Storiesonline.net ------- All In by cmsix Copyright© 2009 by cmsix ------- Description: Late in life I decided I wanted to be a Cowboy, and I ain't talking about one of those football playing ones from Dallas. Hell, I got sidetracked along the way. Codes: MF ------- ------- Chapter 1 Yeh, I guess you could call me a freak, a weirdo, or whatever you like. I'm just another guy born too late, well, too late to suit my wanter. I've got a hellacious wanter. I've been able to satisfy it sometimes, most of the time in fact, but not now. Right now, I want to be a cowboy, but it's too late. Luckily enough for me, my dad had money and a good business. We lived in a small North East Texas town and when I was just dying for a horse, he bought me one. Bought both my brothers their own too, when they pissed and moaned after seeing mine. Oh sure, he made me do a little work to get it. Mow the yard, clean up my own room, wash his car, crap like that. It wasn't really much, but just enough to make me responsible for things. Schoolwork came first too, let me slip up and get a B on a report card and my wanter was starved until the next card came out. Still life was a breeze, we lived in town so no real chores to do. My brothers were fighting now for their turn to do the mowing. They had wanters too. The maid washed and ironed our clothes and a different one was there to cook the meals, unless mother decided she needed a little practice. All I really had to do was my studying and then entertain myself. And feed my horse of course, he lived three blocks away on some empty lots. My dad was planning on putting in a small subdivision there in a few years, but for now it made a great place to keep my horse. I could hop on my bicycle and be there in five minutes, saddle up, and take a ride. Summer time was even bigger fun. That's when mother would pack my trunk and they'd send me off to Camp LaJunta. I was ten the first year I went and I loved it. Not another soul there knew me and it was starting off fresh with new boys to play with. I had it made too. I had my own horse at home, so there was no problem learning to ride. I even got to laugh at the others who couldn't even catch a horse in a pen and saddle it up. I got into trouble once for laughing at a kid who got turned around trying to get the saddle on his horse and put it on backwards. It was the same with riflery practice. I had a 22 at home and I already knew how to shoot. The practice on a real range with genuine paper targets was fun though. Archery? No problem either. I had a bow at home too, and after getting used to the ones they had at Camp LaJunta it was a snap. I couldn't wait to go to camp every summer, until I was too old after I turned thirteen. Getting older and missing out on summer camp didn't matter much either, because by then I wanted to do something with girls. I wasn't sure what exactly, but I knew I wanted a girlfriend to kiss on, at least. At fourteen I could get a driver's license, if I took driver's Ed, and I did. My first car was a hand me down from my dad of course. Someone talked him into buying a Vauxhall. It was a piece of shit little compact four door. He hated it and I think he was actually glad when he could give it to me and make me take my brothers to school. He went out and bought himself another Oldsmobile the next day. With a car of my own and since I wanted to go on dates, I got tired of feeding my horse every day, so my dad sold her. Hell, I think he even made fifty bucks on the deal, if you don't count all the feed she ate in three years. I wasn't a big hit with the ladies and I wasn't sure exactly why. I didn't think I was homely or anything. Still, none of the girls in my class wanted to go out with me, even though I was practically the only guy in our grade with my own car. Maybe they didn't think any more of my Vauxhall than I did. Nope, none of the girls my age would go out on a date with me, and I didn't have the balls to ask any of the high school girls out. Damn, I didn't really even know any of them anyway. That summer would have been a miserable one for me if I hadn't gone to summer school at San Marcos Baptist Academy. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as much fun as Camp LaJunta had been, but it was somewhere to go during the summer and there were new and different kids to meet. Heck, getting there and back was even a kind of miniature adventure. Dad thought I was old enough to go by myself. Not in my car of course, but he let me ride the train on my own. They sent someone from the school to fetch me and my steamer trunk, and after it was over they took me back to the train station. It was all right, and I had a credit and a half for high school already finished. I didn't find out until later what a rip off it had been. They charged a thousand bucks and change for summer school. Hell, Camp LaJunta was only around three-fifty and it was a bunch more fun. Wasn't really any skin off my ass though, cause daddy could afford it. That was my last summer of going off somewhere. When I started as a freshman in high school, I tumbled to the reason I couldn't get a date when I was in the eighth grade. Damn, none of the girls I asked out could get their parents to let them go. They all said they were too young, but do you think even one of the bitches would tell me so? Not hardly. I didn't have much trouble getting dates that year, even if I was too stupid to try taking any of them parking until after the Christmas break, when I built up my nerve. Oh, they'd still turn me down and brag about already having a date with someone else if they did, but if they didn't they'd usually say yes quick enough. Except for Lee Ellen. Sometimes Lee Ellen would go and sometimes she wouldn't, and it wasn't necessarily that she already had a date. I never found out what the deal was. We had fun when we did go out, or at least I did, and after I tumbled to the notion, she didn't mind going parking, most of the time. She was even the first girl that let me get her bra undone so I could kiss her titties, and she acted like she liked it at the time She wasn't about to let me tickle her fuzz though and none of the others would either. I didn't really expect them to. Girls back then didn't give up pussy very often, not for freshmen anyway. That summer I finally started to figure things out. I'm not sure I ever would have if it hadn't been for Jenna Gray. She wasn't from my hometown. She was in town visiting her cousin, Hillary, for the summer. Hillary wasn't such a much even though she was nice. She was a year younger than me, but her parents let her go out, kind of, with a guy my age. Of course they were going to get married after school. Yeh, of course they were. Anyway, Harold, Hillary's boyfriend, asked me to take her cousin out on a double date with he and Hillary. I wasn't doing anything anyway so I was up for it, even though I had never seen Jenna. Harold said she looked good and his word was good enough for me to take a chance. Since it was a double date, I knew my Vauxhall would be a pain, so I tore it up a little and my mom let me use her Oldsmobile 98 in the emergency. So far so good. I got Harold first and we picked up Hillary and Jenna and was I surprised. Jenna looked great. I mean she was as cute as she could be and nice too. When we were in the car she scooted over right up against me and laid her little hand on my thigh like we were the best of friends. We went to the drive in and after the movie started I figured what the hell and turned to kiss her. She was all for it and kissed back like a champ. Later, when I tried to feel her titty, it was fine with her. She gave a little moan down in her throat and the next thing I knew she'd moved into my lap and unbuttoned her own blouse about halfway down. My dick was harder than times in '29. I don't have any idea what movie was playing because I spent the whole thing playing with Jenna. I don't think Harold and Hillary were watching it either, in fact I'm sure they weren't because I could see in the rearview mirror they were below the level of the seat. When the movie was over we headed for home, but I pulled off at the lake and drove to a nice secluded parking spot so the fun could continue. I don't think Jenna had even bothered to hook her bra back together. We were back at it in seconds and when I put my head down to suck on one of her nipples, she sighed and hugged my head to her tighter. My big surprise came when I tried to slip my hand up between her legs, under her skirt. She spread her legs a little wider to give me room. Man, I was in heaven. She had a girdle on, like almost all the girls wore back then, but it wasn't real tight. Hell, she didn't really need one anyway. When I got my fingers in there all the tips found was hair and some slick flesh. I could hardly believe it, but I didn't dare hope for too much. I went for broke then, pulling my hand out and reaching both of them up under her dress to the waistband of the girdle. I was floored when she raised her hips enough for me to get the girdle completely off. From there it was only seconds for me to get my pants undone and when my dick sprang up, Jenna wrapped her hand around it and gave it a few quick pumps. I was going for the gold though, or I was going to try. Jenna was all for it, and when I raised her skirt to her waist and eased her to her back on the seat, she spread her legs wide as I climbed between them. She guided my dick right into her wet warm pussy when I pushed it toward her and she put her legs around my waist as I pumped for all I was worth. I know it must have been longer, but it seemed like only seconds before I shot my wad right up in her. Hell, she acted like it was a grand idea and kept hugging me and kissing around on my face and neck, she even sucked on my ear lobe. That was another wonderful move on her part. It was so surprising and such a turn on my deflating dick did an about face and inflated again. Jenna, must have known what was going to happen after I blew come up her and she must have been surprised when I came back to life. It didn't slow her down though, because when I started pumping it up her again she seemed thrilled. She humped her hips under me as I fucked and she sucked on my neck til I had a hickey the next day. Looking back on it, I don't know how it could have possibly happened, but Jenna was building up to a come of her own. Soon enough her nails were digging into my back and she was making these little squealing noises and getting higher and louder with them. I remember Hillary, in the back, whispering to Harold. "But they just met. We've never done it and we're going to get married." Well they didn't ever get married, but I did get my first pussy and Jenna finally got a good come of her own. I'll say this for Jenna, she was grateful for it. She must have kissed and nibbled on me for the next hour. We got our clothes back on and went to Hillary's house. In the living room we split up to different couches for some more grubbing. My dick was hard and I was planning on getting some more pussy, and when we got started Jenna was right with me. I would have been scared shitless to try anything like it in any other girl's house, but Jasper Kirkland dated Hillary's older sister, Jane, and he'd told me he never even took her parking because the parents made it a point to never come back downstairs if one of the girls brought a date home. So if Jenna was willing, who was I to chicken out? It wasn't to be though. I guess Hillary thought Jenna and I were having too much fun. After a few minutes she went over and turned on the lights and said that she and Jenna had to go to bed. They walked Harold and I to the door and he nearly beat me to death on the way to the car, he was patting me on the back so hard. Along with the mother of all hickeys on my neck, good old Jenna had let me in on the reason I couldn't get any off my classmates though. Girls want the boy fucking them to be older than they are. I'm not even sure if they're conscious of it, but that's the way it's always worked out for me. I'm not saying every time you date a younger girl she'll give up the sweet meat, but I never got a bit from any girl my age, and I got a lot of pussy in high school and college. Of course, I didn't bother with girls my age or older. ------- Chapter 2 That was then and this is now. I got good grades in high school and good grades in college. Of course I had to go to college or end up shooting people I wasn't even mad at in Vietnam. I even stayed around for a masters to make sure they had the war shit all wrapped up. When I graduated I went right back home and advised my dad about his business. For the size town it was he had a giant retail business, a lumberyard, a grocery store, feed store, hardware, dry goods, ready to wear, shoe store, furniture, and appliances. He even had three other lumberyards in other towns. He had paid for my education and he thought I should take a little time to study his business and tell him how to improve his profits. I did and I was almost sure of the answer before I checked his books. After going over them for three weeks, I told him the same thing his longtime, in house, accountant had been telling him for years. Sell it. Sell everything you can and give away the rest. The town was too small to support the kind of inventory he was carrying, and bigger things were coming. Wal-Mart was just being born and one of its forerunners, in our part of the state anyway, Howard's, already had a store in our town. I was pretty sure he wasn't going to listen to me or his own accountant. He thought he was bullet proof because he was getting around 250k a year in cash from the sale of a giant tract of land down by Houston. It was land his father and his father's brother had accumulated when they'd had sawmills down there in the thirties. The people who bought it put a planned city there. Maybe you've heard of Woodlands Texas. But the note was going to be paid off in the next year, and the cash he'd had available to waste keeping his little kingdom alive was about to dry up. I won't say it could ever be called beneficial for someone to have a heart attack, but it damned sure didn't hurt my dad, much. Of course he was rushed to the emergency room and then put in an ambulance to be transferred to the nearest big town, Texarkana USA, where he was placed in their ICU. That was about it for heart attacks back then. No one had even thought of bypass surgery or stents or any such thing at the time. They put you in an ICU and watched you carefully to see if you lived or died. Well, he lived. While he was in the hospital, his sisters and brothers - they were all on his board of directors for IRS purposes - held a board meeting and sold his little empire, lock stock and barrel. When my dad came home from the hospital - people could actually stay in the hospital until they were nearly well back then - all he had left was a little over a million bucks in cash. That was still a hell of a lot of money in 1971 though. He bought a used bank building for an office and started studying for a Real Estate Broker's License. What the hell, he needed something to do. Another little quirk of fate hit me about then. Before I even needed to start looking for a job with my Marketing degree, one of my dad's cousins died. It wasn't a shattering loss for our family, but I'd known the guy all my life and most of us went down to Conroe for the funeral. Of course us kids called him Uncle Jake, even though he was dad's cousin. It just isn't right to call someone so much older than you cous. He didn't have any wife or kids and he hadn't pissed away his part of the land deal trying to keep up a small town retail empire, so when his will split up the money and royalties, I wound up with seventy-five thousand bucks. Luckily I was just old enough to miss out on the trust fund deal my two younger brothers got caught up in. When I got my check, I looked around and found a 1963 Corvette Split Window Coupe. It was really the only model Corvette I ever liked, before or since. I had the engine redone, the paint too, bought a new set of tires, filled up the thirty-six gallon tank, packed a grip, and hauled my ass for Las Vegas. I'd played enough cards in college to know there isn't much to poker. If you can figure out what people are thinking when they really don't want you to. Sure there's math and odds and probabilities, but that's really small time in the scheme of a poker game. In the first place, you don't get enough information to make a real calculated estimation of your chances. The math helps you a little, with the simple part, but it isn't critical. Probabilities are all well and good, but every hand of poker is an individual trial. It isn't even like blackjack where you can remember past hands to boost your chances on the next one. They shuffle the deck after every hand of poker. I got a room at Binion's as soon as I hit town and spent the first night mainly just looking around. I played a few slots, a little blackjack, rolled some dice, and even threw away a few bucks on roulette. I only wanted to get into the mood though. The next night I played some poker. I know, I know. Binion's is the home of the World Series of Poker and it's famous now, it's even on tv. It wasn't back then and I didn't want to be famous anyway. Even if I didn't get rich at it, I wanted to see if I could make a living playing cards. I could, hell, it was a cinch. I won money the first night. It wasn't a lot of money but it was a couple of thousands bucks. It already paid more than an entry-level job in Marketing. Plus, it was mostly tax-free. I wasn't interested in poker tournaments - I was interested in cash. It is a little funny after you get known as someone who wins most of the time. Other people who are trying to make a living playing poker will stop, or at least slow way down on playing with you. The good thing is the rich people who think they know how to play poker want to play you if you're good. It's almost comical really. They want to try their hand against the pros, and they pay out the ass to do it. Early on, I let a rich Arab take a ten thousand dollar pot. He was so happy about it that he spent a hundred thousand trying to do it again, and was happy to. Not two months later another one showed up looking for me and after I let him win twelve thousand he dropped over two hundred k on me. Six months later the first one was back, he had to top his buddy's winnings - what winnings, I thought, but I knew what he meant and after he won his fifteen thousand dollar pot he paid the three hundred thousand out like a man, and left as happy as a lark. While the rest of the world was straining under the load of outrageous oil prices, I was getting richer than Croesus off rich Arabs who wanted to win some money gambling. It got so I had to make myself not break out laughing every time I bought gasoline. And there were beautiful women everywhere. I'm not talking about hookers, they aren't even legal in Las Vegas, even though there are plenty of them around. After a few weeks of tipping the waitresses twenty bucks every time they brought me a free drink, and talking to them, instead of talking at their titties, I was on a first name basis with them all, and it was their real first names too. It didn't take long after to find out which ones were married, had boyfriends or girlfriends, and which ones would go out on their night off. Just like any other woman, they liked flowers and presents and they let you know when they were ready to share some pussy with you. Soon enough they clued in the showgirls who they were friendly with and it wasn't long before I had a damned good chance of fucking any waitress or showgirl in town who liked boys and didn't have one of their own. There was even one big tittied blonde, she was six feet tall and as athletic as any woman I've ever seen, who called me every time she broke up with a boyfriend. I'd always have to come over and console her for a couple of days and reassure her she could, in fact, come from being fucked. Hell, I lived to serve. I know you've seen the guys on tv by now. The ones who say they just love to gamble. I hate to gamble and I never do it knowingly. I'm a working stiff - it just so happens my job is playing poker. I spent ten years in Vegas, and the only time I ever put a coin in a slot machine was the first night. I did go down to Caesars' one night and took a hundred thousand from a blackjack dealer before the guys came over and told me I couldn't play anymore. "Heck, Johnny, I was just fartin' around, I don't even want your money. Here, I'll take it over to the cage and give up the chips." He didn't believe me and when I did it he finally figured out it was all my idea of a big joke. Of course they took the money while they laughed. Still, a floor manager came over and told me anytime I needed a room all I had to do was ask, it would be on the house. Company included if I wanted some. For ten years I lived in Las Vegas and played poker at least five nights a week. I won over fifteen million dollars in the ten years and didn't pay taxes on any more than two hundred thousand a year. Of course it isn't all gravy. When you have so much unreported cash you can't just invest it all in stocks or bonds, and you damned sure can't put it in the bank. I was able to invest some of it, but mostly it was for low rates and it was never legal. I finally figured I had as much money as I'd ever need and after traveling around the country for a year, I moved back home to Texas. My net worth on books wasn't so good, oh it was good enough, but nothing spectacular. When I found a thousand acres I wanted I had to talk to an understanding banker and put half a million in a safety deposit box as collateral for him to make the loan bearable. They were also happy to finance my truck, and the house I built on the land. I managed to fuck off about a year and a half getting the place like I wanted it, but by then I was out of something to do. Lo and behold the big blonde from Vegas called me about then. Jerrilyn was devastated after her last breakup and needed me desperately. And since I was at loose ends, I was able to console her for a month this time. But, she met Mr Right again, and I went back home and was bored. At least I picked up two hundred thousand in my spare time in Nevada. I needed some hobbies, so I took up shooting again and reloading this time, and I even messed with black powder some. I built an outdoor range and proceeded to get really good with my guns. A year of that and then I wanted to raise Quarter Horses. I started off small with a stallion for fifty thousand and a couple of twenty thousand dollar mares. I was determined to train them too, and I built an arena and a round pen and had a welder build me a giant horse walker. Of course the horses were already trained, but they put up with my foolishness even though I'm sure they laughed at me behind my back. It came to me in a dream one night. I needed two big mules and some camping equipment. I could strike out on my horse, leading the mules who would be loaded down with food and camping gear, and I'd have a high old time. Damned if it didn't work. After three weeks of driving all over East Texas, looking for big mules a guy finally told me I should be looking in Missouri for the best mules. "They don't call 'em Missouri Mules for nothing you know," he said. So I hitched my horse trailer to my pickup and struck out for Missouri. It was a snap. I found two giant, well mannered - as well mannered as mules get anyway - mules just north of Springfield. At home, with something to shop for, I spent days on the phone buying packsaddles, camping gear, a tent and hundreds of accessories. By the time it all came in I was afraid I'd have to buy two more mules. But I packed, unpacked, repacked and on and on and on. For my first official camping trip, I loaded both mules with their packsaddles, put the saddlebags on the stallion, and I'd managed to wedge in almost all of the crap I'd bought. Then I headed out for the back of my property to find a spot to camp. I know it sounds stupid, but it wasn't so trivial. My land was almost all wooded - one of the reasons it cost so much was because the timber hadn't been cut over for at least a hundred years - and there were no real trails or roads through from one side to the other. I could never have made it with even a big four-wheel drive vehicle. ------- Chapter 3 And a camping I went. I had a ball, leaving early on Saturday morning and taking half a day to work my way to the back side of my property. It took the rest of the day to set up my tent, build a fire ring, gather firewood, and generally get my camp organized. I finally had to quit when the sun went down so I could cook my first real camping supper. Warm up really - Wolf Brand Chili and Ranch Style Beans, what else? I washed it down with a couple of - cool from sitting in the small stream - Lone Star Long Necks. Of course I hadn't brought along a portable tv or radio, much less a satellite tv rig. I was camping out. So I was bored shitless after supper until I made myself go to bed around nine PM. It was my last camping trip with only two mules. Of course I'd brought a lot more crap than I'd needed, but it didn't matter as much as the boredom. If I tried to bring a portable tv and a Satellite system I'd have to leave a hell of a lot of stuff I might need, with only two mules to pack it on. I toughed it out until Monday morning when I packed up everything and headed back home. One other important lesson I'd learned was to never fork my bronc again without my cell phone. After all, if I'd brought my phone, I could have called the guy in Missouri to make sure he had another mule. It would have passed some of the time while I was cooling my heels out in the woods. As soon as I had my horse and mules put away I called Missouri. I guess the man knew a sucker after he'd already fucked him once on a mule deal, because he came right to the phone personally after he heard who it was. Yes, as a matter of fact, he'd traded for another splendid mule since I'd been up there, two in fact. Sure, he'd be glad to hold them until I could come up and take a look at them tomorrow. No, no trouble at all. I went back out to the barn and put away all the camping gear I'd left lying right where I'd set it when it came off the mules. I fed all my stock, hooked the trailer to my pickup again and hauled my ass back to Missouri. I hadn't really thought of buying two more mules, since one would be more than able to carry the Satellite Dish and a portable tv. What the hell, I didn't want to have to go right back up there for another one when I ran across something else I just couldn't bear to be without while I was roughing it. So I'd made up my mind to buy both mules before I even got there, as long as they were a good deal, you understand. Not twenty miles north of Conway Arkansas I got a speeding ticket. I'd halfway noticed a car coming south flashing its headlights at me, but I put him down as an idiot. Abnormally, the officer was pretty friendly while writing my ticket. "Man, am I glad you came along. All the guys who live around here have CB radios and it makes it tough to write a good ticket with them telling each other where I am. Hell, I'm surprised someone didn't flash their lights to let you know where I was hiding," he said. "No officer, I didn't have a bit of warning. I guess I should be more careful to make sure and obey the law," I said. "No need to get carried away about it. I ain't mad at you for speeding or nothing. Live and let live is what I say." Note to self, buy CB radio and learn how to use it. I think I got my money's worth this time with the mule man. It wasn't because the mules were any cheaper, though they were nice big well-mannered mules. It was because he knew the scoop about CB radios and where to get them. In fact, he went to Springfield with me and helped me with my selection. I'd noticed them before in truck stops and had assumed it would be the best place to get one. "Aw naw, you don't want one from a truck stop. All they got is the legal type and you just can't get out with one of those puny things," he said. So we dropped in on a friend of his in Springfield, a friend who just happened to own a CB radio repair shop, and instead of wasting a hundred and twenty five dollars on a puny Cobra 29 with only forty channels, I got an RCI 2995 DX Ranger for seven hundred and fifty dollars or thereabout. Of course the Ranger would operate on the ten through twelve meter bands after the free with purchase illegal modification, and it could broadcast and receive in AM, FM, and both upper and lower single sidebands, whatever they were. Why, it was thousands of channels. Neither my mule man nor my CB man bothered to mention what I was mainly interested in was only channel 19 in the CB (eleven meter) band, or the CB band was the only one I could legally use, if my radio had been legal in any form or fashion in the first place. The next portion of my CB education concerned boosters, as in linear amplifiers, with which I could illegally jack up the output of my already illegal radio, and thus transmit farther on the channels I wasn't supposed to be transmitting on in the first place. Somehow it all made perfect sense to me at the time. Especially after I learned about the Turner Road King RK-56 Noise Canceling microphone. The one which would give my Big Radio that distinctive Big Radio sound when I transmitted. Boy, was I happy I'd asked my mule man if he knew anything about CB radios. Alas, my mule man needed to get back home, he had some mule business to take care of I guess. My new CB man said he could have my radio ready to install by early tomorrow morning, and after I asked, it just so happened his son was an expert at installing CB radios, and did I perhaps need an antenna and some coaxial cable? I got all of it straight, and with my new fear of things breaking down, brought on no doubt, by my considerations and deliberations over the extra mule, I bought two complete radio setups, but chose to have only one installed. I'd just keep the other one as a backup, especially after my CB man told me switching one radio or linear amplifier out for a different one was a trivial thing, and his son would be happy to show me how. I got my mule man back to his home just in time. He said it would be fine for me to leave my new mules and the trailer at his place until I had my CB radio installed and was ready to roll. With everything settled, so far, I drove back to Springfield and found a motel room for the night. Bright and early the next morning I drove over to my CB man's place and his son was raring to go. I pretty much watched the whole thing and I must say he was very efficient. I had a couple of questions about things, like when he used exactly nineteen feet of coaxial cable from the rear of the linear amplifier to attach it to the antenna, which was mounted in the center of my pickup's roof. Actually, the whole antenna production seemed illogical to me. For instance, why cut a hole in the pickup's roof when I'd seen uncounted numbers of antennas attached to the wing mirrors of semi trucks, and why use exactly nineteen feet of cable when not even nearly so much was needed to reach the antenna. The answers were forthcoming of course. He used nineteen feet of cable because it was what the antenna manufacturer recommend and his experience had shown him it yielded the best standing wave ratio with the five foot Francis Hot Rod antenna I'd purchased, give or take a little. I tried to look like I understood what this meant, but it's possible I didn't do a good job. I thought I could almost understand the hole in the roof bit though. It was supposed to yield better transmission and reception because the flat surface of the metal roof made for a better ground plane - whatever it was. I have to say, of the three of them, my CB man's son was the most patient about explaining things to me. The setup was installed within three hours and then he spent another hour showing me how to change out one unit for another. I thought he did a particularly fine job with the power connection for the linear amplifier too. He used double ought SJ cable, connected directly to my truck's battery with a quick disconnect similar to the ones I'd seen on heavy electric fork lift batteries, and he used the same type of quick disconnect on the inside of the truck too. I could disconnect the cable at both ends that way. My CB man's son explained the heavy cable was needed for the linear amplifier because it produced more than a thousand watts of RF output. "Ya gotta feed a big hawg like that," he said. The next problem reared its ugly head while he was explaining how to set the SWR or standing wave ratio. I understood what he said about checking it twice with the plug in the meter turned in opposite directions for each test, and I understood the simple math required to find what the ratio was after the measurements had been made. I even understood, because he showed me exactly, how to trim a tiny portion at a time off the end of the antenna to change the ratio. What I didn't understand was how I was gong to be able to check this standing wave ratio without a meter like he was using. "Aw, no problem thar. Daddy has one he kin sell ya," my CB man's son said. All in all I'll have to say my CB man's son provided by far the best bargain of my whole trip. After the radio was installed it looked perfectly normal where it was and there weren't any wires hanging down anywhere. He had also been very patient and detailed in his explanations. He even helped me pick out a handle - the pseudonym CBers use instead of their real name - I settled on ShotgunWillie. "It should be a good un for ya. Hell of a lot of trucks come through Springfield and I've only heard two drivers who ever used it. One was a dumbass from round here what pulled a skateboard. He runned off a mountain in Montana whilst hauling a load a pipe. He don't need it no more. "T'other'n hauled a reefer fer Prime fer a couple of years, but someone tolt me he went back ta Texas ta drive a log truck," my CB man's son said. Naw, couldn't be. ShotgunWillie I was. Perhaps the most valuable information my CB man's son gave me was to concentrate on listening to the CB and try not to say anything for at least six months. "You'll just sound stupid til you catch onto the lingo. If you just have to hear something again, because you didn't understand it the first time, just key the mike and say Come again, driver and they'll probably repeat it. You don't have to tell 'em who you are or anything else, just say, come again," he said. He was well worth the three hundred dollars I paid him for the installation, and I was happy to discover the Bird meter (for checking the SWR) with three plugs, was only two hundred and fifty bucks. I had everything I needed now and I started the truck. Before I could get it into drive, my CB man's son came running out of the shop with five more five foot Francis Hot Rods in his hand. They were still in their plastic wrap. "Ya almost fergot your spare antennas," my CB man's son said. I thanked him and set them over behind the seat, and I was off. When I got back to his place, my mule man was happy to help me hitch up my trailer and then load the mules for the ride to Texas. He also admired my CB man's son's work with the radio installation. I was feeling on top of the world, driving down the road, listening to the CB chatter on channel 19 and trying to figure out what any of it meant. My CB man's son had told me it would come to me and he'd warned me not to watch Smokey and the Bandit and think anything they said on their movie show was anything like real CB lingo. The good feelings dimmed a little when I passed the spot where the officer had pulled me over for speeding on my way to Springfield. They dimmed because I realized while I was in Springfield I'd spent a little over four thousand dollars on CB radios in order to avoid getting another one hundred and fifty dollar ticket. I perked back up when I realized avoiding tickets would keep my insurance rate down. I had plenty of time anyway, so when I got to Conway I checked around and found the address of the Justice of the Peace I would have to deal with concerning my ticket. It so happened he had an office in a strip mall not more than a mile away and I visited him right then. He was very accommodating and rather friendly, praising me for taking care of the fine so quickly. He went through a slight formality of holding court, but when I pled guilty he stopped and put the court in recess. "I don't wanna tell you your business mister, but you've been prompt and polite and I think I should mention if you ask for deferred adjudication - you'll have to pay more - but the charges'll be dropped if ya don't do it again in the next year," the Justice of the Peace said. I thanked him for the information, and thinking once again about my insurance rate, when he called the court back to order and asked how I pled, I requested deferred adjudication. He granted it, and I now owed two hundred and fifty dollars for my one hundred and fifty dollar ticket. Oh well, it probably would be cheaper in the long run and it was sure as hell cheaper than the CB radios had been. ------- Chapter 4 The rest of my trip home was uneventful, and the new mules didn't give me any trouble when I unloaded them and turned them out into the pasture with the others. None of the normal squealing and kicking that goes on when horses make new acquaintances. Taped to the kitchen entry door inside my garage I found a notice UPS had been by to deliver a package. It said they would be back by tomorrow to try again. It had to be either the two packsaddles for my new mules or the mobile satellite tv antenna and Directtv/TiVo receiver for my camping gear. I could wait. Even though I wanted to take all my horses and mules over to the next nearest small town to have their shoes checked or replaced by my favorite farrier the next day, I put it off so I could be there to receive my package from UPS. It didn't arrive until four PM, but I was lucky since by this time both shipments had appeared and I got them at same time. It meant I was free for the farrier the next day and so I called him and everything was set. Everything was set until the next morning when I realized I now had four mules and three horses to haul in a six-horse trailer. I knew the farrier had a pen which could hold them while they waited for his attention, so I took the mules and both mares over, unloaded them, and put them in the pen and then came back for the stallion. When I got back he was done with the mares, so I put the stallion in the pen with the mules and put the mares back in the trailer. I stayed around for about half an hour while he took care of the stallion and I loaded him up for a trip home too. By the time I'd unloaded the mares and the stallion and made my way back to the farrier, three of the mules had been done and I only had to wait for him to finish the last mule. And so it goes. The next morning I set out to cure the trailer problem. I knew there was a large horse trailer dealer in Shreveport, and I made for it. I hadn't been there twenty minutes before I saw a really nice ten-horse trailer, possibly unfortunately, they didn't have any very nice eight-horse trailers, but I loved this one. It was all enclosed and even had some nice chrome trim and a fairly nice paint scheme. I had to have it. I'd paid for the trailer and was backing up to let one of the attendants help me hook it up. He shouted for me to stop while I was still five feet from it. "I hate to mention problems at this late date mister, but you bought a goose neck trailer and you don't have a goose neck hitch," the attendant said. "Well kiss my ass," I said. "We could put ya one on in the shop, probably bout three fifty," the attendant said. There was nothing else to do. I wasn't going to let the lack of a three hundred and fifty dollar trailer hitch keep me from taking my twenty thousand dollar show-horse trailer home. Luckily they were able to get right on it. I made it home before dark, but there was really no problem. The men at the horse trailer lot had made sure all of the trailer's running lights, license plate light, and brake lights worked perfectly when they installed the hitch and new hundred dollar wiring harness. They even guaranteed the old bumper hitch wiring harness would still work fine. I didn't even unhook the new trailer, because the salesman had bragged so about how much better I'd like it that I was determined to try it out tomorrow, with a full load, except for the three empty spots I didn't have horses or mules to fill. Bright and early the next morning I went out and loaded all my stock into the new trailer. It went off without a hitch. Then I was off down the road again and I noticed my half-ton pickup with the economy engine didn't pull my new, mostly loaded, ten-horse horse trailer worth a shit. It was hard to decide whether the dog was wagging the tail or the tail was wagging the dog, either way, the wagging was sluggish. So the next morning I went to the dealership in town in search of a new, bigger, pickup. A salesman descended on me as soon as I was in the lot, and I wondered if he hadn't run from the time he first saw me pull off the main highway. In seconds he was showing me Chevy Silverados in the one-ton size, and he saved the best for last. It had an extended crew cab, and a full size eight-foot bed, the biggest engine and four-wheel drive, except in reality it had six-wheel drive because the rear axle had dual wheels, but I didn't argue. Wonder of wonders it came with a gooseneck hitch already installed. I told him it was the one I wanted and I'm sure he was getting cranked up for the trading, but I wasn't doing any trading. I didn't really need two pickups, but neither did I need to drive the one-ton around all the time when I wouldn't be pulling the horse trailer very often. I wrote him a check, but only with the understanding they were responsible for making all the trailer light hookups conform to the ones on the pickup I had already. He said they would. While they were doing the final service and preparation on my new truck, I took my old one and brought both the goose neck and the bumper hitch trailers to the lot so I could make sure the lying bastards had the light hookup right before I left. I may not know much about dealing with mule traders or CB men, but I did know they'll fuck you in a heartbeat at a car lot. In what can only be called one of life's little mysteries, they got it exactly right the first time. They did try to get me to let someone else drive one of the trucks to my house, but I made them have someone follow me while I took the half ton and the bumper hitch trailer home and then bring me back to get the one ton and the goose neck trailer, and the lights still worked when I got them home. Thinking I was nearly ready for another weekend of camping, I went to sleep that night, mostly at peace with the world. I spent the next day trying out the new mule harness, learning how to set up my mobile Directtv/TiVo and then figuring out what I could carry with two more mules and then how to pack it most efficiently. I even worked on it again all the next day, until I had it down pat. No doubt about it, all systems were go for a camping trip this weekend. Then it hit me - I didn't have a CB in my new truck. Of course I wouldn't really need it until I had to haul all, or most of my horses and mules at the same time, but then again I'm the type of guy who likes to get ready for eventualities. I whipped out my cell phone to call my CB man, and after I explained the problem of the new truck and no CB in it he put his son on the line. I explained things again and asked him if he could install another setup in the new truck tomorrow, if I got up there early. "Why shor, no problem. Want me to put in that spare one you bought before?" he asked. I had to think about it for a second. It made sense, but if I did it I wouldn't have a spare anymore, and to tell the truth I'd found I liked listening to the thing and I even thought of it as learning a foreign language. "No, I think I'd rather have a whole new setup. You'd better let me talk to your father again." In a few seconds I was talking to my CB man again and he assured me he could have another setup, just like the first one ready by the time I got there in the morning. During the call, I finally discovered the CB man's son's name was apparently, Junior. I took off within the hour and pulled into their yard by seven AM. I made myself be very careful about my speed while driving, since I thought it would be stupid to get a speeding ticket while on a trip to have a CB installed so I could keep from getting a ticket. I made it without one, too. Junior was happy to drive me into town to get another motel room and he asked if I wanted him to pick me up when he was done. I decided to spend the night and asked him to just pick me up tomorrow morning. I was exhausted and went to bed as soon as I got in my room. Junior met me in the café the next morning, and since I had already checked out, we left after I finished my breakfast. Junior had done another top-notch job and the CB looked as if it belonged where it was, right down to the little clip that held the Road King RK-56 Noise Canceling Microphone. I paid him, and this time tipped him a hundred dollars. Getting a tip seemed to be a novelty for him, but he adjusted gracefully. When I went in to pay his father, I saw he had several boxes on top of his counter. One was open and he was busily examining whatever it was that had come out of it. "What's that?" I asked, mostly trying to show polite interest. "Best damned Radar Detector that was ever made," he said. "You don't say," I said. "Yes I do. It's programmable and everythang." "Do they really work well?" "Shore, they work so good the Congress outlawed 'em for big trucks. That's the main sellin' pernt for these. They work on batteries, no cords for the cops to spot. If'n a trucker gets stopped, he can switch it off and hide it before the cop gets up to his door." I was impressed, and fleetingly I wished I'd thought of a radar detector before I'd heard of CB radios. Still, I'd come to like listening to the CB. It beat talk radio to hell and gone, and besides, one day I'd be able to talk back. Try that with Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern. Thinking about it more closely I could see it wouldn't hurt to be doubly protected, and at two fifty each, the radar detectors were a steal. I bought two for each truck and two for my 63 Vette - yes, I still owned it, and I'd probably be even more likely to get a speeding ticket in it, even though I never had. When he had them boxed up I took them out to the truck. Junior even looked around, and after putting in the nine-volt battery, he found the best spot to place the unit and also the best place to hide it quickly - even though I wasn't driving a big truck and the radar detector was perfectly legal for me to use. Back in the shop, my CB man had another CB, linear amplifier, and five more antennas for me. I hadn't intended to get another spare, but I remembered I did tell him I wanted another setup just like the first one. A small difference in semantics I guess. I paid my enormous bill without complaint and went on my merry way. I'd just pulled into my driveway at home when my cell phone went off. It was Jerrilyn, the big tittied big blonde in Vegas. She'd been devastated by yet another breakup and needed me desperately. What's a man to do? I promised her I'd be right out. I called Jimmy Holcomb, the young man who watched my place and fed my stock while I was away and told him I was leaving within the hour. He said he'd take care of things for me. I called and made a reservation for a flight to Vegas from Shreveport. Then I thought for a minute and decided my half-ton pickup was still the least likely to be stolen or vandalized in the long term parking of the Shreveport airport. Afterward, I went inside and packed a bag. Two hours later I was flying the friendly skies. In Vegas I grabbed a limo and it took me to Jerrilyn's place. She was delighted to see me, but as usual, for the first night, she only wanted to cry on my shoulder while I consoled and tried to cheer her up. Even as clueless as the sweet thing usually was, she could tell I was worn out by midnight, and we went to bed. I'm not sure if she cried anymore after we got in bed or not. I was out right away. We woke about nine the next morning and after some sexual healing, I took her out to breakfast. Later we went back to her apartment for another treatment or two before she had to go to work. I played a little poker at Binion's to see if I remembered how, and cleared enough to buy two more one tons and equip them with double radio setups and two radar detectors each. Somehow both my favorite Arabs were in town together and they were delighted I'd been available to play. It was such a good night I considered buying Jerrilyn a car to see if it would speed her recovery. I decided against it though, fearing she might keep me an extra two weeks, thanking me. Not that it would be all bad. It turned out it was a particularly rough time for Jerrilyn. What with her turning twenty-six a month ago, and now practically over the hill, she needed a lot of therapy. On the day she thought she was cured, after six weeks of diligent work, her best friend in the world - besides me she said - called. Jackie had her own tale of woe. Jackie, a spectacular redhead who was almost exactly Jerrilyn's size, except for slightly bigger natural titties, and freckles on her butt and other places, had been dumped and it just wasn't fair. She was only twenty-three and knew perfectly well she wasn't over the hill. Especially since there was no way her older friend was even anywhere close. Of course, Jerrilyn recommended my services and invited Jackie over to meet me. Sadly, while Jackie was on the way, their age difference began working on Jerrilyn and she had a minor setback. Alas, I would just have to knuckle down and treat both of them, at the same time, so to speak. The things a man goes through for his good friends. Jackie turned out to need some anal care too and it needed to be especially energetic, and after watching an especially vigorous treatment, Jerrilyn thought she might just benefit from some of the same, though she'd never actually tried it before. What with two delicate young women to console, my poker playing time was cut to the bone. I barely managed to clear twenty-five thousand a week, but sacrifices had to be made somewhere, and it wasn't like I needed the money. Finally, after three months in Vegas, Jackie and Jerrilyn felt like they still had reasons for living after all. They both took a night off for a small party in my honor. A small naked party with only the three of us in attendance. Wisely, I slept all the way back to Shreveport. ------- Chapter 5 I guess it was inevitable. Three months is a long time for a vehicle to sit in long term parking. My CB radio, linear amplifier, and radar detector were gone. I didn't even open the truck, I could see it had been burglarized without it. I checked with the security chief for the parking lot and he called the top man for airport security. Apparently they are more efficent after 9/11. I was giving a statement, listing the missing items and giving the serial numbers that my CB man had provided in a list when I bought them when a normal security flunky made probably the stupidest statement in his life, so far. "You can't claim that stuff was stolen, it ain't even legal. That radio was modified to talk on the CB channels and that ain't legal," he said, seeming proud of himself. It took about three point five microseconds for the head man over all security at the airport to realize he had found the thief, but the head man over long term parking security needed almost three quarters of a second to figure it out. They had the culprit under citizen's arrest, in cuffs and handy leg irons when the Shreveport Police showed up to haul him away. After he was gone the head of airport security finished taking down the information, including the prices for the equipment and the charges for installation. Then he told me I would probably be getting a check within a week or two from the long term parking's insurance company. I thanked him and told him I would be opening the hood of my truck to retrieve my spare radar detector before I left. I offered to show him the serial number on it, but he declined, saying he didn't doubt me. On the way home I was in a bad mood since this would further delay the camping trip I had been wanting to take. I called my CB man and explained I would need a replacement, being careful this time to let him know I only needed one new radio and one new linear amplifier. He asked about the antenna but thankfully it hadn't been molested. I nearly had him ship them to me, since I thought I could replace them myself, but I decided against it. No need to scrimp on Junior's part of the action. Junior and his father probably wouldn't be all that mad at the thief. I called my CB man back and made sure that Junior would be available to install the new equipment. He assured me he would and I said I'd be up there in the morning. I'd just finished a shower and was about to climb into bed for a few more hours sleep when my phone rang. It was my mule man from Missouri and no doubt my CB man had told him I was heading their way. My mule man had made a remarkable deal for four of the finest mules he'd ever come across. Naturally, I was the first one he thought of when he came into possession of the fine animals, and he wondered if I'd be up in his neck of the woods anytime soon. He thought I should at least take a look at them and he'd be happy to hold them for a week or two if it took that long for me to schedule a trip. I was pretty sure he must know damned well I'd be up there tomorrow, but I didn't call his hand on it. The Borax commercial started playing in the back of my mind, and though I kept telling myself I had no earthly need for twenty mules, I heard myself tell him I just happened to be coming up tomorrow. "Well, brang a few of those other mules with ya and we can do some tradin' if you don't need to hold on to all of 'em," he said. I know living so long in Las Vegas could give one an unnatural view of the world, but I had been born and raised in Texas after all. At least I knew enough to know the one way to get fucked even deeper than when buying a horse or mule was to try trading a horse or mule. "No thanks, I'm working on a little project and I'm sure I'll be able to work the new mules in, if I like them. I won't be getting rid of any of my current stock," I said, explaining without really explaining. One thing I made sure not to do - I was not about to tell him I might end up with twenty mules. With the few hours sleep on the plane, and a few I got after getting home, I was able to leave for Springfield about two AM and I made it into my CB man's front yard by nine the next day. Everything was ready when I got there and it didn't take Junior twenty minutes to have it all set up, including checking the SWR. Junior was amazed when I paid him the same as I had for the first installation. I did forego the gratuity this time though. I figure that things must have happened too fast for his father to think up another move like the casual Radar Detector display he pulled off last time. I did buy another one to replace the spare I was now using. Afterward I was off to see my mule man. I'll have to admit these mules were even bigger, healthier looking, stronger, and even more well mannered seeming than any I'd bought so far. I'd come expecting to get some more that probably matched the quality of those I already had. I was actually thrilled to get these four. "These are indeed excellent mules. Do you know where you can find more like them?" I asked. "Well, yes and no. I know the old man what raised 'em and he does have more. Trouble is, it's like he's sellin' one of his kids when he lets one go. I practically had to beg him for these four and he made me promise I'd only sell 'em to folks I knew personally would take good care of 'em," my mule man said, and seemed almost embarrassed about it. "Well, the next time you talk to him, tell him I'm pleased beyond words with his mules. If he's worried about the way I might treat them I'll be glad to pay for his trip to my home so he can see I give them the best of care so he won't be afraid to let me buy more," I said. "I'll do it, but I know what his main problem is. His mules are so big and strong he just can't get away from feeling like folks works 'em too hard," my mule man said. I couldn't help it. I laughed right in his face and I had a hard time stopping. With the way he looked at me, almost as if he were mad, I laughed even harder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, I really didn't, but it's so funny. I don't work these mules, all I've bought them for was to use as pack mules for camping. "I've never even put a hundred pounds of equipment on any of them, and though I intend to use them more as soon as I get around to it, I've never actually used any of them, but the very first two I bought from you for camping yet. I haven't had time," I said. It was probably the first time my mule man had been surprised so completely in his life. He knew how much I'd paid him for the mules I'd bought so far, and I'm sure he'd assumed I had some legitimate use for them. He was flabbergasted I'd never really used any of them except the first two. It took him a couple of minutes to gather his wits, but then he said: "I'll tell him what you said, and I don't know whether or not he'll want to come and see your place. I'm pretty sure when I tell him what you said you'll go right to the top of his list of favorite customers though. He loves his mules. How many of them do you think you might be interested in?" my mule man asked me. I couldn't help it, it just popped out of my mouth. "At least sixteen more, just like these," I said. Even though he was obviously shell shocked, my mule man said he'd see about it, then he helped me load the four I'd bought today into my trailer and I took off for home. I was back by ten PM that night, and damned glad of it. I unloaded the new mules and went inside and directly to bed. I called the farrier the next morning and he told me he could check all my stock that day. I loaded them into the new trailer and headed out by 10 AM. Even though I had a new ten horse trailer, with the purchase of four new mules I couldn't have made do with one trip, since I now had eleven head of livestock. Thankfully the four new mules had been shod before the old man who raised them let them go. So they didn't need to make the trip today. I was relieved to have only one trip to make, but slightly pissed I hadn't ridden one step on the set of shoes which now needed replacing because horse's and mule's hooves grow over time whether you ride them or not. I couldn't even think of a way to blame it on the horses, or the mules. I did find something entertaining to do while I was waiting. The farrier's place was up on a hill alongside Highway 59, and today there were two Highway Patrolmen working this stretch of road pretty hard. I listened to the CB while the truckers kept track of them and I watched the effect they had on my detector when they used their radar. Not terribly exciting, but better than nothing. It was five PM before he got done and I'm sure he was as tired as I thought I should be. Since it had been so long he had to remove every shoe and then replace them after trimming the horses and mules feet. Oh, his aching back. I reminded myself learning to shoe horses was something I never even wanted to contemplate. I also hoped he never learned to play poker, because he'd surely give this up if he did. The sun was setting by the time I had all the horses and mules in place and fed. I was a little tired myself. I hadn't really done much today, but sitting around by the highway, listening to the CB radio, and watching the radar detector had taken their toll. I took a shower and went to bed - tomorrow would be a busy day. Busy, busy, busy. I rode the stallion right after breakfast, for about an hour. It had been months since I'd been on his back and I guess he'd considered himself retired. It took me ten minutes to convince him he wasn't. I decided to ride the mares next. I hadn't been on them for probably nine months and you know how females get if you don't pay them any attention. I couldn't decide whether they were mad at me for ignoring them for so long or mad at me for making them haul me around now. At least I was sure about one thing - they were mad, at me. The next thing I tried was the organization of my mule train, and it was a bad phrase in itself. Bad because it reminded me of the other time I'd heard it. Twenty mule train Borax, from the old commercial. Or was it twenty mule team Borax. No matter, I had twenty on my mind now and if I couldn't get it off I was afraid my next horse trailer would have to be a semi and I'd have to go to truck driving school. I managed to quell the urge to go shopping for a Peterbilt, but only by the hardest. I didn't load the mules for the first try, I just put pack saddles on the ones I had packsaddles for and hitched them all to a long lead rope, then I led them around on foot for about fifteen minutes. After I was sure they would follow, more or less in line, I saddled the stallion again and mounted him, leading my mules around from his back. It was easier than I'd expected and I might have gotten carried away in my enthusiasm, since I later decided I needed to make sure the mares would function gracefully in this parade too. My first try, with the mares at the front of the lead rope and the mules strung out behind them, was a train wreck. The mares didn't want to follow on the lead rope anyway, and after they'd at least tried, they decided they wanted to walk more nearly side by side. This would not do. Next, I tried tying the mares to the end of the string and it was even worse. The mares still tried to get side by side when we started moving, and when they managed it, and discovered they were being pulled along by all those mules. Well, I'm sure you get the picture. To make matters worse, I was beginning to suspect the mules were as put out with the mares fucking up the works as I was. Since I wasn't having any trouble with the mules, I removed the packsaddles and turned them out. Afterward I tied one mare to a stout post that I'd installed just for such things, and led the other one. I led her and led her and led her. It seemed to be helping, but my ass was getting sore. ------- Chapter 6 In a flash of insight, I hitched the stallion to my horse walker and tied the mare's lead rope to the pommel of his saddle. All the horses and mules, except for the newest arrivals, were familiar with the horse walker drill, and this new wrinkle with the mare being tied to the stallion's saddle was old news for her after a few rounds. It looked like this was actually going to work. I left them at it and started reorganizing my packing and re-evaluating the amount of things I could take with me. I spent the rest of the day merrily playing with my camping toys and even wound up trying to decide if there was anything else I could convince myself I needed. I had mules who didn't have anything to go in their packsaddles and even had four new mules I didn't have packsaddles for. After four hours of following the stallion around and around on the horse walker, the first mare was cured. I unhitched the stallion from it, untied the lead rope from his saddle and then mounted him. The mare was more than happy to follow him without protest, and she seemed to have no interest in coming up to walk side by side with him. Next I tried putting the string of mules in line behind her. It didn't bother her in the least by now. She was not at all interested in the mules behind her. When I tried her on the tail of the line she didn't feel slighted in the least this time either. I even went so far as to tie her behind the fourth mule and then tie the rest of the mules behind her. Everything was merry now. I figured I had the cure for the mares' intransigence now, but I put off the instructions for the other mare until tomorrow, and put all my stock away for the night. Bright and early the next morning I was out, saddling the stallion and the mares, and hoping the second mare had learned from her sister's mistake. She hadn't learned a damned thing except to stand still while she was tied to the post. I gave her the same treatment the other one had gotten. Leaving the stallion going round and round on the walker with this mare tied to his saddle's pommel. I figured four hours would do it for her too. This meant the stallion was going to do double duty, and through no mischief of his own. What the hell, life was often unfair. Meanwhile, I took another spin around the packsaddle packing. It's really awkward trying to pack a packsaddle while it's lying on the ground. I tried putting them on sawhorses for this practice, but it didn't really work out. So, I pressed the mules into service. They didn't seem to mind and in fact I think they were relieved when they realized they didn't actually have to go anywhere, but only had to stand still while I messed around with that crap on their backs. The mare which was currently in training had slightly pissed me off this morning, so I let her follow the stallion's ass for a little over five hours. When I finally stopped the walker and mounted the stallion, lead rope in hand, she was on her best behavior. I had time to try her at the front, back, and middle of the string, all with good results. I even caught the first mare again and let her in on the fun. I was finally satisfied I could put any of them anywhere in the string and everything would go as expected. I rested well that night with thoughts of a job well done. I started the next morning with tying both the mares and all the mules into a long string, without any packsaddles, and then leading them around for about an hour. I even took them into the woods for half a mile or so and brought them back out. For my next trick, I saddled both the mares also, and then put the packsaddles on all the mules I had packsaddles for and loaded them, filling out the ones which had no official cargo with crap I had lying around. We made a more extended ride into the woods this time, probably three miles with all the twists and turns and double backs I made. I pronounced my camping expedition ready for anything. The proof would be in the camping. Even though the weather forecast for the upcoming October weekend wasn't geared for comfortable camping, I made my plans. Wednesday afternoon the packsaddles for the new mules and those I'd ordered for the mares came in via UPS. I hadn't been up to much that day - just making the stallion and then the mares, one at a time, haul me around on their backs. I put the stallion away, got out all the mules and the two mares and spent the rest of the day making sure everyone's packsaddle fit properly. I spent all day Thursday arranging my gear in the packsaddles and I finally had to pack up a lot of my guns, ammo, and reloading equipment to try filling the yawning maws of all the packsaddles I had. It turned cold Thursday night. Not bitterly cold, but it got down into the upper thirties, and that's cold in North East Texas. I was undaunted. I packed my mule train, saddled my stallion and even put the packsaddles on the mares. I didn't like to see them getting by without carrying anything, especially after all the trouble they'd caused about the whole thing, and mounted up. We went all the way to the back edge of my property again, and I even took a winding path, crisscrossing my property four times just so I could have a nice ride. I'd been over an hour and a half packing all the equipment and it took two hours to unpack and pitch my tent. With the horses picketed and their feedbags on, I built my campfire and cooked my supper of a New York Strip, Ranch Style Beans, and I opened a bag of Fritos as an extra treat. Of course the wine of choice was Lone Star Long Necks, cool from being in the little nearby stream. Actually, in this weather they were very cold. After supper was eaten and I'd cleaned my camp dishes I set up my portable Directtv/TiVo and actually got a good picture on my color tv. While I was watching a rerun of The 2004 World Series of Poker on ESPN, it came to me I should probably buy one of those flat panel tvs which could double as a computer monitor and I should build a nice computer in a small, portable, mid-tower. I could fit all of it easily into one packsaddle or another. I already had room to spare aplenty. I drifted off and was dreaming of it in minutes. Thunder woke me and I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. I could hear sleet rattling against my tent. I put my clothes back on, picked up my big flashlight, and went outside. The horses and mules looked miserable, standing there with their heads down, dripping from the rain which no doubt preceded the sleet, and bunching up together as best they could to share their body heat. All the packsaddles looked miserable too, even though they were still in the neat line I'd put them in. At least I'd had sense enough to throw a lightweight tarp over the three riding saddles after I'd taken them off and put them on the ground cloth. The fire was now a small pool of wet ashes and I just knew I wouldn't be getting it going again in time for breakfast. Even though I'd brought a light jacket with me and even though I'd put it on before leaving my tent, I was still cold, but I knew this was a lucky break. You can sit around in your comfortable home and look at camping equipment on the Internet all you want to. It can never replace experience. Here was a wonderful opportunity to have the elements jog my memory about things I might want to bring with me while I was camping. The first thing to pop into my mind was I'd been hasty when I discounted the value of the tent I'd almost purchased. The one which made allowance for a small wood burning stove inside it. The second thought was how stupid I'd been in not buying said stove. I'd gone for a smaller tent which not only didn't have a place to put a nice little wood burning stove, it wasn't large enough to put my packsaddles in either, it meant they were outside being covered in sleet. A different tent was definitely in order. And that was another thing. Why did all my gear have to go on pack mules? Surely, at least some of the time, I'd be camping where I could take a wagon. As a matter of fact, a wagon sounded like it could be a project on it's own. Right about then I discovered sleet actually could knock out satellite tv reception. It wasn't doing much for the radio reception either and I didn't have a CB for my horse. I took my clothes back off and got back in my sleeping bag. It was filled with some type of space-age insulation and at least I could be warm in it, fire or not. The next morning, waking up with an inch or so of sleet covering everything outside and not able to make a fire put me in mind to discover some type of emergency heat source. When I first started all this I'd disdained a propane gas cooking setup, after all, real campers burned firewood. It came to me then, like an epiphany. Real campers go home when they find they are out of their element. I packed up everything and rode my horse home, leading the pack mules and mares along behind me. As soon as I led them into the barn I knew they felt a lot better about things. After they were unloaded and standing at the feed trough, munching on whole oats and tearing out a bite of coastal Bermuda hay every now and again they were much happier. The biggest mule did turn a baleful eye on me once though, as if to say: Man, was that a fuckup, or what? I went directly to my computer and ordered a sixteen by twenty-four Montana tent and a titanium wood stove which only weighed twelve pounds. I threw in a dozen twenty by twenty-five lightweight tarps I could use as necessary. While I had it on my mind, I ordered some horse/mule blankets. These only covered the main body of the animal and not the head and neck. They weren't perfect, but they would keep the rain and sleet off them while they were stuck standing around in the weather. Ten minutes later, after thinking about the way the horses and the mules had looked so miserable I canceled the order. Instead, I ordered a Royal Grand Champion Cordura Blanket and Hood for every horse and mule I owned. I didn't want word getting back to the old man I'd been treating his children/mules shabbily. It got me back to the wagon deal. I had no doubt I could design a better wagon now than any which had ever been built. In the first place I'd use automobile type tires and I could envision coil-over shock kits. I fired up AutoCAD and had a go at it. I spent two days, off and on, designing my three by eight by twelve wagon. By using fourteen-inch wheels and some of those high-class short sidewall tires I could fit the wheels under the wagon and still give it a lower center of gravity than the old-west type jobs. And by having fully independent suspension, albeit a crude one, I still had plenty of ground clearance. Titanium construction would make it super light-weight. It also made the bids I got for building it to my specs super expensive. Who'd have thought a damned horse drawn wagon could cost twenty thousand dollars. What the hell, it was only money and since they were glad to take cash and said they'd keep their mouths shut about it, I took them half the money to get started. I spent a day with the company's engineers and it was worth the time. They also suggested disc brakes and a small electric winch with a solar powered battery charging system. I thought long and hard about a Conestoga wagon style canvas top with bows to hold it up, but they suggested a pup-tent shaped titanium top, hinged on one side, and since it was only a few thousand more I went for it. After all, poker was good to me. The new Montana tent was in within a week, and surprisingly the wagon was only scheduled to take a month or so. Still, I was ready to make another try when the tent came in, and I finally found something to put in the two mares packsaddles. Whole oats. With the mares carrying the feed I could bring enough for an extended trip. Only two weeks from the date of my camping disaster I was headed off again into the wilds of my extended back yard. Well, it was more than a backyard, but by now it was beginning to feel very familiar. Of course this time I was set for a cold, rainy, sleeting mess. Alas, the weather was beautiful. I still tried to act like it was raining when I set up camp, and this time I'd bought a couple of space heaters which would screw onto the end of those small throw-away propane tanks. No, I didn't need them and there was absolutely no need to bother with my new titanium wood heater either. But I did unpack, assemble, and pretend to build a fire in it. I also gathered a significant amount of firewood and put it on one of the tarps and then covered it with another one, in honor of being stuck with nothing, but soaking wet firewood last time. I did have a wonderful outing and decided I loved camping. I was looking forward to another one the next weekend, especially because there was at least a chance of rain. Alas, tragedy befell Jerrilyn and Jackie again, multiple tragedies in fact. ------- Chapter 7 They had enjoyed their time together so much while I'd been out there last time they had moved in together. They had also both found a new boyfriend shortly after I left. Unbeknownst to the two of them, it was the same guy. After the terrible discovery, they were both crushed, and illogically they each felt like they'd been slipping around behind the other ones back. Of course nothing of the sort had happened. Nevertheless, they were devastated because they felt they'd each hurt their best friend. To top it all off, they had also happened to be working in the same show, and it had ended, so they needed to look for a new job too. "That's it, Jackie, Jerrilyn, pack up your things," I said. "Pack which things, Tommy?" they asked, in unison. "All things. Pack up everything you own, every dress, every blouse, every pair of panties, all of it - cooking pots and pans, dishes, sheets, towels, pictures, everything. I'll be out there in two days with my trailer and I'll be bringing both of you home with me." "But what will we do about jobs?" Jackie asked. "You don't need jobs, I'm rich, and I own a big home. You'll move in with me and forget about finding sleazy boyfriends in Las Vegas," I said. "Oh," Jerrilyn said. "Are we gonna be, like, kept women?" Jackie asked, "Not that I'd mind it you understand." "No, you're going to be, like, my wives. Only I'll have two. We can even get married before we leave if you'd like. We'll just have to use a different chapel for each of you." "I won't really need to have a ceremony to feel like I'm your wife if you say I am," Jackie said. "Me neither," Jerrilyn said. "I can just convince myself you're my husband," Jackie said. "Me too," Jerrilyn said. "Good, then it's settled," I said. "Uh, Tommy, are we going to have a honeymoon?" Jerrilyn asked. "Of course we can," I said. "Where are we going for it?" Jackie asked. "Anywhere you'd like." "I don't want to fly anywhere," Jerrilyn said. "Me neither," Jackie said. "We don't have to fly if you don't want to," I said. "Un, Tommy, can we go camping for our honeymoon?" Jerrilyn asked. "Yeh, Tommy, can we go camping?" Jackie asked. "Can we ever!" Hoping to make the best of my time on this trip, I called the horse trailer sales lot in Shreveport, the one I'd bought the ten-horse trailer from. They didn't have a larger trailer, but they told me the same company which made my trailer had models like it which could haul up to sixteen horses. After a little checking with the manufacturer, which happened to be located in Amarillo Texas - everyone agreed it would be just dandy if I stopped by on my way to Las Vegas to pick up my brand new trailer, and I did. In Amarillo, while picking up my new trailer, there was a slight snafu when I tried to connect my light pigtail and found the company was now using a new style of receptacle. They were kind enough to offer to make me a conversion cord that could receive my old style connection and plug into their new style unit. I thought about it for a minute or two and couldn't help understanding this jury-rig would offer approximately sixty percent more chances to fuck itself up somehow. So I was kind enough to offer to buy my trailer elsewhere if they didn't get the new style receptacle changed out for the old style in the next hour. I'm often surprised by how quickly small details can be ironed out when a thirty-five thousand dollar sale is about to get into his Silverado and drive off into the sunset. It actually took them an extra thirty minutes to make absolutely certain everything was up to their exacting standards, but I can be flexible when I'm getting my way. It was a tearful reunion when I knocked on Jerrilyn's and Jackie's door and no doubt it would have turned into a sexual one, but I was double parked, what with the long trailer. After a few minutes I suggested we start moving their possessions. "Oh, there's nothing to worry about there. We've already called the movers and they have almost everything stored and waiting for you to come over and pick up," Jackie said. "Movers?" I asked. "Sure, we've both always used the same one to move from one apartment to another," Jerrilyn said. Come to think of it, I could remember visiting Jerrilyn in several different apartments over the years. "They have all our stuff in their boxes. We only have a suitcase each here. And our car, of course," Jackie said. "Car?" I asked. Neither of them had owned a car the last time I was out here. They always went to work in a cab, as best I could remember. "Yeh, since we moved in together we bought a car," Jerrilyn said. "What kind of car?" I asked. "Oh, it's just the cutest little thing you ever saw," Jackie said, "It's a Triumph TR-3." Visions of repair bills danced in my head and I wondered how the two of them could afford to keep it running. I knew showgirls made fairly good money, but good God. "I don't mean to pry, but isn't it a little expensive to keep it running?" I asked. "It was for about the first two weeks, until we stopped driving it. It seemed like it needed a tune-up every time we went to the store in it, so we waited until a good parking spot in front of our door was vacant, and parked it there. Now we just wash it once a week and spend a little time sitting in it every day or so to keep it from being too lonely," Jerrilyn said. "Do you think it will start?" I asked. "It always has, every time we tried," Jackie said. "Starting doesn't seem to be the problem. It will start up fine, but it usually doesn't sound like it's running right when we drive it," Jerrilyn said. "Why don't we go down and look at it then," I said. As advertised, it was parked right in front of their door. In fact, I'd taken a glance at it on the way in and thought it was in excellent condition for such an old classic. You rarely saw one which looked so good out on the streets. Jackie handed me the keys and after unlocking it I got into the driver's seat. I turned the key and it fired right up to a fast idle. As the engine warmed and the choke opened fully the idle dropped, and in minutes it was loping like a champ from what couldn't possibly be the standard camshaft. I shut it off. "Has anyone ever mentioned anything about the engine to either of you?" I asked. "Yes. It has a racing engine - at least it's what the cute guy who sold it to us said. Since then we've thought it might be why it has to have so much attention," Jackie said. "It probably doesn't actually have to have all the attention you've been giving it. What are the main symptoms giving you trouble?" I asked. "Couldn't you hear how rough it was running after it warmed up?" Jerrilyn asked. "And it clatters when we drive it," Jackie said, complaining. "Believe it or not, it is supposed to sound rough when it's idling. Did the clattering just happen to start after you filled it up with gas the first time?" I asked. "Maybe just a little with the first tank. It really got bad after the second one though. But it can't be the gas, we always put premium in it?" Jerrilyn said. "Premium ain't what it used to be dear. When we get this little gem home, I'll make arrangements for you to buy Avgas at the airstrip we have just west of town. They no longer make gasoline for normal use with a high enough octane rating for your baby," I said. "Oh," they said, in unison. "If you'd like, we can even have the camshaft changed so its idle will be smoother, but it doesn't really hurt anything the way it is now. Doesn't it always smooth out when you give it some gas?" I asked. "I'll say. You have to be careful to keep it from spinning the tires every time you take off from a red light," Jackie said. "That's right, moving is not one of its problems," Jerrilyn said, agreeing. "But how will we drive it all the way to Texas if we can't use normal gas? Jackie asked. "It will have to ride to Texas, just like we will. Of course, it can't get in the truck with us. I'll have to put it in the trailer," I said. "What trailer?" Jackie asked. "That one," I said, pointing to my new sixteen-horse trailer. "I wondered who had brought a bunch of horses to the apartments," Jerrilyn said. I was pretty sure the letdown ramp would take the weight of the TR-3, but I pulled out my cell phone and called the trailer's manufacturer anyway. When I identified myself to the receptionist who answered, she connected me with the sales manager right away. When he realized I was the crazy man who'd pitched a bitch about the pigtail's receptacle, he was on his guard at once, and extremely polite. I asked him about using the loading ramp to put a car into the trailer and he put me on hold so he could talk to an engineer. At least it's what he told me. He was back after five minutes. "The engineers feel the current loading ramp will do fine, a time or two. I spoke to the president of the company and he said if you'd come by on your trip back he'd have a stronger ramp installed free of charge. We're hoping you won't mind our examining the condition of the original one," he said, still being sure to be perfectly polite. "Excellent, I should be there in a day, or two. Since your company obviously pays attention to customer service, please build me another trailer exactly like the one I just bought - with the old style pigtail receptacle and the new type rear ramp, please," I said. I could practically feel that spoonful of sugar making the medicine of the old style receptacle and the new ramp go down easy, if not in a most delightful way, even over the phone. I nearly had to cut him off to keep him from thanking me to death. I pulled my truck and trailer forward a few feet, since I was blocking Chester, the name they'd given their little monster, from backing out of his parking space. I let down the ramp and glanced up into the trailer, even happier I'd had sense enough to have them remove the removable partitions which usually ran down the middle of the trailer to keep the horses separated. Jackie backed Chester out of his space and lined him right up with the ramp and then she turned him off and got out, even though I was waving for her to drive him into the trailer. "Not a chance, Tommy, I'm not doing that part. You do it," she said. I did, and Chester fit easily with no troubles. I even managed to tie him down with the use of the flush mounted flip-up rings made into the trailer's floor for people who sometimes used them to haul things other than horses. Chester was as snug as a bug in no time. After Jerrilyn and Jackie got their bags, emergency makeup kits, and their four pillows, we were set to go and since it was still fairly early in the day we went over to the moving and storage place for the rest of their things. The guys there were happy to put their possessions into the trailer for us and they were especially thorough about tying them down to make sure they wouldn't be tossed about during our trip. I got the feeling the owner was sad to see the two of them leaving Las Vegas. No doubt he was losing a steady source of income. Since I hadn't spent a night in Las Vegas, I was a little tired by the time we were approaching Flagstaff on the way back. When I suggested we get a motel room the girls rebelled. "I've been waiting patiently for my chance to drive this thing and you can't cheat me out of it by stopping at a motel," Jerrilyn said. "Me neither," Jackie said, agreeing with her co-wife. "I didn't know you wanted a turn. I'll pull over at the next exit and we can switch drivers," I said. "No need. Kathy, she's a waitress friend of ours, was a truck driver for a year before she came to Vegas - if you can believe it - anyway, she told us when she was driving team with her boyfriend of the moment she and he could swap drivers going down the road. All you need to do is move the seat back far enough to let me sit in your lap. She said it's how they did it until she got used to changing while moving," Jackie said. I might have mentioned before Jackie and Jerrilyn were both six feet tall. Petite was a word which did not refer to either of them. For a few seconds I wondered if the seat would move back far enough to do this. What the hell, I hit the button and rolled the seat rearward as far as it would go. Jackie sat between my legs, took the wheel, and then I slipped out from behind her. It went off without a bobble. "Now, climb into the back seat and take a nap. You'll be almost like a real truck driver," Jerrilyn said. "Fine. Just be sure to wake me when we get to Amarillo," I said, not even really believing I could fall asleep with the truck moving. ------- Chapter 8 You can imagine my surprise when they did wake me and we really were in Amarillo. It wasn't morning yet, but what the hell. In fact we were at a Holiday Inn, in the parking lot. "You should go in and get us a room. We all need to take a shower before we go out to the trailer place," Jackie said. "And we might need to go shopping first too. I think I want some boots and bluejeans, and I might even try on a cowboy hat. After all, we'll be living in Texas now and showgirl casual wear just won't do," Jerrilyn said. "That's right," Jackie said, agreeing. "It's fine with me, but do you realize real cowgirls wear either Wranglers or Levis?" I asked. "Of course, even showgirls know designer jeans are reserved for formal wear in Texas." I checked us into the best room they had and was glad to see it had both a tub and a real shower, not that crappy thing with a curtain around the tub. It was even big enough for all three of us to get into at the same time, and we did. You might be surprised, but I wasn't. Even though I was in the shower with two beautiful naked women, no hanky panky came about. It wasn't because either of them were disinclined. I'd often had deliciously naughty showers with each, and even twice with both. One thing showgirls know how to do is shower and change, in a hurry. We were going to the trailer place for business purposes and they knew how to be all business, even when naked. Of course a lot of their work in Vegas had been done while they were naked, or nearly so, and they were accustomed to it. And, we were going shopping - that's almost always very serious business with any woman. After we were dry and dressed, I dropped the trailer on the back side of the parking lot. We headed toward downtown and I was hoping we could find an old-fashioned small store or shop. That hope went out the window when we passed a Super Wal-Mart. I tried to dissuade them, but it was no use. "I know perfectly well they have both Levis and Wranglers in Wal-Mart, and probably thousands of pairs of boots," Jerrilyn said. I didn't even put up the good fight. I pulled in and made four circuits before I found a parking spot near enough to the door to suit me. Even in non-revealing casual clothes, Jerrilyn and Jackie couldn't go anywhere without attracting attention. They were tall, beautiful, and astonishingly well built. Men looked at them wherever they went, and Wal-Mart was no different. I'm pretty sure they even raised the flag for the seventy plus year old man who was acting as the door greeter - you know, the one who always wants to give you a buggy as you come in. The girls were used to things like it though and they mostly ignored it. It was a little harder to ignore once they started trying on jeans, since some men couldn't seem to get over the fact those women were now in the little room, not ten feet away, and taking off their clothes. It was almost funny, and it upset the poor woman who was supposed to be providing a pleasant shopping experience for the women in this section of Wal-Mart. Or at least as pleasant as Wal-Mart shopping could be. By the time there were a dozen men standing around and obviously not shopping, she called someone on the phone and had a vigorous conversation. Soon enough there were six more women in Wal-Mart smocks for reinforcement. They began asking every man in the area if they could help them. When one of them approached me I told her I was with the two women who seemed to be drawing the crowd and none of them bothered me again. They didn't let up on the others though, and I noticed if a man brushed one of them off, another was right in his face wanting to help him thirty seconds later. Soon enough the area was mostly free of unescorted men. I thought things would go smoothly afterwards, but it wasn't to be. Jackie came out of the dressing room they were both using, holding her finger to her lips for all who could see. It was the universal sign for quiet and no one misunderstood. Then she pointed to one of the reinforcements the beleaguered clerk had summoned. The woman was wearing one of the red Official Business smocks. Jackie crooked her finger, and the woman came toward her. Jackie led her around behind the dressing cubicles and through the small obstacle course of clothing racks which was obviously there to keep people from wandering through. I was curious so I followed in the red smocked supervisor's wake. When we rounded a last corner we saw a young man in the familiar Wal-Mart blue smock, bent at the waist, and peering through what had to be a peep hole he'd installed, no doubt without authorization. "Bobby Johnson, what do you think you're doing?" the red smocked woman asked, or should I say screamed at the top of her lungs. Needless to say, Bobby Johnson was mortified, so much so the lump which had been visible in the area of his zipper disappeared almost at once. Unfortunately for Bobby Johnson, he wasn't quick enough to get away. Mrs Festerson, the red smocked woman whose name I learned later, latched onto Bobby Johnson's ear and began dragging him out the way we'd come. By the time she had him into the normal shopping area of the store again she was berating him soundly and she wasn't shy about what anyone else heard. She wasn't very creative about it, and I distinctly remember her saying things about peeping on customers while they were changing, several times as she pulled him to the offices at the front of the store. I wondered idly if she would release his ear when they finally made it to the front. The main significance of her actions was to dissipate the remaining male hangers on who had resisted previous attempts to disband them. There were none in sight now, as if after the dreaded ear hold had been broken out, it might be used on others. The manager of the store was back to visit about ten minutes after Bobby Johnson was led away in disgrace. The girls were both safely in the dressing room again by this time and I was left to deal with him. He began apologizing at once and wasn't in the least deterred when I told him to think nothing of it. He wouldn't