Laurie awoke the next morning with her brain still dazed and reeling from the extraordinary orgiastic experience of the night before. She lay there wondering if it had all really taken place as she remembered now. Every vivid detail flashed like neon in her mind, making her dizzy even as she lay flat on her back in the down-filled sleeping bag.
"Oh Lord, how can I face the others?" she asked herself when she heard sleepy snatches of conversation around the breakfast campfire. Peering out from the bag, she saw her uncle and Ken huddling across from each other at the fire, each man applying himself to the preparation of the morning meal. Barbara was nowhere in sight, but turning her head a little, she saw that Will was busy reloading the pack animals with bed rolls and sundry pieces of gear they had used to make camp.
"Hey, honey, did last night tire you out that much? Aren't you going to get up?" came Barbara's voice from behind. Startled, Laurie whirled around and saw the handsome woman standing a few feet away, already fully dressed and holding the reins of two horses she had saddled.
"I-I guess I overslept," Laurie heard herself apologize, hating the timidity of her words even as she spoke them.
"Well, it was quite an evening, I admit," Barbara said softly, ignoring the girl's discomfort. "I hope like hell we don't find that damned horse today… so maybe we can all get together for more of the same tonight."
Laurie did not comment on the woman's statement, but deep down she had to admit, even in the cold stark light of morning, that she would also feel little regret if they were forced to spend another night in the mountains. If it turned out that way, perhaps this time she would be allowed to reach the same sexual release that the others had enjoyed… mostly at her expense.
Later, as the group sat in a semi-circle eating crisp bacon and thin griddle cakes, the talk turned to their plans for the day. Ned Dow, between sips of coffee, explained the best route from the ridge they were on down to the boxed-in gorge known as Boggy Meadow.
"Come on, then, let's break camp and get moving," Ned Dow shouted, stirring everyone to their feet with his mighty booming voice. Ten minutes later, the group had packed up and extinguished the coals of the fire. A general air of adventure was in everyone's veins, even Barbara's, as they swung into their saddles and waited until Ned took the lead away from Coldwater Meadow toward the trail down into Boggy Meadow gorge.
Laurie had never seen such beautiful country. As they breasted the next ridge, she saw the sun boring its rays through the misty veils in the canyons and valleys, the distant ridges and peaks sticking up like islands out of the low-hanging clouds. Ah, it was all too much, too glorious to believe… the light… the deep purity of the sky… the sunny freshness lighting the trees and brush. She began to understand Ken perhaps for the first time: why he had chosen to be alone in this country… and why sometimes he changed so abruptly from an intelligent, considerate man into a demanding, primitive beast of a man. This vast wild land had instilled itself in his very marrow and sometimes took over his soul and body. Oh Lord, she loved him, keenly, almost to the point of pain; and she wanted him inside her, in her warmly welcoming vagina, to draw him from his sperm the strength and stamina she needed herself. Then, again remembering the night before, she felt a glow of piquant warmth flow through her as she realized that his white cum was mingled in her blood, that by now she must have absorbed at least some of it into her system, so that he was physically a part of her being.
They rode on in silence for another forty-five minutes, following Ned under shady arches where the trail was level, then around time-bleached croppings of rock and down shale slides where the homes were forced to half sit and brace their front legs in order to keep from stumbling forward, head-over-heels.
"All right, I think we should proceed very quietly and carefully from here on in. The gorge is only about a quarter of a mile from here," Ned cautioned.
"What do you think, Will, Ken, should we tether the pack-horses here and take along only what we need to build a barricade at the mouth of the gorge?" Ned asked.
"That sounds good to me," Ken answered, nodding his approval of the plan back to where Will was bringing up the rear with the heavily-laden pack-animals.
"Yeah, sure. The fewer horses, the less noise," Will agreed. "Laurie, since you're handiest, how about helping me stake 'em out over there. Looks like decent grazing and there might even be some water, green as it is." Will was pointing to a grassy patch of shady, sun-mottled clearing off to the right of the trail, visible only from where she and the older man were sitting on their horses. It was the first time that Laurie had faced the man who had fucked into her dog-fashion, for she had been avoiding him as much as possible all morning. Her uncle had ordered her to ride toward the back of the party, just ahead of Will, and she had felt the man's lewd hungering eyes fixed on her buttocks most of the morning.
