Illogically, this made me very angry.

Sandy was some lengths ahead and had not so far managed to pull back again. Dane came up on my right, and I was glad to see him there.

He yelled, 'What the hell's going on? What the blazes does Sandy think he's playing at?'

'He's not playing,' I shouted. 'He wants to get me off.'

'Why?' yelled Dane.

'He was working for George Penn. He was making a lot of money. Now he isn't. He blames me,' I shouted in snatches, the wind picking the words out of my mouth and blowing them back over my shoulder.

'With reason,' shouted Dane.

We raced in silence towards the next hurdle, the last on the far side. Sandy was gradually slowing to wait for me.

Then Dane said, 'Alan?'

'Yes?' I shouted back.

'Do you want to give Sandy some of his own medicine?'

'Yes.' I suddenly had no reservations. It was a terrible thing to do, and if the Stewards saw me I'd lose my permit; but I had taken just about enough from Uncle George's assorted strong-arm boys.

Dane shouted, 'I'll go up on his outside. You come outside me. Then I'll get away and leave him between you and the rails. OK?'

I nodded. I tried to foresee the future. If I unseated Sandy he would not dare to complain to the Stewards; and I, as he said, could give no tangible evidence against him to the police. There could be an uneasy truce between us. And fall for fall, the score would be equal.

'Come on, then,' Dane shouted.

He kicked his horse and began to take his place on Sandy's right. I pulled away from the rails and urged Forlorn Hope to the outside.

Dane jumped the hurdle alongside Sandy with me not far behind. As soon as I was level with them both, Dane shook up his horse and sped clear away from us, leaving me, as he had promised, with Sandy between me and the rails.

I swung Forlorn Hope over roughly on to Sandy's horse, bumping him against the rails. Sandy yelled and lashed out with his fist. I hit his arm sharply with my stick.

I had got to unseat him without hurting his horse. I was being unfair enough already to the owner in trying to lose him the race by dislodging his jockey: if I could not do it without damaging the horse, I must not do it at all.

We were on the crown of the bend. It had to be now or never. I pushed Sandy's horse harder against the rails. He yelled again. His leg, I knew, must be being crushed, pounded, even torn by the white-painted wood. With my own leg numb from the same treatment, I had no sympathy for him. Then his foot crashed into one of the uprights with an audible snap.

He screamed.

I gritted my teeth, shot out my arm, and pushed him with all my might. I knew if he had not gone then I would not have had the resolution to try again. But he began to topple, slowly, it seemed, at first, and then with an accelerating rush, as if he had been sucked away by a slipstream.

I caught a final glimpse of his face, eyes staring widely, mouth twisted with agony, as he fell into the long grass on the other side of the rails. Then I was round the bend into the straight, bruised, breathless, tattered, and helmetless, but still on board.

Sandy's loose horse, relieved of his weight, spurted forward through the other runners.

Dane saw him, and turned round in his saddle and grinned at me, and jerked up his thumb.

NOTES

CHAPTER ONE

1. white silk breeches – белые шелковые бриджи

2. harlequin jersey – пестрый (многоцветный) вязаный жакет

3. birch fence – березовый забор (препятствие)

4. steeplechase – скачки с препятствиями

5. the best hunter ‘chaser – лучшая верховая лошадь на скачках с препятствиями

6. to clear the fence – взять препятствие

7. he gained another two lengths - он вырвался вперед еще на два корпуса

8. racecourse – скаковой круг

9. abdomen – нижняя часть живота

10. saddle-tree – (кон. спорт.) седло лука

11. take off side – сторона отталкивания

12. concussion – сотрясение мозга

13. post of the wing – столб створки барьера

14. weighing room – комната для взвешивания

15. the Clerk of the Course – управляющий ипподромом

16. valet – слуга, конюх

CHAPTER TWO

1. post mortem – (лат.) посмертное вскрытие тела для определения точной причины смерти

