Chapter 32: Stock Show

Mary sent the horses to Fairplay with Dan a week before the show. When she, Ken and Jane landed in Denver, the weather had turned cold.

"Never known it to fail," Mary said. "Thirty below zero is Stock Show weather."

Ken had gotten a suite at a hotel not far from the Stockyards. Jerry Pinsky was due to arrive at the end of the week to see Jane compete. Meanwhile, Jane had the bedroom next door to Ken and Mary's. In the morning, they had breakfast in Ken and Mary's room.

"Sleep well?" Mary asked.

"Sort of. I kept waking up." Jane said.

"That could be the altitude, Jane," Ken said. "Often keeps people awake the first couple of nights."

"I heard you laughing. Was something funny?"

"Oh, God. Jane, I should have warned you. Uh... well, you see, when I have an orgasm, it always makes me laugh like that."

"Oh... You mean you and Ken were..."

"Jane, Mary and I were making love last night. We took a long time about it, the way we like to. She's likely to come several times when we do that. I'm sorry if it bothered you."

"Well, it didn't exactly bother me. It sounded so happy, so wonderful. It made me feel good. I sort of hoped you were... doing that."

"Jane," Mary said, "We call it making love, or screwing. I know a lot of people call it fucking, but somehow that word doesn't work for me."

"Yeah, I noticed that. It's okay to say 'screwing'?"

"Sure. You can say anything you want, Jane, I just wanted you to know how we say it."

"What are we doing today?"

"Today, we go out to Fairplay and pick up the horses. Henry'll be glad to see you."

"I've never seen a ranch."

"We could stay overnight, if you like. We'd still be back in time to get the horses in stables and pick up your father."

"Could we?"

"Sure."

Jane spent most of her time at the ranch with her mouth open. She looked at the horses in their winter quarters, watched the hands ride out — bundled up — to check on the herds. She rode a lot herself, warming Henry up slowly as she and Mary rode across the bare, windy highlands. Chance rode with them on Hero.

"Jane, now you know one reason why I set up a stable back east. This weather has never been my favorite."

"Mine neither, Chance," Mary shouted against the bitter wind. "This is why I never wanted to be a rancher."

"Me either," Jane said. She thought about correcting what she said, but it was just too cold to matter.

After dinner, Bessie and Beth sat talking with them all in front of the fire. The altitude, the weather, and the exercise had Jane dozing in the warmth, and they all went to bed early.

In the morning, they risked frostbite getting the horses loaded in the trailer and drove back down to Denver.

"Mary," Jane asked as Ken drove carefully down the long I-70 descent toward Denver, "How come Beth sleeps in the bunkhouse? Don't the hands sleep there?"

"Yes. She sleeps with them. Has for years."

"All three of them?"

"Uh-huh."

"Geeze."

Jerry arrived, and after dinner the four of them went to the Stock Show to see the rodeo, the Denver Belles and the Grand Prix Jumping. It was late when they got back to the hotel after checking on the horses, but Jerry and Jane joined Ken and Mary in the bar for a nightcap.

"Can I have a huge cup of hot chocolate?" Jane asked the waiter, "'I'm still freezing." She got a big thermos jug with her cup.

"What did you think of the show, Jane?" Jerry asked her.

"Well, I've seen jumping, and I like that. That's about the only kind of eastern riding I do like. The rodeo was fun, but I can't believe cowboys really work like that."

"No, we don't, Jane," Mary said. "I'll spend a whole day team-roping calves with Manuel and never go faster than a walk. Rodeos are fun, but they aren't what the real thing is like."

"I guess the Denver Belles were what I was really interested in. They're sort of like what we do."

"Well?"

"Mary, I'm glad we don't do that. I can see the riding is hard. Tricky, I mean. They must have forty horses and riders in the ring at once. But all they do is circles to the left and right and figure-eights. We do a lot more than that in our demonstrations."

"You sure do, Jane," Ken said. "Mary decided early on you had to be more than circle riders. Not to say those girls can't do what you all do, probably can. But she wanted you to go out and show those easterners what real horsemanship is like."

"Is that what I did, Chance?" Mary smiled at him indulgently.

"Mary," Jerry said, "I don't know anything about horses, but I do know, from what I saw tonight, that you've taught Jane, all of them, a hell of a lot in a short time."

"Thanks, Jerry. Yes, I did want you to show off what you learned, Jane. People back home think you just climb on and ride off. That's not good enough. But don't get me wound up. I'll go on all night. Now, off to bed. We have to be out at the yards early to get the horses groomed and be ready when our events start."

They rode up in the elevator and went to their rooms. Jane said, "Good night, Mary, Ken. Sleep well." Before she turned to follow Jerry into their room she gave Mary a knowing smile and a big wink.