Book 2, Chapter 12

Her breath was hot on Mindy's face. Her heartbeat was racing. The excitement she felt was like none she'd ever felt. She could hardly breathe. Mindy had moved her head close and then stopped. She had stared in her eyes and then closed her eyes. Now she was waiting. What should she do? She could feel the tension in her body. Her insides were in turmoil.

She was getting wet down there. She felt her nipples harden. The anticipation caused a small orgasm. Her legs were going weak. She could smell her own excitement. After an interminable delay, she closed the distance. An electric spark crossed between them as their lips met.

Her mouth opened and Mindy's tongue entered. Their arms wrapped around each other. As they kissed they felt Andy's arm encircle them both. He held them close as they enjoyed their oral intercourse.

They found themselves lying in the hay, with Haley between them. They took turns kissing. As Mindy started playing with Haley's breasts, Andrew was rubbing his hand over Haley's abdomen. She, in turn had one of Mindy's slightly smaller breasts in her hand and her other was rubbing across Andy's hard on. She moaned into his mouth as the stimulations got to her.

'La Petit Mort, ' the little death, crashed through her young body without warning. She awoke with Mindy and Andrew leaning over her, kissing passionately. She reached down to caress their genitals. She stroked Andy's cock and caressed Mindy's labia. This just added fuel to the fires of passion for the three lovers.

Mindy shucked off her dress and laid on it, inviting Andy to enter. He too stripped and climbed on for the ride. Haley slowly removed her dress and scooted over to Mindy. She took Mindy's tit in her mouth. Haley was arranged so that her tits were over Mindy's face. Mindy arched her face up, and took one of Haley's nipples in her mouth.

She gently nipped on Haley's tit and flicked it with her tongue, until Andrew's cock overwhelmed her attention. She felt complete. Haley kissed her fully on the lips as Mindy's orgasm hit. It was fortunate that Haley caught the scream that came with the orgasm. She had finished but Andrew hadn't. He was still rock hard.

"May I have some of that?" Haley asked Mindy. "It looks so good."

"Of course, darling, I'm willing to share him with you. Get on your hands and knees and let him take you from behind." Mindy suggested, with an ulterior motive on her mind. "You'll love it. And you can love on me at the same time."

Mindy shifted up so that her just fucked pussy was directly below Haley's mouth. Andrew rubbed his cock, which was wet with their combined juices, across Haley's slit. She was lubricating copious amounts of juice herself and Andrew's cock made itself known. She pushed back against him. There wasn't any restriction because of her years of riding horses, but she was still extremely tight.

She was a virgin in the sense of never having a man before. Andrew filled her cunt with his cock. She rocked back and forth as he sawed his hard cock in and out of her well lubricated vagina. Her arms could hold up no more, and she dropped down to her elbows. This put her face close to Mindy's cream-filled pussy.

The smell of sex was overwhelming and she tentatively stuck out her tongue. She touched it to Mindy's clit and Mindy stiffened. Haley began to lap the juices eagerly and Mindy went wild with the stimulation. The visual stimulation Andrew was receiving caused him to harden even further. He knew he couldn't last much longer.

He needn't have worried. Haley was there. She came, screaming into Mindy's cunt. Andrew was driven over the edge and he coated Haley's insides with copious amounts of sperm. He continued to shoot as Haley's vagina contracted on his cock. Mindy orgasmed and promptly fainted.

Spent, he rolled over on his side. Haley had collapsed and was resting her head on Mindy's abdomen and Mindy came out of her stupor and was petting Haley and running her hands through the blond's hair.

Mindy gently pulled Haley up until their faces met. They kissed for a long time. Then they rolled slightly towards Andy and he threw his arm across both ladies, creating a Haley sandwich. He kissed on her back, shoulders and neck as she snuggled back against him. She lazily stroked Mindy's arm and breast. She playfully tweaked Mindy's nipple and when it crinkled up and hardened, she rubbed her hardened nipple against it.

They kissed again in their post orgasmic euphoria. Eventually they came down from the high, got dressed and left the barn by the back door, avoiding the others as they walked towards the pasture behind the house.

Danica had been reading a book by Sam Clements: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Rebecca began discussing it with her. She had to read if for American Lit., last year. They really were into it when Ralph came over. He began to massage Rebecca's shoulders.

"Hmmmm. That feels great, honey. I'll give you twenty minutes to stop that."

He smiled and continued his ministrations. After a bit, Danica began rubbing her shoulder and moving her arm around. Rebecca noticed and told Ralph to massage Danica's shoulders for her. He readily agreed and moved around behind Danica. His strong hands stroked her shoulders. Rebecca held her hands and softly touched and stroked Danica's hands and arms. Goosebumps rose over both arms and across her chest.

