riding
clothes. I’ll just be a minute, I promise.”
She was almost as good as her word, and
by the sounds of it she had made a stop in her mother’s
room.
He caught the words.
“ I’ve made up a plate for
you mother, and I’m going riding with Hank.”
Andrea’s response was muffled but the
tones were approving or reassuring or at least not a protest. Polly
went into the kitchen. After a time, she went into what was
presumably her bedroom. Finally, she came around the corner wearing
boots, leggings, and a short skin skirt and jacket.
In her wide-brimmed hat with a low
crown, in Hank’s opinion she looked plumb adorable. Considering the
way his heart hammered, fun might not the right word for
it.
If only he could forget his age and
just relax.
***
Elmer was in the barn when they rode
up, with Polly, warm against him and smelling divine, on the back
of Hank’s mount.
“ Hey!” Elmer stabbed his
pitchfork into the ground and looked at his hands as if checking
for dirt or blisters, one or the other. “Hank! How in the hell have
you been?”
“ I was wondering if I could
borrow Blossom for a while, Mister Baldoon?” Polly slid down before
Hank could even think of what came next and how to accomplish
it.
Elmer looked puzzled and then his eyes
cleared. He looked at Hank with new eyes it seemed, straightening
up a bit and taking in the clothes.
“ Why, sure, that’d be
fine.”
“ I’m fine.” Hank nodded at
Elmer. “The bracken is coming up thick and lush this
year.”
“ Ah.” Elmer helped Polly
dismount and then Hank got down.
Polly went into the barn and the two
men hovered there.
Elmer stood inspecting him with a funny
look on his face. After a while Hank spoke.
“ We’re going for a
ride.”
“ Ah.” Elmer thought about
that. “It’s nice up by the gorge.”
Hank nodded. He hadn’t thought of that,
and it wasn’t too far to go.
Polly and another girl came out of the
barn. A red-haired lass, very much her father’s daughter, with her
pug nose and broad face, she was in her mid-twenties. Her name was
Alison as he recalled, and when she gave him a bored look he tugged
the brim of his hat. Alison was all bellied up, which sort of took
Hank by surprise.
Blossom was saddled and the girls
exchanged a few pleasantries. Hank had heard Alison was bespoken of
the Harwell boy, whom he actually thought to be a couple of years
her junior.
That’s the way it was around here—not
enough men or women to go around, no matter how you looked at
it.
The Harwell boy had regular work
northeast of town on a small homesteader’s ranch up there and that
probably accounted for his not being here, pitching in with the
chores and all. They would need a house and some land of their own
soon enough. She looked to be about four or five months pregnant,
although Hank didn’t know much about such things.
***
It was only natural as they were riding
along, to talk about this and that and the other thing.
Soon enough, they were telling each
other more intimate details.
“ I don’t know.” Hank stared
off at the horizon, where the rolling green hills faded off into
half-tones and pastels and a kind of faint grey smudge. “Just the
thought that a man could get up one morning and just start walking,
and go all the way around the Earth—”
It was funny how he still thought in
those terms, force of habit he supposed.
“ But to walk all the way
clear around the other side, and never hit nothing—not a gol-durned
thing, pardon my French.”
She giggled as Blossom sidestepped an
animal burrow, although the creature put its head down for a quick
sniff. The animals were more or less following their original
heading, with all the training Hank had put into his
mount.
His animals went where he pointed them
and Blossom was amenable to suggestion.
“ It fired my imagination.
Not that I ever really did anything about it.”
“ Do you miss it?”
“ What?”
“ Earth, dummy.” That
clothes. I’ll just be a minute, I promise.”
She was almost as good as her word, and
by the sounds of it she had made a stop in her mother’s
room.
He caught the words.
“ I’ve made up a plate for
you mother, and I’m going riding with Hank.”
Andrea’s response was muffled but the
tones were approving or reassuring or at least not a protest. Polly
went into the kitchen. After a time, she went into what was
presumably her bedroom. Finally, she came around the corner wearing
boots, leggings, and a short skin skirt and jacket.
In her wide-brimmed hat with a low
crown, in Hank’s opinion she looked plumb adorable. Considering the
way his heart hammered, fun might not the right word for
it.
If only he could forget his age and
just relax.
***
Elmer was in the barn when they rode
up, with Polly, warm against him and smelling divine, on the back
of Hank’s mount.
“ Hey!” Elmer stabbed his
pitchfork into the ground and looked at his hands as if checking
for dirt or blisters, one or the other. “Hank! How in the hell have
you been?”
“ I was wondering if I could
borrow Blossom for a while, Mister Baldoon?” Polly slid down before
Hank could even think of what came next and how to accomplish
it.
Elmer looked puzzled and then his eyes
cleared. He looked at Hank with new eyes it seemed, straightening
up a bit and taking in the clothes.
“ Why, sure, that’d be
fine.”
“ I’m fine.” Hank nodded at
Elmer. “The bracken is coming up thick and lush this
year.”
“ Ah.” Elmer helped Polly
dismount and then Hank got down.
Polly went into the barn and the two
men hovered there.
Elmer stood inspecting him with a funny
look on his face. After a while Hank spoke.
“ We’re going for a
ride.”
“ Ah.” Elmer thought about
that. “It’s nice up by the gorge.”
Hank nodded. He hadn’t thought of that,
and it wasn’t too far to go.
Polly and another girl came out of the
barn. A red-haired lass, very much her father’s daughter, with her
pug nose and broad face, she was in her mid-twenties. Her name was
Alison as he recalled, and when she gave him a bored look he tugged
the brim of his hat. Alison was all bellied up, which sort of took
Hank by surprise.
Blossom was saddled and the girls
exchanged a few pleasantries. Hank had heard Alison was bespoken of
the Harwell boy, whom he actually thought to be a couple of years
her junior.
That’s the way it was around here—not
enough men or women to go around, no matter how you looked at
it.
The Harwell boy had regular work
northeast of town on a small homesteader’s ranch up there and that
probably accounted for his not being here, pitching in with the
chores and all. They would need a house and some land of their own
soon enough. She looked to be about four or five months pregnant,
although Hank didn’t know much about such things.
***
It was only natural as they were riding
along, to talk about this and that and the other thing.
Soon enough, they were telling each
other more intimate details.
“ I don’t know.” Hank stared
off at the horizon, where the rolling green hills faded off into
half-tones and pastels and a kind of faint grey smudge. “Just the
thought that a man could get up one morning and just start walking,
and go all the way around the Earth—”
It was funny how he still thought in
those terms, force of habit he supposed.
“ But to walk all the way
clear around the other side, and never hit nothing—not a gol-durned
thing, pardon my French.”
She giggled as Blossom sidestepped an
animal burrow, although the creature put its head down for a quick
sniff. The animals were more or less following their original
heading, with all the training Hank had put into his
mount.
His animals went where he pointed them
and Blossom was amenable to suggestion.
“ It fired my imagination.
Not that I ever really did anything about it.”
“ Do you miss it?”
“ What?”
“ Earth, dummy.” That
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