Chapter 32: Predictions

Dora's crush (or as she calls it, love) for me lasted a few months until she started coming to me less and less. When I talked with her she explained that she was falling for Bobby McIntosh who is her same age. She says that he shares many of her interests and they get along quite well. I did notice that whenever the girls and he were in the pool or any other activity that Dora seemed to hang around him. When the girls would gang up on him she would come to his defense. I also noticed that he was paying a lot of attention to Dora.

The two of them were seen quite often walking together through the fields holding hands. I hate to admit it but one time I was spying on them and caught them behind the barn kissing. I was only slightly disappointed to see her affection shift from me to him. I figured he could show her better closeness than I could. With him she did not have to share since in effect they were going steady. Part of me was happy to see teenage romance bloom and grow.

Grace and I had a talk with the fledgling lovers and let them know that we were happy for them and that they did not have to sneak around to be with each other. While Melissa and Bobby share a room there is no sexual overtones to their relationship. They are simply brother and sister who went through some traumatic times together and sleep together for moral support.

Now, don't get me wrong, Melissa idolizes her big brother, but at ten years old, she has no sexual attraction to him. He was very protective of her and wouldn't even consider trying anything sexual with her. Bobby started visiting Dora in her room evenings and occasionally would stay all night but he in no way was going to abandon his sister.

My loss was short lived, however. As Kim had predicted, another one of the five rescued girls (Also named Melissa) was showing all the signs that Dora had shown. I was too slow on the uptake to notice it, but Kim sure did. She had another little heart-to-heart talk with me and clued me in as to what was happening.

At 14 Melissa was dealing with raging hormones and I was the recipient of her attentions. She was the other girl who had an interest in photography and was the one who fought off the STD. One drawback to her quest (as Kim had put it to "jump my decrepit old bones") was that she was very shy and reserved. She was also still recovering from her ordeal and was very fragile. The least little thing would have her sobbing and she was desperately reaching out for someone to love her.

I had a long talk with Grace and Kim about the situation. I figured that since those two had a lot more insight into Melissa's feelings that they could give me advice and steer me towards the best approach when dealing the girl. Unlike with Dora, Melissa was going to need much more of a tender understanding. It was of paramount importance that she decide exactly what she wanted. My best bet was to spend quality time with her in non-intimate pursuits.

One day I was out in the barn brushing my stallion. I was joined by Melissa who came out to chat with me. "Art, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure Melissa. As long as it is not illegal and nobody gets hurt, I'll do anything for you."

"Oh it's nothing big."

"Okay, what would you like?"

"My mom used to call me Mel and I would like you to call me that."

"Very good. Mel it will be."

"That's great. Now for the big question."

"Uh-oh, what's this going to cost me?"

"Nothing. I want to learn to ride horses."

"Whew, is that all?"

"Yup"

"Okay, when do you want to start?"

"Now?"

"Fine, first, this is a horse."

"Very funny."

I got out the tack for my horse and showed Mel how to saddle a horse. I then pointed out where the tack for Kim's filly, Princess, was and told Mel to saddle her. It took her a few tries to get it right but with a little help from me the task was done. We led the two horses out of the barn. I tied my horse, King, to a fence rail and showed Mel how to mount up.

"Put your left foot in the stirrup and grab the saddle. Swing your right leg up and over placing your foot in the other stirrup."

"The last time I had my feet in stirrups was at the doctor's office."

"Well, we're not going to get that personal today."

"Says you."

I then led the horse around the yard letting Mel get a feel for riding. I mentioned that she could take some of the shock out of her butt if she pressed down on the stirrups. I further told her to keep her body loose and let it sway back and forth with the motion of the horse.

After a few trips around the yard she had the feel of riding so I showed her how to steer the horse and how to get it to stop and go. Mel was a fast learner so she had the horse under control in no time at all. I mounted up on King and we rode around side by side for a while at a slow walk. When I felt she had enough confidence we sped up to a trot. We worked on that for some time until she was doing very well.

Next we tried a canter and then gallop. She was flopping around like a rag doll but she did not fall off and seemed to be having a really good time. We spent a couple of hours galloping, trotting and walking until Mel got tired. She also mentioned that her butt was getting sore and her legs were tired.

