The Rock
3 All’s Fair
I WOKE UP at four-thirty with a tear trickling from my eye. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I love you still, Hannah. Rose kissed the tear and whispered, “I know, love.” She held me tightly and we went back to sleep. Did I say that out loud?
Seven naked girls served Rose and me breakfast in bed. We were surrounded by love. Each of our girlfriends stretched out beside us and kissed us. I took one last opportunity to fondle Cassie and hear her sigh before she gave way to Nikki. Nikki wanted my fingers in her pussy, but I whispered to her that this was my time with Rose. She pouted a little, but then gave a warm kiss to Rose. I wondered if she had poisoned her lips. You just never knew with Nikki.
“You know I’m not leaving you this week,” Rose said as she turned to kiss me. A couple of the girls were in the bathroom. Most had gotten dressed and cleaned up the kitchen and back yard. Sam, Jennifer, and Courtney were getting the horses ready for trail rides. Nikki and Liz came to the bed dressed in their leathers.
“It’s a gorgeous day,” Liz said. “Are you two sure you don’t want to come for a ride?”
“Liz, if it was you lying naked beside me and Sam came in and invited us to go out on horseback, what would you want to do?” I laughed. “And what do you think I’d want to do?”
“Well, when you put it that way, I guess there’s a lot of difference between hooking up on horseback at say zero-to-five miles an hour and hooking up on a motorcycle at zero-to-seventy. We might want to try it sometime, though.” Liz and Nikki laughed, kissed us both goodbye, and ran down the stairs. A few moments later I heard their bikes start up. Cassie and Sora came out of the bathroom in jeans and tennis shoes.
“We’re riding double with the girls over to my house,” Cassie said. “Sora’s going to spend the afternoon with me. Her car’s still here, so we might call you up to come and walk us through the dark spooky woods when we come back this evening.”
“You might have to hold our hands,” Sora said. “I’m scared of dark spooky woods.”
“Okay. Let me know. Of course, if Rose and I are busy, we might send the caballeros after you. How’s that? Can we have caballeros in our clan to indicate the horse people?” I got hit three times and then got a loving kiss from each of them. We were alone in bed at last. I didn’t know for sure when Mom, Dad, and Anna would be back, but I guessed they were enjoying their time without kids around as much as we were enjoying ours without parents. Rose rolled toward me.
“My cónyuge,” Rose murmured. “Was it worth the wait, Brian?”
“Rose, my love, how can you even ask? It was sweet torture, but worth every minute, every word, and every phone call.”
“And now we know that if we ever have to be apart for some reason, like business or travel with a different hearthmate, we can still have sex by long distance,” she laughed.
“How about now? Would you like me to tell you about how I’m going to make love to you, or would you like me to do it?”
Rose spent the night. The girls stayed in their room downstairs. Mom and Dad and Anna gave Rose a hug and just sighed when we went to bed. They didn’t check our sleepwear. Which was a good thing since we didn’t have any.
In the morning after Rose and I showered together, I went to work and was in a lot better mood than I’d been in the week before. We worked long and hard on the plans for fair week. We had our line-up of guests, including Bill and Crystal coming down for an interview during one of the morning broadcasts. I’d be taking a cameraman named Jess with me to interview the various food vendors. We’d worked on my segment several times since he was kind of a roving cameraman and was often called in on Saturdays to do our filming. When we looked at the exhibitors and vendors lists, we identified nine different booths that would be selling elephant ears. Sunday, I was going to have to acquire a sample from each vendor and decide which one would make the best interview candidate. In a way it would be an endorsement, so I wanted both a good elephant ear and nice people. In addition to that, I wanted to see the girls ride in their events. The Senior Western Pleasure class would be on Thursday and I was hoping to have my interview in the can and be able to get to the arena to see my girls.
When I got home from work, Rose was in the kitchen preparing dinner for the eight of us.
“What are you doing, sweetheart?” I asked as I gave her a kiss.
