Each day progressed pretty much like every other day on the estate. Seasons came and went; crops planted and harvested, animals born, raised, and slaughtered. One of Claudia's favorite places on the estate were the stables, where her husband had bred and raised prize-winning race horses. The stables were old, dating back to Roman times, and well-built. This morning, though, was different. One of the stable grooms come running to the house, screaming at the top of his lungs. "There's blood on the straw! Blood on the straw!" He told Marcus that War Charge, the most famous and successful of the studs, was missing as well. Marcus left the half-hysterical fellow babbling away, as he headed for the stable. Going out the kitchen door, Marcus instructed one of the cook's helpers to wake Claudia and have her come down to the stable right away. Upon arriving at the stable, Marcus cleared the gawking grooms away, assigning them orders, trying to bring the stables back to the normal activities--and, at the same time, getting the onlookers out of his way. He started examining the scene; one large mass of bloodied straw in the stall where War Charge had been quartered and, closer to the door, a somewhat smaller splattering of coagulating blood. Marcus kneeled, touched the drying blood with a finger and touched it briefly to his tongue. He couldn't tell if it belonged to the horse or a person. "Could be a pig, for all I know," he muttered to himself. A shadow at the door, announced the arrivel of Claudia. Less than a quarter of an hour, he judged. She hadn't wasted any time getting here, considering that she was probably still asleep, when his message had arrived. Claudia came over beside Marcus. "Is it War Charge's?" Marcus shrugged. "Not sure, yet." "It's probably one of the groom's," Claudia said. "I checked to see if any of the grooms were missing. Lemakus and Crassius are both gone." "Then it's likely the blood's human," replied Marcus. "I'm guessing that one or the other was attempting to make off with the stud and a fight broke out." There was silence between them, then; "I'd lay odds Lemakus is our thief. He's lazy, shiftless, and I've always thought a bit on the dishonest side." "Yes, I think so, too," Claudia confirmed. "And poor Crassius probably caught him in the act and threatened to tell, or tried to get Lemakus to stop. I hope the boy' not hurt too bad." Marcus glanced down at the two bloody spots, then looked directly at Claudia. He blew out a long sigh. "I expect we'll find him dead before the day's out. Might be buried in one of the large straw piles outside. At least, I'd start looking there first." Marcus rose to his feet, knee joints popping loudly. Claudia moved closer and in low murmurs they began planning how to recover the horse and catch a thief. The Roman Stable is a Net freebie, but unfortunately, I don't remember where or who I got it. The Mike 2 Peasant Outfits come from PoserWorld. The hair and beard is the "Fantasy beard" by Anton Kisiel. Empire Gown for V2/V3 by Traveler and Shadownet with texture by Judith Ward. Horse is Poser 5 and its bridle is TackPack. Straw, blood splatters, and tile flooring are textures by David Gurrea. Thanks to all of you and the Renderosity Merchants below!