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Saturday, February 28, 2015

MAKING IT IN CHESTERVILLE - Chapter 2


Attending Church is a Good Thing
 
Almost persuaded

I started to going to church and was surprised to see some of the people who also attended.

I personally knew that some of them had some bad habits I wouldn’t expect church goers to have.  I try not to judge people too harshly so I reckoned that those are the very people who need to be in church although maybe not in high positions and in charge.

There were a lot of people who hung around my service station and talked a lot. If it had been women it would have been gossip but with men it was just talk.

I mostly listened and I got to know everything about everybody in the community. Of course you had to figure that what you heard was only half true but that gave you a good handle on what was going on.

Several young men would drop in for my soft drinks as they were the coldest in town. I always kept a block of ice in the drink box and plenty of the favorite drinks on hand.

Boys were Worse Gossips than the Girls
I found out a lot about the young ladies in town just listening to their conversations. 
Of course they had the problem of embellishing the truth as they told their tales but after hearing a similar story from several sources you could get close to what was the honest truth.

The liveliest tale going around was about the Mitchell girl, as she was in need of a husband and the culprit had left town.

One day Mr. Mitchell came in and filled up with gas.  Along with him were his two brothers. It seems they had located the Mason boy and were on the way to retrieve him. As it turned out he proposed marriage to the girl when they all arrived back home.
I was told they had a nice private wedding ceremony and the couple was very happy.

I never told anyone that she showed up at the station at closing time and told me I could have my way with her if I wanted to.

I told her no thanks for I wasn’t ready to be a father yet. I had heard she was pregnant and didn’t want to be the candidate for fatherhood. I would never tell anyone but I was strongly tempted for she was desirable but I knew better than to get involved.

There were a few girls that I would like to get to know better but haven’t made any move toward asking for a date. The girls here in Chesterville try to be standoffish from the time they are born. It must be the training the mothers give them.

Whatever the issue they pretty well kept me in my place as defined by them when I was a poor farmer.

However, I noticed that since I became a business man I’m getting a lot more attention.
Girls come in and while I service their car they let me know they would be willing to go out with me if I wanted them to.

I have asked a couple of them to go out and they accepted. It was mostly hello and goodbye with a dance or movie in between for I didn’t want to get to familiar with the chickens.

That was as my father said; he told me not to make pets out of the chickens as some were destined to be dinner for us sooner or later.  He knew there would be some heartbreak involved if such a separation should occur.

I saw a number of boys who broke up with their girlfriends and it greatly affected them.  I figured it best not get too involved unless I couldn’t help myself and that hasn’t happened yet.

A couple of young men wanted to work for me because they were being encouraged very strongly to marry the girl they had been dating and they needed some money… badly.

There was this one girl, Annie that the boys were talking about in a way that didn’t seem to match her demeanor. According to the boys, she was supposed to be morally loose and I found it hard to believe.

I decided to try to find out if what they were saying was true so the next time she came and bought a soda I asked her out and she said no she wasn’t dating now for she was busy studying for college.

Annie Seemed Like a Nice Girl
I talked to her for some time and was convinced the boys were lying. I said if she changed her mind and wanted to go dancing or somewhere else she would let me know. I don’t date much so I’m usually available I told her.

She wanted to know why I didn’t go out and I told her, “I’m quite busy here at the station and am not into dating that much. For some reason or the other the girls here in Chesterville don’t interest me.”

She said, ‘Why then did you ask me out?”

I told her, “Its obvious isn’t it?”

She said, ‘I don’t know maybe you ought to tell me.”

I said, “Well this is a little embarrassing but here goes. Actually this is too embarrassing for I don’t feel I have the right to tell you some of my motive.”

“Sounds like you are just like the other boys here in Chesterville.”

She said, “Let me tell you why I don’t date any of the Chester boys, it is because they want to treat you like a whore and I am not that kind of girl and you might as well understand that right now.”