"Sure, Will, I'll give you a hand," she said coolly as she dismounted and tied Sniffy's reins to a branch. She took the lead rope that Will handed her and led the lathered animal off the trail and into the tiny clearing, Will and the other horse close behind her. When the man had satisfied himself with an especially lush section of grass next to five or six shallow pools of spring water, he drove in two aluminum stakes and securely fastened the long lead ropes, then busied himself with the task of removing the gear they would need to construct a barricade and prevent the black stallion from escaping the gorge.
"How do you feel today?" he asked Laurie when he had finished rolling the needed gear into a canvas bundle. "I sure hope your sweet little pussy ain't sore today… But don't worry, it'll be a whole lot easier from now on."
Laurie flushed with anger and spun around on her heel, not bothering to rebuke Will for his crass remarks. Later, when the time was just right, she would draw Ken aside and spill out her heart to him about her feelings toward him as well as about the crude older man's intimation. They could discuss possible solutions to the Ross couple's blackmailing of them. And then – she could visualize it so clearly – Ken would take her in his arms, tenderly assuring her that they had nothing to fear… They would make love, alone and happily, until they both were sated and content just to be together, holding each other…
As the group drew closer to the mouth of the gorge, everyone's anxiety rose to a high pitch. Sniffy was nervous and pranced skittishly from side to side of the trail, snorting and sweating while Laurie cooed to him, gently patting his neck in an attempt to calm the big chestnut stallion.
"He probably smells that ornery stud," Ned whispered, pointing ahead toward the gorge as he turned in his saddle to look at the others. "Let's keep our eyes peeled for fallen logs and whatever else we can use to shut off the end of the gorge. Laurie, you and Barbara ride in about two or three hundred feet in front of us and shy him back while we build the barricade. That sound okay to everyone?"
"I don't see any other way," Will answered. "But I think the women ought to take the rifles for safety – in case that crazy black bastard decides to run right through us. Anyway, they can fire in the air every so often to discourage that bugger from heading our way."
"That's a good idea… And listen you two," Ned gravely admonished, "you gals don't hesitate to shoot him between the eyes if he won't stop runnin' toward you."
After everyone had agreed, they rode on at a slightly brisker pace in case the stallion had already scented them and might be heading out of the gorge to investigate. But when they reached the narrow mouth, about five minutes later, there was no sign or sight of the horse. They urged their mounts into a circle and held a brief conference.
As planned, the two women rode a short way into the deep gorge, each carrying a loaded rifle, while the three men scouted the immediate area for barricade material. They worked steadily for the better part of an hour, sweating and cursing as they roped logs, fallen trees, boulders and pieces of brush, using their sturdy mounts to drag the barrier material into position. Ken remained at the entrance, placing rocks and pieces of brush between the heavier logs and stumps and boulders to create the effect of a solid wall. He toiled almost soundlessly, leaving a small opening at the left side through which Ned and Will could ride when the blockade was complete. Then they would climb up to a spot on the cliff wall where there was a great boulder perched. Using thick sticks as levers, they would pry the boulder loose and let it drop into the open slot at the end of the barricade.
Laurie and Barbara sat their horses at a point where the gorge widened to about three hundred yards from wall to wall and extended up and away in a broad grassy meadow. They could see that it narrowed again, and ran off to the right, on the far side of the meadow they faced. Laurie was thoroughly excited, her limbs trembling as a peculiar mixture of intoxicating sensations made her heart pound and threaten to burst free of her chest. She was thinking of Ken when she heard the sound – a sound that grew and echoed ominously, bouncing off the steep walls like a series of muffled gun shots.
Then he appeared!
He trotted into view, a jet-black stallion at least seventeen hands high, his nostrils flaring as he snorted out defiance, rejoicing in his freedom of motion, his feet lifting and failing like pistons with minds of their own. He slowed to a walk about two hundred yards away from the women. At a hundred and fifty yards, he stopped and seemed to think, his dark eyes absorbing every detail of the situation confronting him. It was as if he were human, Laurie thought, allowing her gaze to rove over every inch of his magnificent body. She had never failed to marvel at this wonderful animal, such flawless conformation, such pride and dazzling spirit.
