Joanne was already at the stable when I came from breakfast. My ponies were up and moving about. The groom reported that they had still been asleep on the mattress, in the same position I’d left them. With their bits out, they had complained about their arms being asleep but Joanne hadn’t changed their bondage, arms were still overhead. Joanne was still calling me master, and responding to any request with ‘yes-master’. I told her to seat the ponies, that they would be getting breakfast - and all other meals - together. With bits in, if you please. So as my birdies perched they were fed, but they had to gape for their fruit and toast, and got it at the same instant from Joanne and me, and had to chew and swallow together, then gape again for more. I was very insistent about this togetherness business. Everything they did had to be done together, in synchrony. After breakfast I told them we would be doing more simultaneous response training. Joanne surprised me.

"Please, master." That was all she said.

"Joanne? Do you want something?"

"Yes-master."

"Well, don’t be so... Oh, are you waiting to be told to speak?"

"Yes-master."

"I meant just the ponies had to wait, Joanne, but you might as well act the same way. What would you like?"

"Please, master, may I be allowed to train with them?" What an odd request. But on second thought not so odd, she was almost of pony age and had clear feelings about discipline and submission. It wouldn’t complicate the pony’s training.

"All right, Joanne, you can be trained too. Take your place beside them."

"Yes-master." So I had three females going through their robotic paces, and I was damned strict about it. They had to be right smack together or they did it again until they were. I didn’t pinch Joanne in any delicate places, but otherwise she got the same reinforcements as the ponies. She was, I now noticed, quite developed. And good looking, in a slender, young-girl way, with long blonde hair. Joanne still looked a little put out, and I guessed what it was. I told her to turn around and present her wrists, and I tied them tightly together. That made her happier. She was not, it seemed, a wriggler. What was I going to do with a bound groom who wanted to be trained like a pony?

The next thing I did was to severely limit my steeds’ freedom. It seemed strange, to hobble the fastest runners in the world. But until they learned to take their strides right together, being fast wasn’t going to help us. So limited is what they became, severely so. I asked Joanne to fetch the shortest hobble chains she could find. She came back from the tack room with chains dripping from her mouth - I’d forgotten to untie her wrists. She had found two sets that were all of 5" long. When these were snapped between each pony’s off-side ankle and the ankles of their single leg they became the slowest team in the world. I didn’t bother to harness them to the cart, just had Joanne lead them around the stable for hours, getting them used to having to share a leg and to the precise movements their chains required. I let them rest at noon and went to find Malua.

She was coming in from the big track, her team sweating. We greeted, and over a light lunch in the kitchen I sounded out my plans, even including my ambition to best her for the prize.

"Oh, Jim. You want to win first place overall? " She went into giggles.

"Come on, Malua, I have to set lofty goals. I know it’s unlikely, but you haven’t seen how fast my ponies are."

"Oh, if they’re both the fast sort of Radiant than I’m sure you could win some races. But you can’t win overall."

"And why not?" I bridled - she was insulting my ponies, my ability, and probably my looks as well!

"Because they are just a pair. You have to have a troika to win, Jim. Handling a troika is so much harder than a pair that pairs can’t hope to win the driving contests. And a team of three looks so much better in harness. The only hope for you is if all the troikas drop out, and I’m certainly not going to do that. Sorry, dear." Well, that put a cloud over things. I asked about the possibility of getting another pony, but that was dashed too. There weren’t any left after the auction, I had got the last available pony on the island in Judy.

I went back to the stables in a funk. It didn’t seem fair that I couldn’t even try to win overall. But I needed three ponies. As I started to tell Joanne my requirements for the afternoon, I stopped short. Joanne. Sometimes I am so dense.

"Joanne, when will you be 18?"

"Tomorrow, master."

"A big party and everything?"

"Yes-master, I won’t be able to be here in the evening."

"Were you going to invite Suhanee?"

"Yes-master, I did, but..."

"Pity. (Suhanee was in easy ear-shot and was listening intently) "Is it a big deal, lots of fun, everyone has a good time?"