2. Senior Steward – главный распорядитель (на скачках)

3. stirrups – стремена

4. coil of wire – моток проволоки

5. groove – канавка, бороздка

6. outer wing – внешняя створка препятствия

7. wire clippers – кусачки

8. Amateur riders – наездники любители

CHAPTER THREE

1. brown gelding only five years old – гнедой мерин-пятилетка

2. novice hurdle races – заезды для лошадей ни разу не бравших приз

3. Forlorn Hope – Тщетная Надежда

4. the Turf – беговая дорожка на скачках

5. racehorse trainer – тренер скаковых лошадей

6. stable – конюшня

7. paddock – круг для лошадей

8. stands – трибуны

9. to make a frightful boob – совершить нелепый промах, опозориться

CHAPTER FOUR

1. to ‘stop’ a horse – придержать лошадь

2. criminal fraud – преступное мошенничество

3. to cantor – скакать галопом

4. the starter – стартер

5. a professional – профессионал

6. the Flat race – скачки без препятствий

7. a tipster – предсказатель

8. a dead cert – ( сленг) верняк, фаворит

9. celebrate with odd magnum – отпраздновать, распив бутылочку

10. G.K Chesterton (1874-1936) - английский писатель, один из крупнейших представителей детективной литературы

11. paradox – парадокс

12. grain and grapes - виски и вино

CHAPTER FIVE

1. the Queensberry rules – стандартные правила для бокса, установленные в 1867 г.

2. brass knuckles – кастет

3. a length of bicycle chain – кусок велосипедной цепи

4. truncheon – полицейская дубинка

5. He tipped me off over the rails – Он выкинул меня за ограждение.

6. He squeezed me against the rails - Он прижал меня к ограждению.

7. I wondered how he had got wind – интересно, как он узнал

CHAPTER SIX

1. Coroner – коронер, следователь, производящий дознание в случаях насильственной или скоропостижной смерти

2. coroner’s inquest – следствие

3. I’ll keep you posted – буду держать тебя в курсе дела

4. When Charles I was beheaded – Карл I (1600-1649) был обезглавлен

5. Honours even – ничья, счет равный

6. a horse-box – фургон для перевозки лошадей

7. colic – колика, резкая боль

8. lay-by – место на обочине для кратковременной остановки

9. breast bone – грудная кость

10. the AA book – автомобильный справочник (Automobile Association)

11. Seniour Steward – главный распорядитель на скачках

CHAPTER SEVEN

1. Palindrome – палиндром, слово или фраза, которые читаются слева направо и наоборот

2. You’ve tanked up pretty quickly, then. – Быстро же ты набрался.

3. Have some bubbly. – (сленг) Тяпни шампанского

4. I’m as sober as a judge. – я абсолютно трезв, у меня нет ни в одном глазу

5. to sow the wind and reap the whirlwind – посеять ветер и пожать бурю, пострадать от собственной неосмотрительности

CHAPTER EIGHT

1. I felt the hairs rising on my neck. – Я почувствовал, как меня охватывает раздражение.

2. Man about a dog. – (зд.) Ошиблись номером

3. The Lotus ate up the miles…with the deep purr of a contented cat – Лотос летел, мурлыча как довольный кот

4. What chance remark of mine had landed me in the horse-box hornet’s nest. – Из-за какого-то неосторожного замечания я вляпался в осиное гнездо фургона для перевозки лошадей

5. Queen Ann house – дом в стиле начала XVIII века, периода правления королевы Анны

6. Gothic-ruin-minded Victorians – интересующиеся готическими развалинами викторианцы (люди, жившие в период правления королевы Виктории)

7. Edwardian – в стиле конца XIX, начала XX века, периода правления короля Эдуарда VII

8. Crown Derby cups – чашки из фарфора, сделанного в Дерби

9. Georgian silver teapot – серебряный чайник конца XVIII, начала XIX века, периода правления короля Георга IV

10. pâté – (фр.) паштет

11. Krug’49 – сорт дорогого шампанского, произведенного в 1949 году

12. Mad Dogs and Englishmen – известная песня

13. Bucephalus, Pegasus, and Black Bess – Буцефал (боевой конь Александра Македонского), Пегас (греч. миф.)

14. a rag-and-bone man – старьевщик

15. He takes her to town – Он вывозит ее в Лондон

16. matinée – (фр.) утренний или дневной спектакль

17. Red Indians; Arapaho, Cherokee, Sioux, Navajo and Mohawk – американскиe индейцы, краснокожие

18. Mayas – индейцы Майя

19. They discovered that rubber bounced. – Они открыли упругие свойства каучука

20. Family quiz show on television – семейная викторина на телевидении

21. Talk of the devil – (посл. Talk of the devil and he is sure to appear) легок на помине

22. Inspector Lodge would institute the requested enquiries. – Инспектор Лодж предпримет требуемое расследование

23. the Licensée of the Blue Duck – паб Синяя утка, имеющий лицензию на торговлю алкоголем