Chapter 18: Thursday Tangles

The few tufts of grass in the large paddock whipped back and forth in the gusting winds. Most of the fenced circle was hardpack dirt, now covered in a slurry of mud and standing water being pounded by rain and lashed by wind. Neil sat in his only jacket on a stool in the doorway of the stable watching the downpour. Mom had forgiven him stable duty, not that there was much to do. The loft was full of hay, the feed bins were packed and the stable hands had been busy while most of the horses were away, cleaning the stable with high pressure water hoses.

After checking on the wayward horses, Neil had found a comfortable spot to simply enjoy the quiet. He spent a long half hour just listening to the rain on the roof of the stable and watching the wind in the treeline across the paddock. When Leah set a stool behind him, he glanced back and smiled. She was bundled in red sweatclothes and a hooded jacket, her hair pulled up into a braid.

"So you survived the legendary trail ride." he said softly. "I looked for you at the med hut, but they said you'd already left".

"I was there when you came in." Leah said, a trace of concern in her voice.

"I bet I looked like hell."

Leah didn't answer.

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Neil remembered his newfound freedom from stable duties. "I won't be on stable duty tomorrow. Since I managed to somehow not get anyone killed, they've relieved me of that duty".

Leah grunted some sort of acknowledgement. "That's ok. I'm not sure I need to be down here tormenting you"

"You weren't tormenting me."

She made a derisive snort. "Mmmm. It was tormenting me." she said quietly.

Neil let it pass, shifting into a more comfortable position against the stable wall. "I'm not sure what we're doing today, I haven't checked the noteboard in the Cave yet."

"Carol's going on another ride. She's calling it the "rain ride"".

Neil chuckled. "Good luck to her. I'm not going anywhere. Maybe I'll see if I can get the mess for a movie or something."

Leah grumbled. "Their selection of movies sucks. Can't we do something fun? We only have today and tomorrow."

"Uh... suggestions?"

"I don't know... I'll ask the rest of the group."

Neil shrugged. "You let me know. The arts and crafts stuff and... whatever else is in the mess is going to get snapped up..."

"I hate arts and crafts. I signed up for horse camp, not beads and feathers camp." Leah groaned.

Neil laughed and stretched a bit.

"Neil... thanks for... yesterday"

"What, almost getting you killed?"

"No... dumbass. The shirt thing. I know that had to be..."

"Cold?"

"Yeah..."

"A bit. Plus you were distracting me."

"What?"

"Your shirt had gone a little... transparent in the rain."

Leah was silent for a few senconds, then muttered something Neil didn't catch.

"Anyway, you're welcome. I guess we all lived, and that's what counts."

Leah made some noise and got up. "I'll ask around and let you know." She walked up past him, then bent down to kiss him on the cheek. "And thanks again."

Neil turned and grinned, finding himself face to face with her. A light blush rose in her cheeks, but she held her position. Barely thinking, Neil reached over and drew her in, kissing her lightly. He forced himself to break it quickly, letting her stand back up. "You're welcome."

Leah was out of breath for a second, then struck a defiant pose. "And next time we're in the middle of an emergency, stop staring at my boobs."

Neil laughed and nodded.

Neil tried to relax at breakfast, but it was difficult to enjoy his meal with a whirlwind going on around him. Aside from the rainstorm, Dave and Harriet seemd to both be circling him. First Dave sat on the far side of the Cave facing him. When Harriet sat at the table just to Neil's right, however, he quickly moved to the one behind her. Harriet moved closer, casting Dave a challenging look, which he returned and raised by moving to the opposite corner of the same table as Neil. Neil tried to ignore them, talking to Cynthia and Harry instead. They seemed to have a secret language of flirting that Neil didn't understand, especially given Harry's insistance that Cynthia had some steady boyfriend. It didn't matter, though, at least they were fun to listen to.

"Harry, where's Maria?"

Harry gave him a knowing inspection with a twinkling eye. "Ah... sorry son, she's working setup for the arena on Saturday. Lots to do, no time for a virile young man and his lusty wants."

Neil rolled his eyes. "And Ruth? Did you leave her in an exhausted heap somewhere?"

Harry grinned mischevously. "Now, that I don't know. I haven't seen our punk rock princess today."

Cynthia laughed. "Maybe I should dye my hair pink, then you'd pay attention to me."

"Now my fetching dark mistress, you need do no such thing. Although... pink might go well with your outifit." Harry noted.

Neil noted Cynthia's pink top and nodded, glancing over at Harriet, who had retreated to a further table. "I'm getting tired of this" he muttered.

Harry glanced over. "Well, it seems your lusty travels have left some victims littered along the side of the road" he teased.

"Not me, I backed out of the triangle." Neil insisted.

"You ever remove a leg from a three-legged stool?" Harry asked.

