Read Online Live and Let Growl by Laurien Berenson - Free Book Online

chestnut is more impressive at first glance, the bay is ultimately the better colt,” she retorted.
    And once again, Aunt Peg was back to micromanaging the world. I should have known that the brief respite wouldn’t last.
    â€œExcuse me.”
    I looked up. To my horror, I saw that the man in the ball cap, the one whose opinion Aunt Peg had just been disparaging, was coming over to join us. I hoped he hadn’t heard what we were saying.
    â€œWho are you? ” he demanded.
    Yup. I swallowed a sigh. He’d heard us all right.
    Aunt Peg straightened her shoulders. She drew herself up to her full height, a shade under six feet. Then she gazed down her nose imperiously. Usually I’m the one who’s the recipient of that shriveling look. But under the circumstances, it didn’t make me feel any better to see it aimed in another direction.
    â€œI’m Margaret Turnbull,” she said.
    â€œ And what do you know about racehorses? ”
    â€œI’m sorry!” Abruptly Erin reappeared. She insinuated herself between Aunt Peg and the man and asked, “Is there a problem?”
    â€œNo,” I said hastily. “No problem at all. We were just leaving. Right, Aunt Peg?”
    â€œI don’t think—” she began.
    I grabbed her arm and cut her off. “Yes, you do. In fact sometimes you think too much. But not today. Today we’re not going to share our opinions with anyone. Are we, Erin?”
    Looking baffled, Erin sputtered, “No?”
    â€œGood answer,” I told her.
    I pulled on Aunt Peg’s arm. And got no response. She just stood there like a large, unmovable mountain. The second time I tried a yank and a glare. If I had to make a third attempt to get her moving, I swear I was going to kick her.
    Fortunately it didn’t come to that. With Erin on one side and me on the other, we finally succeeded in hustling Aunt Peg back to the truck. To add to the ignominy of the situation, when I glanced back I saw that the handler who’d winked at me previously was now laughing at our predicament. Just perfect.
    We’d barely gotten our doors closed before Erin had the truck in gear. She spun the vehicle around and aimed it back up the hill. Within moments, the track and the training barn had receded in the distance.
    Then she looked at the two of us and asked, “What happened back there?”
    â€œIt was just a small misunderstanding,” I said.
    â€œMy foot!” Aunt Peg harrumphed.
    â€œSomething’s the matter with your foot?” Erin sounded dismayed. She leaned over and had a look. “Did you get stepped on by a horse? Dammit, I should have been paying more attention.”
    And thus we descended from mere ignominy into total farce.
    â€œAunt Peg’s foot is fine,” I said. “It’s her mouth that’s the problem.”
    As usual, I thought. It didn’t seem necessary to voice the thought aloud.
    â€œWho was that man?” Aunt Peg asked. “The one in the ball cap.”
    â€œHis name is Billy Gates,” Erin said. “He and his cousin are co-owners of the farm next door.”
    I stifled a small groan. This day was just getting better and better.
    â€œAnd what was he doing back there?”
    Erin shrugged. “It looked like he was trying to sell a horse.”
    â€œThe wrong horse,” Aunt Peg said firmly.
    â€œExcuse me?”
    Of course Erin sounded surprised, I thought. She didn’t know Aunt Peg nearly as well as I did.
    â€œAnd the other man,” Aunt Peg continued. “Who was he?”
    â€œI’ve never seen him before,” Erin replied. “He’s probably a client from out of town who’s here to shop at the sale. Judging by what we saw, I’d guess that Billy is his bloodstock agent. Billy probably picked out a few nice colts for the client to look at ahead of time.”
    â€œI heard Mr. Gates tell the other man that the chestnut was the