Do not own Covert Affairs or its characters. But I do have one thing in common with USA Network: Characters welcome. I will take your poor misused characters and keep them breathing. They deserve this.
Chapter Twenty-Five
They travelled in different stages of walk and trot. Auggie got the hang of posting in his saddle, thanks to Annie's gentle instructions and her watchful eye. He tried to remember everything he'd been told, and he tried to remember to do it all at the right time.
When they climbed off after about forty-five minutes for a break, Auggie already felt muscles pulling and tightening. Annie laughed when he tried to walk without groaning.
"Annie? What did you do with my cane?"
"It's here, Auggie, I have it. Do you want it?"
"I just need to stretch my legs a little," he said, feeling his familiar travel companion placed in the palm of his hand. He opened it up and Annie offered her elbow and they moved around a bit, talking to some of the others on the excursion.
There was a couple from Sicily, a couple from Spain, the student was Australian, and the family was from the U.K.
Within minutes Annie was talking to the Spanish couple about the riding she'd done in Spain. Auggie listened to her for a while, and then turned and made his way out of the groups and found some large rocks with his cane. He leaned up against one of them, and tuned the voices out, listening intensely to them, and then one of the kids spoke to him.
"Is it hard to ride on a horse when you can't see?" said the voice to his left. He turned toward it and tilted his head down to the speaker.
"It is a little, yeah," he said honestly. The kid didn't move, but he or she said nothing else. "What's your name?"
"Michael," said the voice. Okay, it was a male child. Good start.
"Hi, Michael. I'm Auggie. How old are you?"
"That's a weird name," said Michael.
"I'm a weird guy," Auggie said without missing a beat. "How old are you, kid?"
"Nine," said Michael.
"That's cool, you here with your family?"
"Yeah, my parents and my sister."
"Your sister older or younger?"
"Older. She's eleven."
"And you're from Surrey?"
"Yessir."
"You like riding?"
"Yeah. My sister really likes it, but it's better then I thought."
"Yeah. Me, too."
"Is that your girlfriend?"
"If by that you mean a beautiful blonde woman with a great smile, standing to our ten O'clock, then, yes, that's my girlfriend."
The boy was silent again. Auggie pictured him with auburn hair and freckles.
"Are you going anywhere else on your holiday?" Auggie asked Michael.
"No," said the boy. "We came for a week."
"And what do you think?"
"'S kinda boring," said Michael.
Auggie grinned. "Come back when you're older, kid. Bring a girlfriend."
"Euyuchhh, no fanks," said Michael.
"Fair enough," Auggie replied.
"So how can you sightsee if you can't see nuffing."
"There's more than one way of doing things."
"But... like, it kinda means seeing, doesn't it? I mean, sightseeing."
"Yeah. I don't get that part. But I get all the rest. I may even be a better listener than you. Can you hear that falcon calling?"
"No."
"Just listen... hear it now?"
"Yeah."
"Can you see it? Look up. It should be almost above us."
"Yeah, I see it! It's gliding like a plane up there!"
"Are you glad that's how I sightsee? You might have missed that. I catch stuff like that all the time."
"But you can't see anything?"
Auggie smiled at the kid. "Nope."
"You use that stick?"
"Yup."
"Cool."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Auggie grinned. He always forgot how just plain enjoyable it was to talk to a kid. No games. No pretenses. No politically correct awkwardness. Just simple questions. Simple answers.
"So, Michael, what's your sister's name?"
"Kayleigh."
"Is she all right? You like her okay?"
"Sometimes."
"Well, I hope your holiday gets better, kid. It's not so boring here. You gatta respect the different things that make up this planet. Try listening, too. Remember the falcon, right? This stuff's important. This is the stuff that will last with you. When days are bad, you'll think of this kind of stuff, and you'll be glad you did it."
The boy jumped up, and Auggie tensed, reactively. "There's a deer, way down there!" whispered the kid loudly.
"Where?" Auggie asked, turning in the boy's new direction.
"Right down... uh... oh."
Auggie held out his hand, pointing his finger. "Show me," he said. And Michael showed him where the deer was making his way through the low trees down the slope. They both listened and when the deer was spooked by something, they both heard the thump of its hooves and the snap of a branch as it bound out of Michael's view.
Auggie was smiling as he heard a awed woah coming from the boy. "Got that one?" he asked.
