rated *
Sleepless in Saratoga
A New Twist on The Mystery at Saratoga
Told From Regan’s Point of view
By Hayday
Chapter One Bill Regan rolled over and sighed. The lumpy mattress of the bed he lay on would have made sleep difficult even if his mind hadn’t been racing too fast to allow sleep to come. The bunkhouse of the riding stable in Saratoga was a poor substitute for his cozy apartment over the Wheelers’ garage and was a constant reminder of the things he had left behind. It surprised him to realize how much he missed the people and things that had come to make Sleepyside his home. He knew he would miss the horses. That was a given but he had always considered himself somewhat of a cold fish and was surprised at the homesickness that dogged him day and night. The fact that he was in Saratoga, home of some of his life’s most unpleasant memories, did nothing to make him feel better. Of all the stupid things I’ve done in my life, this one has to be the stupidest, he thought miserably. Taking off in rush and leaving Sleepyside without any kind of plan had been idiotic. He hadn’t even thought to get any cash before he left, and now he was afraid to use his ATM card or write a check for fear that his whereabouts could somehow be traced by the bank. In retrospect, he was afraid his actions only made him look guilty. Mr. Worthington had never set eyes on him, so he didn’t have to fear being recognized, but if Mr. Wheeler had introduced him by name he was sure Worthington wouldn’t have let it go by him. Why didn’t I just stay and stand up for myself? he wondered to himself. Surely, the Wheelers and everyone else who mattered would believe him. He rolled over again and thought about the real reason he had run. Danny, his nephew and the only family he had. He didn’t just want Dan to think he was innocent he wanted him to know it. He tried so hard to set a good example for Dan. They had gotten off to such a bad start, and now that he finally felt like he had Dan’s respect he was afraid that he’d lose it. The only way he could keep that hard won respect was to clear his name. He was surprised at the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach when he thought about his nephew. What must Dan be thinking of him after reading that dumb note he had left for him? He had thought about telling Danny the truth but was afraid that would have left him in the position of having to lie if anyone had asked him if he knew his uncle’s whereabouts. Dan had been put in the position of having to lie too many times in his young life, and Regan hadn’t wanted him to be put in that position ever again. I wonder what else I’ve done to him, Regan thought to himself. What if Dan got hurt or sick and he, Dan’s guardian, wasn’t there to sign for medical treatment? What if Dan’s probation officer discovered Regan was gone and had the boy removed from his custody? What if he lost his job and he and Dan had to leave Sleepyside? Dan was pretty sensitive and Regan doubted if he could handle being uprooted and taken away from the Bob Whites and Mr. Maypenny. He thought with gratitude of all the things Vernon Maypenny had done for him and Dan. At least he knew Dan was in good hands with Mr. Maypenny and that the old guy would take good care of his nephew. That thought brought to mind another old guy. Carl Stinson, whose gruffness made he seem older than he actually was, was one of the reasons he’d come to Saratoga. Carl, Mr. Worthington’s trainer, had told Regan that he was like a son to him. But after Regan had moved to Sleepyside and been around the Beldens, Wheelers, and Lynches for a while, he realized that Carl’s idea of how to treat a son was more like that of Jim’s old stepfather Jonesy than it was of Peter, Matthew, or Ed. I hope I don’t see that old grouch or his whacked out daughter, while I’m here, Regan mused. The thought of Carl’s daughter, Joan, made him shudder. Rumor had it that she had worked her way through all the guys at the racing stable and she had set her sites on him the moment she laid eyes on him. He had been fresh out of a Catholic boys’ home, and the closest he had been to a woman was sneaking an occasional peak at The National Geographic. That had been frightening in its own right, but not nearly as scary as Joan Stinson. Joan had hung all over him and had made it clear that she hadn’t been pleased that he had spurned her advances. No one had ever refused her anything in her life, and she didn’t take it lightly. He had often wondered if she was behind setting him up to take the fall for drugging Gadfly. He wouldn’t put anything past her. His mind wandered to the box of hair color he had purchased with his last twenty. He thought that covering up his naturally red hair might allow him to be less conspicuous in Saratoga. He didn’t want to use it, but he’d dye his hair green if it meant he could avoid the Stinsons. Hopefully he remembered his way around the racing stable well enough that he wouldn’t be seen by either one of them, and it was unlikely that either one of them would turn up at this old riding stable. Even if anyone did look for him here his unintentional name change would help him remain undetected. The thought of his name change made him smile for the first time in the last few days. He had applied for the job at the stable as W. Patrick Regan. When Mr. Combes, the owner, had hired him he asked him if he had preferred to be called Pat or Rick. Regan had quickly chosen Rick thinking that no one would ever connect him with that name. Mr. Combes had further helped him along by introducing to him to the other stable hands as "Rick Regan", mispronouncing his last name as "Ray-gun" instead of the correct "Ree-gan." For the first time in his life Regan let the mispronunciation slide thinking to himself that he had just been unwittingly provided with the perfect alias. He smiled again as he thought to himself how Kip would howl with laughter at the name "Rick Raygun" and make all kinds of silly jokes about comic book heroes.
Kip! He had promised himself he wouldn’t allow his thoughts to go there but he had no more hope of stopping them than Trixie had of stopping Jupiter the first time she tried to ride him. He sighed again and thought of Kip wondering, as he had at least a hundred times a day since she had gone, what she was doing at that very second, and if he’d ever see his wife again.
A big thanks to Ann for the editing, encouragement, and the commas!
Mr. Maypenny’s first name is based on that of my late neighbor, Vernon, who could have been the model for Mr. M. I have also sampled the name Ed for Mr. Lynch. I have seen it used in fan fic and I like it so thanks to whoever thought of it first. The National Geographic is a real magazine and I’m not connected with it in any way.
I don’t own these characters and I'm not making any money off them although I wish I were.
Regan let his thoughts drift back to the beginning of the summer. It had only been a little over two months ago but it felt like a lifetime had passed. Here I am, twenty-three years old and thinking about the good old days when my life was simple, he thought grimly to himself.
He had been looking forward to the summer. Mr. Wheeler had promised him that he and the Bob Whites could show the Wheeler horses in some local horse shows, and his relationship with his nephew, Danny, had been steadily improving since Judge Armen had let the boy return to Sleepyside.
He felt badly for Dan when the other Bob-Whites went off on their adventures and Dan had to stay behind to do school work and work on the game preserve. Dan never complained about it, and Regan seized the opportunity to ask Dan to do things with him. Not even Dan could work twenty-four hours a day, and Regan started asking him to go out for pizza, go to a ballgame or a movie, anything to spend a little time with him and get to know him better. It was awkward at first but they had slowly started to open up to each other and develop a comfortable relationship. When he was out exercising the horses in the game preserve he often made it a point to find Dan and visit with him. Dan also started dropping by to visit with Regan at the stable and even coming up to his apartment. After spending so many years in the cold atmosphere of the orphanage, Regan found it difficult to establish relationships with anyone but animals and young children, so he was tremendously pleased that he and his nephew were getting along so well.
Yes, it had looked like Regan was going to have the best summer of his life until Mr. Wheeler had dropped the bombshell. He had decided the office of the Wheeler stable needed to be computerized. Ever the businessman, he had hired someone with an agri-business degree who was fresh out of college and would do the job inexpensively. The plan was for him to set up the financial records, the horses’ medical and show records, shoeing and veterinary appointments and everything else related to the management of the stable on the computer, and then teach Regan how to use it. The worst part was that he was going to share Regan’s apartment over the garage for the six weeks he was going to be there. Regan was less than thrilled at the prospect of having to share his living space with some stranger. He had lived alone in the apartment ever since Tom had married Celia and they had moved into The Robin. He liked living by himself after all the years that he had spent in the orphanage dormitory, and he was afraid that Danny wouldn’t feel comfortable dropping in to visit him if someone else was there.
Miss Trask had given him the information on his future roommate, and the more he heard the less he liked. Apparently his new roommate had just graduated from South Dakota State University and was bringing two horses with him. Miss Trask thought that it was wonderful that the new employee was also a horseman and that perhaps he could help Regan around the stables if he finished the computer project before the six weeks was up.
When the Bob-Whites had learned of the new staff member, Mart had become excited. He was looking into SDSU’s agriculture journalism program and was interested in talking to an alumnus of the university. "It’s a great school," Mart had announced. "They even have a rodeo team." Oh great, Regan thought to himself, now I’ll have to put up with some smart aleck cowboy.
All those factors had put Regan in a horrible mood the day the person he mentally referred to as "The Computer Cowboy" was scheduled to arrive. Six weeks, he kept telling himself, I can handle anything for six weeks. He was trying to hide his frame of mind from Miss Trask when she brought a W-4 form and some other paperwork to the stable for him to give the new employee.
"I imagine you’re very excited about meeting the new employee and getting all the stable records computerized," she had said.
Not wanting to let on how he really felt, he had said, "Well, I guess it will be interesting meeting someone from the Midwest. What’s my new roommate’s name?"
