The Adventures Of Little Sham - Chapter 7 (Part 1)

The Adventures Of Little Sham  

A Novel

by Paul McCann

Chapter  Seven

The Land Of Silken Dreams  

Part 1

 

Waking up to a new day is always something  good . New light through the window different sounds of life filtering through whatever and where ever they come .

Every new day can bring a new journey and a new picture of life through the eyes of people and places . The smell of food was brought the Greenacres downstairs to the dining room where breakfast was already on the table .

Mrs McDermott was singing away in the basement where she was bringing up some food items for the cupboards in the kitchen  .

She was singing like a bird inside a cage . Her voice was magical, unaccompanied and free to be enjoyed by all .

When she  returned from the basement she was surprised to see the Greenacres already at table eating their breakfast .

She started looking everywhere all at once as if she was embarrassed for them to have heard her singing and said ,

“Oh I’m sorry I wasn’t expecting you all to be sitting here . I had to get a few things form the pantry downstairs. You took me by surprise . “

Mrs Greenacre stood up and applauded then she said ,

”No need to apologise Mrs McDermott . We were enjoying your singing there . What a great voice you have and that song was just amazing.“

Mrs McDermott took a bow and said , .

“‘Actually when I was young I always dreamt about being a famous singer: I suppose the dream has gone and in frustration at times I just have to sing it out . ”

Sham said,

 “Don’t stop singing, maybe sometimes dreams can come true.  ”

Mrs McDermott  walked off into the kitchen humming a tune to herself .

“Thank you for that beautiful song today ‘

Mrs Greenacre said

‘Well that’s enough of the singing there’s work to be done.”

She said and returned back  to the kitchen .

Shep was sitting beside Sham at the table and now and then without being noticed Sham would slip a little snack undert the table to Shep .

Shep said ,

“Thanks for sharing some of your breakfast , you know Sham isn’t life full of wonder  like the dawning of the day , or the moon that shines at night , you know maybe dreams do come true , just like a new light is shinning after the  night has gone.  ‘

Sham responded

‘Its true what you say Shep, sometimes in life, anything can happen .“

Shep replied ,

‘I had a dream that I could dance and sing and people came from everywhere to watch , but it was just a dream “

Sham said ,

“Last night I had a dream that seemed so real. It was just like watching a movie and I could see and smell everything so clearly . Do you have colours in your dreams ?“

Shep replied

“Yes my dreams have colour ,  but in real life I only see in black and white. “

,“ I seem to living more in my dreams now that in the real life ,“

Said Sham ,

“You’re gifted then Sham . Some people never get the chance to dream but its seems to me that you’re living your dreams , Dream on little Sham for you’ve found that magic place where not many are allowed to  go . “

Sham slipped another snack under the table and said ,

“ Some say to believe in your dreams I also think that dreams happen because they’re meant to . “

Mrs McDermott returned to collect the empty plates from the table  

“What are your plans today then ?”

Mrs Greenacre replied .

‘ We are going to visit local a horse breeder . Like you we have always had a dream to own a racehorse and who knows maybe our  dream might come true . We asked Conor yesterday if he knew any horse breeders and he gave us the details of a few of the local breeders  So that’s where we’re going “

Mrs McDermott said ,

“ That sounds exciting . I wish you luck in chasing your dream . I’ll make you some lunch and have it ready before you leave  :”

 In no time at all they were driving through town, to the sign that pointed the way they had to go to Sunshine Stud  On a back road there they went along through a forest

Road to an entrance of the horse stud , where an attendant stood at a gate.

They drove over to the gate and the attendant asked  ,

“Can I have some identification and ask the reason of your visit ?”

Mr Greenacre produced drivers license and said ,

‘Sure thing . We are the Greenacres and we’re here on holiday Chapters End .

 We are looking to buy a racehorse , maybe two or three, depending on what we see. and yesterday  I spoke with the manager, Mr Rodd and he is expecting us this morning .’

Checking his notepad , he nodded his head and said .

“Ok Mr Greenacre , my name is Mick Ferris , head of security , people here call me Mr Serious. I;m just doing my job , I have your name here on my list so let me open the gates for you to9 come inside “ .

He presses a button on a remote device that swung open the latge double gates to the horsestud .

‘Welcome to Sunshine Stud everyone . Follow the road to the end and you will see to you left a road that gows to the main house , just make your way there and park your car . I’ll  inform Mr Ross you’ve arrived and he will come to meet you “

Mr Greenacre said ,

‘Thank you Mick . Have a great day ?”

