Page 104 of Beneath Pearly Irish Skies
He walked up to Red Zephyr and looked into the stallion’s eyes. They were calm and focused, but Kade knew the stallion was taking in the other horses around him. He’d been bred and trained to run. After caressing his neck, Kade swung into the saddle.
“Good luck, Kade,” he heard Brady shout. “I’ll be rooting for you from the back.”
Kade turned to wave at his friend on his trusty donkey, then nudged Red Zephyr to the starting line with the other horses.
Eoghan stood on a mounting block and raised a white handkerchief in the air. Kade set his weight in the saddle, prepared to spring forward when the man brought down the handkerchief.
The moment came, and the stallion shot forward. In ten seconds, the leaders were established. As his stallion thundered straight down the course on his family’s land, Kade glanced at them from the corner of his eyes. Shannon. Their father. Donal, holding his own on a stallion he’d borrowed from a friend in Sligo. The last contestant surprised him. Keegan O’Malley was to the left of Shannon, slightly ahead of her.
They raced past the ash and hawthorn trees lining the path and then climbed slightly as they passed his father’s pastures. Kade urged Red Zephyr then, knowing they were coming to the first right turn that would take them on the path down to the shoreline. They could use it as an opportunity to surge ahead of the others if they played it right.
His father knew his mind because he spotted him coming up along his side, close but not in a way that skirted the rules. Killian Donovan had won many a horse race by being aggressive, so Kade hadn’t expected anything less. Only his father didn’t know what he knew. Red Zephyr hated to be crowded.
The stallion lurched forward, his hoofs solid and powerful as they tore up the dry earth under them. As they neared the turn, Kade kept his eyes straight ahead, not bothering to watch what his father did. He wasn’t racing his father.
He was racing for himself.
Red Zephyr’s neck continued to rise and fall as they galloped onto the shore, not missing a beat. Seagulls screamed overhead, and a heron took flight in front of him.
Kade could feel someone behind him, but he knew not to look back. His father had always told him, from his very first pony rides, that you look where you want to go and the horse will go with you. Kade wanted to go to the finish line, and as they hugged the last of the shoreline, angling left toward the final neck of the race, he told Red Zephyr where to go. The stallion didn’t disappoint, eating up the dark earth below them.
Shannon surged ahead of him, making him smile. She’d never been patient and was running Hunter’s Bounty straight out.Too soon, sis.The stallion would tire. His father appeared next to him, probably confident in his chances. Sutter’s Mill was younger, his training equal to his pristine form. But while Red Zephyr was older and coming off an injury, Kade knew his heart. The stallion understood this was his first race in over a year, and he would make it count when the time was right.
Kade watched as his father came even with Shannon, only a length ahead of him. Donal appeared to the right of Shannon, a half-length behind. Kade sensed someone behind them, but he didn’t look back.
No, he prepared for the final stretch.
They raced past the fairy fort between his father’s pastures and then declined gradually into the straight path leading to the finish line. Kade heard the crowd start to cheer as they caught sight of them. He shook the reins and gave a guttural sound to Red Zephyr to ask the horse to go faster. The stallion lurched forward, passing first Shannon, whose mount was tiring, and then Donal, and lastly his father.
They tore the white ribbon as Red Zephyr crossed the finish line, and Kade felt a part of his heart tear open as the cheering deafened his ears. He’d raced and given it everything he had, as had Red Zephyr. He brought the stallion out of a gallop and finally into a trot, letting one of his hands drop from the reins to stroke the sweaty stallion. When he finally came to a stop, he sat back in the saddle and lifted a fist to the sky, giving in to the urge to cry out his victory as the scent of oranges enveloped him.
His father appeared beside him and punched the air, his frustration evident. “Third! That Keegan O’Malley beat me out of second, after your own self.” Then he grinned. “Congratulations, by the way. You raced well.”
“Thank you,” he said in surprise.
“Then again, I always knew you would. You should listen to your dad more.” With a cheeky wink, his father turned his horse around and headed to the edge of the crowd.
“I wonder if your father liked having the last word with you,” he said to Red Zephyr, who let out a hearty sigh.
Kade turned his stallion back. He would be at the finish line for Megan, exactly as he’d told her.
He didn’t have to wait long, he was pleased to see. Carrick was right beside her, as promised, and while they weren’t galloping full out, they were close. When she crossed the finish line, he dismounted from Red Zephyr and handed him off to Shannon, who’d come over to congratulate him.
When Megan brought Breezy to a halt beside Carrick, he held out his arms to her. “Did you win?” she asked with bright eyes.
“I did at that,” he said, laughing as she launched herself at him, congratulating him.
“It was wonderful!” She peppered his face with kisses. “I loved it! She rides like a dream. I want to do it again.”
“Then so you shall,” he said, hugging her to him. “And so shall I.”
Carrick dismounted and came over, grabbing them both in a huge hug. “I’ve always been proud to call you my friend, but never more than today. You’ve finally found yourself.”
“You sound like Liam,” he said, laughing.
“Liam knows everything,” Megan said, kissing Carrick on the cheek. “Thanks for having my back out there.”
“You didn’t need it,” Carrick said. His friend gave him a look, and Kade knew he spoke the truth. Not that he was surprised. He’d known she had wind in her veins.