Danica closed her eyes and tilted her head back, resting it against his stomach. Rebecca continued to stroke her arms as Ralph's strong hands continued to massage and relax Danica's upper body. Rebecca became bolder and her hands started brushing against the sides of Danica's breasts. She could see the nubs of her nipples as they became erect with the manual stimulation. She detected to scent of Danica's arousal. The byplay was not lost to Dana who was seated with Annette, Ana and Bob across the yard. No one else seemed to notice.

Without warning an orgasm swept across Danica. She became flush, breathing hard. She grabbed Rebecca's hands and crushed them against her breasts as she came. Ralph held her and kept her from falling over. His hand brushed against her lower body and she reflexively held it on her body. She shuddered through her orgasm and held on until it passes. Ralph bent down and kissed her. Rebecca leaned forward and kissed her, and then kissed Ralph.

Frank and Stephanie were exploring the farm with Tina. They found a small grove of trees and sat under a tree. Stephanie insisted Tina take the middle spot. They sat and talked and laughed. They discussed life, the state of affairs in the country, love.

Frank looked at Stephanie and she nodded. Then he looked at Tina and moved in to kiss her. She stopped him, looking fearfully at Stephanie. Stephanie just smiled at her and nodded, then reached in and kissed her before she could turn away. Tina didn't resist. She returned the kiss. She turned her head and Frank kissed her, too. They spent a delightful hour in the grove making out. Tina was still leery of the intentions of the pair, but she did enjoy the attention of both of them.

Charles and Hannah were still at the swing. Every once in a while he would steal a kiss. Soon they were taking turns stealing kisses. The little ones wanted to swing, so Hannah shared the swing with Susannah and Clementine. While Charles was pushing Susannah, she mimicked Hannah and stole a kiss from Charles. That made him a bit uneasy and he had Hannah push instead.

As the adults chatted, Dana noticed that Denise was giving only cursory attention to the other. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her staring at Bob. The wheels started turning in her brain, her senses tingled, as did other interesting parts of her own body. She took the initiative, and went over to Denise. Taking her hand, Dana led her back over to Bob. She then forced ... no, that's too strong of a word, for someone that wasn't being forced at all. Let's say she gently pushed Denise down on to Bob's lap facing him.

Dana leaned in towards Bob and said, "Kiss her nicely, husband."

And then she said to Denise, "Kiss him as a lover, dear. You are more than welcome. But don't forget to kiss me, too. We'll let nature take its course, here, today."

When her mother, Annette started to speak up in protest, Ana swiveled around and shut off the protest with a full on kiss. She inserted her tongue in the helpless woman's mouth and Annette swooned. Ana kept her occupied while her daughter got the full force of Bob's ministrations (with a little help from the head-wife, Dana).

It was a very interesting two days that Bob and the family spent at the Moore place. When it was time to leave, two more wagons, a prairie schooner and a big Conestoga were loaded to the brim and in line with the rest of the train.

A Methodist circuit rider had stopped by the farm and had performed the ceremonies. All of the girls were married to their chosen men. Annette liked Bob, but couldn't see her way to marry her daughter's husband. That would be just too weird for her.

On the second day out from the Moore's place, the train had been traveling for four hours, had stopped for lunch and was back on the road again. There was a brisk breeze on the prairie, making it a little cooler. Rob had ridden out to scout an hour ahead of the train and they could easily follow the orange trail markers he left.

They were on a part of the prairie where they could see to the horizon in all directions. As they drove, Bob noticed smoke way off in the distance in the direction they were headed. He didn't give it much concern because of the distance involved.

The next time he looked the smoke had spread, creating a ninety degree panorama against the sky. He was a little concerned about this but the train kept moving over the gently rolling landscape of the Kansas prairie.

As Bob's lead Conestoga crested the next hill, Bob noticed two things. First was the orange glow at the horizon. This was very disturbing. The mules and horses were snorting and beginning to act restless, too. The second thing was in the distance he saw three men riding hell bent for leather towards the train. Bob called the alert and everyone armed themselves, even the new women.

As the men closed on the wagons, the rider in the middle started waving his hat. On closer examination Bob saw that the rider was his son, Rob. He told everyone to stand down and waited for the riders to get to him. It was still a couple of minutes before the trio came stampeding into view.

"Fire" yelled Rob at the top of his lungs. "Wildfire on the prairie!"

The men pulled up short. The horses were panting and sweating from the exertion of the run they'd just completed. There was serious concern on Rob's face and it only reflected the visages of his two companions. They dismounted as Bob climbed down from the high seat of the sturdy Conestoga wagon. He strode the short distance forward, and held out his hand to the men with Rob.

"Dad, this is Hank Williams."