For once, even Ned Dow's voice was hushed with awe and respect for the big stallion. He was spellbound, unable to move or speak as he drank in the sight of the black horse. In all his years as a rancher, the graying man had seen many fine horses, but none like this one… and every time he saw him, he truly had to appreciate the stallion's perfect lines and strength.
"Watch it!" Ned shouted suddenly. "He's movin' in on us!"
Will responded immediately and aimed his rifle in the air, firing several shots skyward to frighten the advancing stallion. But the black stud merely tossed his head and continued to trot toward them. Laurie swiveled her head toward Will and saw with horror that he was aiming directly at the stud's chest.
"No, don't shoot him!" Laurie screamed.
"She's right. He'll stop. He's just testing us now, to see if we've got balls enough to stand in his way." Laurie had never loved her uncle as much as she did at that moment for saving the beautiful creature's life. Ned was right, too, for the stallion stopped less than a hundred yards in front of them, neighed angrily, and pivoted on his hind feet to turn and trot nonchalantly back up the meadow.
"Why don't we try to run him back to the box at the end of the gorge – before he comes up with a scheme we haven't provided for?" Ken asked, the tremor in his voice betraying the anxiety he felt. "I'm not much at roping, but I'll hang back and haze for you."
Ned bobbed his head up and down, smiling like a kid at the circus, and then shifted in his saddle to gaze gleefully into Will's eyes. The older rancher's face broke into a correspondingly wide grin as he leaned far back in his saddle and let loose a cry: "Yaaaaaaahheeeeeeeeee!"
Then the two ranchers galloped off, spurring their horses and sheathing the rifles in scabbards as they tore headlong toward the frightened stallion. Laurie was swollen with pride as she watched her uncle and Will, with Ken close behind, approaching the horse. She marveled at how the men handled their lariats, shaking out loops as they bore down on the nervous black stud. At the last second, when the men seemed dangerously near, the stallion screamed and wheeled around, charging toward the dead-end gorge that veered off to the right where he would have to halt, trapped.
"I hope this little game of theirs doesn't take forever. Let's pray that they catch that black one right away, so they won't be too tuckered out to fuck us tonight."
"Barbara!"
"What! Don't tell me you're not aching for some more of my husband's cock… I saw you last night, the way you twitched your sweet little cunt to get every inch. And I noticed that you didn't mind gulping down your boy friend's cum either. Just watch it, kid, and don't tempt me to spout off to your uncle that you're a cock-sucking little slut."
"But Barbara, you don't understand – I love Ken."
"Shit."
"Believe me, I do," Laurie bristled. "God knows, I wouldn't have allowed your creaking old husband to rape me that way if it hadn't been for what you two were holding over Ken and me."
"Correction, honey. You mean what we are holding over you – and don't forget it." They were silent then, both fuming within themselves from the other's remarks, wracking their brains for insults equal to the hostility they felt. The whole issue hinged on their mutual attraction to Ken, his charm and obvious sexual appeal. But Laurie had added an extra dimension to her feelings for him – love. It was something she was certain that Barbara, in her wanton desire, would never understand about the relationship. Still, though, Laurie could not help but painfully recall the fervor with which he had sucked Barbara's breast, and then her vagina, until the woman had moaned in sexual abandonment and had finally climaxed. The girl now wondered just how much of the handsome ranchhand's zeal had been in the line of duty – giving his share of the payment to buy the Ross' silence about what they had seen – and how much had been the result of sheer pleasure on his part. Yet, how could she blame him either way? She, too, had yielded to her body's demands, had actually drowned in the ecstatic feelings that had swamped her while Will Ross brutalized her. It was all too much for her now, too much to piece together in any rational order until she could discuss everything with Ken. Meanwhile, she thought, it could not make things any worse but could definitely make them more comfortable – if she softened up the older woman with a bit of old-fashioned kindness.
"Maybe you're right, honey," Barbara said with a smile spreading over her face. "I'm sorry I spouted off like that… And I'm also sorry if I botched things up between you and Ken. Just try to understand – I'm still a young woman, with all the needs a woman has, and your blond boy friend turns me on. I can't help it any more than you can. But I don't kid myself that I'm in love with him. It's that great big cock of his that I'm interested in. And you'd better ask yourself if that isn't his main attraction for you as well."