“Looks like I’m going to have to come right out with it and tell you the real reason for wanting to date you. First off I don’t want you to be mad at me for there is no reason to be mad.

You know there are a lot of guys hanging around the station and they talk about the Chester girls and some from the surrounding towns. Your name came up and some things were said about you that I didn’t believe and I told them so. The more I thought about it the more I was sure they were wrong and just repeating some gossip someone started.

After I saw you several times I decided I would like to take you dancing along with proving to myself they didn't know what they were talking about.”

“Well just how did you figuring on finding out what you needed to know?”

“Well… I don’t know… I just figured I could tell by just being with you for I’m a good judge of character.”

We talked for a while longer and she said, ‘You can pick me up for the dance on Saturday around seven.”

I said, ‘What made you change your mind and decide to go with me.”

She laughed slightly less than hysterically and said, ‘It is because you’re so harmless; ha ha ha.” 
To Be Continued
 
 

Friday, February 27, 2015

MAKING IT IN CHESTERVILLE – Chapter 1

 

A New Continued Story Begins Today
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Dad taught Jimmy How to Fix Tractors
Introduction to the Nelsons Chapter 1
My name is Jimmy Nelson having been born in Chesterville and raised there; so far Chesterville was all I knew about the world.
My folks had a dirt farm that was big enough to almost starve on. It just wasn’t large enough to make a living on so my Pa had to take on extra work.
He could fix almost anything that ran but people wanted him to work for very low wages.
From the age of six on I did almost all of the plowing and actually just about ran the farm.
Dad taught me how to repair motors and when I wasn’t working the farm he took me with him on his tractor fixing.
One of the farmers with a large farm, bought a new tractor and sold me his old one.
My Pa said the farmer’s old tractor was completely worn out, but I went ahead and bought it for almost nothing.  Actually I worked for him for what amounted to two days in barter.  It was part time over a week for I was still attending school.
Pa still was fussing about me buying the old tractor but he helped me find the parts needed to get it running.  He had to admit that I had fixed it up pretty good.
I put lights on it so I could work at night.  Sometimes I would get a job and would plow all night then clean up a little and go to school.
More than once I went to bed with dirty feet after working most of the night in fact I was dirty all over.  I was thankful Ma didn’t complain.
When I was small I could get into the wash tub but as I grew taller I couldn’t fit in the tub, so I would stand up in it and pour water on my head and then try to get the soap off.
When I got older (and had the money) I went to the barber shop/bath house once a week to give myself a good cleaning.
My Pa never gave me any money but if I could make some extra working for other people he would let me keep a little of it.
As I think back it seems strange that people never thought anything about me being so young when working for them.
I suppose they just wanted the work done and I did it the way they wanted it done.
Over time I accumulated three tractors of my own and had them all in good running condition. About the time someone bought a new one they would call me to sell me the old tractor they had for they knew I would buy almost anything.
It was no trouble for me to sell one of my old tractors because I always had them in good running condition and had put a little paint on them.
By the time I was thirteen I was doing most of the repairs for other farmers for my Pa was getting all stove up and he couldn’t get around without a lot of effort.
He was in a lot of pain but the flu solved that problem.  Both my Ma and Pa succumbed to the flu that year.  I had a touch of it myself but got over it. I was sorry to lose them, but it was two less mouths for me to feed.
Buying a business
I turned sixteen and had saved a little money by doing without things I needed; with the eye of improving my position in life.
