imagine a world where no music was playing,
and think of a church with nobody praying. have you ever looked up at a sky with no blue? then you've seen a picture of me without you.
Wayne grinned and patted the mare’s neck as he waited at the edge of the fort for Dixie-May to come. He had been dying for this trip ever since it was brought up, whether by her or the dreams he’d had. Admittedly, he’d been a bit disappointed when the female had mentioned they could find the livestock they needed within the expansive territory of Casa di Cavalieri; he had been looking forward to putting miles between them and the pack, the better to spend time with her uninterrupted.
But this is just part of your duty to the pack, the cowboy thought despite trying to keep a good mood. He shook his head and forced himself to be more optimistic. As long as it makes Dixie happy, it’s all right. As long as we can spend time together, and as long as I can ask the question…
Humans had rings to give to each other, but the mongrel had only a salvaged locket necklace. The chain was silver leaf, the locket shaped like a heart, the picture within faded beyond recognition. He wished he had the dexterity to set something new within that heart, but it was too tiny for him to bother. He hoped that the symbolism of the thing outweighed its simplicity.
The necklace was tucked safely away in one of the saddlebags, however. Fern had mass enough to carry quite a few, and many supplies were packed: canteens for water and bandages in case stuff went wrong, a few knives and some strips of salted meat in case they didn’t have time to hunt. Looped and hanging off the saddle horn was plenty of rope to complete their job.
Running his callused fingers gently through Fern’s flaxen mane, Wayne glanced back over his shoulder and waited for the snowy wolfdog.
361 - It's all good! Dated for the...well I guess 11th-whenever? Dixie has no wounds yet.
Finally the time had come for Dixie and Wayne’s little herding adventure slash vacation to begin. Dixie was out near the barn, checking on the chickens in their coop and collecting a few of the new small ropes she’d made from the boat rope. Instead of it being eight inches thick and matted by mud, it now looked like all the other rope, and there was a ton of it. Four lengths had been draped over Duke’s saddle, along with double saddle bags and two rolled up deer hide blankets. As the temperatures grew warmer with each passing day, there was less of a need for jackets or clothing to keep the heat trapped against their bodies.
Pulling herself up onto the stallion’s back, she got situated and then steered him in the direction that Wayne and Fern’s scents were coming from. They were already waiting near the front entrance to the fort, being impatient probably. Smiling happily, she allowed Duke to quicken his pace until they pulled up next to the other pair. Well hello there, handsome. Come here often? Dixie winked at him and giggled softly, digging her heels into Duke’s sides and leaning forward a bit when he leapt into a run.
The sound of heavily pounding hooves came from close behind, indicating that Fern was gaining on them quickly. For such a heavy horse, she sure was fast and agile. Peeking back over her shoulder, Dixie flashed the Labrador mix a smile, so very happy to be getting away from the pack for a little while. It was just about time that they got a vacation, some time to themselves away from everyone else and the madness of the pack. Of course, the little white woman would have felt selfish and kind of bad for just taking off…so she had to do something beneficial to the pack as they traveled and got to be together.
Slowing a bit, Duke’s head tossing with his excitement, she turned to the male against and pointed all around. Where ya think we should go first? We got a few days…don’t think there’s any rush or nothin’ fer us ta get back.
imagine a world where no music was playing,
and think of a church with nobody praying. have you ever looked up at a sky with no blue? then you've seen a picture of me without you.
Fern shifted her weight underneath him, and instinctively he compensated. His fingers went to her neck once more, tracing gently along it, and she whickered. It would do her good to really ride again; the attack had made her timid and unsure about the world since her faith in strangers was shaken. He almost wished that Gypsy had been there that day instead; she would have trampled the black she-wolf into the ground and showed her that horses were no mere prey. But the paint’s belly was starting to swell, and he didn’t want to risk working her hard and losing the foal.