I told her that was enough for one day and that we could try again the next day. She had a relieved expression on her face but mixed in was the pride of having done it. We made it back to the house in time for lunch and I noticed that she grabbed a throw pillow to sit on at the table. Kim couldn't help but give her a little chuckle. Kim told her that it was a week before she could put the pillow away. Mel then proceeded to go on and on about her first riding lesson. She was so proud of her accomplishment you couldn't shut her up. Step one completed meant Mel and I were then close friends.

That afternoon I took Mel to my studio to show her some of the basics of taking pictures. We talked about choosing a good subject, framing the shot and getting multiple different angels. I showed her how lighting can affect a shot and make the difference between a vacation snap shot and a true picture. We then talked about framing shots.

"Art, is that picture of the fish jumping what you are talking about. The trees make a natural frame don't they?"

"Yes they do. That particular picture was shot by Kim out at our lake. It was on only her second day shooting outdoors."

"That's a really good picture. I'd expect to see it in Field and Stream magazine."

I reached up and handed her a copy of the magazine opened to page sixty four. Sure enough, there was Kim's picture. I told Mel, "Kim got two hundred dollars for that picture."

All Mel could say was, "Holy crap. Two hundred bucks?"

"Yup, she has the cash in her bank account along with a bunch more from other pictures she's sold."

"I didn't know you could make money from a hobby. She must be really good."

"Yes she is but you can be just as good too. All you have to do is try."

"Will you help me?"

"Absolutely. That's what friends are for."

Mel was so impressed she forgot her shyness and wrapped her arms around my neck to give me a kiss squarely on my lips. She then backed off blushing. "Oops, sorry."

"Don't be sorry. That was one of the nicest kisses I have ever had and I look forward to many more."

That caused her to blush even more.

I poked around in a cabinet and came up with the first digital camera I had given to Kim. I showed Mel how to operate it and we went out back to let her try her hand at taking pictures. Dora joined us with her camera and we had an impromptu photo expedition.

Kim saw us out there and just had to join in. The three girls had a blast shooting pictures all over the place. I just stood back and let them have their fun.

After supper we four got together in my den to download the pictures. I set up folders for Dora and Mel on my computer and then showed them how to transfer the pictures into their folders. I even set up sub-folders labeled keepers for the shots that turned out especially good. As we reviewed the pictures Kim and I made comments about each one. I tried to use positive reinforcement whenever I felt it was appropriate. A positive attitude goes a long way towards encouraging a student to want to learn.

I was really in hog heaven with three pretty girls snuggled up to me as we looked at the pictures. In spite of Dora's involvement with Bobby, she still had lingering affection for me so she naturally put her arm around my shoulders. Melissa was still a little bit reserved so she just stood near me but no snuggling. Kim, on the other hand, didn't miss an opportunity to lay claim to my cheek as she snuck little kisses as she bent over to point to the computer screen. I mentioned to the girls that tomorrow might be a good day to hike out on another photo expedition. I advised them to wear jeans, sneakers and button up shirts since we may be crawling through some bushes.

The next morning at breakfast I was assaulted by three girls anxious to get going on our hike. I planned on giving the cave a wide berth not wanting to answer any questions about it. When I mentioned it to Kim she agreed that it was a good idea. I told the girls that we would be going to the lake so they should wear their bathing suits under their clothes. That got their excitement up past the boiling point. I had three tow-teens dragging me out the door so we could embark on our adventure.

Dora asked if Bobby could come along and I told her that it would be fine with me. He was a kind of cute guy (a hunk as Dora called him) so the other two girls had no objections. Far be it from me to put a damper on any of their fun.

One of the places where the girls got a lot of pictures was at the site where Cathy's parent's plane had crashed and burned. The insurance company who covered the plane didn't have any interest in trying to salvage anything so they just left the plane where it sat. Fortunately Cathy was not with us so she didn't have to relive any painful memories. She hadn't even asked to go to the site for that reason. I cautioned the girls to make sure Cathy did not see any of the pictures they shot there.

On the positive side we did manage to get several pictures of the wonders of nature both flora and fauna. A side trip to the rabbit warren got them some nice pictures of the bunnies playing in the grass. They were the cutest animals and it seemed that they even smiled for the camera. Okay, so rabbits don't smile but we could all imagine, couldn't we? Dora and Mel spotted a monarch butterfly sunning its wings and took a bunch of pictures.

