Free Pegasus: A Novel by Danielle Steel Page A

pitching and rolling. With apologies
     to Monique—who didn’t suffer from seasickness it turned out—Nick went to see the horses,
     after he checked on his sons, who were fine in their cabin. The horses were frantic
     and wild eyed in the storm, and Nick stayed with them for several hours trying to
     calm them. There wasn’t much he could do, except be there and try to reassure them
     as best he could, patting and stroking them and speaking to them in a soothing tone.
     It didn’t make much difference, but he didn’t want to leave them alone, in case one
     of them got hurt. They were crucialnow for him and the boys, and late into the night as the storm seemed to get rougher,
     if that was possible, the worst happened. Pluto looked at him and quietly lay down,
     a dreaded sign in horses. Nick was well aware of the consequences as soon as the beautiful
     stallion lay down, and there was nothing Nick could do to stop him. He was equally
     aware that if Pluto didn’t get up again on his own within hours or a day at most,
     he would be dead when they arrived in New York. And he couldn’t appear in Florida
     with only one Lipizzaner, and particularly without the stallion he had promised. Pluto
     was by far the more impressive of the two Lipizzaners, although Nina was lovely too.
     But she was outclassed by the stallion in breeding, looks, and size.
    Nick stayed with him all night, and by morning things had not improved. The storm
     continued to get worse, and with a feeling of panic, he returned to his cabin to change
     and went to the dining room for breakfast. Neither of his boys was feeling well, and
     they decided to stay in their cabin. He didn’t tell them about Pluto. There would
     be time enough for that piece of bad news later, if the horse refused to get up. Nick
     was still hoping he would, perhaps when the storm was over.
    He ran into Beauregard Thompson at breakfast in the dining room, and they were among
     the few passengers at the buffet that morning. Most people had stayed in their rooms,
     seasick from the storm, including the Kentuckian’s wife, who he said was very ill.
     But Thompson was a hardy soul, and Nick had always been a good sailor. Nick mentioned
     that he was having a problem with one of his horses and asked for Thompson’s advice.
    “There’s nothing much you can do, except hope he gets back up on his legs again,”
     he said, sharing Nick’s concern. “That’s a death sentence for your stallion if he’s
     lying down. How many hours has itbeen now?” Nick told him, and he nodded. “I had a mare do that to me last year. I
     thought she’d get back on her feet again and survive it, but she didn’t. It killed
     her after two days. We put her down, but she was nearly gone when we did. She would
     have died on her own within two more hours. If this damn storm would calm down, you’d
     have a chance, but with all this going on, I doubt you’ll get him up. He’s probably
     seasick,” which was contributing to the problem. “I’ll take a look at him after breakfast,
     if you like,” he promised.
    Nick led him downstairs to the boxcar when they both left the dining room. The Arabians
     were still frightened, but holding up, and Nina looked desperately unhappy, but she
     was still standing. Pluto was in the same spot where Nick had left him, on the ground.
     He hadn’t budged an inch, and looked up at Nick with an expression of defeat and despair,
     and then laid his splendid head down on the floor of his stall, as Beauregard marveled
     at him.
    “My God, what a spectacular creature,” the man said in amazement. “How big is he standing
     up?”
    “Just over sixteen hands,” which was on the tall side for a Lipizzaner.
    “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” he said in open admiration. “He’s incredible.”
     Pluto looked woebegone as he lay in his stall, but he was still strikingly handsome.
     “You’ve got to save him.”
    “Yes, but how?” Nick said,