The main service station was coming up for sale, and because I had worked in it for the owner, old mister Johnson, I had the inside track on buying it.
He liked me and wanted me to have it but he warned me it wouldn’t be easy to make it because people wouldn’t pay their bills.
I went through all the outstanding arrears people owed to him, and found it to be a large sum.  I decided to make Johnson an offer. I agreed to take over his debt for the ownership of the station.
He told me he had several debtors and they wanted to be paid so if he could get out from under that heavy load he would be happy. I told him I understood and we made a deal.
Suddenly I was further in debt than I ever thought, and people were dunning me for their money.
No Credit - Cash Only
When I took over the station, I put up a large sign saying from now on it would be cash only with no credit for anyone.
It took a week for the message to get out and for people to believe it. They would pull in and say fill it up and I would ask if they had the cash to pay for it and they would say put it on the book.
I would say I don’t have a book, cash only.
They would say well I’ll take my business somewhere elsewhere, and away they would go.
Meanwhile I turned all my accounts receivable over to a collection agency. These people were mean when it came to collecting the green.
The money owing people were quite angry about it, but when the collection agency started foreclosure proceedings against their houses and farms they came up with the money except for a couple who refused and lost their property to me.
At first people wouldn’t come in to my station but little by little they returned and paid with cash for their service.
They didn’t buy as much as before, but that was okay with me for I had over the last few years had enough of the saying, “Thanks until you’re better paid.”
With the money I got from the collection agency I paid off my debts and what old Mister Johnson owed.
Over time I gained a lot of new friends to replace the deadbeat ones I lost.
Things began to change in the other businesses in town and they wanted cash for their goods also. They were tired of people buying things they couldn’t afford and not paying for them.
My repair business was doing pretty good and I turned the small farm I got from my Pa into a truck farm.  I hired a man to share crop it and made more money from it than I made from the station.
The two other places I got from the foreclosure one was a farm and the other was a nice house.  The same fellow that share cropped the family farm also share cropped the foreclosed farm also.  He had several kids so he had plenty of help.
I moved into the house and it had a bath and a toilet. These were things I wasn’t used to and were a nice substitute for the old wash tub and out house.
Trying to educate myself
I had graduated from the eighth grade and felt pretty good about that for that was about all the education most people got around here except for a few like the doctors and such.
I enrolled in one of them mail order schools and got my high school diploma.  Their plan was set up where you could finish it in one year. They said take away the unnecessary stuff, and twelve months was enough to cover the whole of high school.
I remember my teacher in the sixth grade, a lady from up north, and she had always emphasized speaking properly. She said maybe it was alright to speak “Southern Speak” when talking with buddies, but to be successful in business you needed to be able to talk on the same level as the business people do.
At the time, most of us didn’t understand what she was talking about, but now that I have had to deal with business type people, I understand what she meant.
Some of the people around here said she won’t last and they were right for she was gone after the first year. They in their ignorance ran her off but I learned more of what actually counted in that one year than all the rest. It took a while before what she taught me to kick in or make sense, but as I got more involved in business I had to depend upon what she taught.
Some years later I found out where she was and wrote her a letter, thanking her for what she taught me. I hoped it would make her feel a little better about the time she spent here in Chesterville.
To be Continued