A teasing greeting made him turn, and he grinned rather stupidly as the little lady came forward on her small stallion’s back. Dixie gave him a wink before she was galloping off, and the cowboy was almost content to watch the muscles of her back and the rear of her horse.
The chestnut mare had other ideas, however, and he nearly lost his hat as she lurched forward and ran after them. Hard on Duke’s heels, she tossed her flaxen mane and whinnied a playful challenge. Wayne grinned and leaned over her neck, letting out a whooping cry as they ran.
Eventually, when some distance was put between them and the fort’s walls, the equines slowed. Fern took high steps as she pranced after her herd-mate, and Wayne chuckled before meeting the woman’s light green eyes. “Get back?” he echoed ironically. “We ain’t away. I’m sure we’ll hear ’em if they need us.” As disappointed as he was that they weren’t racing off somewhere even more private, he was pretty relieved to know they weren’t too far if something went wrong with one of the horses.
He looked around at the expanse of territory before suggesting, “Thought I saw sheep up north—near that little town.” He had almost missed Summerville on his patrols, as secluded as it was. It would take some time to get there, but he didn’t mind a long ride; the horses seemed raring for it, too.
344
off to summerville for sheeps? :o can chat and bug each other on the way <3
Wayne’s words sent a little shiver of shame through the girl’s body. He was right, they weren’t really going away this time…she was too nervous to really leave the pack lands at the moment. The Labrador mix’s shoulder was still hurting sometimes, and the little white woman was weary of loners now. After the attack on Casa di Cavalieri, she didn’t really want anything to do with the ‘outside world’. Dropping her head a little, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders high. I’m sorry Wayne…just a bit nervous about headin’ on out of here…scares me a little.
The male was also on the right track when he mentioned the small town called ‘Summerville’. It was well hidden and she’d caught a whiff of animals there when she had gone riding a while back. That would definitely be a great place to start their search for livestock. Hopefully a few young animals could be roped and taken without much trouble. Turning to look at Wayne again, she allowed Duke to make his own way after having been pointed in the right direction. He was a good sure footed horse that wouldn’t get them into trouble if he could help it.
Where ya think we’ll keep the…animals…once we catch ‘em? If they decided to stay in the town, whatever was caught could be kept in a building until they were ready to leave…or maybe a small makeshift fence could be created. Surely there would be a corral of some sort in such a remote place,. She was sure there would be no real problems with this expedition, and that she was just trying to make things up to worry about.
imagine a world where no music was playing,
and think of a church with nobody praying. have you ever looked up at a sky with no blue? then you've seen a picture of me without you.
The woman’s face fell as her shoulders rode up, like a little snowy bird trying to hunch between its wings, and Wayne glanced at her in concern. He was helpless for a moment; unlike jerking her from dangerous precipices and beating foes to protect her, he could not do anything about her fears.
He put on a smile for her sake, albeit a bad one, and tried to sound careless. “Nothin’s gonna happen while we’re out,” he promised easily. “We ain’t gonna help by frettin’. I’ll protect you.” The last was the most truthful statement among them, although he realized belatedly that she was probably worried about the pack to. “The others can take care of themselves too. We’d only get in their way. Prolly tired of seein’ us anyway.”
His eyes fell back to his mare’s flaxen mane then, and he found himself faintly disturbed that he was the one trying to cheer her up with words. Plenty of times she’d sank into depressions that he coaxed her out of with a touch, but lately he’d worried that that wasn’t enough. He’d tried to change for her sake as well as the pack’s, but it was a harder struggle than he’d anticipated. Everything had changed, and yet nothing had.
He shrugged one-shouldered at her question. “Maybe the barn, dependin’ on how many we have,” he offered. “Most of the horses are free-roamin’, anyway. If we get a lot of sheep, might have to corral ’em, or just trust ’em not to wander off too far.” He realized that he was being somewhat useless with his chatter and slumped slightly in the saddle, letting go of the reins completely and glancing over at her thoughtfully.
