Chapter 217: Shuffling through the Leaves

Editor: nnpdad 16 Aug 2022

Contemplation during the wee hours of that cold autumn morning had left me with the beginnings of an idea; the seeds of a plan to smooth things over with my young wife and to actually get to spend some time with her. After all, what’s the point of having an intelligent, charming and extremely beautiful wife if you never got to spend time with her? So this plan may have been a bit selfish on my part but then again when your woman could easily be a fashion model you should try to take advantage of that fact at every available moment.

Like most men, I don’t talk much about the woman who chooses to grace my life. Words I say or even write are sparse and respectful and my devotion to Mouse was beyond anything I had yet experienced in my life. Love had struck me like a Dog Days thunderstorm; clear sky and fun was the forecast until the storm clouds actually formed directly above me. Lightning flashed and thunder shook the earth, with barely any warning. Affection, adoration and commitment came at me like a cloudburst. I was drenched to the bone and to my very soul. The only positive emotional charge I had ever felt that was more powerful, occurred when each of my children were born. Devotion to the point of swimming in a lake of lava and treading the fiery pits of Hell. Thus was defined the meaning of true love in my mind.

Thoughts of love and romance weren’t much good unless you put them into action. Mouse was on breakfast duty. I resolved that with a quick word to Michelle and while Michelle sorted that out, I was in the trailer cleaning up. We’d have a private breakfast together before we started our day.

The day itself was going to be busy and Mouse would be accompanying me each step of the way. She wouldn’t get much done in constructive work but it was time together. That was pretty much the rule on the frontier, take advantage of any opportunity you could get. While I would have loved to take her on the trip with me, we both knew it wouldn’t work – there was way too much prejudice around.

Breakfast was lovely and sweet Madelyn had decided to play our server; we weren’t served anything fancy, simply the standard fare with a little grace and small flourishes of presentation. The food was as tasty as ever and the privacy was divine, something to remember in future architectural plans.

Sadly the meal had to come to an end and there was a work schedule to keep if plans were to be furthered. The schedule called for meetings, tours and one-on-one conversations. Naturally everything revolved around more meetings and food. The mail boat was being readied for a speed run and my best bet was that we’d have two full days before departure. Best bets didn’t work out that day as we would find out at the first meeting of the day.

We emerged from our private dining facility into the cool, crisp autumn air. Our toes nicely toasted and our bellies happily filled we closed up the camper and headed out to our day. I was quite surprised to find our horses saddled up and ready to go; that was very thoughtful on someone’s behalf. We left before everyone else and took the time to enjoy a ride together. The horses made rustling music as they walked through the fallen leaves. You could see a lot more of the forest now with much of the foliage fallen. There were still plenty left on most trees as well creating a tapestry of color and adding to that true autumn concert of sight, smell and sound.