 As they drove along the road on both sides were lush green paddocks with some horses with their little fillies and colts at their side .

When they arrived to park the car at the main house Mr Ross was already there to welcome them  . He was well dressed in fashionable clothes and wore an  expensive gold watch . Obviously a wealthy young man . He was accompanied by two beautiful ladies . They were all so friendly and excited having new visitors into their stud .

This was also an opportunity for them to sell another racehorse  .

Mr Greenacre reached out his hand and said ,

‘Thank you for your time today Mr Ross. This is my son Sham and my wife Sally .

He shook their hands and then said ,

 

‘Nice to meet you all . Sorry about Mick Serious at the gate , He sometimes goes overboard with his security checks . as much as he’s difficult we do have to have someone on the studs to keep his eye on the place , So as we’ve never met before I was wondering did you want a full tour of the stud or did you just want to look at the current stock of thoroughbreds we have for sale .”

Mr Greenacre said

, ‘If we could just run our eye over some of your current stock and depending what we see , we might be making a decision about purchasing something today . We have always had a dream to have some horses to put out around the tracks with a proper traimer of course to guide us towards the right tracks for our horses  “

“Well we have dealth with some excellent trainers here and recently we bred the winner of a group race in  Europe . We are also exporting horses to race in Asia and America  .“

Mrs Greenacre spoke with the two ladies in the company there.  

“How beautiful those dresses look on you . Are they from a local designer ?

“Thank you . My name is Jane . Pleased to meet you .“

The other lady said ,

‘I’m Marie and thank you , I have a friend who is a designed of clothes . Mosty of our  friends buy clothes from him . His real name is Gary Chase but he goes under another name as a desiginer. ”

“Hello , Marie and Jane , I’m Sally . My husband Ted and our son, Sham  . “

Marie looked at Sham and asked ,
“So then are you going to be a horse owner ?“

Sham answered

“Well maybe , kind of , but not really, its my Mum and Dads dream  . I’m here just to see the horses but who knows  maybe one day I’ll be in  some syndicate with other horse owbers who race horses for a hobby . I do love horses. Though in another way like being their friend,  sort of .”

Jane also said hello to Sham .

“Pleased to meet you Sham , I’m Jane . I think what you’re trying to say is that no one can really own a horse . They are their own person ,is that right Sham ?”

Sham responded ,

“Hello Jane . Yeah, thats exactly what I was thinking  ?“

They all smiled . Mr Ross approached and spoke to Mrs Greenacre  .

“What a thrill it must be for you all , to see your dream unfoldinh with the possibility of racing your own horse ?“
He said .

Sally replied ,
“Well its still a dream but a step closer to making it a reality .“

“Wow that is just what I needed to hear because here at Sunshine Stud we believe in dreams and we have seen many dreams come true. Why don’t I show you all some of our horses for sale . “

 He brought them to a nearby paddock where several horses were walking around.

Four of them made their way over to the fence . While the suud manager was busy speaking with Shams parentd Sham , spoke softly to the four horses making their weay over to the fence in the paddock  there ,

“Hello there. What beautiful  looking horses you are . I’m Sham Greenacre , seventh son of a seventh son”.

Immediately all the horses came running over to the fence really excited to speak to Sham . The first horse to speak was a tall chesnut coloured horse . .

“Sham hello . I’m the son of Cheval De Volee and my Mother was Zephyr Zulu and they call me the breeze, cause I’m as fast as the wind. “

The second horse , a flighty black filly with white socks on her legs said ,

“Don’t listen to him Sham , he’s just a big gasbag, all wind and no turn of pace ”

My bloodlines are like roylaity . My Father was called Quickstep Fred and they say he should have been a dancer instead of a racehorse , He was owned by a King and he  always wore gold horeshoes on hius feet . My Mother was Sunlight Stepper and she was a champion who earned millions for her owner . I’m called Fairy Queen and nexr month I’m  going to be racing in a group 1 race in Europe .“

The third horse , the tallest of them laughed aloud and said ,

“Those two are full of themselves Sham . The only place they’ll be going is to pull a plough in some potato paddock . The other day the pony who chases the sheep in the back paddock  beat them fai and square in  a quarter mile race before breakfast.

