Chap. 159 The 3K race

Chap. 159 The 3K race

K'ndar had wandered to the edge of the crowd surrounding the race track. There were several punters there, taking last minute bets on the upcoming 3K race.

He looked at their boards. Some of them had Drummer as the favorite at 2-1. He had only a hazy idea of what it meant in terms of betting. He had no delusions about his knowledge of betting on anything.

He was about to turn and head for Ruatha's owner's platform when someone tugged his sleeve.

He turned to see a wizened man, his face so lined his age was undeterminable. After a few moments, he realized the man was a Wanderer. They seldom bothered anyone, so he was surprised that this one had.

"Bet the filly," the man said, almost inaudibly.

"I beg your pardon?" K'ndar said, wondering why he had been picked by this man.

"I say, bet the filly. She won't be beaten," he said, with a knowing shake of the head.

"You think she can beat Drummer? I've heard he's fast," K'ndar said, wondering if he should even bother.

"Aye, I do," the man said.

"Why…why are you telling ME? I have no idea who you are," K'ndar said, wondering, now, if Drummer had been tampered with. No, probably not, not as hyper as the bay gelding was.

"I knows you, sir, you may not remember me, but you and another dragonrider did me family a good turn, and we…we Wanderers, we don't never forget. They's been no way for us to repay you, til now. Bet the filly, sir, trust me. I knows." He nodded his head, his manner saying he was absolutely serious.

This was no shyster, K'ndar thought. He believes it.

K'ndar looked hard at him. "I did YOU a good turn?"

"Aye, and I can explain, but for Pern's sakes, lad, put some money on the filly NOW, the race starts in a few minutes," the man insisted.

Struck by his urgency, K'ndar thought, well, can't lose much if you don't bet much. He turned to the nearest punter, who had a line of people in front of him. It moved fast.

Sunrise was the only filly in the race. Her odds were 35-1.

"Those aren't very good odds," he said, hoping he sounded like he knew what he was doing. He turned, looking for the man's agreement. But he'd vanished as quickly as he'd appeared.

Should I do this? I don't really know, but the man had been convincing.

"Hi, there, boyo, are you in line for the punter? Don't be dithering, I've a bet to set," said another man behind him.

Startled into action, K'ndar pulled out the first coin he felt in his pouch and handed it to the waiting punter.

The punter looked at it, surprised. "Half a mark on?"

Half a mark? That was a lot of money to bet.

"Ummmmmmmmm," K'ndar said, completely unnerved that his hand had pulled out so much money.

"Come ON, you dolt, place your bet or get outa line," said the one behind him.


"Half a mark ON?" the punter said, trying to get K'ndar to hurry.

Feeling rushed, but not wishing to look like the novice he most definitely was, he said "Half a mark on the filly. Sunrise," his voice going up an octave in his uncertainty.

"Half a mark on the filly. You're SURE?"

K'ndar flustered. He hadn't meant a half mark, but…that's what jumped into his hand.

"Lad. Think. I shouldn't be coaching you, but she's going off 35-1. Them's long odds, you sure?" the punter asked, knowing at a glance that K'ndar was a novice.

K'ndar, reddening, felt his pride sting.

"Yes, sir, I know. That's my bet," he said, hoping he looked as if he knew exactly what he was doing.

"The filly. To win?"

Well of course, to win, he thought, what other way was there? Obviously, he was a total moron when it came to betting.

"To win. Yes," he said, irritated at being thought of as a simpleton.

"Sure you don't want to place or show her?"

"To WIN!" he insisted.

"Okay, suit yourself. Here's your chit," the man said, writing in the amount he'd bet on a tag with Sunrise's name on it, "Sunrise to win at 35-1" the punter said. "Next!"

"Gonna lose your money, boyo," said the man behind him, smugly.

"Probably," K'ndar said, deflated. He tucked the chit it into his pocket and headed for the platform, his face red with embarrassment. I won't do this again, he thought, I'm a fool. It'll be an expensive lesson, I'm sure.

Lord Jaxom and Lady Sharra were already there. K'ndar mounted the platform and stood next to Glyena, Rhian and his staff of riders and grooms, behind them.

The starting wire was several yards from their viewpoint. Drummer and the rest were lining up before it.

Drummer, despite his warm up, was still very full of himself, resisting Dravid's every attempt to make him mind. He danced back and forth, pushing the starting wire, backing up. Dravid had a tight hold on the reins. The bay half reared, trying to convince the rest of the horses that he was alpha. He purposefully banged into the chestnut colt next to him.

"Hey, there, mate, mind your horse, what?" the chestnut's rider yelled.

