مسابقه

CHAPTER NINE

The Race

‘Faster, Golden Dragon! Faster! Faster!’

Someone was shouting. It was me! The horses came round the track. They were galloping towards us. Margarita was in first place.

But Golden Dragon was in second place! At first, he had run slowly. But now he was running faster and faster!

The horses galloped past us. People were shouting. Golden Dragon and Margarita were side-by-side. The two horses crossed the finishing line together. Which horse had won? We waited while the officials looked at a photograph of the finish.

‘That was amazing’ said Herman. ‘Golden Dragon was very fast. He’s never run so fast.’

Five minutes later, there was an announcement from the loudspeakers. ‘The result of the last race is, first -Golden Dragon and second - Margarita.’

I jumped up and down and I put my arms round Herman.

‘Wow’ Herman said. ‘How much did you win?’

‘Wait here,’ I said. I walked to the betting window. I showed the woman the piece of paper with the details of my bet. She gave me my money. Golden Dragon had won at 50-to-l. And I had won $1000!

I gave Herman $850. Then I said goodbye to him.

I looked at the grandstand again. Where were Gates and his friend? They weren’t sitting in their seats. Had they left after Golden Dragon’s race? Perhaps they had bet on Golden Dragon too! But they hadn’t left their seats before the race.

I remembered the dark-haired man and the mobile phone. Perhaps they had been betting by phone. Yes! That was the answer.

But there were other questions. These two men knew Sandy. They had stolen The Chief. And Sandy had told me Golden Dragon’s name. What was happening?

I walked away from the track. I took off my cap and my dark glasses. I walked towards the stables area. There were two security guards and some racetrack officials standing by the gateway to the stables area. Slim wasn’t there.

I watched the gateway. The two guards stopped every car at the gateway. They checked the driver’s ID. If there was a trailer, an official checked the horse’s ID too.

I put the blue security pass round my neck and I walked up to the gate. I waved to the security guards and smiled. Then I walked through the gateway into the stables area.

The area was very busy. There were horses and cars and trailers everywhere. Jockeys in brightly-coloured clothes were talking to trainers. I walked slowly towards Stable 14.

I stopped about fifty metres from the large stable. I put on my cap and my dark glasses again and I stood near some trees. The red 4x4 and the trailer were parked outside Stable 14. I didn’t see a horse in the trailer.

I stood and I waited. Then someone that I knew walked towards Stable 14. It was Lou Weaver! I looked at his face. He was very pleased about something. But he was very worried about something too. He stood outside the stable.

A few minutes later, a jockey came towards Stable 14 with a big brown horse. The jockey was wearing a gold and black shirt. Lou spoke to the jockey and took the horse from him. I knew the horse. It was the winner of the last race - Golden Dragon!

I didn’t understand. If Golden Dragon was Sandy Bonner’s horse, why hadn’t she told me this?

Then a man came out of the stable. It was the tall, dark-haired man. He held Lou’s arm and they walked into the stable with the horse. The doors closed.

Ten minutes passed. Then the dark-haired man appeared again. He opened both of the stable doors and he reversed the red car and the trailer into the stable. He closed the doors behind him. I waited.

After another five minutes, the doors opened again and the 4x4 and the trailer came out. The dark-haired man was in the car. He stopped the car outside the stable, he got out and he went back inside the building.

I walked slowly towards the car and the trailer. Now there was a horse in the trailer. ‘It’s Golden Dragon,’ I thought. ‘He’s going home after his race.’

I walked back towards the gateway. I sat on the ground by a tree. I had an idea. I was going to wait until the red car and the trailer left the racetrack. Then I was going to look inside Stable 14 again.

I had a lot of questions and I wanted some answers. I had been hit on the head and tied up with a rope outside this stable. Why had that happened? What were these two men doing? Why was Lou Weaver here? Did Sandy know about this?

I sat and waited. Ten minutes later, the red 4x4 and the trailer went past me and stopped at the gate. There were two people in the car now. One was the dark-haired man. I couldn’t see the other person clearly. Was it Dick Gates? Or was it Lou Weaver?

The car and the horse were checked. Then the 4x4 went through the gateway and left the racetrack.

I was going to be careful today. I waited for an hour. The 4x4 did not come back. The stables area was not very busy now. And the sun was not so bright.

I took my special keys out of my pocket and I opened the doors of Stable 14. Soon, I was inside the building and I had closed the doors behind me.

It was dark inside the stable. I put my right hand on the wall. Was there a light switch? I moved my hand along the wall. Nothing! I moved forward slowly, with my hand on the wall.

At last, I found a switch. It was in a corner. I touched the switch. But no lights came on.

I was going to walk back to the doors. I was going to open the doors a little. I wanted some more light inside the stable. But I didn’t move. I heard something. It was the noise of an electric motor. I took my gun out of my pocket.

Something very strange was happening. Light was coming into the dark stable. But it wasn’t coming from outside. It was coming from the right-hand wall. After a few seconds, I could see clearly.

The big cupboard was moving slowly! There was a door in the wall behind the cupboard. The cupboard was fixed to the door. The switch that I had touched had started an electric motor. And the electric motor was opening this secret door. Yes! The light was coming from behind the door!