“You really aren’t the only one in the casa who can cook,” Rose laughed. “I thought it would help smooth the way for us sleeping together. I invited the other girls to be upstairs with us tonight, by the way.”
“Is that wise?”
“The truth is that I’m just a little sore. My pussy has had a lot of use in the past thirty-six hours. I love it, but I’m not really used to it. I just don’t want to let my lover out of my sight.”
We had dinner and all played a game in the family room before we got ready for bed. Everyone was pretty much on my schedule these days. I was always awake by four-thirty and had to leave for work by six-thirty. Dad left about the same time and Mom was gone by seven. The other women in the house didn’t have to leave until late morning for their jobs. Rose said she was running home for some fresh supplies—whatever that meant.
There was no pretense that Sam, Jen, and Court would sleep on the floor. They were all three naked and piled in with us. The hug Sam gave me in bed was almost a death-grip. She held me so tightly that I turned to her and found her sniffling against me.
“Are you okay, Cutie?”
“Do you still love me, Brian? I’m sorry. I’m not jealous, Rose. Honest. I just. You’re so beautiful and you’ve loved Brian for so long and I’m so scared that he won’t love me because we haven’t made love yet and I got scared and…” I kissed her. Rose reached across me to hug Sam closer to me and Courtney scampered around the bed to sandwich her between us.
“I love you, Samantha. I will always love you.”
“When I was with Hannah, I knew that you would love us both, but I feel so alone sometimes,” Sam sobbed.
“Hey, what are we? Chopped liver?” Courtney said, hugging Samantha.
“You and Jennifer are wonderful and I love you,” Sam said. “But I’m like a third wheel. You’ve loved each other forever and I’m just tagging along.” Jennifer scrambled over Rose to lie on top of Sam and me so we had her pinned from all sides and the top.
“Samantha! I would never let a third wheel lick my pussy!” Jennifer exclaimed. Well, that was information I didn’t have before. My cock sprang up against Samantha of its own accord. She felt it and rubbed against it. “I mean…” Jennifer backpedaled.
“Cat’s out of the bag now,” Courtney laughed.
“Sounds more like the pussy’s out,” Rose giggled against my back. She started rubbing against me, too. Jennifer squeaked and I realized that she had a boob right on top of Rose’s hand and just got her nipple tweaked.
“I thought I’d be like the first or second to make love to Brian, but then everything fell apart in May and there was Sarah and Liz. And then, where did Sora come from? And Brenda? And now Rose and next week is Jennifer and Courtney’s turn and by Labor Day Whitney will be back and Elaine wants you. The only ones who aren’t likely to make love to you before me are Cassie and Nicolette. And the way Cassie was humping you Saturday night, I’m not so sure about her.”
“I know what our novia Samantha needs,” Rose said. I wiggled around a bit so I was more on my back. Jennifer was still on top, but more on Sam and Courtney than on me. Rose cuddled against me. She still had a hand trapped between Sam and Jen.
“What does novia Samantha need?” I asked. Somehow, Rose had become the first among equals. I’d noticed it Saturday night and as soon as Samantha, Jen, and Courtney came home on Sunday.
“Novia Samantha needs a wedding.” We all caught our breath. A wedding?
“I can’t just marry Samantha!” I had a hundred reasons. I’d marry her if we weren’t all in this relationship together and if I wasn’t hung up on believing Hannah would one day come back to me and that I wouldn’t hurt any of my girlfriends like that, even with Hannah, and…
“Of course you can’t,” Rose continued. “Not in the traditional sense. But think about Saturday night, lover. I don’t think we realized what was going on exactly, but we had a wedding. And it was so beautiful. All our hearthmates were with us to celebrate becoming a family and every single one of them kissed me and wished me love and joy with you. We didn’t get married, but we sure had a wedding.”
“Can we?” Samantha whispered.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Jen said. “We’ve got our whole thing planned for at the fair. I don’t think we’ll have a ritual or ceremony, but we’re sure going to shack up. We’ve been planning this for too long to even think about delaying any longer. But think about it, Samantha. You could actually set a date, pick who you want to attend, wear something special, or anything you want, or nothing at all like Rose did. We, your hearthmates, would all be your bridesmaids. I’m getting wet thinking about it.”