shut up about the whole thing. "Sir, Mr Morgan, please. Don't worry about it. Go back to your office and write out the text of the letter you'd like me to send to your superiors. I'll pick it up on the way out, write it out long hand, and mention the fine services you and whomever that woman in the red smock was provided in apprehending the culprit. Be sure to include both your name, and her name, and give me the name and address of the person you'd like for me to send it to," I said. He couldn't believe his luck and he left to get started on his letter right away. Mrs Festerson, the red smocked dynamo who had towed Bobby Johnson to the front offices by the ear came back shortly and before she could start apologizing I thanked her profusely for her help. I think she felt slightly cheated to be preempted, but she didn't bother me anymore. She did stand guard over the area as long as we were there though, and she glared savagely at two men who looked like they might approach. Her territory had been invaded once and she wasn't about to let it happen again. Luckily there weren't any men who wanted to peep at Jackie's or Jerrilyn's feet while they tried on cowboy boots. They asked me for advice, but I told them to just get several pairs which seemed to fit right, since I'd be getting some boots custom made for them later. They were still interested in cowboy hats, but I talked them out of trying any. "Just wait a couple of days. We'll go to Marty's Hats and have a few made for you when we leave here," I said. "Where is Marty's Hats?" Jerrilyn asked. "It's almost on the way home, in Buda, that's near Austin," I said. "I know where your home is and Austin is not on the way," Jackie said. "It is if we go there first," I said, and it satisfied them. We went by the office after we'd checked out and happened to see a policeman leading a handcuffed Bobby Johnson away. Bobby Johnson was no longer having a good day. "Poor kid, I didn't realize he'd get into so much trouble," Jackie said. "Nonsense, there's no telling how many women the little pervert has been peeping on. No doubt he's an up and coming sex offender," Jerrilyn said. "You may be right, I hadn't thought of it that way," Jackie said. In fact, I hadn't thought of it that way either, but it did make sense. Of course we couldn't go directly to the trailer place, the girls hadn't had time to change and in fact they intended to wash the jeans before wearing them. Besides, they hadn't found any acceptable rodeo shirts in Wal-Mart. They had discovered where to look for them though. One of the many women who had come over to defend them had let them know where to find the type of shirt they wanted. It was a smallish shop, compared to Wal-Mart, but I guess everything is smallish when compared to Wal-Mart. It was downtown and we went there next. The place was larger than I'd expected and they had plenty of shirts. The girls found a dozen each they liked and they even picked out eight for me. Of course they all had to be tried on, but it didn't take as long as you'd think. The clerk in the shirt place also sold us some really nice hangers and directed us to a coin operated laundry. It was located right next to a Mom and Pop grocery where we bought detergent and fabric softener. After only another hour and a half all the jeans and shirts had been washed, dried, and hung up on a clothes rod they'd been smart enough to think ahead for in Wal-Mart. We went back to the motel, changed, and still had time to make it to the trailer place. It wasn't two minutes after I went in and announced my presence to the receptionist until the sales manager came out to greet me. He directed me around to a repair entrance and when I got there the shop foreman had me back my trailer into an open bay. Some men let the ramp down and two of their engineers showed up to examine the damage from loading the TR-3. They seemed pleased since there didn't really seem to be any damage. No matter, after they left other men began removing my old loading ramp and replacing it with one which looked the same to me. The shop foreman came over and pointed out the extra bracing and thicker material to me later. Since he told me they would be finished by tomorrow, before noon, I dropped the trailer and the girls and I went back to the office. I was going to pay for the new trailer, but I couldn't. They explained the sale had to go through their dealer in Shreveport and also pointed out since I was an out of state buyer in Louisiana, I wouldn't be responsible for sales tax there. And since I would be paying cash, the responsibility for reporting the out of state purchase and paying the sales tax in Texas was mine. In other words, forget it. Back at the motel, after eating at a TexMex restaurant the shop foreman had recommended, the girls began quizzing me about the new trailer, and as the story unfolded they also asked about the old trailer and about the other pickup, and on and on until they dragged the whole camping thing out of me. To my astonishment they didn't see anything wrong with what I'd done so far. But what was I going to pull the other new trailer with, and had I ordered new packsaddles for the upcoming mules? Didn't I need an extra mount for serious camping, in case the one I was riding came up lame and wouldn't they also need extra mounts? Shouldn't we look around at the dealerships in Amarillo to see if we could find another one ton Silverado for the other trailer? Should we make sure to get the same color for the new truck? Important questions like that. "It depends," I said. "It depends on whatever you two think is best," I said, showing them right away I was probably the smartest husband they could have hoped to find, even if I was only one for the two of them. Before they could think it through I had another question for them, "Should we go on to Dallas to pick out your engagement and wedding rings or do you think we can find something you'd like in Austin?" I could tell this raised my stock even higher in their estimation. I'm sure they were thrilled to find their new husband could think ahead about the important things. We had our wedding night that night and it's a wonder I could drive the next morning. It was a little strange after breakfast the next day, since we left the motel with considerably more clothes than we'd had when we checked in. We weren't able to go directly to the trailer place because the girls decided it was silly for me to be driving around in Texas without sunglasses, and even if I didn't want any, they did. We located a Mall which had a kiosk with innumerable styles and it only took an hour for us all to be fitted. While we were there, I got a wild hair up my ass and told them I wanted to have one of my ears pierced. "You are not going to get one of those ignorant gold hoops for it, are you?" Jackie asked. "No." "And I hope you aren't thinking about a diamond - they look ridiculous on men," Jerrilyn said. "No, not a diamond either," I said. "Well what are you planning to put in it?" they asked, in unison. "I'll just get a plain gold stud for now and pick up what I want back home. If you don't approve I'll just take it out and let the hole grow back," I said, and they made me promise. When we got to the ear piercing kiosk, neither Jackie nor Jerrilyn trusted the young female attendant to do the job, so they borrowed the tool and Jackie did it herself. With my new gold stud in place, we paid and left. I'll admit the sunglasses made life easier, even if I had never considered them before. Even with the darkest lenses, the ones which had real gold mixed into the tinting, they were only two hundred dollars a pair. What a bargain we'd found! The trailer was ready when we got to the trailer place and we hooked it and left without incident. Jackie and Jerrilyn had decided we might just as well look around in Dallas for diamonds since there were probably many more jewelers there than in Austin. It was nearly sunset when we pulled into the entrance of The Adolphus in downtown Dallas. Jackie and Jerrilyn went to the front desk with me while I asked for the best suite they had available. The clerk looked especially snooty for Texas, and he informed me they didn't have any vacancies. I understood at once he was not accustomed to letting rooms to people dressed in bluejeans and so I demanded to see the manager on duty. The clerk gave a little sniff and went into a door, headed for an office no doubt. While he was gone I pulled a bank-banded package of hundred dollar bills out of my pocket - ten thousand dollars - and lay it on the counter. Of course it was the first thing the manager saw when he came to talk to us. ------- Chapter 9 "I asked about the best suite you had available, but your clerk told us he didn't have any rooms available," I said, as pleasantly as I could. "That's a shame," the manager said, as he produced an ornate golden fob with a rather large key on it and called out Front to the bellman. "Perhaps he will work out better at his next place of employment. I've heard they may be hiring at Burger King." "I'd prefer to deal in cash. Can you keep an eye on this for me until we check out?" I asked, nodding toward the bundle of hundreds. "Certainly," he said. Jackie, Jerrilyn, the bellman, and I went out to the truck. The bellman retrieved our luggage, such as it was, with nearly a dozen hanging bags which held jeans and shirts and only three small grips and two makeup cases. A parking attendant also appeared. Since he looked like he had at least been shaving for a few years, I relinquished my keys and gave him a fifty for his tip. Another fifty also seemed to satisfy the bellman when he'd finished with our bags and after he'd gone Jackie and Jerrilyn tried to include me in the debate over which of the four bedrooms we'd use. I suggested we try a different one each night and if we needed to stay longer we could request a better room. With that decided we moved on. "How can I entertain my girls tonight?" I asked. "I want to see a rodeo," Jackie said. "Me too," Jerrilyn said. I called the desk and though the one who answered was very attentive, he didn't know of a rodeo within driving distance. I was afraid of that and I gave the girls the bad news. "No matter," Jerrilyn said, "we can just get back to the wedding night festivities." "Don't even think about suggesting we go dancing," Jackie said. Even I knew a showgirl or even an ex-showgirl would not consider a night of dancing to be fun, not for a year or two anyway. It didn't end up taking us four days to find suitable diamonds for the girls. We found an excellent jeweler on the second day, and I learned a good lesson, as in, do not try to buy engagement rings without the engagees present. The girls didn't even ask about diamonds at any time until they'd decided on the jeweler by looking around in his place. Afterward, they made sure they were talking to the owner and hit him with the plan. "We need two engagement rings and the stones have to match. We want to select the diamonds and then you can make the rings to fit them," Jackie said. "You want two matching engagement rings?" he asked, obviously surprised. "Yes, he is going to marry one of us, but he hasn't made up his mind yet. After he decides, the other one will be his concubine and I'm sure either of us would be upset being a concubine with a ring which wasn't as good as the wife's," Jerrilyn said. I must say I thought he took it very well. He did blush, but he maintained a professional demeanor otherwise. They told him they preferred a Marquis cut and when he asked them about the size they looked at me. "I don't know too much about sizes and carat's, but something in the range of fifty to a hundred thousand each was what I had in mind. If they like them of course. If something bigger is required I'll probably need to swing by home and pick up more cash," I said. I guess it wasn't too far out of line for the jeweler to have to sit down for a few minutes to catch his breath. At least he didn't faint, and I'm sure it isn't every day people come in wearing blue jeans and talk about spending the kind of money I'd mentioned. He even recovered enough to ask the girls about wedding rings. "Later maybe. You never can tell, he might decide to dump us both," Jackie said. "Just don't count on getting the rings back buster," Jerrilyn said, giving me a solemn look. Then they spoiled it by breaking out in laughter. I was surprised by what a large diamond you could get for a hundred thousand and I think the girls were too. They decided on a couple of six-carat stones which were perfectly matched, with a set of very expensive earrings in mind, or so the jeweler said. They were only thirty-five thousand each. And it's why I was glad the girls picked them out. If I'd bought them myself I'd have felt I needed to get stones which were large enough to consume the amount of money I'd decided to spend. The girls had quickly vetoed matching ten-carat stones which were sixty thousand each, saying they would be too gaudy in a ring. Even though our diamond shopping was done, and the jeweler said the rings could be ready tomorrow, the girls would not leave the Adolphus. They demanded we try all four beds and that was that. "We'll need the extra time to get started on thanking you for our rings," Jerrilyn said. When we were done testing beds and ready to check out the manager took care of me personally. He tried to show me the bill, but I ignored it and asked him to just take the amount out of the cash I'd prepaid with. He did and handed me the change. The truck and trailer were already out front and I tipped the same attendant the same amount - after taking care of the bellman too we were on our way. I'd at least thought far enough ahead to have the manager book us into The Driskill in Austin and I let him know the best thing they had with only one king size bed would be fine. We were almost out of Dallas when Jackie reminded me we hadn't looked around for another truck, so we could pull the other trailer. I almost blew it off, but decided it would be stupid. Five hours later we'd learned it wouldn't have been stupid after all. We didn't find a thing like the one we had. Austin was more fun than Dallas had been. I knew right where Marty's Hats was and we each got a normal hat and a straw for summer wear. Of course summer was over for this year, but no matter, it would be back again. We also went to my favorite bootmaker's place. Of course Charlie Dunn was long dead, but I'd found another guy I could at least tolerate. I'd already learned Capital Saddlery was a bust without Charlie. We'd taken care of our business in Austin on the first day, but this time it was me who wouldn't leave, not until we'd made it to the Broken Spoke for at least one night. The girls loved it, and I even got both of them to dance with me. The dancing in the Spoke is a kind they hadn't run into in Vegas. Showgirls didn't really need to know how to do the Texas Two Step or the Cotton Eyed Joe. The next morning we went back to Marty's Hats. Our hats were ready and after paying the bill we shook the dust of Austin off our feet and hauled our asses home. At least Jimmy looked glad to see me when we got there. Maybe he was just happy to get paid and not have to worry about my stock for a while. I had sad news for him though. I paid him all right, but we'd be running around a little bit more in a day or two. After I introduced Jackie and Jerrilyn to Jimmy, they talked to him for a minute or two and then he took off. "Damn, I thought Jackie and I were moving to East Texas to live in a double-wide and here you've got a real house," Jerrilyn said. "Yeh, me too, can't you afford a double-wide?" Jackie asked. "Of course I can - we can go and buy one tomorrow, but I'm staying in the house, and I don't want any griping when a tornado comes and blows it off into the woods," I said, and at least it got their mind off the subject. I gave them the two-bit tour of the house and after it was done they complimented me on my foresight. I was reluctant, but I finally asked what they meant. "Why, the way you have the bedrooms arranged," Jackie said. "Yep, all we need is a door put between the master and the big one behind it, and we can turn it into a big walk-in closet after we get all of the furniture out of the way," Jerrilyn said. "It was smart of me, wasn't it?" Jackie spied the TiVo then and she and Jerrilyn started speculating about which dirty movies I probably had saved. They both groaned when they went to the Now Playing List and saw it was completely full of World Series of Poker reruns. I cooked supper while they unpacked us and I treated them to New York Strips, their first encounter with Ranch Style Beans, and their first Lone Star Long Necks. They were suspicious about the beans. "Don't worry, if you make sure to eat some every day they will stop giving you gas after four or five days," I said. I got dirty looks from the both of them, but they were good sports and cleaned their plates. Later that night I noticed they felt like they had to slip off to the bathroom every time they needed to fart. After breakfast the next morning they were thrilled when I told them they'd get their first riding lesson today. I was surprised when they caught on so fast. I hadn't considered how athletic they'd be, but after wrestling with outrageous costumes for years they were in excellent physical shape. With the first lesson over we fed all the stock and loaded up for town. We went directly to the dealership where I'd bought the one-ton and damned if they didn't have another one just like it, same color and all. Everything would have been perfect if there hadn't been a Slingshot Yellow Chevy SSR in a conspicuous spot. What the hell, I kinda liked it myself, and at least the girls talked the sales manager into promising not to order any more one ton four wheel drive Silverados with the same color as ours, except for the other one he was ordering for us. I didn't even point out the SSR had only two seats, but Jackie did bring it up. "Doesn't matter," Jerrilyn said, "If we all want to ride in it at the same time, Tommy can sit in one of our laps." They both thought it was so funny. So, we'd come to the dealership in one truck and we each drove one home, and we still had another one on the way. It made perfect sense to the two of them. "Why would you have horse trailers with no truck to pull them?" Jackie asked, and I couldn't think of a good enough answer. They relaxed for a day driving the SSR around town and exploring. The next day we took Chester out to the airstrip and filled him up with avgas. They spent the rest of the day driving him around town and putting more miles on him than they had since they'd owned him. Now, since he didn't clatter and they understood his idle was supposed to sound like it did they liked him even better. The next day we loaded up and went back to Amarillo to pick up our other new trailer. While Jackie was driving, I called my CB man and told him to get busy with radio and radar detector setups for the SSR and both the new one tons. I asked to talk to Junior after that and my CB man put him on. Junior was not sure he could find a place for a CB setup in the TR-3 and he said so. I told him I'd try to bring it up next time I came. Beating my CB man to the punch on alerting my mule man, I called him next. He said the old man who raised the big mules took his word for it and I could come up anytime I wanted to and he'd take me there so I could pick out the mules I wanted for myself. The rest of the trip for the trailer was uneventful. We went directly there, hooked the trailer, and came directly back, splitting the driving about equally. I saved myself a trip to Shreveport by sending Jimmy Holcomb down to the trailer lot with a box of hundreds to pay for the new trailer. By carefully limiting Jackie's and Jerrilyn's introduction to horseback riding I had kept the saddle sore time to a minimum. They were anxious for our first camp out, but I put them off until they had a little more experience and had accustomed their asses to fit the saddle better. I also pointed out they hadn't even received their first pair of custom made boots. They agreed to let it slide this weekend, but made me promise next weekend was a go. We left for Springfield Friday morning. I pulled a sixteen-horse trailer with the first one-ton I'd bought. Jackie drove the SSR and Jerrilyn drove the new one ton. Needless to say Junior was tongue tied when he met the girls. He was ready to go to work though, and we left him to it and headed to my mule man's place. He called the other old mule man and let him know we were coming and then showed us where to go and gave us directions while Jackie wrote them down. He'd had something come up and he wasn't able to go with us. When I asked him about paying for the mules he looked a little glum and said I could just make a deal with the old man. "No, that won't work," I said, "I need to pay you for the mules and you can pay the old man." "Why you gotta do that?" he said. "First thing, I know I can pay you in cash and never have to worry about any troublesome details with the IRS. The old man might be the same way, but I don't know it. "Second, I don't want you to think I'm trying to beat you out of what you usually make. Every deal I've had with you suited me fine and you've been more helpful than you know. "If the old man wants cash on the barrel and can tell you what he wants for the mules now, call him and ask him what it is. Then I'll pay you what you want for them and you can just put his money in an envelope and I'll give it to him when we get there," I said. "Well, actually the old man would rather have a check, and the mules are different prices. I've never been able to figure out how he arrives at the prices, but he has his own way of doing things," my mule man said. "See, it has to go through you. I wouldn't give him a check if I never got another one of his mules," I said. "Well, could you just go get 'em and let me send him a check later?" he asked. "Suits me fine if it suits you and the old man," I said. "No problem then, daddy knows I'm good for it," he said. It was a surprise for me. All this time I hadn't known the old man was my mule man's father. It had just never come up I guess. With everything settled my mule man said he'd call his daddy and let him know we were on the way. I guess he also told him not to even bother mentioning the price of the mules to me, because he never did. ------- Chapter 10 To tell the truth, I didn't give the first shit how much my mule man or his father made off the mules. I'd driven all over Eastern Texas, Western Louisiana, Southwestern Arkansas, and Southeastern Oklahoma shopping for mules and hadn't seen any I really liked until I found my mule man near Springfield Missouri, and he'd never tried to palm a bad one off on me. We found the old mule man's place in an hour and a half and then spent an hour picking sixteen mules out of the twenty-two he had for sale. There wasn't really much to it. If I'd had more room in the trailer or had another trailer with me I'd have bought them all, they were that good. The old man helped us load them but there wasn't much to it. They didn't give a bit of trouble - they just walked up the ramp as if there was nothing unusual about it. "Johnny tolt me ya don't even work 'em ta harness. It makes me glad to sell 'em to ya," he said, after the last one was loaded. "That's right, I don't even pack much with them - they're only a hobby for me," I said. "Ya know they're all broke to ride to, don't cha?" he said. "No, I didn't know it. I've never tried to ride one," I said. "Well, ya kin if ya wanna. They don't really mind," he said. "I'm glad you told me. If you'll trust me enough to hold the others, I'll come back for them next week," I said, even though I didn't have a damned idea what I'd do with so many mules. "Mister, your word is good with me. The mules'll be waitin' on their ride," he said, and then he went off toward his house. Jackie and Jerrilyn had liked the old man right away and they didn't give me a bit of trouble about going mule crazy. I wouldn't have cared if they had, cause I liked him myself. We stopped back by my mule man's house on the way back. He wasn't there when we got there, but his wife told us he should be back any minute and asked us if we'd like a glass of iced tea. We took her up on the offer and we'd just sat down at a picnic type table in the yard when he drove up. He came over and asked us how things had turned out and was surprised when I told him I'd bought all the mules his father had for sale. "Gonna be some sad sacks 'round here for a while," he said. "Why's that?" I asked. "They're always trying to talk daddy down on his mules. I know three fellas have been stallin' for two years hopin' he'd get mule poor and lower the price. Now they're shit outta luck. Pardon my French ladies," he said. "Just tell them they'd better buy the next bunch he raises as soon as they can, cause there's a man in Texas who knows what a good mule is worth. Especially now I know they're broke to ride too," I said. "I thought you knowed it all along," he said. "Well, I do now and it's all that counts." We finished our tea and he consulted a list he had in his pocket, giving me the total for the mules I had in the trailer. I asked him to go ahead and total up the others too and it surprised him a little, but he did it, and I paid for all of them. I thought about the feed they'd eat until I got back and asked him if there'd be any extra charge. "I know the answer and it's nope. Those mules will be waitin' for ya, well fed, until ya come back for 'em or they die of old age. That's just how daddy is," he said. If it suited them it tickled me pink. Jackie, Jerrilyn, and I got in the truck and drove back to my CB man's place. Junior had everything done, he even had the radar detectors installed, and he showed us the best place to hide one quickly in the SSR if we needed to. I paid what he asked and tipped him an extra hundred for each truck. When I got inside the shop my CB man asked if I'd wanted the spare radios and linears for these two trucks too. I told him I did and reminded him about the spare antennas for both of them too. He put it all on the counter and Junior carried it out while he totaled up the bill and I counted out hundreds. I reminded him I'd need a complete setup for one more truck soon. Junior was talking to Jackie and Jerrilyn when I got back outside. He was explaining about a handle and listening for at least six months before they talked. "Why can't we use our real names?" Jackie asked. "Well, ya can now if ya really want to. Handles started out when you used to have to send in for a license before ya was supposed to talk on 'em. That's all over with, but havin' a handle is just a tradition now," he said. "Why should we wait six months before we talk?" Jerrilyn asked. "So's ya won't sound like you're some dummy who just bought a radio and don't know what ta say on it. No offense. "And I might as well warn ya now there ain't gonna be no end to the jackass truck drivers who's gonna try to talk to ya just cause you're a woman. It'll be even worse if ya pick out a sexy soundin' handle and worse if they see how pretty ya are. That's just the way it is," he said. I could see the wisdom in what he was saying wasn't lost on Jackie and Jerrilyn. We said goodbye to Junior and headed home with our little convoy. We were beat by the time we got home, but I did notice there was another UPS sticker on the door, letting us know we'd missed out on some package or the other. We unloaded the mules and then headed for bed and didn't worry about the package. We didn't get up bright and early the next morning, not by a long shot. We slept in until ten AM and still complained about the grind we'd had yesterday. Riding lessons started later than usual today, but things still went well. They were making such good progress I took them for a short ride into the woods. They liked it a lot. We were back to our normal early rising by Sunday morning and the girls broke some news to me during halftime of the Cowboy's game. "Thanksgiving is next week and we want to cook thanksgiving dinner during our campout, so we'll need to head out early Wednesday morning. It will give us time to get things arranged and also time to ride back and get anything we forget," Jackie said. I didn't argue and I was glad for the early warning. I'd have to make sure the mobile Directtv was in good working order before then, lest I miss the annual Cowboy's Thanksgiving Day game. After Monday morning's riding lesson and ride through the woods we cleaned up and went to town to visit the local hardware store. I'd been informed we needed a cooker capable of deep frying a turkey. The store had several different models and I also noticed for the first time they offered propane for sale in other than the small throwaway containers. There were five and ten gallon tanks. You could buy the propane and rent the tank, with a deposit that equaled the price of the tank. You could also buy a tank and then keep trading it out when you bought more propane. It amounted to paying a deposit and just never reclaiming it. You used the propane and brought the tank back to exchange it for one which had been refilled, and paid for the gas. It made sense to me. When the UPS truck arrived Monday afternoon there were several packages. The girl's rings arrived, but they weren't all. They also each got a pair of their handmade boots and they also got a large box with a portable oven. It was a complete surprise to me. "It's so we can cook the dressing over a fire," Jackie said. "Great, I'm all for anything with something to do with cooking," I said, and they laughed at me. "Maybe we can figure out a recipe for baked Ranch Style Beans," Jerrilyn said, and then they laughed at me again. I was a little surprised the packsaddles for the new mules hadn't come in yet. The next afternoon was the big delivery from UPS. What with twenty-two packsaddle rigs and twenty-two more Royal Grand Champion Cordura Blankets and Hoods and then twenty-two nosebags to feed the new mules. The deliveryman had his work cut out for him. We had our work cut out too after he'd gone. We were on into the night sorting out and storing the stuff. At least we wouldn't have to worry about packing all those new setups. We already had things arranged to use only the mules we'd had for a while. None of the new ones needed to make the trip. The next morning we were loaded up and heading out a lot sooner than I'd expected to be. Everything went much faster with Jackie and Jerrilyn to help out. The same was true for the unpacking after we arrived. They took care of the mules and horses while I dealt with the tent. They even had firewood gathered and a fire going in the circle of stones before I was done. I felt a lot better about the horses and mules this time. It wasn't bitterly cold, since it seldom got that way in this part of Texas. It was down in the low thirties though and the stock seemed much more comfortable with their blankets and hoods on. They did look ridiculous though. By the time the sun went down we'd had our supper and were set for the night. The tent was as warm as toast inside with the new wood stove, and we'd reloaded it and turned down the damper in hopes it would stay going all night. We gave our three person sized arctic grade sleeping bag, which was on top of an airbed, a good christening and even had our breath back in time for the Top Ten List via Directtv. Then, through the modern miracle of TiVo we watched Jay Leno to boot. The girls had me up early the next morning to build up the fire outside so it would have plenty of coals to bake their dressing. The turkey arrangements were a snap - the only troublesome part was opening the cans of peanut oil to fill the large cooking pot. Breakfast was perfunctory with bacon, eggs, and biscuits, but at dinnertime they served turkey, dressing, creamed corn, Ranch Style Beans, mashed potatoes, candied yams, fruit salad, Lone Star Long Necks, and sweet potato pie. Who'd a thunk it - showgirls who could cook. The next best thing about having the girls with me was they sent me into the tent while they cleaned up the mess. They said it was like any other thanksgiving - the man pigged out and took a nap before his football game came on. It's just what I did. The man might just as well have slept through the game, because a team which shall remain nameless beat the Cowboys like yard dogs. I turned it off after they got behind by twenty-one points in the first quarter. I learned the next day things went downhill from there. Our camp out only got better though. The weather warmed up considerably the next day. We put away the horse and mule blankets and assembled our handy dandy picnic table and ate our leftovers like we were supposed to. We were having so much fun we stayed another night. We packed up Sunday morning and went back to the house. After unloading and turning out the stock we fed them all and unpacked everything. Jackie and Jerrilyn cooked a wonderful dinner, but afterwards I was disgusted once more because the damned Redskins won their game Sunday afternoon. Oh well, next weekend would be better, the Cowboys were playing the hapless Jets and the Redskins and Giants had to play each other. It was too bad they couldn't both lose. I had a surprise trip for the girls starting in the morning. They were surprised, but I wouldn't say they were happy about it. They piled into the truck though and we headed for Dallas. I hadn't even told them where we were going at first. They were in better spirits when we stopped to pick up my wagon. It was all I'd hoped it would be and maybe a little more. It really looked great since the company had decided to use aluminum wheels. I was surprised when I asked them to recommend a place to buy a trailer to haul it home on. "You don't need a trailer, we designed it to be towed on the highway with a normal hitch. We even put together a light kit with brake lights and turn signals and we have a dealer tag for it," the head man told me. What a fucking deal. All we had to do was pay him the other half and take off with it, but it wasn't actually so easy. He recommended we put some weight in it to make the suspension function better at highway speeds. He said a thousand pounds would be enough. Back in the truck, we located a feed store and bought a thousand pounds of whole oats for the horses and mules. When we returned to the shop some men helped me transfer the load, we hitched it up and off we went. Jackie and Jerrilyn were happier about the whole thing now. They were already discussing more camping gear which would be easier to haul in the wagon. "This will free up a lot of room in the packsaddles from things that are more bulky than heavy," Jackie said. "No doubt, and now we can nest things that would have been inconvenient to nest on muleback," Jerrilyn said. "And the feed. A thousand pounds of oats takes up barely any room at all in the trailer. It was a pain in the ass to re-bag it to pack on the mules," Jackie said. They kept it up all the way back home, and after the wagon was unhooked they went directly to the Internet and started placing orders. Our last truck had come in and the car lot called to say it would be ready Tuesday afternoon. We picked it up and took off Wednesday morning for Springfield. Jackie and Jerrilyn pulled the trailer we'd put Chester inside and I pulled the empty one to bring the mules back. We let Junior put the radio in and collected our spares and the radar detectors. We had already started using one of the detectors from another truck. Junior said he could fit the radio into the TR-3 and he found room in the trunk for the linear. But he thought it would be sacrilege to make any actual holes in Chester's bodywork for the antenna mount, so he suggested a bumper mount. We left Chester with him and said we'd be back for him tomorrow afternoon. The old man seemed happy to see us, but sad to see his pets go. We didn't tarry long and he isn't very talkative anyway. We went directly to my mule man's house and he was happy to keep the mules overnight for us. We were worn out and happy to get checked into the Holiday Inn in Springdale. The next morning we picked up Chester first, and after he was tied down we made it back to my mule man's place for the mules. Our trip home was uneventful and unloading Chester was no problem. The new mules did present a problem though. I didn't have enough stalls any longer. No troubles though, my favorite carpenter was happy to hear from me and promised to have a crew out the next morning to add on to my barn. Jackie and Jerrilyn put some supper together and we all settled our nerves with comfort food. As far as I'm concerned all food is comforting, and since someone else was now cooking mine it was even better. "Maybe we'll be through driving all over the country picking up things for a while," Jerrilyn said. "Maybe, if Tommy hasn't ordered another big surprise from somewhere down by El Paso." There had been a minor tragedy when we left that morning though. I was listening to the CB as we left town, naturally, and I heard someone call for ShotgunWillie. In seconds ShotgunWillie answered, telling he'd seen a weight cop five miles back down the road toward Linden. He was obviously driving a log truck, since he wanted to know if the scale house north of Queen City was open or if there were any other cops on the way to Domino. At least I had never used the handle, since I hadn't transmitted one word on the CB yet. I hadn't even mentioned what my handle was to Jackie or Jerrilyn. I just needed to select a new one and by now I'd heard about ten thousand I didn't want to use. I could only remember one other handle I'd noticed was only being used by one person. Fastwalker seemed to be a log truck driver too, and I wondered how in the hell he'd come up with his handle. After breakfast the next morning, while we were finishing our coffee, the girls decided they were going to give the Internet some more use. They had more room for camping toys and they were also getting into the Christmas spirit - as if any woman needed a special season to encourage shopping. I kept my mouth shut though, until they asked what I was going to be up to. "After I feed the stock, I think I'll do a little shooting." "Shooting what?" Jerrilyn asked. "My rifles, and my Glock. I might even drag out my black powder rifle or maybe spend a little time with my bow," I said. "Wrong. You're going to drag out every weapon you have and give us a demonstration," Jackie said. ------- Chapter 11 The gun and knife show for Jackie and Jerrilyn was more than one day's work. With the way we spread it out, between riding lessons, it took nearly a week. Of course we had to go buy them some weapons of their own next, and it wasn't as easy as getting some like mine. A trip to the feed store came around too, since I had to go there and have two more computers built - in self defense mostly. I knew I'd never get on mine long enough to matter if I didn't get them one of their own. Of course it meant one each of their own. Things just snowball when you have two wives. New computers meant a desk and chair each. Then SBC, or should I say AT&T now, had to get involved so we'd have better DSL service. Finally things were settling down. Christmas came and went and surprisingly we didn't do a lot with gifts. Jackie and Jerrilyn blamed it on me. They said I bought everything I wanted as soon as I thought of it and it made surprising me with something I'd like more of a job. They compromised and fucked me silly throughout Kwanzaa. Where was I, oh yeh. Things were settling down to a sort of routine, with riding lessons and practice, shooting lessons, and careful scouring of the Internet for more camping equipment. Jackie and Jerrilyn had really taken this little chore to heart. Then the bottom fell out. Christine, the best showgirl friend they had left in Las Vegas had just been shat upon by some ungrateful turd. She was feeling put upon and just tired of living. So we had to pack up a Silverado, and they made me take one of the new trailers too. We were off to Vegas again. I don't mind saying I was a little suspicious about taking a trailer with us. I could only think of one thing we might need it for and I wasn't sure I was in favor of opening a group therapy center for distraught showgirls. But what the hell, I'm the kind of guy who likes to help other people. Besides, Jackie and Jerrilyn didn't ask my opinion. The trip out to Vegas made me realize just how much my life had changed. I no longer had to cook anything for myself, in fact, if I'd wanted to cook something I'd have needed permission. Chalk it up as a positive development, since my best dish was Ranch Style Beans and either Jackie or Jerrilyn could do a better job with them than I could. I'd never even known you could add things, like cut up hot links or other sausages to them as you warmed them up. And driving. I probably didn't drive for two hours on the way to Las Vegas. I spent the rest of the time napping or molesting the one who wasn't driving. I think you could count it as a more enjoyable situation than driving. Washing clothes? I wasn't even allowed in the laundry room now, and who'd have thought touching up wash and wear type clothes with a smoothing iron before wearing them could make so much difference. Little things like that added up. The hell of it was neither Jackie nor Jerrilyn seemed to spend nearly as much time doing these chores as I'd had to when I was at it, except the driving that is, and they even drove faster than me. All in all the trip was great for me, and the girls didn't complain one bit. The only cross words came when I finally demanded a turn behind the wheel. They didn't exactly get tight jaws over it, but they weren't their normal teasing selves while I drove and I gave up the fight after the couple of hours. I didn't have the faintest idea where Christine lived, but of course the girls went right to it. It was an apartment complex, a big one, and apparently both Jackie and Jerrilyn had lived in it at some time or other during their time in Las Vegas. We ended up parking the same way I had when I came out to fetch them. Luckily we only blocked two cars in. I was going to leave a note on the truck's window, in case someone we were blocking needed out. They could read the note and come to the apartment and ask us to move. "Don't bother," Jerrilyn said, "They'll have sense enough to honk their horn if they need out and Jackie or I will come down and move the rig." The rig, had a nice ring to it, and now I knew they must actually listen to the CB while they drove. Maybe it was why they never got a ticket. The hugging, kissing, crying, and slinging snot got started when Christine let them in and it was a sight to behold. It doesn't even count what I got when Jackie and Jerrilyn told Christine and her roommate I had married both of them. I was smooched to within an inch of my life. It didn't hurt me though and it helped dispel the odd feeling I got when I realized Christine had a roommate. It didn't last long though. Christine was a showgirl through and through, six feet tall, titties for days, and a wonderful athletically fit body. She didn't look her best since she'd been down in the dumps and you could tell her green eyes had shed a lot of tears in the last few days. Selene, Christine's roommate, wasn't a showgirl - she was a stripper. She worked at The Palomino Club which was one of the only totally nude strip bars in Vegas which could sell alcohol. They couldn't have gambling since they had totally nude dancers, but damned few of the men or women who went there had gambling on their minds. Even in jeans and a sweat shirt it was easy to tell Selene was a big part of the reason they didn't think about gambling in the Palomino club. I'd been there a few times when I'd been living in Las Vegas, but I didn't remember Selene and I'm sure if I'd seen her there I would have. The Palomino Club's motto was Where the Fillies Are and damned if it wasn't the truth. Every move Selene made was sexy, it was like she just couldn't help it. Jackie, Jerrilyn, and Christine were sexy women, but while it kind of rolled off them in big waves, it gushed from Selene. Her jet black hair and startlingly blue eyes just added to the package. Even though she was only five eight, she didn't have to take a back seat to the other three. There I was, surrounded by some of what had to be the most beautiful women on earth one minute and sitting on the couch alone the next. Jackie and Jerrilyn herded Christine and Selene into a bedroom and shut the door. I could take a hint so I concentrated on listening for someone honking the horn and wanting me to let them out. They were cloistered in the bedroom for a little more than an hour. Just my luck, no one honked, so I didn't have to move from the couch. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I knew there were some minor arguments. I could even tell Jackie and Jerrilyn won most, if not every one. Things changed a little for about the last fifteen minutes. No doubt Jackie and Jerrilyn had gotten their way and were now just smoothing out the rough edges. Soon enough they all came back out. All four had been crying - Jackie and Jerrilyn only a little I guessed and Christine and Selene more. All eyes were bright and sparkling now though, with Christine and Selene both smiling what had to be their widest. "Ask Christine and Selene to marry you Tommy," Jackie and Jerrilyn said, almost perfectly in unison. I might not be the smartest poker player on earth, but anyone who could walk around by themselves would have known better than to cause trouble at this stage. I was on my knees in front of Christine, begging for her hand in no time flat, and after a yes and a sound kiss I dropped in front of Selene for more of the same. It was my lucky day since she agreed too. Jackie and Jerrilyn must not have wanted to hang around their old stomping grounds any longer than necessary. Jackie was calling her old favorite moving company and Jerrilyn was right by her to lend a hand, or a voice, if it was needed. It wasn't. When Jackie told the manager we'd met last time his men were late to pack up an entire apartment, he apologized and said he'd have them right over. She also requested two female packers to deal with some delicate things, knick-knacks and such I think. The man only had one female packer, but he promised Jackie the gay man he had for such work was even better. He promised Jackie she wouldn't be disappointed. Not more than ten minutes later, eleven men and one woman showed up with all the boxes and bubble wrap in the world. They were packing things before we finished telling them hello. One of them was even taking down the ceiling fan in the living room. "How did you know it was mine?" Selene asked. "I put it up, and both the bedroom fans too. I boxed up the cheap light fixtures that go with the place and put them in a closet. I'll put them back up when I have the fans packed," he said. I was beginning to understand why Jackie and Jerrilyn had always used the same company. That kind of service was unheard of, anywhere. "What about our cars?" Christine asked. "We should probably sell them, Christine. I know I should get rid of that old mustang thing I have," Selene said. "That's not a Mustang, Selene, it's a Cobra," Christine said, and I gulped. I had seen the imitation Cobra on the way up. It was one of the cars we were blocking, but somehow, the reverent way Christine said it made me think for a second it might be a real Cobra. Naw, couldn't be. "I don't care what it is, it doesn't run right and it gets hot anytime you get in traffic. Besides," she said, blushing, "I kind of traded it out." She blushed even more brightly when I grinned at her. "Apparently, Selene, you don't realize what a ride on your ass is worth," Christine said. I couldn't help it, by now I had to find out. "Christine, you aren't trying to tell me it is an original Cobra, are you?" "I'm not trying, I am telling you. It's a 289 Cobra too. They never even had a street model. That was a racing Cobra someone got hold of somehow and sold to a rich boy Selene dated for a while. He gave it to her for her birthday about three years ago," Christine said, and I gulped, again. "Selene, does it always idle rough and then take right off when you give it the gas," Jackie asked her. "That's exactly what it does. It's embarrassing when it idles, it always sounds like it needs a tune up, but when you take off you have to be careful or it'll lay rubber every damned time," she said. "Don't worry about a thing. Tommy can fix it, he fixed Chester in a few minutes and Chester was a racing car too," Jackie said, and Jerrilyn added her assurance with a nod. "That would be such a relief. For two years I've been wishing I'd just bought a car, like Christine did, instead of letting him give me that junker," Selene said. "I'm not trying to argue with you Selene, but that junker you're talking about is probably worth a quarter million," I said. She looked at me like I was crazy and then so did Jackie and Jerrilyn. Christine wasn't so surprised, but she was surprised. "I knew it must be worth a lot, because they're so rare, but I didn't have any idea it was worth so much. I've heard of them selling for a hundred thousand, but never that much," Christine said. "The street models, the 427 Cobras, bring around a hundred grand, or probably more now. You were right - there was never a street model of the 289 Cobra, it was a race car, period. Every one was hand built," I said. "Do you think I could really get two hundred and fifty thousand for it? Selene asked. "Sure you can," Jackie said, "Write her a check Tommy." I pulled out my checkbook and opened it, but Selene said stop before I had my pen out of my pocket. "You were going to do it, weren't you. I could tell by the look on your face," she said. "Of course he was - I tried to tell you he was rich. He already has two wives, he's about to marry two more, and he's not even a Mormon. Even a man isn't stupid enough to try a trick like that unless he's rich," Jerrilyn said. "He's cute, lovable, and very understanding too," Jackie said. "And he almost always lets us have our way," Jerrilyn said. "Even when he doesn't, all we have to do is pout a little and he gives in," Jackie said. "Aw, shucks." "See what I mean? I'm just glad you two were smart enough to join us. Now we'll have some help with the monster," Jackie said. "The monster?" Christine asked, and Selene gave me a look too. For that matter I wondered what she was talking about. "The monster lives right behind his zipper." ------- Chapter 12 "Just because he lived in Las Vegas for all those years and picked up the city boy habits doesn't mean he wasn't a long dicked Texas country boy from the get go. Tommy is hung, plain and simple," Jerrilyn said, and then grinned at me. "He's a little like the energizer bunny, except he keeps fucking, and fucking, and fucking," Jackie said, and then I blushed - at least I had sense enough not to open my mouth and let any words out. One of the workers saved me then, asking if they should start loading things in the trailer. I nearly said yes, but I remembered the cars. "We'll need to put two cars in first," I told him. Christine and Selene both got their keys and we all headed downstairs. Jackie pulled the truck ahead and when she stopped I let the tailgate down. Just like last time, I had to drive the cars into the trailer and tie them down. I didn't mind, but it was odd they considered driving into the trailer man's work. After the Cobra was tied down I figured we'd have to radio Houston, because we had a problem. "All the furniture is yours, isn't it?" I asked, Christine and Selene. "Every damned bit," Christine said. "I guess we need to call the moving company again and have them send a truck for it. We don't have room for it and the carsm," I said, since I noticed right away the Cobra and Christine's XKE V12 were going to take up almost all the room in the trailer. "Well, lets get another truck and trailer?" Jackie said. "I guess we could, if we can find a truck to match. I know the trailer place in Amarillo will build us another trailer if they don't have one ready to go already," I said. "We have enough pickups and horse trailers," Jerrilyn said, "I want a Big Truck and a reefer." "You wanna get high? Right now?" Christine asked. I was stunned for a minute and I didn't get the chance to speak up right away. "If that's not a big truck, what kind is, and what's a reefer. I thought it's what they called joints in the very old days," Selene said. "A big truck is a semi, we figured it out from listening to the CB. I'm not positive, but I think a reefer is what they call those trailers with the refrigerator on the front. The ones for hauling food and produce," Jackie said. "I'm almost sure it's what it means," Jerrilyn said. "I guess it'll work, but we'll have to take lessons to learn to drive it. Don't those truck driving schools take weeks?" I asked. "I'm sure they do, but you don't need to go to one of those. You're not trying to get a job - you just need to know how to drive it, you can learn to bump the dock later," Jackie said, and I knew damned well it was more truck driver lingo she'd picked up. "What about the rest of you, don't any of you want to learn to drive one?" I asked, wishing I hadn't exactly point three seconds after I had. "Of course we do. It's why you have to learn first, so you can teach us," Jackie said, as if it made perfect sense. "Well not tonight dear. Call the movers and tell them to get everything in storage. Christine and Selene - pack clothes and makeup and we're going to Binion's. I'm going to relax, win some money, and then somebody is going to suck my dick," I said, and I'll admit I was getting a little frustrated. For a few seconds there they all had a serious look on their faces, then Jackie started giggling and the rest joined in, one at a time as they lost it. "Don't you just love it when he takes charge. Tommy dear, you were wrong about one thing though. Somebody isn't going to suck your dick, we're all going to suck your dick. We'll be naked and ready when you get in from work," Jerrilyn said. "Work?" Christine asked. "I told you before. Tommy is a poker player, it's his job. He doesn't really need to anymore, but I think he still likes to go win money, just to show off," Jackie said, and she was probably right. Jackie called and got us a suite while Jerrilyn called the moving man back and told him how the world worked. She also made him promise to find a truck driver who could give me some lessons. In an hour we were checked in and fifteen minutes later I got my first naked look at my two new soon to be wives. As far as I'm concerned you can't see too many beautiful women naked, and I'm probably right, but right about then I felt like I had enough to look at for now. They'd made sure the suite had a shower large enough for all of us and we washed until we couldn't wash anymore. They all took turns sucking my dick, giving it a few swallows and then swapping off. They had me sleeping peacefully within fifteen minutes of the time they dried me off. We went to the hotel's restaurant about nine - they'd let me sleep until eight thirty and then got me up and dressed me, as if I were some big Ken doll or something. I loved it. When they had me fed, they sent me off to find a game, telling me to try and win enough to pay cash for the truck and trailer. Hell, I didn't even know what a setup like they were talking about costs, and I was afraid to ask. I was walking around in one of the poker rooms, knowing I couldn't get the kind of game I needed there, but hoping I'd see someone who needed their wallet lightened in a semi-private game. I hit the jackpot too. It wasn't one of the Arab gentlemen I knew, but it was one I'd seen with them a couple of times. He actually came over and approached me, asking if I could play a while with him and some friends. Could I ever. He had a private poker room spoken for already and when we got there I was the only American. There were four other Arab gentlemen and three Mexican gentlemen, all of them were tied to oil somehow, and it didn't matter one bit to me. There were two other Americans of Italian descent in the room, but they were employees of the casino, watching the proceedings. The dealer looked to be oriental, but she was an excellent dealer, another of the casino's employees. Of course this was a cash game and it was even better than I thought. The buy in was a hundred thousand. I called our suite and had Jerrilyn give the money to a guard type person the dealer sent to pick it up. Later, Jerrilyn said there'd been a man with a shotgun escorting him, but I figured she was making it up. It was a long night, but for me it was the best game I'd ever been in. Every one of those idiots thought they were fantastic at bluffing. All that was necessary was to let them bluff me for a small pot and then cut their legs out from under them when I drew good cards. Once I even got three at once to put up all their chips on the same hand. I'd been dealt two fours and flopped the other two. The most surprising thing was all three of them coughed up another hundred thousand and bought back in. How could they be enjoying losing so much money to me. I just couldn't twist it around enough to figure it out. I quit trying and kept playing until they were all so drunk they couldn't play any more. At the last, the guy who had found me downstairs asked if they could call a photographer and have pictures taken with me. They offered me ten thousand dollars to pose. "Not a chance. You're welcome to a picture, but there's no need to pay me for it. We played poker all night and we didn't get into one fist-fight and nobody even seems mad - in Texas that means we're friends now, practically blood brothers," I said, troweling on the bullshit as thick as I could. They chewed it like a pickle. I ended up being the last one to leave. The others all had men waiting for them as escorts. I had six hundred and ten thousand dollars more than I'd come in with and it was all hundreds. You can't put that kind of money in your pocket and the dealer had called for an escort for me and told them to bring several bags I was talking to her while we waited and I just had to ask if she had a clue why they were so happy to lose money. "They weren't particularly happy about losing, but they were happy to lose to you. You have quite a following in Kuwait," she said. "Were they all from Kuwait?" I asked. "All the Arabs were, the Mexicans were here because they are closely allied with Kuwait. Not their countries especially, just the two oil companies they work with," she said. "I still don't understand why they like to play against me," I said. "Perhaps it is because of the respectful way you treat them. I know for a fact the Emir was very happy every time he had the chance to play with you," she said. "Who?" "The Emir, of Kuwait," she said. "Isn't that like the ruler, or something?" I asked. "It is the ruler, period," she said. "But I've never played against a ruler," I said. "How about that man, do you remember playing with him?" she asked, pointing to a large framed picture hanging on the wall, one that I'd never even noticed. It was one of the first Arabs I'd ever played - I could remember him clearly. Hell, he'd been a friendly seeming guy. I even liked him. "I do remember him and I have played against him," I said. "He wasn't then, but he is now the Emir of Kuwait. This is his private poker room and three other dealers and I are the only ones allowed to work it. They don't come if we are on vacation. They are very loyal to people they like. I happen to know you are welcome in this room at any time there is a game here," she said. "I can't believe all that. I've never even heard of such a thing," I said. "He is the ruler of a country which is very important to the United States, and his money is even more important to this casino. What he asks for, he gets, here at least." I was shell shocked. I just didn't know what to think about all this. The dealer didn't say anything else and in a few minutes two very healthy looking Italian Americans came into the room with what must have been a complete set of leather luggage. They began loading the cash into the bags and I just sat there. "Will you be available for a game tomorrow night?" the dealer asked me, as the men were shutting the last suitcase. "Probably. I have to buy a tractor and a reefer tomorrow, and see about an instructor, but I'm sure I'll be done by eight or nine tomorrow night," I said, trying to give her some of the truck driver lingo my wives had been slinging around. "Excellent, there are several more gentlemen here who would love to play against you," she said. "I'll do my best to be available." ------- Chapter 13 As the two gentlemen and I followed the bellman with my luggage on his cart, I began to settle down a little. When we arrived at the door of my suite I knocked, but didn't speak, hoping one of the girls would look out the peephole before opening the door. I wasn't sure how or even if they'd be dressed. In about thirty seconds Jackie opened the door. I'd probably been right to knock since she was in one of the hotel's terrycloth bathrobes. She looked askance at the luggage cart, but didn't say anything. The bellman took it to a small door I hadn't opened, or even noticed before. Opening it, he slid a card through its electronic slot. An inner door opened and I could tell then it was a mini vault type thing. He put the four large leather grips and my buy in bag inside and shut the door, handing me the credit card type key. I tipped the bellman a hundred and then looked at the nearest bodyguard. He looked back at me and then smiled slightly. "I appreciate the thought sir, but it is not necessary," he said, then he, the bellman, and his partner left. I'd figured he wouldn't accept a tip, but I wasn't going to take it for granted. The service we got here was worth more than I could ever pay. Well, I probably could pay for it, but you know what I mean. "What was that all about, Tommy? Why did those men come with you and why on earth did you buy four leather grips. We just barely let you out of our sight and you go haywire," Jackie said, teasing me. The others, buck naked, were in the big living room with us now and I could almost feel them wanting to get their licks in too. I had to speak up to head it off. "Those grips contain a little over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars each, in hundreds. You know I play cash games," I said, trying to get a little tease of my own in. "Why were you still carrying the one we sent down to you?" Jerrilyn asked. "Because it still contains the hundred thousand you sent. That was my buy in," I said. "Well, Christine, it looks like we chose a good provider," Selene said, and damned if they didn't all laugh at me again. It was nearly four AM and though the girls had been planning to give me a real workout, the night was over and they knew it. I was actually pretty tired, and as soon as they had me naked, dropping my clothes on the floor as they got them off, they put me to bed. I learned a wonderful secret about my soon to be wife Christine then. She was an expert at massage. She wrung me out while talking with the rest of them all the while, just before she let me sleep she told them we needed to get some oxygen bottles and a regulator. "It really helps relax them during a massage," she said, to the others. I woke the next morning to see Selene with her head down between my legs and I noticed right away she had my balls in her mouth. As soon as my eyes opened she started humming. No, I did not recognize the tune. Christine was not to be outdone though and she showed me yet another wonderful skill. Christine could open her throat somehow and slide my dick down into it without swallowing, like any other deep throat provider would. It was so surprising I went off right away, and it was one of those mind numbing comes. Selene hadn't missed a note and she didn't let me go until Christine had sucked her way back up off my deflating dick and vacuumed up everything as she went. She and Selene kissed then and I could see them passing my contribution between them. I'd heard of such things before and they hadn't really sounded very exciting to me, but the looks on their faces and the obvious bulges their tongues made in each other's mouths nearly got me hard again. When they broke their kiss, they hopped off the bed, onto the floor, and high-fived. I was too washed out to laugh at them but I wanted to. Jackie and Jerrilyn came in from the bathroom about then, wet and naked - well, they'd dried off but they were still damp - I could call them wet if I wanted to. "Did you give him the treatment you'd planned on?" Jerrilyn asked. "Yes! It went off perfectly," Selene said, and she was bragging. "Good, let's call room service. I'm already starving and it'll probably take them an hour," Jackie said. Jerrilyn did the honors, or at least she tried to. When she told the one who answered she wanted to order breakfast - they told her the carts had just headed our way. "That's just odd," Jackie said. "Kinda, but I don't really care what they bring, as long as they bring plenty," Jerrilyn said. They did bring plenty. In five minutes, six men and two women were at our door with what I can only call a portable breakfast buffet. The men set up two long serving tables and began loading them with food and lighting the little warmers under the serving trays while the women set our table, and began serving coffee, breakfast type pastries, and squeezed oranges for our juice. It was three or four times more food than we could have eaten if we'd stayed at it all day. I made an absolute pig of myself and didn't even make a dent in it. None of the girls were light eaters either, but I'll swear it seemed there was more food on the buffet table when we finished than there had been when we started. Of course, I just had to share a generous tip. "Who did you blow while you were gone last night?" Selene asked, after all the crew had departed. "I don't know where it came from. All I did last night was play poker, and you can tell from the bags I didn't lose," I said. "So you say. Maybe you'd better give us that card and let us search those bags," Jerrilyn said. I knew she was teasing, but I fetched the card from the bedroom, opened the door, and told them to have at it. When they balked I said it again, but I warned them they'd have to put the money back in the bags. After they got started they seemed to enjoy it for a while. I doubt they'd ever do it again, at least not in a hotel room. We had hell packing it back up. Breakfast had been over for about two hours before I found time to see about my marching orders. "Well, what's our first move today?" I asked. "After we get you bathed and dressed we're going to meet your new teacher. The moving man said he found a good one, and we called him, explaining we were going to buy a truck and trailer. He volunteered to go with us to pick it out," Jackie said. "He did? Do you think he'll get a commission on the sale?" I asked. "Unless he's retarded he will, and you know you don't really mind anyway. It looks like those nice Arab gentlemen will be paying for it. "I was worried he might talk us into something just so he could make a quick buck though, so I promised him a bonus if we still liked the truck after two weeks," Jerrilyn said. "Good, I don't mind if he makes money off us, but if we need a Big Truck I want a nice one," I said. "If you have another night like last night, we can all have matching trucks," Jackie said. Christine and Selene still weren't fully into the swing of mostly buying things to occupy their spare time. It was complicated by the fact all their time was spare time now. They'd get used to it. "When are we going to meet this teacher," I asked. "I reserved a limo and we'll send for him when we need him," Jackie said. We headed toward the bathroom and the girls informed me it would be a bath this morning, not a shower. They did an excellent job if I do say so myself, but when I thought it was time to shave they let me know I'd be trying for the scruffy look for a few days. They probably hadn't noticed, but I usually had to shave every morning and every evening. I'd have that scruffy look by tomorrow morning. They dressed me in jeans and a work shirt, made me wear one of my straws, and a belt with a fairly large buckle. Mine was not to reply, mine was not to reason why, mine was to do ... or else. On to the limo went Tommy. -- shamelessly paraphrased from The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Even just on the surface of things there are twenty or more excellent reasons for having four wives. Eight titties, four pussies ... you can count. An additional good reason was not you got your own way most of the time. I saved my battles for territory which mattered to me. What I was wearing did not qualify. Hell, they probably knew best anyway. Forty-five seconds after we left the elevator I was sure of it. The gentleman who had invited me to the game the night before saw us no more than five seconds after I saw him. I had time for a very short warning to my girls and they performed spectacularly. They were all a step behind me before he laid eyes on us. When he saw me, he headed my way and I stopped, letting him come to me. "Good morning, Tommy. How was breakfast?" he asked, letting me know what had caused it. "It was wonderful. My wives and I were very pleasantly surprised," I said. He was surprised for a couple of seconds himself, about the wives no doubt, and then he smiled even though he tried not to. "The Emir told me you were the most enlightened American he had ever met. We would love for you to join us again tonight if it is possible. We'll be leaving tomorrow," he said. "I'd be delighted. It was a wonderful time last night and I'm sure it will be even better tonight. It is rare for me to find new friends in Las Vegas, and I treasure every one," I said, glad I was wearing higher top boots than normal, because the shit was getting deep around us and I knew I was the one doing it. "Excellent, will nine o'clock be convenient?" he asked. "Perfect. I have a shopping trip today, but we should be back in plenty of time," I said. "Don't let us interfere, you should not rush your wives at their shopping," he said, and I could almost feel him thinking my wives were running the show. He was too smooth to show it, but I knew I'd lose some face if I didn't get that notion out of his head. "Oh," I said, glancing back at them, "they begged to stay in the suite. I'm going to buy a new truck. I've never owned a semi and they seem fascinating." "A semi?" he asked, obviously not familiar with what I was talking about. ------- Chapter 14 "You must have seen them. The large trucks which pull the big trailers. I'm hoping they have a few models which are nice inside. I've heard there have been several improvements to them in the last few years." "Do you mean the very large trucks we see on the highways?" he asked, and I could tell he didn't want to believe it. "Yes. We'll need one with an extra large sleeper," I said, making it up out of whole cloth as I went along. "Oh?" "Yes. After I've taught my wives to drive it we should be able to come from my home in Texas to Las Vegas without stopping." He was flabbergasted when I said it. I didn't know if it was possible or not, but it seemed like it should be. All the big trucks I'd seen had enormous fuel tanks and I figured someone could drive while the others slept. Surely those big tanks held enough fuel to make the trip, one way at least. He couldn't stand much more of it and I did back off a little - soon enough he was on his way, happy I was going to play later and no doubt dumbfounded about my truck shopping expedition. The girls seemed a little shell shocked themselves, and they didn't say a word until we were in the limo. "Tommy, you were perfect, and I never knew you could produce bullshit by the ton. Five more minutes and he'd have just given up on the card game and had the money delivered to our suite," Jerrilyn said, and the rest laughed. "You four are the ones who were perfect. How did you know to fall behind like you did when we saw him?" I asked. "Easy, those women channels are always going on about how horrible it is for the wives of rich Arabs, even when their husbands are filthy rich. How they're so mistreated. "What a load of shit. Who wants to vote when you can have several other wives to take up your slack and you never have to leave the palace unless you want to. I could easily amuse myself sitting on my ass and eating grapes all day long," Selene said, and then we all howled. The truck-driving instructor was waiting for the limo and he came right out of his small home as soon as we pulled up. I got out to meet him. His name was Jim. Once we were both back in and seated he gave the driver instructions to our first stop. It was a Kenworth dealer. I actually liked the big Kenworths. To me they looked much better than the Peterbilts all the truckers raved about on the CB. Alas, they didn't have anything suitable. I could tell from the outside, but the girls had to get in before they discovered the defect. The salesman who was showing us around had been happy since Jackie'd told him we wanted the best truck on the lot, with every option. He was crestfallen when she told him it wasn't good enough. "I see, but could I ask what it's lacking?" he asked. "Sure, the sleeper isn't nearly big enough. In case you have trouble with arithmetic, there are four women and one man. That bed isn't even nearly large enough, not to mention the lack of closet space. "I saw it had another bunk on top, kind of like bunk beds, but we all sleep together in the same bed," she said, as a parting shot. "I see now, but you aren't going to find a larger sleeper on a truck lot. This is the biggest sleeper to come standard on any over the road truck. You'll have to find a custom sleeper and the truck's frame will have to be long enough to accommodate it," he said. "I guess we'll have to keep looking then," Jerrilyn said, and I could tell she was ready to go somewhere else. He could tell it too, but he blurted out the cure fast. "I happen to know of a new truck with a larger sleeper at a dealership in Los Angeles. A gentleman ordered it and left a large deposit. Unfortunately he wasn't able to take delivery when it came in. Perhaps I could help you make a deal for it," he said. "How big is the sleeper on this truck in Los Angeles?" Selene asked, getting into the spirit. "The truck here has a sixty inch sleeper, the other one I was talking about has a one-eighty. It's three times as large," he said. The four of them moved off to the side, away from the salesman and I, and discussed it. They were back in a few minutes. "I think it will do, but does it have top notch everything else?" Christine asked. "Yes, it's loaded," he said. "What color is it?" Jackie asked. "Arrest me red," he said. Jackie and Jerrilyn whooped and then showed me they could high-five equally as well as Christine and Selene. Selene showed me she was getting into the swing of her new lifestyle then. "We'll take it," she said, never even asking the price. "Do you need to call your bank and make arrangements?" he asked. "No, we'll be paying cash," I said, not wanting to be left completely out of the deal. The salesman gulped, and I could tell he wasn't used to being paid in cash. He recovered quickly though. "Do you want us to have it brought up here or will you be picking it up yourself?" he asked next. "Jim, can you drive us back in it?" Jackie asked him. "Sure thing, I'll be glad to, but how will we get there?" he asked. "It isn't that far, we'll just take the limo," Jerrilyn said. "We should put it off until tomorrow though," Christine said, "Tommy has promised to work tonight." "Just as well," the salesman said, "They'll probably need time to wash it and get it ready to roll. Do you happen to need a trailer for it?" "Of course, we want an Ultralite Reefer with a stainless steel Thermo King. We want a forty-eight footer with ceiling racks for swinging meat and be sure it has the corrugated stainless exterior," Jerrilyn said, and I'll swear she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. "How much is this going to come to?" Christine asked. "I don't have the exact figures, but roughly one fifty for the tractor, sixty for the Ultralite and thirty for the unit," he said, and he sounded like he knew what he was talking about too. "I have a better idea," said Jackie, "How about four-twenty-five for two, exactly alike. We'll take this one, pay for both tomorrow and you get us another one just like it as soon as you can?" "Sold," he said. Poor Jim, things had moved a little fast for him and I was afraid he'd injure his neck, jerking it back and forth, trying to keep his eye on whoever was talking at the time. "One more thing," Jerrilyn said, as we were climbing back into the limo, "If it has mufflers tell them to get rid of 'em. We want eight inch straight stacks." The limo took us to let Jim off and he promised to be ready to go at noon the next day. The girls and I went back to the Horseshoe, had a late lunch, and then we went to the room so I could get a nap before the game tonight. When I entered the private poker room it was all Arab gentlemen and myself. There were repeats from the night before, but five of them were new to me. We all introduced ourselves and then the games began. Like last night, all they wanted to play was Texas Hold 'em, but unlike last night they all started out playing tight. Well not exactly tight, but at least they didn't try bluffing every hand or so. At first it made things more interesting. About an hour into the game something happened to me, or to the cards, or something, and I don't have the first fucking clue about what it was or why it happened. The dealer had just started another hand and at first I thought something was wrong with the deck and then I thought it might be my eyes. I could see what the other cards were as they lay there face down. It wasn't as if they were face up though. I could clearly see their backs, but I could also tell what each card was. My first thought was it must be some kind of joke deck, but I knew a high stakes game like this wasn't a joke, even to these ultra rich men. I folded right away, even though I had high suited connectors. The others played the hand as if everything was normal. Same thing happened on the next hand and I folded again. I would have anyway since I drew a seven of clubs and a deuce of spades. Only two stayed in and they did some vigorous betting with the loser coughing up ten grand. On the next hand I got a pair of aces, and glancing around I saw one guy had ace king and another had a pair of kings. We got into a three way betting thing when the flop came up ace king queen. The turn was nothing for any of us and neither was the river. I cleaned up with the three aces, but I still couldn't figure out how I could see their cards. Hell, I didn't need any help taking their money. For the rest of the night I kept waiting for someone to let on about the joke. No one did and a couple of times I saved myself some money using the information. It wasn't a sure thing to let me win every hand, but it sure let me know when I'd have practically no chance of winning. When we called it a night I'd won just about enough for the two trucks and trailers we'd spoken for today, but I was having a hard time accepting what had happened. Maybe it was some elaborate joke, but it just didn't feel like one at all. Hell, nothing I could do about it until someone spoke up. I packed my money and the bellman and two guards escorted me to my suite. When my escorts and I got to my suite the door opened as soon as I knocked. All four of my lovelies were even dressed, sort of. They had on sleepwear and satin robes covering them, mostly. The bellman stowed the cases of money again after I produced the card to unlock the secure closet. I tipped him and then he and the two guards left. "What did you bring us, Daddy?" Selene asked, bouncing into my lap. "The truck payments." "Payments, I thought you were going to pay cash on the barrel," Christine said. "I am, and that's what I brought back tonight, cash to make the payment for the two trucks," I said, knowing I had caused the confusion intentionally. "Don't let him get away with it Christine, he made it sound the way it did on purpose," Jerrilyn said. "Oh, he's not getting away with anything. I'll let him sleep tonight, but I'm gonna be like a turtle when I wake him up in the morning," Christine said, and I just had to ask. "Like a turtle?" "I'm going to bite your dick and I won't let go until it thunders," she said, and then every one of them laughed at me. "I hope I can bear up under the hard use," I said, "Meanwhile, I think we should hit the hay." Wonder of wonders, they all agreed with me. They had me showered, shampooed, dried, and in bed about a half-hour later. It's surprising how comfortable and secure you feel when you can reach out in any direction to grab hold of a big titty or a firm shapely ass. ------- Chapter 15 When I woke the next morning I discovered Christine had been bluffing, maybe. She didn't actually bite my dick and she didn't hold on until it thundered. She did swallow it to the root as soon as I opened my eyes though, and her finger up my ass caused me to explode in seconds. Come to think of it, the loud shout I made might have sounded a little like thunder. I know my dick felt like it had been struck by lightning, at least. She and Selene helped me out of bed after giving me a few minutes to recover and they washed and dried me, then helped me get dressed. Of course I could have dressed myself, but where's the fun in that when you don't have to. Jackie had set us up for another room service buffet for breakfast and I made a complete pig of myself. The food seemed even better this morning. I was relaxing with coffee after I'd finished packing it in. "We've already sent the limo for Jim. I know it's earlier than we told him, but what the hell, we pay good and the four of us are ready for some truckin'," Jackie said. "Fine with me. Did you have the hotel pack us a lunch?" I asked. "No, we can eat when we get there. You can hold out for five hours," Jerrilyn said. I might have known they had something up their sleeves, but I didn't suspect a thing, yet. The front desk called and informed us the limo was back with our guest and everything was ready to go. I thought we were set, but the girls had their first surprise for me. "You should get one of your bags out of the special closet before the bellman gets here," Jerrilyn said. "Why is a bellman coming?" I asked, like a dumbass. "To carry the bag you're going to get out of the closet," Jackie said, and then gave me such a look. "Why do we need to take one of those bags with us?" "In case we run across something we can't live without," Christine said. I gave up and opened the closet, grabbing a bag of money. The bellman knocked while I was at it and the girls let him in. He rolled his luggage cart in and apparently he recognized what the bag must contain when he saw it. "The desk didn't tell me what I was coming for and I didn't ask for an escort," he said, looking a little sheepish. "What the hell," I said, "It's only a hundred and fifty - if someone acts like they want it worse than we do just let them have it without a fuss. There's plenty more where it came from." He didn't look like he thought it was a good idea, but I gave him a look that said no arguments. With the money toting arrangements settled the girls led the way out of the suite and to the elevator. I noticed the girls fell in behind me when we got out of it on the main floor, and we probably looked a little odd with them following me, and the bellman following them. It was somewhat of a production for people leaving with one suitcase, and a small one besides. They told me later they were in formation just in case we saw any more Arab gentlemen I knew. The bellman didn't have any choice, he had to follow, and by now I was glad we didn't have two gun-toting guards along too. The trip to Los Angeles wasn't exactly to Los Angeles. Selene had already called the dealership we were going to and they were located just south of Barstow. It was fine with me since it meant we didn't have to go into town. We didn't go directly to the dealership either. The limo exited the interstate in Barstow and pulled up to let us out at a Rip Griffin truck stop. When I asked, Jackie said we were going to have lunch. "Ripoffs has pretty good food, I've always liked their restaurants," Jim said, as we headed inside. Of course my wives were a hit in Ripoff Griffin's. They didn't draw catcalls or any loud comments, but they drew every eye in the place. I thought it was a little pretentious to be seated by a hostess at a truck stop, but it didn't hurt anything. The waitress was more nearly what I expected in a place like this, then again, she was efficient and had better manners than I'd have thought. I guess she looked like she belonged since she was wearing jeans, a rather decorative western shirt, and a belt with a large buckle. Kinda like my belt and buckle I realized, after thinking about it. The others went over the menu, but in a truck stop I knew what I was going to order. I had two cheeseburgers and an order of fries, of course. Then Jim showed me the error of my ways. He ordered a double dose of chicken fried steak with extra gravy. Oh well, I couldn't expect to get truck driving down exactly right before I even had my truck. The food was damned good and I was just wishing I'd ordered three cheeseburgers when Selene said we should get on the road. I didn't know what the hurry was, but I didn't want to cause any trouble, so we left. Apparently the limo driver already knew exactly where we were going because none of my lovelies said a word when we got in and he drove us directly to a Kenworth dealership. Selene led the way after we were out and had retrieved the grip from the trunk. She told the limo driver to hang around until we were sure we would actually buy the truck. Luck was with us. Inside the main building Selene took charge and headed off to find the one we were supposed to be dealing with. Thank God it was a woman from the office and not another salesman. Jane, the office woman, led us outside to where my new truck was parked. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I spied Junior - my CB man's son - working under the hood of a truck with the longest damned sleeper I'd ever seen. "How's it going, Junior?" Jackie asked, as we approached. "Just about done now, Ma'am. All I need to do is solder the end back on the linear's power cable. It was a little too big to fit through the access hole in the firewall and I didn't want to go drilling around on a brand new truck, 'specially since you hadn't even seen it yet," Junior said. "Well, it looks like we'll be buying it for sure. At least we will if the sleeper looks even halfway decent on the inside," Jerrilyn said. The comment let me take my attention off Junior and wondering what in the hell he was doing here and put it back on the sleeper. It looked enormous, but unlike at the casino, I was last in line to enter, since Jim didn't seem to be coming with us. Confusion was waiting for me as I entered. The first thing I noticed was two gearshift levers. Now I wasn't dumb enough to think the damned thing had an automatic transmission, but I hadn't expected two shifters. I let it slide and only gave passing attention to a dashboard which seemed to have at least forty gauges on it. I followed Christine, the last lovely in line, into the bedroom. It's all you could call it because calling it a sleeper just didn't seem polite. Most of the floor space in the bedroom was taken up by the bed, of course. Oh, there were some small closets and a miniature chest of drawers all right, but right in the big middle of everything was what looked like a regular king size bed, and in the middle of the bed were my four wives, having a pillow fight. I knew a lot better than to join in, so I stood at the end and watched. Finally, even though she was the smallest, Selene made the other three cry uncle. She was a demon with a pillow. "Tell the lady we'll take it, Tommy," Jackie said, as she got control of her laughter. I did as I was instructed, and the girls followed me out. "All done," Junior said, as I made my exit. "How did you get here so fast, Junior?" I asked him. "Ms Jackie called me yesterday and told me to bring a setup for another truck. She already had a ticket for me to fly out from St. Louis and there was a limo driver waiting for me at LAX when I landed. "Tweren't no problems at all, except for the little snag with the power cable. It wasn't really any trouble though," he said, as if it were normal for a CB installer to be flown halfway across the country at a moment's notice. "How was your flight, Junior?" Jerrilyn, who was on the ground now too, asked. "Everything was fine Ma'am. It was my second time to fly and the first time for first class. Everyone was really nice," he said, grinning and blushing. Jerrilyn spent a few minutes introducing Christine and Selene and then a few more making sure Junior was set to get back to LAX for his flight home. I took my cue as she was wrapping up the conversation and opened the grip, extracting two bundles of ten thousand each. "Here ya go Jr. Is twenty thousand enough for all the extra trouble?" I asked. "That's too much, even for both radios and the linears and all," he said. "That isn't for the equipment, it's for the install and your tip. Didn't your Dad send a bill for the other stuff," I asked. "Well, yeh," he admitted, and produced the bill. It was only four thousand and change, so I handed Junior another bundle and told him to tell his Dad to keep the change. I also told him to tell his Dad we really appreciated the prompt service. Junior still looked stunned, standing there with thirty thousand dollars in his hands. Finally, he put the money in his toolbox, picked the box up, and headed over toward another limo, telling us goodbye on the way. Jane had watched the whole thing in silence and she even looked a little shocked herself. I was ready to get going. I'd enjoyed just about as much of Barstow as I could stand. "Do we need to sign any paperwork?" I asked her. "No. Everything has been taken care of. We put on the California and Nevada plates and the dealer in Las Vegas said he would be taking care of everything else," she said. "Well where is the trailer?" Christine asked. "If you bought a trailer I assume it is in Las Vegas," Jane said, and I could tell she didn't have any idea about it. "Tommy, are we going to have to ride back to Las Vegas in the tractor with its poor naked butt showing?" Christine asked. I was about to say no, since it seemed like the answer she wanted. I might not be the smartest guy around, but I was not going to let a trailer here or there cause me any trouble with a woman who could swallow my dick in one slurp - especially since she seemed to like doing it. Thankfully, I didn't have to open my mouth. "No, Christine, we are not going off this lot without a trailer," Jackie said, as she punched numbers on her cell phone. She got in touch with the suede shoe operator in Las Vegas within forty-five seconds and the things she ended up saying to him almost made me blush. She called him everything, but a salesman, and I distinctly remember her telling him where he could park the truck and the trailer if he didn't get something settled soon. "Jane, can you talk to this gentleman?" Jackie asked, after she was through reaming. Jane took the phone and did indeed talk to the gentleman. It was all fixed much sooner than I expected it to be. Jane asked me if we could get by ferrying a trailer to Las Vegas. The dealership there was going to buy one from them specifically so we'd have one to pull for the trip. "Nonsense, we aren't that hard to deal with. We'll just buy an extra one here. We can worry about getting it back to Texas later," I said. "Why didn't you say so in the first place, Tommy?" Jackie asked, "It would have saved that poor bastard in Vegas an ass chewing." "I didn't say anything earlier because I didn't have time to. And besides, with what he's making on this deal he has to expect a little ass chewing every now and then. He's a salesman, I'm sure he's used to it." "Oh well, I guess I did jump the gun a little," she said, and grinned. "Besides, I saw the cattle trailer over there and I like the looks of it. We may have to buy another truck later though, to pull it," I said, mostly just shooting my mouth off. No attempt to seem like a big shot goes unpunished. "That's a great idea, Tommy," Selene said, and gave me a big kiss, and a long one too. "As a matter of fact, the trailer you're pointing out was ordered by the same driver who ordered this truck," Jane said, and the dealing began. I think Jerrilyn and Jackie were just showing off, but at first they gave Jane a little grief about them being stuck with the trailer. It didn't last long though, because Jane told them she'd warned her boss not to deal with the driver in the first place. "I could tell he was a coke snortin' bull whacker from the first. A lot of them end up with a bunch of cash every now and then, but I wanted Bob to get all the cash before he ordered anything. "Would he listen to me? No, what does a woman know about trucks. We'd have ended up eating this thing if it hadn't been for you folks because of course the idiot bullwhacker got arrested with his very next load of coke," she said. "Sounds just like a man to me. You should see if you can't find a better job," Christine said, trying to cheer the woman up. "I could find a better job in no time, only trouble is, my dumbass boss is also my dumbass husband." "Oh," said Jerrilyn, and then all thoughts of making a good deal were off and my wives spent the next fifteen minutes consoling Jane. In the end she had to refuse to take more money than the original price she quoted for the trailer. All's well that ends well though, and what the hell, it wasn't like I was short of cash. It didn't mean we should spend it all here, but Jane was nice and I really did like the way the trailer looked. Its aluminum wheels were even an exact match for the wheels on the tractor. I guess it made sense since the tractor and trailer were ordered to go together. Jane was a little surprised to be paid in cash, but she made the adjustment soon enough. She was completely floored when the girls decided to order another truck exactly like the one we were leaving with and left her all the cash we'd brought, except for one bundle of ten thousand dollars for mad money on the way home. Jane tried to throw a monkey wrench in the works by counting the money and declaring it was going to be a little too much for the trailer and upcoming tractor. "That can't be right. It isn't half what we are paying the guy in Vegas, and even though we bought two tractors from him and two reefers it should still only come out twice as much money," Jerrilyn said, and I could see Jackie getting her cell phone back out. "You're getting confused and I guess I'm part of it. I'm deducting the seventy-five thousand the coke snorter paid down this time. I wasn't about to let it go to the other dealer in Las Vegas, but since you're buying a truck here and got us out from under the original truck I'm taking it off your next one," Jane said. "Won't the other guy want his money back since he didn't get the truck?" Jackie asked. "He can want in one hand and shit in the other if he turns his palms up, but he won't get a dime back since he didn't pay the remainder on delivery. His lawyer has already been sniffing around trying to get his cash back, but we've got lawyers too, and they told us to forget about him and his client. "They said the DEA would get the money if the driver got any of it back anyhow - if those bastards want cash money they can just sell some of the dope they keep claiming they are taking off the streets," Jane said, and it appeared to be the last word she'd listen to on the subject. There was nothing left for us to do, but turn to Jim and see about getting started home. ------- Chapter 16 Jim had already given up on trying to keep track of what was happening. I asked him if it was too confusing. "It is if you try to keep up with them. I've switched back to truck driver mode. I'm just going to stand around, try to keep quiet, and wait for one of them to tell me something I need to do. It's safer all around," he said. "Safer?" "Sure, I learned the best way to get along with a woman years ago. Just be sure to listen carefully when she's telling you something, and then try to do exactly what she wants you to do, exactly the way she suggests you do it," Jim said. He had a definite point there. No doubt, with four wives helping, I could have tumbled to the same conclusion on my own in a few years, but Jim had saved me a lot of hard work. I thanked him for sharing his advice. We managed to get the wisdom transfer completed just slightly before the miniature hen party was done. We'd barely shaken hands over it when Jerrilyn turned to us and asked Jim if we could get moving. Jim was agreeable, but he said I should get in the truck with him so he could explain how to hook the trailer. Hooking the trailer was both more complicated and less trouble than I expected. In the first place, actually getting the truck and trailer joined was a lot simpler than hooking a pickup to a gooseneck trailer. Simpler after I learned to back by mirrors that is. It sounds easy and simple - just look in the mirror and back up. It isn't that simple or easy. Heretofore, when backing up, I had given cursory glances in the mirror and then promptly turned around and looked out the back window. If I tried it now I got an excellent view inside my new giant sleeper. It took a little while to even act like I was backing by mirrors, and this was with only the tractor to worry about. You didn't have to worry about backing the tailgate into the trailer and ruining it and you didn't have to be particular about the height of the trailer. Finally I was lined up to hook the trailer and only had to back straight back until I did. With the real fifth-wheel the new truck had locking onto the trailer was almost automatic. As long as the trailer was lower than the fifth-wheel, the truck and the design of the fifth-wheel lifted the trailer to the proper height and the connection was made. Jim's only warning was to be sure the trailer was never higher than the fifth-wheel when I started to make the connection. He then explained about high-hooking the trailer's kingpin and then told me it probably wouldn't ever come up and surely wouldn't as long as the fifth wheel was higher than the trailer. Hooking up airlines and the pigtail were simple also. The pigtail would only go one place and one way - the air connections were color-coded. Shortly after the connections had been made Jim showed me how to roll up the landing gear with its handy hand crank and the women piled into the sleeper. Jim told me to get behind the wheel while he took the passenger seat. The truck place had a big lot and Jim wanted me to do some navigating around on it. My first bit of instruction was learning the shift pattern. It was not trivial since it involved both sticks some of the time. He had me practice over and over with the engine off until I had a good handle on shifting five gears with one handle and then shifting the other handle one position and starting over again with the first one, at the same time. It seemed easy at the time, but I later learned the shifting two gear selection levers at the same time meant exactly that. While moving down the road I had to learn to let go of the wheel, let off the accelerator for a beat, and then move both levers into their new position at once. Fucking this part up left the transmission between gears and required a hell of a lot of work and much gear grinding to get back to where I had been before the fuckup. I'll admit that I often had to slow down to a stop to get going again, but most of the gear shifting came later. Next I got a lesson on working the clutch. I learned it was only used to start from a dead stop, whether forward or backward. At least it was easy to operate since all I had to do was make sure my foot was not on the accelerator and I just had to let the clutch out, fairly rapidly. It did have a peculiarity though. Before putting the transmission in low gear I had to make sure to put the clutch pedal all the way to the floor or the gears would make a grinding noise. "When you mash the clutch to the floor it activates the clutch brake. It's just a little disk type brake around the transmission input shaft and when you mash it causes the input shaft to stop rolling. It lets the gears in the transmission come to a stop and lets them mesh as you work the levers. Never push it all the way to the floor while the truck is moving. If you do you'll burn out the clutch brake right away. "I'll show you one if you remind me. It's only about a quarter inch thick and three inches in diameter. There's no way in hell it can stop the tractor alone and sure as hell it won't even slow a loaded truck down. If you try it you'll just smear it off and need to get it replaced. Replacing a clutch brake requires removing the transmission since it's one piece and has to fit over the input shaft," Jim said, and I believed him. "Don't side step the pedal, but you can go ahead and get off of it right away. You don't give it any fuel until your foot is completely off the clutch pedal and the truck is rolling. You also don't need to use it to shift gears. The real shifting lessons will come later," Jim said. My lesson continued with me putting it in gear and letting off the clutch to get us started. It was tough sledding at first, since I was not accustomed to dealing with a clutch, but I guess I caught on quickly enough. After I was at least reasonably familiar with moving around at parking lot speeds, Jim took over the driving and headed us back to Vegas. I was glad, because I'd had about all the driving lesson I wanted for today. Little did I know. After we were through Barstow, on our way back, Jim let his seat down a little, and then slid it back. "Ok, the cruise control is set and we're in top cog, stand between the seats and move back far enough for me to get out of the driver's seat," he said. "What for?" "So you can sit down and get used to driving. There's pretty much nothing to it on the big road and it'll make you more comfortable with the truck." I was a little leery of this maneuver even though the girls and I had done it's equal in the one ton. This was not a one-ton though and the bull rack (the girls had told me what our trailer was called) was not a gooseneck - it was forty-eight feet long for God's sake, but I complied. It was almost too easy. Jim stood between the seats, practically straddling the twin gearshift levers. He stooped a little, keeping his eye on the road and driving with his left hand. For a few seconds there we were cruising down the highway, at seventy miles per hour, and with no one in the driver's seat. I sat down and Jim had me put my hands on the wheel, then he let go and sat in the passenger seat. "Nothing to it," he said, "After a few lessons we'd better get the women to practice it too." I was pretty sure Jim had already figured out the women also wanted to learn to drive, but I didn't tell him and I didn't respond to his comment. I wouldn't have had time to anyway, since laughter started up back in the peanut gallery. "We didn't fool you for one damned second, did we Jim?" Jackie asked, from the sleeper, after she stopped giggling. "No. I might have been born at night, but it wasn't last night. I figured the song and dance you gave me was in case I was the kind of asshole truck driver who thinks all the women are panting for him. My wife told me I wasn't, years ago," Jim said, and the girls just howled with laughter. "Well go ahead and show Tommy a few things about driving, enough to let him pass his test anyway. He probably won't get to drive much, but I'm sure he wants to think he's qualified anyway," Jerrilyn said, and she laughed at me too. I didn't care at all. It wasn't like I was going to try to get a job driving a truck. I'd let them drive all they wanted. Jim kept up a running commentary of what was happening on the highway for the rest of the trip. It was almost annoying at first, but then I started watching carefully and paying attention to what he was saying. I finally got used to driving, but when we got close to Vegas Jim took over driving again. He knew it was too soon for me to try maneuvering in downtown traffic. "Where do you want to park this thing?" he asked, as soon as he headed toward town. "Just let us off at the Horseshoe. We have a limo lined up to follow you and take you home after you find a place to park it," Jerrilyn said. "I can just pull it in behind my house then and you can call off the limo. My wife will bitch about getting the trail started in the yard again, but she'll get over it when I remind her you're paying cash." That settled things and as he pulled up and let us out I thought I was probably the first poker player to ever be let out of his own big truck at Binion's. The girls were all a little excited over the trip and even a trip to one of the buffets didn't calm them down. When I asked if they wanted to gamble a little and offered plenty of cash for them to try their hands they nixed the idea almost at once. "We want to learn to play poker, like you," Christine said. "Well, you've got a good teacher lined up. Do you want to go try it out downstairs first, or do you want some lessons?" I asked. "We'd like lessons first, Tommy, but won't we have to go down to the casino to play?" "You'll have to go down there to play for real, but we can have them set us up a table here for you to learn on. I'll call the dealer in the room I've been playing in and ask her to get it set up if she has time." I called the private room and found the cure for our ills right away. The dealer said there was no game in there tonight and none was expected. She invited us to come down and play and she even said she'd help when she learned who I was teaching. She did ask me to please call for an escort if I was bringing cash and I promised I would. In fact, I didn't intend to take any cash with me at first and then I decided to. I might as well teach the girls how to handle chips while I was at it and we'd need to buy them from the dealer even if we did cash them all back out before we left, so when the girls said they were ready we called for an escort and headed down to play after they came and picked up a bag. It was a little odd to walk into the private card room and have no one else inside it except for the dealer, a waitress, and another girl tending the attenuated bar. Things were a little stilted at first, especially while the dealer was exchanging money for chips to get the ball rolling. She was all business while she was at it, as you'd expect. She even tried to maintain a professional demeanor while dealing the first two or three hands, but the girls had her out of it in no time. First things first the girls had to know her name, Kira. Then they started in telling her about their former work in Vegas. Slowly but surely they worked their way through their problems with boyfriends and my emotional treatments for their hurts. By the time Jackie and Jerrilyn told her about me getting tired of bailing them out and demanding they pack up and come home with me Kira was looking at me a little oddly. Thankfully they settled down after a while and started trying to learn about poker. They at least knew about the hands and which ones beat others. I concentrated on trying to get over to them the odds of one hand winning over the others. They caught on to it quickly, but wanted to know how I knew. "That is where study comes in my lovelies. I'll get you a set of books which will tell you which cards make what odds. You can avoid memorizing if you learn the math, but either way it will be a good deal of work." "It lets me out. At least when I was shaking my ass and dropping my clothes I had some natural talent to go along with it. I know I can learn to do the math, but someone is going to have to talk long and hard to get me to want to. I don't mind playing with you, Tommy, but as far as trying to earn a living at it I think you should keep doing what you're doing if we need money," Selene said. "We're not trying to take up Tommy's job Selene, or at least I'm not," Jackie said. "Me neither," said Jerrilyn. "I just want to learn enough about it so we can listen when Tommy comes in from a hard day at the salt mines," Christine said. "Oh, is that what this is all about. I can do that and even learn a little math if it will help console our tireless breadwinner," Selene said. "Bread hell. I'm holding out for a ring like Jackie and Jerrilyn have," Christine said. "Well you didn't look like you were holding out much this morning," Selene said, and they all laughed. "She doesn't have to hold out for the ring, or the custom made hats and boots and all the blue jeans in the world or the rodeo shirts. We'll be working our way about to all the shopping spots Jackie and Jerrilyn have already found when we make our way back to Texas," I said, trying to keep from being shut out of the conversation completely. "What about horses for them, Tommy?" Jerrilyn asked. "We have some serious horse shopping to do too. We need another one each for you two and two each for them. I think I need another for me too. We have plenty of mules we can ride, but it just seems silly to ride them and I'm not sure they'll even like it, no matter what my mule man says." "Well, we'd better learn poker as long as we're down here in this nice spot for it. We'll have to bear down on the truck driving lessons during the day. Remember, we've spoken for three big trucks already. We need to get a handle on poker so we can concentrate on our driving," Christine said. The conversation slacked off for a while then and Kira dealt us some hands. The girls concentrated on playing, but the hardest thing to teach them was when to lay down their cards when they didn't have a reasonably makeable hand. Like most amateurs they wanted to play every time. We finally called it quits after about three hours. Kira cashed us back out and called for an escort back to the room. She, the waitress, and the bartender were all surprised when I tipped them a thousand each as we left. At least they had sense enough not to make on over it. The girls were happy to get back to the room and they claimed they enjoyed it all. They did let me know they thought they'd enjoyed about all of it they could stand for a while. They didn't bother bathing me before bedtime and when they got to work on me on the bed I knew why. I needed a shower after they were done with me. ------- Chapter 17 Early to bed the night before, relatively speaking, meant early to rise the next morning. The girls hadn't ordered a buffet for breakfast this morning and after showering and dressing me they led me down to a more normal meal in one of the resturants. When we were done they called for a limo at the front desk and it took us to Wal-Mart right off the bat. I didn't even say a word about taking a limo to Wal-Mart. Apparently the girls, and Binions, liked the one ton and trailer right where it was. They were set on getting Christine and Selene some blue jeans, boots, and such and at least this time we didn't run into any perverts trying to watch them changing. We even found a decent pair of boots for both girls while there. I also made a small observation of the difference between women and men in shoe shopping. Women knew generally what size they wore, but I guess all the differences in styles had already let them know the size comfortable for them might be different from the stated size on the box. Both Christine and Selene had no qualms about choosing a size of boot larger than their normal size. In fact, they chose a pair of cowboy boots with high riding heels and a pair of lace up hiking boots. They used normal athletic socks for the cowboy models and some slightly thicker wool-blend socks for the lace up boots, and they weren't a bit disturbed about the sizes being different. Ignorant man that I am, I'd have selected nine and a half D boots for both models if I'd been buying them and suffered through the period it took to break them in. Oh well, you live and learn. Of course the next stop was not the last one. We made five or six smaller stores before they found one with a decent selection of shirts. I was surprised I made it out without gaining any for my own use. Next was a trip to a coin operated laundry and after everything had been washed, dried, and hung up we headed back to our suite. I felt a little odd going upstairs with an ironing board and steam iron, even if they were new. All the hanging clothes without benefit of bags were a little odd too, but I did my duty no matter how many people looked at us funny. We only stopped in the suite to let off our purchases and then it was down to a different restaurant for lunch. Jim drove up with the truck before we were done and then we all went out and climbed aboard. Jim had things more organized today and he took us to the parking lot of some small factory which had closed its doors. All of us got a turn this time and I was last. Jim claimed it was because I'd already learned to take off from a dead stop. Naturally it meant I was first for the next step in learning and it turned out to be a lesson on backing up. It was carried out in reverse, of course, and we never even got to touch the foot feed except to pull forward again after we'd backed about two hundred yards down one of the painted stripes marking off parking spots. And so it goes. We spent four weeks learning to drive the big truck and even though I hated a lot of it, by the time Jim took us down to take our test we all passed on the first try. In fact we passed everything. During our driving practice Jim had collected quite a number of paper booklets for us to study. Who'da thought there'd be homework learning to drive a big truck. There was plenty. The booklets covered everything from the normal rules of driving to bus driver training and special things we'd need to know to pull doubles - we even had two classroom type days with Jim explaining everything I never wanted to know about hazardous materials and the hauling of same. The odd part to me was we only needed a driving test for the normal Commercial Drivers License. The endorsements for bus driving, hazardous materials, and pulling doubles et cetera were covered by different written tests. The girls got a little weepy eyed over finishing up with Jim, but they made him promise to give them refresher lessons if they ever needed them. At least the problem with Selene's Cobra and Christine's XKE was solved now. Even though none of our other trucks had come in yet we had more than plenty of room in the bullrack for all the furniture and other things from Christine's and Selene's apartment. We spent one day getting everything loaded up and I was thinking we would leave when it was done, but the girls wanted to spend a last night in the suite so what the hell? We left the truck and trailer behind Jim's house again and made our way back. We were up in the suite, having just showered and dressed when we got a telephone call. It was one of very few we'd had while here. It was another Arab gentleman calling to inquire if I could come down and play some poker with him and a few others who had just arrived in town for a couple of weeks. Hell, I wasn't going to just leave free money lying around and I said yes without even asking the girls. He perked up my interest then by telling me the buy in would be five hundred thousand. "Good. Perhaps it will be enough for some of you to gain back a little of what the last gentlemen lost," I said, joking, whether he knew it or not. When I told the girls it didn't matter to them anyway. I knew we didn't need the money and they knew we didn't, but we all still wanted to get it while the getting was so good. The girls put me right to bed for a nap. They said they'd wake me in time to make it to work that evening. They let me sleep until seven-thirty then woke me, showered me, and took me to supper. We made it back to the suite just in time to cram enough money in the new larger bag they'd picked up while I was sleeping. I didn't want to have to take four bags to the poker room for my buy in. Soon enough the bellman and escort showed up. When I reached the private poker room there were several men in it already. All of them were Arab gentlemen except for the four Italian American gentlemen holding shotguns loosely. We all had a drink and some minor conversation and then eight others and I sat down to play. One of the Arab gentlemen was rather young, and I noticed he was rather looselipped considering the company he was keeping. He reminded me a little of Mike Matusow, though he wasn't nearly as loud or talkative as Mike. It was just that this youngster talked so much more than any of the others. As the game went on he did a lot of drinking too, and I noticed a couple of others at the table trying to gently hint to him he'd had enough and said enough, but like any drunk, especially any young drunk, he thought he was doing all the good. My magic sight was working as usual, but I tried not to take advantage of it. Still, it's hard to make a big bet when you can plainly see you don't have a chance in hell of winning. I mainly concentrated on letting the others win the small pots and I even let the drunk one bluff me off two pots I knew were mine. It came down to the nut cuttin' when I was dealt an ace and a king and the flop came an ace, a king, and a queen. I could clearly see the loud mouth had a king and a queen and he unloaded when the bet came to him. "All In," he said, as if he knew what he was doing. It caused some talk among the others and that was remarkable to me. They almost never said a word during a hand. I'd already bet a hundred thousand and knew I'd end up with the winning hand. I hated to, but I had about decided to fold when he spoke up. "Come now, old man. You are a Texan, are you not. Surely you aren't afraid to go All In." He sure as hell talked me into it, whether he'd end up being glad about it later or not. He'd been splashing around a good bit, and mostly losing, so after the dealer counted up his chips he still had nearly four hundred grand. I pushed out enough to match him and waited for him to turn his cards over. He didn't, so I kept waiting. "Turn your hand over," he said, to me. "I will as soon as you turn yours over." "You first," he said, getting louder as he went. "Dealer, would you explain the rules to the gentleman. I called his bet," I said, and the dealer did explain things to him. He sulked a little, but then turned over his cards. Of course I already knew he had a king and a queen. He sulked even more when I turned over my ace and king. I could see the young guy was about to bust a gut, but when the turn came an ace and the river too he lost it. "You have cheated me. Cheated I say," he screamed it. Of course it was stupid of him. I'd only touched the two cards in my hand, and if he was calling anyone a cheater he was calling the dealer out. It made no sense since I didn't even know this dealer and they were paying her salary anyway. He'd said the magic word though. The Italian American gentlemen were all at attention now and I noticed their grips on their weapons had shifted slightly. Surely to God we weren't going to have a shooting. It wasn't the only thing to happen though. The dealer pressed a call button and held her hands up in plain sight of everyone. The jerkoff made a move toward the cards on the table, but one of the Italian American gentlemen yelled for him to freeze. It stopped him for a second and it was enough time for two of the others to grab an arm each and subdue the culprit. I had been expecting most of it, all except the idiot's try at touching the cards. Even all the other players had backed away from the table. I knew someone high up in security would be down here in a few seconds to start going over the last hand, watching the tapes, and making sure the cards were all up to snuff. Hell, it didn't come up often, but they sure as hell had a drill for it. Apparently the security official informed someone higher up in the Arab's party too. They came in together. I knew damned well the security chief was wearing a thousand dollar suit, but there was no way for me to tell what the full formal robe get up of the new Arab gentleman cost. My best guess was way more than a grand. I did notice the loud mouth who'd called me a cheater got a definite shitting in his pants look on his face when he saw who walked in. The security chief started asking questions then and I'm sure he knew within five minutes it was just a drunk dumbass causing the stink. It didn't matter now. The drill had to go on. Ten minutes into the questioning one of the security geek squad came in rolling a table full of equipment and hooked it into the wall. Turns out it could pull the video off the cameras hidden in the walls and ceiling. We did the whole deal - watched video of the hand from the start to the finish, and the poor fool looked even worse on video than he had in person. Finally the security chief said he could find no evidence of cheating whatsoever or even of anything irregular. The high ranking Arab gentleman took the floor and almost at once I wished I'd taken Arabic lessons like I'd started to once. He went over, stood right in the idiot's face, and let her rip. I don't know what he was calling the poor boy, but it wasn't to supper. I did hear him say something about the Emir once, but I couldn't tell a thing about it. When the talking was over the head Arab in charge reached up and slapped fire from the boy's cheek with his right hand and then he slapped him again going the other way with his left hand. He said something to two burly looking Arab gentlemen who'd come in with him then, or as burly looking as Arab gentlemen got. They took hold of the cause of the excitement and hustled him off somewhere. We weren't through though. The head Arab came over and introduced himself to me and apologized for the squabble. I knew better than to just try to blow it off so I took it with a serious look on my face and then said it was nothing between friends. He actually let a little grin hit his lips for a second over it. Of course we weren't done. I found out the Emir was waiting to talk to me on a cell phone another Arab gentleman was holding. I recognized his voice at once and since he didn't mention tonights fuckup I sure as hell didn't bring it up. In fact the two of us had been drunker than tonight's whipper snapper together several times. He shot the shit with me about the old days and then pissed and moaned about never getting to America to play cards anymore. "It is awful to try to play poker here, Tommy. Everyone is scared shitless of winning my money. They cannot make themselves do it," he said. "It sounds like a lovely land to me," I said, trying to make a little joke, but realizing it was a very little one. "Why don't you come and visit me then?" "Well, I don't know why not. I've never even considered it. Are there places to play poker there?" "Of course. I hate to brag, but we can play poker anywhere I want to play here. Seriously, why don't you come over for a visit. I know you can't give me an answer now, but call me later and tell me what you decide," he said. "I will, but I don't know your number. Someone will have to write it down for me. I doubt I could just dial up your palace and get through," I said. "Nonsense. Let me talk to Achmed again. He'll make it possible for you to call me anytime," he said, and then we said our goodbyes and I handed the phone back to the one who gave it to me, the obvious leader of the pack. I was mostly just standing around and waiting on nothing now. The game was surely over after the excitement and all I wanted was for everyone else to decide what to do with the money I'd won on the last hand. It hadn't been moved yet. After all I'd gone through I felt sure they realized it belonged to me now, but I wasn't going to touch a single chip until someone official told me I could. Good old Achmed rang off then and he turned to me. "May I call you Tommy?" he asked, and when I said sure he apologized for the fuckup again. I had a hint he'd received a few marching orders from my bud on the phone. I knew I was right when he handed me the phone back and sent one of his errand guys after something for it. He told me the Emir wanted me to have the phone and then he proceeded to tell me about every number programmed into it. He'd just wrapped up his little spiel when the one he'd sent off came back with a small leather case for the phone and another grip just like the ones they all brought their buyin in. He handed me the small case, about the size of a laptop and told me everything for the phone was in it. He handed me the grip next and said it was to make amends for the unpleasantness. He finally asked the dealer if everything was square with the table and when she said yes he told me the game was over for tonight and I should gather my chips and cash out when I was ready. The dealer cashed me out and then called for a bellman and escort. As I was leaving Achmed asked if I could play tomorrow night and said he'd be playing then, so I told him it would be fine. The girls were surprised when I got back so early and of course they wanted to know the real deal so I sat down and went over the whole thing with them, or most of the high points anyway. They surprised me by being more interested in the phone than they were the extra bag of money. "It's not a phone, Tommy, it's a Blackberry," Christine said. "Oh, is that it? All I know if it's round it'll roll." "What?" "It's an old joke. Kinda like when you're broke and have a flat and you're so poor you have to settle for a fourteen inch tire and wheel for your truck which really needs a fifteen inch. If it's round it'll roll." "Bite it and hold on until it thunders again, Christine," Jerrilyn said, egging Christine on. "No. I want the whole story on this Blackberry first." "You'll just have to read it then. He sent the case it came in and claimed all the instructions were in it. Look it up," I said, and I'll admit I was feeling a little peckish and might be getting just a little cranky. "Uh oh, I think it's getting near time for someone's bottle. Are you a little bit hungry, Tommy," Jackie asked. "Yes Mommy, those mean men didn't give me any supper. In fact the turd blew up about five minutes before we were going to order a snack," I said, and pouted. "Just sit down and we'll fix it. After all, what's the use of having four wives if they can't make sure you get your bedtime snack on time?" Jerrilyn asked, while Selene laughed at me, Christine was poring over the instruction manual, and Jackie called room service for something to eat. ------- Chapter 18 I was surprised at how quickly the food arrived and Jerrilyn was surprised when the server didn't give her a ticket to sign and wouldn't even accept a tip. "What's the deal?" she asked. "Mr Achmed has transferred your room and room service onto his bill and we all get a standard gratuity when serving them," the woman said, and then left. What the hell? I didn't give a shit who was paying, all I wanted to do was eat it, and I promptly sat down and did. She had ordered something for everyone and so we all sat down for our bedtime snack. "Somebody must have been as embarrassed as shit over the way the guy showed his ass. If he took your whole bill it's bound to be thirty or forty thousand as long as we've been here," Selene said. "It's chicken feed to them. Didn't you notice the second bag he sent to try and make up for the fracas?" "You mean the bigger one? What's in it?" "I haven't looked, but I'm sure it's in hundreds - probably half a million or so. It looks like the size the rest of them brought," I said. As soon as they were done eating they took time out to count money again. They didn't bother with the half-million I'd taken for buy in because they'd packed it themselves and it hadn't been opened. They counted the two others I'd brought back though. Someone had been dicking with the bag of money I'd won, too. It was stuffed with half a million just like the one Achmed had given me and I knew the loudmouth had lost some of his buy in before the fateful hand. Damn - I was winning so much money I couldn't even keep up with it. The girls were well pleased though. They actually seemed excited we were going to hang around and I was going to play another night or two at least. Everything was going fine until I mentioned talking to the Emir and our possible trip to visit him. "Tommy, we can't go to Kuwait. What'll we wear?" Selene asked. "They won't expect you to be up on their latest fashions. I'm sure someone will take you around to shop for clothes after you're there," I said, and I'll admit it started sounding lame to me before I finished getting it out of my mouth. "Don't worry about a thing girls. Look at this number I found in the handy dandy little booklet Tommy brought back with his Blackberry," Christine said. "What is it?" Selene asked. "It says it's for Female guests services," she said. "We'll have to call them right now," Jerrilyn said. "Wait a second. We don't even know what time it is there," I said. "Well the easiest way to find out is to call and see if they're open," Christine said, and promptly hit a button. Apparently someone answered on the other end and even more surprising they seemed to know who was calling and be expecting it. For the first time in a long time I took a shower by myself and went to bed. I don't have any idea how long they stayed on the phone. The night might not have ended so special, but the next morning started off with a bang, sorta. I woke with my balls in Selene's mouth again and Christine did her slurp me up trick. I held out for nearly five seconds before I gave it up this time. Of course they were cheating and getting me hard before I woke, but who's counting. Apparently the girls had been working on the Blackberry late into the night too. When I was disappearing into the shower with Jackie and Jerrilyn I saw Christine punch one button on it and start talking to the room service desk almost right away. Since the girls had now noticed how quickly I could grow a beard they had me shave this morning so I'd look presentable tonight. As soon as I'd finished they put a robe on me and led me to breakfast. We were back to the in-room buffet again and my coffee and juice were already waiting. I'm sure I was able to eat more this time since it wasn't such a big surprise. I sat around recovering for about an hour and then we got a phone call again. Jackie answered it and almost at once I could tell she was talking to Jane. There was news on the big truck front. I waited patiently to hear the news, but to my surprise I didn't get word right away. Instead I listened while Jackie ordered two more tractors exactly like the others. What the hell, it was only money. The main trouble was I couldn't figure out when we were even going to find time to drive the one we had. All was well that ended well though. Apparently the fix was in between Jane and the Las Vegas dealer. Our new situation was both new trucks had been delivered to Jane in Barstow and the two reefers had come to Vegas, but were both being ferried to Barstow so we could pick them up all together at one time. Jane would need a day or so to get the tractors and trailers ready to go - wheel changing for the trailers and wheel polishing for all. The new tractors ordered tonight would be another four weeks coming in. Apparently no new trailers were being ordered. It was the only thing I could think of to ask about and so once she got the entire story out I put on a brave face and asked. "What about trailers for the two new tractors. I mean the two you just ordered," I asked. "We can't make up our mind on one of them. We can't decide whether we want a car hauler or another bull rack, or maybe even something else. We know we want a show horse trailer from the place in Amarillo to haul the mules and horses, but we don't know what we want for the other trailer. "We thought for a while about getting a large RV type trailer built, but it would just be silly since we already have the nice tent. In fact we're thinking about getting a custom made larger tent with a side opening for a window air conditioning unit. "Oh well, we'll just have to squat down and decide and then ask our husband if we can buy it," Jackie said. "Your husband says yes already. Now, what did you find out about your clothes for the trip to Kuwait?" I asked. "We have it covered big time. They're flying an Arab gentleman of the gay persuasion over to have us outfitted. Of course I didn't ask if he was a eunuch or not, but if he is or if he ain't, he damned sure sounds gay, even with the Arabic accent," Christine said. We had farted around talking on the phone and I got up late to start with and by now it was close to eleven and time to start thinking about lunch. We made ourselves presentable and went down to try yet another restaurant. It wasn't new to us, but I liked it. They had the biggest New York Strips I'd ever seen and of course it was just what I ordered. If we came here much more often I was going to demand they start serving Ranch Style Beans. The game that night wasn't nearly as exciting as the one the night before, and I was thankful for small favors. Even so it was a little subdued and the betting didn't get out of hand. I barely won a hundred grand. The head man in charge from the night before played this time and he was the best player of all the Arab gentlemen I'd played against. He told me during the game they wouldn't be playing for the next few days. They had to make a trip to Washington DC. I figured it was a meeting with dumbass W or something and it made me wonder if I was winning Kuwait money or tax money after all, but it didn't really matter to me since it would all spend. My main hope was they wouldn't drag Cheney into the game here. The Italian American gentlemen had shotguns handy, and one place I didn't want to be was anywhere near Dick Cheney, an open bar, and a shotgun. That fucking fool shot his own hunting partners for God's sake. The next morning the girls and I slept late. They woke me around nine and after showering and getting dressed we went to a restaurant for breakfast. They had a surprise for me. We were going to pick up our two new trucks at Barstow. Not only that, but we were driving down there in our current truck. "Don't forget to bring a bag of money to pay Junior," Jerrilyn told me just before we headed out to grab the limo. The limo took us to Jim's place to pick up our truck. We went inside and had a cup of coffee with Jim and his wife and then we were on our way. It was really just another excuse for a test drive as far as I was concerned. The girls did the driving and I rode in the bunk with the two who weren't driving or riding shotgun. I did get a surprise when we got down to Barstow though. Junior wasn't a surprise this time, but our new license plate situation was. Jane had taken care of everything for us, but all three trucks and trailers were now registered in Texas. There was some minor farting around with changing out the tags, but it was mostly just a paperwork shuffle and I was glad enough I hadn't known anything about it to start with. Since we were a little late getting down there Junior had done his thing and left already. Oh well, we'd have to drop by Springfield and pay him sooner or later. They had a minor hen party with Jane and then we hit the road heading directly for Ripoff Griffin's place in Barstow. In the restaurant we were waited on by the same girl who'd taken care of us last time. At least this time I had sense enough to order the double chicken-fried steak. I was surprised it was so filling, but it was just as well it was. The apple pie for dessert wasn't anything to be proud of. One good thing about having three trucks now was I could have a seat to ride in instead of the bunk. In fact, I had my choice of two. I rode with Jerrilyn because I knew she wouldn't want me to switch drivers for practice. My next surprise came as we headed out of town. They didn't take the exit to go up I-15 but kept right on going east on I-40. "Where are we headed," I asked, not really caring. "You don't have any poker lined up so we're going to Springfield to pay Junior. It'll be a nice long trip for us to get used to driving," Jerrilyn told me. "Shouldn't we go by Binion's and get our clothes?" I asked. "We took them to Jim's place and put them in the truck yesterday while you were napping. Of course everything is in this truck, but we can spread our things out later." "Well, as long as we're headed that way anyhow why don't we stop by Amarillo and take a look at the show horse trailer you ordered and make sure you like it," I said, mostly just acting like I could be part of the conversation on our planning. "That's a damned good idea, Tommy," she said, and then she picked up the Turner Road King RK-56 Noise Canceling microphone and said, "Hey Queenie, got it on?" "Sure, what's up," Selene's voice said, from the CB. "Armadildo had a good idea. Why don't we stop by Morning and take a look at our new trailer?" "That is a good idea - are you sure he had it?" Christine's voice asked, but Jerrilyn didn't bother to answer. "Let's do it," Selene said, and I guess my first CB conversation was over. I hadn't really been involved in it anyway, but at least I was present while transmitting was going on. I also hadn't missed out on what Jerrilyn called me and I guess it was now officially my handle. Sitting there with nothing to do led to me playing with the only thing I knew I couldn't get into trouble fooling with. The radio, as in the AM/FM radio. Of course by now I'd found out our Ranger radios would do AM and FM too, but you know what I mean. Stations with country music weren't hard to find and soon enough I had Willie Nelson singing to us. ------- Chapter 19 After a while of just riding I noticed Jerrilyn was keeping it on 75 miles per hour and I wondered why, since she hadn't felt a bit odd about doing 90 while we'd been practicing with Jim. Finally I asked her. "We decided to hold it way down while in California. We're still going a little fast for their limit of 55, but since we're headed out of state we figure we'll do ok on this stretch from nowhere to nowhere. We'll probably pick it up to 85 across Arizona, as much as we can anyway. "What do you mean as much as we can?" I asked. "We'll be climbing to Flagstaff, so there's a chance we can't keep to 85. Not much of a chance with empty wagons and these V8 Cats, but a slight chance. Of course after we top out at Flag we can roll at will all the way to Texas." "What will hold us back in Texas?" I asked, fascinated by the information they'd all picked up somewhere I hadn't. "Speed cops. I-40 is only a one hundred and fifty mile strip across the panhandle, but the Texas cops like to get their licks in on the cross-country traffic. We can pretty much drop the hammer again in Oklahoma, but we'll have to slow down in Okie City to turn left up I-44 for Missouri and points east," she said. I could get a grip on what she was saying, but every now and then she'd say a word funny, like Okie City for example. Then I remembered she hadn't said Amarillo on the radio when talking to Selene and Christine. "Why did you say we were going to stop by Morning? What was that about?" "Amarillo by Morning. It's a George Strait song and most truckers call Amarillo Morning now. You know, like they call San Francisco the Gay Bay." "Oh, I hadn't noticed," I said, but I could remember someone saying it on the radio. In fact it made a certain kind of sense to me now I thought about it. Just then we were crossing into Arizona and after a few miles Jerrilyn slowed down and then pulled off the road and onto a small paved driveway type thing heading up toward a small office type building. "Where're we going now?" I asked. "Chicken coop. The sign was on," she said, as if it explained anything. Whether it did or didn't all we did was slow way down to about five miles per hour and roll across right near the side of the building. I could see a red light/green light type sign just past a little out thrust part of the building. It was green and Jerrilyn kept going. I noticed she was hardly paying any attention to where she was going now and was looking closely at the mirror on her side. "What's happening now?" I asked. "Nothing really. I'm just watching to make sure we don't have to stop. I doubt we will. I think the cops were having coffee in the scale house, but I'm just making sure they don't stop any of us," she said. "Why would they stop us and what is this place anyway?" "It's a weight station. It's where they check out trucks to make sure everything is legal and they also weigh them to make sure they aren't carrying too much." "We're not carrying anything. We're empty," I said. "I know that and you know it, but the cops didn't know. We have to go through every weight station unless the sign out by the road says it's closed. They can also hassle us about permits, logbooks, and all kinds of crap. It's just part of it," she said. "Oh," I said, but realized the girls had been paying more attention to this trucking deal than I had. I was determined to learn about it now though. The only hold up to my furthering education was no more weight stations. There wasn't one on the other side of Arizona and the one in New Mexico was closed so we went right on by it. When we made it to the other side of New Mexico I thought for sure I'd pick up more information since I started hearing other truckers talking about a long line at the chicken coops as I now knew the weight stations were called. Alas, it was only on the inbound side from Texas and the weight station on the outbound side was not only closed, it looked as if it hadn't been used in years. I consoled myself thinking surely we'd have to do it in Texas, but I was let down again. They didn't even have a weight station at all in Texas, or at least none before we pulled off into a truck stop in Amarillo. I was glad enough to be stopping. The trucks had wonderful air-ride seats, but my ass was still a little tired since we'd come all the way from Barstow to Amarillo in one go. I wondered about fuel too, but Jerrilyn told me they were going to fuel after they crossed the line into Oklahoma. She said the tax was cheaper there. I wondered about it and asked for more information. I found out the tax was two cents cheaper a gallon and wondered what the hell the big deal was. Jerrilyn said they were just trying to act like the other Owner Operators. I'll admit I was lost again by now and so as we walked into the restaurant part of the Truckstops of America I asked what she meant. "Owner Operators are people who own the trucks they are driving. They usually pay the most attention to the price of fuel. Company drivers usually don't care about the cost of fuel since they don't have to pay for it," she said. By now I was impressed with Jerrilyn's knowledge of the ins and outs of truck driving, but as we were walking inside the restaurant I closed my mouth, realizing probably everyone in here knew as much and would think I was a dufus for asking about it at the table. Of course the girls went to the rest room right away and come to think of it I could pee myself, so I went in and faced the porcelain. I was out before them and waited for them to exit. They came out in company with another woman and it seemed she'd be eating with us. The waitress was quick to come over when we were seated, but she looked like she'd had a long shift already. Of course it was nearing three AM so who knew how long she'd been on duty. The girl who had come out of the restroom with my girls was Julie and she drove for Schneider Nation Carriers. She told them she had been driving for about six months so far and liked it fine. She switched into advertising mode then, telling them all the benefits of driving for Schneider. Selene asked if all their trucks were that awful orange and the girl admitted they were, but claimed it grew on you after a while. "In fact it looks beautiful on the weeks I get my bonus check," she said, and there followed an explanation of the tripmaster which was an integral part of her truck. It kept up with her speed, idling time, and other things about the truck's operation. Apparently she got a bonus every month of from one to six cents per mile if she stayed within the rules Schneider had for operation. It seemed like a lot of work for not much money when I first heard it, but then I realized the girl wasn't privy to poker games with hundred thousand dollar buy ins. I did a little calculating in my head according to the monthly mileage she said she averaged and figured 6 cents a mile for fifteen to twenty thousand miles a month was a pretty hefty bonus for a truck driver. In fact, with her regular mileage pay she said she made about twelve hundred bucks a week. It sounded like a lot more money than I figured most of the truck drivers made. She had some other things to say about driving her Schneider truck and they sounded pretty nice to me too. Their satellite link up let them communicate with their dispatchers any time day or night without the bother of stopping to use the telephone. It could also provide directions from any point to any other point in the US. All in all Julie gave us a pretty good sales talk about joining Schneider, and when she found out we owned our own trucks she said Schneider often hired Owner Operators and claimed they had the best freight available anywhere. Hell, I was sold on it, if I had been trying to find freight to haul that is. She even told us to be sure and mention her name and truck number if we called the company up to see about a job. Selene whipped out a notepad and wrote both down and we promised her we would. She left us then, saying she had to go put on her gown and it was only after she was gone when Christine explained it meant she was going out to her truck to sleep. She had been good company during our meal though and the girls had snatched the check up explaining they would pay for her meal. She was headed to Los Angeles when her nap was over. One other thing she'd said was a revelation to me too. Schneider furnished a CB radio in all their trucks, but Julie said she almost never used it. Since their instructions called for them to stay at or below 58 miles per hour she never had to worry about speed cops and Schneider never asked them to carry overweight loads, so they didn't mind going into the chicken coops. After we finished eating we headed back to the trucks. The girls took a few minutes to work on their logbooks and then Jerrilyn made me fill out my own. Of course what we put down was nothing like what we'd actually done. I was surprised to find out we had left a day earlier than we actually had, according to the logbooks anyway. According to Jerrilyn we'd have left again right away if not for wanting to go to the trailer place and check out our new trailer tomorrow. As it was the other girls came and joined us in the massive bed for the night. They claimed we had to break it in, and so we did. Our first trick in the morning was getting in line for a shower, though there wasn't really a line. We had to pay a small fee since we hadn't fueled here and luckily we had our own towels to take into the shower with us. The truckstop furnished a towel and a small one-use bar of soap for the shower, but the girls turned up their noses at the soap and the towels were so threadbare we only used them as bathmats. Apparently Jim, or someone, had already mentioned this state of affairs to the girls. We had breakfast next and the waitress looked at me a little funny when Jackie ordered my breakfast. I'm not sure whether she was put off by Jackie ordering for me or by the fact she ordered me four fried eggs, four scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and a ham steak along with two extra orders of biscuits and two bowls of grits. What the fuck, it didn't sound like so much to me. Hell, I was six two and weighed two-fifty. I was a growing boy and I sure as hell didn't have one of the potbellies so popular on the other drivers hanging around. We took off headed for the trailer manufacturing place after we'd eaten and we got an even better reception when we walked in the door. Someone had taken the hint from last time though, since a female, Carol, came out to talk to us. After the introductions she led us right out to our new trailer and the girls took a look at it right away. They even called me into the little dressing room on the front. It was obvious to me the dressing room was a sort of sleeper substitute, but without a bunk. Jackie called Carol in with us and set her straight. "We don't need a dressing room, we need a shower. Can't you put a big shower in this part," she asked. "I don't know. I'll have to ask one of the engineers," Carol said. "Well get one and ask him. In fact get one that'll say yes and get him in here where we can explain what we want," Selene told her. Carol didn't come back, but she did send an engineer. In fact it was the main one who'd been so excited checking out the ramp we'd had replaced before. He seemed happy to hear what the girls wanted for a shower and he made several notes about their requirements. He seemed even happier when they told him the trailer would be used during extended camping trips and would need some way to pick up fresh water from streams or lakes. I almost tuned him out about then, but since I could tell he was actually paying attention to what the girls wanted I paid attention. "We'll have no problem putting in a tank to hold a thousand gallons of water and it will only need a small dynamo to furnish enough electricity for an in line water heater and for the pickup pump to draw water from ground sources. Of course we'll include fittings to fill the tank from a hose if one is available. The truck's brake air should furnish plenty of pressure to make the shower actually flow water." He looked like he had it all in hand and Jackie asked him how long it would take to get it ready. He thought they could do it in a couple of days and so when required I shook hands with him and told him we'd be back in less than a week. We were on our way with less than an hour spent at the trailer place. I was feeling better about the whole operation now - our trucking operation that is. Things had seemed to go just right and I knew it was due to a lot of thought the girls had put into things. Of course we weren't trying to organize a trucking company, but what the hell? When I did something I liked for things to go right, and apparently the girls felt the same way about it. Jerrilyn led out and soon enough we were back on I-40. I wasn't through thinking about the shower trailer though. It would be as handy as a pocket on a shirt for camping. Previously I'd felt two days was the max for a camp out, since there was no way to bathe except in a stream if one was handy, and the temperature of the water was chancy for a bath at best. Our new horse/mule trailer would cure those ills in one fell swoop. Of course there was the little detail of getting the trailer back to our campsite at home, but something would turn up. It hit me then there was no sense in staying glued to camping on my place. In fact I'd only started it on a whim. With twenty or more mules, soon to be five big trucks, and all the camping equipment the girls and I could find on the Internet we could camp any damned where we wanted. I settled back and watched the miles roll by while thinking about a massive camping trip we could get started. "Tommy, you aren't getting bored over there are you?" Jerrilyn asked. "No, in fact I was just going over how smart you and the others were for trading that shitty little dressing room for a shower. Hell, we've got plenty of room for dressing in the sleepers. We didn't have a damned bit of trouble dressing this morning and it was all five of us in one sleeper," I said. "Well I wanted to make sure you weren't bored to death and wanted to drive or something." "I can drive later, when we have all our trucks. I can see you four have done more studying of the facts on the road and I'll just try to take it in for now." ------- Chapter 20 In fact, I was coming to like just riding around with someone else driving and I decided to enjoy it while it lasted. Jerrilyn and the others could do the hard part and I'd still be in on the fun. We were out of Texas in what seemed like no time and then the girls pulled in to what previously I would have thought of as a broken down truckstop. I did notice the price of fuel on the sign was 7 cents less than the one we'd spent the night at though. Of course I also noted we were twenty-five dollars to the bad over having to pay for the showers, but what the hell? The girls pulled up into their fueling slots like pros though and at least I knew my job now. I got out and worked all the fuel stations, both pumps and satellites, while the girls went inside with a wad of bills. Once I finished fueling all three trucks I joined them. I had noticed though, while most of the place looked ratty - the pumps and satellites at the fuel islands looked almost new and the concrete and aprons at the long line of bays looked recent too. One of the odd things about this truckstop to me was it sold beer. Not exactly what you'd first think of being available in a truck stop, but it didn't stop me from buying a six-pack of Lone Star Long Necks. The girls were walking around looking at the crap for sale, but I was pretty sure they weren't going to buy anything, and I was right. We hit the road again and Jerrilyn told me we'd received an additional two cents per gallon discount because we paid with cash and we'd even had another cent knocked off for having three trucks buy fuel at the same time. Of course we'd bought six hundred or so gallons, but I figured it all added up. Our next stop wasn't in Oklahoma City. It was at a toll station more than fifty miles past it. We all went inside to pay and Jackie asked about some type of electronic gadget to put on the trucks so the tolls could be mailed to our offices, or deducted from an account we could open with the state. We went for the deduction method and the lady told us we could ignore the tollbooths from now on in Oklahoma. The little radio contraption she gave us would take care of everything until we used up what was in our account. She didn't think it would happen anytime soon since I gave her ten thousand in cash for the account. Sure enough, when we left the toll road up near where we crossed into Missouri the radio hickey on the dash made a little sound, but we basically ignored it. There was a chicken coop just a mile or so on the other side of the Oklahoma/Missouri line, but the one on our side was closed. We'd had the word on it for at least fifty miles thanks to listening to the CB radio. It wasn't clear sailing on up to Springfield though. There was a Petro Truck Stop three or four miles on up the road and we pulled in there. I noticed the price of fuel here was only a couple of cents more than it had been in Oklahoma and the place looked a hell of a lot nicer. We didn't need fuel though and I didn't want a shower either. It was late afternoon by now and I was hungry. Apparently the girls were too, because we headed to the Petro, parked the trucks, and went directly to the restaurant. The place looked nicer inside than any I'd seen yet and I didn't even think it was funny to have a young woman seat us. I noticed a driver eating a big steak and was even more impressed to see it came on a pewter skillet-like dish and a smaller similar dish had beans in it. I perused the menu after we had them though and sure enough I saw a picture which looked a lot like what he'd been eating. I ordered two of them for myself, and the waitress actually asked me if I wanted her to hold one until I'd finished the first. I said yes, and I'm sure she thought I'd probably forego the second one after I ate the first. Of course I didn't, and in fact I had a little trouble attracting her attention when I was ready for the second one to be brought out. We didn't have to get up and physically assault her, but it was obvious she had forgotten completely about my second steak. With the business they were doing it was understandable though and I started thinking the waitresses were being worked too hard. I got over it when my next steak appeared. Christine had brought the Blackberry to the table with us and she called my CB man to see if he'd be open in a couple of hours when we made it to Springfield. He told her if he wasn't, "Just beat on the door and I'll get up." I paid the bill then and we took off. We were at my CB man's house in a little less than two hours and once again I had trouble getting Junior and his father to take the money. I was insistent though and we took off down Hwy 65 heading for home. There were all kinds of things which had been delivered just inside the house, but Jackie and Jerrilyn didn't want to open them - they just stacked them out of the way with Christine and Selene helping. Of course there was a tour of the house for the new arrivals, but mostly I just wanted to get in bed and get a little sleep. I finally went on without them. All was better the next morning. I knew they had come to bed during the night, but they were all up before me and I had a hellacious breakfast. They must have felt a little bit guilty about using me hard the day before, or was it two days. Anyway there was plenty to eat on the table when I got there. Of course we weren't staying long. We headed right back toward Las Vegas within a couple of hours, but we only took one truck and left the other two at home. I was relieved to finally get back to Binions. At least I got a break, and since the Arab gentlemen were still in DC, or at least still somewhere else, I had nothing to do, but rest. The girls didn't have it so easy, but at least they were settled on the other trailer for the upcoming trucks. It was a rather plain fifty-three foot box van. Of course it couldn't be all that plain, so they ordered it with corrugated stainless steel sides, similar to the reefers. Other than this little eccentricity it was plain enough though. I didn't get into the discussion, but I did hear them talking about being able to just add a reefer unit if it turned out we needed another reefer later - as if we needed the first one. I supposed it meant the trailer had some extra insulation or something. I knew I'd probably end up pulling it, but it would be behind me and I didn't care. Two days after we were back in Vegas the helper from Kuwait came to get the girls lined out for travel over there. They spent six days with him shopping for what to wear. I couldn't see what took all the time since when they modeled some of the stuff it looked like robes to me, except for that crap covering their heads and faces. I learned later they didn't actually shop for clothing, they went somewhere and were measured and had it made. I was surprised to find the multiple Abaya they now owned ranged in price from around two hundred dollars to upwards of a thousand. I didn't give a shit about the price - I just wondered what could make them cost so much. The headgear they wore was interesting too. It completely covered their head and neck and they had some type of face covering most of the time. They even had a sort of netting or gauze or something to cover their eyes, but let enough light through so they could see where they were going. Of course they told me the name of every scrap of cloth they wore - I tried to look interested, but I'll admit I didn't remember most of it. We took a day off to go to the apartment mover's warehouse and had Christine and Selene's furniture and all their other stuff put into the bull rack. Thank God we hadn't hauled any cattle in it yet. We were going to take all their things home with us this time, but we were mostly waiting for our new trucks to come in. Time wound on around. Our other trucks came in and this time I drove the one ton while the girls took care of picking up the big trucks and the box van. I figured we would run into trouble since there would be no trailer for one of the new tractors, but the girls had fooled me again. Unbeknownst to me, they had indeed been in contact with Schneider National Carriers and had signed us on, sorta. They had me park the one ton at Jane's place and we left Barstow after a short visit with Jane, and headed into Los Angeles. Apparently the previous sanction against bobtailing was not in place when they were actually going somewhere to pick up a trailer. Out on Garfield, not far from downtown, we picked up a load of bulldozer teeth from a place which reconditioned them and we also picked up a Schneider van with another load of the same thing onboard. They delivered to a small town in Oklahoma which had something to do with Caterpillar Equipment Company. We went to the trailer manufacturing place in Amarillo first and parked the one ton and trailer, still full of Selene's Cobra and Christine's XKE. Selene went inside and told them we'd be back for it and for the trailer and shower in a day or two. Next we delivered the bulldozer teeth to a small town on I-40 about half way to Okie City. We dropped the Schneider van there and it didn't take long for our trailer to be unloaded. We drove right back to Amarillo then and picked up our new trailer and our one ton and trailer and left heading home. We made it without incident and finally I thought everything was settled and we might even be able to get in a camping trip. I rested for two days, and then started in working with the horses and mules again. This time when I headed toward the farrier's place I had no trouble getting all the mules and horses over there at one time. I'd warned him ahead of time of course and he had three more farriers there to help him. I felt like I was on top of the world. I sat in the truck out in front of his place, overlooking the highway, and just waited for them to finish. When they were all done I paid the tab, loaded the horses and mules, and drove back home where the girls helped me unload the stock and get them sorted out. Of course there was some shopping to do. We had to head back to Dallas and get rings for Christine and Selene, and we had to hit Austin for more hats and boots. We even went back to Amarillo so Christine and Selene could try on jeans at the same Wal-Mart where Jackie and Jerrilyn had been peeped on. Fortunately the hole in the dressing room had been patched up and there was no Bobby Johnson or equivalent trying to get a look. As long as we were in Amarillo for old time sake, sorta, we went back to the store where the girls had found the nice selection of rodeo shirts. It led to them learning about a giant sale of such shirts at a place in Muleshoe Texas, and it was our next, and thankfully final stop. At home we had to run around and get firearms for Christine and Selene too, and the shooting lessons were back on. We even managed to get six more mares and another stallion so we'd each have one mount and one extra. All was just about right with my world, and we even managed a week end camping trip, although we couldn't use our horse trailer with the shower in front since there wasn't a road to the back of my property to pull it down. At least we did get to use the wagon I'd had built. We needed it to take along the big dynamo the girls had bought. Its main function was to run the window type air conditioner in the side of our new tent, and I don't mind saying I was glad to have it. The weather was getting a little warm out. Things had settled down nicely and everything was suiting me fine, until Selene announced one night we'd be heading for Kuwait in four days. I nearly panicked, because it was short notice as far as I was concerned, but the girls settled my hash in just a few minutes. "Tommy, there are four of us and we have everything covered. Your bags are even packed and gone," Christine said. "But where are we going to have to go to catch the plane?" "Nowhere. A helicopter is picking us up right out the back door and it will fly us to Dallas where we'll board the Emir's private seven-four-seven for the direct route. All you have to do is get up one morning, dress, eat the breakfast we'll fix you, then strap on your six gun and step outside to get into the helicopter," Jackie said. "We've already sent our clothes, except for the ones we'll wear flying. Everything else is already gone. We just have to get our asses into the helicopter shortly after it gets here and we're on our way," Jerrilyn told me, and I calmed right back down. It was easy once I knew everything was settled. I did wonder about strapping on my six gun for a trip in an airplane, but Selene reminded me we'd be in a private helicopter and then private jet and told me no one would tell me no. "I even called the Emir and explained you didn't like to travel without it and he thought it was wonderful. He'll be wanting you to do a little shooting for a demonstration when we get there," Jackie said. I still thought it was a little silly to go packing, but they were running everything else so I'd just do what they told me to do. Just like Jim had recommended. ------- Chapter 21 Even though I was taking their word for things I realized one thing they'd said could end up embarrassing me. The line about He'll be wanting you to do a little shooting for a demonstration when we get there went by kinda quickly, but I could see it getting a little sticky. If the Emir wanted me to give a little demonstration I needed to have at least something prepared, and I'd need to take more than one pistol to do it. In fact my usual cross-draw holster wouldn't do, not for a demonstration anyway. When people were expecting a shooting demonstration they wanted to see you draw from a normal Western Movie type gunbelt. I explained things to the girls and they realized the problem right away. They tried to get started apologizing over the whole thing, but I wouldn't let them. "Don't worry about it. I'm heading to Dallas in twenty minutes and if any of you want to go I'd suggest you get ready," I told them. I'll say one thing for them, dragging their asses around getting ready to go somewhere wasn't one of their faults. I think they all kept an emergency makeup kit packed at all times and they even had a small grip each with some traveling clothes ready. I ended up causing the delay while they packed a few things for me. Once we were in one of the one tons with Jackie driving Christine asked the sixty-four thousand dollar question. "Why are we going to Dallas, Tommy?" "Because there is a big costume shop there. They specialize in old west costumes and they can fit you or even make you a costume to your specifications, fast." "And this will help us out how?" Selene asked. "If I'm going to give a shooting demonstration I'm going to look the part," I said. "Maybe we should get some costumes made to match yours. Surely you'll need a couple of assistants," Jerrilyn said. "That is a wonderful idea. It won't interfere with your Arabic dress code will it?" I asked. "Well, we can still be covered completely. We can even wear a big hat with a mesh veil, but it will show off our tits, the shape of them at least. It kinda depends on who will be watching. If it's a big show for even the man off the street we couldn't get away with it, but if it was for the Emir and a couple of higher ups it would probably fly," Christine said. "Well we'll get the costumes made and if it comes up I'll ask the Emir about it. It is his home after all and like he told me before, what he says goes." I knew we were going to have a little trouble with the costume shop in the first place, because a custom made suit for me would have to be a rush job. It was just going to be worse dressing the women too. I knew I had the cure in the buy in bag I'd pressed into service, and it was almost magic the way only one look inside it stifled all protest about not possibly being able to get things ready in time. I let the girls choose their own poison, but I got it straight myself over mine. I told the guy I wanted 1850s rich bad-guy sheik with a double tied down holster gunbelt and plenty of silver trim. I also told him I wanted it to be suitable for more than costume wear, so he wouldn't just throw something together thinking I'd only use it once and throw it away. Of course I probably would only wear it once and throw it away, or put it away far back in my closet, but I didn't want it to look like it. He assured me it would be perfect and after the girls had finished with their part we got back in the truck and drove to a gun shop that specialized in trick shooting gear. I loaded up on throwable targets which would disintegrate from the slightest nick. I also bought some old time gunfighter looking silhouette paper targets for fast draw demonstrations. Mostly I perused the ammunition and bought a thousand rounds of 45 Long Colt shotshells. These were made from normal Long Colt brass, but instead of having a regular bullet they had a plastic container filled with number ten shot. I wouldn't even have to get very close to the fragile targets to make them disappear. The next stop was another gun shop I knew about - one where additional funds would get your modern paperwork back dated to take care of the pesky three day waiting period. I bought three Ruger Super Blackhawks in 45 Long Colt with six inch barrels and he was kind enough to remove the front sights from all three and he even had special little screw in fillers to replace the normal screws and make the barrels look almost like there'd never been a sight there to start with. The girls took care of shipping with the targets and ammunition like they had with the costumes. They knew the address after all and they even had a special contact number for a FedEx representative who they had used to ship our other baggage. We were set in less than a day and so we headed home. Of course I took the firearms home with me after another stop at the costume shop to leave one so the holsters could be fitted to it. I was halfway home before I realized I hadn't told the guy to just hold the pistol there and we'd pick it up later. Oh well. We'd stopped for lunch in Dallas, but the girls were still excited over their 1850s outfits and they cooked like four demons when we were back in our home. They told me about finding an actual butcher shop near my home town and proceeded to cook me an even bigger New York Strip. "Where's this butcher shop? I've never seen one in town." "Oh, it's not in town. It's out in Smyrna and the man has it behind his house. He told us he used to be the butcher at Grogan's Red Barn Grocery Store in town. The place went out of business and they tore it down and put up a big drugstore since then. "He still cuts meat for a few people who actually want the good stuff though. He does mostly freezer beef, but he has some individual cuts available. He also shuts down the beef and pork business and does only deer during hunting season," Jackie said. "Hell, I probably know him. My mother used to shop at the Red Barn." "Well we didn't ask his name, but we will next time. Thankfully the next three days until the helicopter arrived were peaceful. I had plenty of time to practice with my new 45s and I even had the girls get their routine straight for throwing up the super-fragile targets. I let them practice putting up the target frames for the silhouettes too. We even practiced with the mirror adapter I'd bought for one of my 336c Marlins. It attached to the butt and let me sight in on one of the targets through the mirror. Effectively letting me shoot at a target with my back to it. It was really pretty simple once you got used to it, and I had to coach the girls a little to get them to try and make it look more difficult. After the first session Jerrilyn asked me about my shooting. "Tommy, how can you shoot so well with your left hand? Did it take a lot of extra practice?" she asked. "Not much. I've always been ambidextrous. I write with my right hand because it's the way the teachers always wanted me to, but I can write with my left hand nearly as well. It was always easier to just pretend I was right handed like everyone else though." I could grow fond of the 45s. I saw at once they fit my hand and grip perfectly for hip shooting, even when firing at the flying targets. When shooting at the silhouettes though they were just right on. Of course there was no aiming since I didn't even have a front sight on either pistol, but nonetheless just pointing and shooting had remarkable results. They weren't worth a shit for any distance, but when shooting, fifteen or twenty yards looks impressive and I was putting every shot in the ten ring or right in the face if I was trying for it. The pistols were single action so if I wanted to rapid fire I had to fan the hammer, just like in the cowboy movies. I found I even did rather well that way too. Of course the groups were nowhere near as good, but then again no one watching would be measuring group size - they'd be looking for holes in the black part of the paper and I could do it no problem. I actually practiced too much with the 45s. I shot up all the birdshot cartridges I'd brought home and of course there were no more like it anywhere near me. No matter though, I'd sent most of them off to Kuwait already. I did have to go and buy some more of the normal shells, but I was just waiting around to catch a helicopter and shooting was as good a way to pass the time as any. By now I was actually hoping the Emir would request a demonstration, but I still wasn't going to mention it. The night before I packed all my show-off guns and things away in a suitcase and the next morning I wore normal cowboy clothes, but with a Glock in a cross draw holster. I intended to find out right away whether we'd have any trouble over it. I had my concealed carry permit in my wallet, right beside my CDL and my passport. We'd finished a big breakfast and the girls were nearly finished dressing in their Arab get ups when I heard the whoop whoop whooping of a helicopter and it got really loud before it settled completely down. I walked out the door with a couple of bags in my hand and walked up to the one manning the entrance steps. The helicopter looked just like the one the President always rode off in on TV, except it wasn't the same color. It was kind of a subdued gray. The Arab gentleman who'd come down the steps as they deployed took my bags and I went back for the others. Of course the girls weren't going anywhere without at least a change or two of clothes or their makeup kits, but there wasn't really so much baggage to take. They came out, every one of them Abaya clad then and followed me into the helicopter. It was my first time to be flying over my hometown in a helicopter, but there was no chance to take a look around at things. This wasn't one of those gee whiz, lookit that helicopter rides. It was more like an airliner, and complete with a stewardess. She wasn't wearing an Arab getup though. In fact she was dressed downright risqué to my way of thinking, with an almost alarmingly low cut top and a very short skirt. She didn't have any trouble bringing me George Dickel and ice when I asked for it though. I noticed she didn't ask the girls if they wanted anything even though she did give them an inquisitive look. They must have looked her off or something and even though no Arab gentlemen were in the passenger cabin with us they sat primly at ease, but didn't speak. I guessed they knew what they were doing. Hell, they reminded me of my idea of how Arabian women would act. Normally I could take or leave flying. Mostly I didn't like it, but sometimes it was just easier to suffer through the indignities of the flying cattle cars and be on about your business. On the other hand this was the way to fly. No fucking around trying to find a place to park at an airport and no terminal building to wander through with all your belongings in hand. We landed at Love Field near a 747 painted the same color as the helicopter we were in and bearing similar markings. It was a short walk from the helicopter's downstairs to the 747's upstairs and we were shown to seats in what looked more like a comfortable lounge than a plane. I noticed the skimpily dressed stewardess came with us, and I noticed our meager baggage being moved from helo to plane. Once we were shut up in the plane and it started to roll the girls did something with their veils, moving them to the side or something so I could see their faces. "Oh, this is just too much. The helicopter looked just like the one the President rides in except for the color, and I nearly fainted when I saw the way Jenny was dressed," Jerrilyn said. "Jenny?" I asked. "Yes, Jenny, as if you didn't oogle her titties and don't know who we're talking about," Selene said. "I just didn't know her name, and the lack didn't keep me from taking a good notice of her titties. How do you know her name?" I asked. "We met her coming across from the helicopter while you were leading the way like an Arab Texan or something," Christine said. "She let us know there wouldn't be any men coming back into our section during the flight so we can ditch these getups for about fourteen hours," Jackie said. "We might as well get 'em off. It'll save them from getting wrinkled," Selene said, and stood up to get out of it. I could see at once the fascination of the Abaya. Since it covered the women completely it was quite a revelation as it came off. It would be especially if all the Arab women wore the kind of things my girls wore under theirs. Every one of them had on a tiny sheer thong, a sexy garter belt, and stockings. The heels they had on were only three inch, but they were practically flats compared to what they'd been used to wearing while working in Vegas. They all had bras on, sorta. Actually they were the sheerest things I'd ever seen on a woman and I could see every goosebump on their areolae though them. The girls had just finished their impromptu strip tease when Jenny walked back. She looked startled for a second and I think she was about to turn around and leave, but Jerrilyn called her back. "Don't worry Jenny, come on back. We aren't getting lined up to haul his ashes, yet. We just decided to get out of costume for the flight so we'd be more comfortable," she told her. "Oh. I wasn't sure. I'm supposed to be back here telling you to buckle your seatbelts, but you don't really have to if you don't want to," Jenny said. "I think we will and you might as well sit down and join us for takeoff," Selene said, and then we all buckled up. As soon as we were airborne Jenny told us we could unbuckle and relax now. Christine asked her why she didn't have to wear the traditional garb while she was working. "Usually I do. I only dress like today when I'm taking care of Americans only. I thought I'd really screwed the pooch when you four walked out in traditional dress. I only felt a little more at ease when Tommy took a good gander at my titties," Jenny said, and then blushed over it. "Don't worry about Tommy. The worst he'll do to you is pout a little and maybe bend you over and give you the best dick ride you've ever had," Jackie said, and then laughed. "I could use one. When I took this job I figured one of the sheiks would nail me now and then, but I didn't realize I was going to work for the big cheese. I wear traditional dress when any Arabs are flying, but it wouldn't matter if I served them in panties and bra. They'd just look away. He has them scared shitless, and I don't know why. He's the sweetest guy you could ever meet. "Even he's never propositioned me. He does give me a little pat on the ass now and then, but it's more or a friendly gesture than a copping a feel sort of thing. Besides, he hardly ever even flies anywhere anymore. "This is a damned good job and it pays great, but there isn't much time off because we have to be ready to go on a moments notice. I have hell getting enough time off to get laid," she said, and then realized again she wasn't talking to only a bunch of girls and she blushed fiery red. "Well girl, today's your lucky day. We're not stingy, and even if we were Tommy's got more than plenty. How 'bout it Tommy, can you help Jenny out," Selene said, and I just looked at Jenny and smiled. She was sitting on a big couch, but any seat in this part of the plane was plenty big enough to get the job done. I moved over beside her, took her in my arms, and gave her a solid kissing. She was still a little timid, even though she was right with the program. I had to take the lead getting her out of her clothes, but once I had the top and skirt off her she was dressed a lot like my girls were. The bra practically fell off her and her thong was gone in seconds. It didn't take much kissing and fondling to get her slick down below either, but we were still hung up with my clothes. Jackie and Selene took it upon themselves to help me get rid of my things and before long Jenny was flat on her back on the big couch and I slipped the meat to her. She must not have put much mileage on her cooter any time lately, because she was a snug fit and I had to prybar my way in, albeit slowly. She was game for every inch of it though and before long she was crooning out in her excitement and fucking back like a champ. She wasn't as in tune with me as my girls were though and I had to take extra time to get her off. When she went though she went big time, wrapping her legs around my waist, clawing my back, and screaming like a banshee. It was so exciting I went ahead and gave her a full splooging. She nearly passed out at the last. I moved my weight off and cuddled her to me as she caught her breath. "God, what a ride, and what a dick. When I first saw it I thought it was a lie. You really were sweet to take it easy at first, Tommy, and you really tripped my trigger at the last. I just hope we're alone like this on the way back," Jenny said, but Jerrilyn gave her the sad news. "Haven't you figured out why he's being so sweet and cuddling you so?" she asked Jenny, who only looked at her with a curious expression. "He's giving you time to catch your breath. He's going to rare back and really give it to you good in a few minutes," Christine said, and it made Jenny take another look at my already recovered dick. "Goody," she said, and I moved between her thighs again. Fourteen hours is a long time to be cooped up in an airplane, and if your dick will keep rising it doesn't really take so much actual time to fuck. Jenny did pass out for about half a minute this time, but no matter. The rest of my girls were naked and willing to join the six-mile high club. Selene and Christine even wanted an ass fuck after they had a regular one. Before the long flight was over Jenny took a couple of more rides on my pony. The girls helped her out by using the little galley and fixing us a couple of meals. I was both glad and a little miffed to find out there was a full bedroom and bath on the plane. Glad because it gave us a place to tidy up when we were within an hour of landing, and miffed because I could have nailed them all to the bed a time or two if I'd known about it. Oh well, we'd be flying back someday. ------- Chapter 22 Even though we were landing in a foreign country there was no customs to go through. In fact the Emir met us as we came off the plane. The girls were met by a woman in traditional dress and escorted to a limo of their own while I went with the Emir. "Tommy, I know you must be tired after your long flight, but I just had to come welcome you to Kuwait myself. We have some nice daytime activities planned for you while you are here, but you must save some of your strength for poker. "Please tell me you are going to try your hardest to win my money while you are here," he said, and only laughed a little. "When have I not? I will leave you enough to remain Emir, but when I leave you will be calling me the banker of Kuwait," I told him, yanking just a little at his twine. He gave me the strangest look and then guffawed, and he couldn't quit for nearly three minutes. When he got his composure back he tried to say something, but laughed again when he looked at me. Finally he got it together. "I remember your wit all over again and it is good you came to visit. I haven't laughed so hard since I saw you last," he said. We spent the rest of the trip to his palace, or whatever they called them, just laughing and joking with each other. He could make a pretty good joke himself for a country's chief executive. The only thing which looked even a little odd to me was all the security after we entered the gates to his place, but I didn't doubt he needed it. The limo dropped me off at the residence where the girls were getting out. The Emir apologized, but said he had some business to attend to. I was just as glad and he promised to give me a day or two to get over the jet lag - telling me it really kicked his ass every time. I joined the girls and there were five of them now. Jerrilyn introduced me to Kahlila, telling me she would be our guide while we were here. Guide us she did, to a massive suite of rooms. It was flanked by two huge baths, and Kahlila showed me which one was reserved for my use. The bedroom had the largest bed in it I'd ever seen. It had a full canopy, but it wasn't decorated in a feminine way, and when I took a look under it all I could see was mirror. I realized the potential at once. Then she led us to a door and I tumbled to the fact it was to the quarters of my harem. