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Authors: Otto Penzler
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isn’t it?” a voice said from behind him.
He turned to see Donna Freepoint standing nearby. “Yes. ”
“We need to talk, Mr. Halsted. Jimmy will keep busy for a while, and the folks who work here are fond of him—they’ll make
sure he doesn’t come to any harm.”
He followed her into her office and she motioned toward a wooden chair. She began talking about the difference between Zuppa’s
workout times and his race performances. She was talking about morning glories and dockers and airing, and he got nothing
more out of this than the fact that she thought Zuppa was not racing as fast as he worked out. She went on to explain several
possible reasons for this, and things she wanted to try for starters. Eric found himself watching her mouth move. A really
nice mouth. He had just managed to re-focus his attention on the business at hand for about one minute when she paused and
asked, “Have you understood a word I’ve said, Mr. Halsted?”
“Please call me Eric.”
She rolled her eyes, not all that differently from the way Jimmy rolled his. “All right,
Eric,
same question.”
“Yes, although there were parts I will admit I don’t really grasp as yet, being new to all this. You were just saying that
you doubt blood tests would show anything, but you’d like to have some done just in case, and to have a different vet take
over the care of Zuppa.”
“Yes.” She stayed silent, but a helpless look came over her face, as if she were struggling to come up with a way to explain
rocket science to a four-year-old with a head injury.
“Do you have any objection to explaining this again in front of Jimmy?”
The look of frustration vanished. But she hesitated, then said, “Jimmy has had a lot to deal with lately. An awful lot. You
sure you want to put this on his shoulders, too?”
“I don’t think anything having to do with that horse will be a burden to him.”
She smiled. “No.”
“How did you meet him?”
She laughed. “At the track, of course. He came up to me and told me that he had been watching the horses I trained and was
trying to talk his mom and dad into moving their horses over to my barn. He must have been just shy of ten. I figured, ’cute
kid,’ and thanked him, but as he kept talking, I thought, ’little genius,’ instead. He’s sharp, and he knows horses. More
than most of the adults I meet—uh, no offense.”
“None taken.”
“I’m not saying that he doesn’t have more to learn. But what amazes me about Jimmy is how
fast
he learns. And he’s got the gift, that way of knowing horses—it goes beyond anything anyone can tell you about them, or anything
that’s just in your head—but horses know who has it and who doesn’t. They can tell.” She suddenly blushed. “That probably
sounds like a lot of nonsense to a science guy like you. It’s hard to explain.”
Eric thought of the way Zuppa had responded to Jimmy. Maybe someday someone would do a long and careful study that would reveal
what signals or cues a horse reads from a person with the “gift.” But in the meantime, Eric was willing to call it that. “I’m
not a behavioral scientist,” he said, “so your explanation is fine. I’m a glorified tinker, a guy who likes to fool around
with mechanical things and make them work better.”
“Yeah, right.” She added with an even mix of skepticism and amazement, “Jimmy said you make robots.”
“Not as smart as the ones you’ve seen in movies. Anyway, I think I have an idea of what you mean about Jimmy’s way with horses.
Some idea, anyway. So you found a kindred spirit that day?”
“Absolutely. Next thing I know, he’s bringing Carlotta around, and he’s got her convinced.” She paused. “I didn’t know your
sister-in-law for all that long before she died, but we just hit it off from the start. We were friends—I liked her a lot.”
“So did I.”
“She thought highly of you. ’Mark’s smarter
He turned to see Donna Freepoint standing nearby. “Yes. ”
“We need to talk, Mr. Halsted. Jimmy will keep busy for a while, and the folks who work here are fond of him—they’ll make
sure he doesn’t come to any harm.”
He followed her into her office and she motioned toward a wooden chair. She began talking about the difference between Zuppa’s
workout times and his race performances. She was talking about morning glories and dockers and airing, and he got nothing
more out of this than the fact that she thought Zuppa was not racing as fast as he worked out. She went on to explain several
possible reasons for this, and things she wanted to try for starters. Eric found himself watching her mouth move. A really
nice mouth. He had just managed to re-focus his attention on the business at hand for about one minute when she paused and
asked, “Have you understood a word I’ve said, Mr. Halsted?”
“Please call me Eric.”
She rolled her eyes, not all that differently from the way Jimmy rolled his. “All right,
Eric,
same question.”
“Yes, although there were parts I will admit I don’t really grasp as yet, being new to all this. You were just saying that
you doubt blood tests would show anything, but you’d like to have some done just in case, and to have a different vet take
over the care of Zuppa.”
“Yes.” She stayed silent, but a helpless look came over her face, as if she were struggling to come up with a way to explain
rocket science to a four-year-old with a head injury.
“Do you have any objection to explaining this again in front of Jimmy?”
The look of frustration vanished. But she hesitated, then said, “Jimmy has had a lot to deal with lately. An awful lot. You
sure you want to put this on his shoulders, too?”
“I don’t think anything having to do with that horse will be a burden to him.”
She smiled. “No.”
“How did you meet him?”
She laughed. “At the track, of course. He came up to me and told me that he had been watching the horses I trained and was
trying to talk his mom and dad into moving their horses over to my barn. He must have been just shy of ten. I figured, ’cute
kid,’ and thanked him, but as he kept talking, I thought, ’little genius,’ instead. He’s sharp, and he knows horses. More
than most of the adults I meet—uh, no offense.”
“None taken.”
“I’m not saying that he doesn’t have more to learn. But what amazes me about Jimmy is how
fast
he learns. And he’s got the gift, that way of knowing horses—it goes beyond anything anyone can tell you about them, or anything
that’s just in your head—but horses know who has it and who doesn’t. They can tell.” She suddenly blushed. “That probably
sounds like a lot of nonsense to a science guy like you. It’s hard to explain.”
Eric thought of the way Zuppa had responded to Jimmy. Maybe someday someone would do a long and careful study that would reveal
what signals or cues a horse reads from a person with the “gift.” But in the meantime, Eric was willing to call it that. “I’m
not a behavioral scientist,” he said, “so your explanation is fine. I’m a glorified tinker, a guy who likes to fool around
with mechanical things and make them work better.”
“Yeah, right.” She added with an even mix of skepticism and amazement, “Jimmy said you make robots.”
“Not as smart as the ones you’ve seen in movies. Anyway, I think I have an idea of what you mean about Jimmy’s way with horses.
Some idea, anyway. So you found a kindred spirit that day?”
“Absolutely. Next thing I know, he’s bringing Carlotta around, and he’s got her convinced.” She paused. “I didn’t know your
sister-in-law for all that long before she died, but we just hit it off from the start. We were friends—I liked her a lot.”
“So did I.”
“She thought highly of you. ’Mark’s smarter
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