Monday, February 23, 2015

I DONT NEED TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS


 

Being born and raised when the world was a far simpler age I found most things didn't need a manual.

Those were the days when the "Shade tree mechanic" was where we took our car to get fixed if we were too lazy to do it ourselves.
 
If we wanted to dig, the pick and shovel were not too complicated.  Our horse power came with four legs and bridle reins.
 
Then comes this age of confusion where everything was powered by gas or electricity and a flood tide of new inventions arrived on the scene.

Now why did we need a machine to wash and dry our clothes? We had a wash tub, a rub board and a clothes line. After all these years the end result is just the same, clean clothes.

As soon as we were shamed into buying the washer and dryer all kinds of problems rose up. Where to put the new gadget, the power and water and sewer hook ups which cost a pretty penny and to top it of we didn't know how to turn them on.

I went down to the store where we bought them and talked to the salesman and he said I should read the manual. When I asked him what the manual was, he looked at me as if I was crazy.
 
After three months of just looking at them my wife finally kept reading those manuals till she figured out to operate them. Actually after reading them over and over she got a neighbor to come over and show her how they worked. After reading those books once

I vowed never to read another one for though I could read most of the words I didn't know what they meant and the pictures didn't help.


Today I try to figure out how new stuff works without reading the instruction for several reasons.  Most of it is confusion and I have to study it. Another thing is I'm too busy or I'm just too lazy and to do read and study it, is an insult to my intelligence.  

Now you may make fun of me but some people do the same thing when it comes to living their lives.   They think they don't need to read 'The Book of Life" to find out how they should live it.

They think they can figure it out as they go along or friends will help them. Talk about the blind leading the blind. 

The Book of Life is God Speaking to the reader in plain language.

When I look at how some people live I can tell they haven't read the "How to live book" for they have put things together wrong.


Seems they are too smart to be dumb enough to get it right or they don't realize that they need the instructions plainly laid out in "The Book" 

When All Else Fails - Read the Instructions

This post is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

 

 

The Fourth Man - Chapter 29 Finish

 
Today is the final chapter for the story of the Riley Clan. 
A New Story begins soon.
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A Still Growing Family !
 

The Chen family grows

Cherri had one child with husband, Tom and was expecting another.  May Chen had finished her schooling and was just about as pretty and smart as Cherri.
Charley (Chen Tu) was employed at the auto dealership keeping the cars they sold in running condition and had married one of the Chinese girls in town.

Jimmy had fallen in love with May Leng and after wooing her for some time she finally married him.

She decided that if Cherri’s marriage to Tom had worked out she would marry a Caucasian also. When they first started dating he was a little skittish about being with an oriental until she asked him; “What does a white girl have that I don’t?”

As far as he could see the answer was nothing so after that he pursued her relentlessly till she agreed to marry him.

This wasn’t the end of the story but my memory has faded a bit so instead of getting it wrong I’ll just stop here. The family was growing so fast I couldn’t keep up with them.

Patriarch Les

From time to time Les would think back to the time he joined up with the three robbers and became the fourth man in the train robbery.  He doesn’t talk about it for he isn’t proud of it. Yet on the other hand if he hadn’t done what he did there would not be what we see today.

Chen

Chen was a large part of our story.  He was the one bringing Sarah to keep house for Les, at the ranch, and was also a key part to our story.  His own wife and family were accepted as one of the Riley’s.

Sarah

So strong and the tamer of Les.  She became the true matriarch of the Riley clan. No one questioned her authority on the Riley Ranch. She taught her children the how’s and why’s of a happy home including discipline, and of bedroom intimacy.

Billy

Billy was an anchor in the Riley holdings while the rest of the children were growing up he kept the ranches in order.

Missy and Caroline

Missy and Caroline both went to the East coast and married into society. They come back to the Riley ranch once a year and bring their offspring. Those kids are totally different than the ones who live on the ranch.

James and Betsy

James pretty much runs the Riley ranch nowadays. It has been maximized so far as the production of cattle. Betsy has settled in as a ranch wife. Living at the main ranch house with a husband and several kids keeps her busy.

Cappy

Cappy is the consummate business man. With the oil wells in full swing he spends a lot of time in the office. He lives a short distance down the road so he can run home anytime he feels the urge to.  Etta as promised has produced several little Cappy’s.

Jim and Jones

The two hands that brought the herd from down South after Les took over the ranch are both married and have children of their own. They have made a lot of money and their kids will be well fixed when Jim and Jones pass on although they will not have a piece of the Riley Ranch.

There are so many more involved at the ranch and the other enterprisers, far too many to mention.

So we must say farewell to the Riley’s.  It has been a happy trail to follow.  One we can never travel again.

Finis

Friday, February 20, 2015

The Fourth Man - Chapter 28



Love is in the Air
Sarah makes a decision

Sarah was a woman who understood her husband, her children, and their chosen mates. While she didn’t always act on that knowledge she always stood ready if it became necessary.