“I can tell. Your pussy is on my leg. And you can keep sliding up and down like that, love,” Samantha giggled. “Brian? Could we have something like a wedding and then I would become your cónyuge? And you would take me to bed after our ceremony and deflower me and make love to me and I would be yours?” I clamped my mouth shut before I responded without thinking. There had been so many little rituals among our group. The whole establishment of the rules and now the casa. Were we putting more meaning on our relationships than they merited? Hell, we were all going to the same college. None of us considered what we had as temporary. We were in love. I really didn’t need Rose to pinch me before I answered.
“Samantha Maria Cortales, will you do me the honor of becoming my cónyuge? Will you set a date and help plan a ceremony that will let all our hearthmates know that you and I are joining together? I love you, Samantha. Please say yes.”
“Yes! Rose, I love you! Thank you! I’m so excited. I want to set a date. I love you, Brian. I should have said that first. I love you and I want you. Now I really feel like I’m your novia.”
If you want to kill the idea of having sex, start talking about having a wedding. It’s not that it’s not romantic or a turn-on, but it has a life of its own. It takes all the energy in the room to talk about it, plan it and fantasize about it. We talked for a couple of hours. Well, they talked and I listened. Occasionally, someone would say “Right, Brian?” and I’d mumble something appropriate. I was getting tired and I had to work in the morning. Even under a pile of naked girls, I finally succumbed and went to sleep.
I woke at my usual time and whispered “I love you” to Hannah. There was a slight stirring.
“Tell her for me, too,” Sam whispered. “She’ll hear it if you say it.” I hugged her and whispered it again.
Rose had shifted during the night. Jen was on my right and Sam on my left. Courtney was cuddled up against Sam. Rose was lying between my legs. As soon as she knew I was awake, she started moving. She had my morning hard-on trapped between her breasts and proceeded to stroke me until I splattered my seed against her, Samantha and Jennifer. Sam rubbed it into all three of us as Rose slid up my body for a good morning kiss.
“Go get ready for work, honey. I need to snuggle with my hearthmates.” I showered and dressed, kissed each of my four lovelies and went downstairs to face the morning, including my parents and Anna.
“I don’t like you having to go to work so early in the morning,” Anna said. “What happened to fresh bread?”
“It’s too hot to turn on the oven, even at this hour of the morning,” Mom complained. “I can barely stand to be near the coffeepot.”
“Could you stand to be near me, darling?” Anna asked.
“Oh, I’d sweat to be near you,” Mom giggled.
“I’m thinking maybe air conditioning before next summer,” Dad said. “I’m also thinking I’ll have to steal Brian’s bread recipe before he leaves for college next year.”
“You really want to keep me around?” Anna whimpered.
I’d had a little—well a lot of—experience with kissing two girls at once. I’d never really watched it, though. By the time Dad was finished with Mom and Anna, I was ready to go back upstairs.
I was getting ready for the most stressful week of my life. I don’t mean stress like emotional tears. I mean stress like final exams. It was worse than preparing for my night of Chateaubriand at the Tally Ho. Half my time at the studio was being taken up with learning how to work with Jess in the field. Harvey sent us out to a local restaurant to do a report on their Polishfest. Fortunately, the owner was a funny guy who carried the interview. Then we went back to the studio and I learned about cutting and putting the whole three-hour experience into a five-minute clip that would air the next day. I got home at eight-thirty, too tired to eat. I took a shower and Rose joined me to make sure I was really—I mean really!—clean. I flopped into bed and didn’t know who slept with us until morning.
And Miss Polly started being a bitch. With Harvey training me to do remote interviews and get the tape cut for segments on the show, I’d let a bunch of things slip on Polly’s list. She wanted me on top of what I was supposed to be doing for her, fired, or given my own show, depending on her mood at the moment. I was becoming more and more sure that I didn’t want a career in television.
