CHAPTER 2.…. A DAY WITH THE HORSES

By nine o'clock on Saturday morning, Michael had already called twice with an update on the drug smugglers.

String took Le in the jeep down an old unpaved road. "We're almost there," he told him.

Le looked out the window at the beautiful country landscape. Grassy fields swayed by the wind had a few trees scattered throughout them. Cows, horses, and even sheep grazing there.

Easing to a stop, String stepped out first, Le soon joining him from the passenger side. "Bob," he greeted the other man with a pat on the back, "it's been a long time."

"Yeah, way too long if you ask me."

"At least you look like you've done pretty well for yourself," he said referring to the vast woods, fields, and the animals living in them.

"No too bad, true old buddy. How about you? Last I heard you were working for some covert government agency that agreed to help you find your brother."

"Still half true. I work for them occasionally, but my brother's been found. In fact," he called for Le, " he came with a bonus. This is my nephew, Le."

Bob, seeing the Amerasisan boy of thirteen, stuck out a hand in welcoming greeting. "I'm Bob, your uncle's old war buddy." Returning to String he said, "I guess ya'll are gonna be wanted those horses right about now. I got them all saddled up already and they're ready to go."

"Sounds good."

Soon, String mounted a big brown chestnut and joined Le who was already mounted on a black and white paint.

"Ready?"

"Yep," Le answered readily.

"They chose a wide path to begin with starting in the grassy fields and gradually narrowing as itworked its way up the hills. Twigs snapped and leaved crunched under the steady clopping of horse hooves. Picking up the pace a little, they trotted into the woods and startled their journey. Carefully picking their way along the trail, they journeyed deep into the woods.

By noon, they had reached a stream running between the hills. String, who was in the lead, pulled up and dismounted allowing his horse to drink from the stream. Le followed suit.

"You hungry?" String asked.

"A little."

"How about we stop here for lunch then."

"Ok."

Out of the saddle bag, he pulled two sandwiches and a thermos. Le took one of them and hurriedly made his way through it.

"So much for only a little hungry," String teased. "You want another one?"

"Nah, I'm good."

They shared the thermos then put it away. "I guess we had better start heading back. How about you lead."

"Ok," Le accepted the challenge readily.

Eager to make the second half of their rise as fun as possible, he tested his riding abilities with narrow paths, streams, and detours, along with the occasional fallen log.

They arrived at their destination back at Bob's stables just as the sun was beginning to set, its red and orange rays disappearing beyond the horizon. String and Le dismounted their horses and led them in to be untacked and groomed. They helped Bob with the grooming and put the tack away.

"Thanks," Le said.

"Yeah, thanks. We had a really good time."

"Good to hear," Bob said with satisfaction. String in general was more social able and happy than the last time he had seen him after Nam. Obviously life was much better for him. "maybe next time I'll be able to join you."

"We'd love to have the company."

"Say, you've seen me and my herd, what about you? Got a wife and kid yet?"

"Nah, we got our hands full with this guy here…I probably wouldn't be a good father anyway being gone all the time," he said aloud, but secretly wished to have a family of his own.

"We? Who is we?"

"My little family-Dom, Saint John, Le and Cait."

"Cait, I don't think you've told me about her."

"Caitlin is like family. She came to work with us at Santini Air."

"Ah, I see." Looking at the ominous grey clouds in the distance, he said, "well, I wish you the best and expect to see you soon. No more waiting years to drop by, you hear?"

"I'll see about that."

String and Le thanked Bob again and climbed into the jeep to head back to Van Nuys Airport.

"Thanks, Uncle String. You know things have turned out pretty good with us. You found my dad and I still get to spend time with you, Cait, and Uncle Dom too."

String was glad to know Le was good with the current arrangement. It worried him that Le had had a rough transition and while he technically lived at the cabin, he spent great amounts of time with Caitlin and Dom at one of their apartments. Having a family involved government agencies and espionage would be hard for anyone, especially a thirteen year old boy who was had just met his true father about a year ago. "I'm glad you had a good time. Next time maybe someone else can come with us."

"Yeah, that would be great."

Pulling the jeep in at Santini Air, "How are flying lessons with Dom going?" he asked.

"Pretty well, why?"

"I was thinking maybe you could fly me to the cabin for a change."

"Really?"

"I don't see why not."

Le climbed up into the pilot's seat and pulled on a headset as String slid into the co-pilot's.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," came the eager reply.

Already familiar with the instruments from Dom's lessons and watching the others fly, Le started up the red, white, and blue Jet Ranger. Steadily, they lifted into the air and started for the cabin. With String's direction, they safety mad it past the restricted zone and to the lake. Le landed squarely on the dock and started shutting off the engines.

"How was that?''

"That was great. Much better than I ever did as a kid; it took Dom awhile just to get me to try landing in the dock and you did it without a problem."

"Wow, thanks," Le said. He knew that was a huge compliment especially from String.

Inside, String and Le walked in just in time for dinner. Saint John set it on the table and they dug in.

"So how'd it go?"

"Good," both answered.

Le started expounding on a detailed story of their ride. "It was really fun. Next time you should come too."

"Next time?" he said questioningly.

"I don't know exactly when it will be, but Bob said we should come out and do it again some time."

"Maybe I will join you."