She had tamed Les down to where he was under her control when the situation was called for. If she said sic, um he would be all over the circumstance and if she said to calm down he would respond with a slowness of action. She did all this without seemly impugning his authority.

She told Les, “It is time for Cappy to marry that girl so the wedding will be in few days after I talk with her.”

We need to Talk
It wasn’t what you might call an ordinary conversation for a future mother-in-law to have with a future daughter-in-law, but two women getting down to the nitty gritty about married life.

She told Etta things gained from her observations of Cappy that reached back to when he was born.  She went on at length about what it would take to keep him happy and dare I say it… obedient to her.

Every woman needs to know how to keep her man under her control without him knowing it.

After she had finished she said, “Now it is up to you to make your marriage a success for I have given you the secrets of that kind of marriage.”

She went on after finding out when her monthly cycle would occur and set the date for the wedding.

The last thing Sarah told her was, “I will tell Cappy how to keep you satisfied and happy and he better listen to me or else.”

Etta didn’t know what to say for no one had ever been so frank and open with her so she just said, “Thank you I feel almost ready for that boy where before I felt I was plunging into the darkness.”

Sarah said, “I know that feeling and that is why I have talked straight with you.”

Etta was limp for Sarah was the smartest, uninhibited woman she had ever met. She knew she could never lie to Sarah and if there was a problem with Cappy she was the one to talk to.

The wedding day Sarah had set for them arrived and the ceremony took place.

They had planned to go on a honeymoon like the rest of the family had done except they had decided to spend four days at home before they left.

After they left Les said, “I think they are going to be happy if all the moaning she was doing means anything.”

He went on and said, “With us, James and Mamie, and now Cappy and Etta living in this house there is going to be a lot of racket at night and I think we have you to blame cause you have been our educator in this matter; as he moved over next to her.

Cappy and Etta return from their Honeymoon

When the newlyweds return they were all smiles and everyone could see they were happy.

Sarah said, “If you ever need to talk to me you know where I am.”

Etta said, “Everything worked out just as you said it would especially the part; all it takes is practice.

Sarah said, :”Good now get settled in while Cappy decided what he wants to do now that he has responsibilities.”

Cappy returned to the saddle after his return from the honeymoon but after a couple of weeks he found himself coming home early to be with Etta.

He couldn’t stay away from her for too long a time.

Sarah told Les, “I think that gal is driving him crazy from the way he is acting.”

Etta talked to Sarah and asked if all men were after their wives like Cappy was?

Sarah said I don’t know for sure, maybe not as much as Cappy is.  I think it has something to do with you, for he sure wants to be with you.  Perhaps he will slow down after six months or so and get in a normal routine.”

Etta said, “Well I don’t mind and am not complaining I was just wondering… it seems we spend a lot of time in the bedroom.”

Sarah said, “Don’t worry it won’t hurt you and is one of the youthful pleasures that will fade away over time.”

Etta said, “Thanks mom… I think I hear him calling me.”

Etta’s teaching career is over

Cappy wanted Etta to stop teaching and told Rene’s to find another teacher.

He said, “Get an older woman or man, for these young teachers have too much trouble with these older boys.”

New Teacher
Rene’s asked Tom for some recommendations for a replacement for Etta. He gave her a list of candidates to choose from and she selected a woman it her forties.

The new teacher was all business and was just what they needed for their rowdy bunch.

Tom wanted to know why Etta wanted to quit after such a short time and Rene’s said, “Cappy wanted her at home and she was going to have a little Cappy in a few months.”

She continued, “Cappy was thinking about seeking out a job not directly involved with raising Cattle. He feels he isn’t really needed on the Riley spread with James, Les, and Jim running things.”

Tom said he wanted to talk with Cappy and they met the next morning and went for a ride.  After about four hours they went back to Tom’s office and went over some plat maps where Tom pointed out ranches for many miles around.

