Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

main stand. While Nathan sorted out Will’s drink, I had some time to look at our
fellow racegoers.
It was actually quite pleasant at the base of the stands, despite the occasional
spit of rain. Above us, on a glass-fronted balcony, men in suits proffered
champagne glasses to women in wedding outfits. They looked warm and cosy,
and I suspected that was the Premier Area, listed next to some stratospheric price
on the board in the ticket kiosk. They wore little badges on red thread, marking
them out as special. I wondered briefly if it was possible to colour our blue ones
a different shade, but decided that being the only people with a wheelchair
would probably make us a little conspicuous.
Beside us, dotted along the stands and clutching polystyrene cups of coffee
and hip flasks, were men in tweedy suits and women in smart padded coats.
They looked a little more everyday, and their little badges were blue too. I
suspected that many of them were trainers and grooms, or horsey people of some
sort. Down at the front, by little whiteboards, stood the tic-tac men, their arms
waving in some strange semaphore that I couldn’t understand. They scribbled up
new combinations of figures, and scrubbed them out again with the base of their
sleeves.
And then, like some parody of a class system, around the parade ring stood a
group of men in striped polo shirts, who clutched beer cans and who seemed to
be on some kind of outing. Their shaved heads suggested some kind of military
service. Periodically they would break out into song, or begin some noisy,
physical altercation, ramming each other with blunt heads or wrapping their
arms around each other’s necks. As I passed to go to the loo, they catcalled me
in my short skirt (I appeared to be the only person in the whole of the stands in a
skirt) and I flipped them the finger behind my back. And then they lost interest
as seven or eight horses began skirting around each other, eased into the stands
with workmanlike skill, all preparing for the next race.
And then I jumped as around us the small crowd roared into life and the
horses bolted from the starting gate. I stood and watched them go, suddenly
transfixed, unable to suppress a flurry of excitement at the tails suddenly
streaming out behind them, the frantic efforts of the brightly coloured men atop
them, all jostling for position. When the winner crossed the finishing line it was
almost impossible not to cheer.