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| Page Six |
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"Doc.. you feeling better?" Johnny asked when he realized Dr. Brackett had an actively bleeding tongue. "I will be. Just get me off this smoking hulk. I've had enough of vacations to last me a lifetime.." he sighed. "Just don't swallow any of that." "Don't I know it..?" he asked ironically. "Do I need to get your permission to treat you an--" "Don't ask. Just do." "Right." Waterboat 245 with the high pressured water cannons, and the rest of Station 51 and Station 110, soon arrived to board Windjammer along with a ferry to take the beach survivors back to the mainland. Cap and Chet strode over to where Roy and Johnny were setting up IVs on Brent, Kel and Dusty in prep for Chopper Eight's multiple airlift maneuver for their transport. The captain of 110's stepped forward and started barking orders. "Let's get these casualties stabilized ASAP. I want everyone off deck in ten minutes! Station 51, go below and check for petroleum leaks. Last thing we need is an ecological catastrophe on top of everything else." Hank Stanley, Chet, Marco, and Mike Stoker all hurried with him to quickly check out the damage left behind from the explosion snuffed fire. ----------------------------------------- |
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Kel Brackett, Brent Brackett Jose Rivero and Mary Kenner were all sharing a room at Rampart because of limited space arrangements that were currently in effect. Only a curtain separated jockeys from doctors. Johnny Gage, Roy DeSoto and Walter Farley were visiting the jockey side. Johnny was beaming ear to ear, as was his quiet partner, when Walter Farley gently took Mary Kenner's hand. "Mary. How are ya doing? You awake? Some friends of mine are here to see you on a matter of business.." "Mr. Farley?" she said, opening her eyes. "You came.. Jose and I didn't think you'd be able to come today because of the stakes races going on." she said. Then she recognized Roy. "Mr. DeSoto. I've some good news for you. The doctors are saying that I will walk again. It's going to take some time and a lot of therapy, they tell me. But I'm more than up for the challenge." "Well, that's good Miss Kenner, because the guys and I have another challenge for you to work on." Roy said to her, smiling. Walter Farley stepped forward and pulled the bundle of leather he had been hiding behind his back. For a moment Mary's face twisted with the memory of her filly going down the day of her accident. But then her eyes fell on the brass name plate on the bridle's cheek strap. "Oh, my g*d. This says Swale. Mr. Farley.. what is this?" |
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Johnny said, "Well, Jose came up with the plan and the rest of us guys at the station house made it possible with ...well, a small donation up front... for this.." and he stepped forward to hand over Swale's signed and delivered ownership papers and pedigree. Again Mary's eyes fell on the short list of names of the colt's sole shareholders. She read them aloud. "Titled owners of Swale. 2 year old. Bay colt are hereby declared as Mary Kenner of Anaheim and Jose Rivero of Independence City in the state of California, United States of--" Her voice cracked when she realized the implications of what she was reading. "You didn't.." "We sure did Miss, Kenner. " Walter Farley grinned along with the two paramedics flanking him. "Swale now belongs to a jockey team of two. Utterly. Including all future stud rights and purse winnings from here on out." Mary's eyes filled with tears and she regarded the sleeping Jose on the bed next to her briefly in thought. " We can't accept him.. I.. well, Jose and I can't afford to keep a racehorse. We don't have the facilities to do so off track." Walter Farley spoke up. "Not necessarily true young lady. You see, The Dusty Schraeder Racing Stables have declared bankruptcy due to extenuating circumstances. Heh. heh heh. The track now has fifteen stalls set aside for me to fill. And Swale.. now has one of them." "Oh, Mr. Farley.." she sobbed. "I'm sure if Jose were awake right now. He'd also thank you from the bottom of his heart. And I thank you firefighters, too, for everything." "Our pleasure ma'am.." Roy said quietly. "Well, we'd better be going. Take care and send us a post card once in a while from the racing circuit." "I will.." she promised. ------------------------------------------------- |
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------------------------------------------------- Anna Rose sat at the foot of Brent Brackett's bed and held his hand. "Brent, now you know you and Kel still have plenty of vacation time accrued. I've been thinking about this alot. I've talked with a very nice young man named Morton downstairs and he swears up and down about spending a week in Hawaii..On Maui to be exact. Now, what do you say?" Brent grunted and chuckled, holding a pillow over his aches. "I've seen enough islands to last me until I'm ninety, Anna Rose. And I'm sure our only son agrees with me." "I concur most wholeheartedly, dad. How about another six years of us just working, straight through?" "Sounds just peachy.." Brent smiled. Anna Rose's face fell in complete and utter dismay. "Oh, now that's not fair. That solves your needs. What about mine?" "Well, you can always go to school to become a nurse and then come work with us.." Kel quipped. "Oh, you.. Dixie would never agree to that.. and you know it." Right then, Dixie walked in the door with the medications for everyone in the room. "I'd never agree to what, Anna Rose..?" "Oh,.. uh,, nothing.." she said. ----------------------------------------------- In the squad, returning to base, Roy and Johnny Gage had reason to smile. Gage stretched languidly in his seat and said. "I feel really good about what's happened to us over the past two weeks, don't you?" "I know what you mean. What we did was a really noble thing I think. Saved : One horse and two careers. Nice totals, Johnny." "Yeah, " Gage smirked. "So, did you learn your lesson about betting on the horses?" "How do you mean?" DeSoto said, turning into the station's drive. The garage door opened to reveal that the engine had gone on a run. "Roy, how can you be so blind?" Gage said in exasperation. "Horse racing is all a matter of integrity, right across the board. It's not a game. Never was." Roy studied the steering wheel and the sunlight dappling there. "I suppose you're right, Johnny. I-I do feel kinda different about it all now." "Good going, I'm proud of ya, Junior." Roy's face split into a gentle grin and he shyly glanced at Gage. "If you say so, pally.. Come on, let's hurry. Maybe Cap and the others left our hamburgers in the oven. I'm starved." "Oh yeah, that reminds me.. Did we remember to get more dog food for Henry?"Johnny asked. "Yeah, and you can count on this fact. It's not horsemeat." FIN :) ----------------------------------------- |
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| Please click Roy and Johnny to read Integrity Game's end credits. |
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