Rob indicated the tall man on his left, with the scar on his cheek and his guns, which looked to be Schofield's in a double cross draw shoulder holster rig.

"And this here is Charlie Pride," he said as he introduced the black man on his right. Charlie wore a similar gun rig. Both men had Colt .45's strapped to their thighs as well. The also each had a bandoleer of shotgun shells across their chests. Bob could see the lever action shotguns in the scabbards on the horses. It looked like there also was a Winchester on each horse as well. These men sure were armed to the teeth. Bob hoped they were law abiding.

Hank could see the concern on Bob's face and laughed. "Don't worry about the armament. We are ex-US Secret Service agents. We retired a couple years ago after a fiasco in Utah with President Grant and a couple more of our agents. It all came out good in the end but after West and Gordon saved the day in the Dr. Lovelace affair, we decided we could do better as bounty hunters, so we left the service. We did get letters of recommend from President Grant and all, but we haven't used them yet. The hunting has been good. If we ever decide to settle down though, the letter will get us a Marshaling job just about anywhere."

"That's all well and good" Dana replied as she moved up into Bob's protecting embrace, "but what about the fire?"

Pride spoke up and said, "We've got only a little time. We've got to head north, towards the river. When we get there we've got to get in the middle of the river and wait there for the fire to pass. With this wind, it's moving fast. We will be close to it, by the time we reach the river. You are right to worry about it. I suggest we get a move on. I've seen the destruction of these fires, and this is a bad one. Thousands of acres have burned already, and many more will burn because of the drought."

Bob signaled the move, and headed the team north as quickly as he could get the mules going. The other wagons fell in line as the riders remounted their horses and followed. Bob noticed Rob turn his horse back towards the fire and spur him on, into a run.

'Why is he running at the fire?' Bob thought.

He couldn't worry because now he could see actual flames from within the smoke and the orange glow as it relentlessly pushed its way closer and closer to the wagon train.

The orderly run of the wagons would turn into a rout if they didn't hold firm. Bob handed off the reins to Dana and called Hank over close. He indicated he wanted to transfer to his horse. Hank understood and dropped back to the back of the wagon.

He rode in close to the big stallion and with one hand, unclipped the lead rope from the horse's halter, which was on under the bridle. Grabbing the reins, he led the running horse up to the side of the wagon. Holding the horse in position with his reins and the body of his own horse, he held the horse while Bob contemplated the dangerous leap. Bob calculated the distance, and jumped. He made it look easy.

He turned his stallion's head and they turned toward the back of the train. Quickly he was at the back of the train. Annette was driving the Conestoga at the very back and Danica was at the reins of the prairie schooner just ahead. As they ran past, Bob repeated the turn maneuver and quickly caught up with Annette who was at the rear of the line. Her team was laboring excessively under the weight of the wagon. He waved Danica forward. Her horses were doing fine. She must have been reining in to stay with her mother.

"What have you got in there?" he shouted at Annette. "It's slowing you down."

"Just the farm equipment and the stove and the like." she hollered back. "We'll need it when we get to Texas."

'Women!' Bob thought in disgust 'Can't figure 'em out in a million years. We are rich enough to buy whatever we need, and they haul the shit all the way from Kansas?'

He motioned to Charlie that he was going to jump on the wagon and he reckoned rightly Bob wanted him to catch the stallion.

'One of these days I have to give this horse a name, but not right now. I'm too busy.'

He motioned for Annette to move over a bit, so he'd have a place to land when he jumped. Bob then moved his horse close, and timed it just right.

Bob jumped just as the wagon hit a rut in the ground. He missed!

He did manage to grab the driver's box and hold on for dear life! Annette had the presence of mind to haul back on the reins, to bring the mule team to a halt. Bob climbed aboard, and urged her to get going again. The other wagons, including Danica's were retreating in the distance. He called out to Charlie and told him to catch up with the others, and help guide them to the river. Charlie nodded and lurched forward. The last look at him that they had, he was disappearing over the hill in the distance.

A short time later a rider approached from that direction at a full gallop. When he got near, (Which took no time at all because of the old Physics problem: train 'A' heads west at a certain velocity, and train 'B' heads east towards it at a certain velocity; where will they meet, how long will it take, and what will happen to the wreckage after they collide?) Hank was back, and rode in close.

He signaled he was going to join the others on the wagon and he leaned forward to snap a lead on his horses halter. He tossed the lead rope over, and Bob caught it. He pulled in really close, and climbed over into the box of the wagon. He secured his horses lead rope to a post on the side of the wagon. The horse must have done this before, because he was quite comfortable running beside the wagon, riderless.

"Whew, that was somethin'. Charlie mentioned there was a problem, back here. I couldn't let this lovely lady burn up in that there fire. What's the plan?" he asked.