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing out loud over it. After the show and tell Kahlila asked if we wanted to sleep right away or if we'd rather have something to eat. I knew what my vote would be, but I kept my mouth shut and let the girls decide. "If Tommy's awake Tommy's hungry. We'd better have a meal before bedtime," Selene said, and it seemed like Kahlila nearly laughed though I couldn't really tell with her veil in place. While she went to see about dinner for us the girls told me to put on something comfortable since we wouldn't be leaving our quarters before morning and then they disappeared into my harem's quarters to do the same. I changed into some well worn and faded jeans and a T-shirt. What? They'd said we weren't leaving again until morning and to put on something comfortable. This was as comfortable as it got. The girls came out of their quarters shortly and I felt better about what I was wearing since they were all in lounging pajamas. I was surprised to see Kahlila was with them, and while she wasn't in lounging pajamas she was out of her traditional garb and her headdress and veil were missing too. "Don't look like you swallowed something, Tommy. Kahlila is part of the family while we're here. Just don't mistake her for one of your harem," Jackie said, and then they all laughed at me, even Kahlila joined them after a second though I don't think she intended to. There was a dining room in the suite and soon enough some servants came to serve us. I was surprised to see I had a New York Strip while the girls had other American looking dishes - even Kahlila had what looked like a ribeye with green beans and a baked potato. I was finally able to relax while we were eating and after the girls teased me a little Kahlila seemed to relax too. She didn't strike me as a normal servant so I finally bucked up my nerve and asked her what she normally did. "I just finished my degree at The University of Texas. I had a major in computer science with a minor in artificial intelligence," she said. "Well if nobody else is going to say it I am. Hook 'em Horns. That's my alma mater you're talking about." "Oh, really. I just finished in December and I'll admit I've missed Texas since I've been home. I knew you were from there. It's why I begged my father to let me be your guide. I didn't realize we had gone to the same University though." "Yes, I got my Masters there in Business Administration, and it led me directly to playing poker for a living." "You mean you spent all that time in school and didn't even use your degree at all?" she asked, and seemed amazed. "I wouldn't say it exactly that way. In the first place I went to school and went on to get the Masters to avoid serving in the military during the Vietnam war. I never developed a deep seated mistrust of other cultures and I wasn't mad at anyone in Vietnam, North or South. "Secondly, my degree, or what I learned getting it has helped me avoid paying most of the taxes I owed my government over my winnings. It made me a firm believer in the cash economy," I said. She looked at me a little funny and then burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she nearly choked for a second before she got hold of herself. Of course we were all looking at her and wondering what the hell was so funny. "I'm sorry for laughing like that, but it really is so funny. All the tales father would tell of losing extra money to you to make up for you having to pay the devilish income tax just came back to me at once and it seemed too funny to be real," she said, and laughed again. "I guess I took money from him under false pretenses then, and I guess now that I know I should tell him. Then again, I don't want to tell him how to run his business," I said, and laughed myself. No. I hadn't missed the fact she had called him father, or that she could only be talking about the Emir. It made me wonder why the ruler of a foreign country would send his daughter to act as a guide for one of his guests. The more I thought about it though the more sense it made. No doubt he had plenty of wives and probably even plenty of daughters, and she had admitted to asking for the job. I didn't bring it up though. Kahlila did though, sorta. She started telling about when she was little and her father and mothers would come back from visits to the United States. She said their mothers would come back telling them stories about the wonderful shows they saw and of the beautiful showgirls in their outrageous costumes. "My favorites though were when father would tell us of his adventures with Tommy in the Horseshoe and The Palomino Club. It was only years later, when I was in school in Texas that I learned there was no gambling in The Palamino Club," she said, and then blushed a little. "Who you think you're telling, girl?" Selene said, and then laughed herself. "Excuse me. Did I say something wrong?" she asked. "Not on your life, Kahlila. It's just funny to us because Jackie, Jerrilyn, and Christine were all showgirls before we took up with Tommy, and I was a dancer at The Palamino Club," Selene told her. "Really! Selene you must teach me to dance as you did there, please," she asked. "Sure. I'm glad to be through with all of it, but I damned sure remember how. We should have plenty of time for you to learn since Tommy will probably be playing cards all the time," she said. I was getting a little tired by now, and even though it was still afternoon here it was time for bed for me. The girls said they were going to try staying up longer so they'd get adjusted to the time change more quickly. I told them to knock themselves out and headed back to the giant bed to crawl into it alone. I didn't have any idea how long the girls stayed up, but I did dimly remember them climbing into bed with me later on. No matter, I could sleep when sleep was called for and I went right back to it. I woke again when they did and I could tell from a nearby clock it was about seven am. They started abandoning the bed so I did too. I was surprised to see Kahlila was one of the bailing occupants, but I didn't even tease her about it. I went directly to my bathroom and took a shower. By the time I was dry and dressed the girls had ordered breakfast and it was just arriving. After eating I learned Kahlila had plans made for the girls, but apparently their sightseeing left me out completely. What the hell, I guessed I could hang around in our suite and pass the time. Luckily Kahlila noticed I was just sitting around in jeans and a T-shirt and asked me about it. She seemed embarrassed when she learned I had nothing planned for the day and she tried to get worried about leaving me alone and un-entertained. "I'm so sorry. I thought father had something for you to do today. I should have known any poker playing would only come about after the day was done," she said. "Don't worry about it. I can sit here and amuse myself." "Would you like to see the horses, or maybe you could go for a ride," she said. "That does sound better. Are they kept here?" I asked, but doubted it. "No, but I can call and have someone give you a tour," she said, and then she did it. They still left before me, but I put on my boots, a long sleeved shirt, my hat, and a crossdraw holster and belt for a Glock and waited. It was only a few minutes later when a young man came and introduced himself as Galal. He led me to an entrance near the side of the palace where a limo was waiting. I was surprised when we arrived at the stables. He gave me a tour of the place first and there were some beautiful horses. He was explaining about how they were all desert bred and even I knew enough to know desert bred Arabians were the premier stock. He asked me if I'd like to ride some of the horses, and while all of them were magnificent horses I told him they looked a little small for me. "Don't get me wrong. The horses are beautiful, but they look a little small for someone my size," I said. He looked like he was about to put on an attitude over it when an older man I'd seen spoke up. "He is correct Galal. While I'm sure our best horses could carry him he is a little larger than the normal riders. What do you weigh sir?" he asked. "Two fifty." "I do have one stallion who should be able to accommodate you for a long ride, but it is not with our best breeding stock since it is larger than we breed for. Perhaps you would like to examine him," he said. "I'd like to see them all, and I didn't mean to disparage your horses. I'm sure they are wonderful mounts, but I am big and I know it," I said, and he even gave a little laugh. In fact I was the biggest person I'd seen since I got here. There was nothing wrong with the people here, they just weren't corn fed like I was. Hammid led me to another section of the barn and almost at once I saw the horse he must be talking about. It was large for an Arabian though it had the distinctive head they all carried. It was taller though and much more heavily built. "Both his sire and dam were exceptional horses and the breeding is unimpeachable, but Tarick came to us larger than ideal. There is nothing wrong with him, but he is just so large," Hammid said. "He looks like the perfect size for me to take a spin on. I regret I didn't bring my own tack. Do you happen to have a Western saddle?" I asked. "In fact we do, and it was purchased with Tarick in mind. We once had a prospective buyer for him and we outfitted him to show to the best advantage. The buyer was not the most knowledgeable though and he neglected to tell us the horse he was looking for was for his daughter. Unfortunately Tarick was too much horse for the fourteen year old," he said, and he nearly let a laugh get away from him that time. "Well it seems like a happy coincidence for me at least." He showed me the saddle and it was perfect. It was an expensive version of a full skirted double rigged roping saddle and it was finished with rough-out leather. I was even happier to see no bit was on the headstall, but it was sporting a half-inch bosal instead. "You can see we have a bosal on the bridle. Tarick is fully trained, except to accept the bit. He does well with a bit but he plays with it. Since the sale fell through the Emir decided to just keep Tarick at stud and we stopped formal training for him before we cured his difficulties with the bit," Hammid said. Hell, I'd just as soon ride him with a bosal, but I wasn't going to do it with what they had on it for reins. I asked Hammid if he had some five-eighths rope around anywhere, and when he did I cut off seventeen feet of the nylon rope, used a lighter to melt the ends so they wouldn't fray, and after removing the reins they had tied to the bosal I tied the traditional Spanish reins and lead rope knot. "Would you teach me to tie that knot?" Hammid asked. "Sure. It takes a little work to learn it, but it is the traditional Spanish knot for this," I said. "I am familiar with it, but have never seen it tied before. I would very much like to learn," he said. "I'll be glad to show you. Right after I take a ride." He took me outside the normal fencing around the barns and told me to have at it. He didn't exactly say it that way, but I got the idea. In truth the land didn't look like it was anything special to ride over since it looked a whole lot like desert, but what the hell did I expect over here. I forked Tarick and after a little dancing I let him run for a bit and then settled him down. Hammid had been right about one thing. Tarick was well trained and after his first little run to shake the dust off he performed nicely. He didn't have a bit of trouble with my weight and he seemed like any well trained horse. He wanted to do what I wanted him to. I figured he was just tired of standing around in his stall all the time. He did like to run though, and I let him, sorta. I let him slow lope most of the time with only a slowdown to a trot every now and then to keep him from getting exhausted. Of course we didn't see much of anything, but desert. Still, after an hour or two of looking it over I could finally see differences in the terrain and we even found an oasis for a break. At first I thought it was something they had put there, but when I got down and took a look around I could see it was natural. There was an underground stream and it fed a small pond and also encouraged some plant life around it. When I turned Tarick back toward the barn I thought I might have stayed a little long on my ride. I met four men, including Hammid, and they seemed to be out looking for me. I smiled when they rode up. "Did you think I'd stolen him?" I asked. "No, but some thought you'd had fallen off. I told them there wasn't a chance of it, but they are more familiar with riders who aren't as experienced as you," he said, and nodded at another one of the group. "Well, it's been a long time since I've had a good mount and room to enjoy it. I'm sorry if I've ridden him too long." "Oh no. It isn't a problem. We were just worried about you. I can see now you have a good seat, but I didn't know it and the Emir would be cross with us if we'd let you have an accident," the one Hammid had nodded to said. "All's well that ends well, and all that crap. I guess I am a little late for dinner," I said, and rode back to the barns with them ------- Chapter 23 After I put Tarick away Hammid and I hid out in a tack room and I showed him how to tie the knot. It took several tries, just like it had when I learned it, but he caught on and I knew all he had to do now was practice. I had stayed a little longer than I'd intended, but then again I'd been abandoned to my own devices. When I made it back to my suite the girls were there and they looked at me funny when I came in. "Where in the hell have you been, Tommy?" Christine asked, as I walked in. "I went riding," I said. "Riding what?" Selene asked. "They have some horses here. Hammid even showed me one they had which was big enough for me." "Well you're late for lunch," Jackie said. "And just who was it who told me you'd be back for lunch?" I asked. "Well, I guess we did leave it out," Jerrilyn said. "Yes, you did. You all took off leaving me here to fend for myself, and I did thanks to the hint Kahlila gave me about the horses," I said. "I'm glad you found something to do, and I know it's my fault for not thinking and asking ahead of time," Kahlila said. "Nonsense. I'm not a baby who has to be taken care of. Tarick and I had a nice ride, even if the others did come out looking for me thinking I'd fallen off," I said. "It is strange they put you on Tarick. No one trains him any longer. He is so big," Kahlila said. "In case it slipped your notice, Tommy is pretty damned big himself, in more ways than one," Selene said, and then the four of them laughed and Kahlila finally caught the joke and laughed too, even if she did blush furiously. "Well, where's this lunch you said I'm late for?" "I'll call for it now. The kitchen is holding it for us," Kahlila said, and picked up the phone. It arrived a lot faster than I could have hoped for and soon enough I was at the table with four big cheeseburgers and a mountain of French fries in front of me. The girls started telling me about the city and everything they'd seen and I tried to make approving sounds between bites. It made me even happier I'd found my way to the stables this morning and I hoped there was more of it to see. Not long after lunch was over I got a call from the Emir. He wanted to know if I was up for a poker game this evening and I told him I was. He said we'd start around nine pm and he let me know there would be seven others there to play with us. The girls had something else on their agenda for the afternoon so I told them I'd take a nap and Kahlila said she'd have someone come in and wake me at seven if they weren't back by then. It turned out the girls showed up just after the other gal had come in to wake me. All of them, except Kahlila, stripped off and took me into the bathroom to shower and dress me. They put ironed blue jeans on me and a rodeo shirt with one of my straw hats, and then Kahlila had the one who'd come to wake me lead me to a big den where the Emir and the other players were waiting. We took half an hour to get acquainted before the Emir settled us down at the table to start the game. I could see what he meant about them being afraid to take his money right away, but thankfully they didn't feel any qualms about taking mine. They did start out on the tight side though, but I got them out of it by playing lesser cards and folding good ones for the first little bit. I was a little surprised to see my handy dandy newly acquired skill of being able to see through their cards was still in effect. It had even picked up another feature. After the hands were dealt an image of the flop, the turn, and the river would show up for me. I still didn't understand how it could be happening and it actually irked me a little. I didn't need it to win money off these clowns. I used it when it showed me a big fuckup I was about to make, sometimes anyway, but I still didn't feel like I needed it. Still, it helped me in another way. I usually boosted up the pots I knew I wouldn't win and I was able to make some spectacular losses which looked good. I kept them fairly low though and I was able to pounce on some of the bigger pots while losing lightly on most of the others. It gave the impression I was losing while my chip stack was actually growing slightly. When we called it quits I was up about thirty thousand and most of the others were only down five to ten thousand. I felt my winnings looked modest since the Emir had taken in nearly a hundred grand. "So Tommy, I heard you gave my horsemen some pause today," he said, after the others were gone. "I guess I did, but didn't you tell them I was from Texas? Hell, I was practically born on a horse. It was just luck for me you had one big enough for me to ride." "Ah yes, Tarick. He is magnificent isn't he? It is a shame his size is so outlandish compared to what others think of as perfect," he said. "Well, he's perfect for me to ride anyway, and he does have a beautiful head." "How have you been treated otherwise?" he asked. "Better than I had any hope to be. The service is wonderful and so is the food. I'm especially happy with the treatment of my wives. You must know they aren't used to being sequestered so, but Kahlila has provided entertainment for them." "I am glad, and I know your wives have provided good company for her. I have to ask you how you ended up with four wives in America?" "It just sort of happened, and you must know we never really had a proper ceremony. My government is so picky about such details. The girls are happy enough without it though and of course I am." "I can understand. I've often wondered why the men in America are so set against multiple wives. I can understand how the women would be against it, but I don't understand the men." "The ones who can afford more than one woman try to get away with keeping one secret from another one. It always gets them in trouble in the long run though. It is just a mess and I doubt it will ever be right. I plan to just keep my head down and let it all blow over me. I was lucky to find Jackie and Jerrilyn who were agreeable from the start and they found Christine and Selene. I was just lucky." "You do realize you could solve the legal difficulties, or I could solve them for you," he said. "Oh. I'll admit I don't know how," I said. "With a dual citizenship. I can easily cut through what you would call the red tape. After it was done you could get married here and there is nothing your government would dare do about it." "You would do it for me?" "It would be nothing as far as I was concerned, and who better to do it for than you? It would take five minutes for me to have the papers drawn up. It would take longer to have them arranged of course, but my part of it would only be setting it in motion. There are employees in the diplomatic corps who would take care of the actual paperwork, but I must find things for them to do anyway," he said, and laughed. He let it die to let me think about it I suppose, and then he called a servant over and we ordered drinks. Of course alcohol was nominally forbidden in his country, but I had serious doubts about anyone saying a cross word. Soon enough I headed back to my suite with another of the servants leading the way. He left me at the door and I entered to find the place vacant, or at least the part I was privy to was vacant. From the harem quarters Garth Brooks was singing about Friends in low places and I had a sinking feeling Selene was indeed teaching Kahlila to strip tease. Almost at once I wanted to see it, but I decided it would be a faux pas on my part. I at least made enough noise so they could hear me knocking around in the bedroom. My girls came walking into the bedroom portion then and they were all dressed skimpily. "You missed your chance, Tommy. If you'd been quiet and snuck in you could have seen Kahlila trying out her strip tease," Christine said. "I'd never do such a thing, especially with so much chance to get caught." "You never can tell, she might have wanted you to catch her," Jerrilyn said, and I didn't even consider taking that particular bait. "Besides, she wants a chance to peek at you," Selene said. "Oh?" "She's hoping we'll entice you into taking care of your women tonight. As I'm sure you noticed this morning we've already talked her into sleeping in here with us. It was silly for her to sleep in the harem quarters by herself," Jackie said. "Well you all know I'm not shy, so if one or more of you get things started tonight you know what will happen," I said, and started shucking my clothes and headed for a shower before bedtime. Was I tempting fate? I didn't think so. I did think Kahlila and even her father were, but it would take a lot more than tempting to get me to dip my wick with the lovely girl. Of course I wanted to, but I didn't want to cause a stink while visiting in a faraway country. I did take a risk by walking back out to get into bed naked after I was dry though, and sure enough all five of them were in the bed already so I was on display. At least I got into bed on the side away from Kahlila, even though I knew her eyes had been glued to my dick all the way. Selene was nearest to me when I got into bed and she didn't hesitate getting the ball rolling. After I had her babbling over a big come Christine was next in line and then it was Jackie and Jerrilyn too. At least Kahlila stayed on her side of the bed and didn't tempt me, aside from being in bed naked with her titties showing above the coverlet. Still, I didn't make any advances and she didn't do any overt tempting. I slept soundly after my duties were done. I was awake first the next morning and I got a good look at every ass leaving my bed, including Kahlila, and she had a magnificent example. I showered while the girls were dressing and during breakfast I learned they were all headed out for more sightseeing today. It suited me fine. I could get an earlier start toward the barn I'd found yesterday and check on Hammid's work with tying the reins and lead rope knot. At least the girls told me this time they wouldn't be coming back for lunch. I took the time to order a few burgers to take with me. Hammid seemed happy to see me this morning and he had me watch him tie the knot again. He asked me what type of rope the Spanish had used to tie it in the earlier times and I told him about the ones made from horse tail hairs. He wanted an explanation and so I did. "We also use horsehair ropes, or we did at one time, but never for making tack, and never so large in diameter," he said. "Well, the Spanish used it often," I said. Soon enough I was saddling Tarick and this time I made sure to tell him I might be gone all day since I'd brought my lunch with me. It was fine with him and we parted friendly. Tarick didn't even need a run right off the bat today and he acted fine from the start. We made our way to the oasis directly and after giving him a chance for a drink I mounted again and just rode, calling myself exploring. Of course there wasn't much to see, but it suited me fine. I ate my lunch at another oasis I found, but this one was even smaller. It had clear water in the pool, but very little vegetation near it. I assumed it must go dry during parts of the year. I rode around most of the day and managed to get back around four pm. I didn't see anyone hanging around so I put Tarick back in his stall after brushing him and made my way via the limo back to my suite. I even found it myself. I even beat the girls home, but only by a little. They didn't want to eat right away though since they all thought they needed a bath after the heat of the day. I was glad to agree since I'd ended up pretty hot and sweaty myself. They did order our food before hitting the showers though and it appeared just after they came out. Of course I pigged out, and we talked and teased until it was time for another poker game. I found my way to it on my own too, and I was early enough to have a drink with the Emir before the others started showing up. "Well, Tommy, what have you decided about the dual citizenship?" he asked, as we were sipping our whiskey and water. "It sounds like a good idea to me, but won't the girls need to do the same thing?" "I suppose, but it is no harder. In fact, my daughter Kahlila has dual citizenship, and she had to do it the other way around. It was much more trouble, but she did it," he said. "Good. She is already very popular with my wives and if I need any help convincing them maybe she will help." "I'm sure she will, but the others are approaching and we should get ready to play now," he said. The Emir and I were the only ones from the last game to be present for this one. This bunch seemed younger and they weren't nearly as tight. I still played it cool for the first hour or so, but I was able to do much better tonight. Especially since I caught the Emir trying to bluff me and took a big pot from him. He seemed almost happy to lose it and we played much later this time than before. "What'd ya bring us tonight, daddy," Selene asked, when I finally made it in. "I did much better tonight. There was a different group of men and I even caught the Emir in a big bluff so I cleaned up. I think I brought back more than double what I took," I told them. "I'm just glad I finished my education before you took away all my father's money," Kahlila said, and it surprised me she was getting in on the teasing. "Maybe your Father will lose you next time," Christine said, and they all laughed, Kahlila the loudest. "It might solve the problem of what to do with me. Most of the other marriage age girls have taken a husband already. He seems a little antsy about me finding one, but I haven't seen a one yet I'd have, and I don't really have to settle if I pout enough," she said. The girls were already ready for bed and I told them I wasn't dirty enough for another shower so every one of them started dropping the little they wore and crawled into bed. I did the same, but I was asleep in minutes. They had already warned me I'd be going with them tomorrow. ------- Chapter 24 We slept late the next moring and I slept latest of all. The girls were already in the harem quarters when I got up and showered, and by the time I was dressed breakfast was already on the table. They were happily eating when I mentioned the dual citizenship deal the Emir had offered me and as I'd hoped Kalila spelled out the advantages, but they were pretty much sold when she told them they could have a wedding here and actually be married when we got back to the states. I was locked into the plan now, but I didn't see where it would make much difference. After all, the girls already had me pretty much pussy whipped by now anyway. Our routine changed after that day. It seemed my prescense was required at least every other day during sight seeing and my rides on Tarick were cut down to once every other day. I guess it wasn't so bad, and Kalila was a wonderful tour guide. I actually learned a little about Kuwait and we got the real lowdown on what it had been like during the war, even if Kalila had been removed from the country before the Iraqis made their short and costly visit. Our days slipped into a sort of routine for a couple of weeks. I played cards with the Emir and his guests about three times a week and went sight seeing about three days also. I had a great time, but time marched along and when the Emir had to cancel a couple of games I figured it was a sign we should think about going home. Kalila had gotten someone to plan a wedding for the girls and me. It was two weeks away and I figured we'd go home after it was done. The girls had started seeming like they were ready to go too, even though they hadn't specifically mentioned it. One night they mentioned the shooting demonstration I'd prepared for, but hadn't wanted to mention, and they did it while Kalila was with us. I didn't fault them for it because she had pretty much fit in like one of the family anyway. Lo and behold the Emir brought it up two days later and we settled on having it five days before my wedding. I explained about the girls helping me and wearing period costumes. He said it would only be for his family and he though it would add to the show. When the day came it turned out to be a little more than I planned for. It was mostly for his family, but with eight wives and several children it turned out he had more family than I'd expected. Of course there was also a big security contingent with him, including one ringleader I didn't really care for, but what the hell, I didn't have to like him. We did the flying targets first and as I'd expected they wowed the crowd. We finished up with Jackie on one side of me throwing up targets and Jerrilyn on the other side. We had it planned so one of them would throw and the other would alternate. I'd have just enough time to fire at one with my right hand and then fire at the other with my left. I'd had to practice like hell at home to get to where I could cock the hammer of the gun I'd just fired while I was aiming and firing the other, but I had practiced religously and by now it was second nature for me. Selene and Christine were setting up the silouette target for my shoot behind my own back trick, and I'd just finished reloading both pistols with real bullets instead of the shotshells when I heard someone else firing. I looked toward the sound and saw six Arabs in the normal garb of the ones who worked around the house. The rub was the the M4s they were firing from about fiftey feet away. They were firing full auto and they were aiming at the security guards. I caught on right away it wasn't an impromptu addition to my show. It's funny how something like that can make time seem to run slow. I could see the attackers were holding down their triggers and spewing lead as fast as it would fire. I could also tell the barrel climb already had them firing over everyone's head, but they had hit a few of the security men when they first started shooting. What was I supposed to do? I yelled for everyone to get down, yanked both Rugers back out of my holsters, and started shooting back, but I wasn't firing fully automatic. I was aiming one pistol, firing it, and then cocking the hammer for the next single action shot while I aimed the other pistol at the next one. My rate of fire wasn't nearly as fast as theirs, but I had the advantage of making every shot actually hit someonoe I was shooting at, and I knew damned well I was getting a shot off per second. The attackers didn't even have time to realize it was me firing before I'd nailed all six of them. Of course I'd cheated since I'd taken the time to actually aim. After they were all down I turned to look at the Emir and I saw his head security man drawing his Glock while he screamed at me that I'd ruined everything. Hell, I shot him too, for luck, but I did shoot him in his gunhand in case I wasn't actually supposed to kill him. He was on the ground pronto and he was crying out in pain now since he was disarmed and his wrist was a complete wreck. A forty-five caliber bullet will do that for you. The Emir was looking at me in disbelief and I began to worry it had all been some sort of joke and I had over-reacted. I put it out of my mind when I saw several of the security men were down and wounded. I rushed toward them and the girls came with me after they got up. Turned out none of the security men were fataly wounded. They'd been wearing bullet proof vest. One of them did have a penetration, and it was a sucking chest wound, but it was only a 223 round and it wasn't sucking very much. One of the others had a nice little hole through the upper part of an ear and two or three of them had wounds in their arms and lots of places where bullets had struck their vests. It was all mostly luck and the attackers had done an awful job holding the triggers down like they had. Lucky for us they weren't better trained. About two minutes later one medical Humvee and another one with a machine gun mount up top came roaring up. I backed off to let the trained personel do their thing and I went back to the Emir. He was telling the medical people who had come over to tend to the last man I shot to let him bleed and take care of the rest of his men first. "Tommy, you have saved my life," he said, to me as I walked up. "I'm just glad shooting them was the thing to do. For a second there I worried I'd shot up some joke you were playing," I said. "Believe me, Tommy, we do not joke about gunfire here," he said, and then he slumped against me. Apparently the adrenaline was wearing off him. My girls and Kalila were with us now and Kalila went to her father to make sure he was all right. "My God, Tommy, you nailed every one of those bastards. One shot each and they were done for," Selene said. "Well I had an advantage - they were shooting at someone else." "And they were doing a piss poor job of it too. How did they fire so many shots and do so little damage? You only missed that one at the last," Selene said. "Well, I didn't really miss him. I was aiming at his gun hand. By then I'd seen the look on the Emir's face and I was worried it might have been some big joke he'd cooked up, so I only wonded the last one." "No matter, they'll probably do some serious questioning on him before long. I guess you stopped a Coup d'état." "Whatever. I was sweating it for about thirty seconds right there at the last," I said. The Emir was back up to snuff by then and he threw his arm around my shoulders. "I can never thank you enough for this, Tommy. You not only saved me, you saved my whole family. Anything I have is yours," he said, and I was sure he'd be sorry for saying something so dumb later. "Hell, it wasn't any skin off my ass. I had the girls to look out for too. It's the first time I ever shot anybody though. Funny, I don't feel a bit sorry about it," I said, and it made him laugh. "You know, Tommy, I don't feel sorry about it either," he said, and laughed again. Some more of his bodyguard came up around him then, and I one of them spoke up wanting to take my guns from me. "You want to disarm the one who saved my life. Go ahead then, take his guns from him," the Emir said, and the guy actually took a step toward me before he noticed both Super Blackhawks were out of the holsters again and pointed at his middle. "You are an idiot. Where were you when I was being attacked? Turn youself in for questioning and leave Tommy alone. I must have someone to look out for my well being," the Emir said, and it was the last talk of taking my guns away. The officers wanted to ask us all a bunch of questions, but the Emir told them to fuck off and we all got into the limos and headed back to the palace. Most of the Emir's women and children took off for parts unknown when we were inside, but he walked me, my girls, and Kalila into the poker room and poured us all a drink. He had to refill mine right away because I could feel a little dose of the shakes coming on, and I didn't want to spoil my image. "Tommy, I must think of a way to reward you and I know it can't be money because you would just win more off me if you needed more. Tarick is yours now, and a fine desert bred mare for each of your wives. The wedding will have to be for five wives now too. You must take Kalila home with you." I was about to protest until I saw her face, and it had lit up like a Christmas tree. I figured she was all for it, so I just tried to be my humble self and take it all with grace. She didn't waste over ten seconds before coming over and plastering herself against me for a big kiss, and my other girls were all over us too. Shit, who was I to complain. Kalila was a beauty from the get go and I already knew Tarick was one hell of a horse. We didn't get shitfaced drunk then and there, but we did have another couple of drinks. The Emir said we'd all be eating together tonight and he called someone to come in and make the happy arrangements. Finally he let us go back to our suite, and it was a good thing because I was sure the girls were about to burst to talk things over. The meal was someting else. All of the Emir's wives and children were there and none of the women had veils on. Of course my girls had the word and they didn't either. I wasn't lusting after the Emir's wives, but it was nice to see their faces and I realized it was a big honor for me. I was pretty sure it meant he considered me part of his family. The food was wonderful too. I'd never known there were so many ways to prepare lamb, but there were plenty and they were all delicious. I went ahead and ate all I could hold and I think even the Emir was impressed. What the hell, I was still a growing boy. ------- Chapter 25 Things settled down the next few days, and even though the wedding had to be expanded to accommodate another wife there didn't seem to be much difference as far as I was concerned. Of course I anticipated a big difference once the honeymoon got started. It also put our departure back about a week, and I learned there were some details about the wedding that would change since I was marrying one of the Emir's daughters. Hell, it didn't make a shit to me. I let the girls and the mothers handle things. Oh yes, I'd noticed Kahlila's mother and a couple of the Emir's other wives were horning in on things now too, but I really didn't care since I didn't have to deal with them. Even though I'd never been married before I had my part down. Show up in a tux and afterward every time you had to say something there was someone telling you what it was supposed to be. I got to spend even more time riding Tarick now and in honor of my shooting six assholes I wore my double tie down gunbelt every time and a saddle scabbard for my Marlin had even showed up with the tack, so I took it along too. One officious little army puke had tried to make trouble for me the first time I rode after the fuckup, but I had to settle his hash. He was waiting in the stables with five others to provide protection for me while I rode. I told him he was welcome to go along, but not welcome to take the Humvee they were using for transportation. Apparently they weren't up on their horsemanship because none of them wanted to ride along with me even after Hammid offered to saddle some horses for them. As things usually did they all worked out sooner or later. We got married and spent our honeymoon in the same suite we'd been living in while we visited. Kahlila was nervous the first night and the girls made it worse on her by putting her first. I guess the girls didn't realize what I'd known from the start. Kahlila was a virgin and it was her first time. It had been a long time since I'd been with a virgin and even though she'd been watching closely lately, Kahlila didn't really know what to expect. I spent nearly an hour kissing and licking her everywhere until I was sure she was ready for the real deal. It was worth the trouble. She had been nervous from the start, but she finally settled down and was hot to trot before I moved between her thighs. My dick was more than ready too, and it was stiff as it could get before I let it nose its way between Kahlila's love lips. Her hymen was present, but not a bother and soon enough I was wedging my way up her slippery chute and a good time was had by all. Kahlila was hugging me and kissing me everywhere just after she got her cookies and I cuddled and kissed on her for as long as I could before the rest of my wives wanted a come of their own. At least the Emir had one last poker game for me before we left, and it was profitable if not exactly competitive. Apparently the others he called to play that night had switched me to the same status as the Emir, and they didn't try to win my money. Hell, I could have told them they needn't worry, but what the hell. I'm a Texan first, no matter the trick they'd pulled on the citizenship front, and when there's money on a poker table I just naturally take all of it I can. When we departed for the airport and our plane I was surprised to see Tarick and five mares leaving with us. A giant door was opened on the side of the plane when we got there and the horses were loaded, each in their own separate cage. I was a little worried about how we'd get them home from Love field, but Selene gave me the lowdown. "The Emir is way ahead of you on this one. There are supposed to be six extra helicopters waiting for us besides the one we're using. Apparently the horses and their cages require a bird each for their movement," she said. Jenny was ready for our arrival when we made it aboard. She was wearing her sheer bra, a tiny thong, a garter belt, and fishnet hose when we walked in. Even Kahlila was in on the joke though. What the hell, I pulled Jenny into an embrace and started off with the little she was wearing as soon as I saw her. I was already up her when we made it to the taxiway and she got her cookies about the time we crossed two thousand feet. Naturally I wasn't done because Kahlila needed to be ushered into the mile high club and all the other clubs up to our cruising altitude. I'd been doing her every night since the wedding to make sure she felt at home with us, but I concentrated on her for the first of the flight, after ringing Jenny's chime, of course. After Kahlila was ushered into all clubs available the next two hours of the trip degenerated into an orgy. Selene told Jenny and Kahlila I was just showing off, but I noticed she didn't hesitate to lay down and spread her legs when her turn came around and then she and Jackie promptly lobbied for a good butt fucking too boot. Kahlila was looking a little sheepish after the two gluttons, but Christine told her they were always optional. We had a wonderful flight home, with me mostly napping and fucking my way to the good old US of A, and it turned out to be a good thing to settle my nerves. We were met at Love field by a diplomatic entourage from both countries and one from the Texas Highway Patrol with a customs officer along with an order for quarantine of the six horses. Fortunately the US diplomatic group brought an honorary guard along and they just happened to have loaded weapons. The Highway Patrol was there to enforce the quarantine, but the squad of decorative troops trumped them big time. The diplomatic head of the US group informed the Texas Highway Patrol they would all be placed under arrest if they pestered me. Unbeknownst to me, my wives and I had been listed as diplomats sometime during the festivities and we all had diplomatic immunity. When I was informed I couldn't help it, I laughed like hell. Not so much for what was going on now, but I could visualize some normal Highway cop on the road discovering we could too drive our big trucks a hundred miles per hour if we wanted to. It ended up only one of the Highway Patrolmen got arrested by the Federal troops. He was the head man in charge and I think he felt a little let down by his band of merry men since they didn't offer any resistance. In fact it didn't go well for him and I heard later he was cuffed and sent off to Washington DC, ostensibly for the dreaded sensitivity training and six months in the Federal lockup afterwards. Of course it made him a felon with a record and he lost his state job right off the bat. What the hell, he could probably get on working security at a Wal-Mart or something when he got out. All in all, the little dustup at Love field didn't amount to shit for us. We waited around while the horses were moved from the plane to their separate helos and then we boarded the one reserved for us and headed home. Alas, Jenny had put on something presentable for the trip, but the girls made her sit down and bullshit the whole way anyway. Luckily one of the helicopters had brought a small machine which packed a huge punch. To wit, it could lift and remove the cages the horses were in and set them on the ground. I was even further relieved when I discovered several men had come along who knew how to use the machine and also knew at least a little about getting the horses out of the shipping cages. I was standing around with Tarick on a halter and lead rope when one of the men rode the small machine into the helicopter from whence it came and then all the helicopter personnel mounted their steeds and flew off into the sky, toward Dallas I guessed. Five seconds later I noticed the helicopter we'd ridden in was still here and Jenny was still here with it. It only took a few questions for me to find out all the girls, including Jenny, had known Jenny and the helicopter were staying here. "It's only until tomorrow, Tommy, sorta. The Emir decided you needed a helicopter here. That one will only be staying until in the morning. At that time our personal pilots will come with your machine. I gathered it was going to be a newer model," Kahlila said. "I hope I wasn't being presumptuous when I asked for the job on your machine," Jenny said, and looked a little sheepish. "If it suits you, Jenny, it tickles me pink. You aren't going to be filing a sexual harassment suit on me are you?" "Not if you treat me right anyway," she said, and then giggled. It made all the others laugh out loud over my predicament, but I didn't care. "You know you're going to have to take weapons training along with Kahlila and the others don't you?" "No, I didn't know it was so dangerous here," she said. "Oh he's just trying to get your goat. It isn't dangerous here. We just like to be prepared. It worked out well during the marksmanship show over there," Christine said, and they all laughed again. "Well, I don't need her goat, but if she's staying with us she needs to learn to shoot and since we have to buy weapons for Kahlila we might as well get her some too. I'm assuming your placement here is of the long term variety," I said, and got an immediate nod from all of them. Did I mind? Hell no I didn't. The more the merrier, at least the more women the merrier. Right now I was ready for bed and wonder of wonders it was somehow coming onto to dusk. If I got in a good ten or twelve hours of sleep I could be right back on a normal schedule tomorrow. I guess getting up at five am was close enough to normal. It had to be because I had to go to the bathroom and piss or make all the women really mad at me. Hell, they were mad enough at me for crawling out of the middle and disturbing them. At least they were able to get back to sleep. I went ahead and showered and then dragged on jeans, a shirt, my boots, and a hat to go outside. The hat was extra because the sun was just getting up in the sky. I went ahead and doled out oats and hay for the stock and I saw even though we'd just had the barn added onto we were down to only six vacant stalls again. I'd let it slide for a while anyway. I guess a lot of people would call me stupid for keeping my mules in stalls and maybe I was. The thing was I usually let them all out for most of the day. The stalls just made it easier to keep up with which ones were getting how much to eat. Of course I didn't really have to worry about the mules eating too much and getting the colic because a mule was smart enough to stop eating when they got full. Horses were not so smart. You could usually keep them in line by feeding them about the same amount every day, but every now and then one of them would fuck up the deal and eat too much if you fed them all from the same trough. Really the best thing about horses was the mares if you had a big Jack and could get mules out of them. Still, I liked horses better for riding because they just looked better under a saddle. After I'd finished feeding them I went back into the house and lo and behold my women were up and rattling the pots and pans. I made sure to give them all a serious kissing in thanks, poured myself a cup of coffee, and sat at the table to kibitz. Even without heeding my sage advice the women put a great breakfast on the table. Since most of them knew me well already I had both scrambled and fried eggs, sausage, and bacon to go with my biscuits. "Does he always eat this much," Jenny asked, and I noted she'd only beat Kahlila to the question by seconds. "Yeh, he does if we cook it, and if we short him he pouts. It doesn't seem to matter though since we've tried hard and haven't been able to put a pound on him. You can tell he doesn't have a pot belly or anything and he's actually in pretty good shape. He's just big and there's no getting around it," Jackie said. "Besides," Jerrilyn said, " I think it's why he can just keep going and going in bed, and believe me, we don't want to screw that part up." We finished up the meal and Christine asked me what I had in mind for entertaining them today. I was about to say I though we should take the horses and mules over to the farrier's place when the whoop whoop whooping of a helicopter started. I figured it was the replacement for the one they'd left last night, but it didn't sound exactly the same. We went outside to look and it was landing near the other one, but it wasn't the same type. It was painted nice and the same color, but it looked newer somehow. I didn't find out about it until the pilots got out. Two of them headed for the other machine and started checking it out. I knew they were doing a preflight, and even though no one had molested it last night I understood the idea of making sure all the parts were still in the right places before hopping aboard and flying off into the sunset, or sunrise as the case might be. Jan and Sharon, redheaded, big tittied twins came over to get acquainted and when I asked they told me the helicopter they'd brought was a Sikorsky H-92, configured for Executive transportation. We all took a look inside it and it looked mostly like the other one which had just left, but it was a little roomier and just a bit more plush. I was impressed, but really couldn't feature needing it. The twins told us originally four pilots had been scheduled for this duty, but they'd come up short at the last and the two of them had volunteered to try it alone and see how much we used it. What the hell, it wasn't on my dime and the Emir could piss his money away anywhere he wanted to. I'd use it if I needed to and let it sit if I didn't. Right away I though of a way to use it though and I asked them if they were ready to travel. ------- Chapter 26 Jan said sure, and I told the girls where we were going. "We need to go up and check on the old mule man. I want to see if he has a big Jack he can sell me. We can visit our other mules while we're there - the ones I paid for and haven't had time to pick up yet. And that's another thing. Jan, do you have a radio aboard that can talk on the CB channels?" I asked. "Yes, as long as you're talking about normal CB traffic. We can't do single sideband or any of that," she said. "Well, we'll try it at first and see how it works out. I don't guess we'll be flying and driving at the same time much anyway," I said. Jenny had to go inside and change into at least some semblance of a flight attendant's uniform. I didn't know why unless it was something to do with the new pilots, but we waited her out just the same. Even though I realized we'd get there much faster this way I still didn't have it settled into my head. I was thinking of the long trip and how wasted we'd all probably be when we finally made it home. It was quite a shock when we landed at my mule man's house less than two hours later. We caused a little excitement when we set down, but my mule man was out front from the noise by the time I stepped off the ladder and he smiled wide when he recognized me. He called his wife out and after everyone was introduced she asked if we wanted a glass of tea and I said yes before the others could cause any conflicts. In only a couple of minutes she came out with glasses of ice and a big pitcher of tea. There was a little fooling around getting everyone seated at the picnic table and the tea served and then my mule man had to ask. "I see you've come up in the world now, flying around in a helicopter. Did you come by to trade off a few mules?" he asked, and I could almost see the dollar signs spinning in his eye sockets. "Not on your life. I came to see if I could buy a big Jack. Does your Daddy have one for sale? "Oh. He has five or six, but he don't sell 'em. He don't want the competition you see. Come to think of it, he just might let you have one since you've been such a good customer and he don't have any mules for sale now anyway. Let me go into the house and call him," he said, and got up and headed inside. The girls got started up talking to his wife then, but they were talking lowly down at the end of the table and I couldn't hear what they were saying. Soon enough though my mule man was back outside and he told us his Daddy said for me to come on out and take my pick. "Why don't you come with us? We probably won't stay long and we can drop you off on the way back," Jerrilyn said, and I could tell my mule man wanted to go - I was surprised his wife was also all for it. One nice thing about the new helicopter was more windows outside. You could do a lot more gee whiz looking around, especially when we were flying low as we were now. Air traffic control wasn't a big problem around Springfield Missouri. Of course the old man didn't know we were coming in a helicopter, so he was outside pretty quickly as we set down. I could tell he did like the notion of his customers dropping by though. The old man didn't make on over our method of arrival, but I just knew he secretly liked it. He was even more impressed with the twins who had done the flying, but soon enough he wanted to talk about his Jacks. He said he couldn't sell me his best one - the one responsible for all the mules I'd bought from him, but he let me have my choice of four offspring. "Ya need to get a Jenny too ya know, at least one. The secret to raising big mules is having a big Jack and the best way to make sure you always have one is to raise 'em your ownself. Well you know you can't get a Jack from a horse on either end of the breedin' so you need a Jack and at least one Jenny, don't'cha'see. "What kind of mares are you planning on puttin' the Jack to," he asked. I told him about my quarter horse mares and then told him of the Arabians. His interest perked up a little, but of course he had something to say. "Those quarter horse mares will probably give you good strong mules, but they won't have good working shoulders. You can still put 'em to a plow probably - they just won't be able to use all their strength. They'll be fine for packing and all that of course, but you just won't be able to put 'em in no serious hitch for pulling heavy loads. "I've heard of folks breeding a Jack to half Arabs before, but I never knew anyone who had the money to breed up a mule off a real Arabian. I'd shore like to see what your mares put out from one of my Jacks." "Well I'll send up here for you to come take a look when I get some of 'em on the ground if you'll tell me which Jack and Jenny to buy," I told him. He agreed and he told me all about the Jack. It was a younger brother to the one he used for his own breeding, and he sold me a nice big Jenny to take along. He warned me again to get the Jenny bred as soon as possible since there was nothing more important to raising mules than a good big Jack. The old man was more talkative this time and when he and his son started telling tales it was very entertaining, but soon enough we headed back and I promised the old man I'd come up next week to get my stock off his place. We even shook on it this time. Right at the last we talked him into going up with us for a look around his place from the air. When he agreed he said he had to go get his wife to come too. "I'd never get another meal cooked if'n I didn't take her along for this ride." We gave them a look see all the way to Springfield and back then set down and let them out. My mule man and his wife were out next and then we headed back home. I felt we'd done a hell of a job since we were back home and the women, including Jan and Sharon, were in the kitchen cooking lunch before two PM. The real deal got started after lunch was over. Jan and Sharon asked me to come outside and mark off the spot for the new hangar and fuel tanks. This led to a few questions about what hangar and fuel tanks and I finally got the news the Emir had ordered a big metal hangar and a fueling setup for the helicopter. Hell, this was going too far and I tried to get Jerrilyn to call Kuwait on the Blackberry and tell him we didn't need all that. "Don't be silly, Tommy. The tanks will be underground and they won't be in the way. No doubt the Emir has his own deal for fuel and it's probably way cheaper for him to do it this way than it is for him to have to buy the fuel from anywhere local," Jackie said, and when she put it that way I didn't have a leg to stand on - besides I don't guess I really had any objections in the first place, but it was so outrageous. We figured out the best place for the hangar and I thought we were done with it until Sharon said I might want to think about getting diesel and gasoline tanks put in at the same time. I agreed with her, but made her promise to get the Emir to let me pay for those myself. It was Selene's idea to have a building put up to park the trucks, cars, and trailers in as long as the people were out here making noise anyway, so after she got me settled down for the notion she and the rest of the girls called to get hold of the contractor. Complications just stacked on top of complications afterwards. They spent two days calling back and forth getting the details straight so the buildings would look decent out here and so they would go together and look right with the house. I had let them have their head on the deal a long time before it was finished. I spent my time getting a big camping trip organized, or at least getting the organization started. We were done camping in the back yard now. We just had too much crap to spread out on my little place. First things first though. We called my mule man and he called his Daddy and we headed out in one truck pulling the custom made horse/mule/shower trailer to pick up my Jack, Jenny, and the extra mules I had up there. Kahlila did most of the driving since she was trying to get ready to take her CDL test. Jan and Sharon took the day off at my insistence. Who knew whether we would spend the night in the truck or not, and since they weren't fuck buddies I thought it would be a little awkward for them to come along. Besides, even though the beds in the giant sleepers were king size, expecting nine people to sleep in them was a little much. We got up there around noon and had the mules loaded in no time. The Jack wasn't as used to being loaded. The Jenny went right on in, but Jack showed his ass before finally bowing to the inevitable. Kahlila showed she had learning all about trucking on her mind because she put the rig in the wind after we were loaded and drove it all the way back home. Riding along without sleeping is damned near as tiring as driving and once we had the stock unloaded and put away we hit the bed, for sleep. The next morning I was up, showered, and had just started being dressed by Christine and Selene when the hammers outside started ringing. I'd noticed the stacks of lumber over near where the construction was going to start, but hadn't realized they'd be getting around to actual nailing so soon. After breakfast we all went out to take a look, and they hadn't started actual building yet. The hammering was from some of the men putting concrete forms together while most of the actual construction was just digging out for the forms. They had a cute little Cat 910c front end loader scraping out dirt to put the forms in. It made all of us bear down on the camping preparations. Of course I didn't even know where we were going camping, but Jackie or Jerrilyn did. They'd called around and found us a hunting lease on three sections down near Kerrville somewhere. The next time I paid attention Kahlila had taken her test and we loaded up in the helicopter and flew to Barstow to pick up her truck. Things were getting weirder and weirder, but it was habit by now I guess. The girls even had us another Schneider trailer of bulldozer teeth to haul back to the little Cat warehouse in Oklahoma and drop. We needed something to haul behind us to get the truck to Amarillo to pick up our second show horse/mule/shower trailer. Of course we did the shopping round again. Jan and Sharon had met us at the trailer manufacturer in Amarillo and left the helo there while we made it to the big Wal-Mart and the shirt place in Amarillo. There was another big shirt sale in Muleshoe, so we spent half a day there looking around too. What the hell, as long as we were shopping Jan and Sharon flew us to Austin where we rented a limo and went around getting custom made hats and getting everyone fitted for more boots. I even ordered several pairs for everyone this time since I was tired of coming down to be fitted. We finished up our shopping, Jan and Sharon flew us back to the truck and trailer, and we headed home. I flew back in the helo this time and Sharon showed me a little about flying it. We planned on getting started for our final packing the next morning so we ate supper and chose up sides to shower. I guess I was a little dense about things. The girls informed me they'd be washing me tonight so I went into the bathroom with Christine and Selene and they took my clothes off me, stripped naked themselves and we piled in. Right at the last Jenny, Jackie, Kahlila, and Jerrilyn came in dropping clothes along the way and wedged themselves in with us. Christine and Selene got me out after a little close quarters grab assing and dried me while Jackie, Jerrilyn, Jenny, and Kahlila dried each other. I was on the bed naked with the two of them teasing my dick when the others came out, still naked. It looked like I was in for a night of it since even Jenny was on the menu. Thankfully the twins were staying in the guest room since I didn't think I could handle them all. The next morning, after a good breakfast, we all headed outside to get started loading our camping gear into the trailers, but we didn't stop with the necessities. We loaded every damned thing for camping we had. Not the live stock yet, but every piece of equipment and tack we had and then some was destined to be loaded. It was a little annoying after the construction guys started making their own racket, but it all came to an end around ten AM. A thunderstorm blew up out of seemingly nowhere and the lights went out before the rain even began. When the rain started it was a turd floater and all packing and construction was off for the day. We could have all gotten in one of the trucks and drove off somewhere, but there was nowhere we wanted to go in the rain, so we just went inside and sat around in the dark. Jerrilyn was pissed because she couldn't even use a computer. She'd intended to look up backup generators and order one to be delivered and installed yesterday. ------- Chapter 27 We were pretty much fucked for something to do without lights at the house, and I damned sure didn't intend to go flying in this weather. It wasn't a gentle rain - it was good old North East Texas tornado warning weather. I told Jan, Sharon, and Jenny if they wanted to take off for a couple of days to go ahead, and after packing their bags they beat feet in the limo that now stayed parked outside. At least we'd been able to send the driver away after a day or so. After the rain slacked off a little the girls dragged me back out into the barn and we fooled around and fucked with camping equipment out there. The rain came and went all day, but the lights never came back on. We went to bed about nine that night, but the only thing we had for light was a few candles. The lights were back on when we woke about six AM. The girls beat me out of bed and into the shower and then left me to wash, dry, and dress myself. Jackie was on the computer and the phone at the same time when I made it to the kitchen while the rest of them were cooking up a storm. She didn't even take a break until the food was on the table. "What have you been up to this morning," I asked her, when she sat down. "Doing what a good wife is supposed to do - spending your money, or trying to anyway. I called the construction company and asked them about the auxiliary power generation situation for the fueling pumps. It caught them short and they told me there weren't any provisions. "I asked them what we'd have done yesterday if we'd needed fuel while the power was out. After a bit of mealy-mouthing they bumped me up to a higher authority and I was able to point out their poor planning to him right away. "They'll be installing plenty of diesel powered generating equipment for us now to cover the fueling system and the house and barn and it will be strictly underground service," she said. Just two days ago I'd have thought it was more useless overkill, but I hadn't liked the lights being out any more than the girls had. It wasn't only the lights either. The water was off without electricity for the well pump and when I flushed a toilet I wanted everything in it to leave, right away. After we finished eating we headed out to the barn again. I could see the construction crew was here already, but it seemed all but a few of them were leaving again. Jackie dragged me along with her to speak to the foreman. I should have known what was going on myself, but I hadn't even bothered to think about it. All the men who were involved with the digging and earth moving were taking another day off, maybe two more. You just can't do any good moving dirt with all the water around. I even learned most of what they'd already done would have to be re-done. The ones staying were just a few carpenters who could keep building the forms. No matter to us right now anyway. We had all the trucks in front of the barn now and we finished up loading nearly everything out of the barn into the trucks. The girls seemed determined to take everything, and I finally asked Jerrilyn about it while we were taking a break. "You know damned well, Tommy, the first thing we'll end up needing will be something we left at home. We'll be camping for two weeks, at least, and we're afraid we'll leave something important if we leave anything. It would be a big pain in the ass to have to call Jan, Sharon, and Jenny to get in the helicopter, fly down to pick us up and fly us on a shopping trip or even back home to pick up something we forgot," Jerrilyn said. "Besides, the biggest reason for not taking everything along with you is usually because you don't have room for it. Hell, we've got room left over, and plenty of it," Christine said. And so it was settled. We were taking everything that wasn't nailed down. They'd even planned it so we'd take all the stock, plenty of feed and hay for them and at some time they'd had a bumper hitch added to the back of one of the show horse/mule/shower trailers so they could hitch my custom built wagon to it. They had it piled full of sacks of whole oats. I was happy enough when we were all packed and the girls knocked off for a late lunch. I noticed we stuck with the usual lighter portions we usually had for lunch if we were planning on being mobile for the rest of the day. I was surprised again when they told me we were taking a fuck break and a nap in the afternoon and they were going to get me up just before sunset to load the stock and then we'd be taking off. Well what the hell did I care. I concentrated on the fuck break part and after it was over I paid close attention to the nap. Of course this time of year sunset came late and sunrise came early. No matter, I plowed every furrow available and then dropped off to sleep. They'd wake me when it was time to do something again. Wake me they did, and they showered me this time too. They were about to get their noses out of joint about the formerly large shower which had now become too small to fit us all in at once. "As soon as we get back I'm calling someone to come out and cure this. Besides, I want a big hot tub to go with this shower. I want one you can put soap in too. When we want bubbles we want plenty of them," Selene said, Hell, I wondered why they hadn't done it before now. There was plenty of room in the bedroom they'd transposed into a closet. We could have the bathroom made into more of our bedroom and then have the spare bedroom/closet made into a bathroom/closet. I just couldn't see the problem. Anyway, we bathed and dried and dressed and headed to the kitchen. The girls said we were having and early breakfast, and since it was just around one AM I guessed they were right. They also made plenty of coffee to fill even plentier of coffee thermoses. After eating we locked up the house and boarded our separate trucks. They let me take the lead and I threw them a curve right off the bat. They'd expected me to turn right at the end of the driveway and head north on Texas Highway 43, but instead I turned south. At least I made my opportunity to have my first actual CB radio communication. "Tommy, why are you turning south? We planned to go north to Texarkana and then go west on I-30," Jerrilyn said, and I noticed they'd forgotten all about the handle they'd given me earlier and I decided I liked being Tommy better than being Armadildo anyway. "You're not getting me started on my first real trip with your Big Road trucker ways. We're headed for Kerrville right? I'm taking 43 down around Marshal and then US 80 west to Hallsville. There I'll turn left onto South Central Street which will take us to I-20. "On I-20 west we'll go to Owentown and get off on US-155 and take it to Tyler. We'll take the loop around Tyler and pick up US 31 West and it'll take us to Waco," I said. "Why are you taking all these roads when we can just take I-30 to Dallas and switch to I-35 South to get to Waco?" she asked, and I knew the others would have asked the same thing if they'd keyed the mike first. "I'm doing it to save about sixty miles and about a million cars and trucks worth of traffuck. Any idiot knows how to get there on the Big Road and every idiot takes that way. Besides, the first thirty miles of I-35E and then I-35 south of Dallas has been under construction for the last ten years and will probably remain so for the next ten. "Besides, the road from here to Marshal goes through mostly East Texas Piney Woods and it is dark and scary. I'm up here doing my manly duty, leading the way and protecting all my girls," I said. "Oh, why didn't you say so?" she asked. "I just did," I said, and the radio went quiet. In fact it was a dark moonless night and in the backwoods where we were it was a little spooky for the next forty-five miles. As we came into Marshal there was some lighting from businesses as we made our way around the loop to US 80, and there were scattered houses along the way until we came to Hallsville. Ten minutes later we were on I-20 headed for the turnoff to Tyler. Even in the early morning hours there was still plenty of traffic on I-20. We hadn't been on it for three miles and still weren't completely up to speed when I spied a big truck coming eastbound and then I heard the CB. "How 'bout it west bound? What's it look like behind you," the voice said. "Can't help you Bud, we just jumped on," I answered, because I could tell from the strong signal it was the truck across the way asking. "My luck I guess. I ain't seen a cop since Dallas. Have a goodun," he said, and I realized he was signing off, so I told him to do the same. "Switch to FM Tommy," Jackie said to me then, so I reached down and flipped the switch to talk on a portion of the band we sure as hell weren't supposed to be using. I figured it didn't matter since there were no commercial FM stations using the frequency anyway. I did wonder what she wanted to talk about in semi-private. "Tommy, you've been sandbagging us. Where'd you learn to talk that way on the radio?" Jerrilyn asked. "From listening to y'all and the others while we were riding. Remember, I was listening a long time before I even got these big trucks." "Well, it was just a surprise. I didn't even know who it was at first. You sound different on the radio." "We all sound different, but you've just never heard me talking before." "I guess you're right. I guess we can go back to Romper Room now," she said, and I turned the radio back to CB channel 19. I knew the girls wanted me to handle any radio talk that came up, because they'd learned early on Junior had been right. As soon as they said something on the radio every lonesome truck driver in range would be trying to get their attention. Junior had once told me I didn't know the half of it from the comebacks we got when they said something. "With the strong radios and linears you're using there are truckers a hundred miles away hollerin' back at you. They ain't got no idea how far away you are, but you're radio sounds strong to them so they likely think you're close," he'd told me. I laughed about it for a second and then paid closer attention to my driving because we'd come to the get off for Tyler. One thing I'd noticed about big trucks right away was the ride. It wasn't smooth or anything, but with as tall as the cabs were and with the air seat and the way it let you sit more straight up the ride wasn't tiring. Hell, I could sit behind the wheel in one and drive for hours on end and not be uncomfortable. Thinking about it I guess it was the whole point. Once we turned right off the loop and headed out Highway 31 things settled down to not much traffic again. There'd been a few trucks around the loop in Tyler, but mostly just four wheelers. Just as we were leaving the last of the lighted roads around town another truck spoke up. "How 'bout that big line of red Kwhoppers over there going west. Y'all listening?" "Go head," I said. "I ain't seen nothing since I left Whacko back yonder," he said. "We just came around the north side of the loop and down 155 from I-20 and we ain't seen no cops neither," I said. "Say, are y'all a travelin' circus or something? I see a bunch of horses in a couple of your trucks?" he asked. "Naw, it's just me and my harem headed out camping. We ain't haulin' nothing for money." "Your harem. Say mister, give a trucker a break and tell me how you managed the trick." "It wasn't such a much, but you have to win most of the time when you play poker, and you have to treat the Arab gentlemen kindly when you take their money," I said, and then he keyed his mike and just laughed like hell. I guess it did sound like a pretty good joke, but hell, it was the truth. I didn't mind telling it on the CB because if ever there was a means of communication where bullshit was expected, and good bullshit was highly praised, the CB radio was that. We took Highway 31 all the way to Whacko and got on I-35 there. We could have got off a little bit south of Temple and taken Highway 190 through Killeen and on out the backside of Fort Hood and made our way to Kerrville that way, but it was more of the skinny roads and the only time I'd been that way the Highways were just roads and they didn't even have shoulders. I decided to do a little big road truckin' of my own and we stayed on I-35 through Austin, Georgetown, San Marcos, and got off on Highway 46 in New Braunfels. Forty-Six took us over to I-10 west and we dodged going into San Antone altogether. We took I-10 west to the get off for Kerrville and then 27 to 39 and then off up into the hills on not much more than a beaten track. We had arrived though there was no sign nor signal we were here. In fact, I didn't see kiss my ass except about a hundred acres of meadow with scattered mesquite and stunted cedars. Hell, it was my home away from home. Since it was already about two in the afternoon and we'd driven straight through lunch I was feeling a little peckish. The girls had the cure for it though and they put together a circle of stones while I gathered squaw wood and a few larger limbs. Christine showed me right off she did to know how to make a rat's next of stripped off cedar bark and the lunch time warm up fire was going good in just a few minutes. Twenty minutes later Jerrilyn put a grate over it and in ten more they were cooking steaks, warming up a big pot of beans, and had six foil-wrapped potatoes in the coals baking. ------- Chapter 28 The food was especially good when it was ready, and I wasn't a bit ashamed to grab a couple of Lone Star Long Necks to wash it down. From the size of the steaks, the amount of beans, and the size of the potato I knew this must be a pre-nap meal. Hell, we'd been driving all night and I was ready for a little rest. Apparently the girls were too, since all of them headed for my tractor after putting out the fire and throwing the trash into the trashcan, which was one of the first things they unpacked. "Come on and rock us to sleep, Tommy. We're tired," Jerrilyn said. I thought about the horses and mules then and decided they'd have to keep on hanging out in the trailers. It would take a good hour or two to get them out and hobbled and I was just too tired. Maybe I'd just take a short nap. The women were already naked and in bed when I made it. Hell, Christine and Jackie were already asleep. I dropped my clothes and found a place on the outside, but Jerrilyn and Selene rolled over me and got me over beside Kahlila. We settled down then and had a good nap, as in about five hours worth. An ass slapping contest broke out when naptime was over. I'll admit I was the one who started it and I should have known better since it immediately degenerated into a slapping Tommy on the ass contest. At least it got me out of bed and dressed first. I left the women to their own devices and went out to look for a bush to water. Thinking about the horses and mules I decided we needed an easily assembled and installed electric fence worse than a cat needed a place to scratch. I didn't see any way around it. I knew I'd be buying half-inch rebar and insulators as soon as we got home. The girls had an easier time of it when they appeared. Mostly because they knew where everything was stored in the trailers. They even put up the picnic table and the camping type light system while they were getting supper ready to cook and the fire ready to do the cooking. They did call me over to help them get the tent out and they also needed my help getting the Generac on the ground. At some time or another they had caused to be built a small framework for the Generac to sit in and it was on big pneumatic casters. It was easy to handle once we had it on the ground, hell it even had a pull handle built on the end with the steering wheels, but it did take a small chain hoist to let it down to the ground from the trailer floor. They showed me where to roll it and two of them came behind me unrolling a giant custom made extension cord that had two double-duplex receptacles for 220 volt service and eight of same for 110 volt service. With a little quizzing I learned they'd found a cooperative electrician who'd made the extension cord for them out of 10-3 SJ cable. "That cord is heavy, but it's all in one piece and the guy who made it for us said it was a lot safer that way," Christine said. "It is a lot safer, and since he made it of such heavy wire it'll do a good job. We can even run the air conditioner off it," I said. "Well duh! It's what we told him we wanted to do with it. Although it's so nice up here in these hills we might not even need it," Jerrilyn said. "Ha, you just wait until Tommy is rested and raring to go. We'll need the air conditioner to cool us down after he gets done with us," Kahlila said, and it was so unexpected coming from her all the others laughed. "You can laugh now, but you'll see I'm right," she said, for emphasis. "What about the little river we crossed. Can't we go swimming in it? It'll probably cool us off," Selene said. "We can indeed. That's the Guadalupe River - it's one of the nicest little rivers in Texas. Not too big, not too small, and not too damned cold to get into," I said. "We'll have to try it out tomorrow, but right now we need to get cooking," Jackie said, and started putting steaks on the larger grill grate she'd pulled out of somewhere. "I guess I'll get started on the tent while y'all are cooking," I said. "The small one we'd probably better put up first is in the back of your truck," Christine said. "I thought we were going to put up the big one so we could use the air conditioner. It's why I got it out already," I said. "We had a hole cut in the small one so we could use the air conditioner in it too. We brought the big one along so we could practice putting it up, but we figured we'd actually use the small tent for the summer months and use the bigger one for the winter," Jerrilyn said. "It seems a little backward to me, but I'll put the small one up first since I can do it by myself. We can wrassle out the details later when we get the big one put up," I said. I had the tent about halfway up when they put the meat on the fire and I was done with the basics by the time supper was ready so I called a halt to tent erecting and settled down at the picnic table for food and the women were right behind me. "You know, I hate to say it, but Tommy might be right about putting up the big tent. We've slept in the other one already, or all of us but Kahlila have, and we might need to put the other one up and give it a try," Jackie said. "Naw, we'll do just fine in the small one for this trip," Jerrilyn said. "Let's don't get in a fight over it. We'll just sleep in the small one tonight and tomorrow I'll put up the big one and we can take a turn sleeping in it. Then we'll know how we feel about both of them," I said, and went right back to eating. It seemed to settle things on the tent front and we ate in peace. As soon as we were done they were up and cleaning. I was sent off to walk down the hill and get five gallons of river water to wash dishes in. I didn't mind and I knew good and well the water in the Guadalupe was clean enough for such. It was clean enough I wouldn't bitch about eating off dishes washed in it anyway. Especially when I learned the girls had looked around on the Internet until they found some dishwashing soap for using in potable water instead of drinking water. Apparently it had some kind of environmentally friendly bug killing ingredient they claimed would wipe off with paper towels after it sanitized the dishes. Shit, I guess you could find everything on the Internet. The fresh air and the nap, not to mention the good cooked over an open fire dinner had the girls feeling frisky. They all wanted to take a Tommy ride when we made it into the bed for the night, and damned if I wasn't looking forward to it myself. I think they were all just showing off when they started the third round, but I did my duty to God and the Guadalupe and hosed them all one more time. I didn't have one bit of trouble getting to sleep. I also didn't have one bit of trouble waking not five minutes later. The girls were grumbling almost right away, but I knew we had to get up and dressed again. "What is it Tommy?" Jerrilyn asked. "We forgot to let the horses and mules out," I said. "Damned if we didn't. They were so quiet over there I didn't even notice." Jackie said. "I didn't either. I remember thinking we had to let them out soon when we took our nap, but I forgot about them completely when we got up," Kahlila said. It wasn't as big a job as it had sounded when we started out with them. Since Jack and Jenny had been loaded last they were first to get out. Jack was a real pain in the ass about getting the hobbles on. He knew somehow what we were doing to him and though he didn't actually fight, he would pick up the foot you were trying to work with just at the last minute. After we had him done the others seemed like nothing. The worst part was filling the country bathtub with water from the river so they could have a drink. It was a pain in the ass to tote the water up from the river only to pour it into the bathtub and watch the mules and horses drink it right back up. Carrying the water by hand was a help in two ways though. It let me know I needed some type of pump I could put near the river, or any water source, to pump water up to wherever we ended up needing water. Taking the time to bring it up in buckets also enforced the don't drink too much at one time rule for the horses. Normally it didn't matter, but after they'd been so long without water turning them loose for all you can drink would have had half of them rolling on the ground with colic in about half an hour. There is one peculiarity about the horse's digestive system that is often fatal. They have no way to vomit. If they get something in their mouth and down their throat it is coming out the other end or they are going to die over it. This is often unfortunate. If a horse gets a bellyache they often lie down and roll over from side to side to try relieving it. You don't have to look at a horse long to know its intestines are not designed well for this type of behavior. They can easily get twisted into a knot or a kink and end up killing the creature. Drinking a lot of water at one time can cause the same type of behavior. It usually isn't as bad as a full-blown case of colic, but it can cause them to roll around and slam their heads down onto the ground. The only cure for a serious case of colic is to walk the horse until it gets over it. Sometimes ten ccs of Talwin will ease the pain until things pass normally, but then again, if it doesn't you usually should just have the horse put down. All this was going through my mind while hauling water from the river up to the washtub. Soon enough though I started thinking I was going to get colic of the worn out ass variety. The girls tried to help, but even as athletic as they were they couldn't handle two five gallon buckets of water climbing the hill, and it was even worse trying it with only one bucket. I finally decided this would be the last time we watered the horses this way. We'd had enough water in the shower tanks, but I'd decided not to bother with them because we had no provision for a hose. I'd have been even more pissed off having to put a bucket in the shower to fill it. Tomorrow we were going to walk the horses and mules to the river to water them and we were going to keep that up until we went back home. I'd figure out a pumping situation later for our next trip. Needless to say, two hours later, I was even more ready for bed. I knew I was going to be sore in the morning from all the carrying and just before I dropped off to sleep I was questioning my wisdom over the number of mules I'd acquired. It was all better in the morning, except for the sore muscles that is. Talk about achy and painy, I was. I was until Jerrilyn opened up the first aid kit and produced one Percodan. I didn't even ask how she managed to get a supply of them - I just opened my mouth and let her put it on my tongue. Thankfully the Percodan started relieving my pain just in time for the start of breakfast and that further relieved my pain. The cooking was one part of our camping expedition which worked flawlessly. When the girls started making cooking noises I knew there'd be something fit to eat showing up shortly. "Tommy, what are we going to do about all that watering? You can't go through it every day, and who's to say it won't be farther away next time?" Selene asked. "I had a lot of time to think about it while I was doing the watering, and I think we need a really long hose," I said. "A ose ain't much good unless it's ooked to the ydrant," Christine said, in a four year old girl's voice for some reason. "When you're right, you're right. I'll need to cobble up a pump to put near the water source. That way I can put the pump near the water supply and then run the hose to it." "Sounds complicated to me. Maybe we should buy a jeep we can run around in and just install the pump and a hose reel on it," Jackie said. "It would be nice to have something to run around in while we're here or wherever we go, but how are we going to take it with us?" Jerrilyn asked. "Can't we tow it like we are towing the wagon?" Selene asked. "Sure we can, but I don't think a jeep will be big enough. Where's the phone?" Kahlila asked. Jackie had the phone and she handed it to Kahlila. I wondered who she was going to call, but I should have known. "Daddy, we need a Humvee with a water pump and a big hose reel so we can water our horses without Tommy having to make two dozen trips up and down the mountain with buckets," she said, into the phone. There was some discussion back and forth in Arabic and in a minute I could tell she was handed off to someone else. Mostly I could tell because she started addressing the person on the other end of the line as General instead of Daddy. The most surprising part of the conversation was when she looked at something on the Blackberry and read off our GPS location to the person she was talking to. She rang off a few minutes later. "Well that's settled now - at least it will be when they bring our Humvee," she said, and I could tell she was proud of herself. "Uh, which Humvee is that?" I asked. "Oh, there were a lot of them hanging around after the first Gulf war and our military ended up with them. The General said he had just what we needed. It was some sort of fire safety model they had completely refurbished. He said he'd send it over as soon as he could get it repainted and get the hoses changed out from fire hose to garden hose," she said. "I guess it would be better if it wasn't Fire Engine Red," Selene said. I was a little afraid to ask about this new development, but I couldn't stop myself. It only took a word or two of inquiry before the whole sordid tale came out. We were getting one of those stretched Humvees. I don't mean it had been stretched to order for this use. It had been one of the long ones to start with. Apparently it had been chocked full of fire fighting equipment, but the General said they didn't need it anymore and he was going to have most of the stuff removed, leaving a big hose reel near the back with a pumping system attached. He had assured Kahlila it had room for eight people to sit while it was moving. I was happy they were taking such good care of me and the watering chores, but I had to shrug off the cost/benefit situation. I figured a small gasoline motor attached to a pump and a couple hundred feet of cheap water hose would have cured the problem. Instead I was getting a fire fighting Humvee delivered from Kuwait. I idly wondered if they were going to fly it to Dallas in a cargo plane or send it all the way from Kuwait via some large cargo type helicopter. She had given them our exact GPS location after all. ------- Chapter 29 Now that breakfast was over I left the girls cleaning up and went to find my favorite saddle. I caught Red, my Quarterhorse stallion and attached it and then I went around until I had collected five mules on lead ropes strung out behind jack. Next I removed their hobbles and led them down to the river where they drank peacefully. I wanted to get down and kick my own ass for not thinking of this the night before. It was stupid to carry water to the horses when they were perfectly able to carry it themselves after they'd drank their fill. I no longer had to carry water to them and I didn't even have to walk at all to get them watered. This also let me split up the work with the women, since one of them could catch and unhobble the horses while I was watering one bunch and they could rehobble them when I got back. I considered it an act of providence when I returned with the first five and was noticed by Kahlila as I was dismounting to unhobble the mules I'd just watered. She called the other girls and they took over the catch and release program for horses and mules to be watered. I was left with only the driving. It worked out much better than schlepping five gallon buckets up the hill. It also went a lot faster. I was done watering every bit of stock we had within half an hour and I'd even had a nice short ride. Meanwhile, it hadn't required much time from the girls either and they were busy with their own concerns. After I had put Red away I moseyed by their latest project and relieved Jackie of the shovel she had been manning. They were involved in digging a big hole was all I could tell about the goings on, so I asked for directions. It was when I learned they were trying to dig a cooking pit. Mine was not to reason why, especially when it involved cooking, so I started digging and asked how deep while I was doing it. "Thanks, Tommy. We wanted to surprise you with it, but we decided that was a lost cause after about five minutes," Jackie said. I was a little surprised with the size they wanted. It wasn't nearly as big as what I considered a cooking pit should be, and I even said so when they stopped me. Jackie told me this was just an experimental dig and they wanted to try it and see how things came out. "We think we have a handle on things here now, Tommy, why don't you take a ride and kill something for us to eat," she said. "I'll take a ride, but I don't know so much about killing something to eat. I'm not even sure if deer season has started yet." "We know for sure it hasn't, because we checked before hand. There should be some exotics around somewhere to shoot though. They raise them near here for renta-hunters to come and shoot and they always have some that get loose. We are supposed to pay for any we kill though," Jackie said. "You could always shoot a javelina. There's no season on them around here," Christine said. To humor them I fetched a Marlin in 35 Remington, but I promised myself I wasn't shooting anything but black bear, and I was practically positive there were none near us. I saddled the Arabian stallion this time and away we went. Of all the God Damned luck I came across a coyote that was mad. I don't mean angry either - I mean mad as in rabid. The cock sucker came out onto a trail I was riding along and held his place as if challenging me and the horse. I thought I was going to have to shoot it, but it raced toward the horse before I could even get my rifle out of the saddle scabbard. The stallion wasn't as unsure of what to do as I was. When the coyote approached, he merely lifted his front feet off the ground neatly, and came back down on the coyote, squashing him like the proverbial bug. I dismounted to check and make sure the little rabid bastard hadn't even scratched my magnificent horse, but it hadn't. I guess all that desert bred crap counted for something after all. At least he'd known exactly what to do during a small animal attack. I remounted and spent another hour riding, but I realized there was something else I needed for it - chaps. The brush was getting a little irritating on my legs and a pair of chaps was in order. I finally turned around and headed back to camp. "What'd you bring us daddy?" Jerrilyn asked, when I got back. I deflected questions about my hunting prowess with the tale of the rabid coyote. There followed a long discussion about rabies and shots for the horses and shots for us and ... And we just didn't know. I was confident we were safe this time, as far as my person and the stallion were concerned - but, we decided to pack