by Belle Ami
David looked at his watch, noting the time; he needed to get back to his desk, where unfinished paperwork demanded his attention. Now that he had seen enough, he decided to brave the spinster gauntlet and say good-bye to Adelia.
When he approached, she stood and offered her hand. “Thank you, Detective Weiss, for coming. It was very good of you to take the time away from your busy schedule. You’ve been very kind to me.”
He held on to the proffered hand, the warmth of which filled him with confusion. All he could think of was what it would be like to lose himself in the liquid blue of her eyes. He quickly let go of her hand, afraid that she might somehow sense the effect she had on him.
“Look, I’m really sorry about your parents. This shouldn’t have happened. If you need anything”—he handed her a card—“let me know. I’ll be in touch in a week or two to give you the final report on the brakes.”
David Weiss considered himself a keen observer of people; after all, that was his business. So why hadn’t he noticed the pale blue vein that pulsed delicately in her temple? Adelia smiled and nodded as she returned to the sofa, taking her seat between the maiden aunts, who scrutinized him, unsmiling.
Chapter 5
It was two weeks before Adelia could bring herself to start training her Grand Prix horses, On the Rocks and Prince of Flight. But even if her heart wasn’t in it, she had to start preparing for competition, or the year would be lost.
Adelia had a degree in large-animal veterinary studies, but her passion was Grand Prix jumping. She was a top-ranked rider in the show-jumping world, but as of yet, her dream to compete on the World Cup circuit as part of the US Equestrian Team had eluded her. Her parents had wholeheartedly supported her love of horses. Beginning at the age of five on ponies, she had grown up riding and competing. Lots of kids competed in the hunter and jumper disciplines, but few made the transition to the highest levels of show jumping. Adelia had turned out to be one of the few. She possessed the three most important attributes necessary to excel: she was fearless, she was well trained, and she could afford the caliber of horses necessary to compete.
When Adelia’s parents had realized that what had been a hobby was becoming a serious pursuit, they had purchased the ranch, after she had finished college, so she could follow her dream and build a breeding facility to raise and train European warmbloods. Now the world-class facility was hers, as was everything that had belonged to Lars and Faye Lindstrom.
She led Prince out of the stable and mounted up from the riding block into the saddle. The beautiful gray stallion pranced and tossed his head in anticipation. Although they had been turned out and walked every day on the hot walker, the horses had not been ridden in two weeks.
“You definitely are going to make me pay for this, aren’t you, Prince? Whoa, boy.” She patted the horse’s muscular neck as she closed her legs around his body, urging him forward toward the ring. She knew she had been remiss in her training of the horses. Like human athletes, they must adhere to a strict regimen of daily work. Mourning her parents’ deaths for such a short time had left little desire to return to her daily routines, but Lucas had insisted that her parents would have wanted her to get back in the saddle.
For the first half hour, Adelia walked, trotted, and cantered Prince around the ring in both directions, warming up his muscles and working the bit to achieve the quickest and smoothest transitions. It took only a small lapse in training for a horse to pick up bad habits, and the two weeks off would likely have consequences. Adelia had her hands full controlling the powerful mount. He was high and full of himself, anxious to exert his dominance.
Patience and skill were mandatory. Horses were completely sensitive to the rider’s demeanor; they were notorious for picking up the slightest loss of confidence or lack of positivity. A bad day for a rider would usually end up as a bad ride from the horse. To tackle a difficult course and myriad obstacles and jumps, horse and rider must perform as one. The courses could be treacherous, purposely designed to challenge the horse and rider with jumps that were large and sometimes deceptive. The stakes were huge, allowing for nothing less than perfection. The rider and horse must move as a team, without faults.
Lucas came out of the stable and into the riding ring to set the jumps.
“It’s hot, Lucas—I’m only going to put him through a couple of combinations.”
“Whatever you say, Delie. Roxy’s tacked up and ready to roll when you are. I’ll have Rodrigo bathe them both when you’re done. It’s a good thing we put in that backup generator. I’ve got all the fans working overtime.”
“Seven in the morning and it’s already sweltering.” Adelia sighed and wiped her face and neck with the towel that Lucas handed her. “Let’s keep the jumps low and see how he does.”
She circled, picking up a slow, steady canter, and directed Prince toward a three-and-a-half-foot vertical. He sailed over it with ease, and she circled, picking up the lead change and closing her legs around Prince she impelled him toward a three-six oxer with a three-foot spread. With a final tight turn, she finished with a triple bar. Prince flew over the jumps, clearing them with feet to spare. Adelia smiled. She loved the rush of adrenaline that soaring over jumps gave her. She loved nothing more.
“He feels good, Lucas. Let’s raise them up.”
“He’s a beauty, for sure. I’m glad to see you back at work, Delie. It’s just what Lars and Faye would want.”
“It doesn’t seem real, does it, Lucas? I keep walking from room to room around the house, thinking any moment one of them is going to be there, waiting for me. The house seems so big and empty without them.”