"Yes-master. It is a girl’s most important birthday."

"Well, if Suhanee broke all obedience records tomorrow, and Judy did too, then maybe, just maybe, they could be allowed out of harness for a very short time. But they would have to come together to your party, joined at the wrists and ankles. Would that be all right?" The ponies smiled around their bits, and Joanne did too.

"Oh yes master, that would be quite all right. Everyone would understand."

"It probably won’t happen. They’d have to be amazingly good for the rest of the day and all day tomorrow, perfectly together in everything they did. We’ll see. I’ll decide at the end of the day. You can leave whenever you want to, of course. You or I would have to lead them, I don’t want them wandering around the town on their own, getting all independent again."

"Please master?"

"What is it?"

"I would like to invite you, too. Malua is coming..."

"If I don’t have to slave away all evening trying to get these two scatterbrains to do the simplest thing in unison, I would be honored to attend, Joanne. But it’s up to them. Now I have another question. When you are 18 you are eligible to be a pony?"

"Yes-master."

"And are you chosen as part of a team - will you be leaving my service?"

"No, master. I probably won’t be part of a team until next year, when I’m sold at the auction, if I’m sold. I would like to continue as your groom for now if you will have me."

"I would like to consider having you in a different capacity, as part of my team." Joanne gaped at me, then blushed bright pink, and turned away.

"Did I say something wrong, Joanne?" She continued facing away from me.

"Oh, master, I cannot talk about that. A pony is never asked to be on a team. She is sold, or traded for, but is never given a choice. It is just not done to discuss it with her. I’m sorry to be offensive, master, but that is a most improper question." Well, it certainly seemed to be. By her reaction it was as though I’d asked whether she wanted to fuck me, right in public. So there were taboos here, unusual ones. I’d have to get a list of them from Malua before I got in serious trouble.

"Please excuse my bad manners, Joanne. I had no intention of shocking you, I’m still ignorant of too many of your customs here. I meant no impropriety. Ah, who does decide these things? I mean if you were going to be on a team before the auction?"

"My parents, master. If you... if you wanted to talk about... My mother, master." I clearly had to take my case to a superior court. I wasn’t going to find out from her if she even wanted to be my pony.

"We will not mention this again. Joanne, I want their hobbles shortened even further, and the pace picked up to a smart trot. Take them to the oval, fifteen times around, emphasize the cadence with your quirt. Put a rod between their bits so they have to move their heads together. If there is any inattentiveness, any willful disobedience at all, they will not go you your party and they will be uncomfortable all night tonight. I’ll be back at 3 for more obedience training, and I expect a full report from you on how good or bad they were. Be as strict as you please; I want them too tired out to do any thinking on their own." I had just given Joanne a license to kill, but I thought that just two hours of her attentions wouldn’t do permanent harm. And I was serious about the being tired part, people are more suggestible when they are worn out.

"Yes-master."

After that I asked Malua where Joanne’s house was - evading her interest in why I wanted to know that - and set off.

Her house was a lot like the others in town, which is to say not like any others except in general plan. Houses tended to be large, and the stables were often built right onto the house rather than separate. The general idea was a palm-thatch pole palapa main room with adjoining kitchens and bedrooms. Doors and walls were sketchy, there being no cold weather or annoying bugs or thieves to shut out. A locksmith would have gone begging on this island. For that matter so would a whole lot of other ‘modern’ professions, lawyers and accountants and politicians leading the list, but I digress.

I didn’t need to introduce myself, as soon as I came up the path I was greeted by a woman who said:

"Hello, Jim, I’m Loreli, Joanne’s mother." Everyone knew everyone here, and everyone knew who I was. We chatted about my situation; I admired her home and commented on the happy appearance of the children dashing about, she hoped that Joanne was behaving well and ‘not tying up everything in sight’. My invitation to Joanne’s party was repeated, I pled the press of training duty but that if possible my ponies and I would make an appearance, thank you, I asked about girl’s 18th birthdays and received a lot of details impertinent to this story, we had a little wine, I met Joanne’s dad Corbin and three step-moms as they drifted in for lunch, which I shared. Nobody ever got around to the point here; conversation was valued in itself. After an hour of interesting chat I finally mentioned that I was interested in finding a third pony, and perhaps Joanne could be considered in that light.