up and go home right away anyway. Kahlila phoned her father's number right away of course, but she asked for some other official. She found out all the horses from there were vaccinated for rabies. She asked for complete medical records for all of them to be sent. Still, we had other horses, the jack and jenny, and mules by the score which weren't protected, that we knew of, and we spent the rest of the day packing up and then we left. It was a short end to our camping trip, but I wasn't disappointed. We had made some important discoveries. For one thing, we needed to make some arrangements for non-potable water supply. Leading the horses and mules to water and letting them drink had worked out fine this time, but I didn't want to take it up as a full time job. Of course Kahlila had scored us the Humvee fire wagon, but I could think of better uses for it than pumping water for the horses. The Generac had been another minor annoyance. We were using it in diesel mode, but currently we had to siphon diesel out of one of the truck tanks and pour it into a small tank on the Generac cart. We had to change that situation somehow. At least we had squared away the tent problem, or the which tent to use when problem. We had settled on the smaller tent for summer time and short trips and the larger tent for all winter operations. Something else was bothering me too, although it had only come up for me this time. We all needed to ride carrying. It was stupid to go traipsing around out in the serious boonies without and easily accessible firearm. The mad coyote could have been dealt with easily and rapidly with a Glock if I'd been carrying one in a cross-draw holster. I decided we were going to standardize on the Glock 21c. It is a large frame pistol and suitable only for people with large hands, but we all had them. It was no problem for me of course, but it was also no problem for any of he girls. Jerrilyn, Jackie, and Christine were all six feet tall, and while Selene and Kahlila were only five eight, they could still handle the pistol with no problem. I made up my mind to switch us all to the Glock 21c and to do some practicing with them, especially from horseback. Of course I had a lot of time to think on things with our long drive back home. Speaking of thinking of things, I hoped one of them had deflected the Humvee Firetruck delivery to the house. It looked to me like that had all been useless now, since for less than a couple of hundred bucks we could rig up a small pump to put by a stream or lake and we could get a lot of water hose for what the Humvee had costs. Our trip home came in within thirty minutes of the time it had taken to get down there. Of course it was dark when we pulled in, but even I could tell some progress had been made on the construction while we were gone. Mostly it had been of the concrete pouring and finishing persuasion, but some hooking up had been done too. The pumps for gasoline and diesel were already in place. The girls had a lot of unloading in store for me. I was elected to carry most of the perishable food back into the house. I didn't mind one damned bit since they were all busy getting the kitchen back in order and cooking. I just loved to hear them in the kitchen doing something useful. The next morning we got up fairly early even though the sun was up before we were. We had one of our now standard tight as hell fit showers and I was left on my own drying and dressing. Breakfast was well on the way when I was presentable though and this morning we had pancakes, sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs. We were ready for the day when it was over. Just as I put my cowboy hat on and headed for the door I heard a helicopter. Or course I went outside to see what it was doing and it was coming here, with our watering Humvee. It was the biggest damned helicopter I'd ever seen and I'll swear it looked like one of those Russian monstrosities. It was. I guess Kuwait wasn't picky about buying only American. It was carrying the Humvee swinging below it on cables. Another smaller helicopter was near it and it set down and let a man out. When they had the Humvee on the ground, the guy from the small helicopter released the cables and the big one flew away. Then the guy who'd released the cables got back into the one he was riding in and it flew off too. Most of the construction crew had taken a break to gawk with their mouths hanging open. "Well girls, our fire truck is here." "Good, but we don't have time to look at it now. Jan, Sharon, and Jenny will be here in a few minutes," Jackie said. "Oh, are we flying somewhere?" I asked. "Yes. You said you wanted us all to have the same type of pistol, so we decided it would be better if we all had the same type of firearms altogether. Since it was too much trouble to look through your guns we thought we'd all just go shopping and get new guns altogether. We can keep the old ones as spares," Jerrilyn said. Normally I would have protested over such a plan, but I was still a kid at heart over any kind of guns and I was all for any excuse to buy more. In fact, I had plans for stocking up on the spares too. I waited patiently for Jan, Sharon, and Jenny to arrive. "Don't forget, we all need some chaps too. The brush was a little rough on my legs while I was riding," I said. "What are chaps?" Kahlila asked. And the discussion of chaps was on. She caught on quickly after they were explained Meanwhile Selene called the Adolphus and reserved the same suite we'd used last time. She even made arrangements for us to use their helipad on top of the building. After Jan, Sharon, and Jenny showed up things were more like a family reunion than anything else. Everyone kissed them on the cheeks, and when Jenny laid a real liplock on me I guess Jan and Sharon didn't want to seem standoffish and they did the same. I refrained from fondling their asses this time, but if they pulled that stunt a couple of more times I was going to give them the full fondle treatment like I gave Jenny. Soon enough we were in the air, and we'd barely been flying five minutes before Sharon came back into the passenger section and told me to go up with Jan and get some more instruction. Hell, I was all for it this time and I wasn't as nervous. Jan let me take the controls and told me to concentrate on flying straight and level - meanwhile she started reciting chapter and verse about the instructions. Jan took over from me as we got close to Dallas and before you know it we were setting down on top of the Adolphus. They let us out and then took off to go somewhere and park. Jenny told us the limo would bring them back shortly. We headed down to the front desk to check in. After we were signed and paid up I stayed in the lobby to wait on Jan and Sharon to return while the girls and Jenny went on up to unpack. ------- Chapter 30 They arrived shortly and I greeted them and offered to lead the way. They surprised me by taking hold of an arm each and telling me to go ahead. I couldn't help but notice they kept up hip contact with me most of the trip. "The door was opened as soon as I knocked and Kahlila let us in. We're changing, Tommy, so you'd better grab a Long Neck and sit down," she said, and then took off with the pilots. I took her advice and I was glad to see a case of Lone Star Longnecks was already in place in the suite's refrigerator. I'd just finished my first one when my beauties started appearing out of the bedrooms. "Where are we going to find chaps, Tommy," Jerrilyn asked. "I had custom made in mind. I doubt we can find any decent ones anywhere," I said. "Well, where's the best place to shop for firearms?" Jackie asked. "I don't know. I suppose Cabela's is the best place to start since they probably have the largest selection." "Will they have all the stuff for black-powder weapons to?" Christine asked. "I guess so, but why do we want anything for black powder?" I asked. "We just thought it would be fun to do it the real old west way." "Fine, as long as we aren't intending to do it that way all the time," I said. "No, only for fun." Right about now I was wondering what I'd gotten myself in for. Then I switched to what the hell mode and decided to just go and pay for everything they thought they wanted while making sure I gathered up everything that went along with it. I learned later Cabela's was only the first stop. They had plenty of firearms for us and while I was there I stocked up on reloading equipment for the new calibers we acquired, and powder, I bought plenty of the different types of powder we'd need, including Pyrodex. Yes, the girls had really gone for the black powder experience. Thankfully it wasn't the only type weapons they shopped for. They got together and settled on Marlin 336c models and they even chose 35 Remington as the caliber. After a lot of gun buying and a lot of shopping for jeans and cowboy boots we packed up and headed for the custom shop where we'd had our costumes made. I let the girls do all the talking there and they convinced the people to make chaps for all of us. I'd noticed that Jan, Sharon, and Jenny were being outfitted along with the others now. What the hell? They damned sure looked good enough for the part and if my current wives wanted them to join the party I was all for it. In fact I started looking forward to it. Jan and Sharon were in excellent shape and they had killer bodies, as far as I could tell. It made me start wanting to get closer looks at the twins. Chaps weren't the only things they had made at the costume place either. They were all fitted for more of the same we'd tried last time. They took both old style jeans and what I thought of as dance hall girl get ups. The whole trip fell apart after we got to the hotel that night. The girls were not even nearly settled down after their shopping frenzy and Kahlila wanted some dick right away. Who was I to say no. The rest just came naturally. Jenny wanted another sample after I hauled Kahlila's ashes and I guess Jan and Sharon thought it was only neighborly to get naked too. Almost before I knew it Jan was underneath me with her legs spread wide and I gave her a good going over. Of course her sister wanted one too, and I was happy to provide. I ended up fucking all night long. Not all in one session. They'd let me have a nap after servicing two or three of them, but the next in line would wake me up with my dick in her mouth an hour or so later. I doubted it had anything to do with things, but if they were giving me all the sex I could handle to get me to spend more money I could tell them already is was going to work. The next morning I could tell some of them had been up and at 'em before me. There was already a mobile breakfast buffet in the room when I wandered in wearing only a pair of boxers. "Tommy, you don't get a bite to eat until you have a shower and put your clothes on," Kahlila said, and so I headed for the shower. Luckily for Sharon, and me, Jan came along to wash my dick, uh, back. I felt it was only neighborly of me to wash several important parts of their anatomies too and of course I couldn't let them down when Sharon took hold of a grab bar in the shower and pointed her cooter right at me. Luckily the shower floor had a non-skid surface and I was able to lie down over her back and play with her wonderful titties while I was at it. As twins often do, Jan wanted equal treatment. My heart was started for real by the time I made it back to breakfast and thank goodness the girls had plenty of food ready for me. As soon as breakfast was over we all made our way down to the limo and headed right back to Cabela's. I could tell the girls were serious about heavy duty shopping now. They all had lists, even Jan, Sharon, and Jenny. They were more than ready for keeping me entertained during a full day of shopping too. I noticed I was always accompanied by at least two of them and somehow they had contrived to all wear somewhat revealing clothing. For instance, when they took me hiking boot shopping Jerrilyn and Selene did the job. Jerrilyn did her best to show me every possible view of her titties while she ushered the boots on and off my feet and Selene busied herself rubbing my dick most of the time. We had to do two days of serious shopping at Cabela's and in between we did another round at the costume shop. When we finally decided to leave Dallas, after going by to make sure all the girls had a suitable diamond, we left from the rooftop helipad again and flew to the Driskell in Austin, for more custom made boots for us all. Of course we had another trip to Marty's Hats and I'm sure we bought several, or ordered them anyway. We finally left Austin and headed home. I noticed a slight change of plans when we made it home. Jan, Sharon, and Jenny didn't go a damned place after we landed, except into the house with us. Only a few changes had been completed inside the house, but there was one hell of a lot going on there too. A bathroom makeover was the main thing still taking place, but a new bed was already in place. I noticed it looked large enough for all the girls now. What the hell did I care? They could all cook too, so I let them feed me and then lead me to bed where they gave me a real workout. Our short shopping trip had done wonders for what went on outside. It seemed all the pumping and tanking was taken care of and there were tanker trucks coming in every three hours or so to deliver fuel. I learned one tank was diesel fuel, one was for avgas, and one was for jet fuel for the helicopter. Jerrilyn even said they had a smaller, ten thousand gallon tank, for unleaded. After breakfast I was invited to amuse myself with the new firearms and by checking out the construction to make sure it was all going to suit me. Jan and Sharon even came out to help me unpack the helo, but they went back into the house as soon as I had all the new firearms and equipment in the giant metal building that had sprung up for parking the trucks and things inside. Unpack I did, but with no shelves or anything in place I mostly just put the firearms and accessories on the floor and left them in their boxes. I was surprised to discover we had another complete line of long guns for our use. We all had Marlins of course, but there was also a BAR Lightweight Stalker in 30-06 for every one of us. Apparently the girls were serious about them too since there was an ATN 4x12 Day/Night scope for each one of them. This firepower didn't even mention a pair of Beretta Extrema II shotguns in 12 gauge for each of us. Apparently the girls, or at least some of them, intended for us to do some hunting sooner or later. I resigned myself to helping make it happen and started putting scopes on rifles since I knew there'd be a lot of sighting in to do sooner or later. The next six weeks were spent with me working on the guns or on the reloading. Mostly it amounted to me deciding what else I needed to get it done. Every day Jacky or Jerrilyn would ask me if I needed anything else to help. Once I was sure I had everything necessary for reloading every cartridge case I had, Jacky asked me when I would start doing it. "Just as soon as we shoot up some of the cartridges we have. I can't reload anything until I get some cases that have been unloaded, as in fired," I said, and I was actually trying to make a joke out of it. It hit her like a hammer and she went off to give Jerrilyn and all the others the sad news. I didn't know what the problem was, but I could tell it caused a stir among all the girls. Finally I had to ask. "It's nothing tragic, but we were expecting to get everything and we didn't realize you couldn't start from nothing. We should have known from the way you always called it reloading, but we just didn't realize. No matter though - Christine has already noticed several places where we can order empty brass - some of it is new and some has been fired before. "We'll want to spend another couple of weeks waiting for it to all come in, and then we want to take another trip back to the same place," Jerrilyn said. "Well, I'm going to put together a pumping station in the mean time and I'm also going to cut some rebar for the grazing pen for the horses," I said. "But we have the firetruck now and we won't need the pumping unit." "We can find a lot better uses for a four wheel drive vehicle that will hold us all at the same time than just to pump water for the horses. I'm going down to Price Hardware tomorrow and do a little shopping of my own. I might even stop by to see your welder and get him to make me a frame work for the pump and engine," I said, and it seemed like everything was merry. Somehow I was a hero over this latest bit of wizardry. We all piled into our newly enlarged shower and the girls gave me a pampered washing deluxe. I was patted dry, powdered, and put into my pajamas and then into bed. Of course the pajamas didn't last long and soon I was pressed into service as a sex toy, but I counted it all to the good. I was up early the next morning and basically ready to go. I wasn't in such a big hurry I had to leave before breakfast though. We had pancakes, sausage, ham, and bacon again and I pigged out until I was barely able to move. I hated to take on extra sugar after the syrup on the pancakes, but I had to drink a canned Coke to get a little room in my stomach so I could at least move around. Price hardware was my first stop, and luckily I found a type of army surplus water pump and a five horsepower motor with a horizontal shaft. That, and a thousand feet of 3/4th inch water hose and I was on my way. I headed to the welder next and showed him what I wanted. "I can build it no problem, but you'd better go right back down to Prices and get some casters. I'd get two that steer and two that don't if I were you and pneumatic tires would be best for dragging it over rough ground," Jim told me. I let him get to work and did as he said, coming back with eight-inch pneumatic casters. He said they'd do the job fine and went right back to work. He even made a nice handle for the front end of it to pull it with. When I made it home with our water pump and hose I found the girls shoving around a bunch of packages. Apparently they had found a place to buy spent brasses and they had gone with it. We had fifty thousand for 30-06 and an equal number for 45 Auto. They even had thirty thousand for 45 Long Colt, which fit our Ruger Single Actions. Hell, they must be planning on a war. The next day I got busy loading some of the brass, but it didn't take me long to run out of powder. Of course they asked me why I'd stopped and I mentioned the problem, also pointing out I was already running low on bullets too. "What about for the shotgun shells? Can't you load some of them?" Selene asked, and I had to explain that I didn't have any empties for them either. In fact I didn't even have a loader for shotgun shells. They sat me down and got the full story of what was needed and then Jerrilyn headed for a computer and started ordering. I really didn't know what they were getting so upset about over the reloading. It wasn't a big pain because I didn't have much to do anyway, but they were putting a full force effort into it. Hell, let them. By the time they figured it was time for another try at a camping trip they had everything for all the reloading in the world. They changed up some of the loading order of what went into which trailer and they'd also had a tow bar built for the FireHumvee and a hitch installed on the back of every trailer we had. I didn't know if what we ended up doing was legal or not, but we put the Humvee to the back of a trailer and took off at midnight one night. The next significant project was fueling the trucks before we pulled out of Kerrville. Jan and Sharon would fly in tomorrow morning, but Jenny was already with us, riding in Jerrilyn's truck with her. We pulled up to our same campsite about noon and the girls were out and putting up the electric fence almost before I could unass my truck. Somehow they were more ready for a half day's work after the drive this time than they had been last time. Jacky and Jerrilyn got the cooking started while the rest of us put up the electric fence and unloaded the stock. After we were done with them a meal was ready so we stopped to eat. The only thing left to do was pull the pumping wagon down to the river, and stretch out the hose. It was a little anticlimactic since we only had to run the pump for about five minutes to fill the three country bathtubs with water. ------- Chapter 31 After we ate a truce was declared and we found out we could all fit into one of the sleepers for the night. We were too tired for fucking and I was happy with the situation. I surely had no worries about getting my ashes hauled now so I just snuggled up to whoever was closest and went to sleep. Dawn broke to the sound of one helicopter, but at least it wasn't bursting in flames going down. It was Jan and Sharon and they set down on the place we'd marked off for them. I had my clothes on first so I was sent out to greet them and I kissed and fondled them all they'd let me. "What happened, did the others cut you off?" Jan asked. "Not exactly, but I think they were all too tired for a good workout last night when we went to bed," I said. "Are you sure you weren't the one too tired?" Sharon asked. "If you'd care to step over here behind these trucks and lean over a fuel tank I'd be glad to show you who isn't too tired," I said, and she gave up the teasing right away. "You just want to get a girls panties off early in the morning. I fooled you there though, I'm not even wearing any." "So you're saying if I get your jeans down you're as good as fucked?" "Yes, and, come to think of it, I'll help you get them off," she said, and let me lead her around to the other side of the closest truck. Jan followed us. When I had her near one of the rounded fuel tanks I pulled her in for some serious kissing. Jan decided she'd help me out and she unfastened Sharon's jeans while I was kissing and fondling her. Soon enough my hands were petting and pinching her naked ass cheeks, so I eased her down to lean over the fuel tank and dropped trou to slide my dick where we both wanted it. Sharon was panting and urging me to do it harder in seconds. "God Almighty that looks so hot with you shoving it too her while she's bent over the fuel tank. It's a real life trucker fuck for sure and you'd better be sure and save some for me," Jan said. "Shush. Can't you hear the others out looking for us? If they find out what we're up to they'll all want some," I said, as I kept pumping. The outrageousness of the situation had Sharon boiling and before long she went off. Luckily I'd anticipated it and I was able to cover her mouth before she screamed out. Jan handled her aside and assumed the position and I just plopped it from one twin to the other and resumed my stroke. Before long I was covering Jan's mouth to muffle her announcement and then Sharon was helping her up with her pants while they left me to put up my own equipment. "See Jan, I told you if we flew down without panties he'd hose us pronto." "When you're right, you're right," Jan said, and the two of them jumped up and high fived. I led them around to the cooking fire and picnic table and we settled down waiting for food to appear. Kahlila started out passing a coffee pot around and I was oh so happy to get my first cup. "I can tell by the sly looks on your two faces you've already dropped your panties and had a dose of dick this morning," Jenny said, teasing the pilots. "We did no such think. The brute just attacked us when he found out we weren't wearing panties," Jan said. "I'm glad he's up to speed this morning. I'm afraid we worked him too hard yesterday," Selene said. The chatter died down after that since the food started arriving. Jerrilyn wanted to talk about what we were going to do today, but I put her off by having a mouthful of food almost all the time. She finally said something to get my attention though. "Tommy, I thought of something we need around here while you were dragging the pump down to the river. We need one of those four-wheelers. I know we have horses, but a four-wheeler or two would be so much more handy. We could just hop on it and take off without having to saddled it up first," she said, and I was right with her right away. "As soon as we get some of the stuff out of one of the trucks we can go into town and pick one up," I said, and thought I was making perfect sense. "Why wait?" Jan said, "We can hop into the bird and fly off to get one. There's plenty of room to haul them in it, and we wouldn't have a bit of trouble parking. The place selling them probably has a big parking lot and we can just set down in it." "Shouldn't we call them first?" I asked. "Maybe, but we can call them while we're hovering overhead," Sharon said. It all sounded like the easy way out to me, and that suited me fine. As soon as we'd finished eating we put out a few bales of hay for the horses and mules and then piled in the bird. We were over Kerrville in minutes, but Jan and Sharon didn't see any place that looked big enough so they headed for San Antonio. Luckily they found a big sales lot outside of town and they even spotted the phone number on a sign near the place. I guess one of them called the place because soon about ten men came out and circled around a spot on the parking lot to signify we should land there. Jan or Sharon one put it right on the spot. Jenny, Selene, and Christine bailed out as soon as we were on the ground and placed themselves around our spot to yell at anyone dumb enough to come close before the blades stopped spinning. Soon enough they were calling the rest of us out and we headed into the building to find a salesman. Kahlila made it first and she picked out a female to show us around. She started out showing us what I considered toy models and I listened while she gave me the details. I finally had to tell her we weren't looking for a low priced model and that we had something more substantial in mind. She finally led us to what I considered a respectably sized model. I found out it even had a reverse gear and there was a tiny winch on the front in case we got it stuck somewhere. I'd found the one I wanted, but decided to get two of them. The girls thought it was find and then they shoved me out of the way while they looked at some of the smaller models. "Say Jan, how many of these things can we carry at one time," Jacky asked. "I don't think the weight will be any problem, but the size might get to be with the two large ones Tommy picked out. Of course we could rig a sling and swing 'em out there, but it would be better to just drive them inside. Let's crank 'em up and go give it a try. Susan, our saleslady, called for someone from the mechanical department to come service the two big units out and I remembered something we'd all surely need before we did much four wheeling at all. "Leathers. We're all going to need some good leathers, and helmets too," I said. It got another shopping type expedition underway and soon we were all trying on leathers and headgear. Of course we also needed some heavy duty high-top boots too. Soon enough the mechanical guy told Susan the two large ones were ready to go. Everyone tried to elect me to drive the first one, but I deferred to the pilots and they climbed aboard and Susan gave them some instructions. In minutes a big door was opened and Jan and Sharon were idling their way out to the bird. Of course we all walked along. Luckily Jenny went too, because she was the one who knew how to open the cargo door and let down the ramp. In nearly no time Jan and Sharon had the two parked and they called Susan inside to take a look and guess what size and how many machines could fit. "Well, I'd say we can get three more of the smaller four-wheelers inside here. You could also get half a dozen dirt bikes in too if you wanted some," she said, and it was the right thing from her point of view. Of course everyone wanted a dirt bike. Of course this changed the delivery options since all the girls decided two or three trips wouldn't be such a drawback. Soon after they all went inside to make a personal selection for a dirt bike. Hell, I wasn't about to let them get ahead of me so I went in and started looking around myself. Three hours later we all had a dirt bike, and there were six more of the four-wheelers scheduled for shipment. An older gentleman came and joined Susan suggesting he could get a truck to deliver them, but I knew how to handle him. "We'd be glad to let you truck them to us, but we're camped up near Kerrville and we're on the other side of the Guadalupe from here. Be sure to hire a truck that can cross it without the benefit of a bridge," I said, and then I encouraged him to get his ass away from us unless he wanted to queer the whole sale. He left like his head was on fire and his ass was catching. Everything went smoothly after that until it came time to pay the bill. I felt sorry for the cashier when she handed me the bill and Jerrilyn handed me one of my buy-in bags. Actually it was one of the payout bags from our last trip to Binions. One of those that held a half-million in hundreds. The cashier wasn't used to dealing with cash in large quantities and she went directly to the owner of the place without passing go and without collecting her two hundred in cash. The owner knew exactly what to do with cash, as in count it. He also perked up the department that was supposed to be getting the paperwork done. He seemed extremely pleased when I told him we'd come for two four-wheelers and Susan had done one hell of a lot of suggestive selling to pad the bill. "I've always known Susan could do a whale of a job if she got the chance," he said. "By the way, what kind of deal can you give us on repair contracts. Susan mentioned them, but we were so busy making selections at the time we didn't want to work on the details." "Well, all I could do for you on that would be repair work done here. There is a sort of insurance you can buy to have the work done anywhere, but frankly, I can't recommend them." "I can understand that, and we'd be happy to bring them here for any work they needed, but since we're buying more than will fit in the bird we'd need some ground crew to come take care of them when we set them down. All you'd need would be people to cut them loose and make sure they were standing on their own when the pilots left." "Could the pilots get with the shop foreman and tell him exactly what they'd need." "I'm sure they can. Let me go get them," I said, and took off to gather up Jan and Sharon. It only took them about an hour to explain what kind of service they'd need when they arrived with machines to be worked over. Finally I got to pay the bill, and it was a whooper, but we'd made a haul. Each of us had our own dirt bike now, and in fact we had three extra in case someone's broke down. We had eight four-wheelers besides the two large ones I'd selected and of course leathers, helmets, and new boots for everyone. When Jan and Sharon lifted us off and then set us down at the camp site we had our work cut out for us unloading and then they were right back in the air for another run. Selene saw a fuckup in the making as soon as we wanted to fuel the little beasties up. We didn't have one motorcycle suitable fuel can. She called the place we'd bought them and ordered plenty of them along with several cases of the oil we needed to go with the fuel. By the end of the day all was well. I was atop my four-wheeler and riding it around while the girls were mostly riding their dirt bikes. We had loads of fun, but we parked before dark thirty and got ready to cook a meal. At least someone had taken the time to put up our camp lights and bring out and fire up the Generac, because we needed the lights to get the tent put up after sunset. We needed it now since there just wasn't room for all of us, including Jan and Sharon, in one sleeper. No matter, there was plenty of room in the tent and we had it up in plenty of time. The trip to town and the shopping spree at the dealership had put our unpacking on hold. It didn't matter though, we could unpack tomorrow. We were fucked out and asleep by midnight and the last thing I remember thinking before dropping off was how nice it was to screw in a tent. About three am I wasn't so sure about how I felt about a tent though. A hellacious thunderstorm blew up with plenty of lightning, lots of rain, and I was even sure I heard a little hail. I spent the rest of the night hoping we had all the tent posts and pegs solidly in the ground. ------- Chapter 32 I was up first the next morning, and the girls seemed to want to sleep in so I dressed and walked outside to see if we'd had any damage from the bad weather last night. I didn't see any damage, but something was dreadfully wrong and I could almost feel a deep burning pain in my side. We damned sure weren't where we'd gone to bed. I walked over to the picnic table, took a seat in a chair, and started looking around. After a few minutes I got up, built a fire, and put on a pot off water for some campfire coffee, you know, the kind you boil. I stayed with it until it the water was boiling and then opened the coffee and put a big handful into the pot and pulled it off the fire after five more minutes. I let it sit for a few minutes and then pulled it off the fire, poured in a cup of cool water to settle the grounds and then poured me a big cup, putting the plastic lid on it to keep it hot and then took my first sip - then I took my second. No matter how much coffee I drank though I knew things weren't going to look any better. We weren't up on the side of even a small mountain any longer though, and I knew for damned sure we had been moved. I just didn't know how it had been done or where we were now. Visions of Eric Flint's 1632 flashed through my mind more than once, but it wasn't like that at all really. The area we were in hadn't been moved, but we had been moved, and all out things had come with us. Everything was still here, but it was a different here. Everything we had brought was still in place and best I could tell it was all still in the same spatial relationship as it had been when we went to sleep. Even the electric fence horse pen we'd put up looked about the same. The horses and mules were still enclosed in it and the water hose to the pumping station I'd assembled was still in place. The only trouble there was no river by the pump. Our trucks were all still parked in line neatly and the damned helicopter was still right where Jan and Sharon had put it down last night. Still where was relative though. It was still near the front of the trucks, but it obviously wasn't where it had been. The terrain was nothing like where we had been. In the first place we weren't in a mountainous region or even a hilly region any longer. The ground around us was pretty much flat. It was almost desert like in appearance too. Oh, we weren't in a bunch of sand dunes, but the vegetation was sparse. There was one large hill near us, but it was mostly plopped down on flat ground, or it appeared to be. I got up and walked to the other side of the trucks to take a better look at it. Damned if it didn't look like there was a big cave in it. I walked over to the mouth of it and sure enough it was a big cave, as in massive. The entrance was easily big enough to drive the trucks into and it looked like there was plenty of room in it for all of them. Hell, if we backed them in toward the rear wall there would be enough room to put the helicopter in front of them and have it all within the cave. To me it seemed way to coincidental to be real. Jerrilyn came out of the tent then and she didn't calmly walk over to the fire for a cup of coffee. "What the hell is going on, Tommy?" she asked. "Damnifiknow. I've been sitting her trying to make sense of it myself. We ain't where we went to bed though." "I can see that, but how did we get here?" "My best guess is the spacemen moved us while we were asleep." "What God damned spacemen?" "That is the next question all right, but I don't have an answer. You'd better come over and get a cup of coffee while we try to figure it out," I said, and she headed for the pot. "This doesn't make any sense, Tommy. If that storm had blown us here it wouldn't have put everything down so nice and neat," she said. "Even I know that." "Well how did it happen?" "That's something I don't know. I am pretty sure nothing on Earth could have done it though, especially without waking us up." "I know you're right. I slept soundly after the wind died down, but no one could sleep that soundly. Hell, it didn't even upset the horses and mules. Even that damned donkey looks like nothing is wrong. Where are we?" "I don't know that either and I doubt we'll even have a clue until Jan and Sharon get in the air and look around." "Maybe we can find out from the Blackberry. It has GPS built in," she said, and headed right back into the tent for it. I had my doubts it would tell us anything. Things were just too weird for it to be that simple. I hoped it would tell us, but I had serious doubts. Turned out I was right too. "I can't believe this. The damned thing keeps saying no signal. How can that be?" she asked, after she came outside with it. "I can only think of one thing it can mean and it's exactly what it says. It isn't getting the signal from any of the GPS satellites. I don't know any place on Earth it could be in that shape with a clear sky like we have here." "Well shit. No matter where we are we're going to need some breakfast sooner or later. I'm going to go tell the others to get their asses out here," she said, and it's just what she did. In five minutes every one of them was outside and looking around. I didn't want to be the designated answer man any longer, since I had so few to start with, so I started walking around trying to pick up firewood. There was damned little lying around and even fewer trees apparent. Jan and Sharon went to the helicopter and got inside it for some reason. They came back in a few minutes and said there were no radio signals to help find out where we were. They mentioned some type of beacons but said none of them were active. I wasn't surprised, but I wished I could be. With the others helping I finally scared up enough firewood for breakfast. The hell of it was I hadn't seen even one footprint of anything the whole time I was looking. We ate breakfast pretty much in silence, but we did at least formulate a plan. Jan and Sharon said they'd get up and see if they could spot anything after the meal was over. It was as good a plan as any and after we finished they fired that mother up and took off. It raised a lot more dust and dirt here than it had where we were. They went straight up for what I thought was about a thousand feet and then they eased off to the north maybe a mile or so. They came back and set down almost right away. Everyone else was anxious to hear what they said, until they said it. "Something is really fucked up. We didn't see a highway anywhere in any direction. That just doesn't happen. There is a small town about ten miles north by north west, but it is a small one and there is no road going to it except a dirt trail. There wasn't a car or truck at it either, though we did see several horses tied out in front of some buildings and we even saw a couple of horse drawn wagons moving down the main street. It looked like some kind of Amish town or something," Jan told us. "Well let's go over there and ask them where we are," Selene said. "I think we'd better do it via ground transportation," Jan said. "Why?" Christine asked. "I don't know why, but I just got a feeling we shouldn't let them see the helicopter for some reason. Maybe it's because it looked like the place was about like something you might see in the eighteen hundreds," Jan said. "Well, we can dress for the part anyway. Why don't we see about putting the trucks and stuff in that big cave over there first? Hell, there's even room for the horses and mules inside it," I said. "It won't hurt anything. To tell the truth I want to see if everything still works," Jerrilyn said. At least everything did work. Of course we had to un-attach the Humvee from the back of the trailer it had been towed behind and we had to do the same for our custom made wagon. I was able to hitch the wagon to the knob on the back of my new four-wheeler and I had no problem towing it in that way. We even decided to move all the stock into the cave too, but we had it easy convincing them to come inside since we used some of the alfalfa hay to bribe them inside. The most difficult thing was putting the helicopter inside, but it was easy enough to push with all of us helping and it was a hell of a lot better doing it that way than trying to let it move itself. The rotor kicked up a miniature sand storm when it was whirling. Once we were ensconced inside the cave there were other considerations. First and foremost, was who was going? We finally decided on Jerrilyn and me. We were going to ride into town and take a look around. Jerrilyn took the Blackberry with her since we had a couple of others now and they had that walkie-talkie option so they could talk to each other even without a cellphone tower in range. Next on the agenda was dressing us. We decided to put on our Wild West costumes, but leave off Jerrilyn's Saloon-Girl getup. She would wear jeans with a pistol on her hip just like me. We even wore the Ruger Super Blackhawks. They weren't really period arms if we were in a period, but they would be effective and it was those or Glocks and Glocks damned sure weren't period for any period except modern day. I got the feeling we were being silly about it when we dressed, but I tried to get into a semblance of character, just in case. Jerrilyn was doing a hell of a lot better at it than I was, but I pulled myself together at the last. All the rest of the girls fixed lunch and we took time to eat. After the meal Jerrilyn and I saddled up a couple of the Quarterhorses, mounted up and rode off in the direction Jan told us to. ------- Chapter 33 "I know you think you should protect us, Tommy, since you're the man, and you do have a point, but you're not going by yourself, and Jerrilyn is the best shot and also is the fastest draw," Christine said, and none of them would be gainsaid afterward. Jerrilyn had settled on three of the 46 Long Colt Super Blackhawks. She wore one on each hip and another just to the left of her belt buckle in a cross draw holster. I'd seen her use this setup at home, practicing, but I'd never thought it might one day be used for real life business. "What's so odd Tommy, why are you starring at me?" she asked. "It just hit me that we have a chance of actually needing to draw our guns for protection," I said. "Not really much of one, but if we do need them they won't do us any good out here while we're in town. Face it - all we know about a saloon is what we've seen in cowboy movies or on Gunsmoke reruns. We'll have to take it by ear and keep our eyes open. Who knows, maybe you can find a poker game, you should feel right at home in one," Jerrilyn said, and then laughed. "If I get into a poker game I'll need some money and I don't have any cash on me," I said. "Well dig into one of your bags. That one you used today is still handy. Get it," Jerrilyn said, so I did. I went to get it out of my truck, but I was shocked as soon as I took hold of it. I opened it up right there in my sleeper and I knew something was fishyer than fishy. There were no hundreds stuffed in it any more, but it was full of gold double eagles. I called the girls over to talk about it right then. "What do you mean your money has changed? What did it change into?" Selene asked. "It changed into double eagles. Twenty dollar gold pieces," I said. "How did that happen?" "The same way we got here I guess." "That is just weird," Christine said. "Not any weirder than everything else, and now we at least know we really aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto. At least we ain't in the time we went to bed in. Double eagles aren't legal tender any more, or they weren't when we went to sleep. They're worth a hell of a lot more than twenty dollars as plain old gold," I said. No matter what they were worth we packed out pockets full of them and Selene came up with a leather pouch to put one hell of a bunch of them in Jerrilyn's saddlebags. No matter what we found in the town we'd be able to buy our way out if we needed to. Our ride to the town was uneventful and of course we tied our mounts to the hitching rack in front of the biggest saloon. All talk stopped when we walked through the swinging batwing doors. There were plenty of empty tables and we took one. I was surprised when a woman, obviously a waitress, came over. "What'll ya have? Supper ain't ready yet." "Beer for both of us," Jerrilyn said, and the waitress went to get it. Things had gone back to normal by now, or at least I thought they had. No one was looking at us much and the background hubbub had picked back up. Then I spied the poker table and looked over at the game. "Go on over and see if you can get in the game, but try to listen more than talk, you might find out something that'll be useful," Jerrilyn told me, sorta under her breath. Hell, it couldn't hurt, I thought to myself, and I went over. They seemed glad to let me into the game. They were playing five-card draw, not much of a game to me, but what the hell. The deal rotated after every hand. It was a quarter to ante and there were no limits to betting. There were six people playing. I didn't get much of a hand the first time, but I did make a raise after one of them opened. I asked for three cards when it came to me and I still didn't have anything so I folded. The one that looked like he might be a banker won and the deal moved one seat. The man with the cards now reminded me of what a professional gambler in this era should look like and when he shuffled it was plain that he knew how to handle cards. When he started dealing I almost laughed out loud, and I could barely keep the smile off my face. "What's so funny mister?" he asked, when he saw my look. "Well, it's just that from the way you shuffled I thought you could handle cards better than you seem to be able to. I can hear you dealing seconds even over all the noise in here." I don't know why I said a stupid thing like that. The seconds weren't going to affect me, because I sure as hell wouldn't get in the hand. Hell, the quarter ante wasn't anything to worry about. I'd spoke up before thinking and that's something I almost never did at a poker table. It had been funny though, from my point of view. I'd never actually heard seconds being dealt in a real game. It wasn't a damned bit funny to the guy who had been dealing them though, and I could tell that others around the table didn't think it was funny either. What I couldn't tell was who they were mad at - me for mentioning it or the gambler for doing it. "Are you calling me a card cheat, mister?" he asked. "Not really, I haven't been here long enough to catch you cheating. All you've done so far is deal seconds, nobody's even done any betting yet," I said. That didn't seem to mollify the man and he cursed me while sliding his chair back. In my estimation he was going to reach for his pistol, so I produced mine at once and pointed it at his belly. "Were you grouping for one of these?" I asked, waving the Blackhawk's muzzle slightly from side to side. Everyone in the saloon who happened to be behind the gambler and happened to be paying attention to what was going on dove for the floor. To say the gambler was surprised with the speed of my draw was quite an understatement. I expected him to crawfish, at least a little, but he didn't. "Sheriff, he's pulled a gun on me," was what he said. "Who has?" asked a loud voice and I heard a chair scraping on the floor as someone out of sight to my left must have been standing up. I felt better at once when I heard Jerrilyn speak up. "I don't know who you are, bud, but if you reach for your gun you'll die before you get your hand on it," she said, to the Sheriff, I think. "Who is that behind me Sam?" the Sheriff asked. "It's the lady that came in with the gentleman in question. As soon as you stood up she drew two guns. Right now one is pointing right at your back and the other one is pointing right at me. Neither one of them is shaking one damned bit either," the bartender said, and I guessed, Sam was his name. "Well, if it's just a woman why don't you take the guns away from her?" the Sheriff asked. "You feel free to do all of that you want to, Sheriff. The one she has pointed at me has a damned big hole in this end of it and I'm keeping my hands right where they are, stretched up toward the ceiling as far as I can reach," the bartender said. "Let's all try to remain calm here, for a few minutes at least. I want to hear what these seconds are the man mentioned. I've thought ever since you vouched for Jake being an honest gambler that he was an awful damned lucky one if he was honest," the man I'd thought must be a banker said. "Hell with that, I'm the Sheriff of this town and I'm going to arrest whoever that is," the Sheriff said. "Well I'm the mayor of this town and if you open your mouth again you won't be the Sheriff anymore. From what that lady said you might not be alive much longer," the mayor said. "Lady, she can't be no lady coming in a saloon... Jerrilyn showed them all, lady or not, she could actually shoot the big guns she was holding then. She shot the Sheriff through his right elbow. I'm not sure he was reaching for his gun, but I do know he said the wrong thing. After that, he yelped as he fell to the floor and shortly he was reduced to whimpering and moaning about how his arm hurt. "You dumb bastard. Did you think it was going to feel good?" Jerrilyn asked. She had also removed all doubt about whether she could actually shoot. I noticed that Jake, the gambler, looked a lot more nervous than he had just a few minutes ago. "Now that the Sheriff has settled down, would you please explain to me what seconds are?" the banker/mayor asked. "It's simple to say and hard to do. It's a way of stacking the deck and it requires a lot of practice and a very good memory. He knows what the order of the cards on the bottom of the deck are in, because he put them into that order while he shuffled. The noise that it makes when he deals is very distinctive, though with enough practice you can get rid of almost all of it. It comes from a card flicking against the one that was supposed to be dealt when he works it from the second spot in the deck," I said. "What the hell good is that?" a different gentleman who had been playing with us asked. "It lets him know exactly what cards everyone has and he can give himself the cards he wants," I said. "Oh, is that why when he wins it's always against someone who has a real good hand of their own, just not as good as his?" "Of course, what's the point in having the best hand if someone else doesn't have one that's worth betting on?" I asked. I could almost see the others thinking back over the last few games they'd played with Jake, and it wasn't leading to a rosy future for him. "You seem like you know an awful lot about it yourself mister," the banker mayor said. "I hope I do, I'm a gambler myself, but don't get the cart before the horse, I haven't dealt any hands at all, and I've already explained how to tell when this trick is being played on you," I said. "So, that means you're an honest gambler," the mayor banker said. All I did was laugh at him, I didn't even try to say anything. In a few seconds most of the rest of the saloon was laughing too. Except the Sheriff, he was still wiggling around on the floor and crying. "That's all well and good Mr Mayor, but would you mind asking the lady if I can let my arms down now? They're getting pretty tired," Sam, the bartender, said from his place behind the bar. I looked and sure enough he still had his hands up. "It's probably safe to let him put his hands down now, isn't it Jerrilyn? I asked, since I wasn't about to sound like I was telling her to do anything. "Sure, go on about your business, Sam. I just wanted to make sure you stayed out of it so I wouldn't have to hurt you," Jerrilyn said, and smiled at him. "Well, I'm pretty damned glad you were thinking of my safety. I wouldn't want to be lying on the floor bleeding, even if I was still alive enough to cry," Sam said. I was expecting something along the lines of all's well that ends well about now, but it wasn't to be. At least I wasn't directly involved in the negotiations that got started after that. Several other people had come in after they heard the shot and then didn't hear any more. Before long it looked like the town council had a quorum and damned if they didn't have a meeting right there. I didn't have any say in the matter, but they did ask my opinion. "I know it might be hard to believe, mister, but this is the first card cheat we ever caught here. What usually happens to one of them," the mayor banker asked me. "Usually they aren't caught, usually they're shot by the ones who make the discovery. You can understand how upset people get after their money has been swindled away from them," I said. "As a matter of fact, I happen to be in an excellent position to understand just how they feel," the mayor banker said. "Do you have any suggestions for this situation though? It seems a little anti-climatic to just shoot him now," a gentleman who had come in after the shot asked. "Well, I have seen card cheats horse whipped a couple of times," I said, lying through my teeth of course, but I was in the swing of things now. "That's it. That's a damned good idea. We should give him a hundred lashes with a horsewhip. Old Johnston over to the livery stable is a good hand with a whip, and I think he lost some money to this Jake too," one of the men who had been playing with us said. "Hell, he'd be dead a long time before John Johnston gets through giving him a hundred lashes. We might as well just shoot him now," the mayor banker said. "Too easy on him, I say. John won't mind giving him the whip and he can just stop if Jake dies before he gets to a hundred," an onlooker said, volunteering it. "What about the Sheriff? It's sure as shootin' he was in on the whole thing with this Jake fella. Why don't we let John give the sheriff any lashes that Jake don't get over dying too quick," another onlooker said. "And that's another damned thing, what are we gonna do about a Sheriff. Even if we don't give Bob the extra lashes he ain't fit to be Sheriff no more. I was watchin' close, and she hit his elbow dead center. His arm ain't never gonna be right again." "He weren't much of a Sheriff any damned how if ya ask me. We shoulda knowed that something was fishy with the way he spoke up for this here Jake. Now what I wanna know is if we're goin' to stand here talkin' bout it all day, or go and let John Johnston start whuppin' some asses?" the suspicious cowboy from our game asked. "I vote we get the ass whuppins started," one of the most outspoken onlookers said. "Bill Jackson, you don't get a damned vote, and you know it. You weren't even in the game. Now the rest of you keep quiet while we figure out who's gonna watch the jail for the town. There's already two owl hoots in the lockup, waitin' for a US Deputy Marshal to come at 'em. I don't know 'bout the rest of ya, but I don't wanna be the one has to tell him that they got loose from our jail," the mayor bankers said. "What the hell, if they get loose, they get loose, what ken he do to us about it?" the loudest mouthed onlooker asked. "I know presactly what he'll do, cause I was in a town once where the same kind of thang happened. Oh, the Sheriff weren't shot nor nothin' - he just wasn't much of a Sheriff in the first place, matter a fact he weren't even no Sheriff, just a town Marshal. The same damned US Marshal, Jurgenson, come by to pick up his federal want and the fella done got loose" a previously unheard from cowboy said. "Well don't keep us waitin' dammit. What happened?" the Mayor banker asked. "US Marshal Jurgenson deputized every swingin' dick in town is what happened. Started with the mayor who'd been dumb enough to hire such a no account Marshal and worked his way down to the saloon's swamper. He said he weren't going to undeputize us until he had his wants back - even if it took us til Christmas to find 'em." "Didn't they tell him no?" the mayor banker asked. "The mayor tried to, but Jurgenson pistol whipped the shit outta him and the others said they'd be glad to help Jurgenson out. Course the mayor weren't in no shape to help after that," the cowboy said. "I guess he got his wants back," the mayor banker said. "He damned sure did. You should have seen us, trackin' our asses off from can ta can't and longer. Jurgenson turned out to be pretty understandin' too. After we had the owlhoot caught, he let us have an hour with him to convince him not to do anything stupid like that again. He did tell us to not dare break his legs though." I'll have to admit this was the most entertaining time I'd spent in a while, and when I looked over at Jerrilyn I could see she was having a hard time keeping from laughing, but the next thing out of the mayor banker's mouth wasn't a damned bit funny. "Well, near as I can figure we got no choice but to make this here Tommy our Sheriff until we can do better. He seems like he can handle a gun even though he didn't do no shooting. That nice lady over there did a fine job though and maybe she'll help Tommy out with his duties," the mayor banker said, and then looked me in the eyes. Now, being a Sheriff was the furthest thing from my mind, in fact, I didn't really know the difference between being a Sheriff or a town Marshall. Then again, I didn't have anything else on the burner. I wondered how they'd react when they found out I had eight wives. Might as well get that out of the way right off the bat. "I got no objection to being the Sheriff. I've done a lot of things in my life - I even did some preaching one while and if times get hard I'm not too proud to go back to it. So, I guess a turn at law enforcement won't hurt me, if the conditions are right?" I said. "What conditions did you have in mind?" the mayor banker asked. "First off, how are the hangings done here?" I asked. "Hangings? We've only had one in the last few years. We caught a cattle drover stealing about twenty head. He'd been paid off when his herd got to Kansas City and was workin' his way back down south. I guess he spent his pay in Kansas City and was supplementing his income by stealing his way home," the mayor banker said. "Where did you hang him?" I asked. "There's a good strong oak tree about a mile outta town. We strung him up to it on the way back to town after catchin' him." "Well that will never do. We need a gallows and a regular hangin' rope with a real hangman's noose - and a trial. If I'm gonna be the Sheriff we're gonna give everyone a fair trial before we hang 'em," I said, making it up as I went along. I didn't dare look over at Jerrilyn because I was afraid of the look she'd be giving me. "Well, we could do that, it ain't too much trouble and we got a county judge and all. In fact, he talked bad to us all bout stringin' up that cowboy," the mayor banker said, admitting it. "How many deputies did your Sheriff have?" I asked next. "He had four, and a jailer. None of the bunch was much account 'cept the jailer. If you can talk anyone else into takin' the job, feel free. A sheriff ought to be able to hire his own deputies I say," the mayor banker said "Well, I've got eight wives... "Eight wives, are you one a them Mormons?" he asked. "No, I just have eight wives, and they all shoot pretty much the same. So if I take the job they'll be my deputies. I guess the jailer can stay on if he's as good as you say," I said. "But we can't have no women as deputies," the mayor banker said. "Fine, go over and explain it to Jerrilyn," I said, pointing to her. She had put her pistols away, but when she heard the mayor banker she got them back out, damned fast, and old Sam had been right the first time - the barrels weren't wiggling and waving. They were both pointed right at the mayor banker's belly. He couldn't help seeing it either. "I see you have a valid point there, Sheriff Tommy. When can you start?" the mayor banker asked. "I guess we can take care of these prisoners as soon as I find a good stout club," I said. "A club?" "Yep, if they give me any trouble between here and the jail I don't want Jerrilyn to have to shoot them no more, so I'll need a good club to get their attention." "I've got just the thing over to the livery stable, least I think it'll do ya. I'll go fetch it," an onlooker said, and I learned later his name was John Johnston and he owned the livery stable. He was back in five minutes or so and he did have just the ticket. It was an oak stick that was probably two feet long and nearly three inches in diameter except for where it had been whittled down a little to make a better place for a grip. I took it from him and walked over to Jake who was standing again by now. "You probably know where the jail is so head that way, unless you want me to beat the shit out of you with this club," I said, and he did head out. He'd looked like he was going to try giving me some grief when I'd started his way, but I guess he though better of it. I switched the club to my left hand, walked over to the former Sheriff, who was still lying down and moaning. I reached down and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and then followed Jake, dragging the Sheriff. Jerrilyn followed me and we were at the jail within five minutes. Once we got inside, the jailer came out from somewhere in back and he gave me such a look. I didn't give him time to start with questions. "Hi, my name is Tommy and I'm the new Sheriff. Do we have cells to put the former Sheriff and this crooked gambler in?" I asked. "Shore do, we got eight patent cells and we only got two other guests. My name is Ben, by the way. I don't know how this come about, but you can't be no worse than that dumbass. Even I knew he and that Jake were going to come to grief sooner or later," Ben, the jailer, said. "What about the deputies he had, where are they?" I asked. "Off drunk somewhere, no doubt. They ain't gonna like this much ya know," he said. "Don't matter, they're fired anyway, I've got my own deputies," I said. "That's more good news, but you know they're gonna try to start some trouble don't cha?" he asked. "That's fine, me and Jerrilyn can handle all the trouble four deputies can start," I said. "Is she one of your deputies?" he asked, and looked amazed. "Yes, she and my other seven wives will be my deputies," I said. "If you say so, Tommy. You know your wives better than anyone, or at least you should," he said. "I know them well enough. Next thing on my plate is finding someplace to stay. Do you know of any houses for sale around here?" I asked. "Not really. In fact the only building for sale in the whole town right now is the vacant general store, next door. Hey, it's got living space on the second floor," he said. ------- Chapter 34 "That might do, who has it for sale?" I asked. "The Mayor's bank owns it. They had to foreclose when Carl Jones got kilt and his wife couldn't keep it going on her own. She had to move out to a shack near the edge of town. It's a shame too - her and the two young girls are barely scraping by doing laundry now. She was a nice woman, and she ran a good general store, it was just bad luck she married a fool," he said. "Could you give us directions to her place?" Jerrilyn said. "Sure, tain't no trouble to find it. It's just down to the end of the street, on the left, and back aways, out'n the path. Like I said though, she don't own it no more. "That don't matter a bit. Tommy's got plenty of money and none of us know a thing about running a general store. The Mayor will probably make Tommy a fair deal on it, unless he wants to be Sheriff himself," Jerrilyn said. "Well let's lock this trash up until they can get a trial and a proper hanging. We can go talk to the widow after we have them in the cages," I said. Old Jake made my day then and I can't really say why it made me so happy. I'd been watching him try to ease his way over toward the door we'd just come in and he made a break to get out just as I finished saying we'd better lock the two up. The short thick club was still in my left hand and I hit him on his near shoulder hard enough to knock him down when he reached for the door handle. He started cussing me as soon as he hit the floor. "You sure are a dumb son of a bitch. Didn't I just tell you in the saloon I was going to beat the shit out of you if you gave me any trouble? Well, trying to escape from an officer of the law passes my test for giving me trouble," I said. "Can I give him a good kick in the balls first, Tommy?" Jerrilyn asked, before I could give him another lick. "Sure, go ahead sweetie," I said. Jerrilyn walked close to where he was laying but even as dumb as Jake was he still snapped his legs together to avoid what he knew was coming. Jerrilyn didn't say a word - she just pulled her right hand pistol and shot his left ear off, or a large chunk of it anyway. "Spread 'em or die," she told him, so he spread his legs even faster than he'd closed 'em. Jerrilyn gave him a solid toe to the balls before he could change his mind. I'd expected him to start screaming but the kick took his breath away and he couldn't. It was just as well from my point of view. "Ok Tommy, beat his ass a little so we can get moving," she told me. What the hell, I gave him several good shots to his ribs. I thought about breaking a leg or two but decided against it. If we did get a conviction I wanted him to have to walk up the steps on the gallows we were going to get. Besides, even though he was now in a lot of pain he'd figured out that he'd be in a lot more if he didn't do what we told him to, and the former Sheriff must have been paying attention too. When Ben opened the door leading back to the cells, Jake and the former Sheriff headed that way right behind him. I followed them and Jerrilyn followed me. Of course the current detainees were standing right by their cell's bars trying to see what had caused the gunshot, cussing, and crying out front. The first one we came to made a painful mistake of his own. He didn't pester our two prisoners, Ben, or me, but when Jerrilyn walked by he shifted into really dumb bastard mode. He reached out to try grabbing Jerrilyn. "Why, ain't you the prettiest thing I ever saw," he said, before his arm shot out through the bars. No, Jerrilyn didn't shot him. She must have noticed that his arm was above one of the steel crossbars in his hotel room door. Jerrilyn grabbed hold of it and just dropped to the floor. Her weight bent his elbow the wrong way and everyone could hear the bones snapping as it did. We couldn't hear shit for a few minutes after that for the noise his screams were making. Ben and I put Jake and the former Sheriff in separate cells while he howled and Jerrilyn just laughed at him. When we were done Jerrilyn had a suggestion for making him be a little quieter. "Why don't you use your new club on this one too, Tommy. If he keeps making that racket all night it's going to be tiresome for Ben," she said. "I don't know Jerrilyn. The way he's howling his arm must hurt awful bad. Maybe we should see if they have a doctor that can come cut it off. It'll probably feel better after that," I said, and the idiot started begging then. "We don't have a doctor anywhere near here," Ben said. "Well surely someone has a good axe. I can probably cut it off myself with a few good licks," I said. "Sure, I can get you an axe from out back. The Marshal won't want us killing him but he probably won't care much if he's missing an arm. Hell, he's pretty understanding about prisoner's who are trying to escape. That's what really pisses him off," Ben said. "You see, problem solved. We'll cut off the broken arm and if'n he don't quiet down a mite we can just cut off other parts until he does. You don't reckon the Marshal will care if we have to cut his dick off to quiet him down don you?" I asked. "I never even thought of that, but it sounds like a good plan. I'll go find the axe and we can get started. We got a good stout stump out back we use for splittin' stove wood and it'll probably be just right to lay his arm across. Course if it gets down to cutting his dick off you'd probably better just use a knife," Ben said. "Wait! Wait Mr Sheriff, I'll be quiet now. I promise I will," the prisoners said. "Be sure you do, and don't even think of ever reaching out to touch one of my wives again," I said. "Can you at least see if there's someone around here that can set my arm?" he asked, but it was more along the lines of begging now. "Hell, the best doctor anywhere couldn't do much with that broken elbow. I'll see if I can do anything for it in the morning, but I can tell you now that it'll never be fit for anything again," I said, and we left. Maybe I got carried away doing his arm like that," Jerrilyn said, once we were back out in the office part of the jail. "Don't worry about scum like that ma'am. He's wanted for robbing trains and raping passengers. He'll hang as soon as they get him up to federal court in Denver. His neck will snap just fine whether his arm works or not," Ben said, and it cured any hint of sympathy Jerrilyn had been trying to work up. Jerrilyn and I headed back to the saloon then. I wanted to catch the Mayor banker before he got away. When we got there the poker game was back in progress and the Mayor banker was still playing. I asked him if we could talk after he finished the hand and he folded and joined us. "Mr Mayor, I need a place to stay and Ben told us that the general store had living quarters upstairs," I said. "It does. In fact it has several rooms. Carl Jones, the former owner, was planning on taking in borders but he got killed before he got to get started on his plan. I can rent you all the rooms you need. They aren't exactly set up for it yet though," he said. "I thought I'd just buy it. The bank isn't wanting to keep it are they?" I asked. "No, we don't want to keep it at all. What kind of down payment can you make?" he asked. "What's the total price?" "The total against it is three hundred dollars, but we'd settle for two fifty to move it. If you could come up with a hundred dollars the bank would loan you the rest for four percent interest," he said. "I'll just pay the entire two-fifty in cash if it's all the same to you," I said, and knew at once he'd figured I'd never finish paying the note and he could be selling the place again soon and keeping my hundred dollar down payment for the bank's trouble. He gave me a funny look, but he wasn't dumb enough to try backing out of the deal he'd just made now he knew his pet asset was leaving. He agreed and said we could come by the bank tomorrow and finish the transaction. Apparently, Jerrilyn wanted to settle things right now though. "It won't take me a minute to get the cash from my saddlebags. I'll be right back," she said, and she was back pretty damned fast with thirteen gold double eagles. The Mayor banker was chagrinned, but he gave us the ten dollars change and told us we could come by for the paperwork when we wanted to. Our next stop was at the shack Ben had told us about. It didn't look all that bad, but it wasn't some place I'd want to live. There was light coming from inside so I knocked on the door. "Mrs Jones, could I speak with you for a minute," I said, to the door, when someone inside asked who was there. "What about?" the voice asked. "My name is Tommy and I've just become the Sheriff tonight. I've also just paid for the general store and I want to talk to you about running it for me," I said. "Why would you want me to do that?" she asked, still behind her door. "Because I don't know the first thing about running a store. I bought it because I was told there were several bedrooms upstairs," I said. "There are, but they don't have any furniture in them, except for the one my husband and I lived in and the one the girls stayed in," she said. "Mrs Jones, my name is Jerrilyn and Tommy is my husband. Would you please open the door so we can talk about this? It would be even better if you'd come and show us around the store and the bedrooms. We'd be happy to pay you for your time," Jerrilyn said. The door opened at once and damned if Mrs Jones wasn't as pretty as a picture. She was a redhead and though she must have been in her late twenties or early thirties she didn't look it. There wasn't a wrinkle or even a laugh line on her pretty face. She was only about five-two, and even though her clothes in this time covered her completely there was no hiding the substantial titties that were jiggling underneath her top. "I'm sorry for being so rude, Tommy and, Jerrilyn, but I've learned not to open this door after dark for any man, no matter what he's saying. It's downright shameful the things they think a poor widow woman will put up with. Especially when she has children to feed," she said. "I haven't been in this town for long ma'am, but I can already understand what you're talking about and we're not offended by your prudence," I said. "So you bought the store, but you don't know how to run one?" she asked. "Yes, we just need a place to stay. I was hoping I could get you to move back into the store with us and take care of it for me. I'm ashamed to tell you that I don't even know how much to pay you," I said. "If you'll let us live in our rooms again I'll do it for twenty dollars a month," she said. "I'm sorry ma'am, but even dumb as I am I can't go a penny less than fifty a month. I might as well tell you right now I have seven other wives too and they'd all gang up on me if I ever tried to take advantage of you like that," I said, and Jerrilyn was quick to agree with me, even if it was one of the few times. "Eight wives? Are you Mormons?" she asked. "No ma'am. I just have eight wives. I like it that way, even if they do outnumber me so. They seem to like it too," I said, grinning. "You must be one hell of a man if that's the truth," she said, and grinned right back at me. "It surprised us too, needless to say, but we wouldn't trade him for anything, even if he wasn't rich," Jerrilyn said. "Mama, aren't you going to introduce us too," a younger version of Mrs Jones' voice said from inside the shack. "Hold your horses. Well, it's all right, come on up here, but I haven't really introduced myself yet," she said, and then told us she was Nancy Jones and we returned the favor just as the twins approached. "These are my twins, Hope and Charity," Nancy Jones said, and I had to bite my tongue. Their names reminded me of a guy I'd grown up with. His father was an American Indian who happened to be an ordained minister for the Assembly of God church. He'd named three of his four daughters Faith, Hope, and Charity, but I couldn't remember the name of the other one at this late date. Even more surprising was he named his only son Sequoia. He was the guy who made me proud I was named Tommy, no matter how bad it had seemed before. That was ancient history though and currently I seemed to be in a much more normal version of history. Hope and Charity Jones would never put me in the mood for that good old time religion though, and neither would their mother. They looked like sixteen year olds to me and that meant their mother had to be at least thirty-two or so. Thirty-two going on twenty-five is what she looked like to me, and she gave me a flash of a sultry look and then turned it right off a second later. Hope and Charity had her same dark red hair. It was what I'd call a dark sorrel if they'd been horses, but they weren't. They were all big tittied small women. The twins matched Nancy's height but no doubt their titties had a little more growing to do. All their eyes were sparkling deep green and there wasn't even a freckle in sight - more's the pity. "What do you think girls? Should we take Tommy up on his offer?" Nancy asked. "You know we should, mama. He's going to let us move back into our home and pay you to run the store. We'd be crazy not to. The three of us won't have any trouble running the store," Hope or Charity said - I couldn't tell them apart yet. "And if he's the sheriff he can probably make those other men stop bothering us," the other one said. "I'll promise you he can get that job done with no trouble. He's got the eight of us to help him out there too," Jerrilyn said. "How can you help?" Nancy asked. "My wives are my deputies. All of them can shoot better than I can. They'll probably save me to handle anyone who doesn't need to be shot right away," I said, and it made their jaws drop open for a second. "I've never heard of a woman being a deputy," one of the twins said. "Neither had the federal prisoner in one of the jail's cells. He didn't find out until after Jerrilyn broke his arm," I said, but I knew I was bragging. "It'll be the first time since Carl got himself killed that we've felt safe. I'm ready to go right now," Nancy said, and both her twins agreed right away. In a few minutes we were around at the back door of the Jones General Store. Of course we hadn't asked the Mayor banker for the keys, but it didn't matter. The one they'd always kept hidden out back was still where they'd left it. One of the girls got it and Nancy let us in. The building was fairly nice for this day and age and it was big too. It was also as neat as the proverbial pin inside, except for a little dust that had no doubt gathered since it had been vacant. I was most surprised by the amount of stock out front though, and I asked Nancy how I could have bought all of it for so little. "I hate to speak ill of the dead, but I've relaxed my standards a little since Carl's got kilt. Carl was an idiot, even if he was a hard working one. He could have borrowed the money he thought he needed on the building alone since it was worth a lot more than three hundred dollars. Of course he never considered that since he just knew nothing would ever happen to him. He put up everything, even our clothes and furniture. "The bank was nice enough to let the twins and I keep a few or our clothes but they kept everything else," Nancy said. "Bart Jackson is just a skinflint, that's the real reason," one of the twins said. "He is a miser of the first order, but it was your father's fault and there's no denying it. He signed the papers and no one forced him to. If he'd had sense enough to borrow the money for a year instead of ninety days we could have paid the bank off in time with no trouble, even with your father dead. He just didn't consider getting killed. He did though, and it put us in a real bind at the time," Nancy said. "Don't worry about it one bit now. Everything in here that was yours is yours again. We just need a place to stay and we don't want to run a store. We will help you with it anyway we can though. You just run the store as you see fit and tell us if we need to help out some way," I said. "That's right, and I think we should pay you the first month in advance to help you get settled in again," Jerrilyn said, and started counting out more of the double eagles. "But that's two hundred dollars," Nancy said, when Jerrilyn handed her ten of them. "Three times fifty is a hundred and fifty and you'll need at least fifty dollars for petty cash, to make change on small purchases, won't you?" Jerrilyn asked. "Yes, but why did you pay me for three months in advance?" Nancy asked. "I didn't. You said that the girls would be working in the store too. I paid fifty each for the three of you," she said. "You mean we're going to be paid, too?" one of the twins asked. "Of course. If you're going to work you're going to get paid. In fact I think your mother should make more than you two since she's going to be running the place. I just gave her a raise, now that I think about it," Jerrilyn said, and counted out another hundred dollars worth of gold for the new increased petty cash fund too. Nancy was amazed again but I could see that she was smart enough not to bitch about getting more out of the deal than she thought she would. I didn't give a shit since we had more than plenty of money for it. "Now then mister sheriff, you'd better be on your way to tell my sister wives what you've done. You might as well stay there tonight and then the eight of you can ride back to town in the morning. ------- Chapter 35 I didn't like that idea one damned bit, but I could see it was best even if I didn't like it. We hadn't told the other girls we might be gone all night, and I sure as hell didn't want them coming to look for us. I went down to the livery stable with Jerrilyn to talk to John Johnston and made arrangements for Jerrilyn's horse to be put up for the night. It was only a dime for a night and it included brushing it down and feeding it. It was a little trouble since the smallest thing I had was a double eagle, but I cured it by paying in advance. It had the benefit of reducing the price since he gave a discount for a week or more. I paid him a double eagle and told him to let me know when I owed more. He promised he would take the best of care of the mount and I told him I'd be back with more the next day. Jerrilyn and I went back to the store and I went upstairs with her. Nancy Jones already had her bed made up again and she told Jerrilyn she could sleep with her until we bought some furniture. "In fact you bought some tonight. We had six beds for sale when I had to move out and we can put up some of them tomorrow. Come to think of it, if you have eight wives you're gonna need a lot of the merchandise just to set up housekeeping," she said. "We've got a lot of what we need with our other stuff," I said, before I could stop myself. "Where is it now?" she asked. "Do you know where there's a big cave about five miles south of town?" "I hope to shout I do. It's what Carl borrowed the money to buy. He owns it, or did before he died - five hundred acres right around the cave. He claimed it would make a wonderful place for storage. I kept asking him what he was going to store there, but he never did get around to telling me." "Well we've got most of our things stored there now and you can count on us paying for the storage tomorrow." "You don't have to worry about it. You can use it for free as long as you need to. We haven't done a thing with it. At least Carl got it paid for first. But do you think that banker would take it against what Carl owed? He wouldn't give me twenty dollars for it." "Well, I'll give you five thousand for it just like it is. We can settle on it tomorrow, or anytime you want to." "I don't care one whit about that place. Do with it just like you want to. I always loved this store and Carl and me were making a good living here. There'll be a rush in here tomorrow too, because it's been closed so long. Several people have come out to my house asking me how they could buy something out of the store. I just know they'll be here warting us to death if we open up in the morning." I kissed Jerrilyn goodbye and told her we'd be back in the morning then I went down to my horse and mounted up. I was back at the cave within an hour and had one hell of a tale to tell my women. They tried to get a panic started when I showed up without Jerrilyn, but I finally settled them down and gave them the details. They weren't really impressed with my new job, especially since I didn't even know what it paid. At least they'd been bored all afternoon and had spent the time scrounging up firewood and they had plenty to fix me a big supper. They were a little excited about moving into town so suddenly and they had us in bed early. Early to bed and even earlier to rise was their motto and we were up and eating breakfast before sunrise the next morning. They got a little impatient with me over wanting to take eight mules into town too, but I caught them, and haltered them ready to go. I also caught up mounts for all of them and we were still heading toward town before the sun was fully up. I took us directly to the livery stable and John Johnston was surprised to see all the mounts and mules I wanted him to take care of. "I need a couple of wagons John. Do you know where I can buy some?" I asked him. "Sure do. I can find you two good ones for twenty-five dollars each," he said. "Sold. Can you get 'em here and hitched up by noon?" "I can hitch 'em up now since I was the owner," he said. "I won't need 'em before noon or just after lunch. Can you have them ready by then?" "Shore, they'll be ready anytime after noon." I left it to him and led the girls over to the store. Nancy had been right, since there were already six people shopping. I left the girls in care of Jerrilyn to get the lowdown and I headed over to my office to see about giving my jailer some relief. Ben had a big pot of coffee made when I got to the jail and he offered me a cup, which I accepted at once. "I didn't find out what your schedule was last night, Ben, and I'm sorry for it. I haven't kept you too late at work have I?" I asked. "Naw. I live in the bed in the back. It's kind of like a cell, but there's no bars on my door," he said, and then laughed. "What about eats. Do I need to get here early to let you go get breakfast?" "Nope to that too. The cafe brings over my meals when they bring the ones for the prisoners. When we ain't got no prisoners they just bring mine. The town pays the freight on it." "Well, I'm glad I didn't cause you to miss a meal. How are the prisoners?" "Just like you left 'em. That Jake fella been griping a lot, but it don't bother me none since I don't really have to listen to him. I just shut the door to the back." "I wonder when the judge will have a trial for the X sheriff and his gambler buddy?" "Probably anytime you want him too. Want me to get him?" "If you don't mind. I'd just as soon get 'em out of here." "Ok, if you'll watch 'em while I'm gone I'll go see about it now," he said, and after I agreed he left. "The judge was more of a judge looking man than I'd have thought. He was also more efficient than I figured. He came back with Ben and asked me what the charges were and I told him about the dustup and about hearing Jake dealing seconds. "I've heard of that before. Ain't it when the card makes a little snicking noise as he pulls it out of the second place in the deck?" "That's it exactly, and once you hear it done you'll never forget what it sounds like." "And you heard the sound?" "Yeh, I nearly laughed out loud over it. Damned if he didn't ask me what I thought was so funny." "Well what's the old sheriff doing in there?" "I think the mayor thought he was in on the cheating. He got shot by my wife when he was trying to pull his gun on me while I was protecting myself after Jake got so mad at me for telling what he was up to." "Well, it ain't exactly an open and shut case, but we won't have no trouble finding twelve men who don't care much for card cheats. They damned sure won't feel like letting the X sheriff go when they find out he was in on the deal. Course we don't know he was for sure, but we'll have to let the jury decide at the trial. I spect Jake will be happy to testify after what he hears the other witnesses say. He ain't gonna want to hang by hisself," he said. The judge said we could probably have the trial after the noon meal and he left to get it set up. One way or the other it was going to be swift justice. I left Ben watching over the prisoners and went next door to the store to tell Jerrilyn about the trial. "We'll need to run out to the cave for a few minutes before noon then. I'm worried about you having to be in court and leaving Ben in there to watch the prisoners by himself. We'll get our shotguns and help him out. It would be a good time for someone to try breaking the others out." I thought she was being a little over dramatic myself, but it wouldn't hurt to have the firepower. I walked down to the livery and told John Johnston the wagon trip was off for this afternoon, since I had to be at the trial. I did ask him to get four mules ready with packsaddles and to saddle up my mount and Jerrilyn's for us. I went back to the store then and Selene started cackling to Nancy about me coming back early to see if the food was ready. I didn't give a shit, because it was ready and it was damned good. I sat down and ate and when Jerrilyn and I left to get the horses and mules Selene, Christine, and Jacky went over to the jail to entertain Ben and help him keep watch while we were gone. It didn't take us long to gather up twelve of the Xtrema 2s and a case of buckshot and we were back in no time. The girls all took a shotgun each and stored the rest in the rack at the jail. They even loaded one up for Ben and he was impressed when he found out it would shoot eight times from just pulling the trigger. He went with me while I took Jake and the X sheriff over to the town hall for their trial. "You know sheriff, it would save a lot of trouble if these two would try to make a break for it. I'd kinda like to try out this shotgun anyway," Ben said. "I've seen 'em in action and you sure would have a mess on your hands. It'd probably cut the two of them in half." The way things turned out it would have saved a lot of effort. The judge didn't have any trouble getting twelve men brave and true to sit for the jury. The town even had a district attorney and there was a lawyer for the defendants. I was called up first to testify and the defense lawyer made on over the dealing of seconds and how I knew about it. "Hell, I'm a professional gambler. I have to know the tricks of my trade the same way you need to know the law." "So, you admit you're a gambler?" he asked. "Yep, I'm proud of it. You ought to try and get an honest job yourself," I said, and in seconds the judge was banging his gavel and trying to make everyone stop laughing. I thought we had a pretty weak case against the X sheriff, but the judge had known more about it than me. Jake sang like a bird and told all the details of his deal with the sheriff. He said it was the reason he stayed in town so long, because he was having to give the sheriff half his winnings. The jury didn't waste a lot of time finding them both guilty as hell, and the judge didn't stutter when he said they should be hanged by the neck until dead. Jake didn't make it back to the jail though. Even with Ben armed and dangerous behind him he made a break for it when we headed back to the jailhouse. Ben cut loose with the automatic shotgun and for a minute there I thought it was automatic for real. It spit out four shells worth of death and destruction into Jake's back in damned near no time. God, what a mess that double ought buckshot made of him. The X sheriff took mighty small steps the rest of the way back. Damned if six men didn't come riding up demanding the prisoners not five minutes after we were back in the jail. The girls loved it and they made one hell of a racket with the four shotguns they used. They shot the perpetrators to doll rags in seconds. I only found out later that I got to keep everything the dead men had on them, including their horses and tack. Hell, this could get profitable. John Johnson came down and led them away. I didn't have to even worry about getting the bodies off the street since the undertaker sent a man down to remove them. I watched the jail for Ben while he had a little afternoon nap. I woke him up and kept watch while he ate his supper and then I headed back to the store. They had a pretty good afternoon trade going on when I got there, but they ran everybody out at dark thirty and closed the doors. During supper I realized I'd just finished my first full day of work in years. I found out different shortly after I said it though. Apparently I was expected to make a round in the saloon, have a drink there, and sit around to make sure there was no trouble. There was nothing much going on in there and I called it a night around ten. When I made it upstairs over the store the girls had a surprise for me. Our bed wasn't up on a frame or anything, but they did have it made up on the floor and it was big enough for all of us. I had my duty to do and I was happy to get at it. I'd taken notice of Nancy and the twins today and they had me inspired. When I piled into bed with all my naked wives I was even more inspired and a grand time was had by all with more than the usual sound effects. I was up early the next morning and went over to the jail right away. Ben already had some coffee made and we were just having a cup when the Deputy Marshal from Denver came to fetch his two wants. He handed me some papers and I read them over and then let him have the prisoners. He asked about the broken arm on the one and I told him my wife did it when the fool tried to grope her in the hallway. He made my day when he gave the bastard a slap up side the head with his pistol on the way out. "Well Ben, maybe you can get a break after they hang the last one. I saw the carpenters working on the gallows yesterday." "I'll be glad to get shut of him. He whines too much. Hell, he's worse now than while he was sheriff." Just then three men came walking in and seemed like they owned the place, or at least they seemed very familiar with the surroundings. I could tell at once that Ben knew them and I could also tell he didn't care much for them either. One of them grabbed a cup and poured himself some coffee. I palmed my pistol then and spoke up. "That'll be ten cents for the coffee," I said. "What the fuck is you talking about. Coffee's free for the deputies," he said. "That may be, but you ain't my deputy. In case you haven't noticed, the former sheriff is back in a cell, waiting for his hanging." "That shouldn't bother us none, we weren't the sheriff, we were deputies," he said. "You got that part right anyway. You were deputies - you ain't now. Now you're just a cowboy stealing coffee. Give me the dime or get your ass in an empty cell for stealing," I said, and I could tell this suited Ben just fine. "You can't do that to me mister," he said. "Oh yes I can, and