"Sorry," Dravid called, smacking Drummer on the neck with his whip. Drummer subsided, just a bit, but turned his head so he could give the chestnut a double barreled stink eye. His ears flattened. If a horse could snarl, Drummer was. 

On the far outside of the horses, the filly stood quietly, studying the track ahead of her. Her rider stroked her dappled grey neck.

For several tense moments, the crowd waited. The starter waited, too, until all the horses had all four feet on the ground.

The starter triggered the wire and cried "GO!"

Drummer and the chestnut exploded into a gallop and surged to the lead. The rest of the pack were right behind them, save for the filly. She galloped at a controlled pace behind the rest, her rider's hands quiet on the reins.

Oh, K'ndar thought, dismayed, she's half asleep! Half a mark, gone…

Drummer and the chestnut flew, side by side. Drummer turned his head to intimidate the chestnut into backing off. The chestnut's rider kept the colt's head straight, ignoring the bay.

Drummer's ears flattened and he shook his head, trying to get the chestnut to react.

Dravid tried to pull the bay's head to the right, knowing his pace was too fast to last, but Drummer ignored him.

The chestnut pulled ahead. Drummer upped his pace. They pulled away from the rest of the pack behind them, one length, then two, then three. The other horses couldn't keep up  the blistering pace and began to falter.

They were at the far turn, both chestnut and Drummer running flat out. Drummer caught up with the chestnut, still trying to bully the chestnut into backing off, but the colt was as adamant as the gelding.

Sunrise's rider chirped at her mount. The filly's ears flicked backwards for just a moment, then she picked up her pace. In a few strides she passed the horses behind the leaders. She took aim at the two ahead of her. Within moments, she was alongside Drummer, whose attention was still riveted on the chestnut on the inside. Dravid, hearing the filly at his elbow, smacked the furious Drummer without success.

Sunrise's rider slipped the reins and the filly began to RUN.

The chestnut's eye rolled as he saw the filly pass Drummer. He sped up, leaving Drummer behind,but it was too late. The filly was ahead of the two dueling horses by a length as she passed under the finish wire.

The crowd roared. The chestnut pulled up and Drummer passed him, triumphant. The filly's beating him meant nothing. Dravid cursed his mount in utter frustration.

The Ruathans went silent at the loss. Then Rhian began to mutter. "Pig headed, stubborn beast," he said, more to himself, but everyone heard it, and knew why.

"It's okay, Rhian," Jaxom said over his shoulder, "it was a good race, even so. Didn't that filly put them all away!" he said.

K'ndar was astonished. The filly had won! He'd WON!

The punters began to call for the winners to come collect their money.

"Didn't I see you place a bet?" Drummer's handler said.

K'ndar nodded, biting his tongue to keep from saying that he hadn't bet on Drummer. It wouldn't…well it wouldn't LOOK right, betting against his host's horse?

"Go get your money, then, Drummer showed third. Third place money is still money, aye? Bloody minded horse, he won't listen to anyone," he said.

"It is, I guess," K'ndar said.

"Well, then, let's go, folks, Drummer's going to need cooling out and Swiftsure's race is in twenty minutes," Rhian said to his staff, stepping off the platform.

"I'm coming, too," Lady Sharra said, "Jaxom?"

"Unfortunately, no, I see half a dozen folks coming at me, all wanting to me fix their most desperate and dire problems, rather than let me enjoy the races," Jaxom sighed. "Would you please see about the filly? I think she'll make a great addition," he said.

"I shall," Sharra said, smiling.

K'ndar realized he'd never want to be that important. It was nice, he thought, to have no responsibilities other than the ones he already had. I might be just a dungbooted horseman and a dragonrider, but at least I have ME to myself, he thought.

He pushed his way through the crowds. A lot of people were disappointed, having bet on Drummer to win.

The punter looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"How'd you know, sir?" as he paid out an unbelievable amount of money in coins, "I must say I didn't take you as anything but a novice. You've an eye for a horse, it appears," he ended.

K'ndar shrugged. "Beginner's luck, I guess," he said.

"You'll be wanting to place that money on the next race? Got a 20-1 shot in the Stakes," the punter asked, hopefully.

"No, sir, thank you, but I don't think I'll press my luck," K'ndar said. The coins made a comfortable lump in his pouch.

"Hi, mate!" called several men who'd seen his windfall, "Want to go in with us'ns? Pool our money? Who do you like in the Stakes?"

"No, thanks," K'ndar said, feeling like a wherry with a handful of hungry dragons around him, "I'm sure Swiftsure will win," he said.