Part 15 (1/2)

'The never-never on my motor-bike, sir.'

'The never-never? Oh, yes. And how many instalments have you still to pay?'

'About er fifteen, sir.'

'And you don't want to leave here until you've finished paying them off.'

'No, sir.'

'Will they take your motor-cycle away if you stop paying?'

'Yes sir, they might do.'

'So Mr Humber doesn't need to worry about you leaving him?'

I said slowly, unwillingly, but as it happened, truthfully, 'No, sir.'

'Good,' he said briskly. 'Then that clears the air, doesn't it. And now you can tell me where you find the guts to deal with an unstable, half-mad horse.'

'He's drugged, sir.'

'You and I both know, Roke, that a drugged horse is not necessarily a safe horse.'

I said nothing. If there was ever a time when I needed an inspiration, this was it: and my mind was a blank.

'I don't think, Roke,' he said softly, 'that you are as feeble as you make out. I think there is a lot more stuffing in you than you would have us believe.'

'No, sir,' I said helplessly.

'Let's find out, shall we?'

He stretched out his hand to Humber, and Humber gave him his walking stick. Adams drew back his arm and hit me fairly smartly across the thigh.

If I were to stay in the yard I had got to stop him. This time the begging simply had to be done. I slid down the door, gasping, and sat on the ground.

'No sir, don't,' I shouted. 'I got some pills. I was dead scared of Mickey, and I asked the chemist in Posset on Sat.u.r.day if he had any pills to make me brave, and he sold me some, and I've been taking them regular ever since.'

'What pills?' said Adams disbelieving.

'Tranquil something he said. I didn't rightly catch the word.'

'Tranquillizers.'

'Yes, that's it, tranquillizers. Don't hit me any more sir, please sir. It was just that I was so dead scared of Mickey. Don't hit me any more, sir.'

'Well I'm d.a.m.ned.' Adams began to laugh. 'Well I'm d.a.m.ned. What will they think of next?' He gave the stick back to Humber, and the two of them walked casually away along to the next box.

'Take tranquillizers to help you out of a blue funk. Well, why not?' Still laughing, they went in to see the next horse.

I got up slowly and brushed the dirt off the seat of my pants. d.a.m.n it, I thought miserably, what else could I have done? Why was pride so important, and abandoning it so bitter?

It was more clear than ever that weakness was my only a.s.set. Adams had this fearful kink of seeing any show of spirit as a personal challenge to his ability to crush it. He dominated Humber, and exacted instant obedience from Ca.s.s, and they were his allies. If I stood up to him even mildly I would get nothing but a lot of bruises and he would start wondering why I stayed to collect still more. The more tenaciously I stayed, the more incredible he would find it. Hire purchase on the motor-bike wouldn't convince him for long. He was quick. He knew, if he began to think about it, that I had come from October's stables. He must know that October was a Steward and therefore his natural enemy. He would remember Tommy Staple-ton. The hyper-sensitivity of the hunted to danger would stir the roots of his hair. He could check and find out from the post office that I did not send money away each week, and discover that the chemist had sold me no tranquillizers. He was in too deep to risk my being a follow-up to Stapleton; and at the very least, once he was suspicious of me, my detecting days would be over.

Whereas if he continued to be sure of my utter spinelessness he wouldn't bother about me, and I could if necessary stay in the yard up to five or six weeks more. And heaven forbid, I thought, that I would have to.

Adams, although it had been instinct with him, not reason, was quite right to be alarmed that it was I and not Jerry who was now looking after Mickey.

In the hours I had spent close to the horse I had come to understand what was really the matter with him, and all my acc.u.mulated knowledge about the affected horses, and about all horses in general, had gradually shaken into place. I did by that day know in outline how Adams and Humber had made their winners win.

I knew in outline, but not in detail. A theory, but no proof. For detail and proof I still needed more time, and if the only way I could buy time was to sit on the ground and implore Adams not to beat me, then it had to be done. But it was pretty awful, just the same.

Chapter 12.

October's reply was unrelenting.

'Six-Ply, according to his present owner, is not going to be entered in any selling races. Does this mean that he will not be doped?

'The answers to your questions are as follows: 1. The powder is soluble phen.o.barbitone.

2. The physical characteristics of Chin-Chin are: bay gelding, white blaze down nose, white sock, off-fore. Kandersteg: gelding, washy chestnut, three white socks, both fore-legs and near hind. Starlamp: brown gelding, near hind white heel.

3. Blackburn beat a.r.s.enal on November 30th.

'I do not appreciate your flippancy. Does your irresponsibility now extend to the investigation?'

Irresponsibility. Duty. He could really pick his words.

I read the descriptions of the horses again. They told me that Starlamp was Mickey. Chin-Chin was Dobbin, one of the two racehorses I did which belonged to Humber. Kandersteg was a pale shambling creature looked after by Bert, and known in the yard as Flash.

If Blackburn beat a.r.s.enal on November 30th, Jerry had been at Humber's eleven weeks already.

I tore up October's letter and wrote back.

'Six-Ply may now be vulnerable whatever race he runs in, as he is the only shot left in the locker since Old Etonian and Superman both misfired.

'In case I fall on my nut out riding, or get knocked over by a pa.s.sing car, I think I had better tell you that I have this week realised how the scheme works, even though I am as yet ignorant of most of the details.'

I told October that the stimulant Adams and Humber used was in fact adrenalin; and I told him how I believed it was introduced into the blood stream.

'As you can see, there are two prime facts which must be established before Adams and Humber can be prosecuted. I will do my best to finish the job properly, but I can't guarantee it, as the time factor is a nuisance.'

Then, because I felt very alone, I added impulsively, jerkily, a postscript.

'Believe me. Please believe me. I did nothing to Patty.'