FROM BAD TO WORSE... life in Hades (Part 56i)

Surprisingly, Dan joined me for the trip and was driving the pick-up. He left Chit to supervise the loading of the horses and to oversee the care of the remainder of the horses. When we pulled out of the driveway I heard him curse. This was the first time he’d driven the pick-up with the trailer hitched up and both fully loaded. The tongue weight on the trailer was too heavy and the springs on the truck were too light so the front end of the truck was pointed upwards and the tires were hardly on the road. I hated driving it that way but had become somewhat accustomed to it. Dan drove but a mile before pulling over. It wasn’t that I hadn’t told him about it because I did but he had chosen to ignore my complaint. After stopping he told me to drive since I ”had some idea what the truck was doing”. My experiences with the rig were on back roads with little traffic. The trip to the “shore” was on well traveled highways with much traffic. We were about halfway there when I had to hit the brakes hard. Without firm grip of the front wheels on the road surface and the weight of the trailer behind us we started to “jackknife”, but didn’t hit anything or do any damage to the truck. It was frightening as we slid in front of a tractor trailer who missed us by inches. Dan was as white as a ghost. I asked him if he wanted to drive but he declined.

Once at the “shore” track, Dan and I unloaded the straw into the stalls that had been assigned to Dan and prepared them for the horses. It was the first time I’d actually seen him do manual labor. We had twelve stalls ready when the truck with the hoses arrived. We got the horses squared away and set about putting up windbreaks since the barns were of the open style designed for Summer weather. By the time we finished up it was well after dark. I’d had nothing substantial to eat since the previous night. I wasn’t worried about where I’d sleep. I was too hungry to think that far ahead.

I was pleasantly surprised when Dan told me to get in the pick up truck with him. We left the track and found small diner still open. He asked the owner of the diner if he knew of a reasonable priced place to stay. The whole area was known as a Summer destination and “dead’ in the Winter. The man told us of a rooming house that he thought was open for tenants. Dan got the directions and we were off. It was, indeed, open and the owner was pleased to see us. The only ”catch“ was that we had to pay for a week. I could tell Dan was tired because his blustery personality was much muted and he paid without trying to make a "deal". There was little conversation between us and he was asleep in minutes.

As I lay awake it dawned on me that I was no longer in ”solitary“. There were other horsemen at the track to mix and mingle with. It’d been five months since I’d talked with others in the business. With that thought I was suddenly fully awake. I had no idea who the other horsemen were but I knew I was going to find out as soon as possible. I couldn’t help but fantasize about finding another job. When I finally fell asleep that was the thought on my mind.

Morning brought another surprise. Dan drove us back to the diner and while we were eating he divulged his ”plan“. Because planting time was imminent he was going to have to spend time at the farm. While he was gone I was to be in charge. As soon as he could hire someone I would no longer be taking care of any horses. It took a minute or two for it to sink in... I was actually going to be the assistant trainer, the position I thought I’d been hired for. I remember not knowing what to say. It was truly unexpected.

My biggest problem was what to do about Elle. She'd finally gone to the doctor to find out what he suggested. Bethann and Jeanne had helped her out. He told her that it was a relatively simple procedure but without me there she wouldn’t commit to it. Dan had told me that we’d both be going back to the farm Saturday afternoon and it would be a good idea to find a place to stay so I could bring her back with me. There weren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. I was excited about the future but I had to survive to get there.

The first contact I made was with a young French-Canadian named Jean Paul. We ended up sitting next to each other at the cook house. We briefly exchanged backgrounds and found we were basically the same age and both with two young children. He was what was known as a ”contract“ trainer, training horses for only one owner. The owner was from New Hampshire and the Winter there had been particularly harsh forcing him to head South with the horses. He’d been at the track for a few weeks and had recently brought his wife and kids down. Hearing that, I asked where he was living, telling him that I needed to find a place for my family. That news really excited him and he told me the apartment right across from him was vacant. He told me his wife was really homesick and lonely and thought that if she could connect with someone her age and with young children it would solve a big problem for him. For me it was a start and, after telling him I was temporarily without transportation, he said he’d come by the rooming house after supper. Before we went back to work he described the apartment and I was immediately concerned that the cost would be out of my reach.

To be continued...