The Jockey's Wife

Benny Dimble was a little man, but this was no mistake. He was his father's pride and joy. His father had been a famous jockey and he had passed all of his knowledge and love of horse racing on to his only son. Benny was smaller and lighter than his father and he already showed signs of being a great jockey himself. Benny's mother was also a small person from another jockey's family, though she did not love the racing the way her husband and family did, she did enjoy the horses and spending time out in the fresh air.

Benny loved going to the stables to train. It was great to be up on the giant race horses, speeding around the track. He loved the smells and the routine of feeding and grooming the horses. There was another thing that Benny loved about the stables and her name was Martha Appleby. Martha was a banker's daughter that had a fat white pony at the stable. Martha was there all the time, feeding and talking to her pony, but not doing much riding. Benny always stopped to talk to Martha if she was there. They always had good conversations and laughed a lot together. Martha was so different from the world that Benny came from. She talked about travel and romance, and had no idea who had finished first, riding which horse, in the race last Saturday. There was another thing that was different about Martha that Benny really liked: she was big. She was not really very big at all by normal standards, but compared to Benny and his family she was big. She was three or four inches taller than Benny and much rounder, and Benny loved her curves.

Benny's Father noticed the attention that Benny gave to Martha and it concerned him. He did not want to see his family's legacy as great jockeys end with his son. If Benny married Martha, the legacy would certainly end. Dimbles had become small and successful jockeys through careful breeding, just like the beasts that they rode to victory, and nothing could come from Martha Appleby but big fat children.

The next Saturday, Benny rode the favorite to first place in the flat race at the local track. During the celebrations after the race, Benny's father took him aside. He told Benny how proud he was of him, and how proud his Grandpa would be if he were there to see. He talked about the long history of the Dimble family and about how carefully he had chosen his wife to make sure that Benny could be a success. Then he took Benny to meet Emily Flimmer, the daughter of of one of his jockey friends. Emily was tiny, and skinny as a rail. Even her hair was skinny, straight and shoulder length, with a short fringe cut straight across the middle of her forehead. Her eyes were small and spaced far apart on her head, and her mouth was also miniscule, a little pucker in the middle of her face. Benny was not impressed. The two faced each other awkwardly for a few minutes before Benny excused himself to get a celebratory drink.

The next Monday, Benny and his dad were feeding and grooming the horses after training. Benny took the chance to tell his dad about his feelings for Martha Appleby and his lack of feelings for Emily Flimmer. His dad could see that he would have to take a stronger stance with his son, if the family name was to survive. The father laid down an ultimatum. Benny had to choose his family heritage, and marry a jockey's daughter, or he was on his own.

Benny moped around for the next few days, inwardly tortured by the decision he had to make. He did not want to give up his dreams of the adventure that a life with Martha might bring, but even more than that, he did not want to give up the life he loved as a jockey. In the end he made up his mind, for the sake of his future, and for his children's future, and for his father's blessing, he chose Emily Flimmer.

Things were never very exciting between Benny and Emily, but they moved along quickly enough thanks to the constant prodding of the two proud families. The next spring they were married. Life didn't change much for Benny. He and Emily moved into a small house, and ate the same grey food that he had eaten all his life, it had little taste, but he did not eat much, and it kept him skinny. There was not a lot of affection in their relationship, but they got on well enough, and Emily understood the jockey's life and knew the questions to ask, and kept up with all the latest jockey news.

Benny and Emily became good friends with their neighbor, a very outgoing Irishman with red hair. He was a farmer, a very big man, and he loved his food. He had never married, but threw large dinner parties for his many friends and Emily and Benny often attended. Emily especially loved the jokes and stories of the rosy Irishman.

There was a big change to come in Emily and Benny's life. Emily became pregnant. The baby was due at the end of the summer. It was a hot summer that year and Emily grew so big that she had to stay in bed. They didn't even go out for the going away party for their neighbor who was moving back to Ireland to be with his aging mother.

When the baby was born, it was a surprise for everyone. It was a difficult labor for Emily, but in the end it was obvious why. The baby was a monster, over nine pounds, and it had bright red hair.

The baby grew up happy and healthy. It seemed that by the time it was a toddler, it was already bigger than either of the parents. Benny and Emily didn't have any other children. No one ever mentioned the idea of the boy growing up to be a jockey and no one ever mentioned the red-haired Irish farmer that moved away the summer that the boy was born.

Benny and Emily stayed together through a dull marriage. Emily secretly thought about adventures with Irish farmers, while Benny thought about adventures with banker's daughters.

JE