Three

                The Sky growled and lightning lit up the sky followed by another downpour of rain. Today was the fourth straight day of Mother Nature’s onslaught and the weather forecast did not predict it ending soon. Mary watched as her knuckles went a paler shade of white as she clung onto the steering wheel for dear life. The beat up old ute still slid aimlessly along the road even though she had switched it into Low gear four wheel drive before heading off the bitchumin and onto the “dirt” road. Mary laughed nervously river road would be a more accurate picture. Through the rain she could see a dark figure standing on the side of the ahead. Bloody kangaroo! Get of the friggin’ track! She thought as she leaned on the horn. The last thing she needed was to hit a roo in this kind of weather. As she passed the object she realise it was a person! She pulled over slowly and put her hazards on, she was still practically in the middle of the road as the side was a flowing river of water. The man made his way precariously to her ute and smiled weakly at Mary as she would down the window to greet him. Mary gasped in surprise! She recognised the young man as one of the neighbours farm hands and by the looks of him, the road had claimed a victim. He had a sizable cut on his forhead which was bleeding freely and his geans and shirt were stained red underneath his oil skin coat.

                “Get in boy! I’ll take you into the hospital!” Mary wondered where his vehicle was. The fact that she didn’t know this young man from a bar of soap didn’t cross her mind. She knew that he needed immediate medical attention and that was all that mattered. “What’s your name? I’m Mary, I work over at Gums Creek. What happened? Are you ok?”  The lad stumbled to the passenger side and pulled himself warily into the ute. Mary switched the heat on full and turned the ute around as he talked.

                “I’m James. I’m ok, bit shaken thanks Ma’am, lost control of the ute and ended up arse up in the creek. Bit cold in there!” James laughed weakly trying to set the lady at ease. In truth he felt like s**t, his head ached so bad he could barely hear himself think. And cold! He was so very cold, ever thankful for the header. He dug in his pockets and found a handkerchief to use to stop the bleeding cut of his head. “I guess the hospital would be the go. I do feel  pretty s****y, excuse my language”

                “Just you stay awake James! And make sure you tell me if you need to vomit ok. I’ll get you there as soon as I can.” Mary was verging on panic now, the boy was probably hypothermic! And she couldn’t go any faster on this damned road.

                Rain was still pelting down relentlessly when Mary and her passenger rattled into the hospital, the normally white Ute painted clay. James tried to smile but it turned into more of a grimace as his head thumped in pain. Feeling useless, he allowed himself to be lead out of the rain and into the hospital. Stitches followed as did x-rays, which revealed three cracked ribs and a cracked sternum. The look of horror on his face that followed the announcement from the doctor that he would need a few days in hospital brought a giggle from Mary, how big and tough these men liked to act. After much debate and a gallant speech about how he would and could discharge himself and walk home, it was agreed that he could leave under Marys care, who it was revealed was a qualified nurse. James was thankful when they handed him a handful of painkillers and with stern orders to take it easy, let him leave. Mother Nature continued her assault on the country as the beat up Ute made the tiring drive home. The road was more a river of mud and water and, with her passenger doped up on painkillers, seemed endless for Mary. Having called Tate earlier in the evening to check that the creek was down enough for her to manoeuvre through, she was silently petrified that she would not get across.

               

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                Sleep was playing games with Sienna, crawling towards her then slipping away, just out of reach. Having tossed and turned for what felt like hours she had the distinct feeling that she had been run over by a truck. Rain normally acted like a lullaby for her, gently lulling her into sleep but this rain sounded like bullets pelting the roof, it had been raining like this for hours. Tossing and turning once again she gave up and dragged herself out of bed and wandered down the hallway in seek of some television or perhaps a warm Milo, what she found was her father sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by a mass of papers. The fire was raging through the archway in lounge room, fighting away the chill of the stormy night. Funny how in only a week she had begun to regard him as her father in her own head.

                “You want a whiskey?” Tate didn’t ask any questions about why Sienna was up so late. In fact he was happy for the chance to talk to her as the day had been crazy, what with Mary and the flood and their injured visitor. “I’m just looking over the bloodlines of your colt. I think maybe that you may have found yourself a decent buy there.”

                Sienna nodded as he poured her a drink and slid it across the table to her. She was silently thankful for his interest in the colt, as it acted as a buffer between the two of them, giving them some common ground to build a new relationship together.

