Ray Sutcliff frowned. “So what’re you figuring you’d need?”
I sidestepped answering his question. “Well, first of all, I don’t know if I could even ride your horse, seeing that I’ve never been on him before.”
“Well, I tell you what I’m willing to do,” said Ray Sutcliffe. “You ride my grey and win that race for me, I’ll give you two percent of the winnings. That’d be more than double the pay of my rider.”
Now, I knew that this man was not about to count out the total of his winnings to me and let me take my two percent, and I wasn’t about to ask him what his wager was. “I don’t figure I can do it for that either,” I said.
“That’s more than enough!” declared Ray Sutcliff. “That’s more than a boy like you’ll see in any one ride!”
I shook my head, looking as if I was sorry I couldn’t take him up on his offer. “No, sir, I just can’t do it.”
Ray Sutcliffe seemed frustrated. “Well, boy, what do you want, then?”
“Well . . .” I said, as if I were still thinking this thing over, “four times a rider’s wages seems fair to me. I’ll do the ride for that, if your horse and I can get along.”
“Four times a rider’s wages!” exclaimed Ray Sutcliffe. “What you take me for?”
I shrugged, as if that was the best I could do for him. “I figure I lose my job, I can get along on that for a while ’til I find another one. Can’t do it for less.”
Mister Ray Sutcliffe from Alabama did not look pleased. “All right. All right. I’m going to pay you what you asking, this four times a rider’s wages—but only if you win, you hear? You lose, boy, and you get nothing.”
I was taking a big risk with my daddy, to walk away with nothing for it. But I figured I’d struck the best deal I could with Ray Sutcliffe, and despite the risk, there was something in me that wanted to prove to my daddy not only that I could ride this stranger’s horse, but that I was a man now. I nodded. “I understand,” I said. “But if he wins, I’ll need my money right after the race.”
“Agreed. But you’d better ride him well. Come on now to where I got my grey stabled. Time is short.”
“I have to finish brushing down these horses first,” I said.
Ray Sutcliffe’s face took on a look of exasperation. “What? You got a race to tend to, boy!”
“I’m sorry, Mister Sutcliffe, but I told Mister Logan I’d brush these horses down for him, and he taught me a long time ago to do what I say I’m going to do.”
“Well . . . let that other boy brush them down for you!”
“I’ll be needing Mitchell’s help with your horse, sir, and like I said, we’re obliged to finish this job for Mister Logan.”
Ray Sutcliffe frowned and gave in, though I could tell he didn’t like it; he just had no choice. “Best get a move on you, then! My grey’s in the next stable over. That race is at noon, and you’d better be there, ready to ride.”
“I’ll be there,” I said.
As Ray Sutcliffe stormed off, I noticed Robert standing at the entry of the stable. When Ray Sutcliffe neared him, Robert stopped him. “Aren’t you Mister Sutcliffe?” he asked.
Ray Sutcliffe acknowledged that he was. “And you’re Edward Logan’s boy, I recall. I saw you yesterday with your father.” He held out his hand to Robert. He hadn’t offered his hand to me.
“Yes, sir, I am,” said Robert, shaking the man’s hand. “Mister Sutcliffe, I hear right that you were offering Paul there a job as your rider?”
“That’s a fact. My own boy took sick, and I’m in a bad bind with a race coming up in a few hours.”
Robert glanced past Ray Sutcliffe to me. “My daddy won’t take kindly to this. He told me he wasn’t going to let Paul ride horses he doesn’t know. He tell you the same?”
“As a matter of fact, he did, young man, and I want you to know I respect your daddy’s thinking about that, but I couldn’t find him this morning to extend him the courtesy of discussing this matter with him, and unfortunately, I need a rider before he’s expected back. Now, I don’t know your daddy well, but I’m sure as a horesman he’ll be understanding of the situation. That rider of yours said he’s not debted to him and he can come and go as he pleases. That right?”
Robert looked at me, then back at Ray Sutcliffe. “My daddy wouldn’t think so.”
“Well, that’ll have to be between that boy and your daddy. As for that boy and me, we got us an agreement for him to ride my grey, so you’ll have to excuse me. I’ve got matters to attend to.”