Chapter 29

The first thing to cross my mind the next morning was the new bathing facility was damned sure going to include three or four crappers and maybe even a urinal just for me. Dressing and heading outside to find a good place to take a shit was next. After finishing I made a mental note to include toilet paper - an unending roll of toilet paper was going to be mandatory in my new bathroom.

Dalia demonstrated she was going to be more than a big pair of titties to play with and a warm pussy to fuck on when I got back to the cave. She had a pot of coffee brewing for me. I was tempted to kneel down and kiss her feet, but I settled for giving her a big smile and a good morning kiss. The only other thing I could think of to make this perfect was a pack of Winstons. They had been a bad habit and I was better off without them, but damn, there's nothing like a cigarette with your first cup of coffee in the morning.

"You are wonderful Dalia. How did you learn to make it so soon?" I asked.

"I watched closely when you made it before and when we were packing I made sure the pot for cooking the coffee would be easy to find in the wagon. You said you liked it when you first got up," she said.

"I do. Thank you for thinking of me."

"We are all thinking of you John. You are our man and you will have a big job just feeding us, even with us helping. We have to make sure we take good care of you. After all, we must help you keep up your strength," She said, and then gave me a lascivious grin.

I noticed Geera, Dieta, and Gema were tending to our breakfast and the others were emptying the wagon. They were setting our things out but not putting them away. I went and asked Merita about it and she said they thought I would want to be leaving to bring back more things from the other camp soon.

She was right. We had all of our stuff here, but none of the others did. I wanted to get started on so many little jobs, but I knew all the others needed their things so I would have to make another trip.

After I'd eaten I caught Sally, Jane, Ben, and Dolly. I intended to bring all I could on every trip. I hitched Sally and Jane to the wagon and tied Dolly and Ben to the back, loading their travois into the wagon. Four of the other women and most of the men were going back too and I decided it was time for Jonoco and maybe Galto to learn to drive the team. I didn't intend to be the only driver for very much longer.

During the chaos after Gigo and Dergo had been killed Delia had learned to drive the wagon in the emergency, but I didn't want to send her anywhere without me if I could help it. I was getting very protective of my little harem.

With the wagon empty we made very good time on our trip. I had Jonoco drive about half way and then gave Galto a try. They both did very well and I spent most of the trip telling them about the team and pointing out things which might go wrong and suggesting how they might handle little fuck ups.

We were loaded quickly once we reached the camp. I was pleasantly surprised when Bigglieo asked if he could try driving the wagon on the way back. I was happy to give him some instruction and pleased Jonoco led Dolly and Galto led Ben for the return trip.

We had nearly three hours of sunlight left when we got back. I let Jonoco and Danlo take care of Ben, Dolly, and the team and supervise the unloading, while I demonstrated the use of my posthole diggers to Bigglieo and Galto and showed them where to put holes in the mouth of the horse cave.

Dargo went with me and we cut eight post and twenty rails for a fence to close off the horses so no one would have to sleep there to keep them in. We had to build a couple of fires for light to get it finished since sunset caught us. We didn't have time to make a proper gate so we just left a place for it and then put a couple of rails across the gap for the night.

I had intended to let Jonoco and Danlo abandon their post, but they thought they should stay and keep a fire going to make sure no predators came in. I let them, but I had Maia bring one of the pups down to get used to staying in the cave also. Guarding the horses would be a good job for the pups and by now they were more than pups. She brought the one I'd named Prince.

It only took Maia about thirty minutes to teach Jonoco, Danlo, and Prince to get along. Soon Prince would come to them and even sit when they told him to. I decided tomorrow we would finish the little fence so the pups wouldn't be able to get out once the gate was closed. We could leave them all to watch the horses at night then. I was sure they would let us know at once if something came sneaking around.

It was late by the time I ate my supper and I just had to wash off a little in the cool water in my cave. I was getting anxious for my bathroom, but I wasn't going to rush the planning. I intended to let Bigglieo, Jonoco, and Galto take Ben, Dolly, and the wagon to haul the freight tomorrow. I was going to spend the day getting a few things taken care of around here.

After breakfast the next morning I harnessed the team and got my new teamsters headed toward the old camp along with the men and women who would be going to collect their things. When they were gone I went to the horse cave with Danlo and Dargo. I had six sets of hobbles and I was going to introduce all the new trainees to their use.

I took the most cooperative of the new ones, Jolly, first. I snapped on her lead rope and gave her about twenty minutes of walking around first to make sure she was calm. Then I hobbled her in an open spot and released her lead rope. Of course she stumbled and nearly fell when she tried her first step. After a bit she found the combination though and was taking the small steps the hobbles allowed as she started grazing.

Bonehead was next. Her manner had improved a thousand percent since her lesson at the back of the wagon. She gave me no trouble leading and stopping and amazed me by catching on to the hobbles without one stumble. I left her grazing also and went on to the others.

When I had all six pairs of hobbles in use I caught Jolly and took the hobbles off her, tying her to a tree with a long lead so she could still graze, and showing another mare the wonders of being hobbled.

It was time for some lunch after all ten mares had learned about hobbling. I was glad to have it over with though and now all the horses were either tied or hobbled and grazing. I didn't bother with the yearlings or the foals since I doubted they were going very far without the others.

We worked on the fence for the horse cave after eating. We made a proper gate we could swing open and we cut hundreds of small straight branches and tied them to the fence to make it pup proof. I set up one of the electric fence chargers and ran a wire along the bottom of both sides of the fence. The stinging jolt from the charger would make sure nothing would try to dig in and the pups wouldn't try very often to dig out.

Bigglieo and the others made it back before we finished the fence. They were shocked to see all the horses standing around outside. I showed them about the hobbles and they seemed impressed. I knew they must have seen Sally, Jane, or Ben hobbled at their camp before and I guess they just hadn't noticed. I could tell they were paying much more attention to the horses now though. It was probably because they realized how much work the horses had saved them during the move.

Bigglieo said one more trip with the wagon would get everything. He didn't think they would need Ben and Dolly tomorrow. I told him I would keep Ben here but I thought they should take Dolly just in case. He surprised me then by asking me how to put the tops on the wagon. I wondered why he wanted to know, but I showed them all how to do it without asking any questions.