"You mean after the races, Jim?"

"Well, no, actually I mean the day after tomorrow."

Things just aren’t done quickly in island society. They like to mull ideas over, talk about them, and get consensus - the man of the house, all four wives, and maybe some friends. I began to feel that I was bargaining in an Arab souk. Loreli set forth that she harbored high ambitions for Joanne, the lass was fleet of foot, not ugly, and showed considerable skill at harness-adjustment. (Loreli came from a family of harness-makers.) But Joanne might be a bit headstrong. They had assumed she would be bargained for at next year’s auction, after a chance to show just how fast she was this year. And that her service as groom with me would stand her well. ‘She’s quite taken with you, Jim. Chatters on about your ‘masterful attitude’ and strange customs.’

An hour later we hadn’t progressed much.

"Loreli, I know that this is a difficult decision. And you understand that I’m completely new at this, I only found out two days back that there’s no money on this island; that people barter or buy things with favors. I have no favors to offer you. But we are planning for Joanne to work with me anyway, as a groom; is it much different if she’s a pony instead? It doesn’t need to be for a long time, just this year or until you want to trade her to someone else..."

That didn’t work at all. Once I had her, she was mine to trade. No longer her family’s property. And working for me for just a little while and then being ‘discharged’ was a black mark, good ponies didn’t often get traded, championship ones rarely. Being a groom was voluntary, no obligation either way. But being a pony meant being owned, during the daytime. While her family would continue to feed and house her, her education and training would become my responsibility. Education and training equaled marriage prospects. It wasn’t something to be entered into lightly. And becoming a pony was a girl’s real introduction to society, her coming-out as a woman. The Williamses didn’t mind waiting until the auction a year hence, if it meant Joanne got on the ‘right’ team with the ‘right’ trainer to turn her into a ‘properly trained’ pony. None of which, they indicated as politely as possible, was likely to happen if she fell into my lubberly clutches.

It was all very casual and relaxed, mind you. We kidded and had another jug of wine. But there wasn’t much give in the give-and-take. They couldn’t see how Joanne’s prospects were at all advanced by becoming my pony, and they were very canny about those prospects. That’s what a girl’s family did for her, and that’s why Joanne herself was so shocked when I presumed to ask if she wanted to be my pony. The girls had no say in the matter at all, it was too important. Like arranged marriages in some other societies. We never even got close to discussing a price. I thanked them for the time, they assured me that it had been very interesting and to please be sure to come tomorrow night, or any time, and how were Malua and I getting along, and would have cheerfully talked for another hour. I begged off. The island wasn’t used to people in a hurry, but I had set myself a goal and slacking off wasn’t going to get me closer.

Back to the stables. I cast off my chagrin at the summary dismissal of my excellent plan, and came in all determined and firm, ready to train. Joanne had the ponies in a rather extreme training harness, she had used the time inventively. My twins were gasping for breath and straining at the strictures the harness imposed on them. They were quite incapable of movement, except the tiny strides their ankle chains allowed. There was no wriggling at all. I let them simmer and asked Joanne for her report. It was delivered in a quiet voice with plenty of ‘master’s’ thrown in, yes, they had been good all afternoon, but she had decided to really brace them to improve posture and hoped she hadn’t exceeded my intentions. No, I assured her everything looked fine, strained like that they must have almost all the spunk drained out of them. During all this Joanne carefully didn’t look questioningly at me, but she also didn’t look away, all three stared at me as hard as they could. The ponies because they were supposed to, Joanne was probably supposing where I’d been all afternoon and was eager for some sign. I could give her nothing encouraging so gave nothing at all.