"I think I can answer that," said a voice from the doorway of the stable. Regan and Miss Trask had both turned in the direction of the voice. The sun streaming through the doorway made it impossible to see anything but the silhouette of a woman standing there. The woman spoke again, "I’m Kip Ceiger. I’m here to computerize the Wheelers’ horse operation."
The normally unflappable Miss Trask’s face flushed, and she had begun to stammer, "But, but you two can’t room together, you’re...you’re…"
"Not a guy," the woman who had introduced herself as Kip offered helpfully. She stepped the rest of the way into the stable and Regan was finally able to see her clearly. She wasn’t much bigger than Jim’s cousin, Juliana, but was curvier and more outdoorsy looking. She had shoulder length brown hair and dark eyes and was casually dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. She appeared to be trying hard not to smile at Miss Trask’s flustered behavior.
Miss Trask had regained some of her composure and had asked to be excused so she could discuss the situation with the Wheelers, leaving Kip and Regan alone in the stable. Kip was smiling now. "I should be used to this by now," she said with a laugh. "I was assigned to the men’s dorm when I was in college."
Regan hadn’t quite known how to respond and was relieved when the office phone rang. He turned and headed to the office just in time to see Dan lead Spartan into the stable. The phone call hadn’t been anything important, and while he was talking he watched through the office window as Kip walked over to where Dan was standing. She started petting Spartan, and soon she and Dan were talking and smiling. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all, Regan thought to himself. There is no way the Wheelers are going to want me to share my apartment with her. Instead of putting up with some Computer Cowboy I only have to deal with a little girl!
Regan had chuckled a bit at the thought of Miss Trask’s embarrassment. He felt a little bit guilty laughing at her expense. His memories of his mother were hazy, but he thought of her as a combination of Marge Trask and Helen Belden, efficient and in control, yet warm and kind. His memories of his father were even dimmer. He had only a vague impression of a big man with a booming voice who used to pick him up and swing him around much the same way he often played with Bobby Belden. The door to the stable office opened just then, and Regan quickly turned his thoughts away from his parents.
Kip was standing in front of him with a folder in her hands. "I’d like to unload my horses. They’re tired of standing in the trailer, and I thought you might want to see their health records and registration papers first."
Regan took the folder she offered and looked through it. Health certificates, Coggins tests results, vaccination and worming records, everything appeared to be in order. He glanced at the horses’ registration papers. She had two Appaloosa geldings, one named Friday’s Child and the other named The Benefactor. What really stood out was the owner’s name, Kippington Ceiger.
"Your real name is Kippington?" he asked. "What happened, did your parents lose a bet?"
She laughed again and replied with the air of one who has made the same explanation many times, "My mother’s maiden name is Kippington and I was the sixth kid in ten years, so I guess my parents got tired of thinking up names."
Regan smiled and said, "I think you would have been better off if they’d just given you a number."
She laughed at that. "That’s a good one." I’m going to have to remember it and use it, but in the meantime I’d better get my horses unloaded."
"Do you need any help?" Regan offered.
"No thanks," she answered. "Dan said he’d help me. He seems like a good kid."
"Danny is a good kid." Regan responded, surprised at the note of pride in his voice. "He’s my nephew."
"Oh, she said, so your family hails from these parts?"
I don’t really hail from anywhere, and Danny and I are all the family there is." The minute he spoke, Regan regretted being so flippant and hoped she didn’t think he was rude.
She looked at him for a moment and seemed to be carefully choosing her words. "Well, sometimes there’s such a thing as having too much family. But, back to my horses, can I unload them now? Would it be all right if I put them in that empty corral."
"Sure," he replied. "Only it’s a paddock."
She smiled again. He noticed for the first time that she had dimples. "Corral, paddock, whatever. I guess when in Rome do as the Romans." She turned and started out the office door.
"And by the way," Regan called to her, "I’m Bill Regan, the Wheelers’ groom."
She smiled back him over her shoulder and replied, "It’s nice to meet you, Bill. I guess you already know who I am," and continued out the door.
Regan had just stood and watched her, not realizing that his life, as he knew it, would never be the same.
Regan rolled over again. He realized this was going to be another sleepless night. I should have become priest, he thought. I wouldn’t be here in Saratoga, in the middle of a huge mess, and unable to sleep. I could be baptizing babies or something. His thoughts drifted back to the day when he was still a boy in the orphanage and had taken a note to the office for one of the nuns. He had stood outside the office door, note in hand, and listened to the headmaster and priest discuss him. He had heard himself described as a big, ugly, redheaded kid who was unadoptable and should be groomed for the priesthood. His heart had nearly stopped. He didn’t want to be a priest. He wanted to get married and have a family like the one he tried so hard to keep in his memories. He wanted to work with horses and be free of the confines of the boys’ home. Regan had run away that very night.
He flipped his pillow over and thought wryly, Well, I do work with horses and I am married, but nothing else is turning out like I thought it would. As painful as it was to think about his wife, it was better than thinking about his childhood days in the orphanage, so he let his thoughts go back to Sleepyside and the day he met Kip.
Regan had walked back in to the stable determined to go about his usual business but instead found himself drawn to the stable window. He knew Kip had said she didn’t need any help, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he wanted to see the horses she was unloading.
He walked to one of the stable windows and looked at the pickup and horse trailer outside. The pickup had seen better days but the trailer was nice. It was a three horse slant gooseneck with living quarters in the front. Sweet, he thought to himself, but let’s see what comes out of it.
The first horse that backed out of the trailer was a young chestnut Appaloosa gelding with a big blanket, a white blaze on his face, and three tall, white socks. She handed the horse’s leadrope to Dan while she removed the shipping boots from his legs and led him to the paddock to release him. The young horse stood nervously while she closed the gate behind them, turned him to face her, and removed his halter. He stood quietly for a moment, and then realizing he was free, he trotted off.
OK, it looks like she’s done this before and knows what to do, Regan thought to himself.
The second horse did not back out of the trailer as gracefully and stood snorting while Dan held him and Kip removed his shipping boots. He was an older bay Appaloosa gelding with white snowflake spots on his hindquarters and a beautiful face. Kip let him go in the same manner she had released the first gelding, but this one nearly tore her arm out its socket and ran off after the young gelding, bucking as he went.
Regan couldn’t stay in the stable and watch any longer. He walked out to the paddock where Kip and Dan were standing watching the horses. "He looks like a real handful," Regan remarked.
"No, he’s just mad because he was in the trailer so long. He’ll be fine as soon as he rolls," Kip replied. As if he had understood exactly what she had said, the big horse stopped in his tracks, dropped to the ground, rolled a few times, and got up and walked away. "He always does that," she said with an "I told you so" tone in her voice.
Miss Trask reappeared at that moment and was once again her usual brisk self. "Kip, I’ve discussed the situation with the Wheelers and since there aren’t any rooms available in the servants’ area of the house, the Wheelers will pay for you to stay in a motel in Sleepyside while you are here. Please accept our apologies for the misunderstanding," she concluded.
"That’s very nice of all of you, but I’d really rather be near my horses. And I have a dog with me, he’s still in my pickup, so would it be all right if I just stayed in the living quarters of my horse trailer?" Kip asked. "That’s where I stayed on the trip out here, and I stay there when I go to horse shows. It will have to be parked here anyway."
"Why, I suppose that would be all right," Miss Trask answered. "And since room and board were included in your contract, I’ll speak to Mr. Wheeler about making a adjustment to your salary. Come with me, dear. I’ll show you around, and we’ll ask Tom Delanoy, the chauffer, where he would like you to park your pickup and trailer."
The two women walked off together, and Regan turned to Dan. "Well, it looks like you’ve made a new friend," he said.
"Yeah" said Dan, "she’s nice. "She was asking me all about Spartan. She says he looks real athletic, like he can probably do anything. She shows her horses in Appaloosa shows and she wants to train the young one for reining. She said it’s kind of like dressage for cowboys, and she’s going to teach me how to ride western."
"Well, don’t get too excited about it," said Regan, thinking to himself that Kip had just made a friend for life. Complimenting old Spartan was the quickest way to befriend Danny. The poor kid had never had a pet before, and he was very attached to Spartan. Regan had overheard him calling the old horse "Sparky" when he didn’t think anyone could overhear him. Great, he thought to himself, I just got him over being a Cowhand and now he wants to be a cowboy.
"I’ll teach you, too," came the voice with the flat Midwestern accent that he was learning to recognize "if you’ll teach me how to ride English. I’ve tried and tried to learn to post, but I just can’t get the hang of it." He turned to find Kip standing behind him and Dan.
Geez, Regan thought to himself, does she just materialize out of thin air? "Sure," he replied, not knowing he had just had sealed his destiny with a one word response.
If only he had told her that he wasn’t interested. If only she had stuck to her job and he had stuck to his, then he wouldn’t be lying here wide awake at 3:00 A.M. thinking about the summer and the woman who had changed his life.
Things had quickly settled into a routine after Kip arrived in Sleepyside. She had spent most of the first few days she was there alone in the stable office setting up the computer and loading the necessary software onto it. He had given the office a wide berth except for an occasional glance through the glass window to see what she was doing.