We were all so busy shooting pictures that noon snuck up on us before we knew it. Alice had packed us a picnic lunch so we crashed by a big oak tree, spread out a blanket and sat down to eat our sandwiches. After we ate I decided we needed to rest for a while. Dora and Bobby had other ideas, however, so they slipped off for some private activities of their own. After about an hour of rest I called the whole group together and we headed out for the lake.

We arrived at the lake and the girls were impressed with how beautiful it was. It sounded like a bunch of crickets with the cameras clicking left and right. Believe it or not Kim was able to catch a shot of a rainbow trout jumping up to catch a bug. Not only that but she framed the shot dead center between two birch trees.

When we all grew tired of taking pictures I stripped my jeans and shirt and hollered, "Last one in is a rotten egg."

I don't know how they did it but guess who, was the last one in. Yeah, you guessed it. It was me.

So when we started a game of tag, naturally I was "it". I swam under water and pinched Kim on the butt. She shrieked and I hollered "you're it". After a while the girls got adventurous so Bobby and I got tagged in some most interesting places. We played the game until we got pooped out so we got out of the water to dry off in the sun. In my rush to get into the water I hadn't noticed how the girls were dressed. Let me tell you that when they got out I sure did look at them. Bobby and I stared at three of the most gorgeous bodies on the planet. They didn't pay too much attention as Bobby covertly snuck over and grabbed Kim's camera. He snapped off about two dozen pictures before Dora tackled him and wrestled the camera away from him.

Our expedition took us several hours and we ended up with literally hundreds of pictures. We made our way slowly to the house and entered, tired and hungry. One thing that made me feel good was Mel staying real close to me on our way back. We would even bump shoulders occasionally re-enforcing her closeness to me. I even sensed her tentatively getting ready to hold my hand but couldn't work up the courage to do it. From all indications, her attraction to me was not an on-again off-again thing but she was truly smitten. Myself, I was attracted to her on a deeper level. I had gotten to know her personality so her looks were not the only attractive thing about her. I solved her problem by taking her hand in mine and held it all the way back to the house. She had a big smile on her face as if she owned the world.

When we sat down to supper I noticed that Mel had worked out some kind of a deal with Kim so she could sit next to me. I really didn't mind because I knew that Kim would be next to me at bedtime and Mel deserved her chance to ply her subtle seduction on me during supper time.

Now that I was paying more attention, I started noticing little things that Mel did to get my attention; the almost musical way she said "hi", her sexy poses, her scanty wardrobe, her bumping into me in the hall, her undivided attention to my every word and I guess a general attitude of hero worship.

After supper the four (oops – make that five) of us gathered in my den to review the pictures we took that day. I was surrounded with Mel on my left side, Kim on my right and Dora behind me with Bobby glued to her side holding her hand. The girls were somewhat animated as they pointed out parts of some of the pictures. After a while Mel would point out something and then drop her arm across my shoulder. Kim noticed that maneuver and nudged me in the ribs smiling.

Kim downloaded the pictures from her camera and I observed that her ability had come a long way. Some of her shots were undoubtedly of professional quality. Her chance shot of the rainbow trout was right up there with the best of category. I looked close and I could see that the fish had its mouth open and the bug was just an inch in front of him.

When we got to the shots that Bobby had snapped of the girls in their bathing suits drying off, I sat there with my mouth hanging open. I felt like I was looking at the annual swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated. The photography was real good and the subjects were even better. I guess the photography course that he took in school had paid off.

I looked over at him and said, "Hey Bobby, I didn't know you were an astronomer."

"What do you mean astronomer?"

"Shooting pictures of heavenly bodies."

That corny line got me a slug in both shoulders and a slap to the back of my head. Those girls can hit hard when they want to. All except Mel's slug which was more of a love tap. The pictures were superb in the way Bobby captured them in the most provocative positions. The fact that only one percent of their bodies were covered just added to the effect. I copied the pictures to my keeper folder.

Mel had been doing real well at riding so I invited her to go on a long ride with me the next day exploring the estate. We went up and down the various trails gawking at the scenery. I made a mistake and we got near the cave entrance causing Princess to rear up throwing Mel off her back and landing her in a heap on the ground. I immediately jumped down from my horse and ran over to her to see if she was okay. When I got to her she curled up and was crying holding her ankle. She was definitely in a lot of pain and I could see that her ankle had started to swell up.