Cut Throat Read Online Free PDF Page A

strength to bring her under control again.
    Rebelling, she threw her head up, legs ramrod stiff, and stopped with her nose touching the poles. He swore at himself under his breath for being caught out like a novice. Swinging the mare away, he circled a time or two, then put her at it again.
    This time he was ready. He kept her on a short bouncy stride and urged her on from three strides out.
    Success.
    She bounced over the fences like a rubber ball, legs in all directions, head high, but touching nothing. As he slowed the mare down, Ross caught sight of the Colonel and Richmond nodding and smiling as they turned away from the fence, and knew he had passed the first test.
    As Ross dismounted in the yard, the Colonel came over and gave the little mare a carrot. ‘Not bad,’ he commented. ‘She’s not the easiest ride.’
    â€˜Thank you, sir.’ Ross could see that praise would be hard earned.
    â€˜Come up to the house tonight and we’ll have a chat, all right?’
    â€˜Sure.’
    Franklin Richmond lingered a little longer.
    â€˜He’s taking a big chance on you, you know,’ he said, studying Ross’ face keenly. ‘We all are. If it hadn’t been for young Lindsay’s recommendation you wouldn’t be here, because I have to say you don’t exactly come with impeccable references.’
    Ross was surprised to hear he came with any references at all. ‘I’ve made one or two mistakes,’ he admitted. ‘But then, who hasn’t?’
    Richmond smiled ruefully. ‘Who indeed?’
    He had started to turn away when Ross said impulsively, ‘Do you mind if I ask you something?’
    He paused. ‘Fire away.’
    â€˜Why did you assume someone poisoned your horse deliberately?’
    Richmond looked up at the cloudless sky and sighed. ‘Ah. I thought you must have noticed that. The thing is, I had a horse die last year, too, and that most definitely wasn’t an accident. I suppose you’ve heard about Bellboy?’
    â€˜Sure, but I didn’t realise he was yours until yesterday. He was found dead with his throat cut, wasn’t he? There was quite a buzz on the circuit for a while.’
    Richmond nodded. ‘So you see, when I found a message on my answering service, telling me one of my horses had suddenly died, I thought it was happening all over again.’
    â€˜But didn’t they ever find out who killed him?’
    â€˜No.’ Richmond sighed again. ‘I think the general consensus was that I had it done.’
    â€˜For the insurance?’
    â€˜Yes. Well, to be honest, I’d probably have thought the same if it was somebody else’s horse,’ Richmond said. ‘After all, he was seventeen – a fair age for a competition horse, by anyone’s standards – and we were thinking of retiring him at the end of the year. So you can see how people put two and two together. The value of the current Hickstead champion, still in training, would be far greater than that of a retired one, however good he’d been.’
    â€˜But that’s not how it was,’ Ross stated slowly, watching the businessman’s face.
    â€˜I loved that horse, Ross,’ Richmond said simply, and the remembered anguish showed clearly in his eyes.
    The day passed quickly. There were horses to exercise, to rub down, and to feed. Lunch. Then more exercising, grooming and feeding, tack to clean, and finally the yard to be washed down and swept. At six-thirty in the evening, contented horses munched hay, knee-deep in dry straw beds, and the four weary workers were free to go their separate ways for the evening.
    Ross was exhausted. There were ten horses in the yard, in various stages of training, and he had ridden six of them at one time or another during the day. In addition to that, he had done his share of the routine stablework once he had learned where everything was. It was the hardest day’s work