On Sunday, we went to the fair. I mean Jennifer, Courtney, Samantha, Rose, Sora, Liz, Nikki, Cassie, and me. For me, it was work. My hearthmates all helped, though. They helped me sample all eleven elephant ears, for example. I had to talk to the vendors, assess which I thought had the best fried dough, and which was the most personable for a television interview without letting them know that was what I was doing. Thank heavens there were nine of us and eleven elephant ears. Unfortunately, I couldn’t just send everyone to a different booth and get an ear. I had to actually talk to the vendor. Then the nine of us sampled the dough, rated it, and moved to the next vendor. We rated the quality of the food and the personality of the vendor.
Finally—after two hours—I went back to the top choice and talked to the vendor about doing an interview for the show. He didn’t believe me. Curse of being a teenager. Damn, I wished I had some portable video device I could use to show him I was serious. Fortunately, his wife and two daughters thought it was great. Whether they believed me or not, they wanted to be on television. We finally slated an interview that evening when Jess would show up and we’d actually film the segment. It had to be ready for broadcast on the Monday morning segment. In the meantime, we started on the other foods. There was no question in my mind as to the salt water taffy and Mike was happy to entertain us as he fed each of us bits of his specialty. We agreed to meet him at his booth at ten-thirty Monday morning before the midway really got rolling. And on it went.
All nine of us trooped into our house at ten Sunday night, went through the showers and teeth brushing, and flopped on the air mattresses to go to sleep.
Monday live at the fair went fine with the usual glitches of something not having made the setup truck to go to our broadcast booth. The station had half a dozen people in a constant string running back to the studio to get something. At least one thing they didn’t have to get was coffee for Miss Polly. As soon as she walked in I handed her the cup and she scowled at me.
“Don’t tell me we didn’t bring the mugs,” she said as she looked at the Styrofoam container.
“Everything’s here and I have your regular coffee ready. This is something new I discovered yesterday. Try it.” She still scowled at me but took a tentative sip. Her eyes popped open.
“What is this? I can feel my thighs swelling with every sip. It must have a million calories!” She took another drink. “So yummy.”
“It’s a latte. I had one in Seattle when I went there last Christmas. The vendor says it’s a European import but they buy their beans from Peet’s Coffee. It’s been around Indy and Fort Wayne for a couple of years.”
“What’s in it?”
“The basic recipe is steamed whole milk and espresso. Espresso is a kind of coffee that is pressed through grounds at high heat and pressure. You only get a shot. This size latte has two shots and steamed milk. They added a squirt of vanilla flavoring and sprinkled nutmeg on top. Sorry I had to put a lid on it. It’s really pretty when they make it.”
“One. No more and no less. Brian, I want one of these every morning. I understand the Styrofoam cup at the fair, but please make them in a mug for me when we are back at the studio.”
“Make them?”
“Of course. You can’t go running out to some street vendor every morning. Find out how they make this espresso and steamed milk and get it set up in our kitchen. I assume you plan to interview the vendor this week.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. What’s on our schedule today?”
We got right into the thick of things. In addition to the live show, Miss Polly was a very popular guest for various 4-H groups and would be a judge for the fashion show. I had to run out right after the show with Jess to film the interview with Mike and Adelaide Burns at the salt water taffy stand. At the pace I was going, Miss Polly’s assistant was going to need an assistant.
“By the way, Brian,” Miss Polly said as we were parting to go to our separate events. “That latte thing made up for a lot of faults. Good job.”
Well, hell! Was that a compliment?
The entourage arrived Tuesday morning. Of course, I didn’t see any of them until nearly five after I’d completed my work for the day and checked the editing for the segment on Peet’s Coffee. Jess and I were getting along well and he was doing most of the post-recording work. He’d been out of college two years and was determined to land a full-time job with a network eventually. Harvey and I had to go over everything when it was finished as well. It was pretty cool because the cute girl who made the shots—the barista, I was told—let me get behind the machine and showed me exactly how to make espresso. I wondered how big Miss Polly’s budget was for new kitchen equipment.