The evenings were different. She spent all her free time working with her horses and Regan made it a point to be outside whenever she did so he could watch how she handled them. He liked watching her work with her young horse, Ben. She’d started by lunging him under western tack and then tying the stirrups together under his belly, running long reins through them and driving him by walking behind him. He had to admit to himself that it was not exactly the rough tough method of horse breaking he’d always pictured as the western way of doing things.
She also took off for short rides on the game preserve trails on her older horse, Friday. Contrary to the way he had acted when Kip unloaded him he was proving to be a quiet, well broke horse. On the third evening she was there, Regan was riding Starlight when she rode up to him and asked him if he wanted to trade horses and start the lessons. He hadn’t thought she was serious, but she had hopped off Friday and handed him the reins. Never one to pass up a challenge, Regan had jumped off of Starlight and handed the reins to Kip, thus embarking on one of the most fun evenings of his life. It had started off with them laughing at him have to lengthen the stirrups on her saddle and her having to shorten them so much on his. She called his English saddle a potato chip and he retaliated by referring to her western saddle as a canoe. Kip hadn’t been exaggerating about not being able to post, and he had been laughing too hard to teach her anything.
That had been the beginning of everything between him. Their love of horses had created a bond between them, and the teasing about the English versus western way of riding remained good-natured. They spent a lot of their free time riding together and sometimes Dan joined them. The other Bob Whites had been away most of the summer and Dan seemed comfortable spending time with the two of them.
Kip was a talker and Regan soon knew a lot of the details of her life. She was terribly homesick, an emotion he hadn’t understood until he had come to Saratoga and experienced it for himself. It seemed to make her feel better to talk about her family and he liked hearing about them. She was the youngest of six children and had four brothers and a sister. Her father had died when she was in high school and two of her brothers ran the family farm where her mother still lived. One of them was a bachelor and the other was married with two children. One of the other brothers traveled around on the rodeo circuit riding saddle broncs and helped on the farm when he was home. Her sister was married to a farmer and had three children. They lived only a few miles from the rest of the family. She seldom mentioned the fourth brother except to say that, Simi, the Golden Retriever that she had brought with her was his dog and he didn’t have a place to keep him. Regan had thought that was odd given that her family owned a whole farm but he didn’t question it.
She told him she had a similar job lined up at a horse farm in West Virginia when she was through at the Wheelers. She didn’t have any other jobs lined up after that and laughingly told him she’d probably have to go back to South Dakota and find a real job.
Looking back, Regan realized he hadn’t admitted his feelings for her to himself until she started teaching him to use the computer. Kip had gotten all the stable records for the year from him and had entered them into the computer. She told him she would start teaching him how use it when she had them all on the system. He had no idea what she was doing and the few times when he’d gone in the office and looked at the computer screen she had quickly changed it to something else.
He was working in the stable one afternoon when she came out of the office and announced that the computer was ready whenever he was. Regan had killed as much time as he reasonably could and finally worked up the courage to go into the office. He was terrified that Kip would wonder why someone so close to her own age had never touched a computer. He didn’t feel like explaining that the educational equipment at the orphanage hadn’t exactly been state of the art and he definitely didn’t want to admit that he had run away before he had completed high school. He was acutely embarrassed that she, a college graduate was having to teach him, a high school dropout, how to do his own job. Kip hadn’t mentioned it though and was very patient with him when he fumbled around with the keyboard and the mouse. When he couldn’t get the cursor to move she had put her small hand on top of his big freckled one and helped him guide the mouse around. He found himself practically gasping for air and he wondered if she felt the same surge of electricity he did.
Kip’s face had been unreadable. We’re just good friends, he told himself, nothing more. She’s not interested.
At least he hadn’t thought so. The next day had been a Saturday and he’d gone down to the lake for a swim. Kip had just finished swimming and had come out of the boathouse fully dressed, although her hair was still wet. He had been sitting on the dock trying to put sunscreen on his own back. He had learned from experience that if he didn’t use it he’d burn and peel. "Here, let me help you with that," said Kip, as she took the bottle of sunscreen from his hand. She knelt behind him and started rubbing it on his back. Neither of them said a word and Regan realized it was taking longer than it should have but he was enjoying the backrub and the warmth of Kip’s breath on his neck. He closed his eyes and involuntarily leaned against her hands when she suddenly stopped. She was silent for a moment and then said, "You know what you need to do?" Without waiting for an answer she said, "grow a bunch of hair on your back and you won’t have to worry about burning." With that she handed him the tube of sunscreen and disappeared towards the stables leaving him wondering what had just happened.
The next day there was a big horse sale in Tarrytown. Mr. Wheeler had asked Regan to go bid on a few horses he was interested in buying. Dan had planned to go with him and when Kip had heard them talking about it she had asked to go along. She was excited about some of the different breeds of horses that would be there that she would never get to see in South Dakota. Knowing how much Regan hated to drive, she offered to drive her pickup and take her horse trailer along.
She walked out of her trailer shortly before they were due to leave. She was wearing the lacer style cowboy boots she always wore and a pair of her usual western style jeans without back pockets but she looked different than usual. The shirt she was wearing was tucked in tightly and she wore a belt with an enormous silver buckle with engraving proclaiming that she and Friday and been the champions at some horse show. Regan was trying to read the engraving when Kip noticed him staring and asked, "Too much bling- bling?"
"No, the bling-bling is fine," he said, thinking how good she looked and even though she was definitely going to be the only person at the horse sale that was decked out liked a cowgirl, he didn’t want her to change a thing.
Danny had arrived just then and announced that he had to help Mr. Maypenny and couldn’t go with them. Regan had been surprised as Vernon was always supportive of him and Dan spending time together and usually let Dan off work whenever they had plans. The more Regan thought about it the stranger it seemed, especially when he looked back and saw Dan with a big smile on his face, watching them drive away.
He had been right that Kip would be noticed at the sale. Heads turned when the two of them walked by and he had to admit he enjoyed it. He knew several of the people attending the sale and they seem surprised to see him in the company of a cowgirl. He and Kip had a great time. They sat with their heads together looking at the horses in the sale catalog. Kip had been fascinated with the Trakehners in particular and had asked him lots of questions. When she had excused herself to go get something to drink, Stan Toman, who held a position similar to his on an estate near White Plains came up and asked him who the little cowgirl was. Regan didn’t care for Stan, he thought he was an annoying bag of hot air and he had no intention of answering him but just then Kip materialized. In one of her gestures that left him baffled, she had brought him a drink without asking if he wanted one. That seemed to set Stan’s competitive juices flowing. He started flirting with her and glancing at Regan as if he wanted to see him getting mad. Regan ignored the two of them as best he could but the day was ruined for him and they left without buying any horses.
As they left he saw Kip writing something on Stan’s sale catalog, and it was all he could do to keep his redheaded temper under control.
They climbed into Kip’s pickup and were heading toward Sleepyside when she turned to Regan and said, "I just did something nasty."
"What?" he said, glowering at her.
"I just gave that idiot the phone number to a Chinese restaurant back home. I was trying to pay attention to the sale and he wouldn’t shut up. Not even I’m desperate enough to go out with a jerk like that."
The clouds had lifted then. "You have Chinese restaurants in South Dakota?" he asked teasingly.
"Yes, Bill, she said in mock seriousness, "we even have sidewalks."
They spent the rest of the trip back to The Manor House talking about the sale and Bill Regan’s life was good.
Later that evening, when he was up in his apartment, he decided to take another look at his sale catalog. He realized he had left it in the stable office. When he walked into the office he found to his surprise that the computer screen was lit up. Kip was nowhere to be found even though the dog that was her constant companion was lying on the floor. He looked at the screen and to his disgust he discovered that she was connected to an online dating service and there were pictures of shirtless men on the screen.
Just then Kip walked out of the office restroom. "I don’t think the Wheelers would approve of you using their computer equipment for this kind of thing," Regan said coldly.
"Bill," she said softly, "it’s not what you think. I have a big problem and I have to get married."
"Are you pregnant?" Regan had asked.
"No," she shouted and hit his arm so hard that he would later have a bruise.
"Geez, sorry. Isn’t that what most people mean when they say they have to get married" asked Regan.
"It’s more complicated than that," said Kip sinking into a chair and letting out a big sigh.
"It’s because of my oldest brother, Rod."
"The one you don’t talk about? Why on earth would you have to get married because of your brother?" Regan was baffled.
She had gone on to tell him that her oldest brother was in rehab. She was the only one in her family that was in contact with him. The rest of them had more or less given up on him and were trying the tough love approach, but Kip had been unable to cut her ties with him. "He’s ten years older than I am, but we’ve always been close. Maybe it’s because we are so far apart in age, but even though he’s messed up he’s always been a protective big brother and I can’t turn my back on him now" she said sadly.
Regan was confused. "What does that have to do with your getting married?"
"I’m coming to that," she replied. Then she had gone on to tell him about her neighbor, Miss Hartsell. She had never married and Kip had spent a lot of time visiting her and helping her around her house. Miss Hartsell had often told Kip how she regretted never marrying and having children of her own, and she had cautioned Kip not to let the same thing happen to her. The elderly woman had died the previous winter and had a provision in her will that Kip would inherit $50,000.00 from her estate if she married before her twenty-third birthday. If not, the money would be split between Miss Hartsell’s niece and nephew.