Lucas averted his eyes and kicked at the dirt with his boot. “We’ll get through this, Delie. We will; you’ll see. Now, let’s see Prince of Flight fly.”
Adelia walked around the ring, patting Prince, while Lucas raised the jumps to four and a half feet and increased the spread on the oxer. Again, horse and rider cleared the short course with no difficulty, bringing an unbidden smile to Adelia’s lips.
Prince’s mouth foamed at the bit, and his flanks were wet from exertion. Adelia walked him around the ring to cool him down. “Let’s leave it at that today. Tomorrow we’ll put him through a full course. I’ll ride Roxy next, and then I want to call the horse-show office and make sure everything is ready for next week. Let’s pray that these temperatures abate. I’ll walk him for a few more minutes and cool him down.”
“I’ll bring Roxy out and take him when you’re done walking him.” Lucas turned and headed back to the barn.
“Lucas,” Adelia called.
“Yeah?” He turned, expecting that she needed something.
“Thank you for everything. I couldn’t do this without you. I mean…I couldn’t go on without you.”
The older man’s eyes filled with tears. “Don’t worry, baby; I’m not going anywhere.”
Later, in her bedroom, Adelia stripped off her soaking-wet riding clothes while the bathtub filled with cool water. She looked at herself naked in the mirror. Nothing had changed on the outside. She was still the tall, narrow-hipped girl she had always been. Her eyes were still blue in the wide, high-cheekboned face so like her mother’s; her lips still a little too wide and full, like her father’s. Nothing had changed…yet everything had. She climbed into the tub and closed her eyes, letting the soothing water work its magic.
How could this have happened? Her parents were exacting in everything they did. A failure of brakes due to neglectful maintenance seemed impossible. Her father had taught her that every mystery had a solution. She needed to think back to the beginning.
Lars Lindstrom was an ornithologist or, as he liked to joke, “My life is for the birds.” A dedicated researcher, he had made discoveries that were seminal in the development of international protocol to address global climate change. Her mother was a world-renowned National Geographic photographer and auth
or. When they’d met twenty-eight years ago, however, their accomplishments still lay in the future.
Lars Lindstrom, a young, Norwegian PhD in the less than glamorous world of ornithology, believed the cause of declining penguin populations in the Antarctic was attributable to changes in the environment precipitated by humans’ reliance on fossil fuels. With a research grant and a small cadre of like-minded scientists, Lars had headed for Antarctica. At the last minute, one of the munificent foundations that had underwritten the project had insisted that a young National Geographic apprentice photographer accompany the expedition to photograph and document the study. Faye O’Connor, a feisty girl who loved adventure as much as her immigrant, black Irish ancestors had, was easily persuaded to sign on. She sensed that this would be the adventure of a lifetime and perhaps land her a coveted National Geographic cover.
As often happens with dominant personalities that are diametrically opposed, Lars and Faye were soon embroiled in a battle of wills that each was determined to win. Like a magician revealing an impossible trick, what you see is not always what is. Lars and Faye appeared not to like each other. In truth, the dislike that was manifest in words and attitude was a pretense to camouflage the deep, mutual attraction neither would admit to. Without an outlet to express their obvious magnetism in any constructive way, these two fiery personalities argued bitterly over everything, causing constant tension among the other scientists on the expedition. Only when leur histoire d’amour was consummated were peace and scientific achievement possible.
For one year, the love affair blossomed, coinciding with the team’s efforts as they labored together on Ross Island at McMurdo Station, the center for scientific research for the US Antarctic Program. They gathered data primarily focused on the counting and observation of the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae). This amusing, smallest breed of penguin, named for the wife of its discoverer, stood a little over knee high and weighed in at only about twelve pounds. As if to entertain an audience, Mother Nature had formally attired the Adélie with a white-bibbed tuxedo and white-ringed black eyes. Since its earliest exhibition, the bird had captivated the public’s imagination with its stuffed-animal appearance.
In summer, beginning in October, Ross Island became the breeding ground for a half million Adélie penguins. Lars’s theory was that the dwindling population, down 60 percent since the beginning of the twentieth century, was a reaction not only to natural fluctuations in climate but also to humankind’s carbon footprint. The rising temperatures, which precipitated melting polar ice caps, caused their habitat to shrink and their food supply to change.
For any species to reproduce there must be adequate nutrition and the right breeding habitat and the environment must be healthy enough to sustain life. When any of these factors is out of harmony, the result can be extinction. The survival of the Adélie penguins and the survival of humankind, Lars believed, were implicitly interwoven. The warming of the Antarctic Peninsula and the rapid decrease in the Adélie penguin population over the last hundred-plus years were indicators of what might happen to human populations living in temperate climates as warming trends continued to shrink landmass and rising temperatures created inhospitable, expanding deserts and wastelands. The Adélie penguins were the guinea pigs and the prognosticators of what was to come if humans didn’t take definitive steps to protect the planet and all that lived upon it.
