The Black Stallion Returns (22 page)
Read The Black Stallion Returns Online
Authors: Walter Farley
Harrity found Morgan at his side. “Y’mean that came from him?” Without taking his eyes from the stallion, Harrity nodded. And Morgan said, “That was weirder than anything we ever heard in India.”
They saw the black horse rear to his utmost height as the sheikh astride him wrapped his long legs like two bars of steel around his girth. Coming down with battering forefeet, the stallion snorted, half-reared, and screamed again. His rider raised a hand in signal to his men, and simultaneously they wheeled their horses.
And as the Bedouin band rode up the street which would lead them back to the desert, Harrity and Morgan heard the muffled scream of the black colt in the hold.
Morgan said, “Guess that’s the end of the fireworks, Harrity. We’d better get goin’.”
Nodding, Harrity followed, deep in thought. And it wasn’t until they were well on their way down the iron stairs that he stopped. “I got it,” he half shouted, as his hand grabbed Morgan’s arm. “Y’remember that trip the
Queen
’s boiler went bad on us, and we had to limp back to New York for a repair job?”
“I don’t want to remember it,” Morgan said, “after the work it caused us.”
But Harrity went on. “We hit port just in time to hear all about that big match horse race out in Chicago. Y’couldn’t help rememberin’ that, Morgan,
for everybody was talkin’ their fool heads off about it. And it was all over the newspapers, ‘n’ you couldn’t turn on a radio without someone blastin’ about it.”
Morgan nodded. “Yeah. Sure. I remember that. This match race was cooked up to get those two racers, Sun Raider and Cyclone, together. Boy, those babies sure could run. Broke just about every track record, didn’t they?” Morgan didn’t wait for Harrity’s reply. “And there was lots of talk about what was goin’ to happen when those two bolts of lightnin’ got together in Chicago. Then there was the big race.…” Morgan’s brow furrowed and his eyes met Harrity’s. “Then … then …” his words came fast, “I remember now, Harrity. Neither of ’em won! They were both beaten by a mystery horse! A horse someone got into the race the last minute. The name of that horse is right on the tip of my tongue.…”
As Morgan hesitated, Harrity said, “He was called the Black, Morgan. Nothin’ more, just that. And he was ridden by a kid, a young kid by the name of … Alec Ramsay!” Harrity’s voice was clipped, excited. “And that black stallion ran all over Sun Raider and Cyclone.”
“That’s it, Harrity! That’s it! Alec Ramsay … that was his name, all right. And there was a story, too, about how he got hold of this horse. The papers played it up big.”
“Sure, and we got good reason to remember it,” Harrity said, lowering his voice. “The kid was comin’ back from India on the
Drake.…
”
“The
Drake
.…” Morgan’s voice was tense. “She went down off the coast of Portugal with all on board.”
Harrity took it up again. “This black stallion was aboard, picked up at … Addis.” His eyes swept back up the stairs, and he muttered, “That was Addis back there.”
“The horse saved the kid’s life, didn’t he? Dragged him to one of those islands off the coast. And about a month later, after all hope had been given up, they were picked up and brought to New York.”
“And then to Flushing,” Harrity added. “Alec Ramsay, Flushing, New York.” He jerked his head in the direction of the hold. “And that’s just where this little devil is goin’.”
Morgan began walking down the steps again, followed by Harrity. “Y’remember hearin’ anything more about the Black and this Alec Ramsay?” Morgan asked without looking back. “After the race, I mean.”
“You know as well as I do how long we were out on that South Africa trip right after,” Harrity said. “Of course I didn’t hear nothin’.”
“I was just thinkin’ about that black stallion we just saw,” Morgan muttered. “He sure looked like what I imagined the Black should look like. From everything I’ve read about him, anyway.”
Harrity said, thoughtfully, “I was thinkin’ about that, too.” Shrugging his shoulders, he added, “But he sure can’t be in Flushing and Arabia at the same time, that’s certain. And I still can’t figure out that black baby in the hold. Wonder where he comes in on it?”
“Forget it,” Morgan said. “We’ve got enough to do from here to New York without wastin’ our time on puzzles. I’m just glad my name’s Morgan instead of
Alec Ramsay, and that I live in Brooklyn an’ not Flushing. I wouldn’t want any part of that horse.”
“Yeah,” agreed Harrity. “You’re right. I’ll take my horses just by watchin’ ’em from the grandstand at a race track. Nope, I sure don’t envy this Alec Ramsay none, either.”
DON’T FORGET THE STORY
THAT BEGAN IT ALL …
Alec Ramsay first saw the Black Stallion when his ship docked at a small Arabian port on the Red Sea. Little did he dream then that the magnificent wild horse was destined to play an important part in his young life; that the strange understanding that grew between them would lead through untold dangers to high adventure in America.
MEET THE FIRST FOAL
SIRED BY THE BLACK!
When the Black Stallion’s son arrives from Arabia, young Alec Ramsay believes his dreams have come true. Satan is everything a horse should be: beautiful, spirited, and intelligent. But veteran trainer Henry sees something dark and disturbing in the colt’s stony gaze.
THE EPIC RACE
BETWEEN A FATHER AND SON …
The Black Stallion’s colt, Satan, is a great horse. He has won many famous races. Then from far-off Arabia comes the Black—to start the greatest controversy racing circles have ever known. Which horse is faster? But as the match approaches, the great stallion and his colt find themselves in a different kind of race—not against each other, but against a terrible and deadly forest fire.
ANOTHER EXCITING ADVENTURE TALE
OF THE BLACK STALLION
One morning, during their vacation in the Florida Everglades, Alec rides the Black down a path into a beautiful but mysterious swamp. Alec encounters a strange rider on a ghostly gray mare. Too late, Alec realizes that the man’s obsession with a supernatural curse has driven him mad—and he’s not only insane, he’s dangerous. Suddenly, what started as an innocent outing turns into a living nightmare!
A POWERFUL ADVENTURE
SET IN THE NEVADA DESERT
Alec and the Black are heading out west to a huge ranch when their plane crashes in the desolate country of northern Nevada. The Black, unable to find Alec, reverts to his untamed heritage and becomes head of a herd of wild horses. But Alec has amnesia and doesn’t remember anything of his past, and his inability to explain his recent whereabouts makes him the suspect in a brutal murder case.
When Alec Ramsay saw the three handsome foreign-born colts, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The colts were almost exact models of the Black Stallion! They must have had the same sire, but the official Arabian records said that the Black’s sire was dead. Could he be alive? The possibility was enough to lure Alec overseas … into a carefully prepared trap!
MEET FLAME—
WALTER FARLEY’S OTHER GREAT STALLION!
Steve Duncan had a haunting vision of finding a magnificent red stallion … and finally discovered him in a hidden island paradise. But the giant horse was wild and unapproachable. Then Steve saved Flame from a horrible death, and a miraculous friendship began—changing
both
their lives forever.