They just your everyday run of the mill two mile plodders . I’m known as Leaping Lenny , I am a steeple chaser , from the blood lines of the rich and famous who need no introduction . So pleased and so proud to meet you Sham . So you have the gift”

A fourth horse , a ordinary looking colt with a sad face and straggly tail said ,

.“Hello Sham, I’m called The Clever Fiddle and as my name would sugguest I’m from  a musical tradition family bloodline . I don’t mean to brag but they say every race I have won is due to my perfect timing and tempo . My Mother wes called Songline and my Father was Mr Maestro,  so no matter what those other three would say , there are just learning to put one foot in front of the other . Me on the other hand , I have something called a rare gift . Speed , timing and the will to win . How lovely it is to meet a human being who we can share words with . You are very welcome here and I hope you will visit again .“

The four horses began kicking and pushing one another , before running off a full speed down the paddock .  
 

Mr Greenacre asked ,  
“So how much would one of those horses cost .“

“ Roughly around half a million .“

Was the reply .

“How much would you expect us to make on that investment ?
Mrs Greenacre asked

Jane replied

“At least double in return of your initial cost in the first year of racing “

Marie said .

“Yes we are all very excited about our new horses , Theyn have prospects .Some people collect cars . Although I love cars myself these horses have heart and a wild speed to burn . We breed champions here at Sunshine Stud . How many would you like to buy ?

Mr Greenacre replied ,

‘I would have a yard full of them  but at this point in time I’d be interested in buying three . I like the look of that black one with the white socks on itst legs and whatever my wife and son choose .

Jane took out her mobile phone and called everyone together for a photo .

“Welcome to your dream ?

Mrs Greenacre took a while but saw one of the horses was taller than the rest and seemed stronger in the hips . She pointed out that horse to Mr Ross ,

“That horse has an attitude I like . That’s my choice ,”

Sham had already spoken to all the horse and they mentioned to him that the quietest horse among them possessed the greatest speed . It was also the most humble with its head kept down showing no vanity with its behaviour. It had a shaggy tail and a sad face .

Sham said

‘My choice is the that one over there with the wings on its feet,“

Everyone laughed and Mr Ross said,

“Actually that is the only horse we have that does have wings on its feet . You have a great eye for detail . So now that you have chosen your horses . Lets get the paperwork processed for the sale so you can start racing your horses as soon as possible”

“Congratulations to you all . Your dream has come true.” 

Sally looked at Ted and they both looked at Sham and the three of them jumped up in the air and screamed out with delight .
.

Jane said,

Oh yeah . Life , love and happiness , what a sure thing it is “

Mr Ross said ,

“ I can see success in the years ahead for all of you . When people  ask you how did you achieve all of this  , you can just say to them , it’s a dream come true. “

After all the paperwork was completed Mr Ross said ,

“Yeah you have had a real steal of a deal today  . We will have the horse sent to your new stables at the end of the month . Good luck to you all “

.The Greenacres got back in their car and left Sunshine Stud . On the road back to the guesthouse Mrs Greenacre said

 “Do you think we got a real steal or a deal ? “

Sham responded ,

‘Think positive , I mean . how can you put a price on a dream ?”

Ted said

“If only people knew our secret . We know that you have to give before you can receive . As far as I’m concerned , we gave all we had to buy our dreams and the rest we will  await and see .”

 

They all agreed and returned to the guesthouse for dinner . Even though it was already late they could always have their food reheated,. On their way back the

rain softly fell around the hillside as a full moon glistened and flickered an eerie light around the countryside . Looking out of the windows of the car the scene  resembled a magical presence with clouds drifting  slowly past the moon . Suddenly the night sky was pierced by a huge fireball . It shot through the air unaanounced and  plummtted to the ground with flames pelting all around it as if it were some kind of  rocket from another planet . It seemed to disappear just over the hillside . Then they all heard a definite thud . Some animals around the countryside awoke with a few going into a panic , running for cover . A few horses ran from a barn to chase their own shadows across the fields .

Sham sat ataring out the window ,entranced by what he had just saw .

The raid eased off as they arrived at Mrs McDermotts guest house where she was standing there at  her front gate , looking up at the sky . Under the light of the moon she stood and greeted them  .

 

‘What was that loud bang a while ago ?”

She asked

“A fireball just fell from the sky and landed somewhere nearby “

Mr Greeacre answered .

“A fireball , just as well it never landed on top of the roof  . Now you better all come inside and have your dinner . I’ll have it on the table shorty :”

She replied ,

They all went inside and had their dinner before going to bed .

The night was quiet as everyone settled down in their rooms ,

Sham sat in his bed and thought about the day . He was excited to own his first horse and looked forward to getting to know him .

 

End Of Part 1

 

 

Part 2

https://www.abctales.com/story/mcscraic/adventures-little-sham-chapter-7...

 

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