Upon the expedition’s return to the States, a series of events occurred. Lars published a paper that presented his theories, which eventually led to the signing, on October 4, 1991, of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, also known as the Madrid Protocol. His paper electrified the scientific community and kindled the public’s imagination. Lars became a celebrity in the environmental-protection movement, and Faye attained her dream when one of her photos of Adélie penguins graced the cover of National Geographic. The couple gained instant notoriety.
One other significant event resulted. Faye, who had been suffering for weeks with indigestion and nausea, was happily apprised that she was not ill but pregnant. Never one to rest on her laurels and finding herself forced to curb her activities and travels while she awaited the birth of her child, she took the opportunity to author a children’s book based on the life of an Adélie penguin she named Adelia. Eventually the book would become a series of books, spawn a franchise of movies, and give birth to an entire industry of Adelia paraphernalia, including stuffed animals, T-shirts, toothbrushes, board games, and biodegradable shampoos and toiletries. Over twenty years later, Adelia penguin products could still be found on toy-store, drugstore, and retail shelves across the nation, and with the rise of e-malls, the products were now available throughout the world with the click of a mouse.
Lars and Faye married just days before the baby was born, and as a fitting attribution to this culmination of personal success, they named her Adelia Ann Lindstrom. With all of this good fortune, the Lindstroms lived relatively humble lives on their ranch in San Ynez.
It occurred to Adelia that soon she would have to sort through her parents’ things. Her father’s office was typical of scientists, with papers everywhere. It would take her weeks to make any sense of it. Faye’s office would be much easier, because she had always been painfully organized; she kept files for everything, whether they were photos or contracts. Adelia made a mental note that she’d better call Elizabeth, her father’s secretary, to come in and help her.
Then it occurred to her that maybe she should just store it all away, to be gone through at some future time, when it wouldn’t be so painful. Yes, she would bring Elizabeth in to sort and organize it. There was no real need to clear anything out; that was the beauty of a large home. She would keep their memories alive by keeping their offices intact. Their work had defined them; it was their indelible imprint, their calling. Maybe she would feel the calling at some point to edit and publish her father’s unfinished work. In the meantime, Elizabeth could bring her up to date on everything concerning the Penguin Foundation, her parents’ charitable trust. She would assume the reins, become its director, and continue their work. It would be her gift to them, her tribute to their memory.
She sank beneath the water feeling a sense of direction and purpose.
Chapter 6
By late afternoon, the temperature had begun to abate, and the ocean breeze that blew through San Juan Capistrano brought welcome relief. Still, in the distance, one could discern the gray plumes of smoke that indicated where fires were burning out of control. Fortunately, the sea breeze blew in their favor, and the air was pure and sweet at the showground. Adelia took a deep breath as she zipped up the tall riding boots over her white riding breeches and stood to consider herself in the mirror. She pinned her braid up and secured the net over her hair holding any wayward strands in place. Then she fastened the chin strap on her helmet and took a last look in the mirror. This was it; the moment she had trained for had arrived. Years of training and conditioning would be condensed into a two-minute ride. She walked from the linen tack room to the grooming area, where Rodrigo was grooming Prince and Roxy in preparation for the class.
Adelia affectionately rubbed the white forelock on Prince’s brow. “I’m going to walk the course, Rodrigo. Please bring the horses down when you’re done grooming.” She would walk the course with Chet Lee, a renowned course designer and trainer with whom she regularly trained. Show jumping was an avocation where even pros needed other pros to mentor and guide them. The mastery of the horse was never mastered.
As Adelia walked from the barn area to the Grand Prix field, she fought the pervading feeling of emptiness. Her two most sustaining figures of support were not present; Lars and Faye would not be there to share her triumph should she succeed. Adelia glanced at the flags that flapped in the breeze, each representing the nation of a competitor. The Stars and Stripes waved proudly in the center, and Adelia felt a wave of pride grip her chest as she strode through the
gate. She would ride for her parents; today would be dedicated to them. They had been her champions. It was only fitting that she should ride in their memory.
The immaculately groomed grass course at Showpark would be a trial of endurance. The tightly allotted time of sixty-eight seconds, combined with a course comprised of twelve jumps purposely designed to demand from horse and rider their absolute best. Silently, she prayed that Lars and Faye were with her today.
She entered the course to walk with twenty-seven other riders, most of whom she knew. During the welcoming dinner last night, most had expressed their condolences and sympathy for her loss. Out of the ring, competitors were a fairly tight group of people, with long and enduring friendships that often began in childhood. But now, as the riders walked with large strides and paced off the distances between jumps, they eyed each other as competitors; friendship was put aside. The field would be naturally narrowed by its difficulty until only a handful of contenders made it through the course cleanly and were allowed to compete for the purse and honor in the jump-off.
Adelia felt confident that one of her two entries would go clean. The course was suited to Prince’s aggressive speed, but you could never count Roxy out. With her large stride, she would easily cover the large distance between jumps six and seven, picking up precious time. Adelia hoped to get them both into the jump-off. Two chances were better than one.
