Del’s special protégé. There was a lot of buzz around him and by the evening before the race he was the odds-on favourite. But half an hour before he ran his first heat, Struts was taken outside the ground by some jocks on speed and beaten senseless. He suffered a hairline fracture of the skull and ended up having to have his implant removed. A year later Struts tracked down the people who did it and killed one of them with a crowbar. He’s in prison now, serving life for murder. None of this was Del’s fault, but he took it hard.
The real reason Del had never run Limlasker in the Delawarr Triple was because he was afraid something might happen to him. He tended to run younger dogs, dogs that would benefit from the exposure but without attracting too much attention. Marley Struts had attracted attention, and look what happened.
Limlasker was seven years old now and about to turn eight. He was an old dog, by any standards. He and Tash were still winning races, but Del already had another dog – a nine-month-old bitch named Clearview Princess, Limlasker’s granddaughter – picked out for Tash for when Lim retired. Limlasker would run one more season at the most.
It would be unusual for any dog of his age to run the Delawarr. It’s true that some of the great champions have been five years old or more but they’ve always been dogs with a track record in that particular race. Red Kestrel was six when she won, but she’d been competing in the Delawarr for three previous seasons and placing higher each time. It was a race she wanted to win, anyone could see that.
Limlasker though – so far as the Delawarr was concerned, he was both a veteran and a novice, not a good combination. When Del told me he was planning to run him I thought he’d gone nuts.
But after from my comment about cloud cuckoo land I kept my mouth shut. What else could I do? Del obviously meant to do this, and nothing I or anyone else could say would make any difference.
~*~
We sat Claudia down and talked to her. I did most of the talking, actually – I guess Del thought she’d be more likely to swallow our story if it came from me. We told her Lumey was safe, that she was being held as collateral against a business loan, that it was all a bit of a mix up and Lumey would be returned to us in a couple of weeks.
If anyone asked she was to say Lumey was in Folkestone, visiting her grandma. On no account was she to speak to the police.
“There’s nothing to worry about, honestly,” I said. Claudia blinked at me. Her eyes were shiny and kind of glazed over. It was like she’d been drugged. I felt lower than a louse, but what choice did I have? What I had said was not a lie exactly, and even if I went against my brother and told her everything, what good would it do? The facts of the situation wouldn’t change, and knowing the truth would only make Claudia feel worse.
We all had our jobs to do. Del’s was to juggle hand grenades, mine was to convince him he could perform a miracle. Claudia’s was to shut up and keep out of the way.
The sooner we all got on with them, the better.
“Why not do something special for Lumey, for when she comes home?” I said to Claudia. “You could redecorate her bedroom. I’ll help you choose the colours if you like.”
I felt like a right idiot, suggesting that, but I thought it might help Claudia to have something concrete to focus on, and it did.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while, actually,” she said. She was looking a little brighter, a bit less like a zombie on Valium, and I really started to believe that if we could only create a safe space for Claudia to live inside for the next week or so we might just come through this. I guess Del’s madness was catching.
I agreed to stay for supper, and to come over to the Cowshed the following afternoon to help Claudia decide on a theme for Lumey’s new decor.
Del was looking at me like I was some kind of genius. I wanted to thump him.
I
The real reason Del had never run Limlasker in the Delawarr Triple was because he was afraid something might happen to him. He tended to run younger dogs, dogs that would benefit from the exposure but without attracting too much attention. Marley Struts had attracted attention, and look what happened.
Limlasker was seven years old now and about to turn eight. He was an old dog, by any standards. He and Tash were still winning races, but Del already had another dog – a nine-month-old bitch named Clearview Princess, Limlasker’s granddaughter – picked out for Tash for when Lim retired. Limlasker would run one more season at the most.
It would be unusual for any dog of his age to run the Delawarr. It’s true that some of the great champions have been five years old or more but they’ve always been dogs with a track record in that particular race. Red Kestrel was six when she won, but she’d been competing in the Delawarr for three previous seasons and placing higher each time. It was a race she wanted to win, anyone could see that.
Limlasker though – so far as the Delawarr was concerned, he was both a veteran and a novice, not a good combination. When Del told me he was planning to run him I thought he’d gone nuts.
But after from my comment about cloud cuckoo land I kept my mouth shut. What else could I do? Del obviously meant to do this, and nothing I or anyone else could say would make any difference.
~*~
We sat Claudia down and talked to her. I did most of the talking, actually – I guess Del thought she’d be more likely to swallow our story if it came from me. We told her Lumey was safe, that she was being held as collateral against a business loan, that it was all a bit of a mix up and Lumey would be returned to us in a couple of weeks.
If anyone asked she was to say Lumey was in Folkestone, visiting her grandma. On no account was she to speak to the police.
“There’s nothing to worry about, honestly,” I said. Claudia blinked at me. Her eyes were shiny and kind of glazed over. It was like she’d been drugged. I felt lower than a louse, but what choice did I have? What I had said was not a lie exactly, and even if I went against my brother and told her everything, what good would it do? The facts of the situation wouldn’t change, and knowing the truth would only make Claudia feel worse.
We all had our jobs to do. Del’s was to juggle hand grenades, mine was to convince him he could perform a miracle. Claudia’s was to shut up and keep out of the way.
The sooner we all got on with them, the better.
“Why not do something special for Lumey, for when she comes home?” I said to Claudia. “You could redecorate her bedroom. I’ll help you choose the colours if you like.”
I felt like a right idiot, suggesting that, but I thought it might help Claudia to have something concrete to focus on, and it did.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while, actually,” she said. She was looking a little brighter, a bit less like a zombie on Valium, and I really started to believe that if we could only create a safe space for Claudia to live inside for the next week or so we might just come through this. I guess Del’s madness was catching.
I agreed to stay for supper, and to come over to the Cowshed the following afternoon to help Claudia decide on a theme for Lumey’s new decor.
Del was looking at me like I was some kind of genius. I wanted to thump him.
I
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