Alice felt strangely vulnerable at that moment. Much like Laurie, she had doubts about her ability to be of any help to these women.
“Well,” said Michelle, looking the poor young woman over, “I was going to ride down south and check the herd if you’re interested. Could use another set of eyes countin’ heads.”
“Sure,” Alice said, almost afraid to meet the woman’s eyes. But when she did, Michelle was smiling, and she didn’t seem at all threatening.
“But you might want to changed into some long pants so ya don’t get burrs on your legs.”
“Burrs? Are we going to need to be getting out of the truck that often?”
“Truck? Girlie, I said ‘ride’ south. We’re takin’ the horses.”
——————- —————–
Out at the stables . . .
——————- —————–
Alice and Michelle wandered over to the horse stalls, which looked very much like they would have a hundred years earlier. Alice was noticing that some of those ‘dilapidated’ buildings were actually holding together quite well. Michelle explained that they were actually restoring the old buildings from the inside out, trying to maintain the old-West flare. They were planning on turning the ghost town into a bed and breakfast tourist spot.
“It’ll let us bring in some more cash while still letting us control who all comes on the property,” she explained. Michelle had ventured into the stables with Alice close behind. “Ever ridden before?”
“When I was younger,” Alice replied softly. Then she found her voice. “My grandma and grandpa had a farm with horses on it. My grandpa taught me to ride when I was six. I used to ride all the time, but haven’t done it in years.”
“Shame. Once I learned how, I couldn’t imagine not bein’ able to do it. This here horse is named Wyatt, and I’ve had ’em near fifteen years. I’ve taken ’em with me everywhere I’ve gone. He was a gift from my grandpa when I was twelve. My folks didn’t think it too seemly for their only daughter to be ridin’, but I didn’t care and neither did grandpappy.”
“Are you an only child?”
“Hell no. You think I got to lookin’ like this for my own health? I started exercisin’ to keep up with six older brothers.” She stopped to toss a saddle onto another of the three horses in the stall. “This here is Josephine, and she’s Jane’s horse. She’s a sweet girl, so you shouldn’t have any problems with her.” The horse in question was tall and of a deep-red color. Wyatt looked like an old draft horse, gunmetal gray with a splotch of white on the forehead. They got the two horses ready and headed south.
Alice found herself having the best time of her life. Michelle was sharp in both wit and tongue, and she had Alice laughing at her myriad of strange adventures. She had worked as a stable hand, a rodeo clown, an amateur bodybuilder, a waitress and a handy man. She and her brothers had learned to build just about anything from just about everything. She was a good mechanic, carpenter and even electrician. And she only had a high-school education.
Michelle started on the story of how she and Jane had met. She had been working for a company that did general repairs for a large number of apartment buildings in a major metropolitan city. She had got called in to take care of a plumbing problem, and it turned out to be Jane’s apartment. She was a professor at a nearby university and best-selling author back then. Michelle thought she had been snooty and uptight at first. But then she started asking questions and taking a real interest in what Michelle was doing. She called her company and asked for her specifically whenever she had a problem.
“One thing you should know about Jane is that the only thing that gets under her skin is thinkin’ that there is some kind of knowledge out there that she hasn’t learned yet. She is the smartest woman I’ve ever met. Then she and I got involved and . . . I’m sorry, I keep forgettin’ you’re probably not comfortable with . . .”
“No, it’s okay. I just find the whole issue very confusing.”
“So did I. I hated myself for a long time because of how I felt about women. I used to be a lot like you before I turned eighteen and headed off on my own. I spent a lot of time prayin’ for myself and everyone else. As it turned out, I kind of liked livin’. And then somethin’ occurred to me that hadn’t before.”
“What.”
Michelle turned towards Alice and had a look of tranquility on her pretty face. “I do believe in God. And I believe he made all of us and that he doesn’t make mistakes. There are a lot of choices to be made that are up to me, but who I’m attracted to ain’t one of ’em. And for me to pretend to be something other than just what I am is to act in defiance of what He made me. And I don’t believe he’s gonna punish me for bein’ who I am. Do you follow me?”