Until dinner we practiced simultaneity. All three of them did, and Joanne was right up with the ponies, I had a full set of identically-performing triplets now. Too bad I wouldn’t be able to use her in harness. I put Suhanee’s and Judy’s reins over a bar, then unhooked their chains and had all three stand in place and practice knee-high stances, correcting any out-of-line thighs with smart applications of Joanne’s quirt. Then it was time for my groom to go home, I told her she didn’t have to come back that evening, and I got the same simple ‘yes-master’ as she departed.

On board well-run ships the officers don’t eat until the crew does, and I begged off dinner so I could feed my ponies. They were getting good at biting together, chewing five times, and swallowing, it was actually relaxing (for me) to sit with them, spooning in broth and vegetables and chicken over their bits. I don’t know how they managed to eat that way, but they did, with minimal slurping. Differences between ladies and gentlemen are deep, it seems, I’d have made a right cock-up of trying to ingest food with a bar in my mouth. They drooled, of course, I made sure I wiped it up identically.

Then I eased their harnesses and took their bits out, and we sat on their bedding mattress, in the same position as last night, their heads on my lap. I’d liked to have held them close to either side, but hooked together as they were that wouldn’t work. I gave an assessment of their progress, promising, but that without a third pony Malua said there was little chance of taking top prize. But that we would still win for teamwork, speed and looks, and that I was proud of the difference a day had made. Then they could talk, but only if they talked exactly together. I coached them at first, getting dual answers to simple questions. I repeated that drill until they were in pretty good form.

"Girls, this seems strange to you now, but as you keep trying you will start anticipating what the other one is going to say. Begin speaking slowly, make sure you are saying the same thing, then keep on. If one deviates from the other, stop and get back in synch. You won’t be talking much as ponies, but when you do it must be right together. Remember, you are to become one, a single pony with two heads, four delightful breasts, and three legs. Never, and I mean never at all, say something by yourself when in harness. Get the other’s attention, signal somehow with your eyes or mouth what it is you need to say, then both speak together. Even if it’s just talking to each other, you will both carry on both sides of the conversation." I pinched them. "Clear?"

"Yes-master," then a pause. Then "May/Can - I/we - ask a question, master?"

"Good. A good start. You may look away from me, at each other, as long as you do it identically, and mouth a word to get started correctly. Later on, in harness, you usually won’t be able to see the other, but you’ll work something out. Yes, you may ask one question." This time the pause was longer, they turned to stare at their partner, their lips shaped some words. Then back looking at me, and they began together.

"Did/Is… uh… you/Joanne.... They stopped, looked at each other again, then "Did you go to Joanne’s house, master?"

"Yes, I did. What happened there is not your concern."

By this time I had their breasts cupped in one hand again, and was stroking their foreheads, and they were wriggling just a bit but in comfort, not to free themselves. They accepted my lack of information without any visible signs of frustrated female curiosity. I decided to change the subject.

"Girls, I like to touch you, like this, to excite you. But it is not part of your training, it is just for fun. You are free to shake your heads if you do not want this kind of attention, and I will stop. In all other things you will submit completely to my control, but in this I give you a little freedom. You may not ask for more, but you can have less. You must be together, of course, a unanimous answer. Now answer, shall I continue? They both nodded, without hesitation.

I have no idea why I did that. It would have been more ‘in charge’ to just do what I wanted to them, not meekly ask their permission to slightly ravish them. In my experience giving a woman a chance to say ‘no’ often gets a ‘no’, even when she means ‘yes!’. Women are like that. These two might have shaken their heads instead, backing me off and making training more difficult. It was perhaps a ‘nice’ thing for me to have done, but basically idiotic. At heart I’m just not a cad, so I do things like that. But to get them trained a lot of caddish actions were going to be necessary. Maybe this was my way of showing a bit of heart.

