-1-
Her hair hung to her waist, dirty blonde
in color, broken ends in need of a trim. Late in her pregnancy, her belly was
large. A faded denim bag hung from her left shoulder, and she shifted from one
sandaled foot to the other as she attempted to hold a bottle of water and take
a bite of salad.
“Hey, my husband and I have a table right
over there,” Kim pointed across the crowded corridor. “There’s an empty chair.
Please, join us.”
“I don’t want to intrude,” the younger one
said.
“You’re not. We’re just formulating our
strategy. Come on,” Kim said, and made her way through the crowd.
Kim motioned to an empty chair as she moved
to sit in the other one.
“I’m Kim and this is my husband Craig.”
“Thanks,” the girl said. She sat her salad
and water on the table, dropped her bag to the floor, and then plopped onto the
vacant white chair. “I’m Megan.”
“Nice to meet you, Megan,” Kim said, and
nodded her head in the direction of her belly. “When’s your baby due?”
“In three weeks.”
“I’m a registered nurse. I work with
newborns. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Kim asked.
“It’s a girl. Christy.” Megan smiled.
“That’s a pretty name. Is this your first?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty excited.”
As Megan picked at her salad, Kim and Craig
discussed the upcoming races and the horses that would be running.
“I can’t believe we’re already down after
only three races,” Kim said. “And, there are a lot of races left to run.”
“We just need to bet smart, obviously
smarter than we’ve bet so far,” said Craig.
“This is probably Grandma’s doing. She
always said I’d burn in hell if I squandered money on cards or horses,” Kim
said, and laughed.
“Tom Harrison’s running a horse in ten. He
only runs them if they’re ready,” said Megan.
“Harrison? Is he an owner or trainer?” Kim
asked.
“He’s the owner and trainer, and he only
runs them if they’re ready.”
“Where’s he out of?” Kim asked.
“Ocala. He’s my boyfriend. We worked on the
same horse farm, and he now owns a few horses.”
Kim
had noticed calluses on Megan’s hands earlier. She had also noted her inexpensive
dress and shoes. It was obvious Megan did not have money to burn.
Megan stood. “I have to go, but thanks for
letting me join you.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Kim said, and smiled
at her. “Congrats on the baby girl, and I hope your delivery goes well.”
“Thanks.” Her back to them, she moved
toward the throng. Kim was about to look back at the program, when Megan stopped
and turned. She looked Kim in the eyes and said, “He
only runs them if they’re ready.” Then, she disappeared into a maze of people.
“That was weird,” said Kim. “Do you think
this all happened for a reason?”
“Maybe,” Craig said. He scanned the program
for race ten.
“Let’s put all the remaining monies on his
horse to win. What do we have left, twenty dollars?”
“Yeah. Here he is, Harrison, horse number
ten in race ten, Ghostly One.”
“Cool name. Ten, not such a cool starting gate.
Well, hopefully Megan’s right and he can run.”
-2-
“Oh my gosh, the odds are thirty to one. We
may have just blown our last twenty bucks.” Kim shook her head and laughed.
“There’s always an ATM,” Craig said.
“No ATM’s.”
Across the track, the bell chimed and the
gates opened with a clang. The thoroughbreds lunged forward.
“And, they’re off,” the announcer said.
Kim and Craig stood. Binoculars in hand,
they both tried to spot the horse that wore number ten.
“There he is, midway back, third from the
outside,” Craig said.
Twelve horses thundered around the dirt
track.
“Come on Ghostly One,” Kim said under her
breath. She held the black magnified lenses to her eyes. As the horses rounded
the bend, she saw he was beginning to move forward, and she said a little
louder, “Come on Ghostly One, come on.”
When they neared the stands, she lowered
the glasses and began to shout, “Come on ten, come on.” He had moved to the
third spot and began to pass the second horse.
“Come on, baby,” Craig yelled.
Ghostly One soon dueled with the lead
horse. While they cheered him on, he pulled ahead and crossed the finish in the
number one spot.
“Alright,” Kim shouted. She turned to Craig
and her upraised palm met his.
“Yeah, baby,” Craig said.
They looked toward the field, and waited
for the results on the tote to confirm the final three finishers. Number three
appeared next to the word SHOW, followed by number five next to PLACE. The
space next to WIN remained blank.
“Why’s it taking so long?” Kim asked. She
held her sunglasses in her right hand and tapped them against her skirt. After
a minute, she sighed. She swept her hand through her hair, and then placed the
glasses on top of her head.
Craig sat silent in a chair. His elbows
rested on his knees and he rocked to and fro. Like Kim, he stared at the large
board.
When ten flashed on the tote, Craig stood and
raised both arms in the air.
“Hot damn.”
“Oh my gosh, the odds are still thirty to
one,” Kim said. “Holy cow, do you know what that means?”
“Yeah, I know what that means.” Craig swept
Kim into a hug. “We just won over six hundred dollars.”
“When we get home, I’m going to look up
Harrison’s address. I want to thank Megan, and send her a baby gift,” Kim said.
-3-
The final and thirteenth race was due to
start in twenty minutes. Kim licked the side of a vanilla ice cream cone while
Craig perused the horse, trainer, and jockey stats.
