1
Fanny Thornton Reed watched the young dawn creep over her beloved Sunrise Mountain. A sadness, unlike anything she'd ever experienced, washed over her. One small part of her wished she hadn't turned the mountain over to her son Sage. Yet it would have been selfish of her to keep it with just herself and Marcus to enjoy. The mountain was intended for a family, for children to run and play, to hope and dream.
She'd raised her four children there, and it was always the place where she'd come to lick her wounds, to cry in private and bury those close to her.
She looked across the road to the little valley where Chue's family lived. Chue was the young Chinese immigrant Sallie Coleman had befriended and brought to the mountain eons ago. She'd given him a large plot of land and built him a house so he could get married and raise a family. His loyalty and love had served Sallie and Fanny's own family over the years. Chue and his wife were gone now, buried in the family cemetery, but their children remained to care for the mountain and for the new generation of Thorntons.
Twelve children on the mountain. She smiled. Sage's three children and her daughter Sunny's two children plus Chue's seven grandchildren romped the mountain from morning till night.
Fanny reflected on her life on the mountain, where she'd been happy as well as miserable at times. Those other times, the times when she'd been less than happyâthey weren't worth thinking about. She was in the winter of her life now, her hair as white as the snow on the tips of the trees in the winter. She was also older, and Marcus was even older. She closed her eyes, wondering what it would be like when it was her time to join those who had gone before her. Tears blurred her eyes. Then she smiled again as she thought about her first husband, Ash, and how much she'd loved him. It was true, what they said, about only having one true love. Yes, she loved her husband Marcus, but it was a different kind of love. Ash was the bells and whistles and the kids' father. Marcus was the steady rock she clung to.
“Fanny, Fanny, you're doing it again. You're stewing and fretting instead of taking action.”
“Ash! Oh, Ash, it's good to talk to you again. It's been years and years. I don't even want to think about how many. Yes, I was just standing here thinking about how old I am. If I close my eyes, I can see us here on the mountain with the kids running around. I've been all over the world, Ash, and this is still the prettiest spot on earth.”
“Why so sad, Fanny?”
“It's Jake, Ash. If you're so
all-knowing,
you must realize the young man is suffering. He can't seem to find his direction. I know how much you loved him, and he returned that love. I don't think he ever forgave you for dying and leaving him behind. All he ever talked about was being a navy pilot like you. Those gold wings you gave him are his most treasured possession. I think he still sleeps with them pinned to his pajamas. You know he will never be a pilot. It's that damn disease, where he didn't grow the way he should have. We took him everywhere, to every clinic, to every specialist, and there was nothing they could do for him. Right now, he's looking at his eighteenth birthday and doesn't know what to do. He absolutely refuses to go to college. Sunny said he has to accept his condition and work it out, the way she did when she found out she had multiple sclerosis. I think she's right, but it hurts me to watch him.”
“I know, Fanny, but there are other ways to fly. I don't mean literally. I'm talking about the same dedication, the same exhilaration. Think about it.”
“Ash, I hate it when you talk in riddles. If you have an idea, tell me. I'll do anything for the boy. Anything. Help me out here, okay?”
“That's your problem, Fanny. You always wanted me to do your thinking for you. Use your head. Go inside and turn the VCR on.”
“Why would I want to do that? It's only six o'clock in the morning. What kind of tape should I watch?” Fanny asked curiously.
“The one that's in the machine. Come on, old girl, you've been thinking about it but were afraid to say the words out loud. You were always so damn cautious.”
“And you were always going off on one tangent or another. I was the one who had to remain grounded for all our sakes.”
“Don't be afraid to take chances, Fanny. Get Jake off the mountain before it's too late. If you don't, he's going to turn into another Simon. You don't want that, do you?”
“Ashhhh.”
Fanny whirled around when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, Jake, what are you doing up so early? Couldn't you sleep?” She reached up to tousle his blond curls, the same kind of hair as his grandfather had had.
“I like to watch the sun come up. It's a new day, and I always hope that maybe some miracle will happen.”
“Jake, I've lived a long time, and over the years I found that each of us has to make our own miracles along the way. I want you to come with me into the family room and watch a tape. Let's get some fresh coffee first, though.”
“What's on the tape, Grandma?”
Yes, what was on the tape? Ash had sounded as if he knew what he was talking about. “You'll see,” she said.
Jake sat down next to her on the sofa, weighing only 105 pounds, his legs barely reaching the floor. Even though he was approaching his eighteenth birthday, he looked like a child of twelve. She was thankful the disease hadn't eaten into his mind. He was brilliant, in the top one percentile of his class, and had a photographic memory just like his grandfather Ash, who had always been his idol.
“You have to turn it on, Grandma,” Jake said.
“Yes, yes, I do have to turn it on. Marcus always handles the remote. Get ready now.”
This better be good, Ash.
Fanny sat back, wondering what it was she was going to see. “Oh, look, Jake, it's Nealy Clay! I think this is her first Kentucky Derby race. She won two Triple Crowns, and she's your aunt. She was in her fifties when she ran her last race. We didn't know about Nealy for a long time.” She looked sideways at Jake. “She's just your size, and she's a jockey. She was very young, not as young as you are, but still young, when she ran her first race. She doesn't look big enough to handle a Thoroughbred, does she?”
“Size has nothing to do with a person's ability to control a horse,” Jake said as if he knew what he was talking about. The camera switched to the jockey room and panned the jockeys as they finished dressing. “Look how muscular those guys are,” he said, an enthusiasm in his voice that hadn't been there before.
“That was the preliminaries. Now, they're going to show the race. Before it starts, I want you to know one thing. Ash, your grandfather, always said there are other ways to fly than in an airplane. Keep that in mind as you watch the race.”
