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borrow your pen please?" Noah asked Jacob, and then snatched it from Jacob's pocket without asking. He signed the papers and then put the pen in the inside of his own jacket pocket.
     
    "Excuse me, that's my pen!" Jacob Hoover said pointedly.
     
    "Oh, sorry," Noah said vaguely, and then, deliberately, he handed over a different pen that was in his pocket.
     
    "Thank you," Jacob said, because he loved that pen: it was very expensive, and was in fact one of his most prized possessions. However he had not realized that it wasn't his pen. He put it in his pocket absent mindedly. "My offer is still open, you know. You might want to re think your decision."
     
    "Jacob, I always think before I make a decision. I don't make a decision and then think about it. Bye," Noah said flatly, in a firm tone.
     
    "Bye bye," Jacob Hoover shrugged, speaking in that ridiculously deep accent of his, and then turned around to leave.
     
    "Can I have the signed papers back, please, Sir?" Leonardo asked Noah. "I need to hand them back in to the Stallion's office head quarters."
     
    "No," said Noah, and he tore the pieces of paper into shreds.
     
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    THE NEXT RACE
     
    "Sir," said Jacob Hoover's friend, Ahmed, as they both sat at the stands of the stud farm. "The sixth horse is a personal favorite. It's rank is very good."
     
    "And the others?" Jacob asked.
     
    "Those horses ranks aren't as good as number six." Ahmed said proudly.
     
    "What about number twelve?" Jacob pushed on.
     
    "What?" Ahmed looked confused. He pulled his furrowed eyebrows together, wrinkling his nose.
     
    "I'm talking about Noah's horse," Jacob Hoover prompted.
     
    "Noah's horse is new. I think it has a ten to one chance." Ahmed felt guilty as he said this.
     
    "Ten to one?" Jacob repeated angrily.
     
    Noah's pen was still in Jacob's pocket, and it had a recorder on it. Noah was sat at the other side of the room, listening to Jacob's every word.
     
    "You do one job," Jacob said to Ahmed. "Bet every last cent of the money on Noah's horse."
     
    "But Sir, that's a twenty million dollar risk!" Ahmed stared at Jacob as if he was stupid.
     
    "Just do as I say," Jacob said. "Noah's style of horse is something that I can compete with. Even if Noah's horse is good, I'm going to make sure he doesn't win. I have my own ways of doing things."
     
    "You mean that if Noah's horse wins, we will get the money from it?" Ahmed asked happily.
     
    "You're right," Jacob confirmed.
     
    "Good idea, Sir!" Ahmed exclaimed.
     
    "Thank you!" Jacob grinned, and Ahmed departed.
     
    Noah sighed as he heard all this, angry at Jacob Hoover, wondering why he couldn't just be a good sportsman. He turned to Alice. Today, Alice was wearing a silky green top with green jeggings to match.
     
    "Alice, don't put my four million bet on my horse," he ordered.
     
    "Why won't we bet money on our own horse?" Alice asked, because what Noah had just said was completely random.
     
    "Please, just do as I say," Noah said. Alice nodded after staring at Noah for a long moment, unsure what was going on.
     
    "Horse number twelve by Noah, horse number six ..." the commentator dictated his speech into the microphone. "All of the horses, gather round to the track!"
     
    Noah and Alice watched at the sidelines with their binoculars. Jacob and Noah's eyes met for a moment, but Noah averted his eyes and focused on watching the race. Jacob laughed darkly, thinking he had it all thought out and planned. But not everything you think of always goes to plan.
     
    The horses continued to race. The horses began at a steady pace ... they gradually got faster ... some of the horses slowed down, others went a little faster ... then number six and twelve were almost neck and neck ... but number twelve stayed behind ... and horse number six raced through to the finish line.
     
    "What?" Jacob Hoover roared in anger. "Bloody ... What the hell just happened?!"
     
    "Sir, we bet so much money on that horse! We're