All of my hearthmates who were in town were helping at the fair. Sora’s family owned a travel trailer and she’d hauled it over so we had both the truck camper and the trailer. Nikki ordered pizza and had to go out to get it because they couldn’t deliver on the fairgrounds. She couldn’t do it on her motorcycle, so Rose took them in my car. Well, Elaine’s car. She’d given it to me for the summer but she’d be back in a couple of weeks to reclaim it and go to college. There was a growing number of people in the little campground on the west side of the fairgrounds. A few of the horse trailers had sleeping space in the front over a fifth wheel. That was some serious gear. There were a lot of trucks with various types of campers and a few trailers. It was a friendly group and a lot of them were grilling dinner so the smells were incredible. Behind us, the sounds of the midway and the occasional announcement of a new act in the grandstands are all that was heard. The girls put a ring of Tiki Torches around our site to keep the mosquitoes away. That’s what I thought, anyway.
“It’s the best we could do for a fire,” Rose explained. “We are hearthmates. Our compañera and our cónyuge and our novia. We are all of Casa del Fuego who are near enough but know that Whitney and Elaine send their love and blessing. We’re all just going to hang out here for a while like nothing whatsoever is happening… just in there.” She grinned and pointed at the camper. It was dark out and that was all the motive I needed to bid each of my hearthmates goodnight and conduct my two novia into the camper.
There’s something to be said for having been naked and sexually active with each other for nearly two years without going all the way. We were completely comfortable with each other as we undressed and we knew our bodies well enough to know what turned each other on and what didn’t. Still, there was a frisson of excitement as we prepared to cross the last boundary.
“Are we really going to do this, lovers?” I asked.
“Oh yes!” Jennifer squealed. “Look! We brought a whole new box of condoms!”
“That’s really optimistic of you to think that I might need twelve condoms,” I laughed.
“This is only night one of our honeymoon, lover. But we can always send out for more if we need them,” Courtney laughed as she melted into my arms for a long and heartfelt kiss. While I was busy with Courtney’s lips, Jennifer was kissing her all over her back. Soon, Courtney was moaning and I picked her up and placed her on the bed. Jennifer and I worked our way down her body with kisses, sucks, licks, and tweaks. Soon, the two of us were between Courtney’s wide-spread legs with our cheeks and tongues together as we jointly licked up Courtney’s wet slit and focused on her clit. Courtney rose rapidly and the squealing screech she emitted was sure to tell those camped outside that one of my lovers had her first orgasm of the night. Courtney collapsed back and rolled to the back of the bed as Jennifer and I crawled in.
“Court’s already had you anally,” Jennifer said. “I get to be the first vaginally. Come here, lover. I am so ready for you I almost came when Courtney did.” Jennifer laid back and opened her center to me. Courtney did the honors of sheathing me and positioning me for entrance. “Come to me. Come to me, my cónyuge. I am yours.” What an invitation. As I leaned forward to kiss Jennifer, I slowly sank into her hot, tight pussy until my pubic bone was rubbing against her clit. I’d imagined this since we were fourteen and Jennifer crawled into my sleeping bag at the dude ranch.
“Three-and-a-half years, little Girl Scout,” I whispered.
“Three years, ten months, and eight days,” Jennifer whispered back. “Every one of them spent wondering how you would feel when you were finally inside me.”
“Jen, is it wonderful?” Courtney asked.
“So good, Court. So good. Kiss me, sweetheart.” The two girls kissed as I pulled back and slid in again. And again. I bent forward to kiss Jennifer and Courtney moved to her girlfriend’s luscious nipples. Having usually been together when we played, we knew how to work together to bring our lover the maximum amount of pleasure. As Jennifer and I both neared our climax, Courtney moved around behind me, holding my balls and reaching under far enough to feel where I slid in and out of Jennifer. Jen didn’t need any additional clitoral stimulation. She was going to make it before me, thank goodness. Then as she peaked, Courtney stuck her tongue in my ass. I shrieked as loudly as Jennifer as we came together, pumping my seed out inside her.