"Why twenty-three?" Regan had asked.
"I think she thought I went to college to get my M.R.S. degree and that I should be married off by now. Things were different when she was young; girls went to college to find husbands. She was always telling me I was too footloose and fancy-free and that some day I’d regret it like she did. My twenty-third birthday is September 5th so I don’t have much time."
"So what does this have to do with your brother?" Regan was still puzzled.
"I don’t care about the money for myself, but if I get it I can pay for his rehab and help him get on his feet when he gets out. I’ve been making payments to the facility, but I have to start paying on my student loans and I just won’t be able to afford it anymore. I think he’s serious about getting his life straightened out this time, but he can’t do it alone."
She was on the verge of tears and Regan couldn’t stand it. He thought about Trixie using her diamond ring for collateral so Brian could buy his jalopy. He thought about his own sister, Dan’s mother, and how if he had only had the chance he would have done anything for her, and he understood exactly what Kip was trying to say.
"Marry me," he said gently.
"What?"
"Marry me," he had repeated. "We can get married, you can do whatever you have to do to get the money, and then we’ll get it annulled."
She looked at him for a long moment. "I can’t ask you to do that."
"Look," said Regan. "I understand what you’re going through. My sister, Eileen, Danny’s mom, died of cancer, and I didn’t find out about it until after she was gone. I never had a chance to help her, but I can help you give your brother another chance."
"Well, I suppose, if you’re really sure you want to get involved with this. I’m leaving in less than two weeks, so I guess we better get it over with as soon as possible."
Get it over with, Regan thought to himself, She’s trying to find strangers to marry on the Internet, but with me it’s let’s get it over with. He was hurt but he tried not to show it.
He and Kip sat down at the computer and looked up New York State’s marriage laws. There was a twenty-four hour waiting period after taking out the marriage license so they plotted to go to the city the next day and get the license, and then return a few days later for the ceremony. Since Mr. Wheeler was looking for horses to buy they decided to tell everyone that they were going to look at horses. That way, no one would think it odd that they left the Manor House.
"It’s really not a lie," said Kip. "We both look at horses everywhere we go."
Taking out the license had been uneventful, but they were both nervous when their wedding day arrived. Kip kept asking Regan if he was sure he wanted to go through with it and Regan was thinking of the kind of wedding night he really wanted.
The wedding itself had seemed surreal. A city clerk officiated, and they asked another couple that was waiting to be married to be their witnesses. Kip had brought along an old Black Hills Gold ring of hers to be her wedding ring. The kiss had been clumsy and embarrassing. It had been a quick peck on the lips, and they had both blushed.
They were both quiet on the way back to Sleepyside. Regan finally broke the silence. "Have you thought about what you’re going to tell your family? This is bound to be a hot topic of conversation back in the sticks."
Kip smiled for the first time all day. "I’ve been thinking about that. I think I’ll tell that I met the man of my dreams in New York, and he turned out to be a real cad. I’m going to be very dramatic and tell them how you went back to your old girlfriend while I was in West Virginia and broke my heart, and I how had to go back home to get over you."
Regan was annoyed. "Do you have to make me out to be a bad guy?" he asked.
"Oh, I’ll tell them the truth when it’s all over and Rod is out of rehab and back on his feet."
Regan hadn’t been reassured by that and was even more annoyed when they got back to the Manor House and Kip parked her truck and hopped out.
"See you later," she said and walked toward her trailer without a backward glance.
Things weren’t the same between them after that although Regan couldn’t put his finger on the reason for it. They continued the riding lessons but they just weren’t fun anymore.
When the day Kip was scheduled to leave for West Virginia arrived, Regan wasn’t sure if he was glad or sorry. She spent the day packing up her things and telling everyone good-bye. Regan helped her load the horses and thought of all the things he wanted to say to her. He walked her to the door of the pickup, and they stood looking at each other.
"You never did teach me to post," Kip said with a laugh.
"I’m not a miracle worker," he had replied.
"Yes, you are. Thanks for everything." With that Kip hugged him and he wrapped his arms around her and thought about how right it felt. All I’d have to do is step back just a little and it would be so easy to kiss her, he thought to himself.
And then Kip spoiled it by saying, "As soon as I get everything taken care of with the money, I’ll see a lawyer about the annulment."
"Oh, okay," he had said. "Well, um, take care."
"You too. I’ll be in touch." And with that she hopped in her truck and drove away leaving him standing forlornly in the driveway.
Regan threw himself into his work after that, and did his best to put Kip and their so-called marriage out of his mind. There were a couple of local horse shows coming up in late August and he was working hard to get the Wheeler horses ready for competition.
Jim, Brian, and Mart were off working at a summer camp, and Di was vacationing with her family, but Honey and Trixie were around to liven things up, and Dan was spending a lot of his free time with his uncle. Regan occasionally caught his nephew looking at him with an odd expression on his face, and he didn’t know what to make of it.
One evening, about a week after Kip left, Dan was helping his uncle muck stalls. "It sure is quiet around here without Kip," he said casually.
"That it is," replied Regan, not looking up from his manure fork.
"I called her"
"You what?"
"I called her," said Dan. "She gave me her cell phone number and told me to call her sometime so I did."
Well, at least she didn’t him give the number of a Chinese Restaurant, Regan thought to himself.
"How’s she doing?" he asked, trying to keep his tone as casual as Dan’s.
"Okay, I guess. She’s pretty homesick"
Regan was aware that Dan was watching him closely. "Well, she won’t be there long, and then she can go back to South Dakota" he replied and pushed the wheelbarrow outside to empty its contents on the manure pile.
He continued to push her out of his mind until the day, about a week later, when the letter from a lawyer in West Virginia arrived. The letter said that Ms. Ceiger had contacted the attorney’s office regarding the annulment of their marriage. According to the lawyer, they didn’t have grounds for an annulment, and they would have to be divorced. Under New York law, they would have to file a separation agreement and would be able obtain a no-fault divorce in one year. The lawyer felt that given the nature of their marriage, it would be in Regan’s and Kip’s best interest to divorce in New York rather than South Dakota where she was a resident, and he had enclosed a separation agreement to be signed, notarized, and returned to his office.
Regan saw red. He threw the letter and the paperwork down on his coffee table. He was furious. She could have contacted me herself and explained about the divorce. The lawyer’s remark about it being in his and Kip’s best interest to divorce in New York rankled him. Had they committed some kind of fraud? If she wanted the separation agreement she could just come get it herself.
He felt used and hurt and he stalked off toward his small kitchen where he dug through the cupboards until he found the bottle of whiskey he had won at a horse show raffle the previous summer. Not bothering with a glass, he unscrewed the lid and took a long drink, and another, and another.
The next thing Regan knew he was lying on his couch in the dark, with the half empty bottle still in his hand, when he heard Danny’s worried voice. "Uncle Bill, are you in here? Are you all right?"
"I’ve never been better, Buddy Boy," Regan slurred from the couch.
Dan flipped the light switch on and stared at his uncle. "You’re drunk," he said, with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Yep, and I’m loving it," said Regan. "I’m the new Bill Regan, no more Mr. Niceguy."
"I think you better just go to bed," said Dan. "Come on, I’ll help you."
Dan helped Regan up off the couch and steadied him as he staggered toward his bedroom.
"Danny, Danny, Bo, Banny, Banana, Fanna, Fo, Fanny" Regan sang.
Dan shoved him down, none too gently, onto the bed and helped him pull his boots off. "You’re a sloppy drunk," he said in disgust. "You can talk to me when you sober up."
He turned off the light and stormed out of the room.
"Stay away from little girls with funny names," Regan yelled after him. "That’s the best advice you’ll ever get."
He heard Dan moving around the apartment, heard the door slam, and then silence.
The sunlight streaming through his bedroom window awoke Regan the next morning. His head was pounding, his stomach was queasy, and his eye sockets seemed to have shrunk during the night. He looked at his alarm clock and realized that the horses should have been fed an hour ago. He got out of bed as quickly as he could in his condition and took a fast, cold shower. He glanced around his apartment as he quickly dressed. The letter from the lawyer was where he had left it and the empty whiskey bottle was lying on its side in the sink. I guess Dan’s making a statement, he thought, wincing at the pain in his head.
He hurried to the stable as fast as his throbbing head would allow and entered the doorway just in time to hear Dan say, "I dropped in to visit my uncle last night and he wasn’t feeling like himself. I think something wasn’t agreeing with him, so I thought I’d help him out this morning." He heard Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler’s voices and the clip clop of hooves as they rode away.
Dan came around the corner and stopped in front of his uncle.
"Thanks, Danny," said Regan. "You shouldn’t have had to cover for me."
"Well, don’t expect me to ever do it again," said Dan angrily. "I hope you feel as bad as you look. For a big guy you sure can’t hold your liquor."
"Dan, I’m sorry," Regan began.
"I’m sorry, too," Dan said in a softer voice. "I read that letter on your coffee table. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I wanted to find out what drove you to drink like that. I wish you had told me you got married. I would have bought you a wedding gift."
