Between him and the black stallion had grown a friendship that Henry in all his years around men and horses had never seen equaled. The Black was wild and a killer, no doubt about that … even now.

Henry smiled a bit as he remembered the time they’d had breaking the stallion to bridle and saddle. Then a little later had come the night training sessions at the track. Finally, the big race … and long would racing fans remember and talk about how he’d drubbed Sun Raider and Cyclone, the two fastest horses in America. Perhaps never again would they see a horse like the Black.

Nor would they see the Black.

Henry glanced at his watch. Pretty near an hour since Abu Ishak had left. A few minutes later he closed his knife as he saw a horse van coming down the street. He rose slowly to his feet and entered the barn.

“They’re comin’, Alec,” he said. The boy’s back was toward him, his face hard against the stallion’s neck.

“He saved my life, Henry,” Alec said. He attempted to go on, but his voice broke. His shoulders swept forward and Henry knew that he was crying.

“Yeah, I know, Alec …” Henry stopped and turned back toward the door.

The van was at the gate now and soon would be at the door. Henry walked over to Alec and his long arm descended on the boy’s shoulder. The stallion tossed his head, baring his teeth. “Look, kid … I could tell you about horses that I’ve loved and lost in my time, but it wouldn’t do any good. Guess there’s no love greater than yours for the Black, ’cept maybe his for you. I’m not goin’ to tell you that you’ll forget him, either, ’cause you won’t. But cryin’s not going to help. You’re a gutsy kid or you wouldn’t be here today, so pull yourself together and let’s try to figure somethin’ out between the two of us.”

Alec’s hands swept across his eyes, then he turned to Henry. “Sure, Henry.…”

“We’re up against a pretty high stone wall, Alec. By law and every right, the Black belongs to Abu Ishak. If he’ll sell him, we’ll get the money some place. If he won’t, the Lord only knows what we can do. I’ll talk to him and tell him what’s grown up between you and the Black and hope he understands. Puttin’ our cards on the table, we know that he’s traveled halfway around the world for the Black. You don’t do that unless you want somethin’ pretty bad and have a mighty good reason for wantin’ him that bad. He doesn’t seem like an unreasonable guy, though, so maybe he’ll listen and understand.”

“You don’t think, Henry, that he had anything to do … with last night?”

“No. Abu Ishak wants his horse alive. Somebody else wants him done away with. Who it might be, I don’t know. Maybe he knows, but he isn’t tellin’.