All of a sudden there was cheering outside the camper and the girls were pounding on the sides. We started laughing.
“I am the anal queen,” Courtney declared. “Giving or receiving.”
“How did they know not to celebrate when you screamed?” I asked as we laughed. Jennifer’s laughter did wonderful things to my cock as it began to soften inside her. I reluctantly grabbed the condom and pulled out and rolled to her side.
“Only one of us screamed,” Jennifer giggled. “They could tell a test run from the real thing. Brian, that was so wonderful. Thank you for rescuing me back at the dude ranch and being my constant loving boyfriend. I love you so much!”
Courtney scrambled off the bed and removed the condom, disposing of it. Then she bent to start licking and sucking on me so I came back to life while Jennifer and I kissed. It didn’t take all that long to have a working implement again. She rolled a condom onto me and got on top of me. Jennifer moved over a little to give her room. The camper bed really wasn’t made for three people, but we were two wide and two deep.
“I was on the… uh… bottom when you took my first cherry, Brian,” Courtney said. “For this cherry, I’m riding my stallion like a good cowgirl should.” Jennifer held me upright and got me lined up before Courtney sank down. Oh, holy fucking shit! Yes, Courtney’s ass had been a tight fit, but I’d never felt a pussy so tight around my cock. I looked between us to make sure it was her pussy that was clenching around me. It took her a few tries to get most of the way down and not a little squealing and exclamation.
“Courtney! Oh my God! Oh, my Courtesan!”
“Yesss!” she whined. “I’ve never even put a tampon in there. I was so upset the day I found blood in my panties after riding my bike. My hymen is gone, but you have gone where nothing has gone before. Never been penetrated. Oh, my God!” Courtney started coming almost immediately and wasn’t about to stop coming until she’d established enough of a rhythm to get us both going. When I started pumping in her, tears started running out of my eyes. I clenched her to me and rose to thrust further into her as we both cried out.
Once again, there were cheers and pounding on the camper’s sides. We laughed and cried and held each other, depositing another condom in the trash. Before our night was through, we’d added two more.
Wednesday morning was a bit of a strain. Oh, not between Courtney, Jennifer, and me. That was great. We’d managed to deposit two more condoms in the trash before I had to run to get a shower and dress for work. The strain was at work. Greeting and talking with Bill and Crystal. I kind of figured that Anna already knew what was going on last night. But in addition to her daughter, I’d spent the night fucking Bill and Crystal’s daughter, too. Their little baby was definitely no longer a virgin.
They had no idea and were excited to watch Courtney and Jennifer ride in the Western Horsemanship event this afternoon. I tried to warn them it would be boring. In the interview, Bill kept turning the questions Miss Polly asked him to talk about me.
Miss P: Bill and Crystal, you’ve had the Tally Ho for eight years now. What’s the secret to your success?
Crystal: Living at the restaurant twenty-four-seven. It’s a good thing we already had our child. [laughter]
Bill: Sharing everything has certainly been a part of it. I think the combination of innovation and reliability is a big part, too. We worked hard to make our prime rib a draw and it is still our most popular dish on Friday and Saturday. But we had the good fortune to bring Brian in as an intern two years ago and he made a very convincing argument for having a big draw on what would otherwise be an off-night. You were there for his Chateau Brian.
Miss P: Indeed, I was. What would you say is one of the biggest draws for people coming to the Tally Ho? I know you came in late last night and put a beautiful prime Rib in the oven for us here at the fair that we’ll get to sample in a little while. What keeps people coming back?
Bill: We certainly have a group of regulars who come in at least once a month, but a restaurant can’t depend on the same people to fund them all the time. We got some good publicity with our intern program, thanks to Brian. That opened up a whole new group of people for whom the restaurant might be a once-a-year, or even a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We’ve noticed an increase in wedding parties, for example. I’d have to credit some of that success to the ‘Young Cooking’ brand that we licensed from Homemaker Productions. He’s got quite a fan-base.