"It wasn’t like that, Danny," Regan told him. "Come sit down in the office with me before I fall over, and I’ll tell you all about it."
He and Dan went into the office and he told Dan the whole story. To Regan’s surprise, Dan knew all about Kip’s brother in the rehab facility. He had told Kip about his past, not wanting her to hear it from someone else, and she had told him all about her brother and how she was of the belief that sometimes good people make bad choices.
"I don’t know why you two just can’t stay married," Dan said. "She’s fun. You never had any fun or went anywhere until you met Kip. You acted like you were old, like forty-five or something, but when she’s around you laugh and have a good time. "
As Dan talked, it hit Regan like a ton of bricks how much his nephew liked Kip, and that he had set things up so that he and Kip could go to the horse sale alone. He knew Dan desperately missed his mother. Danny and Eileen had lived alone for several years after Dan’s father had died and he realized that Dan really missed having a woman’s touch in his life.
"Danny, it’s not that simple. We come from different worlds, and we’re just good friends. I’m not even sure about that anymore since I got that letter from the lawyer. I can’t believe she didn’t call me and tell me about the separation agreement and divorce herself."
"Oh brother," said Dan rolling his eyes. "You two spent the whole summer flirting with each other and now you’re trying to tell me that you’re just friends. Everybody noticed how you two were always together. Even Mr. Maypenny commented that you and "that little girl" seemed sweet on each other."
Regan had to smile at that one. "Danny, it just wasn’t that way at all. You know I’m terrible at mushy stuff, and sometimes I thought she was interested in me and other times it was like I was her brother or something."
"Well, that’s just because she’s not the clingy type, which is good since you hate clingy women. I don’t know why you don’t just call her. She’s perfect for you. For us." Dan looked at the ground. "I’ve always worried that you would get involved with someone who wouldn’t want me around, but I don’t have to worry about that with Kip."
"Daniel," Regan said as he put his hands on his nephew’s shoulders. "The one thing in life that I can promise you is that I will never get involved with someone who doesn’t want you around. What could I possibly see in someone like that? I’ll think about calling Kip, but for now since you seem to have everything under control here, I’m going to go lie down."
Regan had gone back to his apartment over the garage but he hadn’t thought about anything. He spent most of the day with an ice pack on his head ruing the day he had won that bottle of whiskey.
The next day Mr. Wheeler had made the announcement that Mr. Worthington was coming to the Manor House, and Regan had been on his way to Saratoga.
The bunkhouse alarm buzzed just then, bringing Regan’s thoughts back to the present. It was 6:00 A.M., and he had hadn’t slept a wink all night. He didn’t mind the work at the riding stable. It was menial compared to his position at the Manor House, but at least he didn’t have to think much. He had enough other things to occupy his thoughts, like having to remember to answer when people called him Rick.
He had made one friend here at the stable. Johnny wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer but he was good with the horses and treated them well. The other guys weren’t very nice to him and Regan felt a little sorry for him and hoped that some day when he got his own life back on track he could help Johnny find a better job. It had been nice of Johnny to pawn his boots for him without asking any questions, and Regan hoped to return the favor.
Regan hurried through his work that morning so he could head to the racetrack. He hoped that he could do a little snooping around and find something that would help him clear his name and find out who really had doped Gadfly. He finished his chores and hurried to the track without even taking the time to take a shower.
Once he got to the track, Regan was almost overwhelmed by the emotions that hit him. This was the place where he had spent some of the worst moments off his life, a place he had hoped to never see again. He was hit with the realization that horse racing hadn’t been the right career path for him anyway. He was much happier at the Wheeler stable where the horses were beloved family pets than in an environment where horses came and went on a daily basis.
He made his way to the stable area. It was supposed to be off limits to spectators but he remembered his way around well enough to sneak unnoticed to the area where Worthington’s horses were stabled. He cursed himself for not thinking to wear a cap to cover his red hair. When I get home I’m going to have to ask Trixie and Honey for detective lessons, he thought to himself. Better yet, I’ll just never do anything like this again.
Regan flattened himself against a wall as he noticed a familiar person walking down the stable alleyway. Joan Stinson, he groaned to himself, what is she doing still hanging around here? She never liked the horses; I seriously doubt if she even knows which end to feed, so I can’t imagine why she’s still around.
Regan decided to follow her. He watched her stop at one of the stalls and talk briefly to her father. I can’t believe she’s still following her father around. Regan snickered to himself. Isn’t it about time for her to get a life? His thoughts turned to Kip who wasn’t afraid to drive halfway across the country with two horses and a dog for company. He couldn’t imagine her following anybody around.
Hold that thought, he told himself, as he watched Joan walk away from her father and continue down the alleyway. He slowly followed her and kept himself as close to the wall as possible. She kept going until she stepped out of the stable door. Just as Regan decided that he should give it up before she saw him and recognized him, he saw a man walk up beside her. They talked for a moment and then turned and headed off together in the direction of another stable. When they turned, Regan got a good look at the man with Joan. It was the scar-faced man he’d seen around the Worthington stable area seven years ago.
I wonder what she’s doing with Scarface, he mused to himself. She could be up to something or she could just be slumming. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. It was hard to tell with her. Regan thought hard, the one thing that bothered him most was Carl Stinson’s insistence that the drug had been in Gadfly’s feed. Regan had never believed that the picky, sensitive Gadfly would eat tainted feed. And wouldn’t Carl have noticed if someone had added a powder or liquid to the feed? He thought Carl had made just a little bit too much of a fuss over the feed theory to be believable.
As much as he would have liked to get a look at Gadfly’s son, Gadbox, Regan realized that he had better get out of the stables before someone noticed him. He slipped back into the spectator area and hailed a cab so he could head back to the riding stable.
Once again his thoughts kept him awake all night, and he felt like a zombie the next day as he went about his job. He was riding an Appaloosa and thinking about Kip and how much she loved her two Appaloosas, Friday and Ben, when he glanced up and saw Trixie and Honey leaning against the fence. He did a double take, lost his balance and fell off the horse landing flat on his face.
Kip,Regan stood up and dusted himself while a series of emotions swirled through him. It was so good to see friends from home. He hugged both girls, and then demanded an explanation as to what they were doing in Saratoga and how they happened to find him.
He really wasn’t surprised that they had managed to track him down. And, as humiliated as he was that they knew the whole story of him being accused of drugging Gadfly, he was touched that they cared enough about him to try to clear his name.
"Is Danny all right?" he asked them. "Does he know the whole story? Is he mad at me?"
The girls assured him that Dan was fine and believed in his uncle’s innocence. Even though Regan had been thrilled when Honey told him that her father was holding his job for him, he felt guilty that Dan was trying to do his job for him.
Regan and the girls eventually settled in the office of the riding stable where he had poured out his side of the story to them. When he got to the part about the scar-faced man that he had seen hanging around Worthington’s stalls seven years ago, and then again the previous day, Trixie had excitedly interrupted him, telling him that she had seen the same man at the track. She had also told him of the their encounter with Carl Stinson. Regan made the girls promise that they wouldn’t tell anyone where he was. He also extracted a promise from them that they would stay away from the scar-faced man.
That night Regan lay in his bed in the bunkhouse and thought about the day’s events. Seeing Trixie and Honey had made him even more homesick and more determined than ever to clear his name and get home to Sleepyside.
He was furious that Carl Stinson was still bad mouthing him, and it bothered him to think that Trixie and Honey had been anywhere near the old goat. He thought back to a long ago conversation he’d had with the girls back when Dick the Dip had been the Manor House chauffeur.
Dick had gone to a doctor in the city to have a black eye examined, and Regan had told the girls that he’d had many black eyes in his day and had never bothered a doctor with them. He wondered what the girls would think if they knew those shiners had come at the hand of Carl Stinson. Regan had been a big, awkward teenager, just learning how to take care of horses, and if he didn’t move fast enough to suit Stinson or complete every task to perfection, the trainer would explode. Regan had been young and so desperate to work with horses that he had put up with Carl’s abuse. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks that Danny was safe with Vernon Maypenny and not some bitter lunatic like Carl.
It’s strange how life works out, he thought to himself. If I hadn’t been accused of drugging Gadfly, I would have never run away from Saratoga and Carl, and I wouldn’t be living in Sleepyside. I wouldn’t have Danny, or the friends I have now, and I would have never met Kip.
Darn, he thought, I wish I could discuss this mess with her. I’d like to know what she thinks of my theory that the drug wasn’t in Gadfly’s feed.
Regan rolled over and settled in for yet another sleepless night. He was worried sick that Trixie and Honey would find a way around their promise to stay away from the scar-faced man. He knew Trixie had her own brand of logic when it came to things like that and he was afraid she’d figure out a way to justify getting involved.
If anything happens to either one of those girls I’ll never be able to forgive myself, Regan thought to himself, and he realized he knew what he had to do.
The next day Regan went through the motions of performing his job at the riding stable in a fog. His thoughts were on his plans for that evening, and his lack of sleep was catching up with him. The day seemed to drag on forever as he waited for night to fall.