Most were much farther away than Cappy had ever been although he knew many of the ranch holders from meeting them at stockyard sales and by trading with them.

Tom said he was going to have to move back east but had to get a representative here locally. For the next few days he went over the whole plan and made an offer to Cappy that was more than he hoped for.

The next month they traveled to and fro to buy ranches or the mineral rights.

When he felt Cappy was ready to take over; Tom and Cherri headed east and promised to kept in contact with Cappy from there.  Tom insisted that Cappy now be called Captain Riley or Cap Riley for he said it was far more formal and impressive. Over the next three years Tom made the trip from New York several times.

On the last trip he brought a car with him.  Cap Riley was amazed by the new machine.

Tom also brought his younger brother Jimmy with him who knew all about the machine and how it worked.  Tom said that they would set up a business that would sell Autos like the one he brought with him.

He also told Cap that they were ready to start the drilling for oil. He said that they would all be rich or broke depending on the production of the wells.

Their first well came in as a gusher and all the others that followed were the same. Over the years that followed they became richer and richer.

Cap Riley was by far the richest of the entire Riley clan.  The Riley ranch sat in the middle of this great pool of oil and the money from their holdings was divided among them all.

Les insisted that Jim, and Jones be given a share of the profits since they had been with him from the start.  Chen was well taken care of as was his family.
To be Continued
 
 


 

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Fourth Man - Chapter 27



Good Morning I am the New Teacher

The new school Marm

With Tom gone Rene’s had done all the teaching but now she sent for a new teacher to take over much of the teaching duties. Her name was Loretta, age 18 and wanted to be called Etta.  After the first month Rene’s was sure Etta was doing a good job and wanted to keep her on.

Some of the older boys were almost as old as the new teacher, and that was going to be a problem.  One of the potential problem makers was Cappy, Sarah’s last child.   Cappy had been in Military school, but he came home because he wanted to get back to ranching and the life he enjoyed the most.

James had set him down and told him the only way he could do that was to complete this semester here at home and return and finished his final year at military school.  Cappy agreed to those conditions and was planning to return to military school until he met Etta the new school marm.

He was a year older than she, but agreed to behave himself around Etta.

Both Les and Sarah got on him about his conduct and gave him the word that if he did anything unseemly it would be back to the school in the east.

He had been reported by the girl’s school master back there of some unruly behavior by him and had been severely disciplined for it.  He would be obedient for a while and then get in trouble again but he knew better than to disobey Sarah.

School started and Cappy was a very good student with proper behavior and good grades.

Some of the older boys were giving Etta problems, but as the days went by she noticed that one by one they were beginning to behave.

She also noticed that the ones who straighten out appeared to been injured with marks around their face and limping a bit. When she inquired about their condition they all said they were okay just been thrown by a horse.

She thought this was a bit unusual until she saw Cappy out behind the school house putting a beating on one of the worst of the lot.  

Her first thought was she should discipline Cappy but then she realized why the class was now behaving so nicely.

Mom knows best

Cappy was the one boy in class that had respected Etta from the beginning and she began to notice he was looking at her the way a man looks at a woman. While he always respected her she could feel a warmth inside when she caught him looking her over.

Then one day Cappy said, “The next dance was coming up and may I be your escort for the evening.”

This shocked her and she immediately said, “No.”

He stopped her as she turned away and said, ‘My folks will be with us all the time and nothing improper will occur.  We will go in the buggy which is the finest buggy in the countryside. You can sit next to my mother if you wish and I will sit next to my pa.”

She looked at him and saw that he was acting like a gentleman even though she could see it was killing him.  His eyes told her that he wanted to pounce on her.

It was a look she had seen many times before from other men but he was restraining himself in a proper manner.

She finally said, ‘Alright but only if his folks were with them.”

It was then that Cappy fully realized that this was the only way he would have a chance with her for she was determined to maintain the proper decorum between her position as teacher and him as one of her students.