                “He walks like he owns the ground. That was what caught my eye about him. He may not be perfect conformation wise but he’s bold enough that he might make something.” Sienna was confident in her ability to pick a good galloper, after all she knew what made a good horse and most times it wasn’t just blue blood pedigree. A horse had to have some guts or “dirt” about him and the will to win.

                “He does that! We might be able to find a maiden race for him close to home to give him a run under his belt then maybe take him on down to Adelaide if he shows some promise? I mean he’s your horse but I have a mate who would stand in as trainer. That is, if you wanted to hang around for a bit.” Tate had been avoiding the issue for days, the fact that she may just pick up and leave again.  

                “I haven’t really thought about it...I don’t really have any major plans, just get my knee right so I can start earning money. Do you really think we could get him fit to race soon? Where on earth would we train him?”  Sienna would have liked to stay, it was cheap and she was finding the atmosphere calming which was funny because her mother always said she found the farm stifling. But could she base herself here, even short term?  Could she work from here once her body was right? Her mind was wondering again and she missed Tate’s answer. He was looking at her impatiently, looking at her with her eyes. Scary really. “Sorry...I missed that, I was off with the fairies.”

                “Girl, I have more land than that horse could cover in a day. You have so many choices to train him on, the creek, the mountains, the paddocks...depends on what you feel like doing on the day. You know he’ll be a happier horse for not going round and round the racetrack everyday, believe me. And if he gets cocky we can put him at some cattle, keep him guessing.”  Tate smiled at teh bewildered look painted on Sienna’s face.

                “He’s going to be a racehorse, you can’t expect a racehorse to work cattle!” Her father was crazy. He was truely,deeply crazy. “You’ll get me killed..or worse he’ll hurt himself!”

                “Oh please girl...open your eyes! He’s no different to any other horse out in those paddocks. So he’s got some good blood running through his veins, so f*****g what. He’s nothing, he’s done nothing! He’s a bloody blank canvas is what he is.” Tate had to take a deep breath to calm himself down a notch, attitudes like Sienna really got under his skin. “So I’ll tell you what, how’s about we don’t tell the horse he’s a racehorse. How’s about we expect a whole bunch from him and keep him busy. I bet in three months he’ll be the most settled horse lining up in the barriers.”

                “And what do you want in exchange for it? I’m not working, I can’t afford to pay your for breaking him in, let along prepping him!” Sienna was furious and lost all bundled up in one. She wanted to believe him, but what he was suggesting was unorthodox to say the least. Who did he think he was talking to her like a child?! Damned the rain and the bloody creek!

                “Calm down girl...have another drink.” Tate smiled warily at the angry young woman sitting across from him. She is so much of me, he thought to himself as he poured her another whiskey and slid it across the table at her. The girl needed a bit of grit and guts about her if she was going to survive in the horse industry.

                “Well stop talking to me like I’m an idiot! I do know a thing or two about racing! I have survived so far without your help, all off my own back.” Tears of anger stung her eyes. All the resentment she was fighting with was so close to bubbling over.

                Choose your words wisely Tate. A warning voice echoed in his mind. “Ok, ok. I’m just trying to get you to understand that there are more ways to do things than just what you learn down on the track. Better ways �" safer ways for the horses and for you. I don’t want to see you hurt, hell I don’t really want to see you ride on the track. But If you’re going to do it, as I know you will, I would like to help you set yourself up with a safer way to do things. Don’t worry about money, you’re my daughter for gods sake and we do ok here. Just jog along with me for a while and maybe you could learn a bit? I would like to get to know you a bit more, I mean if you wanted me to that is. Beside’s Mary would like another woman around the place.”

                Sienna was stunned. Fatherly....care? She smiled despite herself, it was nice that he worried about her. “Do you really think we could get him to work cattle? I mean you’re just playing with me right?” Sienna sidestepped the opportunity to bring up the past, she was not ready to delve into that just now.

                Relief washed through his veins, she was going to stay, for now anyway.  “But of course! Watch and learn Sienna. He will be the handiest Thoroughbred galloping around these parts, you’ll see.”

                Sienna sipped her drink, lost in her thoughts.  A new warmth had filled the room, the kind that began to mend broken bridges.