When it was finally dark, he dressed in dark clothes and caught a cab to the racetrack. By this time tomorrow it should be all over, he thought to himself. Gadbox’s race will be over, and if he wins he’ll have to be tested for drugs. Then I should know whether or not my hunch is correct.
Regan had been surprised to read in the newspaper that Worthington had entered Gadbox in a claiming race, but the more he thought about it the more he thought that it might help him prove his theory.
Regan had the cabdriver let him out a few blocks from the racetrack. He walked the rest of the way and climbed the fence at a dark place near the barn where the Worthington horses were stabled. He grimaced as he let himself down on the other side of the fence. He was pretty sore after his fall from the Appaloosa the day before. Appaloosas made him think of Kip. Not now, he told himself. I can only deal with one problem at a time.
He quickly found his way to the area where the Worthington horses were stalled. He settled himself into a dark, shadowy corner and began to wait and watch. He hadn’t been there ten minutes when his worst fears were realized and he saw Trixie and Honey coming around the corner. Without thinking he snuck up behind the girls, clapped his hands over their mouths and dragged them into the nearest empty stall.
He was furious until he realized the girls with both cringing in terror. He quickly realized the girls were there for the same reason he was, and he tried to calm down. He made them promise to stay with him, thinking that they would be safer if he could keep an eye on them.
Regan and the girls quietly crept down the stable alleyway, keeping in the darkness of the shadows as much as they could. As they got nearer to Gadbox’s stall they could hear voices. It was Scarface and his buddy, Louie. They were talking about looking for Gadbox’s feedbag in his stall. But that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard, Regan pondered. What kind of moron would hide a horse’s feedbag in its own stall?
He was still trying to make sense of that when he heard one of them make a remark about not having a dumb kid to blame the doping on this time. Regan saw red and charged the stall. One of the men emerged from the stall, gun in hand, and then Bill Regan’s world went black.
Chapter 11
Regan came to in an enclosed horse trailer. His head was throbbing from Louie hitting him with the gun, and he couldn’t seem to get his arms and legs to work. Trixie and Honey were there, too. Their hands were tied behind their backs and they were begging him to try to untie them. Regan felt like he was underwater, but he was trying his hardest to get them untied when he heard Louie return.
Louie had a gun and Regan was too dazed to even attempt to resist when he tied his hands behind him and then bent his legs up behind him and tied his feet to his hands. Louie made a smart remark about Regan being tied up like a calf in a rodeo and then tied Trixie and Honey’s feet.
Rodeo, he was confused, One of Kip’s brothers rides in rodeos. I miss the way Kip always calls me Bill, I get so sick of being called by my last name all the time. If I die, will she be considered Danny’s next of kin, and get custody of him? Even in his muddled state of mind, Regan found that thought comforting. He knew Kip liked Dan, and if such a thing happened she would do her best to see that Dan remained with Vernon Maypenny.
If I get out of this okay, I’m going to make out a will and have Vernon named Dan’s guardian if anything happens to me, he promised himself. The subject of wills made him think of Kip all over again, and he was almost relieved when Scarface opened the trailer door and announce that he had put the drug in Gadbox’s feedbag, and that he and Louie were going to drive Regan, Trixie, and Honey out in country, and leave them there.
It didn’t sound right to Regan, but he couldn’t remember why. His thoughts were a jumble. He hoped it was from sleep deprivation, and that he hadn’t suffered any permanent damage from the blow to his head.
Regan and the girls felt a motion as the horse trailer began to move. It eventually stopped and they heard someone unhitch it and drive away. The three of them remained helpless, however, until Trixie had a brilliant idea. She instructed Honey to kneel with her back to Regan and then Trixie, acting as Honey’s eyes, told her how to untie Regan. It was difficult going since all three of them had their hands tied behind their back.
Regan tried to keep his thoughts coherent and tried his hardest not to keep asking the girls if they were almost done. He thought a lot about his life, and he promised himself that if he and the girls came out of this all in one piece he was going to make some changes. The first thing he was going to do was call Kip and tell her he loved her. Even though he felt he wasn’t good enough for her, he really had no excuse not to do it. They were getting divorced anyway, so if she didn’t feel the same way it really couldn’t get any worse. The years in the orphanage had made it hard for him to deal with his emotions, but he was just going to force himself to do it.
The second thing he was going to do was get his GED. He was pretty sure that the Wheelers had figured out that he’d never finished high school, and they didn’t seem to care about it. He cared about it though, and he was going to do it for himself, just to prove he could.
Honey finally got him free, and after his circulation returned he was able to untie both girls. They got out of the trailer, shocked to find out the sun had risen and it was daylight.
The three of them started walking, and after it felt like they had been walking forever, they came upon a sign that read "Saratoga 10 Miles." Just when they all three sank to the ground, unable to take another step, the Bob-White station wagon pulled up, and Jim, Brian, Mart, and Regan’s friend Johnny all jumped out.
Regan’s head was still throbbing, and the chaos that ensued only made it worse, but what he did get out of all the confusion was that the Wheelers had discovered that Honey and Trixie were missing and had notified the Beldens, who had in turned contacted the boys to see if they knew where the girls could be. The boys had left camp early and connected with Johnny, and through some pretty good detective work had found Regan and the girls.
They had all hurried to the hotel to tell the Wheelers the girls were all right. Regan had been embarrassed about being the source of so much trouble, but the Wheelers had been very kind about it, and had actually seemed glad to see him. Much todo was made about notifying the track officials and calling Stinson to tell him not to give Gadbox the feed with the drug in it. Regan kept quiet on the subject and stayed out of the commotion.
Later, when the police asked the girls to watch for Scarface and Louie at the betting window, Regan offered to do it in their place, feeling guilty that the girls were going to be put in danger yet again because of him. The police flatly refused, saying his red hair would make him stand out like a sore thumb. The boys had dropped him and Johnny off at the riding stable with everyone telling him to get some sleep.
"Yeah right," he muttered as he entered the bunkhouse. "I don’t even remember what sleep is like." He stopped and looked in the bunkhouse mirror and cursed his red hair. Then he went to his drawer, fished out the box of Just For Men hair color he had purchased upon his arrival in Saratoga, and headed for the bathroom.
He emerged a short time later and stopped in front of the bunkhouse mirror. Natural Dark Brown-Black didn’t exactly look natural on him. The new, dark haired Bill Regan looked pale, and his green eyes looked unnaturally bright against the flat, brown hair. The bags and dark circles under his eyes didn’t do anything to improve his appearance. Regan studied the face in the mirror for a few moments. The face that looked back at him was that of a grown man, not a scared, runaway orphan.
"You may have broken Gadfly’s spirit, Carl Stinson," Regan said to the man in the mirror, "but you didn’t break mine."
With that, he picked up the phone, made a brief call, and headed out the door.
Regan sat in the private dining room of the Wheelers’ hotel and mentally rehashed the rest of the day’s events.
After he had colored his hair, he had taken a cab from the riding stable to the racetrack. He had lurked around the betting window area where the girls had been watching for Scarface and Louie. A snafu had prevented the officers that were supposed to arrest Scarface from getting to him, and Scarface had drawn his gun on Trixie. Regan had dived on top of Scarface, knocked him to the ground, and held him there until the police could arrest him and haul him away.
I guess I didn’t color my hair for nothing, he thought. For the first time in my life, no one noticed me.
He was being noticed now, and he was none too happy about it. Joan Stinson was sitting next to him, hanging all over him and practically purring. I feel terrible, I look even worse, and she’s still all over me like a fly on a manure pile. I was hoping she wouldn’t recognize me or remember me, but I couldn’t be that lucky.
Putting up with her was bad enough, but having to look at her father was making the situation even worse. Regan’s thoughts went back to the days when he had worked for Worthington Stables. He hadn’t had the opportunity to learn to drive while he was living in the orphanage. Carl had insisted on giving Regan driving lessons, so he could run errands for him, and it had been a disaster. Regan had been nervous and Carl had been impatient, calling him names and yelling at him until Regan couldn’t think straight. He was still a white-knuckle driver and dreaded getting behind the wheel of a vehicle.
One more reason to hope I’m right about you, Carl, he thought to himself.
Worthington was talking, as usual, and Regan’s friends appeared to be enjoying themselves. He forced himself to listen as Worthington announced that Louie had also been arrested and had confessed that he and Scarface had drugged horses four other times at racetracks around the country. Only four? I’ll bet, Regan mused.
He was lost in thought when he heard the door to the private dining room open and looked up just in time to see Kip start through the door. She stopped suddenly in her tracks, only to have Danny crash into her.
"Kip, Danny!" Regan tried to shake Joan loose and stand up.
"Who are they?" Joan asked.
"I’m his nephew and she’s his wife," Dan answered loudly as he started toward where his uncle was sitting.
The silence in the room was deafening as Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler and the Bob-Whites tried to process Dan’s announcement.
Kip just stood in the doorway staring at Regan. He stared back at her and put his hand to his hair, realizing how different he looked from the last time she had seen him.
Mrs. Wheeler, gracious as always, spoke first. "Kip, Dan, why don’t you join us for dinner?"
