Chapter 3

Makeda---I had not expected to meet Bowie on the trail but I was glad I did. I’ve had a crush on him since I was little. Not seeing him for the past five years only made it grow stronger. I was afraid that maybe he had went off to college and would meet some college girl. Momma assured me he was still on the ranch and had turned out to be a ‘top hand’. That’s her description of a person who knows what he is doing around cattle. Her and Daddy talking about him after their trips down south only made my fascination with him grow stronger. At night, alone in my bed, I thought of him as my fingers played between my legs. That feels so good! I can’t wait until Bowie does it to me!

After supper Momma and Daddy walked down to the river to bathe while Bowie and I sat on the front porch of the cabin. I saw his knife and asked if I could examine it. He took it out of its’ sheath and handed it to me. Then he started explaining how he had designed it and had it made. I was telling him how beautiful it is just as my parents came back from the river.

“The water is cold and it will be dark soon. If you want to bathe you need to go now.”

“Give me a minute to change into my cut-offs, then Bowie, you go with me.”

There was an awkward silence.