that's Mister Sheriff to you." "Why, I think I'll just kick your ass." "You heard him, Ben. That's threatening an officer of the law. Lock him up," I said. "I'll be glad to, sheriff," Ben said, and then the fool tried to draw his gun. I guess he didn't notice mine was already in my fist. I shot him through the wrist as he touched his weapon and turned my attention to the other two while the one I shot was crying and moaning. "You can't do that," one of the others said. "Sure I can. Want to see me do it again?" I asked, cocking the hammer for the next shot. "No, I don't guess I do." "Well, if you ain't gonna try to steal a cup of coffee what do you want in the sheriff's office?" "Nothing. I guess I'll be going," he said. "Well, about fifty miles won't be too far I reckon," I said, and he turned and walked out with the other one following him. "He'll be up to something before he goes," Ben said. "I'm sure he will, but let's see what he tries first before I shoot him. Put this other whiner in the cage will ya?" Ben even patted the wounded one down first and removed his firearms and then locked him up across from the former sheriff so they could keep company I guess. Meanwhile, I watched the two that had left go across the street into the saloon and come back out with another one following them. "Hey, Ben, they shoot horse thieves around here don't they?" I asked. "If they can find them they do. Why?" "Better come up here and let me know for sure if the three other deputies are riding off on their own horses are or stealing some that belong to the town." "If they ride off on any horses they'll be stealing them. They don't own any. The last sheriff had a deal with John Johnston to let them draw a mount if they needed one." "I guess I'd better go down there and let Johnston know the deal is canceled," I said, and I took one of the Berettas out of the rack and headed that way. Sure enough, John Johnston was saddling three horses for them when I walked up. "John, those three didn't come down here to draw horses on the last sheriff's deal did they?" I asked him. "They shore did. Said the new sheriff sent them down here. Since you're the new sheriff I guess it means they were lying and trying to steal my horses." "Sounds just like that to me, John. Where'd they get off to?" "They're sitting on their asses in my office. They're too damned sorry to even saddle their own mounts I guess." "Well, you can put the horses back up now. I won't be sending anyone down here for one unless I come with 'em. Of course, if any of my women come down here for one give 'em one of mine," I said. "Sure thing, sheriff. What about them three deputies?" "I'll handle them, and they ain't deputies no more," I said, and then I used the Beretta's barrel to ease the office door open." "Ok, you three can come on out now. You're under arrest for attempted horse stealing," I said, and one of the fools tried for his gun. Sherrifing was going to be easy if the crooks kept trying to draw after I already had them covered. I cut him damned nearly in half with the buckshot, but then the other two started trying to draw. I guess they hadn't ever heard of a semi-automatic shotgun. I let the Beretta do its own explaining. "Ain't that just like a bunch of horse thieves," I said. "Just exactly like most of the ones I've come up against," John Johnston said. "I guess they never heard of an automatic shotgun," I said, bending over to pick up the spent shells. "I ain't never heard of one neither, but that one sure done the trick. I guess I'll run off down to the undertaker and see if he can't get old stiffy up here to take care of them bodies. Ain't none of them still alive is they?" he asked. "Not hardly. Their guts are splattered all over your office," I said. "Don't matter much. Old Stiffy is real good about cleaning up after gunfights. Take care now, sheriff," he said, and then took off. I considered it a morning well spent. I had the four deputies taken care of and I didn't even have to bother my wives for any help. Hell, it was close enough to lunchtime for me to head that way, so I did. "Tommy, what was that shooting about," Selene asked me, when I came in the door. "Just finishing up with the four deputies. They tried to steal horses to leave town on. Of course it was only three that time. I wounded one of them in the office for stealing a cup of coffee." "What? You shot him for stealing a cup of coffee?" she asked. "Well, mostly I shot him for bad attitude and flapping his jaws, but he did steal a cup of coffee, and then he spilled it when I shot him. It's just too damned bad I can't figure out a hanging offence over it. I'd hate for the former sheriff to have to hang by himself." "Well you've got that Jake to hang with him," she said. "Don't you remember Ben killing him while he tried to escape?" I asked. "Oh yeh, I almost forgot." "Now wait a second, Tommy. Go over how it happened again. It just isn't like you to shoot somebody for being an asshole. "Well, we were arguing over the dime for the cup of coffee, and he threatened to kick my ass. I told Ben to lock him up for threatening a peace officer and he tried to draw his gun on Ben, or me, I didn't let him get far enough to find out for sure," I said. "There you go. Attempted assault with a deadly weapon. Plain and simple," Selene said. "Well, it still doesn't sound like a hangin' offence to me, but it does sound a lot better than coffee theft," I said. ------- Chapter 36 With that settled, all the girls got up to help clean up the kitchen. I was left at loose ends and was about to go upstairs when Nancy asked me if I'd check all the doors and windows and make sure no one could get in. "You'd better go with him Nancy and make sure he knows where all of them are," Christine said, so she did come along. She led me all the way into the back of the building and when I rattled the door there, sure enough, it was unlocked. Nancy grabbed hold of my arm and hugged it to her saying she just knew a door was open. I was going to close it all the way and put the bolt through the hasp, but Nancy's arm hugging me had my arm right up against her body and I could feel something that felt pretty good against it through her light dress. I eased my way down to do it with my left hand and let her keep holding onto my other arm. When I stood back up she threw her arms around me and gave me a full frontal hug. Even though she was a shorty it still felt a lot better than it should have, and I'll admit my hands seemed to find their way onto her splendid ass for a little fondling. "Oh, it's so good to have a man around again to take care of us," she said, sagging into me. Hell's bells, this felt damned good, and since she wasn't complaining I let my hands explore some. We were back in the dark part of the warehouse type building now and Nancy was doing a lot of squirming around under my hands and it had my dick hard as a brickbat in seconds. I wasn't the only one excited though. I could smell hot pussy from somewhere and I was pretty sure it was from Nancy Jones. I let my hands gather up her skirt until I could get hold of her naked ass and she just sighed when I did and pressed herself up tighter against me. I scrunched my neck down and kissed her then and apparently a French kiss was a novelty for her. At first she didn't seem to realize what was happening exactly, but when she caught on she was blazing in seconds. It turned her heat up even more when I moved my hand between her legs from the backside and started diddling her wet pussy. She was panting now, and holding on for dear life. She was also hot and slippery inside. Even though I had plenty of wives to take care of my needs I was already counting on dipping my wick in her too. I slid a finger up her and she gave it a couple of internal squeezes so I decided to go for it. I reached down and scooped her up into my arms, keeping the kiss going, and walking towards the stairs with her. The twins saw us first and then hurried to get out of sight, but Jerrilyn saw me next, just as I was about to head upstairs with my bundle of joy in my arms. "Don't you dare start before we get up there, Tommy," Jerrilyn said, and it broke Nancy's concentration and she popped her lips off mine. "Oh Jerrilyn, I'm so sorry," Nancy said. "For what? It's obvious you couldn't resist the brute. Believe me, we all know exactly how you feel. I'm just warning him not to get going really good until we get up there so we can make sure he doesn't do it to you too hard," Jerrilyn said, and then she patted Nancy on the cheek. I took Nancy on upstairs and she kept worrying about what Jerrilyn, Jacky, and the others would think and moaning about it so I kissed her some more - mostly to keep her quiet. I had to stop when I had her by our big bed and set her down though. I got her attention onto the matters at hand by removing her dress. Luckily someone else had already lit the lanterns and I got to see where her freckles were when I had her naked. She had a delightful amount of them scattered over her big titties and her nipples were like big plump raspberries and her little body was packed like a case of dynamite. I damned sure wanted to be on top of it when it went off too. Her carpet exactly matched her drapes, but it seemed odd to me it was so neat and tidy. I guessed it grew that way normally since I doubted bush trimming was very much in favor now-a-days. Still, she looked so good down there I had to have a taste so I gave her a small shove and tripped her onto our bed. "Oh, what are you doing?" she asked, surprised, when my lips started sucking around her lower ones. "Oh God, that feels so good it must be sinful. I don't care if it is either. Don't you dare stop." Myself, I was ready for the rest of my wives to get up here because I needed some help getting my clothes off. Nancy was naked as a jaybird thanks to her eschewing a bra and bloomers, but I was still dressed and I was having a hell of a time getting my shirt and pants off, what with the gun belt and all and trying to keep my mouth on her pussy while she kept wiggling it around. Jerrilyn came in then and she took over sucking on Nancy's pussy while I stood up to shuck my clothes. "Oh God, Jerrilyn, how can you do that. God, don't you stop it though." Nancy got another shock when Christine and Selene joined in and took over one of her big titties each. "Oh, Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?" she moaned when my dick came into view. "Don't worry about a thing, Nancy. He can be ever so gentle when he takes his time," Kahlila told her, when she saw what Nancy was fretting over. "Besides, it couldn't be anywhere nearly as big as the twins were when they came out." "Yes, but they hurt like a bastard when they were being born." "Well, you may call Tommy a bastard too when it's over, but it won't be because it hurts, believe me," Jenny said, joining in. Hell, I was naked now and I wanted to do a little joining of my own. Jerrilyn vacated her spot when I eased against her and it let me settle between Nancy's legs. She spread them widely when she caught up with the action, no matter how she'd moaned about the thought. I used my own hand for placement up against her coochie and I'll swear it felt like the thing was nibbling on my dickhead as I eased it in. Nancy was hot and slick inside and I loved the whole trip up her, which did seem to go a long way. She was much too short for my lips to reach down to her nipples as I lay on her, but her arms could sure reach around to take hold of my ass and she started bucking beneath me right away. "Oh God. Oh Jesus, don't ever stop. Even if it kills me keep it up," she cried, and fucked me back with wild abandon. I didn't know how they had slipped in unnoticed, but I could see Hope and Charity watching me wide eyed as I pounded it to their mother. I'll admit I got even harder as I saw them fondling their own titties through their nightgowns and licking at their lips. Nancy was taking pretty much all my attention now though. It was true what Kahlila had said about the twins working their way out of the hole in question, but I was in an excellent place to be able to comment on just how well Nancy had healed up after their exit. Her pussy was tight and seemed to be nibbling at my whole dick as I pumped it in and out - and damned if she didn't feel like she had a fever inside. We got to the short rows then and damned if Nancy wasn't pulling me in harder as I pumped. It felt like I had my dick up to her throat by now and her tunnel seemed to be trying to choke the come out. When I exploded it just rushed out of me and I flooded her. I felt like I was weaker than a kitten when Jacky finally rolled me off. Nancy must have appreciated my efforts too, because her face and lips followed mine as they rolled me off and she kissed and nibbled around my face and neck as if she couldn't get enough of me. "Don't worry, Nancy, we won't make him cut you off now that he's cut you on. He'll still give you a dose every night if you can take it?" Jerrilyn said, laughing about it. "How can he do it so good? I just don't understand how he made it feel so fine," Nancy said. "Well look around you. He has all the practice in the world," Christine said. "Oh. I guess that's right." "Damn straight it is. Our Tommy knows he's got his work cut out for him when it's time to do his duty," Selene said. "My God you're right. Look at that thing, it's still hard," Nancy said. "Momma, can we try it?" Hope or Charity one asked. "Why I don't know. I didn't even know I was going to get to at first," Nancy said. "Of course you can, and he'll be ever so gentle. Especially since he's already taken the edge off with your mother," Kahlila said, and I'll admit I was hoping they'd both want to give me a whirl. I guess they must have been anxious for their first time since they were both out of their gowns in seconds and the next thing I knew they were squirming around on the bed with me. Shit, I had to take it so easy after the build up the girls had given me, but I was on my best behavior, especially on Hope since she went first. I didn't want her squawking and making Charity think it would be too painful after all. I popped the two cherries that night and felt like I was king of the world, especially since all my girls wanted a dose or two after watching the action. Even Nancy got revved up for another turn and she wanted to ride me cowboy this time. Hell, I was happy to fuck as long as my dick would still get up and on Nancy's second time, since she was fucking down from above, I could handle her titties while I was at it. Nancy, Hope, and Charity didn't even go to their own bed that night. They just snuggled down right beside me and we dropped off to sleep, finally. I was up early the next morning, but Nancy, Hope, and Charity were already in the kitchen and cooking. They all smiled really big when I came in and they all gave me a good kissing. Hell, at least it let me know I did everything right last night. They made an even better showing at boosting my ego a few minutes later when they piled my plate full of fried eggs, thick sliced bacon, and biscuits with lots of butter for 'em. I piled it in and got several goodbye kisses and gropes when I headed to the jail. That was the extent of the good feelings coming my way this morning though. Some jackass took a shot at me from up on a roof down the street. I was only walking when he did it though and he missed me by a big margin so I took off running and dodging from one side to the other and made it in the jail house before he even got off another shot. I wished I had one of the Browning 30-06s in the gun rack once I'd got inside, but the only modern rifle present was a 35 Remington. I at least took it up and decided to carry it with me today. Ben wanted to know what the shot had been and I told him. "Those deputies had a couple of wanna be friends and one of them had an old buffalo rifle. It sounded loud as hell in here and that might have been what it was," he said. "Well, they all sound loud when they're shooting at me. I ain't been on the receiving end very much." "I guess, but you'll come to know the different sounds sooner or later. Did you see where the smoke was?" he asked. "No, I didn't even think to look, but I will if he does it again," I said. "Yeh, if you're still around to look." "There is that. Have you heard when the hangings gonna be yet?" I asked. "Nope, but the boys are about through with the gallows. We might ought to see if we can't get another trial in for that last deputy pretty quick. We'll draw a better crowd if we hang two at once." "Do you think he'll hang for what he did?" "He will unless you ask the judge not to. Sheriffs are hard enough to keep around here without letting men who try to pull a gun on 'em go Scott free. Judge Calhoun knows it too and he'll hang him for sure if he gets a guilty verdict. You ought to know how hard it is to get a good sheriff since you saw what we had for one when you come here." "I guess so." "I know so. I've worked for a lot a sheriffs and I can already tell you're a good one. I can't put my finger on just why I think it's so, but it has something to do with you not being plumb stupid. "Well, even if that's so I forgot to bring back a good rifle from my place outside of town and I need to go back out and get one." "Ain't that a good rifle in the rack?" he asked. "Yep, it is, but I've got one that's a lot better for long shots. I'd better go tell John Johnston to hitch the wagons for a trip this afternoon." "I didn't know you had any wagons." "I bought two from John Johnston. He said they were in good shape." "If John said they were then they must be. He don't say much, but you can count on what he does say. He's probably pretty proud of you right now anyway. You saved him losing three horses yesterday and he knows it." "Well, I just had a feeling those three were up to no good and you can tell I was right." "You were that." I took off and headed for the livery stable then and I tried to stay under the awnings as I went, in case the jackass who fired at me was ready for another shot. There were a lot more people on the streets now though and it would be a lot harder for someone to get away after pulling that kind of stunt. John Johnston acted like he was proud to see me and he said he'd have the wagons hitched to my mules just after noon. I told him thanks and walked over into the saloon to see what was happening. There was a young buck in there with a damned old buffalo gun and a pistol on his hip and I kept my eyes on him. I could see right away that it made him nervous and he left after only a few minutes. I thought I at least had a face to go with my attempted shooter now, even if I didn't have any proof it was him. "I sat around on my ass with nothing to do for a couple of hours and then headed over to the store. Jerrilyn and Jackie asked me if I was bored already and I told them about the shot at me this morning. "We're going to have to start escorting you to work in the morning I guess," Christine said. "I'm not letting y'all go out and take a bullet for me," I said. "They won't be shooting at us. We can go out in dresses and keep an eye out. Then we can just shoot anyone we see aiming a gun at you. They won't suspect a thing and surely not a shot coming from a woman," Kahlila said, and then giggled. "Well, I thought we could take a couple of wagons out to the cave this afternoon and I guess we can bring all the rest of the guns into town with us," I said. "Why do we want to unpack the trucks into wagons and then have to haul all that crap into town with mules," Christine said. "Besides, we have the rest of the stock out there and if we don't bring them into town we'll have to go out there every day to feed, water, and tend to them. You need to go down to talk to John Johnston and see how much stock he can handle. We should just let him keep up with all of it," Jerrilyn said. "But what about the rest of the things we need in town?" I asked. "You bought this whole building. We can store it in the back, and there's no need to move it by wagon either. We can just move most of what we need into one truck and back it up to the back door of the warehouse." "But everyone will see the truck and trailer." "Let 'em look. What can they do about it?" "Well I don't know they can do anything, but it just seemed better not to let on," I said. "It might be, but they'll all still be out there for anyone who rides out to look. We'll cause more talk by trying to keep them hidden than by driving them right up into town," Christine said. I got right up and went back to the livery stable and canceled the wagon hitching again. I asked John Johnston how many horses and mules he could handle and he said he had ten acres fenced behind his livery and he could bring in more hay if he needed to. I told him to expect a lot more business from me then and went back to the store to see if I couldn't get something to eat. I could and I did. ------- Chapter 37 While they were feeding me the girls started going over what they would need to get done this afternoon. I listened idly while I was stuffing my face and the girls were toying with their food. I was heartened to see that my nightly exertions had won me some new attention. Nancy, Hope, and Charity were paying strict attention to what I was eating and constantly evaluating whether I had enough of it before me. They kept me well supplied, well served, and well petted throughout the meal. Maybe I was making too much of their attentions. After all, they didn't really have any idea about what the others were discussing and they were just doing what they knew how to do. I decided the best thing for me to do was make sure they knew I appreciated the attention to detail and I made sure to fondle their asses every time they put one within my reach. After I gave Charity a particularly good groping I saw Nancy and Hope had noticed where she was when she got it and they all changed their methods and made sure to serve me from my side of the table and on my right side so it put their asses within easy reach. I got the hint they were enjoying my attention as much as I was enjoying theirs. My nose detected the distinct smell of hot pussy from all of them before I was finished eating. Apparently what I was up to didn't go unnoticed by my other women. Christine came over to sit by me on my left side and she elbowed me in the ribs after I gave Hope a good treatment when she brought my dessert - a big slab of wonderful blueberry pie. "Tommy, you old dog. You've got the three of them so hot it's a wonder they haven't melted during lunch. I can even smell them dripping for it," Christine said, whispering into my ear. "Well what did you expect? Think of what their life was like before they met me. They don't know anything about women's rights or any such nonsense. To them I'm directly responsible for coming here and putting their world back to right. They don't have the first hint how we got here or how we have what to them must seem all the money in the world. "To top it off I rang Nancy's chime like it had never been rung before and I showed the girls the way to womanhood with nearly no pain and a spectacular orgasm for their trouble. I must seem like the best thing since sliced bread to them, and they haven't even seen sliced bread yet," I said, whispering myself. "You're right of course. The rest of us are just jaded since we've been getting all that wonderful fucking as our due. You're a treasure with your dick and just because we don't rave about it all day long doesn't mean we don't understand. I can remember several men crawling between my legs and never giving me anything like what you provide. You aren't going to throw us over for these new girls are you?" she asked, but I was sure she knew the answer. "Not a chance. They know how to spread their legs and let me fuck them, but the rest of you know how to fuck back and make me know you mean it," I said, and I could tell I'd knocked it out of the park with one swing. After the meal was over the plans were made too. I was directed to go check on Ben and then ride out to the cave and bring the Humvee to town. There had been some conversation about everyone riding out to the cave horseback, but they decided it would take too much time away from other details. I took a walk down to the jail and Ben was just finishing his dinner when I got inside. "How's the cooking from the cafe, Ben?" I asked him, once I was inside. "It's been better before. Oh, it's all right now, but it has been better. I'm beginning to think they're taking me for granted," he said. "Well I've got the cure for it. Nancy, Hope, and Charity have only got one man to cook for and it's me - not to mention my eight wives who help them out with the chore. I'll bet if I cut the cafe off for a day or two and let the women feed you the cafe will get wise to the fact they're missing out on the business because they let the quality slide." "It might help, but they might be glad to get rid of the chore. That skinflint mayor has cut the price so low on what he pays them they might not care if they lose the business or not." "Hell, I can cure that too. I don't need the money for being sheriff here anyway. I'll go have a talk with the mayor about conditions here. How would you like a better job?" "Doing what?" "Doing anything I ask you to do. I'm an uptown man of wealth after all. I need someone to run errands and such for me. I could furnish your meals and a better damned place to live than you've got now. I'd call you my personal assistant," I said "Well that all sounds good, but what would it pay?" he asked. "Three times what you're making now." "Hell fire! When can I start?" "Right now, but I want you to keep watching the jail for a while. Not for meals though. When they bring your meal for supper just tell them to give your part to the prisoners and after they leave lock the place up and come over to the store to eat," I said. "Who'll watch the prisoners?" he asked. "Why, whoever the mayor hires next I guess. I'm going down to quit as sheriff and I'll tell him today is your last day too if you want me to." "Hell yes I want you to," he said. I walked on down to the bank and didn't see the mayor banker. I found out he was at the saloon so I headed that way. I was beginning to think I didn't much care for the mayor banker that much, so I went to the store first and had the girls set up a little demonstration for what I intended to try pulling off. I had them bring a table out and sit around it and start counting the double eagles in the bag. "Why do you want to count them, Tommy? Hell, you've got plenty of money for anything you want?" Jerrilyn said. "I just want all of you sitting at the table with a big pile of them in front of you for when the mayor banker comes in. I want him to know I've got plenty of money too." "Oh. I see said the blind man," Christine said, and before I left they had the table in a prominent place and little hills of double eagles scattered out all over the top of it. I moseyed over to the saloon then and the mayor was playing poker again. I didn't try to join the table - I just unpinned the badge he'd given me and threw it onto the table. He looked at it and then asked me what I was doing. "I'm quitting. You don't want a sheriff here - you're just acting like you do. You haven't even told me what my pay was going to be yet and from the skinflint rumors I hear about you it ain't gonna be enough to even get me to take a look down the street once a day anyway. "You and your bank are the only thing in town worth robbing anyway, except my store, and I've got plenty of guards over to the store. Besides, I just hired Ben to help me there and so you're gonna need a new jailer too," I said, and walked out. I went back over to the jail and told Ben to lock the place up. He shut the back door and put a bolt through the hasp and headed up to the front with me. We took down the shotguns and rifles that belonged to me out of the gun rack and headed out, locking the door behind us, but leaving the key in the lock. When we entered the store the first thing I saw was the table where the girls were sitting and acting like they were counting money. Ben and me handed each of them a shotgun and then we went over to the eating table and I told Nancy Ben had missed his lunch. Hope and Charity started stirring something on the stovetop right away and they dished him up a whale of a meal in practically no time. "Say Ben, the prisoners can't get out of those cells can they?" "Nope, not without some help. Those are patent cells and the town paid good money for 'em. Of course, if someone were to come in and try letting them out it would be pretty easy since the keys are in the front desk." "Well, it's the mayor's worry now," I said. "Speak of the devil and up he pops," Selene said. "Really?" I asked. "Yep, he just left the saloon and he's heading toward the jail house." "Well, it shouldn't be long before he finds out what he wants to know at the jail," I said, and apparently it wasn't because he came back out in a minute, locking the door behind him and taking the key. He headed right down for the store and I sat down by Ben and was sipping on a cup of coffee when he came in. I got the notion he was going to say something to me as he burst through the door, but the sight of the girls stacking half a million or so in double eagles got his attention right off. In fact it nearly took his breath away. It did let his mouth drop open. "Howdy Mr Mayor," Nancy said to him, but he didn't reply - he was spellbound by the table load of money. "Tommy, you can't leave us without a sheriff," he said "Sure I can. You didn't even take the time before you went back to gambling at the saloon to swear me in. Did he swear you in Ben? Did you promise to stay until someone came to take your place?" I asked. "Nope. In fact the mayor never done nothing for me except pinch so tight on the cafe owner she started serving me poor meals. I don't owe him shit, and it don't sound like to me you do either." "I know I don't. He sure as hell never gave me a dime for being sheriff. Hell, he never even told me what the job paid," I said. "But somebody has to watch over the prisoners," the mayor said. "Yep, somebody needs to all right, and since you're the elected official responsible for the town I'd suggest you get your ass over there and take care of things. I mean, how would it look for them to get loose while you were farting around in the saloon." He left then and damned if he didn't go right back to the jail. "Tommy, don't you think it's about time you made your way out to the cave and brought the Humvee back to town," Jerrilyn asked me. "I guess it is. You'd better pack that money away before anyone else sees it," I said. "You're right about that. It's a wonder the mayor's eyes didn't roll out of his head," Christine said, and the rest of them all broke out laughing. I went down to the stable then, saddled my horse, and rode it right out to the cave. I unsaddled it, hobbled it, and left it with the other stock and then unhitched the Humvee and drove it into town. I skirted around main street though and drove it right up to the backdoor of the store. "Let's lock the store up Nancy. We'll need you and the twins to help us gather things up when we get out there," Selene said, and they did it. Ben, Nancy, Hope, and Charity were sure surprised when they discovered what we'd be riding in and they were even more surprised when I drove us away from the store in it without horses to help out. Of course their surprise was nothing compared to what they got when we arrived at the cave and they saw the big trucks all parked in a row. Jerrilyn and Jacky pretty much took over then. They decided on which trucks we'd be taking into town. We had to take one with a van trailer and one with a show horse mule shower trailer. We would have needed two of the horse trailers if not for already riding some of the stock into town, but we were able to shoehorn all the remaining stock into one. Selene asked if I couldn't rig up some way to make the shower work from the well while I was at it and so I asked Nancy how deep her well was. "I don't know. It's deep enough to get water, but I don't know how deep it is," she said. "How long is the rope you have to let the bucket down on then," I asked. "About fifteen feet. The water isn't so far from the top, but I know the well is a lot deeper." I told them I thought we had it covered then and we made sure to load the pumping station into the truck we were taking. As long as the well water was within thirty feet of the surface the pump could draw it via suction. We were ready to go within an hour and a half and most of that time was spent getting the stock into the trailer. Selene drove the Humvee back while Jerrilyn drove her truck pulling the horse trailer and I drove mine with the fifty-three foot van behind it. I drove directly to the rear of the store building, and after opening the trailer doors and fastening them to the holders I backed it up to the door in the back of the building. The trailer's floor was only about six inches higher than the warehouse floor so we were in good shape for unloading. We did generate some excitement when we took the horse trailer over near the stable and unloaded the stock into John Johnston's pen, but not too many people were out gawking and we took the trailer right back to the back of the store so we'd have the shower close at hand. I let the women start on the unloading while I set the pumping station up and attached the output hose to the trailer's input. I had the tank full of water in no time and I turned the engine off as soon as I was through pumping. If we had much of this to do, in case we were here for quite a while, I was going to have a water tower built. I figured if I could get one made to hold a thousand gallons or so I could cut way back on pumping chores. I was sure they would always fall to me. Ben's head was nearly swimming from all he'd seen this afternoon, but I could tell Nancy, Hope, and Charity were taking it all in stride. Reflecting on all we'd done today got a little funny to me and I couldn't help laughing. "What's so funny?" Jerrilyn asked. I told her it was just funny that the trip out to the cave had started out so I could get a couple of the Browning rifles and now I didn't need them since I wasn't even sheriff now. "Just because you're not the sheriff now doesn't mean there isn't someone left who still wants to get you. How do you know the person shot at you because you were the sheriff. If they shot at you for killing their friends then their friends are still dead even if you aren't the sheriff any longer," she said, and she had a point. ------- Chapter 38 It was nearly dark thirty before we got all the things inside we wanted inside. Nancy, Hope, and Charity had even made up the one room downstairs for Ben's use and he was especially proud of it. For one thing it had a real bed in it along with a closet, chifforobe, and a washstand. The only snag now was Ben didn't have any other clothes to put in it. Nancy took him up into the store then and outfitted him with three pairs of pants, three butternut shirts, and two red flannel models, along with woolen underwear and several pairs of socks. Ben was a happy man when he retired. I was a happy man when he retired too. Especially since he was downstairs where he could keep a listen for intruders and where he wouldn't be so apt to be listening while I was tending to the women. I had some tending to in mind too. I was in for a little wait since my uptime women were intending to introduce Nancy, Hope, and Charity to the delights of a shower tonight. After a second I realized this would be even better, especially with the extra large shower we'd had installed into the trailers. Sure enough I followed them out to the bathroom and we were all wet and fucking in no time flat. As soon as we were all washed Jerrilyn took command of he show and had me sit on a bench before she began blowjob lessons for Nancy, Hope, and Charity. Of course I was the only example they had to work with so you know whose dick got sucked to distraction. Christine of the bottomless throat did all the showing and she did a marvelous job. Nancy, Hope, and Charity were a little subdued at first, but their horny gene came though quickly enough and soon they were all sucking and licking around on my dick and balls at the same time. None of them could do a decent deep throat yet, but their enthusiasm made up for it. Soon enough the lessons were terminated for the nonce and after donning robes we adjourned to the upstairs bedrooms. I guess I should say bedroom though, since we all ended up in the biggest one which mostly contained the mattresses we'd put together on the floor so all my women could sleep with me. Since Nancy, Hope, and Charity were the latest to the party they were given semi-guests status and the honor of being the first cracks penetrated. Hope and Charity wanted another chance at a cowboy ride, but Nancy wanted it missionary style whether she knew what a missionary was and how they fucked or not. She did know how to lay back and spread 'em though and soon enough I served her a portion of dick. This time she didn't lay back and take it so much as the night before though. Her legs came up around my waists and her arms clutched me to her while she busily sucked on my neck and then began banging her hips in time with my strokes. She was having a wonderful time until the long strokes got to her and her rhythm went spastic and she just held on for the pounding. No matter the logistics I was fucked out before the night was over and I was almost fatally cuddled. I woke bright eyed and bushy tailed though and I even slipped down to the shower trailer for an early morning cold one. Most was right with my world by the time I made it to breakfast though, since Nancy was cooking while Hope and Charity looked positively anxious to serve. Our breakfast was interrupted by three men breaking in the front door with guns drawn. Thankfully one of the girls had left her shotgun standing in the kitchen and I had it grabbed up and pointed before they made it in. When I saw them waving their pistols around and heard them shouting for someone to stand a deliver I did. I delivered eight rounds of double ought buckshot and I was thumbing in reloads in seconds. I ran past the remains of the bodies and out the door where I saw three masked men climbing back on horses in an attempt to get away. I took head shots at the first two to avoid hitting the horses, but I decided we'd need someone to question and the last horse took the brunt of two shells as I basically removed one leg of the last living robber. The horse staggered away as the crook fell off and I had to remove the hand he'd just pulled a pistol with. I'd just finished reloading the shotgun when the banker mayor started our way from across the road and he was firing a pistol in my direction. I didn't actually know whether he was aiming at me of the wounded crook, but I felt it was close enough to me to return fire. The buckshot did a lot more damage than his 36-caliber pistol could have, even if he had been able to hit me. I wasn't absolutely positive, but I thought it probable the town was going to need a new banker and a new mayor since the current one was pretty much a bloody mess in the street. Oh well, the living get to tell the tale and I didn't see anyone else watching closely. I quickly tied tourniquets onto the upper leg of the downed crook and then just up beyond where his hand had been. "You want to get things off your chest before you die, lefty," I asked him, and apparently he did. He told me how the mayor had let them in on the fact we had a tremendous pile of money sitting out on a table in the front of the store. I had him repeat it after a few minutes since the judge had just happened to wander up with about six other people who had determined the shooting was over. "Won't someone please call the doctor? The mayor is hurt badly," one of his tellers who'd come running out of the bank was nearly sobbing out. "Let him die," the judge shouted, "It'll save us a trial and hanging since this robber has just let me know the mayor was the big reason behind this early morning excitement." "You'd better get back in the bank and make sure no one tries to rob it during this other commotion," I said to the man, and he looked stricken and then ran back into the bank." "Did you have a bunch of money stacked on a table in the front of the store yesterday," the judge asked me. "Yes, it was around half a million dollars worth. I did it on purpose to impress the mayor and I can see now I should have known better," I said, and hung my head sheepishly. "Hell, you just keep on doing good for this town. The mayor has been choking the life out of it for years with his stingy ways and I want to be one of the first to congratulate you and shake your hand," the judge said, and stuck out his paw for a shaking. I gave it a good one and then asked the judge what would happen now. He had quite a surprise for me. "We'll have to hold an election and it wouldn't surprise me if you won two of the spots on the ballot. The mayor and the sheriff of the county. This is the county seat you know and the county sheriff has always acted as the town marshal too, as you so recently learned. Sheriffs have come and gone so quickly lately that we've mostly just hired anyone we could get to take the job, but since you've taken over the store and all and since we have to have an election anyway it looks like you're going to be on the hook. "But surely I can't be sheriff and mayor too," I said. "I don't see why you can't. I'll probably have to campaign myself or you're likely to end up county judge too," he said, and laughed. "Now I'm drawing the line there. If they elect me to anything more than mayor and sheriff I'll just pack my things up and get on out of here," I said, and I meant it, but I didn't realize what I was telling the onlookers. such as, I was letting them know I'd stand for being mayor and sheriff. Before I knew what was happening the judge had called off the hanging this afternoon and set up an election. I felt lucky that some of the girls weren't out watching and I was hoping I could at least have time to break it to them gently. Things had just settled down enough so I thought I could go back inside and so I did. The girls were all sitting around the eating table drinking coffee and I headed that way, but a rather statuesque blonde came right in behind me and floored me on the spot. "Mr Mayor, could you come on over to the bank to at least get us started," she said, and I was afraid she was speaking to me. "Excuse me Miss. Do I know you?" I asked her. "Not yet, but I'm certainly hoping you will within the next day or two. I'm Olivia Heath and I was the former mayor's private secretary. I'm also vice president of the bank and I'm afraid we need a little direction from you to get started after all the excitement this morning." "But why would you need it from me?" I asked. "Well, I couldn't help but hear the judge telling everyone about the election later today and he said you'd be running for the recently vacated positions of mayor and sheriff. I'm prepared to go with the opinion that you'll carry the day for both positions," she said, and I'll be damned if she didn't bat her eyelashes at me. "Even if I do win I don't see how it puts me in charge of the bank," I said. "It's always been that way. My grandfather organized the bank and he left it to the town with the proviso that the mayor of the town also functioned as the president of the bank. The position of vice president has always gone to a member of my family, but the president has always been the town's elected mayor," she said. "But I don't know anything about running a bank," I said. "Neither did the last mayor. Just come along with me and I'll help you fake it. At least come and take a look at your new office. I've already set the others to cleaning it up," she said. "By all means, Tommy, go and help the lady out. Come back here for a minute and take the bag that got all this started and put it in the vault over there," Jerrilyn said, and took hold of my arm to lead me into the back. As soon as she had me in the back of the store Jerrilyn gave me my marching orders. "I don't know what's come over you this morning, Tommy. Were you going to make the poor thing stand there and beg you for dick? Couldn't you tell she was gagging for it? Now, go over to the bank, let her show you his private office, take her clothes off and fuck her good. I'll bet she's even wearing panties and be sure you don't tear them getting them off her. They're probably hard to come by so far out here in nowhere Texas," she said, and handed me the bag of double eagles which was damned heavy. When we returned to the front Olivia was seated at the eating table having a cup of coffee so I got my ass in a chair as fast as I could so I could get a cup or two of my own down. Soon enough we were heading across the street and into the bank. I was surprised to see they had rather robust teller cages and a barred door leading back into the offices. Olivia took my by the vault and let me set the damned bag down and then led me to my office. I was surprised again to see two workmen fiddling with a small doorway behind my desk, but I didn't get time to ask about it before Olivia let her hair down a little and told the tale. Apparently it was to a connecting door with her office and she'd had it blocked off shortly after the previous mayor took over. "He was always coming into my office and trying to get me alone in there. That fat bastard was all hands," she said. "Aren't you afraid I'll be just as bad?" I asked her. "I'm hoping is more like it. After all, you aren't a bit fat and you're very handsome besides. I had he carpenters come around right away to fix the door so it would work again," she said, and moved right over in front of me. I could tell an invitation when it was shouted at me and since the carpenters had finished and gone I took her into my arms at once and commenced kissing. Olivia was a delightful armful and she pressed the goodies against me right away. She wasn't quite as tall as Jerrilyn, Jackie, or Christine, but she was equal to Selene's height and she seemed just as shapely. The real fun started when I slipped her my tongue. She nearly went wild, squirming against me and her hands took on a life of their own petting and pulling at me. "Oh, Tommy, I had no idea you knew the French way of kissing. I'm overcome with lusts, though I know I shouldn't be," she said, and since it was music to my ears I gave her another dose of it and let my hands take possession of her ass. I eased us over near a sofa that was wide and long and had us sitting on it in seconds. I kept up the kiss and sent my hands to tend to the obvious buttons down the front of her dress. As I got them undone titties tumbled out for days. Olivia had one hell of a pair, and apparently the only braish contraption she was wearing was made into the upper part of her dress. I was soon neck deep in nipples and I couldn't decide which one to nip and suck on next. "Oh my," was all she said as I raised up to get the dress closer to off her and she let out an "Oh dear," when I started peeling the lower part of it from her body. Jerrilyn had been right since Olivia had on some lacy panties that didn't even nearly hide her blonde bush, but even though I was in a hurry I didn't tear them off her beautiful ass. I did get them off though and I shed my jeans and drawers almost as fast. Olivia started helping me remove clothes as soon as she saw my dick and the hard throbbing shape it was in. I knew she was more than ready because I could smell her heat, but I wasn't about to hop on and gallop off into the sunset. I put my mouth to her lovely pink pussy lips and showed her where a French kiss really belonged. My tongue found her hymen and it gave me pause, for about half a second. Hell, I'd just done away with two of them a night or two ago and I didn't think this one would give me any trouble. I did go ahead and make sure she was completely naked to make sure we didn't get any blood on anything except the couch. I had her back on her back in seconds and she spread nicely as I crawled between her long lovely legs. "Be gentle, please," she asked, as my dripping one-eyed snake was about to slither home and I told her she wouldn't feel anything be pleasure. Of course I knew I might by lying, but by the time she found out for sure the deed would be done. It was a non-issue though because the seal was off the bottle as soon as I put my dickhead against it and within seconds I was up in her slippery depths and her legs were wrapped around my waist trying to pull me in deeper. She could take a licking and keep on ticking too. As soon as I got her off good and proper and made my deposit she was kissing, licking, and sucking for another boner. We gave the couch three good rides before she was done in and it was lucky she'd had the door repaired because she went into her office and brought back a wet rag to clean things up a bit. When we had our clothes back on I asked her what she had needed me to do to get her started at the bank. "Oh, I think you've done more than I could have hoped for already. Yes, you have me going well now," she said, and gave me another scorching kiss. "That's good then. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to bring the paperwork over to the store after the day is over though." "Paperwork. What kind of paperwork?" she asked. "Oh just anything that will make a good excuse for you to come to the store and stay a while. I'm afraid I'll need to get your motor running again before dark. I couldn't let you go home to spend an evening alone, and of course you need to meet all my wives properly." "Oh, then the rumors are true. You have eight wives?" she asked. "Actually, counting Nancy, Hope, and Charity and of course you I think I have eight going on twelve. I'm sure you'll want the status as a full wife and not just be a kept woman." "Why that does sound rather nice, but why are you living in the store?" "It was the only place we could find on short notice, and it has a bedroom large enough to hold all of us at once," I said. "Maybe you should all come out to my home, or I suppose it will end up being yours if you are truly to be my husband. It has plenty of rooms and a rather large bedroom upstairs. It has been the family home for years and years, but sadly the family is down to only myself now," she said. "Don't worry about that. I'm sure I can get some more family started soon enough," I said, and patted her ass firmly as I left. ------- Chapter 39 Of course lunch was in session around the eating table when I made it back to the store. They wanted to know why I hadn't brought Olivia back to eat with us, and having no good excuse handy I walked right back over to the bank, took her by the hand in her office, and lead her back with me. Of course I had to explain it all on the way over, but I mostly passed it off as her need to get acquainted with my other wives. Of course this caused confusion when we made it back since she got into a conversation with the other women and the whole sordid tale of who was a wife currently and who was going to become a wife soon came out. Nancy, Hope, and Charity were just a little put out over me assuming they would be happy to join us in the multi-marriage without the bother of me having to ask them. What's a poor guy to do? I hit my knees and made my way around the table asking them if they would do me the honor. They all said yes and I considered the matter settled, but none of the women did. None of the soon to bes seemed to want a big wedding, but they all wanted one of some kind. Therefore, the planning was on. At least lunch was served before we all took a field trip to Olivia's house. Great! She had a wonderfully large house and it had a big formal dining room The next weddings were planned to take place there and she admitted to them all she was no longer a virgin since just this morning. Hope and Charity admitted I'd already dipped my wick in them too and all was forgiven for no one wearing white and no significant amount of guests being invited. I was wondering what we would do about marriage licenses, but it turned out such things were more of a luxury in the present times. Our only worry was finding a preacher to marry us. Nancy had just the man in mind and she said if we paid extra he would even promise to be cold sober when he showed up to do the deed. All this was decided even before we got a tour of the house and it was decided by all present, except me, that we should all move into Olivia's house starting tonight. The only reason I didn't agree to things was because I wasn't asked. Nancy, Hope, Charity, and Olivia decided it would be senseless to stop living in sin with me until after the ceremony. I was promptly sent back to the store to handle the afternoon trade while the women stayed at Olivia's house to make sure the bedroom was in shape for tonight's festivities. Ben was holding court to an empty store when I made it back for duty, and he greeted me like a long lost life line. Apparently he had been visited by two women who had come by to do some shopping for unmentionables. They were very upset with Ben for his lack of help and they'd told him they'd be back later. I didn't know why he was so excited about me being back since I was sure I couldn't help the ladies either, but he did perk right up. Treachery is such an ugly word and I hesitate to use it about Ben, but he took off for a drink in the saloon as soon as he saw one of the women approaching and he left me to her tender mercies. She didn't look all that merciful, but she did appear to have some tender bits. My guess was she was in her mid thirties and she had the titties to prove it. She had come to purchase a shift and I told her I'd do my best to help her with it if she had any idea where they were kept. She knew exactly where they were and she even knew what was behind door number two, the one which led to the dressing room where she was accustomed to trying on such delicate underwear. She confided in me that she hadn't been able to find a proper fit since Carl had been so rudely killed and she wondered if I would help her with it. I swore to do everything I could, but I didn't realize she would need help inside the dressing room. I could see Ben hanging around outside the front door so I accompanied her inside counting on him to keep an eye on things if someone else came by. The dressing room was a little odd to my way of thinking since it had a full size bed in it, but I braved the dangers and went with the lady in question to be all the help I could. She mostly needed me to unfasten her buttons which ran down the back of her dress and after I did I was delighted to see her bra accommodations were exactly like Olivia's had been -- as in nonexistent once her dress was down to her waist. I wasn't sure what was expected of me from there on, but I have the kind of manners that don't keep me from fondling titties after they are bared in my presence. In other words, I grabbed a handful and then pulled her close for a few kisses while I was at it. Apparently it was just the kind of help old Carl had given her and I now knew exactly what the bed was doing in the dressing room. I had her dress completely off her in no time flat and she was on her back on the bed with her legs spread in practically no time. Being the gentleman I am I took a few minutes to give her pussy a good licking from the start, but she seemed anxious to get on with things so I climbed between her shapely legs and shoved it in good and proper. I think I had more meat swinging than she expected, but she didn't complain and before you knew it we were giving the bed a good workout and her legs were wrapped around my bounding ass while I took a titty in each hand and gave her some hot kisses. The poor dear must have been without for too long, because she fainted dead away after a particularly deep stroke and I had to finish things off without her conscious participation. No matter, I was able to get a nut since she was still hot and wet inside, where it mattered after all. She came back around while I was tidying up her pussy with my lips and tongue and she whispered encouragement all the while. She got back into her dress and I did up her buttons and she was ever so glad to purchase the undergarment even if she never tried it on. There was nothing to this selling of ladies unmentionables for me. In fact I had another customer waiting while I wrote up the sale. This one was a blonde and she appeared to be right around thirty, or just a little younger. She wanted the same type of garment and she discretely asked me if I could help her with her dress. Hell, by now I was dying to. It seemed she needed help with her dress even though the buttons were down the front and I was happy to provide a little help with her stiffening nipples when they tumbled free. I was happily sucking away at one when I eased the dress down off her hips and discovered a pair of the lacy panties similar to the ones Olivia was wearing this morning. I was proud to show her I could get them off without damage and I slid two fingers up into her slippery slot and played with her pouting ass like a demon for a few minutes. She was flat on her back on the bed shortly thereafter and I injected the meat promptly. She was a tighter fit and so I took my time no matter how she moaned. She was with the program by the time I had it all the way up her though and she knew all about fucking back at me. She didn't swoon completely away when I long dicked her and she seemed like she was game for more even after she had an obvious back scratching orgasm. What the hell, I rolled her over and slid it up her ass. She squealed and whimpered a good bit at that, but in the end she took it like a good sport and I had a hard time getting her clothes back on her when we were done. Nancy, Hope, and Charity were back out front when we left the dressing room and the lady paid her bill and scurried out. "I see it didn't take you long to take up with Carl's special customers," Nancy said, as soon as the lady left. "Well, I could hardly tell her no when she asked so nice." "Carl couldn't either and I didn't give a damn as long as he had plenty left over for me. That's one thing about you I'll never doubt. Did you have any others besides Mary O'Banion?" she asked. "I did have a lady who looked to be about four or five years older. She had black hair and even bigger titties, and she fainted when I gave her the high hard one," I said. "Sounds like Carman Delgado. She always went on and on over how big Carl's dick was. It's no wonder she fainted when you put that pig sticker up her. She'll likely be back tomorrow just to make sure it wasn't a lie. Once a week usually does her up just right though," Nancy said, and then grinned like a mean little kid. "Uh. Oh. Here comes one you have to watch out for," Nancy said, and nodded toward the front of the store to where a young lady was coming in the door. I agreed I'd have to look out for her. I'd have to look out or she'd make me shoot off in my pants. She looked about seventeen or eighteen and she was well and truly stacked. She had black hair, deep blue eyes, an ass that proclaimed round and firm and fully packed even though the dress she wore, and titties, she had them in plenty. I'll swear her nipples were standing up so I could see the nipples pressing through the top of her dress. "Why should I have to look out for her?" I asked. "She likes to tease men, and I'm sure she'd going to give you a thorough treatment before she lets you have any," Nancy said. "Oh, that won't be a problem. If she leaves it hard I'll just drag one of you back in the dressing room when she leaves," I said, and I was the one with the mean little grin on my face then. Nancy introduced me to Carolyn Caruthers and told her I'd be glad to help her. Carolyn had something picked out to try on in minutes and we were in the dressing room just as quickly. Luckily her dress of the day unbuttoned down the front too and I was soon sucking on everything in sight while I worked the dress down off her hips by feel alone. She was doing a lot of sighing as I worked on her stiff and bulging nipples and she increased the tempo when I got my hands on her naked ass. If she was intending to tease me she was doing an excellent job, because she sounded just like a woman ready for dick to me at the moment. I slid a finger up her and she was dripping for it already. Just to make sure I knew where I stood with her, once she was bare I shucked my clothes and got onto the bed beside her and guided one of her hands down to my dick. She grasp it and held on like she never wanted to let go and her hips were worming and squirming all over the bed by now. I moved my legs between her and they nearly flew apart. I didn't have to hunt the hole either because she put me right where she wanted me. She was more than tight when I slipped it up her and her ass was active from the start. She was even making a few noises. "Oh, oh, oh yes, give it to me, Daddy," she said, and it sent shivers up and down my spine. Of course I could just see her Daddy putting it to her and I wondered what he looked like. She kept it up too and the harder I pumped the tighter she seemed to get inside. I finally figured out she was doing it on purpose. She was tall enough I could get a nipple into my mouth by only craning my neck a little and it made her even more excited when I sucked at her. She nearly fainted when I swapped out for the other one too. Even as hot as she had me I beat her to the finish line and she was sure surprised when I kept pumping her toward her second come. She did faint this time and she was still out by the time I had licked her clean and put my own clothes back on. I left the dressing room and signaled for Hope to come back and talked her into sitting with the girl and helping her back into her clothes. Little miss big tits was back with us after only a few minutes and she was ever so cheerful when she left. She even gave me a big kiss on the way out. Damn, this working at the store was turning out more complicated than I though it ever could be, and I was going to lose my main helper tomorrow. Ben was going back to work as jailer, or he was if I won the election that was going on right now. A dandified man came in wanting to talk to me late in the day, and so I took him back into the storeroom. He started out with a bad attitude and it got worse as he went along. He was Carolyn's father and he said he recognized the scent of sex on her person when she came back from the store. "Well I guess that's only natural since I fucked the bejesus out of her while she was here. She wanted my help with some undergarments and once I had her dress off enough to for her to try them on she grabbed my dick and held on for dear life. God almighty she has some good pussy. From the way she called me Daddy when I really ran it up her I figured you were tapping her too. Can't she wiggle that ass when you're really slamming it up her?" I said, and he turned so purple in the face I thought he'd had a stroke. I'll be damned if he didn't do just that too. I yelled for Nancy to bring a wet rag after he fell to the floor, but he needed more than a damp forehead. He still had a pulse, but his eyes were wide open and he wasn't seeing a damned thing out of 'em. He was gonna have to make some progress fast or he'd never get any more of Carolyn's pussy. I already knew there wasn't a doctor in town worth a shit, and I just didn't know what to do with a stroke victim except watch 'em and see if they died over it. So we watched and sure enough he did kick the bucket about ah hour later. Of course we had him in the dressing room's bed by that time and we'd called Carolyn and her mother Lindsay over to tend to him by then, but no matter how they cried he just shit his pants and stopped breathing. It was a shame all right, but I couldn't get real worked up over it. Especially since Lindsay Caruthers showed me where Carolyn had come by those big titties, pouting ass, and deep blue eyes to go with her black as night hair. We did old Zeke up right though. The undertaker sent a box down to the store and we packed him up and carried him pallbearer style out of the store and down to the undertaker's place, even if he did still smell like shit. It wasn't nearly so bad with the lid closed on him. I ended up with Carolyn and Lindsay Caruthers at the undertakers and since it wasn't very far from Olivia's house I led them over there for supper, or coffee and cake, or whatever they thought they could get down. We were all sitting around just talking about nothing much while especially Lindsay Caruthers looked lost. I was surprised when Carolyn sat down beside me and asked if we could go somewhere and talk. I didn't know if she wanted to talk, or hopefully she wanted another dick ride. I was ready for either one, but she pulled a fast one on me. "You're got to do something for mother. This had devastated her," she said, when we were alone in a side room. "Well what do you suggest I do?" I asked, because I really didn't have a clue. "Take her into a bedroom and give her a dose of what you gave me this afternoon. It'll perk her right back up. Daddy always watched her like a hawk because he knew she was even worse than me. If a man tells her to do something she'll do it, even if she knows she'll get in trouble for it later. "Just go out there and tell her to come with you, lead her to a bedroom, and tell her to get her clothes off and then you go to town. Hell, you can keep us if you want to, the both of us. She'll be lost without Daddy, and you know I can't keep my panties on around a strong man. Hell, I hardly ever wear any anyhow. "I can tell you're used to having a bunch of women around you, and two more won't hurt a thing. Especially Momma, because she'll do anything you say, just you wait and see," she said, and I figured hell, what do I have to lose? ------- Chapter 40 I did just as Carolyn said and went out to Lindsay and told her to follow me. I led her into a bedroom near the main one and then pulled her into my arms after I had the door closed behind us. I kissed her soundly and she sighed, wrapped her arms around me, and kissed me back like she meant it. "Are you feeling lost and alone now, Lindsay?" I asked her and she said yes, but she said it so low I barely heard her. "Don't worry about a thing. Carolyn told me you needed a man to give your life meaning and I think I've got plenty of meaning to give. Take your clothes off now and let me see the real you," I said. It was nearly like a magic switch. She looked a hundred percent better already and the sparkle was even back in her eyes. She didn't just jump out of her clothes either. She didn't exactly do a strip tease, but she was teasing me with everything she removed and as soon as she was naked she hopped up on the bed on her hands and knees and waggled her naked ass at me. I walked over to handle her a little and she reveled in it as I slid my hands all over her body. I checked her oil and she was making plenty -- so I slid a finger up her to get it good and wet and then used it to lube around her pretty pink anus. It was practically winking out from between her buns at me anyway. I slapped her ass a little and then flipped her over to lay on her back while I lowered my head to feast on her plump nipples and let my hands play with anything they could reach. One of them ended up in her bush and after I located her clitty I worried the bejesus out of it and had her rocking her hips in earnest. I was working my clothes off while I was at it and after I was naked I crawled up beside her on the bed and got on my knees, straddling her upper chest to give her a little taste of things to come. I could tell she didn't know exactly what to do, but she got the idea as I kept pushing my dickhead against her lips and soon she was working on it like it was a lollipop. God damned, she looked hot lying there naked and dripping -- all the while sucking on my dick. I was done playing it slow in just a few minutes. I moved between her legs, and just like Carolyn, she grabbed hold of my dick and put it where it belonged. I slid up into heaven about halfway, pulled back, and then sunk it on home. I lay pretty much still on her at first, moving my dick just a little, but mostly kissing her soundly and then taking a break to suck first one fat nipple and then the other into my mouth. I could tell I had her motor running and finally I started slow stroking her and she got into it big time right away. She knew all about getting her legs around my bucking ass and before long her ass was bucking right back at me. When we got to the short rows I held it almost all the way up her and just stoutly slammed it back and forth, banging against her clit with my pubic bone. She went off big time before much of that and I pulled out, turned her over, and slid my slick dick up her ass while she was still coming from what I'd done to the front side. She screamed so loudly Jerrilyn and Jacky came in to see what was wrong. "I'm just comforting the poor greiving widow, I told them." "Well, try to comfort her a little quieter -- there are a dozen people downstairs looking at and praying over the dead man," Jacky said. "I'll do my best, but as you can see she's the type of widow who needs a lot of comforting, and the dead man ain't going nowhere we don't carry him," I said, but they left and then Carolyn walked in. "I just had to get a look at you shoving that big thing up mother. Oh my God, you've got it up her ass," she said, as I started stroking the back door again. "Jesus, she looks like she loves it," Carolyn said. "I do love it. It's so nasty and it's just the kind of punishment a naughty girl like me needs," Lindsay said. "That's my girl," I said, and gave her a few hard strokes. Soon enough I gave Lindsay my all and when I pulled my dick out I noticed that Carolyn was naked now too and she hopped onto the bed and gobbled my dirty dick down, licking it for all she was worth. Soon enough it was hard again and Carolyn wanted some of the same her mother'd had. I started out up her pussy for the lubricant, but Lindsay was egging me on now. "Yes, she's a nasty girl too, just like her Mommy. Give her some of that big old long dick like her Daddy never had for her," Lindsay said, and she kept on saying things like that. I noticed Lindsay was doing a lot of hand work down around where we were joined, and just as I was about to get Carolyn off she spoke up. "I've got her ass slicked up with her own juice. Be sure you do it to her just like you did me," she said, and what the hell, I always tried to give women what they wanted. At least when I pulled out of Carolyn and rolled her over Lindsay was there to kiss her savagely and keep the screams bottled up. From the way she bucked and fought for a minute there I'm sure Carolyn was trying to scream. Her poor ass was a good bit tighter than her mother's had been, but it relaxed quite a bit when I got going good. All's well that ends well I guess, and when I pulled out of Carolyn's back door she and her mother both were down on my dick with their lips and tongues -- licking and sucking up everything they could find. We just rested, panting, for about ten minutes and then Selene came in and told us to come on over to the real bed. I was in showoff mode by now so I picked up Lindsay and Carolyn in my arms like some kind of naked forklift and carried them in the room to Olivia's big bed. All of the women seemed to be on fire when we got there and I learned later that Jerrilyn had been egging them on about what I was upstairs doing to the widow and her baby daughter. It took me damned near five hours, but I had to do the same to every one of them, except Hope and Charity. They thought their back holes were still to small for my dick and I, for one, wasn't up to arguing. I was pretty much fucked out by then. No matter how many I plowed the night before I always seemed to wake up with a hard on. I was pretty sure it was from their habit of giving my dick a squeeze or fondle everytime they rolled over close to it during the night. Still, I made it out of bed and managed to squeeze out a piss into the chamber pot. I even found where they'd put my clothes when they moved us in. I washed off in the face bowl, dragged on my clothes, and lit out just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. I made it to the jail house just as Ben was being served his breakfast and I turned in my order for my own. The boy who brought it over said it was way more than they were supposed to deliver to the jail and I told him I'd pay cash for it when he got it over here. I went ahead and ordered a big pot of coffee for him to bring too. "I was just about to make a pot of coffee," Ben said. "Relax, eat your breakfast. Let them bring the first pot," I said, and he did. When the boy brought my breakfast I was disappointed with the portions and I had a talk with him. "Now, I don't want to start any trouble, but you go right back over there and tell whoever is cooking you need four times that much breakfast or the sheriff is going to come over there and dole out some executions. Here, this is a double eagle and I want that much breakfast back over here in just a few minutes," I told him, and then shouted, "and bring another pot of coffee when you come back." When they finally got enough for a man to eat over in front of me I dug in and I even had time between bites to ask Ben what was in store today. "A hanging is what's in store. The judge held court just before the election yesterday and that wanna-be duputy got the rope dance to go with the last sheriff. The jury allowed it was bad enough him stealing a cup of coffee after he'd done been fired, or at least should have knowed he'd have been fired. Trying to draw a gun on you was beyond the pale though and they said to hang him high. We've got some good citizens around here and the judge knows just which ones to pick for a jury if he wants a hanging." "Well, I guess he deserves it. I never did like a son-of-a-bitch who thought he was welcome to a cup of coffee just because it was there." "Did ja here what become of that robber you kept alive to question?" Ben asked, and I admitted I hadn't. "The judge tried to save him on that stump I use to break up stove wood. He had us build a hot fire out of really dry hickory wood and he even made John Johnston bring his bellows to get the irons nearly white hot. Then he took a good axe, sharpened just for the doings, and he whacked that poor bastards arm off more even like about halfway up his forearm and slapped the hot iron to it to keep him from bleeding to death. It worked too. "The only trouble was, the judge didn't get as good a lick on his leg and no matter how hot them irons were they couldn't stop the bleeding. The poor bastard bled out, screaming all the way to the end. Myself, I think the judge was getting that hot iron too close to the fellas balls while he was trying to stop the bleeding, but it's all over with now." "Well, what I really want to know is what become of the poor innocent horse I shot while trying to wound the cocksucker." "It's in pretty sad shape, and some say it won't never be right again, but the judge warned John Johnston to do everything he could for to save the horse and he said it wouldn't have to work another day in its life if it would just live. He said the horse gave its all in the cause of justice and it deserved to be comfortable for the rest of it's stove up life," Ben said. "I guess that's nice," I said. "It's a bunch of bullshit is what it is, but it's the kind of foolishness you can expect out of a politician on election day," Ben said, and I had to agree with him. "Did you hear anything about how the vote came out?" I asked. "Well you were elected, you can bet on that. Weren't no choice, but you, and the only thing you'd have to worry about would be a write in. I never heared of anyone getting more than two or three votes in a write in anyway. I 'spect the judge got re-elected too cause t'weren't nobody running 'gainst him but old Crawford, and nobody is stupid enough to vote for him again. "He let four owl-hoots loose once on bail before their trial the next day. They killed a rancher and all his chilluns while they was leaving town. Old Crawford got unjudged that very afternoon, and horsewhipped into the bargain. Them crooks didn't get clean away though. Six men from the rancher's place tracked them for eight days and then brought 'em back to town." "How did their trial go the second time?" I asked. "Weren't no need for a trial. That rancher was a fine man and they killed him, his wife, and all three of his little kids. The boys what tracked 'em down dragged 'em back to town. I don't think they made it two days dragging behind them horses on the way back, and like I said, they was eight days away," he said. It was about half way to noon now and I was still feeling full from the fine breakfast the cafe had brought over. Ben and I split the last of the coffee and I swallowed mine down and headed for the store to check on the girls. They were all in the store and I do mean all. Lindsay and Carolyn were sitting around near the eating table just like the others and I'll be damned if every one of them didn't get up to kiss me hello. "What's the occasion," I asked. "Olivia just came over to spread the good news. You are officially the mayor, sheriff, and banker. Did you get everything straight with Ben this morning?" 'Pretty much. The robber I wounded in the leg didn't make it, but the horse he was riding is expected to live, for a while anyway," "What about the next hanging?" Nancy asked. "It's supposed to be today I think." "Well, its a good thing Lindsay and Carolyn are here to help us then. We've always had a big rush on hanging days before," Nancy said. "I guess I should stay around kinda close then." "We won't be catering to the kind of trade you can be such a help with today, and besides, you need to escort the prisoners up the steps. In fact, you should go spend a little time in the saloon and see if you hear any rumors of people wanting to break the crooks out," Jerrilyn said. I didn't think there was anyone within a hundred miles who gave a shit about either prisoner, but I decided to go on over to the saloon and look official for a while. I had just stepped off the boardwalk heading for the saloon when I remembered I didn't have my badge anymore. I cut toward the bank and heard a cannon go off and a bullet hit just where I would have stepped if I hadn't remembered about my badge. I was more alert this time and I looked along the tops and false fronts across the street and sure enough I saw a cloud of blackpowder smoke, so I drew my right-hand pistol and fanned all six rounds out of it putting a spread along both sides of where the smoke seemed to be coming from. I heard a yelp after the forth shot and I took off running toward the back of the building the shot had come from. Sure enough a younger man was trying to climb down a ladder at the back of the building, but he was having a hell of a time with that buffalo gun in one hand and the bullet hole in the other arm. He had his attention on the ladder and I slipped over under it and knocked fire from his ass with my empty pistol. He fell in a heap and I moved the buffalo gun away from him and pulled a pistol out of his britches. There were six men around the corner and asking what was going on two minutes later and I told two of them to hold the young bandit up while I tied his hands behind him. He was awake by then and he could stand on his own, so I kicked him in the ass and told him to head out for the jailhouse. I collected his pistol and buffalo gun and followed right in behind him. ------- Chapter 41 I followed behind my prisoner and I was pretty sure it was the same one who'd shot at me earlier. I knew for a fact it was the same one I'd seen hanging around in the saloon later, after the first incident. Ben was surprised when I opened the door and escorted the young assasin wanna-be inside, but he was quick to pat him down, remove a foot long Bowie knife from him and then put him in a cell. "Where'd you get him?" Ben asked, when he was back in the office. "I think it's the one who took a shot at me the other day. At any rate I'm positive he's the one who just took a shot at me in the street. I found the smoke like you told me to and fired six shots into the false front on the building it was over. I wounded him and then ran around to the back and knocked the shit out of his head while he was trying to climb down. "I doubt you knocked all the shit out of his head; he still looks shit-headed stupid to me. Hey that looks like a nice Sharps rifle he had," Ben siad. "It does, doesn't it. At least it's in a lot better shape than he is." "Well it wouldn't be worth shit if it wasn't. You winged him good and proper and I can tell the bullet hit the bone. Don't matter though 'cause he can hang just fine with one arm. "Hey, we ought to get the judge to call off the hanging for today and see if we can't get 'em all strung up on the same day. It'll draw a lot bigger crowd and do the town some financial good," Ben said. "I never thought of that. Why don't you go see if you can talk the judge into it," I said, and he took off." "Hey, mister sheriff, can't you get someone to see about my arm," I heard the new prisoner shout from the back. I walked over to the door heading back there and opened it. "Well, I'll just get right on it. First you try to shoot me and now you want me to feel sorry about your arm? Ben's done gone over to tell the judge about you and if he comes by later maybe he'll cut it off for you and burn the end with a hot iron so you don't bleed to death." "Cut it off? It didn't even break the bone. What'll I do if he cuts my arm off?" "You'll die of hemp poisoning just like these other two. What else was you expecting?" "Why, I was just trying to shoot you like you shot my friends. Why do I gotta hang for that. You didn't hang for killing them," he said. "No, I didn't hang, but you're leaving out one part. I wasn't trying to steal any horses and your friends were. I didn't shoot them out of hand. I just protected myself when they resisted arrest," I said. "But I didn't resist arrest," he said. "I know, and I"m gonna tell the judge about it. Then you'll get a fair trial before we hang you," I told him, and then shut the door and walked back out front. Hanging around the jail was a little boring, but it didn't last long. Ben was back in less than an hour and the judge had agreed to move the hanging back in case we got a guilty verdict on this last perpatrator, as if there was any doubt. I turned the office back over to Ben and headed to the bank again. I went back to Olivia's office for a little slap and tickle and to get my badge. I left her on her own getting her titties put away again, but the dress did button up the front. My next stop was at the saloon. There was a poker game going on, but I didn't even try to get in it. I sat on my ass and choked down a shot of whiskey just like in the cowboy movies. I noticed right away it wasn't Jack Daniels, but it was the best they had. Suddenly John Johnston came into the saloon and he came right over to where I was sitting. He didn't even sit down. "Sheriff, there's something funny going on at the bank. Five men just rode up to it and only four went in -- one stayed out to hold the horses instead of them tying 'em to the hitching rail," he told me, in an excited voice. All at once a jackass who'd been eavsedropping stood up and yelled," They're robbing the bank!" I stood up and clubed him even more senseless with my pistol. "All right, everybody settle down right now. I'll go tend to the bank, and I'm going to shoot anyone else who leaves this saloon, except for John Johnston. Sam, take a shotgun to the back door and shoot anyone who tries to leave that way. If you don't I'll be coming back to shoot you later. John, you go out the front and go saddle my horse, and then wait in case I need it. "I mean what I say. If any of you try to help I'm going to shoot you dead before you get clear of the saloon doors," I said, and then took off for the store. Once inside it I ran for my Browning 30-06 and told Jerrilyn to have all the girls get their shotguns and stand by the door. "Concentrate on the saloon and pepper the hell out of the door if anyone looks like they're coming out. I think the bank is being robbed and I don't need any assholes butting in and causing Olivia or someone else to get shot," I said, and the girls scattered for their shotguns. I was back outside with the Browning less than twenty seconds later and as the men came out of the bank trying to look calm and collected I noticed one of them had my bag of double-eagles in his hand. There was no doubt he could only have obtained it at gunpoint. I let them mount and start away before I cut down the one with the bag right off the bat and then I started clearing the other saddles. Two of them turned around and tried to fight me off with pistols, but the distance was already over a hundred yards and I wasn't too worried about them hitting me with a cap and ball pistol at that range. Meanwhile I was out for an afternoon shoot. I was even able to take my time and only wound the culprits. Only one got clean away, and I ran to the stable and took the reins of my Arabian stallion from John Johnston. I was aboard him in seconds and catching up to the crook before my horse made his third bound. I don't know why I was so intent on catching the other asshole. My money was in the bag on the ground where the first one I'd shot had dropped it. What the hell though. My horse was a lot faster than the one the outlaw thought he was escaping on - and even though I'd put the Browning in the saddle scabbard I was still wearing three of the Ruger Super Blackhawks and I knew good and well I'd done a lot more practicing with them than he had with whatever he was carrying. He turned around in the saddle to fire at me occaisonally, but he merely pointed his pistol in my general direction and I didn't even fire back. It would only be a lucky shot if I hit him with the horse running like hell below me. Finally he fired his last shot and he noticed I was nearly right on his ass by now. We must have run the horses a little over two miles and his was done for. Since he had shot all his loads I knew he would have hell loading his pistol again in a hurry so I gave my fine Arabian my heels and he closed the distance in seconds. I whacked the outlaw across the back of the neck with one of my pistols and he tumbled off onto the ground. My stallion did a perfect sliding stop and I was off with a gun in each fist while the crook was still shaking his head and trying to clear the cobwebs. I'll admit my adrenalin was up from the chase and I guess what I did next could be classified as police brutality, but I wasn't overly worried about any such charges and I kicked the crook in the head when I got near him. Hell, it felt good and I did it again as he lay there. "Man, you guys showed up just in time. We were gonna have a hanging in the next couple of days and now you can join in the fun. It'll make for a lot bigger crowd," I said. "Hell, it ain't a hanging offense for robbing a bank," he said. "Maybe not for the rest of your buddies. They could end up with hard time over it, but you shot at a sheriff on your way out of town and that's attempted murder." "Hell, attempts don't count. I ain't murdered nobody," he said. "So you say, but you don't know the low down. Me and the judge just got elected yesterday, and you know we have to make an early showing. Twelve men brave and true will sure as hell find you guilty of anything the judge tells them to and he'll surley sentance you to hang. Now get your ass up and start walking back to town lest I shoot your escaping ass and save the judge the trouble," I said, and gave him another kick for luck. While he headed back to town I caught up my horse and then his. I mounted mine and took the reins of his and we followed him back to town. I guess the girls had opened the gate on the saloon by now because about twenty men were walking out to meet us. To salve any hard feelings about making them stay in the saloon I did a mass deputization of the whole bunch and ordered them to escort the prisoner to the jail house. "Now remember, do not break his legs on the way back. We're going to want to hang him in a few days and I want him to be able to walk up the steps on his own. That don't mean you can't give him a good swift kick in the ass for causing all this commotion though, just make sure you don't break his legs," I said, and they practically kicked him the rest of the way to the jail. I went to check on Olivia when we had the crooks locked up and she had a shiner doled out by one of the robbers. There was also another female clerk with a big bruise and one of the male clerks had been killed. Apparently the same outlaw who had been so rough on the two females had broken his neck. I got a good description of him from all involved parties -- except the dead one of course. I remembered which one it had been. He'd been the second or third one I'd shot and I remember hitting him in the ass. In fact I was sure I'd shot completely through the saddle's cantle to unseat him. I was pretty sure we were going to have to do a little rough doctoring on him to keep him alive long enough to hang. I walked back over to the jail then and went back inside to make the happy announcement to all the prisoners. "Well, it looks like that rough tough one of you I shot in the ass has caused you all to swing," I said, and they all wanted to yell at me for a few minutes. "I can't help how you feel about it. He broke that clercks neck while he was handling him so rough. You know what that means don't you?" I asked, and of course they claimed they didn't. "You were all in on the same crime so you all get the same punishment. We're gonna have us a real big necktie party in a few days. You won't have to wonder what it'll be like though. We're gonna have a little warm up hanging tomorrow and we'll be swinging three men who run afoul of the law before you. I'm gonna let you all go out and watch. I'll let you get a close look at what you got coming. "Meantime, while I've got a few extra men handy I'm gonna doctor your ass where you got shot tough guy," I said, and he just looked at me funny. "Hell, it don't need no doctoring. The bullet went right through. It just knocked me off my horse or I'd still be runing," he said, and the others laughed with him over it. "Laugh while you can tough guy. We're gonna doctor your bullet wound with hot irons as soon as I get a fire built outside and let the irons have time to heat up. "But I don't want to be doctored I tell you." "I don't give a shit what you want. We didn't want our bank robbed either and we sure didn't want that clerk killed. Do you think we're gonna let you off with only a hanging. I'm gonna build a fire out there every day and put those hot irons on you somewhere until the day we stretch your neck. Hell, I never had thought much of cruel and unusual punishment, but it was mostly because I knew how shitty our legal system was back when I'd come from. I didn't have a thing against sharing a little pain with a killer if you knew exactly who he was. I knew exactly which one this was and I was going to get a head start on him burning in hell by burning a little of his hide off before he died. "Sherrif Tommy, we're running a little short of firewood back behind the jail," Ben said. "Do you know where we can get some more?" I asked. "Old Johnny Jefferson usually brings it. You want me to get in touch with him?" "Yep. We sure need some. Two or three of these outlaws look like they need a treatmen come to think of it. The very idea running around and trying to steal the money from hard working folks." Ben got in touch with Johnny Jefferson and he just happened to have a couple of cords of wood for sale. I paid for it and had him out back stacking it in no time. He even started the fire for me and put the irons down in the coals. It took six good strong men to get the man in need of treatment out side and bare assed. He didn't have much of a wound at all since it appeared the bullet had gone rithg through without hitting a bone or anything. I did make sure the bleeding was stopped though by liberally applying the hot iron. "You know. I was just thinking. As long as we got him out here already I might oughta just cauterize his asshole since it's handy and all. It'll probably save us from having to feed him until we hang him." It even made the men helping me shiver, and so I decided not to. I did give him a few extra burns for the trouble he'd put us through though. When I finally made it back to the store Olivia was over there and most of the others were doctoring on her. Of course there was no ice to put on her black eye, but they were keeping a wet rag on it and kept dipping it in well water for the cooling effect. It wasn't very bad anyway, and after I told her about treating the one who'd done it she felt a lot better. I kept hearing some knocking and banging and after I asked I found out the carpenters were working on the dressing room. Naturally I had to ask why. "It's mainly for your use. We're building another room on behind it so you can do a more private and thorough job of helping ladies with their unmentionables," Christine said, and then laughed at me. Hell, let her laugh. I'd be glad to use the new room on anyone they wanted me too. Afterall, what man with eight or twelve wives wouldn't just as soon get a little stray pussy on the side? The carpenters did a hell of a job, and a fast one too, but I learned later what had put the rush on for them. The judge had them set to build a bigger gallows in honor of the big hanging we'd have after the bank robbers got their trial. He was looking forward to it so much he'd already set the execution date for the bank robbers and they hadn't even had their day in