“The morning line picks are
five-one-four-seven,” Craig said.
“Four just got scratched.” Kim pointed to
the screen. “Which horse has the highest odds?”
“Wild Fox, number eight, twenty to one.”
“Let’s buy one trifecta with horses
five-one-seven, and two to win, horses five and eight. Maybe we’ll get lucky
again,” Kim said.
“Sounds good,” Craig said, and he headed to
the teller window.
Kim tossed the remaining cone, and then
began to flip through the program. Craig had just returned to his seat when her
eye caught the photo of the young couple that stood next to a horse and jockey.
“Oh my gosh, that’s Megan in this picture.
It must have been taken recently because she is very pregnant.”
Craig eyed the black and white. “What’s the
caption say?”
“Holy crap.” Kim looked around and then
leaned toward Craig. With a lowered voice she said, “It says they died on this
very date in 1993.”
“What? That can’t be right. Are you sure that’s
Megan?”
“Yeah, listen to this. ‘Tom Harrison, his
fiancée Megan Williams, their unborn daughter, and the horse Ghostly One were
all killed in a vehicle accident when returning to their farm in Ocala. Ghostly
One had just won the Stakes Classic that very afternoon at thirty to one odds.
Tom was an up and coming owner and trainer that was known for only running
horses when they were ready.’ How sad.”
“Sweet mother, no way. Let me see.”
Kim handed Craig the program. “How can this
be?”
He read the caption, and then flipped to
race ten. “Get this, in race ten, horse number ten is Sir Prancelot, the owner
is Chris Thomas, and the trainer is Ron Allen. What the hell?” Craig asked.
“When we put our monies on that horse, the
program said Ghostly One, not Sir Prancelot. And, how did we chat with her if
she’s been dead for six years?” Kim asked.
The thirteenth race had started, spectators
screamed around them, and they sat in their seats, stared at the image, and
tried to comprehend what had happened.
After the race, the fans exited the stands.
Kim and Craig gathered their things.
“I have to go to the bathroom before we
leave,” Kim said.
“Okay.” He took the small backpack from
her. “I’m going to grab us a coffee.”
By the time Kim approached Craig, the
crowds had thinned. He picked up the pack, handed her a coffee, and they made
their way toward the doors. Something caught Kim’s eye and she looked to the
left. Megan stood next to the wall, her hands rubbed her large abdomen, and she
smiled. Kim nudged Craig, “Look. There’s Megan.”
Kim smiled, waved a few fingers at her, and
mouthed, ‘Thank you.’ Megan disappeared.
-4-
For five years, Craig and Kim returned to
the track on the first Saturday in May. For four years they looked for Megan,
and they were disappointed.
On May first 2004, while thousands awaited
the running of the Kentucky Derby, they made their annual jaunt to Tampa. That
day Megan joined them for lunch, told them her boyfriend was running a horse in
race ten, and that he only ran them if they were ready. Kim thanked her for the
tip.
That afternoon, Craig placed one thousand
dollars on horse number ten, Ghostly One. When he crossed the finish line ahead
of the others, the thirty to one odds paid them more than thirty thousand
dollars.
*****
“Do you think we’ll see her today?” Kim
asked. “She hasn’t been here for the past five years. Maybe she’s not coming
back anymore.”
“Yeah, but we didn’t see her for years
after the first time. It wasn’t until the first Saturday in May fell on the
first that she showed up again. And, today is May first.”
Kim and Craig sat at the table near the
deli and anxiously surveyed the crowds. Kim spotted the younger pregnant woman
and ran toward her. She once again insisted Megan join them.
Kim now had a young daughter of her own and
carried a second. Her heart went out to this spirit that would never get to
hold her baby girl. Megan shared that Harrison would be running Ghostly One in
race ten. Again, they thanked her for the tip and wished her well.
When he stood at the window, Craig’s mouth
was dry. Kim stood next to him. She bit at her lower lip and twirled her pony
tail with her free hand.
“Tampa, race 10, thirty thousand dollars to
win on horse number ten,” Craig said.
The teller repeated back his order.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Craig said, and Kim
nodded.
The ticket was printed. Both reviewed it,
and then went to take a seat.
“How can the odds still be thirty to one?”
Kim asked. “That large of a wager should have lowered the odds considerably.”
“Yeah, well a horse that died seventeen
years ago shouldn’t be running, but he is."
Craig grasped the ticket securely in his
hand, afraid to let it out of his sight. When the announcer signaled the start
of the race, neither stood. Both sat silent, their hands clasped. The heel of
Craig’s shoes tapped up and down on the cement. Kim held her breath.
At the end of the race, Craig was the first
to look at the tote. When ten appeared next to WIN, he put his arm around Kim
and said, “He won, we won.”
“Oh, my God.” Tears flooded her face.
Both were silent as they waited in line at
the IRS window to collect their earnings. Their winnings that day totaled more
than nine hundred thousand.
They waved to Megan on their way out. “You
know, I’ve looked it up. The first Saturday in May won’t fall on the first again
until 2020,” Craig said.
“Do you think she’ll still be here?”
“I don’t know, but we will. I wonder what
your grandma would think of you betting the horses now?”