p class="MsoNormal"Ten minutes later, Heyes and Curry were out in front of the rambling ranch house, loading up the covered wagon with trunks, valises, and provisions for the trip./p
p class="MsoNormal""We're getting an awful late start, but I suppose it's a good idea to start out with an easy day," commented Heyes as he lifted a wooden crate into place. "Those gals might be used to ranch work, but this trip will be more like a cattle drive. Long days, sleeping rough..."/p
p class="MsoNormal""They ain't exactly what I expected," commented Curryem sotto voce/em. "Both lookers. And not exactly what I'd call shrinking violets…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Kid. Remember what Lom said. No romancing! Neither one of them," scolded his partner./p
p class="MsoNormal""Heyes, how can you even say that? You think I can't control myself around a couple beautiful young ladies…" He folded his arms stubbornly across his chest as he faced Heyes./p
p class="MsoNormal"Heyes straightened up and raked his fingers through his unruly shock of dark hair and stood stock-still for a beat, staring into his partner's innocent blue eyes, hands on slim hips. Finally he answered, "No. I don't."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Kid looked offended./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just look at your track record, Kid. These two are OFF LIMITS. Promise?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Kid's expression didn't alter, but he nevertheless answered, "Alright, alright. I promise!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The first day of what was expected to be a three-week journey passed uneventfully. Heyes drove the wagon, his own horse tied to the back. Curry rode ahead, scouting out the trail and returning periodically to report. Miranda, having changed into her requisite split skirt, rode alongside the wagon on her stunning black mare most of the day. Trudie spent part of the time in the wagon, reading a book, and part of the time sitting next to Heyes on the buckboard, pointing out interesting sights. After a break to eat and rest the horses, she rode Miranda's black for a bit while Miranda took a nap in the back of the wagon. When she awoke, the girls rode double for a while, racing ahead, laughing and shouting with glee./p
p class="MsoNormal"When they reached a lovely little glen complete with a babbling brook winding its way amid a line of cottonwoods snaking through the grassy plain, Heyes called it a day. Even though there were a couple more hours of daylight left, he knew from his years of experience in these parts that they wouldn't come to such an ideal camping spot before nightfall./p
p class="MsoNormal"Curry, unhitching the team, looked up as Miranda helped her friend jump down from the wagon. "What's for dinner?" he called amiably. Both women turned to stare at him./p
p class="MsoNormal"Trudie glanced at Miranda, smirked, then turned back to the Kid and said gaily, "I wouldn't have the slightest idea. For $500 apiece, I would assume you and your partner will be taking care of the meals."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Curry back-pedaled awkwardly, "I just meant - I mean, uh, well, being ladies, I thought you two might like to…"/p
p class="MsoNormal"He trailed off lamely as two pairs of female eyes, one dark brown and the other bright blue, stared at him impassively./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just because we're "ladies," you assume we want to take charge of the cooking?" Miranda asked imperiously./p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't even know how to cook," giggled Trudie. "Mrs. O'Brien does all the cooking and cleaning for my family."/p
p class="MsoNormal""And me and my Pa eat at the bunkhouse with the hands," added Miranda. "What's good enough for them is good enough for us."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Heyes, who had been observing the interchange with amusement, interjected smoothly, "I think what my partner meant to say was, dinner will be ready in 30 minutes. Right, Thaddeus?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, yeah. Right, Joshua."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""We're getting an awful late start, but I suppose it's a good idea to start out with an easy day," commented Heyes as he lifted a wooden crate into place. "Those gals might be used to ranch work, but this trip will be more like a cattle drive. Long days, sleeping rough..."/p
p class="MsoNormal""They ain't exactly what I expected," commented Curryem sotto voce/em. "Both lookers. And not exactly what I'd call shrinking violets…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Kid. Remember what Lom said. No romancing! Neither one of them," scolded his partner./p
p class="MsoNormal""Heyes, how can you even say that? You think I can't control myself around a couple beautiful young ladies…" He folded his arms stubbornly across his chest as he faced Heyes./p
p class="MsoNormal"Heyes straightened up and raked his fingers through his unruly shock of dark hair and stood stock-still for a beat, staring into his partner's innocent blue eyes, hands on slim hips. Finally he answered, "No. I don't."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Kid looked offended./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just look at your track record, Kid. These two are OFF LIMITS. Promise?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Kid's expression didn't alter, but he nevertheless answered, "Alright, alright. I promise!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The first day of what was expected to be a three-week journey passed uneventfully. Heyes drove the wagon, his own horse tied to the back. Curry rode ahead, scouting out the trail and returning periodically to report. Miranda, having changed into her requisite split skirt, rode alongside the wagon on her stunning black mare most of the day. Trudie spent part of the time in the wagon, reading a book, and part of the time sitting next to Heyes on the buckboard, pointing out interesting sights. After a break to eat and rest the horses, she rode Miranda's black for a bit while Miranda took a nap in the back of the wagon. When she awoke, the girls rode double for a while, racing ahead, laughing and shouting with glee./p
p class="MsoNormal"When they reached a lovely little glen complete with a babbling brook winding its way amid a line of cottonwoods snaking through the grassy plain, Heyes called it a day. Even though there were a couple more hours of daylight left, he knew from his years of experience in these parts that they wouldn't come to such an ideal camping spot before nightfall./p
p class="MsoNormal"Curry, unhitching the team, looked up as Miranda helped her friend jump down from the wagon. "What's for dinner?" he called amiably. Both women turned to stare at him./p
p class="MsoNormal"Trudie glanced at Miranda, smirked, then turned back to the Kid and said gaily, "I wouldn't have the slightest idea. For $500 apiece, I would assume you and your partner will be taking care of the meals."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Curry back-pedaled awkwardly, "I just meant - I mean, uh, well, being ladies, I thought you two might like to…"/p
p class="MsoNormal"He trailed off lamely as two pairs of female eyes, one dark brown and the other bright blue, stared at him impassively./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just because we're "ladies," you assume we want to take charge of the cooking?" Miranda asked imperiously./p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't even know how to cook," giggled Trudie. "Mrs. O'Brien does all the cooking and cleaning for my family."/p
p class="MsoNormal""And me and my Pa eat at the bunkhouse with the hands," added Miranda. "What's good enough for them is good enough for us."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Heyes, who had been observing the interchange with amusement, interjected smoothly, "I think what my partner meant to say was, dinner will be ready in 30 minutes. Right, Thaddeus?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, yeah. Right, Joshua."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p