The Groom

It's Day 7 of  Blogging from A to Z  April 2015 Challenge  

Jonathon Pargitter was a highly respected race horse trainer. His stables, Highwood Grange were the envy of the racing fraternity and he ran them with a rod of iron. The prestige of working there and the generous salaries he paid meant he could choose the best staff in the business.

However he was a hard taskmaster and inclined to be unreasonably demanding, and at times abusive, even cruel to his loyal workforce.

Gilbert Pope was Head groom. He had worked at Highwood Grange for over thirty years. He was payed far more than he could have possibly have earned elsewhere, so he tolerated everything his malevolent employer threw at him.

One evening after the staff had retired for the night Jonathan Pargitter was in a stable admiring his greatest asset, a fine and fiery mare which was proving unbeatable the world over. 

But whilst the staff put up with Jonathon Pargitter’s unpleasant ways, the mare no longer would and on that fateful night she flew into a rage trampling her owner to an untimely death.

The next morning Gilbert Pope found the stable door ajar. The mare was unusually calm. There on the straw laid the battered and lifeless body of Jonathon Pargitter. Nobody else had seen it....nor would they.

Jonathon Pargitter’s sudden disappearance remained a mystery to all but Gilbert Pope. His son Patrick Pargitter took over the stables.

                                *

Two years later the workers were clearing the slurry pit, and beneath the rotten straw and stinking excrement they found the remains of Jonathon Pargitter.

They recovered what they could so he could be afforded a proper send off.                                                                       

“Dust to dust, ashes  to ashes” said the priest.“Shit to Shit” muttered Gilbert Pope

Picture: Bucking Horse by Peachesrox at deviantART                                                              

Tomorrow 's tale will take a total change of direction and be a sweet tale about a little girl with magic powers. It's called Henrietta