Okay. I was a little embarrassed by all the compliments that Bill tossed my way. Crystal was a little more reserved as she talked about their purchasing process and things loosened up when we pulled the rib out of the oven and Bill demonstrated slicing and searing the meat on the grill. We wrapped things up and Crystal helped me clean up the kitchen while Bill signed autographs and handed out recipe cards for the Jonathan Halliday Prime Rib. Before we left the set, he sliced and seared three more ribs and then sliced the meat so that everyone in the audience could sample it. It was too bad I had to scramble to get to my afternoon interview. Miss Polly was off to her home economics lecture for the Washington Township 4-H club and never said a word to me.
Bill and Crystal went to find the girls and watch what I knew would be a boring afternoon of horses and riders riding in a circle and changing gaits on command. Since it was a required event in each division, over a hundred 4-H horse exhibitors would compete at six to ten at a time. I headed to the Nothin’ but Goat Grill to learn about their tater twisters. All the meat on this vendor’s menu was goat meat. Burgers, hot dogs, sausages, and even a breaded goat tenderloin. That was almost a heresy in Indiana. But the stuff was good and a lot of people tried it. Many of those people, though, came for the tater twisters and bought the goat burger as an afterthought.
I learned about the importance of using stainless steel utensils at the grill. They demonstrated that a wooden spoon in the hot oil would cause it to boil and spatter all over. Stainless steel slipped in with scarcely a bubble. And it was important to have a long slotted spoon to stir the taters. Unlike French fries that are submerged in a basket, the tater twisters are placed loose in the oil, using the slotted spoon to transfer them. They cook a little faster than the French fries if you let them spread out. If the potato clumps together in a tight space, part of the twists will be crisp or even burned while other parts will be raw and dripping with oil. It was a good segment and Jess and I headed for the studio van to look at the tape and determine the cuts.
By six, I was exhausted again and ready for bed. Of course, that waited as all the parents had come to the fair and were intent on feeding us kids, finding out what we had seen, and visiting the horses. They also inspected our living quarters but there were no comments about who was sleeping where. Mom, Dad, and Anna certainly knew, but with all nine of us there, it just looked like there was plenty of room for everyone in the camper and trailer. The girls had even set up a nice tent between the two and I noticed there was a sleeping bag rolled up inside the flap. Diversionary tactics.
By Thursday afternoon I was wiped out. The roast corn on the cob interview went well, partly because it was sponsored by the Shriners with all proceeds going to their hospital and Mr. Duval was my guest. Once he gets out of his suit and tie and into that fez, he’s really a funny and interesting guy. I discovered he is the General Counsel for Bendix which is a pretty high mucky-muck position, I guess. Thing is, the other guys he introduced me to were also high-ups in various corporations around the county. They were all contributing their time and said they’d learned how to properly husk corn from my show. We all had a good laugh and I ate an ear of corn dipped in a vat of butter and then salt-and-peppered. Having Nikki with me looking like a normal teenager in cut-offs, bandana shirt, and army boots helped.
It was after three and I looked at Jess.
“I’m going to the arena. I’ll come look at the tape later. I want to pretend I’m a seventeen-year-old with three hot girlfriends riding horses.” I took Nikki’s hand and headed that direction.
“Hey, I’ll come and tape that,” Jess laughed. “You do a pretty good impression of a TV talking head. Let’s see what you do when you’re just yelling your head off for your girlfriend.”
We got into the arena just in time to hear Jennifer’s name called to enter the stand-by gate.
“Could you tape her ride?” I asked. “I’d love to have a copy of her up on that big horse showing her stuff. You know that’s how we met? She fell off a horse and I caught her.”
“There has to be more to that story,” Jess laughed. “Wow! He is a big boy!”
This time I was nowhere near close enough to catch Jennifer.
The course was laid out so she would start at a walk for a few yards, trot as she crossed a fallen log, and then do an easy lope changing leads as they zig-zagged down the arena. At the end, she’d go to the center of the ring and back Jingo up three or four steps. Only she never made it that far. Jingo had just gone into a smooth trot headed for the log when there was an explosion that sounded like a gunshot right between his back legs. Some bastard had thrown a firecracker into the ring.