court, yet. ------- Chapter 42 All the girls and I went back to Olivia's house as soon as we closed the store. They got together and cooked a big supper and I ate the biggest portion of course. "Now, Tommy, don't stuff yourself too full. I know I've been a naughty girl today and I'm sure I saw Lindsay doing a little of the same. I'm sure we're going to need another treatment just like the one yesterday," Carolyn said, while we were eating our pie. "Me too, Tommy, me too," Kahlila said, and before you know it they'd all confessed to being naughty during the day. Even Hope and Charity seemed to want in on the vicious punishment tonight. "Well, do tell. I don't guess any of you have been naughty enough to need a spanking?" I asked, but they all quickly swore they hadn't been. At least they thought we all needed a good hot bath before we got started and they pulled the bathtub into the kitchen from the closet where it was stored and started heating water right away. I'll have to say I liked bath time at Olivia's house even better than the shower in the shower trailers. They put me in the tub first and then they all gathered around to wash me by hand. It was inspiring, especially since they all got naked before they started and they pulled me out of the tub sporting a brand-new hard-on. I just watched the rest of the baths while I was dripping dry and it didn't do a thing to diminish my condition. We all retired to Olivia's bedroom as soon as everyone was dry and I commenced getting them wet again, but it was mostly in one particular spot. Olivia had made provisions for slicking things up even more than the night before when she brought a tin of lard to the party and she liberally applied it to Jerrilyn's pucker since Jerrilyn had the honor of being first in line. As I slid my dick up her backdoor I wondered if we hadn't brought some baby oil along with us, but since it felt so good the way it was I just slid it on in and started pumping. Hell, it was their asses after all and if one of the others wanted some baby oil they could mention it at least. None of them did and a good time was had by all. Even Hope and Charity made it through their ordeal and they were both begging for more before I was even through. I was up and at 'em early the next morning and I didn't wake a single one of them getting my clothes on and getting out of the house. I walked down to the jail and Ben had the coffee brewing already and he said breakfast would probably be delivered in just a minute. Sure enough the same boy came over with the morning offering today, but it was a hell of a lot better than yesterday's initial servings. I didn't say anything, but I did dig in as soon as he left. "The food sure perked up since yesterday, Ben," I said. "What did you expect after you sent him off with a double-eagle. They don't charge but a quarter for a big breakfast like he brought you the second time yestidy. You can see he loaded my plate down too. Besides, he'll be bringing eight breakfasts before long for the prisoners and their deal pays them for each meal they deliver to prisoners. "Besides, you're a genuine hero in town today after breaking up the bank robbery like you did, and you even brought 'em all in for later hanging. Hell, you'd be hard pressed to find any merchant in town who'd admit your shit stinks now. They're busy thinking about the money they'll make on the hanging days," Ben said. "I expected to get a few people into town to see the hangings, but I didn't realize it would be such a big thing," I said. "Hell, the judge said we'd probably get over a thousand people here to watch the big one. He even had the printer make up some handbills and the merchants paid six men to take 'em to other towns and spread the word." "Well, it'll be good for other folks to see justice in action," I said. "Hey, you ain't turning politician on me are you? That's sounds just like something the judge would say." "Nope. The only thing I want to do with a politician involves a gallows and a good stout rope if I could catch a crooked one at it." After I finished breakfast I went back to the store and things were busy already. It was only now I realized the original hanging was on for today. It was happening just before lunch and there were customers in for a few things before the time got short. Lindsay was helping a young girl shop for something and she called me over and introduced me. "Tommy, this is, Sarah Sue Simmons, and she needs a little help on fitting this garment. Would you be a dear and make sure it's right?" she asked me. Sarah Sue Simmons looked to be around fourteen, but it was a very mature looking fourteen if her titties had anything to do with it. Lindsay led us to the dressing room, handed me the garment in question, and I led Sarah Sue into the new dressing room annex where the bed was now placed. There were also a couple of mirrors around. I unfolded the garment she needed help with and it looked like a lacy black corset to me. I turned to Sarah Sue and she was already taking her dress off. Her titties sprang free when she finished with her buttons and I couldn't keep my hands off them. From the low crooning she made in her throat while I played I got the hint Sarah Sue didn't want me to keep my hands off. She was dressed ever so practically for trying on clothes, since she didn't have a stitch on under her dress. Her brown bush looked oh so tidy when she got her dress completely off and she started in right away helping me off with my pants. She was fascinated with my dick when she got it out. "Oh golly. I had no idea it'd be so big and long. It's ever so much bigger than Jimmy's was," she said, and then blushed over what she'd revealed. "Don't worry a bit about it Sarah Sue. I'm sure it'll fit just fine," I said, and then pulled her to me for kissing and fondling. Sarah Sue was ripe for the plucking and she was blazing after just a little manual stimulation. When I got her on her back on the bed she was surprised when my tongue found her unopened slit and so was I. I vowed it wouldn't be in that condition when I turned her loose. She seemed a little confused when I pushed her back to lie on the bed and even more so as I played with her titties and moved between her legs. She was burning up for it though and she jerked and twitched every time my dickhead grazed across her love lips. "Are you really going to do it to me, Tommy?" she asked. "Unless you tell me no quickly I am," I said. "I should have brought my mother in here with me. She always said she wanted to be there with me when I did it the first time," she said. "Maybe she can be in here when we do it the second time," I said, and used my hand to line up my dick and then I pushed it in. "Oh, that stung," she said, but she didn't complain as I pushed it the rest of the way up her and she was all for it when I pulled back and pushed in for a full stroke. Sarah Sue took to fucking like the proverbial duck and in no time she had her bare heels drumming against my ass and was begging for more. I gave her all I had and then spunked her good at the last. She fainted dead away and I could hear a slight knocking on the door just then. I opened it a crack and could see a grown woman who looked a lot like Sarah Sue trying to look in. I opened the door, grabbed her hand, and pulled her on into the room with me. She looked like she wanted to protest, but I pulled her to me for some serious kissing and I felt her arms go around me to hug me closer as I sent my tongue into her mouth to get acquainted. I had both my hands full of the bigger titties of Sarah Sue's mother when Sarah Sue spoke up from the bed. "Oh Momma, I'm so glad you came in. He said he'd do it to me again when you got her so you could watch and make sure I was doing it right," she said. I was busily working on Momma's buttons in seconds and she spoke up. "But why are you taking my dress off?" "I want you to know for sure I'm doing it right and the best way I can show you is by doing it to you before I do it to Sarah Sue again," I said. "Oh, that makes sense," she said, and helped me get her dress off. Momma's titties were bigger than Sarah Sues and her hips were wider too, along with her ass cheeks being just a bit more prominent. She looked like a candidate for a dog fuck to me and I put her hands on the bed and got behind her to shove it in. It surprised her at first, but her only complaint was that she couldn't see if we were doing it right. "Look in the mirrors," I said, and pounded harder while I reached around and took both her big swinging titties in hand. "Oh God, I see, and it looks so nasty, but it feels so good. You have a long one and it's hitting spots my husband can't reach. Good spots too," she said, and she now had a death grip on the coverlet her daughter had just bled on. What she said made me think though and at once I came up with a spot I didn't think her husband had been reaching. I moved my hand down to where we were joined and thank goodness she was making plenty of oil. I caught some and smeared it down in her ass crack to her pucker and then did it again, and again. Once I had her nice and slippery back there I eased a finger up the back chute and it got her attention big time. She was panting like a steam train when I pulled my dick out of her and slipped it up her other hole. She sucked in her breath sharply and then said, "Yes, that's it. Oh, yes, do it like that." Hell, I was eager to please so I kept right on doing it like that. Meanwhile I put a hand to her bush and rubbed hell out of her clitty. She was about ready to pull her hair out when she got off and I was more than ready to deposit my load up her ass. We fell into a heap when she got her cookies, mostly because the strength left her arms and they were the only things holding us up. She was a babbling wreck by now, but at least she was babbling lowly. I got down and licked her pussy clean and since I didn't smell shit I licked her ass clean too. While I was down there I gave her magnificent ass cheeks a few small bites for the hell of it. Damn, I was tired by now and I lay down on the bed beside Sarah Sue to catch my breath. Apparently Momma wanted to return some of the licking favors on me and she had my dick back up to snuff in no time. Sarah Sue was squirming around some so I pulled her up onto me and invited her to have a seat on my pole. She seemed to like it fine and I was ever so glad to let her do all the work while I concentrated on playing with her nipples, twisting and pinching them until she howled. After she fucked herself to another come on me I thought it was about time for the session to be over and so I poured some water into the basin that had been provided and carefully washed the two pussies I'd just had the use of and then helped them on with their clothes. Sara Sue looked even more desirable in her corset, but I was trying to get them headed the other way by now. I washed the slobber and pussy oil off my dick after they left and then put my own clothes back on. I walked out of the dressing room and made my way to the kitchen area where I poured myself a cup of coffee. I considered my duty done for the day, and besides, it was getting close to time for the hanging festivities. Jerrilyn cured my relaxation soon enough though when she brought a really pretty young girl over to meet me. "Tommy, this is Crystal Calhoun, the judge's daughter. She's been away in San Antonio at school and she just happened to get back home in time for the hanging. Would you help her with her fitting?" Jerrilyn asked me, and I wanted to jump and shout and say "Hell Yes." Crystal seemed just a little embarrassed to be trying on what she was trying on. I could see she was holding one of he corsets like Sarah Sue had just purchased and I made sure we retreated to the rear most dressing room. Crystal started explaining that she thought she could do things by her lonesome when I pulled her to me and gave her a French kiss special since they seemed to get such good results in this day and age. It worked like a champ on her too and she was putty in my hands in seconds. She was delightful putty too. Her complexion would make peaches and cream ashamed of itself and her light flaxen hair was all over her head in big artfully arranged ringlets. Her dress had a neckline that came up and wrapped around her neck and it buttoned up the back all the way. I was able to work it out by feel and so I just kept kissing her as I undid the buttons down to her waist. When I finally pulled the dress forward off her arms and front I was shocked. I'd had never believed titties so big could stay so high and firm without something strapping them up and her pretty pink nipples practically screamed unsucked by human lips. I was sure I had hold of an all over untouched virgin. It didn't slow me down for a second. In fact it spurred my lust. When her titties fell forward I gobbled the nipples up at once, first one and then the other, and then back again. Apparently Crystal wasn't prepared for the assault because she swooned into my arms. No matter. I lay her on the bed and removed the rest of her clothes. She even had on some fine knit panties which I carefully slid down her beautiful legs and off her dainty feet. When her eyes fluttered open I was already naked myself and my greedy hands were roaming her body at will. Teasing her navel one second and her pink nipples the next. To ward off any conversation I pressed my lips to hers when she joined me among the conscious again. She was still a sucker for the French kisses and she seemed to appreciate my hairy chest as I rubbed it lightly over her big breasts. She wasn't exactly sure what to do when I put my legs between hers as I covered her, but she figured out I needed some room between her legs and she spread them for me. I'd already seen she had a neat and tidy blonde bush and I was anxious to part her hair down there. I tried sucking at her lips while my tongue kept invading her mouth and it had her hips wiggling so I used my hand to aim the meat missile and pushed it slowly up her. She cringed just a little as I parted her barrier, but it wasn't a disabling pain for her and I don't think she realized what fate had befallen her until I had it about half-way up her. The one little start was the only misstep and I guess she decided, like every other virgin has to once she's got the meat up in her, that she wasn't a virgin any longer and she might as well enjoy the fucking if she could. She only lay back and absorbed my dick for about two strokes and then her legs came around my hips and she was putting it up to me for every one. "You bastard," she whispered into my ear, "You disguised what you were doing with your hot kisses and you slipped that thing up in me while I was unaware." "You'd have rather me hold you down and force you to take it?" "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure, exactly. I've had boys between my legs trying to get it in other times, but I always managed to wiggle around and keep moving the target until they squirted before," she said, and giggled a little. "It's all right then. You were just fooled since I'm not a boy. You're already fucked now so you can just lie back and enjoy the ride," I said, and she seemed to take it to heart. I, on the other hand, kept pumping, but started playing with her pink nipples. I must have been doing a good job too, because they started swelling and she began twitching her hips more. It had mostly been me up on her and fucking down so far, but I rolled us over, put her on top, and lay back to fondle those titties which were now in an excellent place to jiggle away and wait for my hands to bother them. "Oh, my God, this seems so wicked," she said, but she sucked in her breath when I pointed out the mirrors and she got a good look at what she was doing. "Just think too. Other people are shopping away outside these walls and they have no idea what's going on in here," I said, and she clenched up and had a preliminary orgasm right then and there. "Except for my wives of course. They all know I'm in her with my dick all the way up you," I told her, and she nearly fainted. "Your wives? Are you a Mormon?" she asked. "Of course not. Mormons only have four wives, I have eight, going on twelve. Maybe you should come over to Olivia's house tonight for dinner. I could show you how I rock them all to sleep at bedtime," I told her, and she was concentrating on what I was saying and merely posting a trot on my pole now. "Oh, I should be ashamed of myself. I should have already been to see Olivia to comfort her after her ordeal." "Not to mention Carolyn and Lindsay who have needed my constant attention since the death of their husband and father," I said, and I could tell the tales of the naughty goings-on were really getting to her now. Alas, her leg strength was about at an end and I pulled her down, rolled her over again and really started putting the wood to her. I had to resume the kissing since I could tell she was building up to a screaming come and when it turned loose she screamed inside my mouth and promptly passed out. As she lay there panting I could hear a discrete tapping on the door and I hopped out of bed and opened it just a little. The older woman on the other side was attractive and I could see the resemblance at once. I jerked the door open, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her inside, closing the door behind her. Her mouth dropped open when she spied her well-fucked daughter on the bed and I pulled her close and shoved my tongue in it before she could get any words out. She didn't try to play coy when I did it either, since her arms came right around me and she pressed her more mature charms against my naked front. My hands descended to take command of her generous ass cheeks at once. She broke the kiss shortly. "What have you done to my baby?" she asked. "I just gave her a ride on the dick I've got pressed up against you now," I said, and started undoing the buttons down her back. Her titties were even bigger than Crystal's and I was going to see them in all their naked glory or know the reason why. I wasn't disappointed when I had them bare either. Her nipples had obviously been nursed from and they were large and stiffening rapidly. I could even already smell her anticipation over the scent of Crystal that permeated the room. I didn't waste much time getting the dress completely off her and she wasn't wearing any panties I had to be careful with. I lay her down on the bed right beside Crystal and climbed aboard. I didn't have to sneak it up her either. When she felt my dick nosing around her portal of joy she took matters in her own hands and placed me right away. "Oh, sweet Jesus, that's so big and so good. Give it to me good and hard. I haven't had it that way since the Judge ran our long-dicked foreman off from the ranch," she said, and so I started slamming her like she'd begged for. Crystal came back to herself then, catching us in flagrante delicto. Burning wasn't the least of it though and she was soon right in among us since she latched her mouth onto one of her mother's nipples and went to town on both those big titties, sucking one for all she was worth and wearing the other out with pinches and nipple twisting. It ripped a come from down deep in her mother, but at least she didn't scream to announce it to the world. She just groaned out low in her throat and lost it herself. It must have taken thirty minutes for me to lick the two of them clean and they nearly petted me to death while I was at it. When I extended the invitation to both to come by Olivia's house for supper the mother was quick to assure me they'd be there. The mother told me to pay no attention to the Judge if he tried to discourage me and I told her to remind the Judge I was in the habit of shooting first and asking questions later. Jerrilyn and Jacky came in at the last and made sure the ladies were presentable. They said I would be needed soon at the hanging, and damned if I wasn't. Ben had the prisoners out of their cells and all latched together with a sort of mass set of handcuffs. He turned to me when I came near and sniffed the air. "That's right, Ben. I had to crawl off two women to get over here in time, but I wanted these boys to get a sniff of what they were never going to have again before they died," I said, loudly, and most of the prisoners were grumbling about it as we led them out. Of course we were only hanging the three who'd been waiting around in jail for a few days, but just like I'd promised I was taking the bank robbers with me to watch so they could know what was coming for them. We led them out of the jailhouse and up to the very front of the crowd. There was even a good bit of applause when we arrived. Of course we had to wait for the Judge to make a little talk and damned if he didn't call me up to speak myself. "Well, I'm not much of a public speaker like the judge is, so all I can do is tell you what's in store. We're going to hang the last sheriff for being in cahoots with a gambler and helping him fleece some of the town's citizens by cheating at cards in the saloon. It's particularly satisfying for me since I was the one who discovered the cheater and the sheriff threatened to arrest me for pointing out his crime. "You might notice his right arm ain't worth much no more, and it's because my wife, Jerrilyn, shot him in the elbow when he tried to draw his pistol to shoot me in the back. I don't know if they'll call him Lefty in hell or not, but I'm sure he's just about to find out," I said, and got a roaring cheer and much applause myself. "Let's get this lard ass up there and get the noose around his neck," I said, and gave him a kick in the ass to get his legs started climbing. I had a few words to send the other two on their way, but the sheriff had drawn the most applause. The hangman did a respectable job though, but I interfered and wouldn't let him put the black bags over their head. I wanted them to get to see what they'd be missing and I wanted the people to get to see the looks they had while they were dropping through the floor. The Gallows let us down just a little since the door under the lard ass X-sheriff hung for about half a minute and had to be encouraged to trip with several kicks. I had another talk to give while the men were swinging. "I just want to say this last for the benefit of the carpenters who built this Gallows. If the big one hangs up like this one just did you are going to be the next ones to ride it. I'm sure you were paid good money to build this and by God the next one better work perfectly. "These people took time out of their day to come and see a triple hanging, not to watch some carpenter's fuck up work half assed. You're all going to ride the next one down on its second trip if this ever happens again," I said, and the crowd roared it's loudest over that. When I made it back to where Ben was riding herd on the next prospects they were giving him a little shit. Apparently they had been impressed with the hanging. So impressed they didn't want to be the guests of honor at the one next week. I was glad I had my short club with me, because I was beginning to think I was going to injure one of my Blackhawks if I kept having to use them as clubs. As it was I had to hit every prisoner twice before we got them headed back to the jail. "Ok, you've all had your fun today. Since you saw fit to cut up at the last there I guess I'd better check all your wounds to make sure you haven't opened them up. I might need to cauterize them again," I said, but I waited until they were all back in their cells before I told them. Sure enough the tough guy who'd hit Olivia and the other female clerk and broken the male clerk's neck had twisted around until he had his flesh wound bleeding again. I decided to get his attention this time. I called for volunteers from the crowd and got forty before I could tell them it was enough. I thought they were going to pull that poor bastard in half before they had him stripped naked and staked down on the ground. Ben built us another fire and I let the irons get good and hot and when they were I made Mr tough guy wish he'd never swatted a fly in the bank. To top it all off I laid the white-hot iron against his ball sack and let it smoke 'em until I doubted he'd give us any more trouble. He was begging to be hanged today before I let him up. ------- Chapter 43 After another wonderful night with all my women I was out early and to the jail about the time Ben had the coffee ready. I took a cup and had barely got my ass in a chair when the boy came with our breakfast. Of course Ben had to get up to feed the prisoners when he came back in a few minutes with the plates for them. We had a little fuckup when it was time to collect the plates, cups, and eating utensils after they were through. We were one fork and one plate short. Ben called me back into the cellblock and gave me the sad news. "That ain't bad news Ben. It just gives us an excuse to light the branding fire again. After I put that hot iron on their balls like I did mister tough guy they're gonna be glad to tell us who is holding out." They weren't all in separate cells and apparently the one who admired his plate and fork so much was in with two other men. They had hold of him and were choking the piss out of him before he could even give them up. He did it though, and in the end I guess he was glad to. I know for sure he was glad to get to breathe again. The town looked more or less normal today, but when I got down to the store it was doing a land office business. I asked Nancy what had them stirred up and she said it was probably because they wanted to make sure they had everything they needed before the out-of-towners started coming around before the big hanging. Luckily I only had to help one girl with a fitting this morning and I was ashamed of myself for playing with her budding titties because I'll swear she wasn't over eleven. At least I doubted anyone in this time knew what pedophile meant. Apparently my little talk to the carpenters had some effect. They had already finished the larger gallows, but they were out testing hell out of it today. They were taking the trap doors apart and doing a lot of trimming on them and they were spreading lard for lubrication every place there was a place. They must have dropped fully loaded feed sacks through each door a hundred times or more. I didn't mind if I'd scared them into doing a proper job. Hell, we didn't want a fuckup with so many people watching. If we kept up things like that people would be attending just to see what we could let go wrong, and that wasn't the kind of reputation the town needed. After all it would reflect on me and I had enough odd about me as it was. I didn't need anyone poking around to see what made me tick. We passed an uneventful day at the store and then we retired to Olivia's house where we had a night full of the kinds of events that I really appreciated. I settled down to take care of my numerous mates and then dropped off to sleep. It wasn't a dreamless night though. In fact the dreams were a little disturbing since they had us moving back to where we'd come from and leaving a lot of our things here. It was a little unsettling and it came with me when I woke. I cornered Jerrilyn the next morning and asked her if she'd had any dreams the night before and I could tell she had before she opened her mouth to admit it. Whatever had put us here was going to put us back where we'd come from, or at least I was convinced it was going to happen. I started making plans to get everything back into the storage area, soon. After breakfast with Ben, I walked down to John Johnston's stable to check on my stock. It was all present and accounted for and so I quit worrying about it. Mainly I wanted to be sure the Arabians were in place since they would be the most precious. The mules were irreplaceable too, but at least they hadn't come from a foreign country and while I'd spent a lot on them they weren't worth nearly what the Arabians were. Besides, I'd have a lot easier time explaining to the old man I'd lost them than I would explaining to Kahlila's father where I'd lost the Arabians. I felt much better when I had it all in my mind, but I held the girls late at the store packing everything back up into the trailer we still had backed up to the back of the warehouse. I noticed none of them asked any questions about why we were doing it. Not even Carolyn and Lindsay. They helped pack up everything that had come out of the trailer. I eased them off to the side later and told them they should go home and pack up everything they had if they wanted to keep it. They didn't even ask me why, but they did ask some of the other girls to come over and help them. Jacky, Christine, and Selene went with them and they asked me where to bring the stuff. "Just put them near a door I might be able to get the truck backed up to. Even if it causes a stir I'll pull it close and we can load it up quickly," I said, and they said they understood. All the time we were working on this project I kept getting a warm and fuzzy feeling we were doing the right thing. Later, when we stopped and made it to Olivia's house the girls got started packing her up too. She was going to be easy to load up since she had a nice big yard in the back and there was a big door near the rear of the house. Everyone was back at Olivia's house before bedtime, but tonight we didn't do as much fucking as we normally had been. Mostly we cuddled, with the women swapping out places so each one of them was near me for a while. Everything seemed normal when I woke the next morning. I dressed and headed to the jailhouse and Ben had the coffee ready when I got there. I noticed there were still a couple of our guns in the rack, but I decided we could take them last. The boy came over with breakfast shortly and Ben and I ate our fill. We didn't have a damned bit of trouble getting the dishes and utensils back from the prisoners either. I guess they had come to understand I didn't give a shit what they wanted and that I'd be more than happy to put a red-hot iron to their asses if they gave me any trouble. It was a good thing for them they had wised up, because I didn't give one shit how they felt about things and I was more than willing to put the iron to them to help them understand it. We had a relatively quite few days until the hanging got close. I'd taken the truck around to the other two houses the day before just after dark and we had everything loaded up, except the horses and mules. I even fetched all our firearms from the jailhouse. Something just told me we couldn't count on staying much past the hanging. We had packed a lot of the things out of the store and we sold practically everything else on the day of the hanging. Olivia brought my bag of double-eagles from the bank that afternoon and we put it into the truck too. After the hanging, which went off without a hitch, I took the truck with the giant horse trailer down to John Johnston's place and loaded them all up, except for eight mules. I had him hitch them to the two wagons I'd bought and the girls drove them out to the storage cave while I drove the rest of the horses and mules out there. We were all inside the cave for the night, including all our stock, and everything else they girls had packed. We pitched the summer tent to sleep in since even as big as the sleepers were we couldn't all get into one of them. We were up a little late cooking supper and eating, but when the wind got up outside and then the hail started falling we all got into the tent and went to sleep. The storm was really howling outside, but we were safe inside the cave, or at least I thought we were. When I woke the next morning I felt right for some reason. I got up out of the bed and headed outside the tent. I was shocked when I saw where we were and doubly shocked at everything that had come with us. As in the mini-mountain and cave. It was all where we'd come from and it looked like it had always been. Our cave and the hill or mountain it had been in was right where we'd left from. I even walked on down the hill that had always been here and I could see the Guadalupe River. Our original electric-fence stock pen was even right where we'd left it. This was a little too weird for me, but then again all was back right with our world. Of course Olivia, Nancy, Hope, Charity, Carolyn, and Lindsay were going to have some getting used to coming up, but what the hell. My original group had gotten used to living back in time for a while, and there was nothing to say we were going to stay here. I could feel that in my bones too. We'd just have to see what we saw, and wonder. Yep, I could feel a whole lot of wondering coming on. ------- Chapter 44 As I looked out over the land we'd leased on or around Kerrville Texas all I could think of was Yogi Berra, because this was damned sure like deja-vu, all over again, and that wasn't all. If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else was another of his famous quotes that fit here nicely, even though we'd come back to where we knew we'd left from. We sure as hell hadn't known where we'd been going, or when we'd been going. Back in the cave the women were trying to get breakfast started and I suggested we move the cooking and serving back to the original site. They agreed, and thirty minutes later we had a cooking fire making coals and soon enough there were frying pans on the fire and eggs and bacon cooking. Olivia, Carolyn, Lindsay, Nancy, Hope, and Charity didn't think very much had gone on yet, but their time would come when we struck out for home. I was sure they'd be surprised to see what had become of Texas and the dusty trails they'd been accustomed to as roads. No doubt they'd be a little shocked to see our home too. As a matter of fact they were getting a dose of the future right now as they watched Selene opening several of the biscuit tubes and placing the biscuits on a cookie sheet and then running them into the oven. They ain't seen nothing yet. After breakfast was over they all helped me move the horses and mules out into the electric fence pasture and to a woman the new girls wondered how such a tiny piece of wire would hold them in. I invited Nancy to touch it and after she did she quit wondering right away. All the rest had to give it a try too. There were a lot of yelps until their curiosity was satisfied. My next trick was extracting one of the four-wheelers we'd bought and towing the water pump trailer down to the river. When I had it in place I took hold of the hose and eased the fourwheeler back up the hill, dragging out the hose behind me. I put the end in one of our watering tubs and since Hope and Charity were standing there watching me I asked them to take over the duty of aiming the hose. I was back down to the river in a flash and started the motor. I let it run until I could hear Hope telling me it was enough. I left everything in place for now and hurried back up the hill. Since there was no mad rush for water by the stock I figured it would be ok to let them drink their fill. I wasn't worried about the mules anyway and none of the horses seemed to be overdoing it. We spent most of the day moving things out of the fifty-three foot van so we could put the wagons I'd bought from John Johnston in it and then we packed it back up. After the noon meal Jerrilyn and Jacky let our newbies in on the secret. They explained that it was now June of 2008 and of course they didn't get much of a rise out of them. I knew it would be hard for them to understand or prepare themselves for what was to come, but I also knew we could keep them close and out of trouble. We lounged around for the rest of the afternoon doing a little packing, but since we were going to spend one more night here the only thing we did that took much work was rolling the helicopter out of the cave, and it really wasn't so much of a job. Christine did a little phone shopping while we were doing not much. She ordered three more trucks and three more reefer trailers. We hadn't used the reefers while we were on this trip, but they hadn't been in the way either and the girls decided we'd be better off with the units than without them. I wasn't so sure we'd be better off without the seventy-thousand dollars the three reefer units came to, but what the hell? It was only money. Toward the end of the day Jerrilyn asked me to hook up the water for showers and I did. It only required me to hook the watering hose up to the shower/horse trailer and start the pump. We let it have half an hour for the water to get hot and then the showers were on for real. Nancy, Carolyn, Lindsay, Hope, and Charity had a ball washing me and letting me wash them and we were all spic and span before bedtime. I did my part to get everyone hot and sweaty again and considered myself a hit by the time they settled down to sleep. We were up and at 'em earlier the next morning and I was happy to see breakfast taking shape earlier in the day. We finished eating and then went directly into loading up everything mode. Jan and Sharon took off about noon and I could finally see some amazement on the faces of our newbies. We finished the loading and headed out about five PM. Luckily there was still plenty of sunlight to let us get back to a real road and we made our way merrily back toward East Texas. We pulled in around four in the morning and I was happy that it looked like all the construction was finished. We didn't park the trucks on the new concrete floor of the big garage yet, but we did back the horse trailer/showers close to the gate into the pen and we put out plenty of hay for the stock and then we walked into the house. Our newbies were amazed again with the lights and also with the refrigerator. The new bathroom was finished so there was plenty of room for all of us to shower at one time. Jan, Sharon, and Jenny even got out of bed where they'd been asleep and joined us. Thankfully everyone was ready to go to sleep when we were clean and dry. It wasn't that I was shirking my duty, but dammit, I was tired. Thankfully everyone got out of bed the next morning without waking me. They came to fetch me when breakfast was on the table and I noticed it was around noon. After we'd finished we sat around and talked about what had just happened. Of course we tried to figure out what had happened and we came to the conclusion we'd been put back in time for a few weeks. No mystery there since we'd known it while we were there. Why and how were the big questions and we didn't even have small answers for them. We decided it had something to do with where we were when we left on our magical mystery tour. We didn't have any facts about it, but it was just a feeling we shared. Of course we were all excited we'd been given this opportunity and I got the feeling we all wanted it to happen again. We did want to be better prepared next time though. For one thing we needed some furniture dollies. Most of our moving stuff in and out of the trucks had been a large pain in the ass since it was mostly done by main strength and heavy on the manual part of the labor. Jerrilyn and Selene suggested we try to look for some rougher terrain vehicles and I wondered about it since we hadn't had any trouble along those lines. "I know we didn't have any trouble, Tommy, but it doesn't mean we won't later. Just think what a hell of a shape we'd have been in if we'd gotten stuck somewhere along the way. Not a single truck has any type of winch on it and the only thing we could have even tried to pull ourselves out with was the Humvee," Christine said, and she was making a lot of sense. "We need a skidder. Not to do any logging or anything, but they are often used to pull log trucks out of the woods when the weather is nasty. They have great winches on the back with large cables meant especially for pulling trucks out. They also have a blade on the front that can be used for smoothing out dirt roads." "Do you know how to use one?" Selene asked. "Not really, but there are loggers all over East Texas and I'm sure I could find someone to teach me how it's done." "Aren't those things really large. We couldn't get one into a trailer could we?" Selene asked. "No, I don't think so. We'd have to buy one of those lowboy trailers to load it on." "That's something else we have to get straight too. We need to get driver's licenses for Olivia, Nancy, Hope, Charity, Carolyn, and Lindsay. It ain't gonna be easy without birth certificates either," Jacky said. "There's bound to be a way to do it. All those illegal aliens get 'em all the time. We'll just have to do some looking around on the Internet," Selene said. "Ok, any of you who can think up a way to get it done start looking. You all need to try to think of other things we'll need to take with us. We came out pretty good this last time, but who knows where we'll go if we do go again. "I'll see about getting a skidder and I'll round up someone to teach me how to use it. Now that we know trips like that are possible we might as well get really ready to make another one. I'm assuming you all want to," I said, and they all said they did. Even our new arrivals wanted to go. It was easier to find someone to teach me how to use a skidder than I thought it would be. I drove around; talking to log truck drivers when I found them stopped somewhere and got the information on Bill Davidson. He had been a skidder operator for years, but thought he was getting too old for the job. The first question he asked me was what kind of skidder I had, so I asked him what kind I needed. He recommended a Cat model and told me where to go and look at them. I made a deal for what I thought was a rather large one and I bought a lowboy trailer to haul it on. My lessons started the next day. I spent four weeks with him as a tutor and by the end of that time I thought I had a handle on how to use it. I didn't waste any time trying to learn to skid logs with it and only concentrated on smoothing out roads with its blade and pulling out stuck trucks. Christine and Selene came up with a scheme to get birth certificates for the girls that needed them and it didn't take long to teach them to drive a pickup so they could get a normal license. We made a trip to Vegas and enlisted the help Jim, the one who'd taught us all to drive. He was happy to help us out again and he had the girls doing fine in five weeks. I was a little surprised that they were more amazed by Las Vegas, the bright lights, and the casinos than they were by their lessons. No matter, we had time to show them around, take them to see some shows, and it left plenty of time for their lessons. It also gave me plenty of time to play poker so I could keep the money coming in nearly as fast as it was going out. I had an even better advantage now, once the oil Arabs found out I was back in town. They doubly wanted to play with me know since I was married to one of the Emir's daughters. Hell, I was practically like family. The lessons were over two days after our new trucks came in. We drove down, picked them up and headed back to Texas. Of course we stopped in Dallas to get more diamond rings from our favorite jeweler and we also made the rounds of a couple of Wal-Marts to stock up on jeans. We also headed back to Muleshoe and laid in a new supply of rodeo shirts. Then there was a side trip to Austin for custom made boots and hats and then we headed home. Of course there was more shopping to do, and the girls did most of it. We ended up with three refrigerators with ice through the door ice makers and we also had to make another trip to the costume shop for some period clothing. It made me realize we should have gone shopping when we were actually in the period, but Jerrilyn said it would have taken longer back then than it did now. Most of the rest of the shopping was what I considered filling in the blank spots and it took longer than any of the other. Every little thing had to be gone over and specialty things had to be obtained. It was tedious work, but six months after we'd come home from our last trip we headed out for our next one. We were going right back where we'd been last time and we made the trip in about the same amount of time. At least we stayed up and put up the electric fence to start with this time and we put the stock out and watered it before we went to bed. We parked all the trucks inside the cave which we were glad to see hadn't been molested in our absence. We set up our camp, built a cooking fire, cooked a meal and then pitched our tent and went to bed. I don't know what we were expecting, but there was no storm to take us away that night. We weren't disappointed at all, since we had stayed here several nights the last time before we were whisked away. We just carried on with out camping trip the next day. ------- Chapter 45 It appeared I wasn't the only one disappointed. All the girls, especially the ones who'd been with me for a while were. They'd expected to wake up somewhen and somewhere else. We all got over it after a good breakfast though and the girls got started going through the trailers and making sure we had everything they could possibly think of that we might need. One of the first things that came to their minds was an ice machine. They didn't want a commercial model, but had in mind more of a model like came in refrigerators now, except one on steroids. Christine said she'd seen them in Sears before and she claimed they were easy to set up. I climbed on my big four-wheeler and towed the helicopter out and all the women took off leaving me home alone, sorta. Jerrilyn was calling on the Blackberry for a couple of limos to meet them at the airport in San Antonio as they left. After they were gone I got a hardon for some more 30-06 ammunition so I hopped in the Humvee and headed for Kerrville. I found plenty of places to buy it while I was there and so I stocked up. I also came upon a rarity while looking around in a gun store/pawn shop. It was an M1 Garand T20E2. I had heard of them before but never actually seen one. Apparently after World War II a specification for the Garand had been passed around and a few of the rifles were made. Instead of the eight round clip like most M1s had the T20E2 was modified to accept the magazine from a BAR and also had a lever for select fire so the rifle could be fired fully automatically. I was fascinated with the rifle from the start and I bought it even though I knew the price of a thousand dollars was outrageous. Maybe it wasn't so far out of line though. After all it was the only one I'd ever seen and I'd looked around a lot of pawnshops and gun shops. I'd even been to several gun shows and had never seen one, and this one looked almost brand new. I doubted it was any better than the BARs we had purchased, but it looked cool so I got up off the money. The place where I bought the M1 also had several Super Blackhawks in stock and so I bought him out of the ones chambered for 45 Long Colt. I intended to have plenty of firearms if we got to make another trip. I returned to our camping-out cave and still beat the girls by three hours. Oh well, I got a chance to fire my new rifle and several of the new handguns. I did at least put all my new toys away before they made it back. When the girls returned it seemed supper was the main thing on their minds, and I approved. I also approved of one of their stops along the way. They had found an actual butcher shop where they could have meat custom cut and they had bought plenty of New York Strip steaks that were over an inch thick. I was in hog heaven when they started hitting the plates and I was even pressed into service eating several the girls couldn't finish. Of course I washed them down with Lone Star Longnecks. I sure as hell went to bed fat and happy that night. It was only luck that I pulled the helicopter inside the before going to bed. I had thought of taking the lazy man's way out and just leaving it where they landed, but I didn't and like a good little boy I fired up my four-wheeler and put it back where it belonged. The violent thunderstorm that blew in made me happy I had and when I saw where we were the next morning I was even happier about it. I knew right away we had taken the big trip the night before, because when I looked out of the cave's entrance I could see the ocean. Now that was one hell of a shock and the first thing I thought of was we were boatless and basically without any fishing equipment. Oh well, live and learn. I took a look around inside the cave and it seemed to me everything had made the trip. I hadn't expected anything different, but it was nice to be able to reassure myself. The girls were all excited when they discovered our whereabouts the next morning. Especially the ones I'd picked up on the last trip. It was like a miracle to them just like it had been to us the first time. They all took a walk down to the water's edge and then they were back up in the cave while they all went digging for swimwear. Luckily for me they had done some swimwear shopping during their helicopter trip the day before. I say luckily for me because they had all been outfitted with thongs and skimpy tops. Now, it wasn't like I couldn't see them naked any time I wanted to, because I could. There's just something about a tiny swim suite that stirred me up though and for once I was in among a bunch of women who had plenty to show off and who had the swimsuits to show it off in. It was a little like one of those old beach blanket bingo movies from the late fifties or early sixties except all the girls present had big titties, lush asses, and miniscule suits. I was positive none of the suits they were wearing could have made it past the censors of those movies. My next trick certainly wouldn't have passed muster for a movie either. The girls had spread out blankets and towels and were out sunning themselves and so I offered to apply the sunscreen. I started on Jerrilyn and when I got my hands on her titties, up under the tiny top that barely covered her nipples, I forgot about smearing sunscreen and started playing with titties. I had her top off in no time, and then her bottom, and then I did something I'd always wanted to do but had never. I yanked out my crank, got between Jerrilyn's legs, and shoved it home. My antics were well received and in seconds Jerrilyn wrapped her long showgirl legs up around my waist and pumped herself up to me while I fucked downhill. I was really enjoying this adventure in outdoor sex and was looking forward to more of it when Selene said, "My God. Look at that," loudly and excitedly. Since she was pointing behind me and since I didn't feel like turning around at that time I asked, "What is it." "My God, Tommy, it's some kind of giant lion. You've seen them in books I know. The kind with those really long teeth," she said. That was coitus interruptus for sure. Thankfully Jerrilyn had given it up just seconds before, though she was still clutching at me and panting out the last of her orgasm. I managed to turn around to get a good look and then I pulled out and started trying to get Jerrilyn up. It was Smilodon fatalis without a doubt. I figured the only reason he wasn't heading our way was because he had a couple of people corralled about a hundred yards away. I realized we could help them if we'd brought any of our weapons with us, but we hadn't. Suddenly the giant cat made a leap and came down on the male that had been facing it with a spear. At that second I took off sprinting for our cave in hopes of finding a rifle close by. I made it to my truck's cab and opened the door, grabbing out the new M1 I'd just purchased since I knew it had a fully loaded twenty-round clip in place. I rushed back toward the scene and when I got there it was obvious the saber-toothed cat was eating the boy he had downed. My girls were already imploring the female near the action to come to us for safety. I was sure she couldn't understand their language and I told them to stop shouting and use hand signals. They did while I took aim at the cat. I was certain there was no chance of helping the male since I could see the cat munching on his middle already, but the girl finally headed our way. The cat took notice and stood back up, no doubt intending to keep her from getting away. I started firing, and even though the noise was frightening the female approaching us I kept firing until the cat collapsed into a furry heap. We stood there waiting as the female approached and it was only now I noticed how she was dressed. She wasn't wearing much, but all she had on looked like it had come from animals, and it still had the hair on the outer side of the skins. Jerrilyn and Jacky stayed to greet her while the others started picking up our blankets and towels and hauling it all back into the cave. My next impulse was to go examine the dead male and the dead cat, but instead I urged Jerrilyn, Jacky, and the female to go to the cave and I took off that way myself. Apparently the girl realized it had been me and the loud noises which had done for the cat and when I headed for the cave she followed me at once. Jerrilyn and Jacky came along right behind her, albeit not without a few questions. "Aren't you going to see if you can do anything for he male?" Jerrilyn asked. "I'm going back to the scene as soon as I buckle on a pistol belt and get another magazine. I doubt we were lucky enough to come down in the exact spot the last saber tooth cat in existence hung around. Not to mention there might be others out looking for these two who might carry weapons and might not understand the part I played in it all," I said. "Oh, I see what you mean." I found my normal rig for walking the mean streets of the Texas town we'd left only a little while before, found and loaded the four extra magazines I'd bought with the M1, and also located a large flashlight with rechargeable batteries I'd bought during one of our multiple trips to Wal-Mart. I was just about to head out when Kahlila came out of one of the trucks dressed in jeans and wearing two pistols in their holsters and carrying one of the Xtrema2 shotguns. I didn't want to seem like a scardy cat, but I was glad to have company. We walked toward the mess and didn't spend much time looking at the dead cat. I looked the young male over and as I thought I'd seen earlier his abdomen, or at least a large part of it, had been consumed. Of course we hadn't brought a shovel. We walked right back to the cave, gathered a few and headed back out. Jerrilyn, Jacky, and the female came with us this time and Jerrilyn and Jacky had taken the time to buckle on their gunbelts and pick up their shotguns too. I began digging a shallow trench to put the male in when I reached the spot and the female started gathering small pieces of firewood so a couple of the girls started helping. When I had a shallow grave dug I laid the man, or boy was more like it, in the ditch and the female who had been with him started building a funeral pyre over his body. I took it as their custom and started helping her. It seemed to lift her spirits a little. The rest of the girls helped too and soon she took out a piece of flint and what looked like a piece of iron pyrite and started making sparks. To hurry things along I pulled out my Zippo and flicked it into life. She was really impressed with this trick and backed away so I could light the pile of wood. She wasn't ecstatic about the procedure, but she did look like she thought we were doing the best we could. Suddenly she tensed up and started saying something under her breath. I looked at her and she pointed off down the beach. I saw the problem at once. There were six men approaching us now and they were all carrying spears. They were apparently not only carrying them, but also appeared to be brandishing them, aggressively. I took my rifle in my left hand and pulled on of the Rugers and did a little brandishing of my own. Of course the Ruger didn't look nearly as impressive as their spears, but I thought it would get the job done when it came time for the nut cutting. Kahlila, Jerrilyn, and Jacky weren't taking any chances though since they had all leveled their shotguns at the approaching men. The men took notice and broke into a run toward us then and started shouting something our way as they approached. They came to an abrupt halt about fifty feet from us because it was as close as the girls wanted them to get and they cut them down. Buckshot really is very deadly at fifty feet. The female who'd taken up with us shouted something that sounded joyful when the last of the men hit the ground and then she ran to the nearest one and kicked him solidly in his face. She realized they were all dead shortly after and she bent to stripping them all of their knives, spears, and other valuables. I took it to mean the men we had just killed had done her at least an imagined injustice. My thoughts along those lines were strengthened when we started to bury the last men and she had a mini-fit, letting us all know her feelings on the matter. We left them where they'd fallen, pilled more wood on the body she'd wanted to cremate, and headed back to the cave. The girls began putting a meal together, and it was obvious our new member wanted to help, but she was smart enough to see that she didn't know the first thing about our method of cooking. She left them and started shadowing me and I happened to be heading to the spot where the cat was. I just wanted to take a look at it and fix it in my mind. Even though saber tooth cats were well known in our time there were real facts about them that couldn't be known. For instance, no one claimed to know a damned thing about their coloration. The were called saber tooth tigers, but no one had any real idea whether they had any semblance of the most distinctive marks other tigers had, as in -- stripes. At least I knew now they hadn't had any. At least the one I'd just killed didn't have stripe one. When our new member followed me to it she went first to its dagger like teeth and began straining against one as if to remove it. She was stronger than she looked and had the first one removed in seconds. She kept at it though and pulled the other one free too. Next she unfolded the carcass from the heap it had fallen into and then pulled a flint shard out of her clothing and began skinning the body by opening the abdomen. At first I thought she was intending to try cleaning it for eating later, but later I learned she was only saving the skin. She worked rapidly and I realized it wasn't the first, or probably not even the hundredth animal she had skinned. She had it denuded in less than an hour and then she started trying to remove its head. I could tell it was going to be a big job and so I stopped her, rolled up the skin, and headed for the cave with it, leaving her to bring along the giant teeth, which she did. Selene told me supper would be ready shortly when we returned, but I told her the newbie was on a quest to salvage what she could off the dead cat and I explained about her trying to remove its head. "I don't actually know what she wants the head for, but she seemed determined to get it," I said. "Teeth. I'll bet she wants the rest of the teeth. She probably wants the claws too. I'll get an axe and we can go back with her and show her the advantages of one," Selene said, and she dug out an axe and a machete. We headed back with our cavewoman guide and Selene gave a demonstration of using the axe on a nearby bush. The light shined for our new arrival and she took the axe when Selene offered it to her. She made quick work of removing the head and then did the same for all four paws. Apparently it was all she wanted from the carcass since she gathered the head and paws and headed back to the cave, leaving us to bring the axe and machete back. Our cave woman appeared to take it as a sign of honor that she was invited to sit near me during the meal and that we all ate at the same time. Selene showed her how to navigate with a fork and spoon and she also gave her a short demo with a steak knife, since we were having New York Strips again. Apparently the girls had loaded up on them with their last trip out for groceries. Soap and water were a novelty for our newest arrival too, especially when the girls were washing the dishes after the meal. She was fascinated by the bubbles and amazed at how clean the dishes got with the use of only water and the bubbles. As usual I was sitting on my ass, drinking coffee, and just watching as the dishes were washed. Soon enough the girls started playing the name game with our new friend. They'd point at themselves and say their name. When it came to her turn the newbie pointed to herself and said Nadla, and we had a name. She came over to where I was sitting then and pointed to herself, telling me indeed her name was Nadla. She seemed amazed when I pointed to myself and said, Tommy, but I wasn't quite sure why. The girl's next move with Nadla was one I approved of and it wasn't only because I got to see Nadla naked, though it didn't hurt my feelings. We had a communal shower to get ready for bed and Nadla was fascinated at once. She was happy to participate and I was a real hit when I washed her hair. It was difficult since there were small twigs and other detritus included, but I took my time with a crème rinse shampoo and then I spent a lot of time with a comb, starting at the ends of her long hair and working my way up a little at a time. Her dark auburn hair was beautiful when I had it washed and combed out and actually she was very pretty all over. Her breasts were full and firm and her ass was splendid, no doubt from the constant use of it in her locomotion. In fact she looked very fit all over. After we were done and dry the girls started looking through their clothes to find something for Nadla to wear. They used her like a life sized doll for nearly an hour before they had her dressed. Fully fifteen minutes had been taken up convincing her to put on and then wear a pair of panties. She took to the jeans more easily and she seemed delighted to wear the colorful rodeo shirt they put on her. Footwear was another challenge, but soon enough they found a pair of cowboy boots she could wear with two thick pairs of socks, one over the other. She seemed delighted to have a covering for her feet that let her get around without having to be so careful where she stepped. As she was waling around getting used to the boots she spotted the horses in their pen and she was stupefied. I was pretty sure she must have seen horses before, but I did think it was a little early for man to be riding them, going by the level of technology she had exhibited. She was so in awe of the horses I decided I should give her at least a small demo. I caught my Arabian stallion, saddled him up, and swung aboard for a short ride as the sun was going down. I never left the view from the cave and barely went half a mile in all, but Nadla was spellbound for the whole trip. I came right back in, stripped off the tack and put him away, but Nadla seemed shocked by the whole process. ------- Chapter 46 After I finished showing off my horsemanship, the girls, including Nadla, started cooking. They included her in the business of cooking tonight and she seemed to catch on to some of it at least. She was still mystified by the things they were cooking since she had no concept of storing food in the refrigerated enclosure, but she seemed to accept it and she also knew all about cooking over an open fire. They threw her a curve again when they made up some biscuits and put them in the oven they placed over the fire, but she was pleased with the results just like I was. The beans were another mystery for Nadla, especially when she saw where they came from. The cans were certainly a novelty for her and I got the notion she'd never had beans before when she ate them. She dug in though and finally had something to use her fork on. She still seemed a little uncomfortable to be eating with me, but she got over it soon enough. When it came time for bed she had no trouble adjusting to stripping off completely naked and joining right in. The girls maneuvered her around until she was piled right up against me and one of them, Selene I think, showed her how to take hold of my dick and urge it on. Nadla was a little shy about taking hold of it, but she did after a few seconds and she handled it gently which was a great relief for me. Apparently Christine decided Nadla needed to see what went on before she participated so she took her spot above me and then lowered herself down onto my dick to give me a good cowgirl ride. Nadla was spellbound at the whole process and she seemed especially fascinated when I began handling Christine's titties and playing with her nipples. She seemed impressed with Christine's squealing right at the end too. Selene took a turn next, but she rolled to her back and encouraged me between her legs. I did a lot of kissing from the top down and when it got good to me I did some serious stroking and made a good bit of noise grunting and groaning myself. Nadla had her own temperature up before we were done and she took a hint from Jerrilyn and worked her head in to take a few licks on my dick while they were reviving it. When I was hard again it seemed time to initiate Nadla to the fun and when I pulled her to me she didn't resist. Soon enough she was lying on her back with her legs spread and mine between them. I took some time to nibble on her small nipples and she must have liked it a lot because it started her wiggling and squirming beneath me. I took hold of my dick to put it where it belonged and I found a hymen in my way. I wasn't going to let that stop me though and as I gave it a little pressure it went away with only a slight jerk from Nadla. Like most virgins she realized she had a dick up her now and she seemed to take right to it. I'm not sure what caused it, but Nadla's tunnel felt like it was clenching around my pole all the way down. She was all for the deed though since she held on tightly and hugged me to her while I fucked away at her box. She even rapidly got into fucking back up at me and before long her legs were wrapped around my waist and she was pumping for the long haul. She didn't know how to act when I put my lips to hers and kissed her, but when I shot my tongue into her mouth she toyed with it with hers for a couple of minutes and then she began to suck on it. Close enough. She could tell when I was about to go off and she clenched even harder on my dick and pulled me closer with her arms and legs. It was as if she knew exactly what this was for and she wanted to make sure she got the full benefit. She must have because she became almost frantic to pump against me shortly and when I blew my wad up her she really gripped me tightly and then her insides seemed to move in a rhythm as she obviously got off big time. Later she sank back into the bed and fluttered off into lala land for a couple of minutes. She was smiling and petting at me when she came back though and I got the feeling I'd been everything she had expected. She held me tight for several minutes and kept a big smile on her face. She made sure to stay right beside me for the rest of the activities. She wasn't being proprietary, but she kept near me and even petted and caresses the other women as I drilled for their oil. I was surprised that I was able to tend to every one of them before I gave out for the night and we all ended up sleeping piled on top of each other. Nadla was first up and dressed the next morning and she was pacing near the entrance of the cave early. She kept looking outside and moving around to get different angles on her line of vision. As soon as I was dressed I joined her and she started trying to point out something to me. I couldn't see much of anything and so I returned to the tent, scrounged around and found two pairs of binoculars and went back. She looked at me strangely when she saw me using a pair of them. I stopped looking and showed her how to use them and then turned her loose and looked again myself. I was gazing around in the general direction she was and suddenly she yelped, took the binoculars away from her eyes, and started jabbering something to me. I started a section-by-section examination of the area she'd been looking at and soon saw what she was going on about. There were other people out there and they were looking around trying to see what had killed the men on the ground. A couple of them were also examining the funeral pyre we'd made yesterday. Christine and Selene joined us nearly at once and they tried to get Nadla to settle down and try to communicate instead of just jabbering in her own language. I wished them good luck and concentrated on the men we had discovered approaching. One thing I noticed was the necklace on the seeming leader. It contained several large teeth strung together. "Jerrilyn, could you come look at this," I asked her. She came over and I showed her the binoculars and pointed out the group of men there. She took over, gave them a good look, and then turned back to me. "You've surely got enough teeth to put him in his place if we could make a necklace quickly," she said. "I've got a cordless drill handy," I said, and she told me to get it. She and Jacky took the drill and a small bit and started drilling on the teeth we had gathered last night. Twenty minutes later they tied the necklace around my neck and I'll have to say it looked impressive even from my vantage point -- looking down on it. They paraded me in front of the others and Nadla went silent as soon as she saw it. I thought it was odd since she had been the one to start gathering the teeth, but apparently she was now getting the full effect. Kahlila had been trying to get the story out of her and she thought she had a handle on it. Apparently the leader of those approaching had been the leader of the group Nadla had lived with and according to what Kahlila could understand he had been involved in a trade with another group to send Nadla to be the mate of the other group's leader. As best Kahlila could tell Nadla had not been in favor of the deal and she had run away from her camp with the boy who was killed by the saber tooth. It left me in possession of the girl that had two groups in turmoil. Well, tough shit was what I said. I had the girl, I had shared the meat pole with her last night, and I liked her pussy just fine -- thank you. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I was sure of one thing. If they wanted to take her away from me they had it to do. I decided to change clothes and I put on a new pair of jeans, one of my best rodeo shirts, and then pulled on a pair of custom-made cowboy boots. I tied my new necklace around my neck, strapped on my holsters and guns, and put on my cowboy hat. Intending to go out and have a powwow with the assembled masses, I called Jerrilyn, Jacky, Christine, and Selene to me and asked them to grab their Xtrema2s and plenty of extra rounds and come with me. None of us were carrying spears or anything of the like, but I took hold of Nadla's hand and led her out with my armed escort following close behind me. We walked about halfway to the assembly before they saw us and then they headed our way with indignation on their faces and their spears waving. I wasn't really very worried. The headman, the one with the necklace of puny teeth started berating me as they approached. Of course I didn't understand a word of it, but I could tell he wasn't best pleased by his tone of voice. The only thing saving him now was he hadn't made any threatening moves. As he got closer he started shaking his spear back and forth and he kept coming closer to me. He made a final mock jab at me when he was fairly close and I drew a Blackhawk and let it do the talking for me. He fell backwards with an impressive hole in his chest right over where I thought his heart was most likely located. From the way huge gouts of blood started pumping out of it I thought his part in the talks was drawing to a close, soon. The others seemed stunned, but one of the biggest of them wasn't going to take that lying down and he drew his spear as if to jab it at me. One more shot and as they say, another one bit the dust. In fact he didn't really bite the dirt though. I aimed a little higher on him and hit him about halfway up from his nipples and directly in the center. He flopped over backwards and the spray of blood wasn't nearly so impressive, but he was well on his way to the afterlife if they believed in such. It was still a little bit of a Mexican standoff, without any Mexicans present, but they backed off a step of two and I saw one man doing most of the talking. He directed four of them into a bunch and when he shouted something at them they all raced toward me. Unfortunately for them, Selene and Christine had been expecting something of the sort and they made a serious mess of them with three shots each. Just so they didn't think we were ignorant of what caused it, I leveled a pistol at the one who had organized the attack and shot him under his right armpit since he was turned sideways to me. He fell in a heap at once and I figured I had taken care of his pulmonary system in one shot. Of course the blood coming from this one came out of his mouth and it had a definite frothy look to it. One of them took off running then, but I didn't want others here to complicate negotiations so I shot him in the back as he was leaving. He stopped leaving right away and started dying. There were about eight of them left standing around wondering what to do and when I lifted my pistol again all those holding spears dropped them at once. Now we were making progress. I asked Christine to see if she and Nadla could get anything out of the crew, but there was some sort of commotion when she spoke to one of them. He seemed to take offense and so I took offense myself and shot him in the face. This gave a much better sign of the horrific damage the pistol was doing since both his eyeballs popped out of his head at once and a large portion of the back of his head left for the coast. Apparently it wasn't so bad to be dead, but was much worse to have your corpse damaged visually. The next one Christine tried to talk with was eager to cooperate. It seemed for a few minutes that Christine, Nadla, and the new man were actually exchanging information. Things went along peacefully until twelve more men started approaching. Nadla seemed excited by their arrival and apparently they were excited to find her. Two of them broke into a run towards us. Jacky and Jerrilyn had already missed out on the slaughter once and they didn't intend to miss out again. When the two came within thirty feet they invited them to stop with their shotguns. They only fired once each, but it still took the men's breath away, forever. I walked over to stand in front of Jerrilyn and Jacky and try to stare down the approaching men. They had an older guy leading them and his necklace was about like the one on the leader I'd just killed. He came up shaking a spear also and I took care of him farther out this time. It caused the same kind of confusion it had caused among the other bunch and I ended up shooting four more before they calmed down and the rest of the men threw down their spears. ------- Chapter 47 Now I had the remains of two groups who thought I was using magic on them. I didn't intend to disabuse them of the notion - unless I could convince them I was using some weapon more powerful than any they had I was agreeable to let them think it was magic. Just then two more of the long tooth cats showed up. It was obvious from their cautious approach that they had been hunting the last bunch of men who showed up. Now I wasn't the kind of guy who'd set out to hunt big cats with handguns, but then again the cats weren't going to give me a good chance to select a better weapon. They were approaching carefully, but they were approaching, and it was obvious from the way they did it they knew something about their prey. For instance, they didn't seem to be afraid the men could escape by running off. All the men in both groups picked up the spears they'd just laid down, but I wasn't about to let it come to that. I walked behind them, placing myself between the cats and the men. The cats weren't impressed and they continued toward us and actually broke into a trot. I let them come ahead without bothering them since I wanted no more than a seventy or so foot shot at them. With the three pistols I'd just reloaded I'd have eighteen shots before I had to reload again and surely the armed women would come forward before it came to that. The cats spread out a little as the approached and when the closest one came within my estimated range I held the pistol at arm's length and fired twice. Both were hits and it stopped right away -- weaving on its feet at first and then falling over. Of course it had no effect on the other one so I turned and fired twice at it also, getting similar results. This move got me even more respect from the two groups of men, as if they were saying Sure, you can kill us easily, big deal, but man that's really something you can kill those cats. I took a minute to reload the pistol I'd fired and when I was done Nadla had walked up beside me and she nodded with her head toward the cats. I nodded myself and walked toward them with her. When we reached them she started tugging away at the long teeth and she didn't quit until she had removed all the long ones. My other women were paying attention by now and the others who had been hanging back came forward now. Hope had a shotgun in her hands and she was carrying my new rifle slung over her shoulder. Charity came with a shotgun of her own and she was carrying an axe - no doubt to help Nadla dismember the cat. They made quick work of detaching the head and feet and then Nadla went back to collecting removing the skins. Kahlila took stock of the situation and returned to the cave. In a few minutes she came back out leading one of the mules and with a hatchet in her hands. She stopped near two saplings, cut them down, and then attached them to the mule's harness she had put on. Soon enough the mule was dragging the two poles behind it and she led it over to where the skinning was going on. She had also picked up a small bundle of rope and she started winding it between the poles to form a sort travois. When the cats were skinned out the girls put the skins on the makeshift travois and threw the heads and feet onto the skins and the Kahlila led the mule back into the cave. Most of the women, except for my protection squad and Nadla, followed the mule and its cargo into the care and I figured they intended to deal with the trophies. Nadla surprised me when she was back by my side. She turned to the two separate groups of me and appeared to be giving them a dressing down. Hell, they weren't squawking about getting a talking to from a woman now and they soon turned, picked up their dead, and trotted off. She looked at me and smiled as they left. What the hell? The show was over for now and I headed back into the cave with the rest of my women following me. Kahlila had the two cat's heads on the picnic table along with their paws. She was removing all their teeth and extracting the claws from their paws. I guessed it was for more trophies and I figured she had gotten the idea from the other necklaces some of the men had been wearing. "You know, Tommy, I think you need to go hunting," Jerrilyn said. "Hunting what?" "Just anything with edible meat on it. The natives were impressed when you killed the cats, and a little fresh meat wouldn't hurt us," she said. We'll talk to Nadla and see if we can't discover what there is to hunt around here. "Hell, we've got everything we need to make it practically painless. You've got horses or mules to ride and we've got plenty of stuff to carry the meat back to camp, including the travois I didn't even think of before Kahlila used one," Jerrilyn said. "It just came to me while I was watching them skin the cats. I just thought it was the right thing to do and it seemed to work out well," Kahlila said. "I'll say it worked. I think they were more impressed with you leading the mule out than they were by me killing the cats," I said, and then we laughed about it. "Of course they were impressed. They probably see those cats all the time, but you can bet your ass it was the first Missouri mule they'd ever seen," Jacky said, and we all laughed harder. "Those are the biggest, strongest looking mules I've ever seen," Nancy said, and the others from her time agreed at once. "I don't guess it would hurt us to take a short hunting trip. See if you can get any information out of Nadla," I said, to Jerrilyn and she and Jacky went over to try talking to her again. Nadla had already used the axe to cut down more saplings and had built a stretching frame for the skins. She was attaching one to it and looked for all the world like she was about to start scraping the back of the hide. Well, why not. It wouldn't hurt us to have some fur coats, even if we might get some shit over them if we tried to wear them back in our time. Nadla put down her tasks then and started talking to Jerrilyn and Jacky, sorta. To me it looked more like a bunch of hand waving with a word or two thrown in. Finally I saw them really getting down to business when Nadla squatted down and started drawing pictures in the dirt floor. Now they were getting somewhere. I only wished we had a giant touch-screen type whiteboard so we could save the drawings for later reference. My best guess of our time and location was on the west coast somewhere around ten thousand years ago. Smilodon had given me the hint on the time and the blue water to our west was giving me a hint on the location. Something Nadla was drawing in the dirt at the moment gave me another hint and also showed me what I wanted to hunt. I went over to squat with them and see if I could get a hint about how hard the wooly mammoth she had drawn would be to find. Jerrilyn and Jacky gave me such a look when I expressed interest in the wooly mammoth, but Nadla seemed excited to be discussing it -- if you could all the hand waving a discussion. She pointed at the mammoth with her hand with one finger extended and said "Boom" while looking at me with a question on her facial expression. I said, "Yes" at once and pointed to her drawing and said "Boom" myself. I was sure a 30-06 would eventually bring it down, but suddenly I wished I'd taken the time to purchase a Barrett 50, no matter what the expensive bastards cost. If I ever got back home I knew I wouldn't leave without one again. I drifted away since I'd done all the damage I felt like I should for a time. Besides, the other women were cooking and the tooth and claw extraction had been moved off the picnic table. Soon enough we were having Bar-B-Que with all the trimmings and I didn't have to be asked twice if I was ready to eat. I concentrated on imagining it was mammoth meat I was dining on and then it struck me. How would we cook mammoth if we had some. I let that slide since I knew I wouldn't be responsible for that part. It was getting dark outside by the time we'd finished eating and cleaning the dishes. I was actually looking forward to a little pussy before bedtime and I felt entitled to some. After all, I had killed to protect my supply today. Thank goodness the women were all for it. When I woke the next morning I was up at once and I knew I had my work cut out for me today. If we were going hunting anywhere I knew it would be horseback, or muleback. One of us didn't have the first idea about horseback riding and there was no doubt I'd be the one teaching her how. Oh well, I didn't really mind, and besides, she already knew how to cook. After breakfast I saddled one of the Quarterhorse mares and gave Nadla the dime tour. I started out with her perched on the saddle and me leading the mare around. I had a little difficulty teaching her to squeeze with her legs to stay on instead of letting her hang onto the pommel, but she caught on more quickly than I'd have thought and she soon graduated to steering on her own. Soon enough she wanted to leave the cave and take a ride around outside. I found my new M1 and an Xtrema2 and fitted a saddle scabbard for each to my saddle, one on each side. I let her lead the way outside then and she was off down the beach in minutes. We made our way probably two miles to the south and then she turned around and we rode back and probably two miles north. She headed inland for a while then, but she stopped when we came within sight of a camp of people. We didn't hang around to meet anyone though, we just turned around and headed back to the cave. When we got back I got a minor ass chewing from Selene for straying without an escort. She pointed out they would be lost if something should happen to me and I didn't bother pointing out I'd taken along a rifle and shotgun. She would surely have asked me what it would have hurt to take along a couple of them to help firing said weapons, and for that I had no answer. They made me glad I'd made it back in time for supper though and they did it mostly with more Bar-B-Que. It was the beans that were the stars of the show this time though. They had loaded them down with chopped meat and they were delicious. The next morning was a sort of dress rehearsal for our hunting trip. We caught mules and loaded packsaddles til we were blue in the face. The mules took it well and were all around good sports about it. Jack the donkey gave us a little shit, but I don't know why since he didn't even have a packsaddle to carry. Jerrilyn got tired of his shit though with him nosing around into everything, so she put a halter and lead rope on him and then she hobbled him to boot. His freedom to roam came to a screeching halt afterwards and she swore he was getting a packsaddle just to fit him as soon as we were back in the ordering business. We had a little trouble hitching the team to my new wagon. We knew full well we had enough harness for the job, but we'd never actually done it so it took some time to get things sorted out and buckled up. Nancy, Hope, and Charity took over the wagon driving chores even if the wagon didn't look like any they'd ever seen before. We left the two we had bought on our last trip stored in the trailer they'd been in since when we got them. We didn't need to move much stuff this time, but we did need to take a few bulky items with us. Our tent for instance. ------- Chapter 48 The next morning, after a big breakfast, we saddled up and took off. Nancy, Hope, and Charity took over the driving duty for the wagon and the rest of us went horseback. I had thought for a few moments about asking Jan and Sharon to go up and take a look around, but I decided not to. The ground was level enough back up from the ocean, but it turned hilly before long. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary for a while, but Nadla did clue us in that some of the others were following along behind us. I was suspicious about what they were up to, but decided to wait them out. I felt fairly well in charge of things with the modern weapons we had. Our hunting luck turned good after about three hours. We came across some mammoth sign and I decided it would be more than enough meat if I only made one kill. In fact it would probably be a lot more than we needed. I did want to impress our followers though. We moved in closer to them slowly and they didn't panic. Possibly because they weren't afraid of anything, or at least they weren't afraid of us. They seemed to stop at once point and they were all just feeding so I got down and urged the others to do the same. When I went to take a good look at our game with the binoculars I saw something else in among 'em. It looked like a rhinoceros to me and I considered taking it instead. It looked like it was well fed itself and somehow it seemed more like something I should be shooting. The mammoths long trunk saved them I guess. I talked it over with the women and they all agreed. At the time I didn't even know the rhino couldn't even see us from this distance. I settled down into the prone position and lined up my shot with the M1. I knew thirty caliber wasn't such a good round for something so big, but what the hell. If I'd been intending to take a mammoth it would have been the same, and it was the biggest rifle I had. The rhino was side on to me and I picked my spot as if it were a deer or something similar. I decided to shoot it just behind the shoulder and hope for the best. When I shot it I damned sure got its attention even if I didn't knock it down. I fired again, and then again. It was looking in our direction now, but I was happy enough it wasn't heading our way. As I said I didn't know they had such poor eyesight. Finally I got tired of waiting for it to fall and shot it twice more. I didn't really know if I'd finally hit something important or whether it was just the combination of so many shots, but the rhino finally fell over. The ones following us played a dirty trick on me then. They sent the women and children up to start on processing the kill and I let them do it. What the hell, we had enough to eat when it came down to it and the way the kids looked made me fell like they didn't. I scanned around for another rhino and didn't see one so I took it out on the largest bull mammoth. It was facing me and I shot where I thought its heart might be. Apparently I made a better guess on the mammoth because after only three shots it fell. It threw off the ones heading for the kill though. They didn't know which one to go for. Finally they split up and sent a group to each one. Nadla was getting a little testy over things by now and she got even more so when several men headed our way. She was talking up a storm to Jerrilyn and Jacky and they finally got a clue about what she was saying. "This is the camp Nadla came from and he comes the leader who traded her away," Jerrilyn told me. "Well maybe he wants to trade her to me now," I said. "Nadla thinks the same thing, but she said he'd probably want to try getting more out of you," Jerrilyn said. "I guess I'll have to teach him about finders keepers then." Sure enough the leader and five men with spears came walking up like they owned the place. He said something profound I'm sure, but I couldn't understand a word of it. He gave some directions to one of the men and that one walked toward Nadla as if he were going to take hold of her. I didn't shoot him since it hadn't been his idea. I shot the leader in the chest with one of my Blackhawks and it ended his dealings right away. It also stopped the one advancing on Nadla in his tracks. I took the opportunity to walk to Nadla myself and I put my arm possessively around her shoulders and pulled her to me. One of the others who had been standing near the back of the crowd raised his spear then and shouted something so I raised my Blackhawk and let it shout itself. I guess the others got the message when he hit the ground and wiggled out his lasts. I was beginning to get the idea these men should try their luck hunting on their own instead of trying to steal what they wanted. Oh well, I was a long way from being able to get that concept over to them. The group who had come up to take over drifted back away from us now and it looked like they were having some type of meeting. The women weren't called to the gathering, but all of the men were. I asked Jerrilyn if she could ask Nadla what was going on and she said she'd give it a shot. Meanwhile, back at the skinning and cutting up a few hyenas had come up and were trying to make pest of themselves. I merely turned around, shouldered the M1, and started cleaning their plows. The noise made the ones cleaning the kills flinch, but when they noticed the hyenas dieing over it they adjusted and were happy enough. The hyenas got the messaged that our kills weren't to be fucked with after a while, but it was hard for them. I'm sure they didn't understand what was killing them, but they finally figured out something was and they gave up and started hassling the younger mammoths. This pissed their mothers off and soon they commenced to open up their own can of whupass on the hyenas. I though it was really smart of the mammoths to pick up large rocks and throw them with their trunks, and apparently it was, because when they hit a hyena with one it went down and a grown one would walk over and step on it after it couldn't move fast enough to get out of the way any longer. The hyenas finally gave up the whole idea and moseyed off to other prospects. The mammoth I'd killed didn't have very big tusks, but I was surprised when the women who were dealing with it brought them over to us, along with a good portion of the meat. Christine and Selene dug out a couple of trash bags and put the meat in them and then stored it in the wagon. All the women and older children were now working on the kills and the younger kids were gathering firewood. One of the women knocked off cutting up meat and built a fire and soon she was putting chunks of beat on sticks she cut and leaning them over the fire for roasting. Christine and Selene thought better of the meat storage then and they pulled it back out of the plastic bags and started cutting it into roasting size chunks and putting it on sticks they cut off themselves. Nancy, Hope, and Charity joined in on this project and soon we had a meal cooking of our own. What the hell, things were slow now and I started looking around for something else to kill. Something edible was my first choice, but I wasn't going to be all that picky if more hyenas showed up. Damned if another rhino did start walking right toward us as if we'd scatter when he got here. I let him come close and then started on his ignorant ass. He might be stupid, but it wouldn't make the meat bad. My girls took off to do some meat cutting of their own then, but I kept hunting. I knew damned well the meat wouldn't go to waste and by now the other women had brought me the two horns from the first rhino I'd shot. What the hell, I was a sucker for trophies and I might as well have some. This last rhino was going to make us stay here all day before we got it cut up and I was beginning to wonder how we'd carry all the meat away. There was plenty of room in the wagon, but I didn't want any hard feelings when it came time to load it. Just about then the meeting among the men broke up and one of them came toward me. He was saying something to me and I called Nadla and Jerrilyn over to try and translate. For once he seemed to understand I couldn't speak his language and he talked directly to Nadla and let her talk to Jerrilyn. At last we had a reasonable system and Jerrilyn was able to tell me his name was Nogtah and that he was the new leader after I'd dispatched the other one. He also made it known there were no hard feelings over the death since many of the men had thought their former leader had seriously overplayed his hand. I wanted to tell him he was right and that I was a friendly enough fellow, but I held my piece and let the women tell him what they wanted him to know. Apparently he also thanked us for the meat we were letting the women take. I did butt in here and asked them to ask if he'd like more meat tomorrow. When Jerrilyn got this over to Nadla she looked at me like I was nuts, but she asked him a question anyway and he began making motions and talking at once and apparently more meat was acceptable. Suddenly he called to the women and several of them came over to him for a talk. They talked back and forth for a few minutes and then he called Nadla to him and asked her some questions. She was smiling wide when she came back, but she wouldn't tell Jerrilyn what was going on. She just kept intimating that things would be fine. I guess they were fine. The women he'd called together went around and talked to two of the girls who were working at cutting up the meat. Soon enough the two headed up to where I was standing and with Nadla's help I had the pleasure of meeting Janat and Dortalla. Nadla explained things to Jerrilyn now, of all times. Jerrilyn was happy to tell me I had two brand new wives. Come to think of it things weren't all that bad. They both had killer bodies; like almost every girl or woman in sight and their faces weren't the kind you needed a bag over either. Talk about trophies from the hunt. Two more virgins would fit nicely. Hell, even if they weren't virgins I wasn't going to raise a fuss. I knew my eyes were getting to big for my dick, but what the hell could I do about it? I wasn't going to kill the guy for giving me the two girls for God's sake. Finally, about three pm was my guess, the meat was taken care of. The women started bundling it up, but Jerrilyn talked to Nadla and then the two of them found Nogtah and got it through to him that we could take the meat back to his camp in the wagon for them. He readily agreed and so we loaded it up, mounted our horses, and headed out with Nadla providing directions. With the mules just walking the others could keep up and when we arrived it was nearing sunset. It didn't seem to matter to them and soon there was meat cooking over every fire, including a big one they build in the center of the camp after we arrived. The mood seemed good in the camp and I was glad to find out I hadn't made any widows with my shooting today. We pitched out tent while the cooking was going on, and for once I wasn't very hungry since I'd done a lot of damage to the stick-roasted meat today. Still, when we put up the picnic table I noticed a lot of meat arrived for it and we were able to choke most of it down. After we'd eaten Nadla disappeared into the tent with Janat and Dortalla and soon enough Jerrilyn, Jacky, Selene, and Christine followed them inside. The rest of my women drifted in soon enough and about thirty minutes later I was called in to do my duty. As I'd thought at first the two newbies were virgins, but it didn't put a damper on their enthusiasm. Apparently they'd been watching for years and they knew how to nasty. Nadla was right in with them, helping, and soon enough all the women joined in and they kept me fucking until late into the night. ------- Chapter 49 As usual, after a good workout the night before, I woke feeling no pain and in a very good mood. I got up, dressed, and then went about my business scattering out hay for the horses, mules, and the donkeys. Most of them seemed a little out of sorts and snippy, but I figured it was over being confined to the inside of the cave and not being able to get out and graze. Well, they'd have to like it or lump it. There was no handy pastureland outside to put them in and even if we put up the electric pen it wouldn't stop other animals from attacking them. I figured if I could discuss it with them they'd rather be inside and protected than outside and at the mercy of any saber-toothed tigers who showed up. There were no two ways about it. Our site selection this time wasn't the handiest. The view of the ocean was magnificent, but as far as practical matters went it sucked. Worst of all, I didn't really see anything we could do about it. Even if we were right beside hundreds of acres of grassland we'd still be fucked since there was no way we could be sure the horses and mules wouldn't end up dinner for some predators. I felt ok over things for a month or two because we had a lot of hay with us, but if we stayed longer we'd need to do something else. The main trouble was I didn't know what else to do. I went ahead and gave them plenty of hay today though and as for the rest I'd just have to hope for the best. I pretty much forgot about the horse and mule feed when I was called to the table for my own feeding. The food was great as usual, and I noticed we had some meat I wasn't familiar with. I couldn't tell whether I was eating rhino bacon or mammoth bacon. Of course it wasn't really like bacon at all, except for the fact it was sliced very thin and fried. Hell, it was close enough for me, but I did wonder about it and I asked the girls. "We have a slicer that works pretty well, but it is annoying to have to crank it. Still, it beats hell out of trying to do it with a knife," Jerrilyn said. "What about cooking. How do you manage to do all this cooking over an open fire?" "It is a little bit harder, but even with the generator it seems senseless to try bringing and electric range and oven along. We have the oven we can just basically put on an open fire and most of the other things we fry, or fry at with a pan on the fire," Jacky said. "It seems I should be able to figure out something better for you to cook on. We have fuel tanks all over the trucks and we hardly ever use much fuel from them. Maybe I could get a butane tank installed and maybe we could get a butane range and oven to bring with us," I said. "Maybe we'll try it next time, if there is a next time. To tell you the truth it is a little disconcerting to just camp in Kerrville and then wake up one morning back off in time. This time is even worse since there are really no people we can talk to easily. I mean Nadla is catching on pretty well, but it's nothing like it was when we were just sent back to an earlier time in Texas," Jerrilyn said. "We don't really have any control over things and we'll just have to do the best we can," Kahlila said. "Ain't that the gospel? No matter what we have to put up with it beats the hell out of sitting around in one place from now on. Even with the trucks, a helicopter, and everything else we could never have as much fun any other way. I just hope we don't piss off whoever is doing this for us," Selene said. "I don't see how they can expect anything else out of us. They've just dumped us here without any directions and all I know to do is the best I can. I don't know how they feel about what we did last time and I don't have a hint about what they feel about what we're doing now," I said. Nobody else had any suggestions and we basically finished our meal and cleaned up the dishes. We didn't get any visitors from the camp we'd helped out yesterday and were basically left to our own devices for the rest of the day. I gathered firewood most of the day and that was pretty much it. Nadla, Janat, and Dortalla were staying close to Jerrilyn's warm side and watching the cooking like hawks. Even the little bit of equipment we had for such must seem magical to them. It was fair. The little slices of heaven they had between their legs were magical to me and I considered it an even trade. I thought about teaching them to shoot, but decided not to. If I'd had sense enough to bring some modern day compound bows and arrows I might have tried them on those, but I just couldn't see trying to get them started with shotguns, rifles, and pistols in the here and now. If they went back home with us it would be different, but for here and now I decided against it. I guess it was the male chauvinist pig in me since I hadn't felt a bit of reluctance about teaching them fucking the modern way. What the hell? Sue me. I doubted we'd be teaching them to drive anytime soon either. That thought got my attention somehow and then I realized we could probably teach them to navigate one of the four wheelers, or several of them. Maybe tomorrow, but today I was gathering firewood. As long as we were without the butane, cooktop, and range I had thought up I was going to make sure we had plenty of firewood. We had a light lunch and a respectable supper and I went to sleep that night after being well abused by all the women present. I can remember hearing a thunderstorm blow up during the night, but I didn't think much of it. I did in the morning though because we were somewhere else when we woke up. I walked out of the cave mouth to look around and damned if we didn't seem to be in a pine forest. Hell's bells, we were in a pine forest all right. We were in the one right behind my house. In fact I walked about fifty feet from the cave entrance and I could see the new buildings that had just been erected. I walked back into the cave and started building the cooking fire. "Damn, it looks like we moved in the night. I can't see the ocean any more -- all I see is a bunch of pine trees," Jerrilyn said, as she came out of the tent. "You've got that right. Where do you remember seeing so many pine trees lately?" I asked. "Right behind our house. You don't mean it? Do you?" "Yep, we're back home, but we're in the woods behind the house." "Then why are you starting a fire?" "Because I don't want anything to slow down breakfast," I said. "Damn, we can do a lot better job on breakfast in the house. Let me tell the others," she said, and went right back in the tent. I didn't know what to think about all this. The woods were thick enough so no one was likely to notice one more hill back here, but what did it mean? I sure as hell didn't know, but I figured we could just sleep out here for a few nights the next time we decided we wanted to take a trip. It would be one hell of a lot easier. If this damned cave and hill were going with us everywhere we went we could stock up on hay more easily too. Hell, there was plenty of room inside it to store plenty of hay. Hell, feed too as far as that went. If our movers and shakers could just put this damned hill and cave anywhere and anywhen they wanted we could just wake up there and be done with the long truck trips. We wouldn't even have to worry about pitching the tent -- we could have a small house built inside here. It started me thinking and I snagged the Blackberry and called my favorite carpenter, Vanina Green. He said he could be out to meet me in an hour or so and I told him to bring his coffee cup cause we'd have plenty ready. We all climbed in our Fire Humvee and headed for the house. It looked a little odd outside to see the helicopter's pad without the helicopter on it, but we could move it later in the day. The very latest arrivals were gobsmacked over the house when we pulled up to it, and I'm sure they were at least a little surprised over the ride up to it too. Nadla, Janat, and Dortalla were just looking around wide eyed, but they were keeping a close eye on Jerrilyn, having rightly figured out she would be the one to tell them what went where. Of course they were surprised when we made our next move into the new shower and bathroom. There was plenty of room for my increased harem now and I was a little surprised at how nice it was to see so many naked women stripping off and getting wet and soapy. I washed all the hair they'd let me and then rinsed off, got out and dried off, and put on some jeans and a work shirt. I was just in time to answer the door and let Vanina in. I told him I'd lied about the coffee, but I got busy and made a pot and soon enough we were sitting at the kitchen table drinking our share. Jerrilyn, Jacky, and Selene came in not long afterward and started on breakfast. I know Vanina had seen the three of them before, and as a matter of fact he had to have seen Christine, but he was still looking a little surprised by the number of cooks I had. Christine, Jan, and Sharon came in next and upped the ante and then the rest trailed in. Nadla, Janat, and Dortalla were looking nearly as surprised to see Vanina as he was to see them and the other and I was busy introducing him to all of them. He was surprised again when he got the second plate of breakfast that appeared right with mine and he protested that he'd already eaten. "Eat again then. We've already cooked it now and we don't want to see it go to waste," Jerrilyn said, and Vanina dug in too. After breakfast Vanina and me rode over to the cave in the Fire Hummer and he was amazed. "I didn't even know this was back here," he said. "It wasn't. I had it flown in," I told him, and then laughed and he did too. He never did figure out I was telling him the truth. We walked into the cave and the first thing he saw was the fence of gates we'd made. I started there and told him I wanted a real wooden fence there and I also told him I wanted a big hayrack with feeding troughs beneath it. "I want the hay racks up higher and I want a sort of shelf beneath them to feed in. That way the hay that falls when they pull it from the hayrack will end up in the trough and there'll be less waste. I also want a hole in the back of the feeding apparatus so we can just put the feed through from the outside." He took it all in, but only made a few comments and suggestions. One excellent point he made was about separate stalls -- or more like dividers between feeding places. "If they all think they have their own place to eat there'll be less fighting and fooling around. When you put in the feed they can just all hunt a hole to get theirs and they won't be stealing from each other. Having the hay racks there too will just get them more used to it." He didn't see any problems with fixing me up on this part, but he balked a little over the house I wanted built inside the cave. "Do you want a regular roof on it too?" he asked. "Might as well. I know it ain't likely to rain in here, but we might as well make it normal looking, and the roof will keep dust out of the house, won't it?" "I guess it will, and if you want it to be here permanently I guess a roof would be bests." There were numerous details to work out and when I told him the cooking would probably be on a wood stove and the eating would be picnic style he said I should get with my wives and decide if they really wanted to cook inside and have to bring the food out to the table outside. I made a spot decision and told him to just build a large one-room building with a large bath. That brought on questions about a septic tank and a well for water, but they were mostly for my deliberation since he didn't really need to know about things like that to get started. Finally we went back to the house and he took off to go order the materials. ------- Chapter 50 I basically fucked around for the rest of the day. I moved the horses, mules, and donkeys into there regular area around the barn and seriously considered having a stronger wooden fence put up since Vanina had claimed to have built several out of crossties and rough-sawn lumber. It was definitely on my list of things to do. I also took over the job of cleaning and oiling all the guns we had and it was more than a few hours work. In fact I could see a couple of days worth of it stretching out ahead of me. After I'd piddled most of the day I decided I was being a complete dumbass about the whole house in the cave deal and I began letting the girls into the planning. Of course it called for a trip out there and the girls did Vanina and me one better. They brought a tape measure. Kahlila took control of the pad and pencil while Jerrilyn, Jacky, Selene, and Christine handled the tape. I could see it was going to take a full railcar load of soapstone to even lay this job out so I concentrated on saying yes ma'am, no ma'am, and I don't know ma'am for the rest of the day. I didn't have to wonder about the water-well and septic tank after they were done because they had it all drawn out to their specifications. My only job was breaking the news to Vanina the next morning. The girls took pity on me though and they fixed a big supper, fucked me half to death at bedtime, and fixed me an even bigger breakfast the next morning along with three of the large thermoses of coffee to take out to the jobsite as a peace offering. The even promised some edible treats for around ten AM. I scrambled out the door when I heard Vanina's pickup pass by on the way to the cave and I was just in time with the coffee since several of his men were about to open theirs for the first cup. "You must have talked things over with the women and have new instructions," Vanina said, as soon as I got out of the Hummer. "How did you know?" I asked. "I figured you were being a little lax about the details yesterday and with all the women around I thought you must not have talked things over with them or you'd have been more specific. "Does it need to be much larger?" he asked. "No, not really, much bigger, but I do have a place marked out for the septic tank and the well now," I said. "Well, we won't be doing that anyway, but you'd better call Fix Your Well pretty soon, because I've heard he's behind schedule. He'll know the best person to get to set the septic tank too since he's the one who makes them." I went over the details with him and we hit one more snag. I thought it would be a big one, but he didn't. He'd planned on building the small house on pier and beam, but the girls had assumed it would be on a monolithic slab, and we made that change right away. He did point out I'd need to get a plumber out here before they poured the concrete though. He even recommended one and I wrote down the phone number. He set his men to digging the foundation and called the building materials place for some rebar, remesh, and visqueen vapor barrier. He wanted the men there would be multiple women out checking their work and they had better do a good job the first time because there would sure as hell be a next time if they didn't. Like any geek who was watching men work the time got away from me and the women were out with the homemade fried pies and donuts before I remembered to warn of their upcoming arrival. It didn't create a problem at all. When I tried one I knew why. They were delicious. While we were having our little snack Vanina asked me if I could move the helicopter out of the way and so I fired up the four-wheeler, attached the fork to the front tire and pulled it outside. "Do you fly that thing," he asked me. "Nope, but I can ride it just fine. Jan and Sharon do the flying, don't you girls?" I asked, and they admitted it and then hopped in and moved it up onto the helipad. The rest of the girls went back into the house after the pies were gone and Vanina reminded me again about calling the plumber, so I headed that way too. I had learned my lesson though and I asked the girls about the plumbing before I called. They demanded I call the one who'd put in the expanded bath and said they'd talk to him when he got there. I took the cowards way out and got them to call. The plumber must have been impressed with the promptness of payment last time because he was out within half an hour. Jerrilyn took him into the bath he'd just finished and then told him they wanted one just like it out in the cave, but they wanted a giant hot tub this time too. She let me take him to the cave. I was glad to see he knew Vanina and they seemed to get along well. He gave Vanina the lowdown on the size of the bathroom and Vanina stopped two of the men who were digging on the foundation right away. It seemed we needed an increase in size after all. No matter, all was well after they got their lies straight. Thankfully there was nothing left for me to do and I headed back toward the barn where our weapons waited. It made me remember I'd need a room to do such in the new house we were having built and I had to go back and speak to Vanina again. I came up apologizing and he told me to forget that after I told him what I needed. "It's no trouble to add to the length. While we're at this stage it's just more room to lay out. We have the width already and we can just keep adding to the end until we come to the edge of the cave. As far as building it is concerned it just means a couple more trusses added to the end." When he said that I told him to make it even six feet longer then, and he said he would. I finally got back to the barn and went to work on the weapons. As soon as I was cleaning out the first shotgun bore I remembered I needed to call Buster at Fix Your Well company to come out and see about drilling us a well. I luckily caught him and he came right out. I showed him where I wanted to well and then he had a question for me. "Do you want a deep well or a shallow well?" he asked, and I had to admit I didn't know. He went over the differences with me and I chose a shallow well. I learned that a deep well usually meant at least three hundred feet deep but only six inches in diameter. A shallow well usually was no deeper than sixty feet and was thirty-six inches in diameter. The depth was what sold me, and I was only hoping it would go along with us. I was pretty sure a three-hundred foot well wouldn't make the trip. Of course I was only guessing, but it was all I had to go on. I lucked out since he said most of his customers wanted deep wells now and he could have his men out the next day to drill the shallow well. He even said he could send a backhoe out too and put in the septic tank and field lines while the men were here. Hell, I considered myself doing all the good now. Things were shaping right up for our traveling mountain. Finally I could go back to cleaning the weapons. I spent the rest of the day at it, and like I'd thought I would, I spent two more on the job too. While I was cleaning I remembered the trouble with the rhino and the mammoth and especially the difficulty killing them with a 30-06. That night I had Jacky find the web site for Barrett Arms and I took a look at what they had to offer. After breakfast the next morning I was on the phone to Barrett. I told them where I was and asked where the closest place I could go see their rifles was. It was Dallas of course, and I got the girls on board for the trip. My next job was talking to Vanina and telling him we'd be gone for about a week. He brought up money right away and so I told him I'd just let him be the paymaster while I was gone. He nearly shit when I brought him a bag with half a million dollars in it. Two hours later we were in the helicopter and headed for Dallas. The girls had called and made reservations again and we had zero trouble when we arrived. There was a little mix up with the limo since the one that came wasn't large enough for all of us this time, but hey cured it mighty fast and we were off to Cabellas. I went off to look at guns as soon as we got there, but the girls went to the fishing supplies. Apparently the short trip to the ocean had reminded them and they got busy getting ready for a fishing trip. I hadn't realized they'd buy a boat and motor while they were at it, but they did. It was some type of giant inflatable boat. I don't guess you could call it giant by normal boat standards, but as far as inflatables went it qualified as giant to me. Supposedly it would carry sixteen people in comfort. There was nothing comfortable about the damned motor they bought for it though. It was a forty horsepower outboard and it was a heavy bitch as far as I was concerned. The limo driver had to call a guy from their place with a pickup truck to take it back for us. As long as we were shopping we took our newest members for jeans, shirts, boots, and then were flew down to Austin for custom made boots and we also made it to Marty's hats for more hand made hats. I wasn't about to slight my newest cowgirls. Of course we went by our pet jeweler for more diamonds too. Our short trip to Dallas took a week in all and by the time we got back there had been some respectable progress made on the home front too. The well and septic tank were in place and the pump was even set. When I saw that I took one of the Generacs out of the truck it was riding in and fired it up to run the pump. It worked like a charm. "Damn, why didn't you tell me you had that?" Vanina asked, talking about the Generac. "You didn't ask. Do you need to use it?" "It would be a big help. Although I've about got the men broke to using handsaws again by now. What do I have to do to make it come on?" he asked. "It's all automatic, but I can switch it to standby and it will keep running while you're here. Just switch it off when you leave in the afternoon." ------- Chapter 51 Apparently the carpenters still remembered how to use their Skilsaws because I heard them squealing on and off for the rest of the day. I examined the house, inside and out, and it looked fine to me. Of course it would look fine to me, but the real inspection would come when the women went over it. The only three I didn't expect trouble from were the latest members, but I knew the others would be teaching them well. Jerrilyn got on my case about buying more hay since we'd have room to store it now and she also mentioned I'd want to remove the hay from the trailer where it was now taking up space and stack it out with the new batch I'd be ordering. I put her off so that I could stack it in the first out position and it got her think about the stocks food supply and mentioned I should have a feed room built inside the cave too. I made another trip out to talk with Vanina and he said he could fix me right up. "I can even supply you with some barn cats to help keep the rats down," he said, and I knew that would be a bargain. A good barn cat was worth its weight in feed anyway if not in gold. You'd think you could just go to an animal shelter and pick up a few cats, but I'd tried that before and it didn't work worth a shit. Someone finally told me that catching and eating rats and mice was learned behavior. I didn't believe them at first, but I asked Whooper about it and he swore it was the truth. I figured anyone who owned a feed store would know. He told me when they got a good cat they had to keep an eye on it to make sure someone didn't run off with it. "Shoot, if just any cat would catch mice and rats do you think they'd be hanging around the animal shelter waiting for people to come adopt them? If they'd all do it there'd be a line at the animal shelter. Breed or other details don't seem to make any difference, but if you have a cat that you know catches mice you need to hold onto it like a treasure. Especially a momma cat. It's the mothers that teach the young ones how to do it and if they don't then the cat is worthless." At least I got Whooper to order me two truckloads of alfalfa hay for the cave. I was going to start out with two loads and see how much room they took up. Vanina told me I should also get some common or coastal bermuda too. "Horses don't care much for Bahia grass, but it does fine for cows. Common bermuda hay is the best for horses, except for alfalfa or course. Coastal bermuda makes good hay for horses since it chokes out almost everything else. That's the drawback with common bermuda hay. It lets too many weeds grow along with it. And I'm sure you know about blister beetles you can get with alfalfa. They'll kill a horse if it gets a bunch of 'em," Vanina said. I'd heard of blister beetles before and I knew they could cause a lot of damage to horses that ate them. The trouble was the beetles made nests in the growing hay and then they nests got harvested with the hay. It was something you just had to watch for. They were annoying too boot, because it made feeding alfalfa hay a chancy thing. You couldn't just put out a bale of hay, you had to break it open and look through the hay before you put it in a hayrack. It made it a lot more profitable to buy alfalfa hay from a reputable provider. Two more weeks went by and the house was finished. The plumber was nearly the last one through and the giant hot-tub the girls specified caused most of the trouble, but I figured it would be worth it to me in the long run. Not only from the soothing relaxation, but also because of the scenery I'd have while I was relaxing in the tub. After the building and plumbing and wiring was over I felt like I'd done one hell of a job. I really hadn't done much of it except watch over the operation, but I was sure ready for it to be finished when it was. Apparently the girls were ready too, and they weren't only ready for the house. Most of them were ready for another trip. We were all assuming it was why the hill and cave had been set down in our back yard. When the carpenters turned the job over as finished we had a hell of a setup. There would be no more cooking on an open fire, or not much of it anyway. Jerrilyn had found a place to order an old-fashioned wood cook stove and she had also ordered a five-hundred-gallon propane tank and a propane stove and oven too, along with a propane water heater and clothes dryer. Hell, we basically had all the comforts of home out in the cave, along with a real home to go with it. Now that the workers were gone the girls got busy unpacking the trailers and storing the things in and around the house. Our clothes went inside, but almost everything else went outside. After all if the cave wasn't waterproof we were going to be fucked, but we were sure it was. When they finally decided they had everything ready we started sleeping out in our new house. We had a big hot-tub party the first night and it was everything I'd looked forward to and more. I'd just thought a big shower was inspiring when it was full of naked women -- the hot-tub had it beat hands down. Another nice thing was the careful application of carpet for around the hot-tub. Selene had picked it out and it was supposed to be waterproof and easy to clean too. At first it was a little odd to me to see them putting down a wooden floor out in the cave, but I'd wised up when the men came to lay the carpet on it. It even covered all the room around our kitchen, which was just an arrangement of tables, chairs, counter top, sinks, and dishwasher on a carpeted floor out inside the cave. The refrigerators were out there too, including the large walk in cooler and freezer they girls had insisted on. We were set up to travel in a big way, but none of it would go anywhere without intervention. We didn't understand where the intervention would be coming from, but we hoped it would just show up. We spent three nights in the new digs without going anywhere. I was beginning to wonder if they had canceled out ride until I saw what we were missing. We hadn't put the helicopter inside. It was the first thing I did the next morning. I checked the helo to make sure it was full of fuel and then towed it back in place with my big four-wheeler. That very night a big storm blew in and the next morning we woke up elsewhere and presumably elsewhen. Our location wasn't so exotic this time. We weren't on a beach, but we were out in a giant pasture. There was a river not far from the entrance to the cave and the women were already thinking about putting their boat in the water. "I think we should wait a day of so on the boat just to see what we're in for here," I said, and they agreed, but only just. I spent my time roaming around the entrance and then later around the outer circumference of the hill. It was pretty much stuck out in the middle of nowhere with a fairly flat pasture-like terrain around us. I used the binoculars liberally and didn't really see anything. Not for the first hour or so that is. Later I could see what looked like a dark brown stain covering the land and it must have been at least two miles out. I couldn't see anything but dark brown at first, but later I decided it was a giant herd of bison heading generally out way. Here was something I thought I could deal with. Buffalo. They were a lot like cattle weren't they? At least I didn't think they were dangerous, like saber tooth cats, or mammoths, or rhinos. Just ordinary grass eaters and they seemed content to just move along and eat grass. It suited me fine and if they came closer I might take one and give the girls a chance to try out their big new electric meat slicer and sausage mill. Oh yes. The hand-cranked slicer had fallen out of favor while we were at home. Now that we had the electric service squared away they'd invested in a butcher shop style slicer and grinder. Hell, they could make hamburger in bulk with that new grinder. I thought they could probably put fifty pounds of meat at a time on its feed tray. It was huge. They had even bought a butcher block and I don't mean a used one either. They had found a butcher supply house and bought a brand new butcher block along with numerous knives, cleavers, and meat saws to go along with it. We were now fully prepared to cut up anything we killed. In fact I had a hint already just who the intended to draft into the meat cutting business. At least they'd bought a small chain hoist to help with the heavy lifting. I was merrily watching the buffalo graze across the pastureland when I spotted some smaller creatures on the edges of the herd. Hell fire, they were men, and they were hunting. I wondered what the hell they were doing running around among the buffalo. Surely they didn't want to get caught in a stampede. Apparently they weren't familiar with the stampede. Hell, they'd probably never seen a cowboy movie anyway. The more I watched them the more I could tell about them. They seemed to be what I would have called Indians in my youth and days of playing cowboys and. One thing I noticed right away was they weren't mounted. They were doing all their hunting by running around on the ground on their feet. To tell the truth they looked more like they were worrying the piss out of the buffalo than actually hunting them. One bunch of them seemed to have cut a cow and calf out of the herd and they seemed to be involved in a game of chase with them. I did notice they seemed to be working the cow and calf away from the herd. Suddenly one of them ran up near the large cow and jabbed a lance into it. The cow didn't appear to like this one damned bit and it turned to fight its attacker off. Just then another one snuck up on its other side and repeated the process. The cow still seemed mobile and ready to rumble, but the two who had speared her were up near her head and seemed to be taunting her. I realized they were keeping her attention while another one of them was approaching from the rear. The one sneaking up on her struck her low down on one of her rear legs and then jumped back and did it to her other one. I was getting the notion of what was going on now. Apparently he had cut the tendons on her rear legs and it had seriously injured her locomotion. It became quickly apparent that the cow couldn't move properly any longer and several other men closed in with the longer spears then and finished her off. Two of them took care of the calf now too. Suddenly I noticed more of them approaching, but I could tell right away they were women and as they came up and took over dealing with the kills the men started off for another example. Truthfully I was fascinated. I mean as a child I'd played cowboys and Indians for hours on end, but I'd never had any idea this was the way buffalo were killed. I'll admit I always pictured the Indians riding horses and shooting the buffalo with bows and arrows. My first inclination was to saddle a horse, grab a rifle, and ride out to help them, but I got hold of myself thank the Lord. I was sure I wouldn't be able to talk to them and equally sure they would misunderstand what I was doing. I'll admit I wanted to down a buffalo of my own, possibly for supper, but there was no sense in rushing into things. I called the girls to help me look things over. ------- Chapter 52 We were all staring out at the Indians and the massive herd of buffalo. The hunters were moving in on another cow to cut out of the herd and I was watching them closely to see how they did it. Apparently they were not frightening to the mass of the herd, but just as obviously the ones near them realized they were up to no good. The scene was playing out as if for my viewing pleasure along when I heard thunder rumbling off in the distance. I wondered if a storm was brewing and also wondered how the rain would affect the goings on. It turned out I needn't have worried about the rain disturbing the hunting. It was the lightning and thunder that did it in. Suddenly a massive bolt struck on the other side of them from our location. I counted and came up with twelve, which to my mind put the strike at two miles away. No matter the distance it was too damned close to suit the buffalo and they panicked and bolted. I saw several of the men run over and I'm sure most of them were trampled; I just couldn't see them all get it. The women had been smarter than the men, or at least they had thought faster this time. They had stopped what they were doing with the first rumble, and when they heard the second one they had started running, heading directly for a creek-bed they had come from in the first place. Their direction of travel did more for their safety than the proposed destination though. My quick estimate was that the women and the children cut the angle on the stampede by about fifty feet. Of course that was only for the last ones in line -- the hindmost I guess you'd say. Others of them who started sooner or ran faster had more clearance. Unfortunately not a single man escaped, even though two of them did try leaving stage left, as Yogi Bear or Boo Boo might have said. The Buffalo had up a head of steam by now and damned if they didn't seem to be heading straight toward our cave's entrance. I ran back inside quickly and all I could think of to do was pull one of the horse trailers across the entrance to block them out. I was the last one back inside though and within five seconds of my coming back inside the cave I heard a loud slamming sound behind me. In spite of the emergency I turned around to look and I could see something was now covering the opening. I could still see out of it, but the view wasn't nearly as clear as it had been before and it looked for all the world like there was a semitransparent rock wall covering the opening now. I approached it and put my hand against it. It was completely smooth on our side and I could see my hand had been stopped at least twelve inches from the other side of the covering which had fallen into place. The rocky look was caused by the other side since it was not smooth at all. In fact it looked like I was looking at the back side of a rock wall. I just happened to be able to see through it. The buffalo were approaching it by now and I could see those headed right for it were veering off now and attempting to go around. This was very weird to me, but I guess it wasn't any weirder than the damned little hill moving us around in time and space. A few of the bison couldn't make the bend and slammed into the door which had been closed in their faces. Apparently those who did had slowed down since they scrambled off to follow the others. My next thought was how were we going to get this door opened again. I didn't ask aloud since I didn't want it opened quite yet. There were still thousands of buffalo headed our way after all. Still, I wondered about it. Was it going to open as automagically as it had closed? And that was another thing. Had it waited until I came back inside to close? I could clearly remember I had been standing outside the opening and had only turned around to try moving a trailer into place to close the door, so to speak. I guess we'd see later if it opened on its own after the danger was over. The women were all staring at the opening now and watching the buffalo go by. Luckily they hadn't thought of any questions for me yet, because I sure as hell hadn't thought up any answers. "Funny," I said, "I don't remember telling Vanina to put in a door." "It's damned sure a good thing somebody put one in. I'd have hated it a lot if they'd all rushed in here with us. I hate to say it, but I don't think I could have remembered to get up in a truck before they squashed me," Jerrilyn said. "Me both, Jerrilyn, me both. I'm really proud of whoever or whatever thought to install that door right now. I mean, I wouldn't mind cooking a little buffalo, but that looked like more than we could fit on the stove," Christine said. Most of the women were still flummoxed over the whole thing. Especially Nancy, Hope, Charity, and all those who came after. The ones who'd figured it out were busily explaining what they could about it to them now. Jan, Sharon, and Jenny were commenting on how glad they were the helicopter wasn't out in the danger zone and that was something I was glad about too, but mostly I was just glad all out people had been inside the cave. I was especially glad I'd thought to run inside it at the last. Suddenly the damned thing started rising and when I looked out I could see there were no more buffalo headed out way so I guessed the danger was well and truly over. I headed back outside almost right away. "Where are you going?" Jerrilyn yelled as I walked out of the cave. "I'm going to go see if any of the natives need our help," I said. "Not without a firearm you aren't. Get back in here and get to packing. We don't intend for you to leave us stranded here," Selene said, and it did make sense. I went into the house and strapped on my gunbelt, the one whit three holsters and a pistol for each. I also picked up my modified M1. Jerrilyn, Jacky, Christine, and Selene came in too and they all grabbed up their shotguns and belted on their holsters with pistols. They all had a little bag for their gun belts now which held shotgun shells. When we were all ready we headed out. It wasn't hard to follow the back trail the stampede had left, but it was a long walk to the first body. It was of one of the men who'd tried to follow the women. The other one wasn't far from him and neither of them could benefit from any help we could provide, except if we took time to bury them. We found other bodies among the torn up earth of the grassland, most of them were so badly destroyed we couldn't have noticed them without the red stains and their torn up clothes. It was truly a catastrophe. There were twelve dead men in all. I noticed the women and children headed toward us as we look around. I knew we were in for a lot of hand waving and repeating while trying to make sense of things and I was equally convinced I wouldn't be much help. Luckily the women who came migrated to my women for their talks. To top it all off the first kills the men had made were ruined in the trampling also, so the women and children hadn't even gained the benefit from the initial kill. I told Jerrilyn to tell the women I would kill some bison for them if they needed the meat. She said she would as soon as they could communicate. I headed back to the cave and I was surprised to see Jerrilyn, Jacky, and the rest of my women leading the others to follow me. I assumed they would be eating with us tonight, but I actually hoped I wouldn't be called upon to service any of the widows. It wasn't that they weren't good looking either. I had noticed several who looked very good in their skimpy skin garb. The truth was I just didn't feel like it right now. When we made it back to the cave I noticed Jerrilyn started a normal fire for cooking and they reverted to the old fashioned way of getting the food ready. Mainly roasting meat on sticks or with portable grates over the fire. The children were almost all fairly young and they seemed amazed about the horses in their pen. I went over and saddled my Arabian stallion and then rode him outside and back in. After he was settled I told Jerrilyn I would give all the children a ride if they wanted one and she did some talking to the women and soon enough the children were all lined up for a turn. There were only four boys, but eight young girls. All but one of the girls seemed less than ten years old and none of the boys seemed over eight. Jerrilyn got something started with the women I did approve of shortly. She had them bathing in the hot tub. I don't know what she told them, but I did notice they didn't seem to think it was out of the ordinary for me to be looking them over. Maybe it wouldn't be too much of a strain for me to service a few of them after all. After the children had all had a ride some of the women wanted one of their own. What the hell, none of them were fattys at all and I was glad to help out. From the first they wrapped their arms around me tightly and made sure they were close against me. A couple of them even felt they needed to explore my dick while we were riding and of course I wanted to be neighborly so I let them have at it. Two were so good at it I started to unzip my pants and let him out, but I managed to restrain myself at the last. By the time all the rides were over and I'd put the horse away preparations for a meal were well underway. We weren't having fresh meat, but I knew we had plenty of it in storage anyway. The condemned man had a hearty meal. After the sun went down I noticed there had been some changes in our sleeping arrangements. Bedding had been brought out and put down on the carpeted section of the floor. It was mostly pillows and blankets, but I saw the reason for it as soon as we headed to bed and I had to say I was all for it. The children had all been put down to the side and the women were all sleeping with us. Sleeping wasn't what they had on their minds at first though. Apparently my services had been volunteered and I did yeoman's service that night if I do say so myself. Hell, it was easy. What man couldn't rise to the occasion when twelve extra women dropped in for a little shot of dick. I worked late into the night on them. I was even happy about it the next morning when I saw the native women didn't think they needed to get clothes on as soon as they got up. They paraded around naked for nearly an hour before they started putting on their skins. While they were dressing I noticed they didn't think any type of underwear was necessary and later on, during the day, I took advantage of the fact and managed to pet several if not all asses. They were readily available so if not, why not. Breakfast was cooked a little more normally. At least the women used frying pans and cooked eggs and made biscuits. There were plenty of mouths to feed, but we had plenty of food so everything went well. As soon as I finished eating I walked out of the entrance and spotted what I figured was the same herd of buffalo back for another pass at the grass outside. I didn't intend to get caught out there afoot among 'em so I saddled the Arabian, took my M1 and went out to see about bagging some fresh meat. The buffalo didn't pay me a bit of mind on horseback and I rode to within a hundred yards of them and started firing. I stopped after killing six younger males and then rode back to the cave and hopped on my four-wheeler, taking some stout rope with me. Of course all the women had come out to see what the noise was about and when the new arrivals saw me pull the first one back near us they took over the cleaning and cutting up. I returned for the others and as soon as I let one go some of the women would descend on it and begin doing their duty. It was a great way to start the day. ------- Chapter 53 The new women took to their cleaning and cutting up duties with a will, and I noticed when my women tried to help they new ones were kind and tried to help them catch on to what they were doing. I could also tell that whenever one of the women who had come with me tried to help they ended up slowing down the process. Except for Nadla, Janat, and Dortalla. They fit right in with the women who were doing most of he work and I assumed it was because they were used to doing things the way the new women did them. I also noticed they were using flint shards as knives, just exactly like the other women were. My uptime lovelies all had more normal to me knives and apparently they weren't as sharp of as handy as the flint shards. I'd be wanting to examine the flint knives later and I might also want to see about gathering some flint and trying to learn to knap flint myself. I decided not to try learning about cleaning and cutting up bison for the time being, but when they got the first skin off they used it as a place to stack the meat they were cutting up and then a couple of the women started cutting the meat up into smaller thin strips. It dawned on me they were cutting it up for drying or jerking and I knew we had an easier way of doing it inside. I got with Nadla and Jerrilyn and got the notion over to them and soon they were explaining it to the other women. Especially to the two who were cutting the meat into the thin strips. Soon enough they had pointed out the butcher block and then Jerrilyn was running pieces of the meat through the slicer. The helpful shall not go unpunished. It was a law of nature and I knew it, but I got another reminder right away. Since the meat was being sliced so quickly now the women were behind on making the drying racks for spreading it on. With a mention from Jacky I was pressed into service cutting and trimming small trees, and I do mean small ones. As soon as I started providing the materials one of the other women came over and began lashing them into the drying racks and soon enough the sliced meat was being spread over them and fires started being built on the floor so smoke would keep insects off the drying meat and also to help with the actual drying. I mostly watched after I was finished gathering wood for the racks and I thought I detected an improved attitude among the women that had recently joined us. I didn't ask any questions since I knew I wouldn't get any answers if I did, but it just seemed the women were more enthusiastic about their work than they had been at first. Jerrilyn came over to give me the info about it a little later and I was surprised about the reason. "They are proud of you," she said. "Why?" "They have never had all their men go out and bring back this much meat in a day, or even three days. That isn't it entirely though. They consider all the magic here your magic and they are really proud of the job the slicer is doing. They though they would be working for days to get the six bison you brought in taken care of and now they think they'll get done today. I think they're very happy with the advance payment they gave you last night," she said, and then laughed. "Oh, was that what it was? An advanced payment for services to be rendered?" "Of course. You didn't think it was all on your good looks did you?" "Well. I could dream couldn't I?" "It's us uptime women who are fucking your brains out over your good looks. These women have to be more practical about things. They need to make sure they're doling out the pussy to someone who can bring home the bacon. You have really made an impression on them though. "In fact you made one in the furs last night. I heard them talking and for once I could understand them. They could hardly believe you were able to dip your wick in every one of them, and us too besides. I think they consider it more of your magic," she said. "Well, it's about time someone realized I had a magic dick." "The rest of us knew it already, but we didn't say anything because we didn't want to get your head swelled. You're like the Energizer Tommy, but you just keep fucking and fucking." "Well, I strive to please." "And you do a damned good job of it too. What's more, you're rich," she said, and then giggled at me. At last I saw something that made me feel better about things. Christine and Selene gave up the pretense of helping with the skinning, cutting up, and cleaning. They headed for the kitchen, built a fire in the big woodstove and started cooking things. It was a sure sign lunch was on the way and I noticed a big buffalo roast going into the oven, along with a few fresh steaks being put into frying pans on the cook top. While they'd been at it Vanina and his men had built us a nice big picnic table to replace the store bought model we'd been using. We had stored the purchased product away, but it was coming back out now since there were even more of us than could sit at the new one he'd built now. When food started getting ready to eat I noticed that the children were served first and it made sense since it would take a load off the arrangements when it came time for the women to eat. A few minutes later Jacky came over and wanted to know if I could build something to hold a roasting spit over a fire on the ground. She wanted a type of stand to hold up a spit on both ends. The women wanted to roast larger sections of meat by placing it over the fire and then turning it to cook it. I fished out a double bit axe and went outside to select a likely tree and I was soon busily making what they wanted. To make sure the uprights stayed where I put them I dug postholes and planted the uprights. Next, I cleaned off a straight small tree trunk and sharpened one end so it could be forced through the meat. Soon enough there was a fire going between the uprights and not long afterwards the spit was loaded with meat and place on the groves I'd cut in the top of the uprights. There was cooking going on all over and I appreciated it. We broke for lunch about then. The children had already been fed and put on their pallets for a nap and it was adults sitting at tables and eating now. Of course there had been plenty of cornbread made and the new women were in love with it. Especially after Nadla showed them how to dip it into the gravy that had come about from the roasting pan in the stove. After lunch was over they went back to tending to the bison and the new women got another blast of technology when Selene showed them how to wrap the meat in butcher paper and put it in the walk-in cooler and some of it in the walk-in freezer. They understood the benefits at once, but seemed perplexed about the source for the cold. I sure as hell wasn't going to explain there was no source for cold since there was only a removal of heat, and I didn't want to go into that either. They all sat around at the table talking for about an hour after lunch and then they got right back to business. I was called on for more building later in the afternoon and it was for racks to stretch the skins on. Of course I had to gather materials again, but the racks weren't hard to make. It merely required an outline of a square large enough to get a full skin attached to the outer poles. From there it was stretched by pulling the small rawhide strings they tied it on with tighter. After the skins were all installed on the new racks most of the women followed me around while I fed the horses. I put hay in the racks first, and after the horses moved into their feeding stalls I poured a coffee can of feed into each of their feeding troughs through the holes Vanina and his men had left for the purpose. The downtime women were mostly amazed by the whole process, and no doubt they wondered what we were going to so much trouble for. I figured they could be clued into the details more fully later, after we could come closer to speaking each other's languages. Soon enough the sun went down and my uptime girls got things moving toward another bath. Tonight all the children got a ride in the bathtub and a good scrubbing and then we ran them all through the shower too. They were very fond of the shower. I'll admit I watched the whole thing and paid close attention to the younger girls. Not the babies of course, but here were a few who were beginning to bloom and I took note of the ones with the biggest titty swellings and I looked closely for any pubic hair making an appearance, but I didn't spot any yet. After the kids were dry and put to bed I was once again surrounded with naked women for my viewing pleasure. Tonight I tried to help out with the hand washing they all got. I thought of myself as doing an excellent job on making sure all their titties were clean. They returned the favor and my dick was sparkling clean before we put it to work. By the time we were dry and piled into the furs I was ready for action. I had noticed that even though all the new women weren't beauties they were all good looking and well built. Their naturally hard life kept fat from rearing its ugly head and they had buns of steel obtained the honest way. They worked for them. I couldn't find an ass to pat that wasn't round and firm and fully packed. When I finally settled down to sleep I was well fucked with capital letters and I slept like a baby all night through. Then suddenly, just before first light, I was jarred awake by the sound of the magic door slamming shut. I was up and dragging on pants right away. ------- Chapter 54 I felt safe enough for the moment since the door was down. I decided it would be best to at least drag on some clothes before I went to see who was knocking. After I had my clothes on and my three gun belt and holster rig I walked toward the new door and noticed six men standing outside it, looking it over with puzzlement on their faces. Most of the women had started crawling out of the furs when I got up and now I could see a few were dressed. I called Jerrilyn and Selene over since they seemed ready to go. The men were dressed in period garb and in my opinion they were from the period for real. Those weren't costumes for fooling us. They each carried a sturdy thrusting spear, but I wondered what they wanted. No doubt they'd been able to see inside before they triggered whatever it took to bring the door down. I'll admit I would have closed it before sleeping if I'd known how to get it done. Jerrilyn and Selene had come without bringing their arms, but as soon as they saw the men with spears in hand at the door they went back and picked up a shotgun each. Apparently the also mentioned our visitors to the other women, because all of them who knew about guns came back armed. We now outnumbered the men at the door and we were all armed with modern weapons. The unarmed women came up behind my armed and dangerous bunch shortly and I could tell the men could see through the door just as we could. They got agitated at the site of the downtime women from this time and began yelling something to them and motioning for them to come to them. One of the women who was seemingly a leader among our recent arrivals said something to Jerrilyn then and before I knew what was happening two more from the new group had joined her. Selene, Christine, and Nancy were also huddled around them and before long the damnedest bunch of hand waving and jabbering you ever heard broke out. I could tell the women were all trying to communicate and none of them had breakfast in mind yet. I went to make a pot of coffee and wait for a consensus to be arrived at. I was working on my first cup before Jerrilyn and Selene came over to try and give me the gist of things. "Bejahwa says this is a group of men from their former camp. Apparently they have decided these are too many women to lose just because their mates were killed. The women do not want to leave with them. They say they will have no prospect for another mate back in their former camp. They will mostly just be kept to do extra work," Jerrilyn told me, explaining the situation. "Well, it seems they intend to stay and hope the door opens again. The three in front seem the most adamant. If we can get the door open let's try to kill them first and then see how it goes with the others." "Are you sure we need to kill any of them?" Selene asked. "It seems our only option to me. They all have spears in hand and they won't have a clue about our weapons. They will see me as unarmed and the only male here. They're bound to think of me as easy pickings." "You're probably right, but it seems a shame they have to die to find out," Christine said. "I happen to think it would be an even bigger shame if I had to let one of them jab me with one of those pig stickers. Remember, they are used to hunting buffalo by chasing them until they are to tired to fight." "You do have a point there, and I guess any diplomatic advances we make to them will necessitate a show of force first," Christine said. "Well what are we going to do then?" Jerrilyn asked. "I don't think we can do anything until the door opens," I said. "That's right. We don't have a way to signal it. There's no switch or button or anything," Selene said. "Please open the door," I said, to the room at large, and damned if it didn't start up. It caused a good bit of excitement among the men outside and one of them hit the ground and crawled under it as soon as there was room for him. Somehow it triggered something and the door stopped in its tracks, but two others started crawling under it at once. The first one through started yelling at us and then charged toward me with his spear. It was about as far as I wanted to go toward a peaceful meeting of the minds and I drew and nailed him in the chest. He stopped right away, fell to the ground, and began the complicated process of bleeding to death. He seemed to get the job done rather quickly. It was in plenty of time for the next two to reconsider their options. I was standing there with one pistol already in hand and I'd already eared back the hammer for the next shot. One of them must have thought the first one's death a big lie, because he got up and raced toward me suddenly. He wasn't faster than my trigger finger though and even though he died more slowly, it wasn't much more slowly. The third one looked things over carefully for a few seconds and then made a charge of his own. I wondered about modern man springing up from them and their unobservant actions, but I shot this one all the same and he died quickly. Apparently the three left outside were more contemplative in nature. None of them were trying to slip in under the door. I asked the ceiling again to raise the door and it started up again. The men outside mostly stood by watching without trying to enter and when I finally walked toward them they turned and ran. As I made it to the door I could see they were keeping it up. They were already a respectable distance away and seemed to be gaining speed with every step. The downtime women seemed to be pleased with the outcome and they also knew what to do now. They stripped the bodies bare and then dragged them outside and about a hundred yards from the opening. One of them, I think it was Bejahwa wasn't through collecting souvenirs though. She took a flint shard and carefully removed the scrotums of the men. She didn't even bother with the testicles and left them hanging without their natural covering. I didn't guess it really mattered. To say the least I was curious about her upcoming use for the removed organs. It didn't take long for me to discover what she had in mind. She soon had them turned inside out and was scraping out the inside. She then retrieved a handful of hay for each and stuffed them full and I knew she intended to tan the hides and use them for something. It made me feel just a little uneasy around her for a short time anyway. Meanwhile all the rest of the women were involved in cooking and it was something I approved of. Breakfast was ready soon and I did my best to show them how much I liked it. Somehow I had also acquired three or four servers who would grab up my coffee cup for a refill as soon as I sat it down empty. Naturally I thanked them with a gentle pat on the ass for this excellent service and soon they were giggling after each thank you I doled out. After we were done and the kitchen area was cleaned up I thought about our trip so far. It seemed to me the women of this time got all the shit work while the men spent their time hunting and mostly fucking off and causing trouble the rest of the time. Pretty much like modern times if you asked me. I decided to see if I could change the equation, a little at least, but then I remembered I hadn't laid in a supply of compound bows the last time I'd thought of teaching their use. I considered teaching them to make normal bows and arrows, but then I remembered one thing that would be difficult to teach them to make. Bowstrings would be a bitch. Sure, they could make them out of rawhide sooner or later, but rawhide didn't make a very good bowstring and in the end I put it off. Besides, if I taught them to make bows, arrows, and bowstrings it would mean I was getting them ready to turn them loose to fend for themselves. If they wanted to I could live with it, but as long as they wanted to hang around with us I was going to let them. If they were here when we went back, so be it. I had a strong feeling I wasn't going to have any shit out of the INS and besides, they were Native Americans. Let the INS try to figure that one out. Hell, I might even enjoy them trying to find a translator. ------- Chapter 55 I was busily watching the women working and marveling at what they accomplished. A little later I considered what killing the men would lead to. No doubt they were only and advance party from some other group, and if all the women I'd gained lately were any sign I figured the group would be a large one. Suddenly the whole business with the door came back to me. It was apparent something or someone was listening to us. I got a feeling we had been shepherded around from the get go, or at least for the last few months. We had been moved the first time and had gained the traveling hill with the large cave in it. Surely it wasn't just an accident. Later we had improved the hill, or at least the cave, and then it had been used to transport us here. Things were getting curiouser and curiouser as they went along. Somehow we had acquired a giant spatial and temporal displacement hill. It was as if we had been provided the hill and cave for our use moving around in time and space. After my discovery of someone or something actually listening to us I was fairly stumped. It also made me wonder if this was more of the same thing which had let me see the other cards when I was playing poker. To me it seemed something had latched onto me and discovered I was busily equipping myself for just such an adventure and had decided to provide a means for me to gather more and more money so I could buy more and more things to take along with me. Then they had provided this cave in the hill to make our travels even easier. I was into a daydreaming mode now, or I considered myself in one. I slipped over toward the big table, but before I sat down I poured myself another cup of coffee. I had a feeling I was onto something and I wanted to sit and think about it for a while anyway. I noticed Jerrilyn and Selene glancing at me a few minutes later, but they didn't approach and merely kept up what they were working on. I kept up my thinking. It finally occurred to me I might be able to exert a little control over our circumstances. It was obvious, since the actions of the door, that we were being watched and attended -- to some extent at least. It made me wonder if I had even more control. I just didn't know, but I thought I knew how to find out. Tonight, at bedtime, I would ask the ceiling to take us home for a couple of days. If a storm blew up and took us back I'd know more about things. I could also make a few better preparations for dealing with the situation here and we could pick up some clothes for the new women. They didn't especially need more clothes since the things they had made were serviceable, but I could see where it would be handier. It would help a lot for them to have some socks and boots. I had another little plan stirring in the back of my head too, but it could wait until tomorrow. I'd put it into play if we were able to get home tonight. My three young servers had come around and they were trying to retrieve my coffee mug without disturbing me. When I noticed I passed it to one of them and pulled the next closest into my lap. She was surprised, but turned into an enthusiastic participant when I began kissing her and fondling her goodies. Men are such pigs, but it hit me at once that my servers at least, didn't mind at all. She kissed me back as best she could without training and she cooed and giggled while I played with her titties and then slid my hand up under her animal skin skirt. Of course there were no panties in the way and I had a finger up her and her hips rocking before the coffee mug came back. I extracted my finger and hand to take a sip and the one I had captured vacated my lap. No matter, the other two were still close so I pulled the one who'd gone for the coffee aboard and kissed her soundly between sips. She happened to have the biggest titties of the three and I'm afraid I was tempted to give them a light mauling while I sat there and wished for a cigarette about two feet long. I guess Jerrilyn had enjoyed all of this she could stand, because she came over to talk to me. "What? Did you decide to take a fuck break in the middle of the day?" she asked, but her tone was more jovial than angry. "No. The fondling just sort of slipped up on me with these three standing around at my beck and call. What's the deal with them anyway? They seem to hang around me in case they can do something for me." "They're Bejahwa's idea. She assigned them to do whatever they're doing for you and they all seemed to be happy over the job. We quizzed her about it and the best we could understand out of her jabber told us she thought you were much too important a man to have to step and fetch for yourself. From your last little stunts it looks like they're also here to make sure your dick doesn't get too hard without someone to give it attention being handy," Jerrilyn said, and then gave me a big grin. "Sounds thoughtful. I wonder if they know about blowjobs?" "Well if they don't we can teach them right now. Turn around and sit the other way on the bench," she said. "When I did she shucked off her clothes, knelt on the carpet in front of me, and started rummaging around in my crotch. It only took seconds for her to locate the buttons of my fly, but then again, I had to remove my gunbelt and lift my ass off the seat to let her get my pants and drawers down in good order. My three serving girls were amazed, but watching closely by now. Jerrilyn popped my cock knob into her mouth and commenced slurping. She gave me a good one-pass treatment and then took her mouth off to signal the others to watch even more closely. As soon as she was sure they were paying attention she resumed her work, but she didn't finish it. She had me more than interested though and I joined in enough to lean forward and palm both of her magnificent titties. I could tell she was getting some mileage out of showing off, because her nipples were at full attention when I began tweaking them as she sucked me. Soon enough she relinquished her place and pulled the next one in line over in front of me. She made motions to her teeth and then shook her head in what I hoped was the universal signal for don't bite the dick you're sucking then she signaled for the girl to get down to business. It was a novelty to feel a tentative mouth enclosing my dick and I'll have to admit it was a turn on. Like many novices though, she only sucked gently and barely moved her head up and back at all. Jerrilyn noticed at once, got the girl's attention, and pantomimed moving her head up and back while sticking her tongue out and wiggling it all around. The trainee caught onto the notion right away and soon her tongue was giving my dick a going over to do any of them proud, while she moved her mouth up and down my shaft with excellent results. Then Jerrilyn showed her how to use her hand to tease my balls during the process. The girl's first dick sucking was getting good to me by now and Jerrilyn tried to prepare her for what was about to happen. She got the idea over better than I thought she had, because when my dick exploded, the girl seemed to try coaxing more come out of me at the last. She even gave my nutbag a gentle squeeze while I was exploding into her mouth. As soon as she let my limbering dick out of her mouth she turned to her two buddies and started talking in their lingo at a rapid pace. She preceded her remarks by holding her head high and making an exaggerated swallowing motion with an audible gulping sound to go with it. The other two seemed delighted with the prospect and quick as a flash one of the others was on her knees before my limp dick. She did take the time to remove her clothes before going for it though, and so, since I was a little under the weather for a few seconds at least, I leaned up to handle her titties too while I was at it. These three were on the young side and the titties I handled weren't big and spectacular like most of the older women. They did provide respectable mounds to fondle though and while her nipples weren't as large as some of those who had already given birth and provided nourishment they were erect and stiff. It took me back to my high school days, lo those many years ago. Back to the time every girl's nipples were small, stiff, and sensitive. She pushed her titties into my hands and made agreeable sounds, but I could tell she was anxious to get on with the program. She wasn't deterred or amazed by my shrunken dick's status either. She slurped up my wounded warrior and sucked for stiffness. She got it back in spades in no time flat. While I was still limp it was nearly comical to me the way she sucked in my dick and still looked right into my face for a clue on whether she was doing it right or not. Of course she couldn't do it any righter and I'm sure I was all smiles. Apparently she could feel me growing inside her mouth a few seconds later and her tongue started lashing my dick. I'll say this for the girl; she took her cocksucking seriously. Her tongue was lively in my mouth and she kept up the suction. The first one said something to her then and it must have been a reminder about teasing my nutsack because her hand came into play at once. If I'd been asked about the situation before hand I might have reported that I wouldn't have enjoyed a bunch of onlookers while I was having my chode chowed, but I would have been lying. Christine and Selene had drifted our way by now and they had the head woman in charge of the newbies with them. At least I knew Bejahwa's name by now and in fact I fondly remembered plowing her furrow while I had my hands full of her great ass just the night before. It was almost as if she had been selected to lead the bunch because of her pulchritude. She had dark auburn hair, lively green eyes, and titties for days. Her ass was also one of her best features. It was magnificent in fact. Sticking out behind her with big muscular buns and topping off two of the longest and best-shaped legs around. They were nearly the equal of my collection of showgirls, strippers, and Arabic princesses from my own time and I was sure they would be every bit as beautiful once we introduced her to shaving them. At any rate, the excitement of sitting there being serviced by her followers was enhanced when she came over to get the lowdown and the one on her knees gave me an especially energetic suck just at that time. I yelled out the announcement that I was finished for a time and it was only by the hardest I managed to keep myself from grabbing the girl's head and slamming my dick even farther into her mouth. She was smiling as she let my dick slurp from between her lips and she promptly threw her head back, swallowed, and made an even louder gulping noise than the one before her had. She moved aside after devouring my come shot and the third of my detail was quick to take her place. Meanwhile, Bejahwa looked around and I guess she took her own council over what was going on. She saw that Jerrilyn and the three were all naked and she dispensed with her furs at once. I had a feeling she was claiming the next place in line and I knew if she was my dick was going to be sucked to exhaustion before we were done. What the hell -- there were worse fates. My attention was drawn back to the one between my legs then because she took my balls in both hands and began kneading them at once. She was doing a gentle and soothing job of it and the feeling was very pleasant. Soon enough she slurped my limp dick into her mouth and applied a little suction and a lot of tongue work. I was trying to decide if I had enough strength to lean forward for some titty work when I spied her large blue eyes looking right into mine and it sent a bolt through my dick. Her hair was long and very blonde and now that she was naked and close I could tell she was built for comfort, not for speed. When I handled her titties her nipples stiffened right away and as I thumbed them I saw her shiver. Her hips even pumped in time with her shiver and I decided I'd had about enough sucking. I figured she wanted to do her duty the way the others had, but I was going to have to pull rank. Once she had me hard again I raised her off my dick and urged her over onto her back. She actually smiled as I lay her on her back and her legs practically flew apart. I was between her lovely legs in seconds and shortly thereafter my cock-knob was pushing her labia apart and looking for an oily place. She had one down there and it was a snug fit and felt hot as fire. Most of these women were much shorter than my showgirls, but this one was tall enough for me to be able to crane my neck and get my mouth on a nipple while my dick was already up in her. We were soon in the midst of a glorious fuck and damned if she didn't seem to have a pretty hair trigger. She was bucking, gripping me with her legs, and banging back with abandon in only minutes, and when I pushed a finger up her back door she went off right away -- shrieking loudly and banging her hips to me all the harder. I kissed around her face, neck, and titties while she was recovering, but gave it up and snagged Bejahwa by the hand when she came near. She seemed glad I still had the want to and I had her on the carpet with me and then beneath me in seconds. I showed her men could do a little sucking of their own at first and then when I put it to her she showed me she could buck and bang it back to me every bit as well as the blonde lovely had. Once I got to the short rows I noticed someone rubbing and patting my back, but the hands felt small. I took a second off to look around and I saw a young redhead was tending to me as I pumped. One look told me Bejahwa must be her mother and I looked her over more carefully. She didn't have titties yet and there was no trace of a red bush like her mother had, but her facial features were a dead giveaway. I wasn't even nearly that much of a pervert, but it did make me think we needed to keep these women around for several years. Soon enough it was time to go for the brass ring and I upped my tempo and tried harder for more depth. It rung Bejahwa's chime very near the end and the feeling of a job well done set me off too. I was further surprised when Bejahwa's daughter seemed to pet on me even more solicitously after I'd given her mother the cream surprise. ------- Chapter 56 With Bejahwa sprawled out in a satisfied state I spent a little time kissing and teasing on her goodies and then got up and replaced my clothing. I helped her up to sit beside me for a while and I hugged around on her and kept up contact with her naked flesh. It was some worth keeping contact with too. Suddenly I heard the new front door slam into place and we looked that way. There was an even larger contingent of male spear toters at the door and almost at once they began banging at the barrier with their spears. Soon they noticed they were only breaking their spear points against it and it seemed to make them even madder. At first it seemed a little strange since we could clearly hear them yelling toward us and it was apparent Bejahwa could understand what they were saying. She started talking back to them and before long it was obvious she was telling them chapter and verse exactly how the cow ate the cabbage. They weren't deterred though and kept yelling back. Suddenly I had a lucid thought and called all my uptime girls over and let them know what I was about to try. They agreed and so I spoke to the room as I had before and asked the door to raise enough to let one of the crowd in. The door raised a little and one of them got down and started under. As soon as he was in the door went right back down. I went over and helped him up and then began wailing on his ass. First I jerked his spear out of his hands and then I shared a solid left jab to his nose and then let him have an underhand right right to his bread basket. He lost his wind of course and bent over nearly double. I didn't see any need to stop now and so I started educating him in the manly art of self-defense. His ears weren't the only thing I boxed though as I beat the ever loving shit out of him with my fist. Finally I hit him in the head so hard it knocked him out and as he lay at my feet I pushed him back up against the magic door with them and as he came to rest against it the door raised up a little and Bejahwa and my other women helped me push him outside under it. The ones on the other side came to their senses then and pulled him free just before the door shut itself again and we could see them trying to revive him. He came around in a few minutes and he took one look back toward us inside and then got to his feet and walked away with a rather determined pace. He had been one of the larger men out there but he wasn't the very biggest. I called for the door to let one more in and sure enough the largest of the bunch was down and crawling under this time. I helped him up too once he was inside and apparently he'd thought he was going to get the best of me. He tried a roundhouse haymaker from the get go and I merely ducked under it and went to work on his middle with both fist. He was knocked windless almost at once and it was all I could do to keep from kicking him once he was down. I didn't though and I decided he was done for and pushed him back against the door and soon it raised a little and we pushed him out. The rest outside were impressed by now and when they got the last victim to pay attention he just got to his feet and walked off too. I noticed none of the rest wanted a dose by now since the door remained up and none of them tried to crawl under. They all turned around to follow the last one who'd been inside then. As I watched then mosey off I noticed some more of the bison were grazing close by outside so I went back and retrieved the Barret I'd procured on my last trip uptime. It had only been boresighted but I figured it would do well enough out to a hundred yards and I took it up and walked out toward the bison. When I thought I was close enough I shot four of the bison and the aim point seemed perfect for this range and when I spied another rhino I cashed its chips in too. The ones leaving had turned toward the sound to watch and I pointed to them and then shot four more bison and indicated they were for them as well as I could. They were amazed and ran to the bunch I'd shot for them right away. Meanwhile Jerrilyn, Selene and the other women had come out to see what I was making all the noise about. I hitched the team to our wagon then and we loaded up and went to fetch my kills. It was a bitch loading them, especially the rhino, but we eventually got them in the wagon and returned to the cave to do our thing to the meat. There was so much to do now the women even let me help and I pretty much disregarded everything else as I cut and chopped, mostly at Bejahwa's direction. Things were going pretty well until Jerrilyn came up leading two auburn haired beauties and one blue eyed blond I hadn't noticed with us before. It took a while to get their stories, but with Bejahwa listening and talking to Jerrilyn I finally got the word. These three had been the mates of other men I had killed a day or two ago. Franco had claimed them even though everyone knew they should rightfully go to me. It was just the luck of the draw, but Franco had been the first one under the door today. The one I'd beaten the coon dog shit out of. Apparently when he'd walked off later it was to go and tell Ricca, Jalana, and Junetta they were to rustle their leaves over to my place. Oh what a happy reunion we had once we were finished dealing with the dead meat from today's hunting. I was fucked completely out after tending to all my mates tonight. It was no wonder since not only didn't I know every one of their names, I didn't even have a solid count of them. Still, Bejahwa stayed up late talking to the latest arrivals and I finally decided I'd have to find out whatever it was she was learning at breakfast the next morning. They had all rocked me to sleep and I did a workman like job of staying that way until the sunlight came streaming in through our magic door the next morning. Soon enough we were enjoying breakfast and after she'd finished Bejahwa shared what she'd learned. There were three more young lovelies at their old camp who should rightfully be mine. Apparently the largest man there had cabbaged onto them and made them stay as more mates for him. Apparently it was scandalous behavior, as had been Franco's, but since he was the camp's leader he'd got it done. Everyone started talking then and even though I couldn't understand most of what they were saying I was sure they'd think less of me if I let this stand. After we'd finished eating I called for Jerrilyn, Selene, and Bejahwa to come with me. Bejahwa was only armed with a sharp tipped lance but my other girls carried pistols, rifles, and shotguns with plenty of ammunition. I hitched our wagon and we loaded up. Bejahwa furnished directions and we made it to their camp within an hour. I let Bejahwa shout out our business in camp from the back of the wagon, and Junto, the camps leader, came forward doing their version of ranting and raving. He was ok until he picked up a rock and hurled it toward Bejahwa. This pissed me right off, and so I pulled a Super Blackhawk and hurled a little lead his way. I did for each of his shoulders right off the bat and then, since he remained standing somehow I shot out his left knee. He didn't remain standing after that trick. I hopped right down off the wagon, walked over to him, and kicked him in the temple. It anesthetized him right away and I pulled my knife, removed his pants and then removed his cock and ballsack, including the balls. I held them high for observation once I had them off him and then took them back to the wagon and after a little explaining Bejahwa called loudly for his mates to come along and bring their things. Bejahwa climbed down out of the wagon and headed into camp then and I went right behind her to make sure she didn't run into any trouble. We only ran into one male who tried to block our way and the 45 long colt cartridges from the Super Blackhawks had been doing such a good job so far I let one usher him out of the way. We gathered up four of the leader's mates and also two from the one who'd given us shit in our trip through the camp. There were also several children of the women coming along with us, but there was a minor difficulty with one of the older boys, I guessed he was about twelve or fourteen. He came at me with a spear and all the while the one I figured was his mother was telling him to cut it out. Being sensitive to the woman's wishes I grabbed the spear away from him, broke it over my knee, and then took hold of his arm, squatted down and pulled him over my knee too. I didn't break him, but I did jerk his pants down and tan his ass with my open hand. When I let him up I could tell he knew I meant business and he came along willingly, even helping his mother carry some of their things. I found out his name was Jorto and I spent most of the trip back teaching him how to drive the team. He took his new job seriously and all our difficulties seemed behind us before we made it back to camp. As soon as we pulled into the cave I was sure all of his difficulties were over with anyway. After all, he was the only other male among those with us except me. The women all made on over him and the race was on to outfit him to match me. They must have gone through every pair of boots until they came up with some to fit him and he was in bluejeans with a work shirt almost right away. The found him a belt that would fit and strapped the biggest sheath knife we had around his waist on it. Jorto slept near us that night and it was apparent he intended to stay up watching the opening until Bejahwa spoke to Jerrilyn and then Jerrilyn asked me to show Jorto about the door. I went over to where he was sitting and called for it to close and then took him and showed him what had happened. He was amazed since he could clearly see outside but it was also obvious nothing could go out or come in now. He headed for his furs then and I went back to tend to my women, newbies first. It took me four hours to finish but I managed to keep up my inspiration and hose every gash that was old enough for the process. My women were kissing and patting on me at the last and finally they let me sleep. I felt great the next morning and the breakfast which appeared made me feel even better. I was sitting around with coffee after I'd finished when I got a strange feeling like the ones which had preceded our last few trips. I spent the rest of the day making sure all of our things were inside our traveling cave. The day was bright and sunny, but I noticed clouds rolling in near sunset and I was practically sure we'd be somewhere or somewhen else in the morning. Damned if I didn't sleep so well I woke without realizing we'd moved during the night. It didn't take me long to rediscover our movement though since I could see through our transparent door we weren't far from my East Texas home. Still and yet, I let breakfast get started as nearly normally as it could and after I had my share all was right with my world no matter where or when I was. After counting noses at breakfast I knew we had another problem. We didn't have a vehicle which would do for carrying all of us in this time and place. In fact we couldn't fit into two of them. I called Jerrilyn, Jackie, and Christine to me and organized the others to maintain while we went car shopping. We took one of the trucks and headed out to the Chevy dealership and bought two four wheel drive SUVs with plenty of seats all the way back. At the last moment I bought three since they had them available. I think they were officially called nine passenger vans, but with a little work we were able to get twelve into each of them since several of the passengers were children. It would do for a while, but what I really wanted was one of the small schoolbus type things. The type I wanted were mostly for special ed and such and were meant to carry a small load. I asked one of the salesmen about it and he said he could order one, but claimed it would take at least a month to get it here. I let him know that wasn't fast enough and walked out. My next try was on the phone and I called every car lot, used cars and all and still didn't find a source. At last I called the school district and they admitted they had one of the older models they were planning to get rid of so I made arrangements to look at it and it was perfect for what I wanted. They weren't exactly sure if they could just sell it, but when the schoolboard president found out I was in the market and had cash he was sure he could sell it and he did it right away. I drove away with it and since it was on a GM frame I took it directly to the Chevy dealership and had the shop go over it and had them fix anything that looked like it might even think about breaking. I even had them send it to a tire shop to have all the tires replaced, even the two spares it carried. Even though we didn't need it right here and now it was still perfect since it had room for twenty-four without crowding and I was sure we could crowd in thirty or more if push came to shove. We made do with the Suburbans while they were working on the bus and we worked Wal-Mart over for more clothes, socks, and boots one day and we went to every grocery store of any size stocking up. We even bought two large cases of eggs which held twenty-four dozen each and we loaded up with cornmeal and flour. Our rebuilt school bus was ready the next day and it was just in time. I got the feeling we were leaving again tonight and the storm clouds started rolling in near sunset. We were all back inside the cave with its magic door closed by dark thirty and we went to bed right after supper was finished. We'd no sooner laid down in our furs than the lightning and thunder started telling me I'd been right about our exit and then I slipped off to sleep. I slept soundly after my evening excursions and when I woke I felt wonderful. It only took a trip out the front door to see we were back behind my home in east Texas. I also noticed our next problem then. My traveling family had grown quite a bit and there was no way we could all ride in even our biggest vehicle. I took Jerrilyn, Selene, Jackie ------- Incomplete and Inactive ------- Posted: 2009-01-14 Last Modified: 2010-06-04 / 11:12:06 pm ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------