Blantyre stayed at Earlshall until Lady Anne recovered from her fall.
Then he returned home.
The head groom, Reuben Smith, drove him to the train since Mr. York was still in London with the earl.
The cart needed some repairs, so Reuben had decided to leave it in town.
He'd brought along a saddle to ride me home.
First he left me at the hotel stable to eat and rest.
The grooms had me ready to leave again at four o'clock.
But Reuben wasn't ready yet. He was having a fine time drinking at the pub.
He didn't show up until almost nine o'clock.
As soon as he climbed into the saddle, I could feel that something wasn't right.
Reuben was normally an excellent rider with a light hand.
Now he swayed back and forth and yanked at the reins.
As we left town, he kicked me into a gallop.
I obeyed, even though I could feel one of my shoes coming loose and it was a little uncomfortable.
"Faster, you!" he shouted, smacking me with his whip. "Faster!"
I didn't understand. I was already going as fast as I could!
My muscles strained, and my shoe loosened more with every stride.
It was a dark night, and I could hardly see where I was going.
That made it impossible to avoid uneven or rocky spots on the road.
We reached a place where the road workers had laid some new stone.
That was when my loose shoe finally came off.
Galloping over the stones on my tender foot was very painful.
I started to slow down, but Reuben struck me again with the whip, so I kept going.
My hoof started to crack as the stones dug into my foot.
No horse could keep going forever under such conditions! But I did my best.
Finally my bare foot hit a slippery patch of gravel.
I stumbled and lurched forward, landing hard on both knees.
Reuben was flung out of the saddle and hit the ground.
I climbed to my feet and limped off to a softer spot.
My knees hurt, my foot was sore, and I was exhausted.
I waited for Reuben to get up, but after a few groans, he lay silent and still.
And so I waited.
The moon rose, and I could see the empty road stretching away in both directions.
Hours passed before I heard a cart approaching.
As it came nearer, I thought I recognized the sound of Ginger's step.
Sure enough she soon came into view pulling two men in a small cart.
The men soon spotted me—and Reuben.
It turned out that Reuben had been killed in the fall.
I wasn't blamed for the accident, as it was easy enough for everyone to figure out what had happened.
One of the men led me carefully back to Earlshall Park, where the grooms tended to my injured knees and wrapped my sore foot.
The foot healed quickly. My knees were another story.
"I don't think the joint is injured," the veterinarian told the grooms.
"This horse should be able to return to full work after a while.
But he'll always have ugly scars on his knees."
"That's too bad," one of the grooms said. "The lady won't like that."
It took a long time for my knees to heal, with lots of painful treatments.
After some time in my stall, the grooms put me out into a small pasture.
I spent a month or so grazing and resting out there.
It was nice, although I was a little lonely.
One day I heard the gate open.
When I looked over, I saw a groom releasing Ginger into the field!
I trotted over to her with a joyful whinny. She was glad to see me too.
But her reason for being there was not a happy one.
She told me the earl's son had been riding her too hard lately.
During a hunt, he'd pressed her so much that she'd ended up with a strained back and breathing problems.
"We are not quite the horses we once were, are we?" she said sadly.
Still we were happy to be together again.
We enjoyed the next few weeks until the earl finally returned from London.
He and York came to see us. The earl frowned as he looked us over.
"What a waste of good horses!" he told York.
"I feel terrible, especially since I told my friend that these two would have a good home here."
"Ginger, the mare, might come around after a rest," York said.
The earl nodded. "We'll give her a chance," he said.
"But I can't have a horse with those knees in my stables.
The black one will have to be sold."