Written by Chilcoat

THE EQUINICS CODE

As the torchbearer neared her in the failing light of evening, she could tell something was wrong. He stumbled slightly, checked himself, then stumbled again. Internationally renowned puzzleologist Chilcoat finally decided see what was going on. Approaching the torchbearer, she saw blood trickling from his mouth.

“Oh, my God! What the….” she began.

“No time…..” whispered the torchbearer. “Take this….Find the lady…big secrets…they don’t want you to know….” He trailed off and went limp.

Chilcoat hurriedly grabbed the torch before it hit the ground. A lady? With secrets? What on earth could it mean? She heard the clip-clop of footsteps approaching. Figuring that it was probably related to the torchbearer’s recent demise, she held the torch high and ran.

…………………………………….

The albino snorted with annoyance. He hadn’t intended the newcomer to hear him approaching. Now there was another loose end to be mopped up. His superiors would be displeased. The albino was a member of Opus Neigh, a secretive Sim sect that kept to the old ways. They believed that to achieve true Sim glory one had to suffer – so they eschewed the ways of RaFi and clicked continuously on ads just in case they could still secretly obtain click points. Some made their masochism more physical; indeed, the half-mad albino continuously wore horsehair and had whipmarks criss-crossing his flanks. Unbeknownst to many of its members, Opus Neigh had a second purpose. There was an ancient, dangerous secret in the sim and they would be undone if it were made public. They would go to any length to keep the secret hidden. The albino did not know and did not care about these deeper motives. He just knew he had a job to do. He continued methodically after the new torchbearer.

…………………………………………………

But where should she run, Chilcoat wondered. She decided to maintain her original course, but to step up the pace. The stables at Vermont racetrack were on the way and if anyone would know about a lady with secrets, it would be them. She ran up the road and found her way to the residents’ lounge.

“You look rough,” said a woman. “Coffee?”

“Please,” said Chilcoat. “And Irish it up a little, will you?”

“No problem. Can I help?”

“Oh, probably not,” sighed the puzzled puzzleologist, carefully sipping her coffee from one hand while holding the torch in the other. “I’m supposed to find a lady with secrets, but I have no idea why.”

“So it’s come to that at last,” sad the woman sadly. “I can’t say I’m too surprised. I’m Ldyssecret and I’m the one you’re looking for. I’m part of an ancient order devoted to safeguarding an important secret. If you’ve been sent to me, I have something to give you.” She rummaged around in her purse and handed Chilcoat a slip of paper.

“But can’t you just tell me the secret?”

“No, that would be too simple. The secret can’t fall into the wrong hands. Just follow these instructions and be very careful. Many have died in pursuit of this knowledge.” With a quick “good luck,” Ldyssecret vanished from the room.

“But I actually don’t care what the secret is……..oh, well,” Chilcoat trailed off as the mysterious woman vanished. “I might as well look into it.”

The slip of paper said:

AIGHTSTRAY OMFRAY ETHAY ORSE’SHAY OUTHMAY: EEKSAY UNNYBANKSAY EMORIALMAY

Chilcoat scowled. This was gibberish. She might be a famous puzzleologist who had mastered 27 languages, but this was in none of them. She simply could not find a pattern to the seemingly random collection of letters. The paper was useless and Ldyssecret was nowhere to be found. Setting down her coffee, she stuffed the paper in a pocket, lifted the torch high once again, and proceeded outdoors.

Proceeding to the backside, she pulled out the paper and pored over it some more. It wasn’t getting any clearer. Just then a passing trainer peered over her shoulder and said, “Hey! Is that pig latin? My kid uses it all the time. Drives me nuts.”

The torchbearer quickly hid the paper again and moved on. Of course. Pig Latin was a cipher with which she had a passing familiarity. She pulled out a pencil and translated quickly:

STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH: SEEK SUNNYBANK MEMORIAL

Running again, she headed to the barn containing the champion stallion.

………………………

Walking quietly and doing his best to blend with the scenery, the albino followed. He was in no rush and would choose his moment carefully.

……………………….

Chilcoat walked into the dark barn. There he was. The brown stallion watched the torch nervously as its holder tried to figure out what to do next. She glanced around the stall, looking for loose boards or hidden doors. It was hard to tell in the poor lighting, but she didn’t see anything. She was reluctant to enter the horse’s stall unless absolutely necessary. Then she remembered that the clue had said “from the horse’s mouth.” Didn’t all racehorses have tattoos on their upper lips? It was worth a look.

“Easy, boy,” she said as she reached for his head. Pulling up his lip, she read 1321416. She released the horse, who danced away to the back of his stall. She jotted down the number on her paper and went back outside. She decided to wander around the grounds until she saw something that gave her an idea.

Dawn was approaching and as Chilcoat wandered to the enormous track where half the Equinics races would be held, horses were beginning their morning workouts. She leaned her arms on the railroad to enjoy them for a few moments. As she watched a feisty colt fighting his jockey, her eyes landed on a sign reading “Section 132.”

“That’s it!” she yelled, slammig the torch down on the rail and further spooking the young colt on the track. Heedless of the horses around her she sprinted over to the section. “Section 132, Row 14, Seat 16. Here it is.”

With a trembling hand she reached under the seat. Taped to the bottom was another sheet of paper. She read it and paled. “This is unbelievable. If this ever gets out……I have to get out of here.”

Ducking from a sudden shadow, she just missed a blow from the raging albino. She ran for her life down some narrow stairs she hoped would slow him down and sought out crowds. She headed back outside and saw that a throng of people was waiting near the main door to the stadium. Standing near the door was Mano2, awaiting his turn with the torch. If she could reach him and pass the information to him, she would be safe.

Chilcoat put on a new burst of speed. The albino was just behind her. She stretched the torch out to Mano2 reached for it.

“Just a moment,” she said. As the albino pranced in frustration, she passed to torch and whispered to Mano2 the biggest, most scandalous and shocking secret the Sim has ever known…..