Cynthia collected her plate and blew Harry a kiss. "Maybe that's what I need, Harry."

"Another leg?" Neil volunteered.

Cynthia giggled and left. Harry watched her go and shot Neil a gloomy look. "She'll never be mine, Neil. I'll never sup at her lovely banquet."

"You always get sappy poetic about the unavailable?" Neil asked, poking his fork toward Harry for effect.

Harry pretended to be affronted. "Bah, insolence and jealousy, that's my reward for setting you on the path to Maria's charms?"

"No, I think I set you up with Ruth during that deal."

Harry tipped his drink toward him in salute then started to clean up. "Right-o. I'm off to my last class of the year."

"Got anything for a bored riding class to do?" Neil ventured.

Harry stopped and considered. "Well, you could send them to the arena... to sit in the rain and watch me!"

"Pass."

"Mmm, your loss. Take them into town."

"What?"

"Get the bus from Mom, take them into town to let them raid that... little strip mall thing."

"Twenty girls set loose at the mall."

"Their parents would be thrilled. Heaps of cash and we take them on a shopping trip."

Neil grinned and nodded. With a final wave to Harry he headed over to Harriet and Dave, who were now sitting across from each other at an empty table. "What the hell is wrong with you two?" he demanded.

Dave scowled and Harriet blushed and looked down. "Neil... Dave and I are just..." she started, but petered out.

"Yeah, I've noticed. Look, I backed out of this because you two wanted to be together..." he started.

"Yeah? Tell HER that" Dave demanded.

Harriet shot him an angry look. "I didn't sign up to be your girlfriend, if I'm not mistaken you HAVE a girlfreind" she countered.

Dave turned red and looked down at his plate.

Neil wanted to scream at them and flexed his fists without thinking, finally calming himself with deep breaths. "Look you two. Leave me out of this, OK? I don't give a fuck what you two do, but stop acting like I'm the cause. Dave, you want Harriet all to yourself, which... believe me I can understand. Harriet, you don't... and I get that. But I'm not playing third wheel here. You two figure it out then let me know."

Neil reached the dorms and knocked. He didn't really have to, according to the rules the girls should expect counselors after breakfast, but he didn't want to wander into anything. A girl he didn't recognize opened the door. "Everyone decent?" he asked with a grin.

She rolled her eyes and left the door open, wandering back into the room.

The dorm smelled like perfume, hairspray, air freshner and the camp smell that every tent, cabin and pavilion eventually inherits. A combination of sweat, pine, canvas and who knew what else, but it was universal at camp. Neil found Leah standing in the back, in the midst of some sort of discussion. He determined quickly that it involved what they wanted to do in the rainy weather.

"I think I can solve your problem" he said happily.

There were several interesting exchanges. Leah and some of her friends looked at each other with telling glances and Neil almost blushed. The rest lit up with the possibilities of something other than arts and crafts.

"Mom's agreed to let me drive you all into town. We'll..."

"THE MALL!" exploded in shrieks around the room.

Neil had to fight for space as he was swamped with girls bouncing and demanding details. "OK! OK! I'm driving one bus, if we need a second... well... OK, we'll clearly need the other bus." he said, watching as the circle grew. "We're leaving after lunch, so you have the morning to do whatever." he announced.

Word apparently spread quickly because girls were spilling out of the other dorms. Neil started to worry that it would be too much until April came down the hill with papers. "SIGN UP SHEETS!" she announced, waving a pair of clipboards.

The response had been enough that two trips were scheduled. One for the morning, which Neil and Sarge would take, and one for the afternoon, which Harry and Denise would lead. This was apparently in response to the dressage classes realizing they were missing out on a trip to town, plus the overwhelming response from the girls. Neil managed to escape and hurried up to his cabin to change.

At ten Neil pulled the big van-bus out of the parking spot behind the admin building and eased slowly around the gravel driveway. Thirty chattering girls sat behind him, packing the bus to capacity. He followed Sarge's bus at a safe distance, bracing through the big potholes that the rain had left.

They parked at the only fast-food place in town, a Burger King with two startled employees on staff. Most of the girls headed across the small parking lot to the line of stores, mostly smaller boutiques and antique shops. The main targets were the big clothing store and a big box store whose makeup counters were shortly overwhelmed by a sea of girls.

Neil and Sarge sat on the benches outside drinking coffee, protected from the rain by a large metal awning. Sarge lit up a huge cigar with relish.

"Can't smoke these in camp, Mom hates em"

Neil nodded, watching the girls flow in and out of the stores. "How long you worked at the camp, Sarge?" he asked.

Sarge stopped to think. "Oh hell... twenty years? Nineteen?"

Neil grunted in amazement.

"Yeah, well. I was working security at a camp out in Houston, then started doing facility work. Not getting paid very well, though"

"Got any family down there? Kids?"