"Nice hair-not," said Dan, with a smirk, as he plopped down on the chair next to Regan.
Kip continued to stand in the doorway. "No, no thank you," she stammered. "I’m not really dressed for it. Nice to see you all again." With that she backed out the door.
Regan turned to Dan. "We need to talk."
Dan slouched in his chair. "About what?" he said adopting a posture and manner of speaking that Regan hadn’t witnessed since his nephew had first come to Sleepyside. "Everything’s cool, I didn’t end up back in jail while you were gone, and my probation officer doesn’t even know you were missing, so I guess you still have custody of me until I’m eighteen."
Joan looked at Dan with such an expression of horror that Regan would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so serious.
What has gotten into him? Regan was baffled by his nephew’s behavior. Dan tried so hard to put his past behind him that he usually only talked about it to people that he liked and trusted. People like Kip. Duh, thought Regan, remembering the conversation when Dan had expressed his concern that Regan would get involved with someone who wouldn’t want him around. He’s trying to scare Joan off. He glanced at Joan, sitting stiffly in her chair. It seems to be working. I wonder if high-fiving him would be out of line right now?
Regan noticed everyone in the room was still staring at him. He stood up. "Please excuse me, I’m not feeling very well," he said, thinking that truer words had never been spoken. His head still throbbed, and every bone in his body ached from falling off the Appaloosa, being tied up in such an uncomfortable position all night, and tackling Scarface.
"Dan, I’ll talk to you later," he said as he walked past his nephew.
Regan stepped out into the hallway and wondered where on earth his wife could be. I doubt if she left. Danny must have ridden, with her and she wouldn’t just leave him here.
The hotel was huge, and Regan started looking for Kip in the various bars, dining rooms, and the coffee shop. He had no idea where she could be and he wondered what he was going to say if he did find her.
He finally couldn’t take it anymore. He was dead on his feet and his head was pounding. He decided to get a room at the hotel and try to get some sleep. He was just checking in at the front desk, enjoying being able to use his real name and his credit card for the first time since he had arrived in Saratoga, when he heard a familiar voice call out "Uncle Bill, Uncle Bill, hey "Rick Raygun"." You’re not going to believe what you just missed out on!"
Dan was bursting with excitement. He grabbed Regan and pulled him down onto a couch in the hotel lobby.
"The cops just came into the dining room and arrested Phony Joany Stinson and her dad. It was great! You should have been there."
"What?"
"Yeah, someone called the state racing commission this afternoon and told them to check into Carl Stinson’s dope in the feedbag story. It seems that this individual didn’t buy Carl’s feedbag story, and thought he was using it to take the suspicion off himself and that he had probably planted the drug in the feed they tested. The informant suggested that Carl might have some illegal, injectable drugs in his possession, and that he and his daughter were responsible for fixing a lot of races on racetracks around the country. They were running a big ring. Carl, Joan, Scarface, and Louie are just the tip of the iceberg."
"It gets even better. I guess Joan was kind of Mata Hari. She’d cozy up to the grooms of horses in races that they wanted to fix, find out their routines with the horses they cared for, and report back to Carl. Then he’d have his thugs sneak into the stalls and inject the horses with drugs to get them disqualified. The investigators really turned the heat on Scarface and Louie after you turned them in, and they ratted out the Stinsons. It was you wasn’t it?"
"Might have been," Regan smiled.
"The Stinsons think it was. They didn’t think Scarface and Louie would ever turn on them because of Scarface’s relationship with Joan. They had a big fight as the cops were hauling them out." Dan’s eyes sparkled at the memory. "They were yelling at each other and taking your name in vain. Apparently Phony Joany saw you at the track the other day, and she and Carl were trying to flush you out. They weren’t sure exactly how much you knew and what you were up to, and they wanted to find out. That’s why Louie and Scarface were going on and on about putting the drug in the feedbag when they kidnapped you and the girls."
"And, get this, Joan figured out that Honey and Trixie might have some kind of connection to you since they know Worthington, and she told them that you were the great love of her life in an attempt to get them to admit they know you."
Regan groaned. "Did you get that straightened out?"
"Yeah," said Dan with a grin. "They originally believed it; you know how romantic girls are. They’ve moved on to being all excited about you and Kip being married though. When I left the dining room Honey, Trixie, and Mrs. Wheeler had their heads together and were planning a shower or reception or whatever you call it for the two of you."
Regan groaned again. "Speaking of Kip, what are you two doing here?’
Dan’s face turned serious. "I was worried about you. I hadn’t heard anything from the girls, and I thought maybe when you and Kip had been talking horses, the subject of drugging had come up and she might know something."
"And?" said Regan.
"And, she freaked out when I told her you were missing. She left her job in West Virginia, packed up her horses and the dog, and made it to Sleepyside in record time. We unloaded the animals, unhooked the trailer, and came here to look for you."
Regan processed that information. "So, who’s doing my job at the Wheelers’, and how did you two find out about ‘Rick Raygun’?"
"Tom, Mr. Maypenny, and Mr. Belden are taking care of the horses, and Miss Trask is doing the paperwork," Dan answered.
"Mr. Belden?" asked Regan with surprise in voice. Peter Belden was a great guy, but he hadn’t spent a great deal of time around the stable.
"Sure, said Dan. "He said cleaning a stall can’t be that much different than cleaning a chicken coop, and that he owes you for everything you’ve done for his kids."
"As for the ‘Rick Raygun’ thing, Kip and I apparently aren’t as good at detectiving as Jim, Mart, and Brian. We didn’t even know they were here. We left Sleepyside before the Beldens found out the girls were missing. By the time we tracked you to the riding stable, you and Johnny were already here for dinner. When Kip and I asked for Bill Regan, the guy that owned the place said he didn’t know anybody by that name. We described you and he said the only person he knew that fit that description was "Rick Raygun". Kip and I laughed our butts off at that one. We think you ought to have Honey make you a super suit for Halloween with two big R’s on the cape. ‘Rick Raygun, Defender of the Universe’. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?"
"Your middle name is ‘Raygun’ so does that make you ‘The Boy Wonder’?" Regan shot back at his nephew. "So what happened to Johnny, and where is Kip?"
"The whole staff of Worthington Stables is under arrest so Mr. Worthington hired Johnny to take care of the horses. It might be a big career move for him, especially since Worthington bought Gadbox back after the claiming race."
"But where’s Kip?"
"I have no idea where Kip could be. I left my overnight bag in her truck, and I’m sure she wouldn’t leave without giving it to me. I need it, Mr. Wheeler got hotel rooms for us guys, and we’re all going home tomorrow."
"Will you help me find her?" Regan asked Dan. "I have to talk to her."
"She wants to talk to you, too." Dan replied. "She feels terrible about getting you involved in the marriage and then having you tie up a year of your life while you’re waiting for the divorce. She’s afraid that you’re mad at her. I had her convinced that you aren’t and that you want to see her, and then she had to walk in and find Phony Joany draped all over you."
Dan stopped and looked at his uncle with concern. "You look awful, why don’t you stay here while I go see if her pickup is gone. She’ll have to go through the lobby to leave the hotel, so if she tries to leave you’ll see her. I can put a note on the windshield for her if you want me to. It’s too bad you can’t call her, but she left her cell phone on the charger in her truck. I’ll hurry, and when I get back you can go lie down in your room, and I’ll keep looking for her."
"Sounds like a plan." Regan agreed wearily.
He got a pen and paper from the hotel desk and wrote:
We need to talk. Please come to room 143.
Then, thinking of the stupid note he left for Dan when he came to Saratoga, he signed it:
Love, Bill
He handed the note to Dan before he could change his mind and sat down to wait in the lobby.
Dan was back in a matter of moments. "Her truck’s still there, so I left the note on the windshield." He looked closely at his uncle. "Are you sure you’re all right?"
"I’m fine, I just need to lie down for a minute." Then Regan hugged his nephew. "I missed you, Danny. Are we okay?"
Dan hugged his uncle back. "We’re cool. Kip’s the one you need to fix things with. I hope you work things out and stay married. I want cousins."
"Cousins," repeated Regan weakly.
"Yeah, cousins. You know, that would be the offspring of my uncle and his wife." Dan grinned again and took off through the lobby to look for Kip.
Regan found his hotel room. He removed his boots, socks, and shirt and lay down on the bed. As usual, sleep wouldn’t come, but at least his head felt a little better.
He hadn’t been there more than half an hour when there was a knock at the door.
Regan walked to the door and opened it to find Kip standing there looking at him uneasily.
"Hi," she said nervously. "You wanted to talk to me?"
"Yeah, come on in," Regan answered.
"Are you sure?" Kip’s eyes searched the room behind Regan.
Regan looked at the rumpled bed behind him and realized that he was clad only in a pair of jeans. Oh no, she thinks Joan is in here with me. That bimbo is never going to quit ruining my life.
"Sure, I’m sure. I was just lying down for a minute. I haven’t slept at all since I got to Saratoga and I have a killer headache."
Kip stepped into his hotel room. She looked at the dark hair on Regan’s head and the red hair on his chest and laughed. "You don’t match. Is that any way for ‘Rick Raygun, Defender of the Universe’ to look?"