But the point was moot, they assented. I gave an inward sigh of relief, and kept on rubbing their nipples. Suhanee made a little mewl, quickly followed by a similar noise from Judy. They pushed at each other a little, then, as one, they arched their backs, elevating their breasts. I barked:

"You did something without a command!" They relaxed, dismayed. "But it is all right, because we are not training now. While you don’t have freedom to ask for more, you can show your pleasure." I moved both hands to that playing field, forcing their inner breasts together, squeezing them, and lifting them even higher, then firmly massaging both nipples. The girls resumed their arching, higher yet, making as clear as they could that the attention they were getting was welcome. My groin stirred. Handling two beautiful, helpless women at once, having them get excited by my touch, knowing I could probably do whatever I wanted to them... unh. That was enough for now, I let them back down and started just a gentle jostling, bouncing the two boobs together and letting them rebound. They kept staring at me, as per their training.

"You have done reasonably well today; if you keep it up tomorrow you may... may... be allowed out of harness to attend Joanne’s party. You will stay fastened together at wrist and ankle, and even though you will be in sarongs you will still be on duty, as ponies. You will make every move exactly together, laugh together, drink together, and you will speak together as well. You will otherwise be as free as if you were off duty, you can do anything you please, but always together. I will be there keeping watch, and at the first sign of independent action by either one of you it will be back to the stables, on goes this harness, and you’ll both spend the night that way, tightly trussed up. Your enjoyment of the party will be dependent on how well you mimic each other. Is that clear?" They thought about that for a bit, then nodded.

"You may ask a question now." I had kept up my attention to their breasts, and they had responded with little twitches. Now they looked at each other, Judy frowning just a bit, then nodded, then they turned their heads up again. Two voices spoke somewhat as one:

"Mas/We.... We are ha…happy. Master. We wan/need... n-need this training, it is.... making us.... into a... team. We will try to be... per/better.... tomorrow. We like what mas/you... What you are doing. Master. Now/Right now. To uh us. Thank you master."

"Say that again, in better unison."

"We are happy, master, we need this training, it is making.... us into a team. We will try harder tomorrow. We like what you are... doing to us now. Thank you master."

"Good. You are getting the hang of it. One change. From now on say "I", not ‘we’. You act as a single pony, remember. Again, please."

"I am happy, master. I need this training, it is making me.... into a team? I will try harder tomorrow. I like what you are doing to me now. Thank you, master."

"Very good. It isn’t real speech yet, you are dragging words out to make sure the other chimes in, but you are getting it. The training is making you into an individual, much more integrated than a team is. I will get you some water now and take you to the toilet." I had no idea of how they’d react to a man attending to their toilet functions, but I’d told Joanne yesterday that they were even to go potty as a team. I helped the shapely bundle of female parts up to its three feet, and led it off, ankle chains jingling merrily. Their bathroom was a privy behind the stables, and someone had made it a two-holer, spaced close together. My team perched on it, still looking at me, and after a little hesitation they peed together. I gathered some of the soft leaves that the islanders used for wiping, in each hand, and without any sign of discomfort or shyness they spread their legs. My wiping up was longer and more careful than called for, but I received no complaints. Even after three successive wipes, the last a very slow rub which got sharp intakes of breath and some flashes in their eyes. Then to the basins outside, where each had to submerge her head and then shake, then try to gulp water together as I tilted two bowls to their lips. Living without the use of one’s hands caused a lot of problems.

"When do you need your lovely manes washed?" The pause, while they exchanged looks, then:

"In the morning, master." together. I led them back to the stables, took their posture harnesses off and replaced them with the simple, worn #1s. Taken well in, mind you, to where they puffed. Then wrists secured with slack to their above-the-knee straps, so they could move independently just a bit, clipped together ankle, knee, wrist and elbow, ankles clipped all in a bunch so they couldn’t go anywhere, and they lay down again in our accustomed position. My hands went to their breasts, they wriggled, I pinched their nipples until they became still, and then:

"Girls, I don’t know if you have noticed, but when I was training you this evening you did not wriggle. Your hands and arms were perfectly still." That made their wrists twist, but I pinched and they relaxed again. "I think you were concentrating so hard on doing what was expected that you forgot to test your restraints. Do you agree? One answer only." They turned to look again, made a few small motions of their heads, then back to looking at me, and a single, firm nod.