Jingo’s hind legs went straight up in the air in a buck and Jennifer managed to lie back and hang on, but when his front legs came up and he twisted in the air, she had no hope of staying in the saddle. It was like slow-motion watching her as she came down with a crack on the log. Jingo took off racing for the other end of the ring, still bucking. I was in motion before Jennifer landed. I let out a piercing whistle that would have done my dad proud.
“Jingo! Hi-yo!” I shouted as I climbed to the top of the rail separating the stands from the dirt floor of the arena. Jingo planted his feet and slid to a stop that would do a cutting horse proud. I whistled again. He turned toward me and came at a gallop. That’s the thing about a well-trained horse. Even when he’s spooked, he’s listening for the sound he can trust and he knew my voice and my whistle. I jumped into the saddle before he’d come to a complete stop and turned him toward Jennifer. A nudge and we were down the ring. I sat back in the saddle and Jingo slid to a stop again. I pulled the reins over his head and dropped the knot to the ground. I faced him, got his attention and said, “Good boy. Stand.” His nostrils flared as he caught a whiff of the gunpowder that still lingered in the air, but he dropped his head and blew. He seemed to look at Jennifer apologetically as I knelt beside her. Tears had started, but she was still gasping for breath. Getting the wind knocked out of her was likely to be the least of her problems.
“Owww!” she cried out.
“Don’t move, baby. EMTs are on their way. We don’t know where you’re hurt. Don’t move until they get here with a backboard.”
“My leg!” I glanced down and saw her right leg lying at an odd angle across the log. Thank heaven it hadn’t been her back.
“If you can feel it, that’s a good sign. Just don’t move, baby. I see them coming now.” There are always ambulances and EMTs at the fair. Everything happens there from heart attacks and dehydration to people getting kicked or bitten. There’s a pumper truck and a ladder truck from the fire department on duty, too. One year a bunch of people got stuck on the Ferris wheel when the power went out with an approaching thunderstorm.
“Get that horse out of there!” someone yelled from behind me. “He’s a danger!”
“Jingo? Don’t let them hurt Jingo, Brian. I’ll be good and wait for the EMTs.”
“Here they are, hon. I love you.” I jumped up and caught Jingo’s reins.
“This horse needs to be put down,” the belligerent man yelled at me. Well, fuck him!
“You so much as touch my horse and it’s you who’ll be put down. Are you deaf and blind? Some asshole threw a firecracker under him. It’s not Jingo’s fault.”
“You own this animal?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll sue you for everything you ever hope to have.”
“Only if my cónyuge wishes it. She can have anything she wants.”
“Arthur! Get your lawsuit-happy ass away from Jennifer’s boyfriend and get over here to talk to your daughter!” Anna screamed from beside Jennifer. They had her mounted on a backboard and were strapping her down. “She refuses to be moved until you stop harassing her boyfriend.”
“What do you mean refuses. You’re her mother. Have her moved.” He walked away from me. Jennifer’s father? Great to meet you, sir.
“She’s eighteen and capable of making her own demands,” Anna shot back.
“Brian! Don’t let them hurt Jingo!” Jennifer cried. Courtney was running from the end of the arena and I saw Sam holding both Silk and Rika. A driver was bringing the ambulance into the arena complete with flashing lights. Thank heaven he didn’t have the siren going.
“I’ve got him, baby. Courtney’s going with you. I’ll be there soon!” I turned and led Jingo to where Sam was standing with tears running down her cheeks.
“Is she okay? Please say she’s okay.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s got a broken leg. Everything else seemed fine except getting the wind knocked out of her. We won’t know until they get her to the hospital. They aren’t taking any chances.” We led our horses to their stalls and I took the time to brush down Jingo properly while Sam ran to get Rose. Rose had the other girls organized in no time and there was a cordon of beautiful girls guarding his stall while Sam and I ran for Elaine’s car and took off to the hospital.
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