Regan smiled back at her, feeling the magic between them return. "I was hoping that you and ‘Dan, The Boy Wonder’ wouldn’t find out about that one."
He turned serious. "Did you find my note?"
Kip looked puzzled. "What note? I was looking for Dan so I could give him his overnight bag before I headed back to Sleepyside. I finally found him in the lobby and he told me you were in this room and that you wanted to talk to me."
"I’m so sorry that I dragged you into this marriage," she continued. I had no idea that we couldn’t get it annulled and that we’d have to wait a year to be divorced. The lawyer I saw in West Virginia said you and I have both seen too many soap operas if we thought it was going to be that easy to end it. He also told me that it wasn’t the most ethical thing to do, even though we didn’t break any laws."
"Is your girlfriend mad about it?" Kip asked, not meeting Regan’s eyes.
Dang, thought Regan, if she had only found the note and saw the way I signed it, maybe she’d get the hint.
"Kip," he said. "You might as well sit down. I need to bring you up to speed on everything that’s happened since I came to Saratoga, and it’s going to take awhile."
Regan sat down on the edge of the bed, and Kip perched on a nearby chair while he began to talk. He told her the whole story from start to finish. She was the first person he had ever confided in about Carl’s abusing him. Kip was quiet while he was speaking, listening intently and sympathetically. She didn’t even crack a smile when he told her about falling off the Appaloosa.
"Wow," she said. "Good call on the drugs in the feedbag. I can’t believe Stinson thought anybody would fall for that. Any time I’ve tried to sneak worm medicine or antihistamines or anything in my horses’ feed they’ve turned up their noses. Sometimes they won’t even eat vitamin supplements. I’m sure a high-strung horse like Gadfly wouldn’t have touched feed with something unfamiliar in it. And, of course, you’re right that Stinson should have noticed something funny if there had really been anything in the feed. Who uses feedbags anyway?" she concluded. "They’re bad for horses’ respiratory systems."
Regan beamed. He knew that Kip, of all people, would understand.
They sat smiling at each other. "Is your head okay?" Kip asked. "Have you seen a doctor?"
"I’m fine," answered Regan. "I have a big bump and it hurts, but I’ll be all right. I just need to get some sleep."
"Let me get you some ice to put on it." Kip stood up. "There should be an icebucket in here somewhere."
"No, really, I’m fine."
"Bill Regan," said Kip in an exasperated tone, "You take care of everybody around you all the time. Can’t you let somebody take care of you for a change?"
"I don’t," he began.
"You do, too! Look at you and Dan and-"
Regan cut her off. "Dan’s my responsibility."
"Oh brother," Kip shouted back at him. "That kid is so much more than a responsibility to you, and you know it."
Regan couldn’t argue that point, and she continued. "All I heard while I was in Sleepyside is how wonderful you are. Dan idolizes you. You help the Bob-Whites with all their projects and save their hides on a regular basis, you go above and beyond the duties of your job by helping Miss Trask run the Manor House, you baby-sit Bobby all the time and never complain. You even built him a treehouse. Celia told me how you made sure her and Tom’s wedding presents were safe while they were on their honeymoon, Di told me how understanding you were to her when she was going through a rough time, Jim told me how kind you were to him when he was a runaway. I could go on and on about all the wonderful things you do for people. Look what you’ve done for me." She took a deep breath. "You were a superhero long before you became ‘Rick Raygun’." You really have no idea how much everybody loves you and depends on you, and that includes me!"
With her usual flair for dramatic entrances and exits, Kip grabbed the ice bucket and flounced out of the room.
Regan just sat there stunned, trying to figure out what the last part of Kip’s statement meant, and feeling a little bit like George Bailey. Maybe the big, ugly, redheaded kid from the boys’ home hadn’t been unadoptable after all. The good people of Sleepyside had become his family, and suddenly Regan realized that the past didn’t matter nearly as much as the future.
Kip walked back into the room carrying the bucket full of ice. She didn’t say a word but went into the bathroom and returned with some ice cubes wrapped in a washcloth. Her face was red.
"I’m sorry," she said. "I know you don’t feel well and I shouldn’t have yelled at you, even though everything I said was the truth. Let me take a look at the sore place on your head."
She sat down next to Regan and lightly ran her fingers through his hair while she looked at the bump. She gently held the washcloth to the back of his head.
"You know something?" she said breaking the uneasy silence. "With dark hair you kind of look like Dan. How long is this hair color supposed to last?"
"Six weeks," Regan spoke for the first time since Kip had returned to the room. "It’s going to be a long six weeks."
They were silent for a moment and then Regan said, "How’s your brother doing?"
"Good," she answered. "He’s trying hard, and I think he’s going to make it this time. The rest of my family is another story. You were right about our marriage being a hot topic of conversation back in the sticks. Miss Hartsell’s niece and nephew weren’t too happy that I was able to produce a certified copy of a marriage certificate and get the money. They made sure my family heard about it, and I have a lot of explaining to do. I’m going to go back to Sleepyside, get my animals, go home, and confess all."
"What are you going to tell them about me?" Regan asked.
"What do you want me to tell them?"
Regan turned to face her. Thinking back to the conversation on their wedding day, he replied, "I want you to tell them that you met the man of your dreams in New York, and he wasn’t a cad, and he didn’t have an old girlfriend, and he didn’t break your heart. And I want you to tell it to them over the phone because I want you to stay in Sleepyside. With me."
With that he put his arms around her and kissed her. He felt the washcloth fall away from his head as Kip put her arms around him and kissed him back.
"Are you serious?" she whispered. "What about the divorce?"
"Kip, I’m horrible at this kind of thing, and I know I’m not in your league, but I love you. I don’t know if we’re ready to really be married, but I can’t stand being apart. Can’t we just try it and see if it works out before we rush into a divorce?"
"What do you mean you’re not in my league? You’re the one that the whole village of Sleepyside has on a pedestal. Do you have idea what it’s like to be love with someone who’s practically a national treasure?" Kip was still whispering. "I didn’t think you felt the same way about me. You were the one who brought up the annulment, so I thought that I was just one more person for you to rescue."
"I missed you so much when I was in West Virginia," she continued. "I kept thinking of things I wanted to tell you, and you weren’t there. It was awful."
"So you’ll come back to Sleepyside?"
She laughed softly. "I have to so I can make an honest man out of you. You never did teach me to post."
He laughed and kissed her again. They sat on the edge of the bed with their arms around each other and Regan thought about how everything was right in his life. Kip and I are together, my relationship with Danny is great, I’m going home to my job, Trixie and Honey are safe, the Stinsons are behind bars, Kip’s brother is getting better, Johnny has a new job. Everything is turning out all right, after all.
They continued to sit and hold each other until Kip realized that Regan’s weight was resting on her and that his breathing was deep and even. Bill Regan was asleep at last. She carefully wiggled out from under him and slowly leaned him back on the bed. Then she gently swung his legs up onto the bed, covered him with a blanket, and turned out the light. She kissed him lightly on the lips, smoothed his artificially dark hair, and whispered, "not exactly the kind of effect I’d hoped to have on you, but I’m happy you’re finally at peace and can get some sleep." With that, Kip removed her boots and socks, lay down on the bed, and snuggled up to the slumbering man who was her husband.
Six months later--Andrews Correctional Facility for Women
Joan Stinson lay on her prison cot and pouted. She needed a pedicure and she hadn’t had her upper lip waxed in months. This was all so unfair. She’d never even had to help her father clean up after those gross horses of his, and here she was, scrubbing prison toilets everyday. It was all that Regan’s fault, him and that perky, little wife of his. She fumed as she thought of the Regans and how they had sat in the courtroom holding hands and smiling at each other, as Bill waited to testify against her.
A prison matron’s voice broke through her thoughts. "Lights out, Joan," said the matron who was conducting the nightly bedcheck. "Enjoy your last night by yourself. You’re getting a cellmate tomorrow." The matron glanced at her clipboard. "Her name’s Ramsey, Laura Ramsey.
The End
Author’s Notes:
George Bailey is the character played by Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s one of my favorite movies.
A big thank you to my wonderful friend and editor, Ann. I would have never done this without your help and encouragement. I’m not a Cupcake yet. You’ll just have to keep editing for me so you can keep trying!
Just For Men Haircolor in Natural Brown-Black is a real product. I’m sure I looked like an idiot when I was standing in the store aisle taking notes about it on the back of my shopping list.
I’ve been sampling again. I have read some fan fics where Dan’s mother’s name is Eileen. I like it, and I’ve come to think of it as her name, so I’ve used it here. Thanks to the author who thought of it first and my apologies for not mentioning it in chapter 6.
I know 45 isn’t old at all, even though someone Dan’s age might think it is. That’s how old I am and I’m just having a little fun at my own expense.
I know Regan is twenty-four in The Mystery at Saratoga but since everybody else has only aged one year and Bobby hasn’t aged at all I’m writing him as being twenty-three.
SDSU is a real school. I didn’t go there but I probably should have.
Once again, a big thank you to Ann for all the help. You just might make a Cupcake out of me yet!