"Totally," said Michael.
"We make a good team," Auggie told him, reaching out, finding the boy's arm. He patted his shoulder.
Michael's mother called him then, and Auggie heard Annie's boots approaching.
"See ya at the top," Michael said to Auggie bounding away, and Auggie laughed.
"See ya at the top, kid."
"I see you're making friends," Annie said, leaning against the rock with him.
"I always make friends, what's your point?"
He felt Annie's arm link through his, and he smiled, instead putting his arm around her back, resting his hand on her hip.
"I'm having' a good time," he told her softly. "I'm glad you got me out of my comfort zone, and back in the saddle, so to speak. I need this, you know."
"I know you do."
Her words gave him a warm feeling of surprise. She turned, pressing in close to him, looking into his face.
"I know it can be hard, Auggie. I know it's scary sometimes. But I don't want you to miss out on anything because you are afraid." She stopped as if her words might be too much.
He smiled at her, reaching up to touch her cheek. "Thank you," he replied, leaning in to kiss her.
Remembering they were still in sight of their travelling companions, they pulled apart and Auggie took Annie's elbow as they walked back to their horses. The others were in a process of mounting their rides and getting ready to continue up the slope to the summit. Annie oriented Auggie to his horse, and held the reins as he located his stirrup and scrambled up onto the strong bay horse.
"You're already an expert," Annie told him, looking up at him. "You need a cowboy hat."
"You can get me one for our next trail ride," Auggie said.
He heard her laugh as she turned to get on her own horse. He held the reins she'd given to him taught and relaxed his legs so the horse would stand. Annie set Ceres in motion and by way of the tether line, Vejovis followed. Auggie loosened the reins and let the horse find his way.
The world was smaller for Auggie in so many ways. Everything that existed either had to be in his reach, or make a sound. But moments like this, when the sound was so big and open, and the scent in the air was filled with scenery, he could close his eyes and feel a part of everything. He hoped Annie didn't look back at him then, he felt there was emotion written on his face too plainly. That bomb had made his world shrink down into a tiny space that he could only touch with his fingertips. This thing Annie was doing for him was bigger than he was in so many ways, and yet he was feeling so connected.
The rest of the journey up was uneventful, but filled with meaning for Auggie. At the top, they dismounted and Auggie felt his cane back in his hand. He smiled and followed Annie, wondering where they were going. She stopped and placed his hand on stone. He felt the rough, worn stone, crumbled away to the ground in most places. He explored it for a moment and then turned to her, a questioning look on his face.
"It must have been a look-out. Or an earlier fort." Annie watched him check out the ruins and was quiet.
Within minutes, he heard running footsteps toward him, and slower ones behind.
"Auggie! Cool! Was it a castle?"
"Hey, Michael! Maybe, or a fort. We're not sure."
He heard Michael moving around the site, and turned to the new person.
"Hi," Annie said.
"Hi," replied the voice.
"Hi, Kayleigh," said Auggie. "I'm Auggie, and this is Annie."
"I hope my brother isn't annoying you," the girl said.
"No," Auggie smiled. "He's having fun. He said you liked horses."
Her voice brightened. "Yeah, I love them. My parents promised me this trail ride," she told them happily. "Except Michael kept complaining. It's my day. He gets his own."
"I think he's having fun now," Annie said. "You may have shared something with him that he will look back on as a good thing you did."
"Maybe," Kayleigh replied, sounding slightly uncertain about that.
Annie tapped Auggie's chest. "Hey, you want some lunch now?"
"Famished," Auggie replied, grinning at her, taking her elbow again, turning and heading back to where the group was setting down for their rest and lunch. Annie, Julietta, and the Spanish woman worked together to give the horses some oats before they got their own picnics together. Annie had handed the pack from her horse and Auggie had found a place near to where Michael's family was sitting, near the ruins. He sat and zippered open the pack, taking out the thermos and the sandwiches they had had Ambrusu make from the fresh Panini he baked up every day. He set the thermos beside him and held the wrapped sandwiches in his lap, waiting for Annie. He felt in the pack again and found some apples and a little box with what he discovered was cookies inside. He grinned at their new friend's care in the lunch he had made for them. They had pretty much adopted him as their guide and caretaker.
Annie approached, saying, "I just got a text from Eric." He could hear mirth in her voice.
"You sent it, didn't you?"
