Love and Hate

Chapter 3

Wrongfully Accused

Don had sent the printed files to Mike and still searched for information on the case. Obviously, Mike was really interested in this girl and wanted to everything possible to help her. But Don worried. Nothing good had come to them since they met with humans. He remembered some old human friends, but they had left a long time ago. He smiled as he remembered April O'Neil and Casey Jones. Both had gone on vacation when Splinter was killed and when they had come back, he and Mike had gone and Raph had killed himself. Leonardo was more than likely still talking to them, but he and Mike just lost connections. They practically kept themselves from talking to any humans, except on business. He wondered if Mike would be safe from harm while doing this. Don knew he couldn't deal with another lose. He clicked on Fire Light's highlighted name and waited to see what would come up.

"Please wait, Donatello."

The computer voiced. Donatello waited patiently for the information to come up. When it did, he found out that it was a medical report and record on the animal.

"2 yr old . . . chestnut . . . tempered . . . bone fracture . . . " Don looked at the information on the horse's fracture.

" Second fracture?" Donatello raised an eye ridge at this. He picked up the phone and dialed Mike's number.

" Hello?"

" Hello Mike? This is Don. I have some new information for you."

" Go ahead."

" Well according to this vet report, that horse Fire Light had already once had a fracture to the same foreleg. The old vet had advised not to race him ever again cause of the pain he would feel and the fact that they could kill him. There were large doses of Novocain found in the horse's foreleg, indicating that they wanted to numb it so the horse wouldn't feel anything when he was running. If this is true, then the horse could have stumbled and not even felt the leg break, so that's why he tried to keep running. The owners had come down just in time to see Cam trying to stop him when she felt something wrong. The old vet was fired before that when he didn't approve of the colt being fit to perform at all. So the owners could have found someone else to say he was fit and do the examination or whatever. Either way, this is proof that Cam was not at fault and the horse had a previous injury and was told not to run him again. Mike, this evidence was not used in the case. Someone deemed it classified."

" So they were just lying to make her pay money?"

" I guess so. That colt was worth a lot. If the court thought she was responsible for the death of that animal, then she would have gotten a large fine and she would've had her jockey licence suspended. That would probably cause some financial problems for her."

Mike took in what was told to him. He wanted to help her so much and now that he knew the truth, he had to get information from someone who knew a lot about horses.

" Don, can you send that information to me?"

" Sure, I'll mail it today and it should get there by tomorrow."

"All right, I'm gonna book a flight to Silver brook today and see what I can get from them."

" All right, bye."

" Bye."

Mike quickly grabbed his clothes and pulled them on. He grabbed his keys and went out to the car. He made his way to the airport. He waited in the airport until his flight was called and then he made his way to his seat. As the plane took off, he wondered if he was doing the right thing for himself.

A few hours later, he left the plane and went to a place where he could rent a car. He went through all the different selections carefully and found a Mercedes somewhat like his. It was silver though. He checked it out and left the area. Texas had some nice farm area that Florida didn't. Horses were not exactly something he really got involved with, but he wanted to help out in some way. Maybe he would make a friend.

He finally saw the road that led to Silver brook Stables. He looked above him and saw the large entrance sign to Silver brook. He drove slowly done the dirt road and looked at the huge paddocks and different horses. He had never seen a place so nice in his life. He looked at the large house that was more like a mansion and a training oval on the side. It was about a quarter of a mile away, but it could clearly be seen. He pulled into the parking lot and saw the large barns in the back. There were four barns. He got out and looked at a groom leading a jet black mare to the paddock.

" Excuse me?" The groom turned to look at him.

" I'm looking for a. . . . Victoria Pena. Is she here?"

" Yes, she is in the yearling barn. The second to the last one." He pointed and Mike thanked him. Mike jogged down to the barn and looked in. He saw Victoria putting blankets away.

" Um . . . Victoria?" She turned to face him. Vicky gave him an odd look. Probably cause he was dressed so that no part of his body could be seen.

" Um . . . may I help you?" She said uneasily.

" Ya, I wanted to ask you something about horses. I don't know much about them, but there is something I was wondering about." She calmed down a bit and invited him into the office. He sat down and looked around at some trophy's and pictures. He looked back at her and when she sat down, he went on.

" Ok now I was wondering about an injury. See I wanted to know that if a horse had fractured a foreleg and the vet advised not to run him ever again, but the owners went against it . . . " He paused as he thought of how else to say the rest. " And they gave this horse a huge amount of Novocain, would it still hurt him if he ran?" She seemed surprised by the question, but answered it.

" Well, first of all. Novocain shouldn't be used on a horse about to perform. Um . . . if the vet advised to never run the horse again that would mean that the leg is very susceptible to breaking again easily. Novocain would be used to mask the pain. So the horse could relax and not feel it."

" Well if they used it when a horse was practicing and he stumbled, would he feel it if it broke again?" He could tell she was beginning to catch on but she answered anyway.

" If it was a large dose of it, more than likely the horse wouldn't feel it and he wouldn't notice until he couldn't walk on it. What are you getting at?" Mike looked away briefly.

" Weren't you at Gulfstream Park and looking at my horse?" She asked suddenly.

" Yes I was. I was taking pictures so I might paint him. I do art work so that's why I was there. But I had heard about what happened with the jockey that rode Fire Light. I was asking, because I did some research on it. My brother got into some files, that the owners of the colt had hidden."

" Oh?" She seemed to be very interested now.

" Well in the medical report, it said that the colt had fractured the leg once before and the old vet was fired when he didn't approve of the horse being fit to perform. The owners gave him Novocain and still made him perform. We think it is possible for him to have stumbled during the workout, but not have felt it and that's why he kept going until Cam noticed him limping. By then the owners blamed her for the accident."

" Do you have proof of that?"

" My brother is sending it today. He said it should get here by tomorrow. I wanted to ask about this because I wanted to be sure there was the possibility of it being the owner's fault."

" And why are you so interested in this case?"

" Because I don't think that anyone should be wrongfully accused for anything. Besides if you let her ride your champion horses, there must be doubt in your mind that she didn't do what Fire Light's owners said she did." Vicky took that into mind.

" Why don't you stay for dinner? You might want to take off that coat and hat though."

" No thanks . . . I am very busy and my brother is probably going to call me at the hotel. Besides it's not a good idea if I show myself." She saw his eyes turn away from her.

" Why do you say that?"

" Well me and my family were born . . . with deformities. We don't like to show ourselves to many people. But thanks for the offer." He stood and she walked out of the office with him.

" Will I be able to get a copy of these medical reports?"

" Yes. But please let these files remain anonymous."

" All right." She walked with him to his car.

" A nice car. I had one myself, but I sold it to get a bigger truck." Mike smiled.

" Ya . . . these cars are expensive though."

" What is your profession by the way? Obviously not horses or you wouldn't have come here."

" No, I am a writer, poet, and I do art pieces."

" Really? What's your name?" He hesitated, but the look of trust was in her eyes.

" Michealangelo."

" Michealangelo . . . are you the one that wrote that book The Tragedy of Love?"

" Yes . . . "

" That was a nice book and very sad. Cam loves your books and poetry. Maybe one day you two should meet. After all she loves your works and you are the one who just shed some hope for her with this case." Mike was glad that she couldn't see his cheeks turn red.

" Well maybe I will sometime. In the meantime, I have to get going." She nodded and watched him back out of the driveway. She smiled when he was gone.

" I knew I was right about Cam . . . thank you God." She turned and went to find her and tell her the news she had just heard.