Chapter 13

Casey mounted atop Jessie, the Appaloosa, meandering through the trail alone. Jessica had convinced him to take a ride out by himself to get a little time to himself and enjoy nature. Bart had been working him the last couple days, and while Casey wasn’t too sure what the work had to do with relaxing, he was glad it ended with something special. Riding alone today is not something he expected that he would be doing. But it is what it is.

When the ride began he was silent. Then at some point, whether taken by the beauty of the land or the fact that he was alone with his thoughts, Casey began to talk aloud, more to himself than anything. Eventually he realized that Jessie would make a good talking companion and began talking to the horse. After a while, even that became a foolish notion and he stopped talking altogether. All the while he wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to where they were heading. It seems that Jessie is leading the way, and by the time Casey realizes this, he is already lost.

“Where are you taking me?” he asks the horse. Then he thinks about the question and how foolish it is to even ask it. “Well I just hope you know how to get back.”

As if responding to his question, the horse just stops. Casey looks around, unsure of what is going on. The horse snorts and drops his head to the ground to munch on a tuft of grass in the middle of the trail.

“This isn’t a time to eat,” Casey complains. Come on,” he says, tugging on the reins. “Let’s turn back around. It’s getting late.”

But the horse won’t budge. No matter how hard the man pulls on the reins, the horse just won’t move. Casey thinks about jabbing his heels into Jessie’s sides, but decides against it. If the horse isn’t going to budge when he pulls on the reins, he doubts he is going to with a couple of jabs in his side. Instead, Casey climbs down off the horse.

“Alright, alright,” he says waving his hands at the beast. “I guess you’re hungry. I’m hungry too.” He reaches into the saddle bag and pulls out a packed lunch that Jessica made for him and a bottle of water. “I’m going to find a place to rest. Let’s get you tied up.”

When he reaches for the reins though, Jessie jerks his head back and snorts at the man.

“Alright, alright,” Casey shouts. “I get it. You don’t like being tied up. I don’t blame you. I don’t like the idea either.” He turns around to take in his surroundings when he catches a glimpse of what looks like water. “Is that a lake?” he says out loud.

Jessie snorts.

Casey finds it curious, and for a fleeting moment begins to wonder if the horse actually understood anything he has said all morning. He shakes his head thinking it preposterous and says, “I’m going to check it out. You stay here and don’t wonder off.”

Jessie snorts again and Casey just shakes his head, turning his back on the horse and following the trail that eventually leads to the water. Sure enough, it is a lake. He wonders if it is the same lake he and Jessica visited. He thinks he recognizes the scenery, just maybe form the other side, but he cannot be sure. It doesn’t matter. He couldn’t find his way back even if he was on the other side. Casey sits down and leans against a tree and unpacks his lunch.

He finishes his lunch pretty quickly and slumps back ready to go, but not quite. Casey stares out over the water, scanning the shoreline in hopes to find something familiar to confirm his earlier suspicion that this is the same lake he and Jessica had visited. He is about to give up when in a small alcove, surrounded by trees on all sides, is a woman. She is holding a towel in her hand and looking around for what looks like a place to sit down.

Leaning forward, Casey squints, trying to see who the woman is more clearly. He knows exactly who it is: Susie, Rosemary’s mother. While it seems odd that she is all the way out this way, it doesn’t seem that odd at the same time. It could also mean that he isn’t too far from the ranch either. Casey is about to drop his interest and head back to his horse when the woman peels off her shirt and drops it to the ground. Then she carefully lays the towel out. Casey feels himself getting hard as he watches, waiting in anticipation to see what all she is going to do. Susie then puts her fingers in the waistband of her shorts and slides both the shorts and her panties down over her hips and steps out of them.

Casey hardly dares breathe. He leans closer, trying to see more clearly, wishing he had a pair of binoculars. As he watches her unclasp her bra, letting a pair of nice-sized breasts hang free, he remembers that Jessica insisted he take a pair of binoculars and shoved them in the other saddle bag. The man jumps to his feet and rushes back along the path to find Jessie still standing in the same place he left the horse. He grabs the binoculars from the other saddle bag and rushes back to his spot by the tree.