Sarge chuckled. "No, no kids. No family. I was in the service forever, then retired to... well, nothing I guess. Then I met Mom at a trade show."

"Camp trade show?"

"Horse trade, but they do a lot of work for equestrian camps. You know, she hired me to get the disability permits. Mom was originally going to do a... what do you call it... special needs horse camp."

"Wow. Why didn't she?"

"Beat to the punch by some other outfit... Kentucky? I think? I don't know. Anyway, there's only so much market for that. Mom already had this place, though, it had shut down years ago. It was a Jewish summer camp."

"Really? Why'd it shut down?"

"Well, moved really, up to New York state, somewhere near Albany."

Neil filed this all away with a nod and continued to survey the bands of girls moving in and out of the stores. They'd return around one O'clock, despite the protests of the girls. Neil couldn't imagine they'd find enough to look at for 2 more hours.

Sarge blew a big puff of smoke and stretched out. "So, your name comes up in gossip here and there." he said with a deep chuckle.

Neil grumbled. "Probably".

"Between the Rothcrest kid, your adventures on the trail and your reputation with the ladies, you've had quite a year."

"I think some of that has been exaggerated."

"No doubt, no doubt."

"Look, its really not..."

"Oh no, I don't want to know the TRUTH." Sarge insisted. "I just want to prod you with the rumors. Soooo many rumors."

Neil let it go, letting Sarge chuckle and sipping his coffee.

When they returned there was a hurricane of girls returning and girls leaving, discussing stores and purchases. Neil managed to hand off the keys and duck away with some artful dodging around the bus, making his way to the Cave for a light lunch. The rain had finally abated, with a few showers and sprinkles punctuating the end of the storm. The temperature only increased slightly, leaving a damp, chilled camp behind.

Neil spotted piles of brush and a few shingles and shutters in a big pile near the Cave and thanked Harry silently for suggesting getting out of camp for the day. He dropped into a nearly empty pavilion with a handful of other counselors and munched on a plate of fruit and cold chicken.

"Hello Neil" a voice purred behind him.

Neil turned to find Maria sliding onto the bench next to him. Neil gave her a big smile.

"I heard you had quite the day yesterday. It sounds like you'd be very worn out" she asked, hinting heavily.

Neil grinned. "Well, it was certainly tiring. I thought I might take a long nap this afternoon"

"My poor tired bull." she cooed, turning to rub his shoulders. "Perhaps I can help"

"Oh?"

"I give a very good massage, it will work out all those sore kinks".

Neil smiled and leaned back into her. "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

When Neil knocked on Maria's door he actually felt a little nervous. He'd started to wonder how much older Maria was, whether she really saw him as a puppy or whether he'd wind up in a situation where she was emotionally tied to him. Her door opened and Maria smiled out, dressed in a pair of loose shorts and her camp shirt.

"Ah, Neil, get undressed and lay on the bed." She ordered.

Neil came in and paused. There wasn't any music or candles this time, and her professional mood made him hesitate. "Ok... should I... uh..."

"STRIP" she ordered with a snap of her fingers. She grinned a little and stood with her arms folded, watching him disrobe.

Neil made his way over to the bed, which had been stripped of blankets and covered with a heavy towel. He carefully lay face down, glancing back at Maria.

She turned, holding a large bottle in her hand. "Lay with your head at the edge so you're flat" she ordered.

Neil nodded and spun, laying flat and looking over. Maria pulled an endtable next to the bed and put the bottle on it, along with a small hand towel. She then pushed his legs together and straddled them. Neil felt really self-conscious with her essentially hovering above his ass. She made some murmuring sounds, then he felt drops of oil splashing on his lower back and a slapping sound as she rubbed her hands together. The smell of cocoa butter filled the room.

"Now, lay still" she commanded. Her greased hands slid up his back, rubbing his shoulders briefly and spreading a thin layer of oil all over him. She moved all the way down to the top of his butt, toying with the very top of his ass crack. Neil flinched and she swatted his flank. "Lay still!" she said sharply.

Neil tried to, but she began to rub his sides and it was just shy of a tickle. Each flinch, each shift got him another oily smack on the ass. Finally she grew tired of teasing him and leaned in, rubbing his back with powerful pressure. She worked from his lower back upward, kneading each muscle carefully going harder and deeper as it relaxed. Neil grunted contentedly through it, feeling the stress and pressure ease away.

At some point Maria got up to get more oil. Neil started to open his eyes, but she was back on the bed quickly and working his lower back. She seemed to have finished with his shoulders and sat lower on his legs. She kneaded his butt cheeks briefly, then his upper thighs, then shifted down to his calves. Neil was in heaven, sleepy, relaxed, enjoying it. Maria made occational noises and he responded with satisfied grunts.