied Carleton from the front seat.

“Yeah, what could Muffy want that she doesn’t already have,” murmered Jackie.

“She’s not exactly impoverished is she,” said Erik thoughtfully.

“Ah, but you’re all forgetting one little thing,” said Mama Evie triumphantly.

“What!?” chorused the group.

“Jealousy,” she replied simply.

“But why in the world would she be jealous of ME!” asked Jackie. “I mean, she’s been showing on the circuit for ages! She was Best Child Rider on a Pony at Devon while I was polishing boots and hand grazing her string of ponies!”

“But think about it Jackie,” said Carleton. “Her riding has been less than perfect during the last few years. I mean, she fell off at the National last year when her horse tripped in the schooling ring! And then she fell off again in her flat class!”

“She sees you as a threat Jackie,” said Erik. “She knows she doesn’t have to worry about Vanessa because she goes off course more than she completes a class. You and Savannah are the real threats.”

“And she already tried to take care of Savannah,” piped in Carleton.

“Oh my gosh, you’re right!” said Jackie. “Its been so obvious the whole time, right under our finger tips!”

“But how is this all related to Fiona?” asked Kelly.

“We’re about to find out,” said Mama Evie as they turned into the sweeping drive of Fiona’s Ashbunt Farm. "I’m pretty sure her animals know the WHOLE story…

[creseida]

Using the chaos at Mosby’s as cover, he escapes down the narrow, unlit, country road. Keeping one hand on the wheel, Coverall Man pulls out the wireless and punches in a number. Things did not go as planned. Too late, he realised he had chosen the wrong girl, but in the smoky gloom of the pub it was difficult to see. He was advised to lay low, and await further instructions. Any further mishaps would not be tolerated, and would be dealt with…appropriately.

The ominous click of the phone going dead gave Coverall Man cold sweats. He’d heard the rumours and speculation about the fate of his predecessor after his final mistake. He did not wish to become another rumour, for as surely as he sat there, that is all that would be left of him if he failed in his directive. He headed out of town, back to the mountain retreat where the real Destiny was imprisoned.

[This message has been edited by creseida (edited 08-10-2000).]

[Bren]

Yes, please…someone needs to finish this! I need closure!!!