"That is how you will be all the time. Your level of training will be so intense that you will need all your attention just to figure out what to do next. If you find your arms moving, you aren’t thinking hard enough and you are about to fail at something. Even tomorrow night, if you are allowed to go out in public, your hands should be still. Everyone thinks you’re both incurable wrigglers, tomorrow you can show them what effective training can do in just two days. But you have a lot to do, to earn that little freedom. Well, it has been a long day for us. Relax now, close your eyes, and I’ll tell you a story about sailing ships with great white clouds of cloth overhead, catching the wind and going around the world. Are you thinking of anything right now?" The usual pause, then both nodded. "It will come. A time will come when I ask that and you will be able to truthfully shake your heads. You will be empty, just waiting for commands. Now this tale is from the time of my father, who last went around the horn in ‘12. That was 33 years ago now, and the great white clouds of sail have all been replaced by steamers now, but in those days..." In another few minutes they were both gone, off in their dream worlds, and I was nearly ready for mine.

But bed was far away yet. I did not have miles to go, but I did have unmet promises to keep. As I left the stable Malua arrived. "Jim dear. Oh, my. What have you done."

"I’ve just put my ponies to bed."

"No, with Joanne."

"Oh, that. I made a rude mistake today - I asked her if she wanted to be my pony after her birthday. She explained that ponies are never asked. I apologized, and I went to see her parents to ask for her. They were not interested, so I dropped it. Why?"

"Lelani is here, she wants to talk to you, and she is upset."

"Hmm. I certainly didn’t intend to upset anyone. I just asked Lelani if Joanne might be available to make my team into a troika. She isn’t, they have other plans for her. I told them I quite understood, and we agreed she would continue as my groom. I sent her home tonight for dinner, and supposed the matter was settled. Well, I’ll go talk to her." Malua came with me back to the house, where I found Lelani talking earnestly to Wendy.

"Good evening Lelani, Wendy. Malua tells me that I have upset Joanne?"

"Hello Jim. Ah..." My direct Yankee style of conversation didn’t work well with these people; I got the feeling that a period of pleasantries should have preceded getting to the point. But I was tired, and a trifle upset myself. Wendy took over.

"Jim, Lelani tells me that Joanne is in quite a state. She came home for dinner, and her party was of course all anyone talked about, and she asked when they were going to announce her pony assignment during the festivities. Lelani and Corbin were puzzled, and told her that there wasn’t anything to announce, that she’d wait until next year, and Joanne burst into tears and ran to her room." Lelani picked up the bulletin:

"She’s just crying and crying, she won’t be calmed. We don’t understand. Did you tell her she was to be your pony? What’s wrong with her?"

"Lelani, I have no idea. I returned from our meeting, and just told Joanne she could go home for dinner and wasn’t needed back at the stables tonight. I said nothing about our little discussion; I don’t think she even knows we met. I certainly said nothing to her about being a pony after I realized one doesn’t talk to the ponies themselves about that subject. I apologized to her for that at the time, and to you later; I’m sorry I brought it up but it was due to my ignorance. I fully accept your decision about that."

"Joanne did know where you went, Jim dear. Or at least she thought so. I told her. She came to the house looking for you during the afternoon, to see if she could use a strict harness on the ponies, I said you had gone off in the direction of her house. Since you had asked her, then found that you had to speak to Lelani and Corbin instead, and then went away, it seems reasonable to suppose that’s where you went. And she seems to have decided, or hoped, that you got their consent.

"It doesn’t really matter who told her what. My daughter seems convinced she is to be Jim’s pony. Girls get silly ideas. The problem is that nothing we’ve said has any effect."

"Excuse me, but I don’t see the problem. I thought ponies weren’t consulted, that they went to whom they were traded or sold to. That they have no influence in the choice. Surely that’s what Joanne expects, why does she think what she ‘wants’ make any difference?"