Laurie was staggered by the woman's complete honesty, so much so that she began to wonder if Barbara might be altogether right. Perhaps she had allowed her girlish heart to blind her to the real facts: that she was no more in love with Ken than he was with her; that their sole interest in each other was entirely sexual, as much an adventure as was this crazy scheme of her uncle's to recapture the ornery black stallion.
Just then Laurie heard three rifle shots in the gorge beyond. Laurie's first impulse was to spur Sniffy full speed across the meadow and around the bend, to see if anyone had been hurt or was in danger, but she knew that her uncle would never forgive her for interfering and exposing herself to further risk.
"Try not to fret, Laurie, it's probably just one of the boys shooting into the air to haze him into a better position," Barbara soothed.
"But they've been in there quite awhile now," Laurie objected, "and I'm worried that they might be in trouble."
"I expect they're having a fair share of trouble, all right, trying to put ropes around that beautiful black boy's neck," the older woman agreed, "but the men know their business. They're not taking any unnecessary chances."
"I hope not… They're pretty important men to us," the pretty redhead said, grinning warmly at Barbara.
A few minutes later their suspense was ended, for the ebony black stallion raced around the bend and into view with two taut ropes around his powerful neck. Behind him came Ned and Will, desperately spurring their horses' flanks to stay close to the big stud. Once they were far enough into the clearing, both men reigned their mounts to ride off obliquely in opposite directions, stringing the infuriated stallion between them as they slowed to a trot and finally a walk. He was forced to slow down as well, at last coming to a complete standstill, his eyes wide and rolling as he screamed and pawed the ground, proudly defying the men who hampered his freedom. A moment later, Laurie saw Ken draw his horse to a halt beside her uncle. The two men switched mounts then and Ned rode to a spot about twenty feet in front of the stallion while Ken kept the rope taut.
"Your uncle's going to try roping the devil's front feet," Barbara explained as the two women watched Ned Dow shake out his second lariat to form a medium-sized loop. They saw the big man nod toward Will, who fired his rifle into the air as though it were part of a prearranged plan. The stallion jumped at the sharp sound, straining forward mightily against the ropes until his front hooves were virtually off the ground. Ned's loop snaked out and fell in a wide circle under the stud's elevated forefeet, then came alive again, lifting and closing around the beast's ankles when the big rancher whipped it with a single downward thrust of his arm. Rapidly twisting his end of the rope around the saddle horn, Ned urged his mount backwards and made the third restraining rope humming tight.
"Okay, hold him steady!" Laurie heard her uncle shout to the other men. She watched awe-stricken as her uncle slowly eased his dun-colored gelding to a position that was in a forty-five degree line with the black horse. Then, again nodding to each of his assistants, Ned pulled hard on the gelding's reins and clucked to him, moving him backwards until the pressure on the rope made the stallion lose his balance and fall to the ground with a resounding thud. The rugged animal struggled to regain his feet as he continued to scream and snort out his hatred of his captors, but was unsuccessful.
Laurie heaved a sigh of genuine relief when she saw all three men dismount and move confidently toward the downed stallion. She knew that now they would rope and tie his hind legs in order to approach him from the back. She had heard the men talking at breakfast about the potent tranquilizer they had brought along, and how they would inject it into the stallion's rump if they were lucky enough to catch him.
In a few short minutes it was all over, Ned signaled Laurie and Barbara and they rode up within a few yards of the great, fallen black stud.
"What do you think of the crazy bastard now?" Ned huffed, breathing hard from the Herculean exertions. "We've shot him full of that stuff the vet sold me, and I ain't afraid to admit I'm glad I had the good sense to bring it along. This is the Goddamnedest, meanest son-of-a-bitch I've ever owned in my life. Hell, he's even meaner than Will there!"
Everyone laughed and broke the extreme tension with relieved patter and jokes about how they were going to get the stallion back to Dow Ranch, now that they had caught him. Everyone laughed and joked, except Laurie. She was strangely quiet and stood looking into the captured beauty's wide defiant eyes, a deep sadness filling her.
"If it's all right with you, Mr. Dow, I'll make a hole in the barricade," Ken said. "I guess you'll want to rest awhile in the clearing where we left the pack-horses."
"We'll do more than rest," Ned roared happily. "We'll set up camp there and get drunker then hell to celebrate… Spend the night too!"
"I'll go for that," Will said, a hint of shrewdness in his voice as he glanced suggestively toward Laurie.