Chapter 7

The sun was just rising as I arrived at the farm. Noticing that the irrigation wasn't on, I had no intention of starting it either. No way was I going to intrude on Christy's job. So I went straight to the barn, got the truck and went out to the field to load the hay.

My mind wasn't on my work. I was thinking about Dawn, her moving away and how my heart was hurting. How could I have become so attached to her in such a short time? I was sitting on the tailgate feeling depressed and missing her already, and she hadn't even moved yet. Shit! I could feel the tears on my cheeks. What was I going to do? Nothing! There was nothing I could do. Dawn had to go with her family. What a helpless feeling.

Then, "Hey, pervert! Work too much for ya? Why don't ya just leave?"

That was the last straw. I turned to face who I once thought was an angel, but who now seemed more like she had grown horns. I couldn't handle her shit right then so I just started running across the fields, jumping over a couple of fences. Then I ran up a hill and past a herd of cattle. I ran down to a creek and finally stopped there to look around.

It was beautiful, I thought, as I caught my breath There was a swimming hole about a hundred yards away. Yes! I ran for it, stopping only to shed my cut-offs. Then I dove in and swam as hard as I could, trying to use to end my depression.

After about an hour of swimming I was tired but finally relaxed enough to think. I chewed myself out for reacting the way I did. This had to be a dream and so there was no reason to be acting or feeling like I was. I also realized I was acting like a kid instead of the mature fifty-five-year old. It seemed I was reverting to my present age of fourteen.

I was actually laughing out loud at myself when I heard, "Um, are you okay now?" I was surprised to hear Christy's voice.

"Yeah, much better. I just needed to work some shit out of my system."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Well, it's just that my girlfriend is moving."

"Oh, are you guys serious?"

"Yea, I'm in love with her."

"I want to go swimming and get cooled off, too. Promise not to look?"

"Well, um, I'll promise to try not to look."

I think I heard her mumble "pervert" again. I was facing away from her but couldn't help myself. I peeked over my shoulder and even though the water was quite cold it didn't stop my instant erection. Wow! What a sight! Those long lean legs up to a tight bubble-butt. Then... Busted.

"You promised!" she exclaimed while quickly covering her interesting parts.

"I tried not to look," I lied while still feasting on her beautiful backside.

"Pervert!" she exclaimed as she dove in, not surfacing until she was almost across the swimming hole.

I started to swim toward her until I saw the panicked look on her face which stopped me. Then as I started to swim away, she cried, "I'm sorry I scared you. I wouldn't hurt you, ya know?"

"I know! It's just I get that way around... Never mind. Oh! You have to help me with the tractor."

"What's wrong with the tractor."

I was just starting to pull on my cutoffs but before Christy could answer I heard, "I thought this was where you two were heading. Christy, what's the tractor doing in the irrigation pond?"

Martha was saying this as her eyes were on me. I was bright red about then.

"Jim's going to help me with it."

"Um, yeah! It shouldn't be a problem getting it out," I said as I was buttoning up my shorts, wondering what the tractor was doing in the pond.

"Well, I have to get back to the house. We can call Marvin if you two can't get it out of mud. He has a tow truck," Martha said over her shoulder as she left.

"Could you turn your back and not look this time?" Christy asked.

"I would rather not."

As I sat on a stump and slipped on my shoes, my eyes were on her as she started to get out of the water.

"Pervert!" she exclaimed once again with her hands covering her treasures.

"My God! You're so beautiful," I blurted out, blushing and looking away.

"Well, it's not the first time I was skinny dipping, but that was with Alice."

After she dressed, we started walking back to the irrigation pond and the stuck tractor. "So is Alice going to be able to come and visit you?" I knew she was missing her friend.

"Visit! I want her to come live here. She has to get away from her father. He's just like mine." She stopped herself since she had already said more than she wanted to. I could see the fear and anger in her moist eyes.

"It might help to talk about what's bothering you."

"What would you know, you're just a kid. What? Fifteen?"

"Ah, well, fourteen. But that's beside the point; you need to talk to someone."

As we walked back I told Christy about my dad's health, the reason I needed to be ready to provide for my nom and sis. Although she softened a little she was not ready to talk about what was bothering her. I had a knot in my stomach, feeling I had a pretty good idea what was going on with her. That thought was not pleasant.

"Okay, as soon as I give you the signal, take out the slack in the rope and gently ease forward."

We had gotten the truck and towrope and were lucky that the only things in water were the back tires. I started the tractor, then signaled Christy. We had no problem pulling the tractor to safe ground.