"You’re right, Jim, it doesn’t matter at all, ordinarily. But Joanne’s party is tomorrow, it’s going to be a big party because she’s our first daughter to reach pony age, and from the looks of things she won’t even be there. Not unless she’s dragged. You may know how girls this age are, everything is very important, and she’ll probably take two or three days to get over this latest crisis. We have all been trying to calm her down, but it has no effect. She says that being your pony, working with her friend Suhanee and with Judy, and being trained by you, is all she’ll consider and that otherwise she’ll never be a pony, so there. Joanne has spent her whole girlhood preparing to be a pony, the idea of not being one has her all unhinged. If we had time it would be fine, but we don’t."

"My ignorant request set all this off, didn’t it. I wish I could call it back, but once spoken too late. Can you just delay the party until she gets over this? Girls always do..."

"Delay? Oh, my no. A girl’s eighteenth is always held exactly on her birthday. She passes from being a girl to a woman, it’s most important to have it just right. Dear, dear, what’s to do?" We all sat looking around, nobody saying anything. I started it, so I might as well try to end it.

"At the risk of making another ignorant mistake, let me offer a suggestion. The only thing that will calm Joanne down instantly is if she is going to be my pony, and it’s announced tomorrow night. Right?" The others nodded, reluctantly, Lelani very hesitantly.

"Then you should go ahead and announce it. Then a day or so later I’ll announce that it isn’t going to work, that Joanne is too good for my abilities, or too fast, or something else that doesn’t cast doubt on her abilities, and return her to her family. She will have had time to get over her infatuation with me or my team, without any black marks."

"Nice try Jim dear, you have a kind heart. But it doesn’t matter what anyone says about a pony, if she leaves a team it’s because she didn’t measure up. Ponies do get traded around, but not in their first year. It would be a black mark for Joanne. And it would mean she wouldn’t be a filly at next year’s auction. Fillies always get the most attention, which is what Lelani and Corbur want for Joanne."

"Oh. Well, so much for plan A. Tell me, Lelani, what would happen to your hopes for Joanne if she joined a prize-winning team in her first year?"

"It would be wonderful, Jim. She’d be sought-after, at the top of pony rank. But that’s not what we’re discussing."

"I think it is. Nobody else does, not even Malua, but I think it is. So do my ponies. So, maybe, does Joanne. We are quite serious about winning. Maybe not the jeweled sandals, but right up there. If we are a troika, we’ll place higher. Joanne has the speed, she’ll make a fine addition to my team, and we’ll have a good chance." This got polite smiles, but no more. Lelani, and probably Malua and Wendy as well, were unshaken in their belief that joining Jim’s team was something for a pony with no other hopes - like heel-dropping Suhanee or fractious, un-trainable Judy. Joanne was different - her family had high hopes for her.

"Well, if you can’t delay the party, and you can’t talk sense into Joanne, and you want things to go well, I think your only hope is announcing that she’s to be my pony, and then to hope I’m not crazy and we actually win." The looks I now got from all three showed just how low an opinion of men-folks women can have. Pond scum would have rated well above me. They didn’t even bother with ‘Oh, Jim...’.

"Would it help if I went and talked to her? Maybe she’d get over it if I tell her how little I really know about this, how slim our chances are. The trouble is that I’d be lying, and I’m a terrible liar."

"Jim, I don’t think it would work either. Joanne sobbed out that you are the most perfect trainer who ever lived, and nobody else could make her into the pony she needs to become except you. And right now, not next year when she’s come to her senses."

"I’d be glad to have her. And I think she’s at least partly right. But I’ve already accepted your decision, Lelani, and I won’t press further. Joanne is set on one thing, her family on another, and I regret my part in it but I don’t see how I can make things better. You have the works of Shakespeare here on the island? Well, he devoted several plays to the subject. The endings are rarely happy. You and your family have a difficult decision to make, but it is yours alone. I wish you and Joanne the best, and now I must be off to bed. Goodnight." It was the only way out for me, as I couldn’t press my case further. Malua stayed with Wendy and Lelani.