On the night of the dance she rode in the back seat with Sarah and Cappy sat with Les in the front.

He didn’t want it to seem too obvious to everyone what his feelings were so he only danced with Etta a few times.

She could tell he was nigh unto being in love with her from the way he was looking at her and the feel of his hands when he held her while dancing.

Cappy was choosing his words carefully and she was doing the same but there were the unspoken words that spoke the loudest.

She didn’t care to admit it but she was wanting this man for her own.

After the dance Sarah said to Etta, “Would you mind if I sat up front with my man for we don’t get to ride with each other very much.”

Etta said, ‘No that would be alright,” as she smiled thinking Sarah doesn’t miss much. She knows what is happening between Cappy and me and doesn’t object to it.

On the ride home all bets were off and Cappy sat against Etta and held her hand tightly in his. They looked at each other in the dim light the lantern was putting out as it lit up the road.

He wanted to kiss her so much it hurt but restrained himself until the buggy hit a pot hole and threw him over on her. Their lips found their way to one another and remained there until Sarah said, “Are you two alright?  That pothole really shook the buggy.”

Cappy said, “We are fine,”  while wishing for another pothole in the road.

The rest of the way home the hand holding had become his arms around her and she relaxed herself against him.

Love is in the air

When they arrived at Etta’s house Cappy said, “I’ll see her safely in and just walk home afterwards.”

Les said, “We can wait…”

Sarah said, “I need to get home so let’s go Lester.”

A couple moments later Les said; “Oh I get it.”

As they stood on the porch he was holding her close and she said, “I know what is happening.”

He said, “Do you?”

She said, “Yes I do and I approve but if you stay in my class you must realize I am still the teacher and you are the pupil.”

He said, “I know and will act accordingly but I must be able to be near you sometime.”

She said, “We will work it out but you know how people will gossip.”

From that point on Cappy insisted that Etta eat at the main ranch house with the family.

The school year was almost over and plans for a wedding were in the air. One Saturday Cappy went to where Etta lived and brought two horses with him and told Etta they were going for a ride.

He said, “There is a cool breeze in the canyon and  we can cool off up there.”

She was all for it and said, “Let’s go.”

When they got to where Cappy wanted to go they removed the bit from the horses’ mouths and let them graze while they lazed around under some trees.

A skinny dip

After a while Cappy said, “I want to go swimming and cool off for it is warmer than I expected.”

They walked over to the river’s edge and he said, “Let’s go in.”

She said, “Fine except I don’t have a suit to put on.”

He said, ‘You don’t need one for we always swim without one,” as he stripped off naked.

She looked at him and said; “My aren’t you something,” which embarrassed him for a moment.

She removed her clothing except for her under clothes.

He said, ‘There is no need for you to get your bloomers wet.  I’ll look the other way if you’re bashful.”

With that he looked the other way and then shortly heard a splash behind him.

He swam over to her and hugged her to him.
After a few seconds she pushed him away and said, “Whoa that is way too close, as I don’t think you can control your manhood so don’t get so close.

Much to his delight she exposed most of herself while doing different strokes and diving under the water.

After an hour he said my skin is getting wrinkled so we better get out. He climbed up the river bank and extended his hand to her.

She said, “No I don’t think so.”

He said, “Why not I have seen it all while you were swimming so you might as well come on out and get dressed.”

She hesitated and then took his hand and came out of the water.

Then he said, ‘Well maybe I lied a bit for I didn’t see everything until now.”

She hit at him but missed.

He took his shirt and dried her off and she said, “Don’t get too close for you are getting a little excited.”

She put on her clothes while he dressed and they both laughed and blushed.

She asked, “Did you like what you saw?”

He didn’t say anything but took her in his arms and kissed her more passionately than he ever had.

After a few more kisses she pushed him away and said, “It doesn’t take much to get you excited so no more of this until the wedding night.”

To which he said, “It better be soon.”

 To be continued