"I couldn't resist," Annie said.
"Great, one more thing for him to have on me," he said, testily. She sat beside him, leaning in. He anticipated her kiss and reciprocated.
"Is that all you guys ever do?" Michael's voice sounded from Auggie's left.
"Michael," his mother admonished him. "Sorry, folks. It's nice to see love alive."
"No worries," Annie said, smiling. "We'll try to keep it to a minimum, Michael. You okay with that?"
"I guess," Michael agreed reluctantly. "Hey, Auggie, did you go to that castle way over there already?"
"Yeah, we did. Are you going there?"
"We're going tomorrow."
"You know about the Romans?"
Annie smiled at Auggie, shaking her head. She turned and smiled at Michael's family, feeling pride for this smart man beside her.
"No," said the boy.
"You're gonna," laughed Annie, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"We'll take a little walk after we eat, get the blood flowing, and I'll tell you a bit about the soldiers that pretty much took over the world for a while."
"Cool!" exclaimed the kid. "Can I, Mum?"
So Annie waited behind, watching Auggie and the kid, Auggie with his hand resting on the boy's shoulder, and the boy trying to be careful about what was in front of Auggie. She felt happy. She felt like there was more for them. She was feeling ready.
On the way back down the mountain, Julietta took them down a different trail. Parts of it were steep and Auggie felt gravel sliding under the horse's feet at times, and tensed up in panic whenever it happened. He was terrified of going down, not knowing where to fall to be out of danger. But the horse had four feet, and never lost its footing
There was a shout up ahead, and a thud, and then the sound of a horse scattering off from the group, and the other horses stamping and moving. Some other noises of panic came after.
"Annie? What happened?" Auggie was on high-alert.
"Kayleigh. She fell off the horse."
"Shit."
"I'm going to go see. Hold tight. Here's my reins." She took his hand and put the horse's reins into it.
"Annie?" Auggie panicked. This was dangerous, surely. He calmed himself, hearing her jog away to the front of the group, and dismounted, standing beside the horses. It felt safer down here with his feet on the ground. He listened to the chaos, trying to make out Annie's voice beneath it.
"I'm okay," he finally heard Kayleigh say.
"Just sit here for a minute," Annie said. "I have First Aid training, I'm going to check you over, okay?"
Auggie waited, listening. Feeling helpless. Knowing Annie could handle it. Holding two horses.
How his life had changed. And not just the once.
Annie was back at his side, taking the reins from him. "She's okay. Gonna be bruised. Kids bend and bounce but they don't break so easily as we do. They're helping her bring the horse around and get back on it."
"What happened?" Auggie asked.
"I think the horse slipped and she panicked and kicked it. Inadvertently made it run and she lost her balance. See, Auggie, it can happen to anyone. You're doing great."
"I felt Vejovis slip like that."
"Oh." Annie looked at him for a second. "Did it scare you?"
He nodded. "Yeah," he finally admitted. He felt very exposed to her.
She reached over and squeezed his arm. "You're not going down, Cowboy."
Auggie took a deep breath, letting it out loudly. "Let's get back on the bicycle," he said, touching the horse's head and trailing his hand along its neck and side until he located the stirrup. This time, he grabbed the mane and was up in the saddle in a second.
"You're getting to be a real cowboy," Annie said, admiration in her tone. "Fast learner, aren't you? Or are you just showing off?"
Auggie pretended to think about it. "Mm, probably a little bit of both," he said. He heard Annie climb up into her own saddle, chuckling.
"Annie, is it dangerous to have my horse tethered to yours on a slope?"
"It's fine, Auggie. The horses won't fall down. It's not as steep as it feels up here on their backs. Why, do you want me to let you off the line?"
Auggie wasn't sure if she was serious. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to be cut loose from the rest of them. Maybe if they were all down where it was safer, he would dare to ride independently, but he was definitely not comfortable with the notion at the moment.
"I'm good," he said.
"Relax. We're coming to a nice grassy part that is a little less steep. You're amazing, Auggie. Really. And don't think I'm not getting a great photo memory of you with that horse, to use later," she added, with an overt sexiness to her voice.
"What did Barber say in that text?" Auggie asked, realising he'd forgotten to ask.
"It just said: "Righteous!" she replied.
The grin flew across Auggie's face and he shook his head, laughing.
Indeed.