"This silly woman loaded up all the farm equipment, even the stove, in the wagon. She's planning on hauling it all the way to Texas. I've told her I can afford to buy new stuff. We've got to lighten to load from this sinking ship, so her team can catch up with the rest. If you'll take a look, the fire is getting dangerously close."

He nodded in the direction of the fire. It was close and moving fast, faster than the overloaded wagon could travel. If they didn't lighten the weight soon, the flames would overcome the team.

Bob and Hank climbed over the household stuff and got to the back tailgate. Working in a speeding wagon was not easy. They were not on a road but hurling along over the prairie. Every rut and bump was felt. It continued to throw the men off balance as they worked. Tools and implements went out the back. There were several large crates loaded with equipment.

They worked together and proceeded to push the crates to the back of the wagon. Working in tandem, they got the tailgate lowered. They pushed the crates over the edge. The moving wagon even helped the second crate by hitting a good size rut. The crate was propelled into the air like a stone from a trebuchet.(Editor's note: look it up)

There was only one thing left, the cast iron stove. It was a good seven hundred pounds. Bob called upon Denise and Darlene to help, and the four of them pushed it out the back of the wagon.

Having lightened the load considerably, the mules managed to pick up their pace as the wagon raced ahead of the flames. The fire had been advancing on them. It had swept across the prairie like a whirlwind. The fire line was to the east, south and moving up on the west as well.

They pushed forward harder than ever. Hank took over on the driving part, while Annette hung on to him for dear life. Inside the wagon behind the driver box, Bob held Denise close, and kept a reassuring hand on Darlene's shoulder as the big wagon bounced along.

As Bob watched out of the rear, he came to the conclusion that the fire was gaining on them. They needed to reach the river soon, or all would be lost. Bob mentioned that fact to Hank.

"I know," came the terse reply, but he did take the time to gently hug Annette.

He whispered words of reassurance to her before he went back to concentrating on driving the eight up team. He was not driving the wagon in a straight line. He was using his skill to thread through the sea of grass, keeping the fire an equal distance from the wagon on each side. However the swath of fire was closing in on the wagon. It was only a matter of time before their path closed, altogether. When it did, they were done.

The mules were laboring hard. The sweat was glistening on their flanks as they pulled. The air was full of smoke and ash. On the gallant team flew, responding instantly to the master drover handling the reins. It seemed like hours had passed. Everyone in the wagon had to don handkerchief masks dipped in water to filter out the hot air to breathe. The fire was closing in.

Dana's wagon was the first to reach the river bank. Charlie had her pull up the wagon while he checked the ford to see just how deep it was. They didn't want to lose any of the wagons in the water. This ford looked like one used for cattle, based on the hoof prints he spotted in the riverbank. Charlie nudged his mare out into the water. As the animal moved out into the wide river, the water rose on the horse's legs. They were in luck. It stopped rising just before reaching the belly band on his saddle.

He continued across the river, and it got no deeper. The big wagons would not have a problem. Only the buckboard would have a problem. Charlie figured to move the wagons across the stream, with the livestock, and then have the boys saddle up and they could then put their lariats on the buckboard, and steady it with their horses. It was sealed with pitch and water tight. If it floated, the lines would keep it steady as the team pulled it across the river.

As they worked, Dana kept a lookout across the river for the last wagon, the straggler that Bob and Hank had ridden back to help. They still hadn't appeared on the rise, when the rest of the train had made it to the opposite bank of the river.

They set up a camp and some of the women started supper. The rest set about rubbing down the exhausted teams. They watered them again, watching them so they wouldn't over fill themselves. Soon the fire line came into view across the river. It stretched as far as they could see in either direction, and there was no sign of the missing wagon.

Dana was ready to jump on her horse and cross back. April and Rob restrained her as Ana and Ginger helped.

"You can't go! It would be suicide!" Ana told her. "Don't worry. You know how resourceful our husband is. And that Mister Williams is a professional. He's there to help. The best you can do is help with supper, and try to keep your mind on other things."

Dana knew in her heart that Ana was right. She had to busy herself and accept what happens as God's will. She half-heartedly set about helping with supper and the setup of the camp. Rob was at the banks of the river, pacing back and forth. Andy, Mindy and Haley were huddled together. They were holding Clementine and Susannah, who were crying and holding each other. Rebecca and Stephanie were working with tears streaming down their faces. Jennifer worked with them and she tried to comfort them.

The moment came when the fire reached the shore. The sun was setting and the fire burned into the trees along the riverbank. Sparks flew into the air as they burned. Fortunately the wind had shifted to the north and the sparks and the ash were being swept in the opposite direction. They waited supper and finally decided to eat before it all got cold. Dana led the prayer that night, and the missing family members were included, first.