Fanny and Jake watched as the crowd rose to the playing of “My Old Kentucky Home,” then fell silent as the gates clanged open.
“And they're off in the Kentucky Derby!” the announcer blared.
“Flyby got away cleanly and moved to the left right at the start. Serendipity takes the early lead and Crusader is on the inside as he challenges early. Celebration is third on the inside with Nightstar fourth. Finders Keepers is fifth, Dark Sire is in the sixth position. Here comes Phil's Choice in seventh. On the outside is Texas Rich at eighth. Leisure Boy is between horses as they round the clubhouse turn and MacInerny takes Crusader to the front three-quarters of a length. Serendipity on the outside is second. Saturday's Warrior in blue and yellow moves to the outside. Finders Keepers is fifth on the outside with Phil's Choice tucked in at the rail and sixth at this point. Dark Sire is seventh, Celebration is eighth, Nightstar is ninth. After that, Saturday's Warrior racing in the tenth position.”
Fanny beamed when her grandson leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “Look, Grandma, she's trying to move to the inside. Look how low she's riding. She looks like she's on the horse's head. She's about eight lengths behind. Wow! Look at that horse! I can't believe we're related to her.” Fanny thought her heart would burst at the boy's excitement.
The announcer's voice rose an octave. “Here comes Crusader, his colors showing the way and in the lead by a head. On the outside, Serendipity is coming off the middle and here comes Phil's Choice, and he's sailing. Celebration swings to the middle of the racetrack. Flyby is fifth and running at the rail. Celebration takes command by a neck. Down the stretch they come. Finders Keepers is on the inside. Here comes Dancer's Flyby, and that horse is
flying!”
“She's gonna do it, Grandma. Look at her go! The announcer is right, that horse is
flying.
Look at his legs. They're like
wings!”
Jake was on his feet, his closed fists shooting in the air when the announcer blasted, “What a punch that horse has! And the winner of the Kentucky Derby is Dancer's Flyby! We're talking absolute power here, ladies and gentlemen. Absolute! Cornelia Diamond, owner, trainer, and jockey, takes home the roses to Blue Diamond Farms!”
Fanny leaned back into the softness of the sofa. “Thanks, Ash,” she whispered.
“Anytime, Fanny my love. Anytime at all.”
“Did you say something, Grandma?” Jake asked, excitement ringing in his voice.
“I said, great race. Flyby looked like he was really flying, didn't he?”
“Grandma, that horse
was
flying. He won by four lengths. Four lengths! He had wings on his feet. I wonder what it felt likeâriding that fast.”
Fanny smiled. “I bet it was a lot like flying a fighter plane,” she said nonchalantly. She shook her head when Sage appeared in the doorway, a sign that he should leave. He obliged.
“But she's a girl!” Jake said, shaking his head in disbelief. He ran to the VCR and rewound the tape to the middle of the race and studied it.
“Now that's a brilliant deduction if I ever heard one,” Fanny said.
“Is that what you meant about another way to fly?” Jake asked, his eyes glued to the wide screen in front of him.
“I just repeated the words. Your grandfather is the one who came up with the saying. You know what I think, honey? I think it's not the actual act of flying that you crave, it's the
feeling,
the high that comes with doing something you love. For me it was building this mountain. For your aunt Nealy, it's breeding, training, and racing her horses. I think you could be a jockey, Jake. It's not easy, the training is hard and rigorous. I can almost say with certainty that Nealy would take you on at the farm. If Nealy isn't at the farm, Emmie, then. Who knows, they might have a wonder horse you could ride. Once you learn, that is.”
“Grandma, I've never been on a horse in my life. Where did you come up with this idea?”
“You know, Jake, I had a dream, and your grandfather told me about it. I don't dream of him as often as I used to, but last night I did,” Fanny fibbed. “Over the years he's come to me in many dreams, usually in a time of crisis. He always seemed to have the right answer.”
“And Pop-Pop,” Jake said, referring to the name he'd given his grandfather in his early childhood years, “said I should be a jockey?”
“It was a dream, honey. I'm not saying you should or should not be a jockey. It is something to think about. I always pay attention to my dreams because Ash was never wrong. I never figured out how that could be,” Fanny said thoughtfully. “I'm going to make breakfast this morning so your aunt Iris can sleep in. What would you like?”
“Anything you make will be fine. I think I'll watch that race again if you don't mind.”
“Why don't you watch the others, too? Nealy ran seven Triple Crown races. We're all going to Kentucky the first of May so you can see those magnificent horses in the flesh. And we're all going to take in the Kentucky Derby. I remember Sage saying he taped all six races. I've seen them, and they're very exciting. I imagine they're on the shelf over there with the other tapes. I'll call you when breakfast is ready.”
“Okay, Grandma.”
In the kitchen, Sage poured coffee, his eyes full of questions.
“I think I might have found the answer to Jake's dilemma. I had this dream last night about your father, and he's the one who came up with the idea. In the dream,” she said hastily. “Jake would make a perfect jockey. What do you think?”
“Think! I think that's a great idea. The question is, what does Jake think? I don't think he's ever been on a horse. We could never get him on a pony, much less a horse.”
“He can learn. I think Nealy will take him on. If she's off traveling, Emmie will do the honors. Do you really think it's a good idea, Sage?”
“Mom, it's the best. I think it's Jake's answer. Do you think he'll go for it?”
“He looked interested. I played the first race for him. He's going to watch the other six races now. Let's not overplay it. Let him come to his own decision. In fact, I don't think we should say another word. When we get to Kentucky, he can see for himself. What do you think?”