Theo–Thomas J. Scott Summary
Theo
Theo is working on an art history article in his Georgetown, Washington, DC, apartment as the story opens in 2019. He struggles to write for a general audience rather than for academics, and he looks up to notice the woman across the street piling up “free stuff” on the curb. The neighbor’s husband has just died, but neither of them have ever been friendly to Theo, who is Black. Theo tried reaching out to the woman with a casserole as he was taught by his grandmother, but she rejected his offer. Now Theo notices the woman struggling with a large recliner, and he hurries outside to help her. She tells him to take what he wants from the pile of free stuff, and he sees a painting of a horse.
Jess
Jess has always been interested in the “interior architecture of living things.” When she was seven, she dug up a pet dog to see his skeleton, and it made her remember the kind of animal he was. Her childhood room was filled with reassembled skeletons of small animals. She did well in school and traveled to the United States to study for a master’s degree in zoology and work as an intern at the Smithsonian. Her love for articulation grew, and she learned more about how internal structures and even small fragments tell the story of a species and reveal its beauty. Jess traveled across the world collecting specimens and then accepted a job as manager of the Osteology Prep Lab at the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center.
Jess loves her job. She is excited about every specimen and every story. After setting her assistant, Maisy, to a task, Jess takes her bike back to her basement apartment and prepares to go to the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole to pick up a whale skull. Before she leaves, colleague Horace Wallis calls, inquiring about a misplaced nineteenth-century horse skeleton that a researcher wants to study. Jess tells him she will try to track it down.
Warfield’s Jarret
Jarret is an enslaved young man who knows horses. The year is 1850, and Jarret lives at the Meadows in Lexington, Kentucky. He belongs to Dr. Elisha Warfield. The mare Alice Carneal is notoriously bad tempered, but she has never hurt Jarret. Jarret, in fact, was practically raised by horses. His mother was a house servant with the Todd family, and Jarret was usually left on his own even as a young boy. His father, Harry, trained horses for Robert Burbridge. Jarret was five when his mother died and he went to live with Harry, now a free man and horse trainer for Dr. Warfield, who bought Jarret at Harry’s request.
Jarret is now thirteen and knows every Warfield horse in detail. Alice Carneal is about to foal, and she lets Jarret pet and examine her. Alice had been mated to Boston, a winning stallion with a notoriously bad temper. Harry had recommended the match and convinced Dr. Warfield to pay the high fee. Alice’s foal will be one of Boston’s last offspring, for the stallion is now dead.
The Meadows is home to Jarret, and Dr. Warfield, now retired, is one of the founders of the horse racing business in the area. Dr. Warfield is a fair man who pays Harry well. Now Jarret and Harry have their supper in the neat cabin they share. Jarret recalls the abuse Harry took as a young man when he was training to be a jockey. He was often beaten and starved, but he saved all his money from winning races, became a...
(This entire section contains 1004 words.)
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trainer, purchased his freedom, and vowed that his son would not suffer like he had.
Alice gives birth to a beautiful colt with white feet. Jarret decides to sleep in the stable and watch over mother and baby. Dr. Warfield’s eleven-year-old granddaughter, Mary Barr Clay, has been hiding in the hayloft wanting to see the new horse. Jarret promises not to tell on her as they admire the colt. When the girl returns to the house, Jarret reflects on her father, Cassius Clay, who has a reputation for violence and who has freed the people he had enslaved.
Theo (2)
Theo has managed to complete his article, which he will deliver to his editor at the Smithsonian magazine the next day. He wants to meet with the man in person in hopes of getting more jobs. Theo looks at the painting of the horse, a bay colt with an unusual expression, and notices how dirty it is. He wraps it up to bring with him tomorrow. It may prove to be a topic for a new story.
Theo knows little about American equestrian art. He was raised mostly in Australia and Britain by his diplomat parents: Abiona, his Yoruba mother, and Barry, his American father. Theo recalls horseback riding with his father in Australia. When his parents divorced, Theo was sent to a British boarding school, where he faced prejudice and loneliness but found solace in playing polo. He also learned to appreciate art, and that set him on his course to become an art historian.
The next morning, Theo forgets the painting. He receives another assignment, and the painting drifts out of his mind, for it is tucked away in a closet.
Thomas J. Scott
Thomas J. Scott’s 1850 diary begins with his trip from Cincinnati to Lexington, Kentucky. He hopes to find work in racehorse country. During the coach ride, he speaks with the other passengers and learns about Cassius Clay, the enslaved people he freed, and his tendency toward conflict. Scott is actually on his way to Dr. Warfield’s Meadows and learns as much as he can from the other men. Scott calls himself a “free labor man” and realizes that he will have to hold his tongue in his new location. Scott receives a warm welcome from Dr. and Mrs. Warfield at the Meadows, and he resolves to keep his diary throughout his stay.