“Yes,” said Alice, suddenly feeling much better about everything. She found herself staring at Michelle’s muscular ass, bound in denim and bouncing up and down on the saddle. ‘Stop that,’ she thought to herself.
They rode over the crest of a small hill and looked down at the grasslands below, and again Alice found herself short of breath. “I thought . . . are those . . .?”
The animals that roamed below weren’t the common cows she had been expecting. Rather, they were buffalo.
“What? I just said we were going to check the herd!” Michelle was grinning. She knew the look on the young girl’s face as she looked down at the magnificent animals. She used to have that expression on her own face. “Start countin’. We should be at one-hundred and twenty.”
The animals were still very much wild at heart, so they couldn’t get too close. The two of them rode around the herd, but trying to get an accurate count was hard as the buffalo roamed all over the place. Eventually they wound up with a count that was close to where they thought they should be. At one point, a massive male sauntered over and stood directly in Alice’s path. She was amazed at the power and strength of the creature. She also began to realize how much she respected that kind of power when used wisely. The beast wasn’t looking for a fight, it was just letting her know who was boss on the range. But the bull wandered off when Michelle rode up.
“They’re magnificent!”
“If you think that’s cool . . .” said Michelle as she moved her horse closer to the main group. The buffalo started moving, slowly at first before moving to a full speed sprint. Alice and Michelle rode beside the herd at full gallop. Alice’s heart couldn’t have beat any faster without turning into a medical condition. Buffalo at rest were impressive enough. When they were surging across the plains like a living tide, they were beautiful. The whole of Texas shuddered beneath their hooves. The wind whipped through Alice’s hair and the sun beat down on her face. She wasn’t just listening to thunder; she was riding along side of it. Finally the herd slowed and stopped at a water tank.
“That was incredible!” Alice shouted. As Michelle rode up next to her, Alice threw her arms around the muscular woman’s neck. “Thank you,” she said.
Even Michelle was a little taken aback by the girl’s change in attitude. The mistrust was gone. The fear was gone. The young woman seemed to be truly alive for the first time in her life. And . . . and she had been holding on for much longer than necessary.
As her arms encircled that powerful neck, Alice realized how wonderful Michelle smelled, musty and thick. ‘No, I can’t think that . . .’
“Uhm, sweetie? You can let go now.” There was a pause. “But you don’t have to if . . . oh hell!” Michelle grabbed Alice by the waist and pulled her into the powerful woman’s lap. She looked into Alice’s eyes. “I knew it. I was right about you wasn’t I?”
“But . . . how?”
“No one clings to the cross like you do without being at least a little afraid of being devoured by the lions. You’ve been running for a long time, and you’ve been staring at my ass for half the trip out here.” Alice blushed furiously. “But you need to be sure. So maybe you should think about . . .” She was cut off by face-full of young woman.
Alice whispered into Michelle’s ear. “I’ve spent my entire life either hating who I was or being afraid of who I might become. Right now I feel good, and I don’t want that feeling to go away.”
“Girl, feeling good is just the beginning.”
“But what about Jane and Freddie?”
Michelle smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ve all gone explorin’ off the home range from time to time, and we’re all good with it. Hell, I’d be willin’ to bet they’re trying to get into your friends’ pants right now.”
“They aren’t my friends.”
“Maybe you should think things over and give them another chance. But for right now, we need to get to get our own business done.” Michelle pulled the young woman against her ample chest and kissed her. There was no hesitation on Alice’s part, which was encouraging. She was willing, though not experienced. Michelle pushed her tongue past the young woman’s lips and explored her mouth. Alicia tentatively responded in kind, and Michelle moaned her approval. Michelle grabbed the younger girl’s hand and slid it into her shirt. Alice got a firm grip on one of those enormous, firm breasts.
Alice broke the kiss, but out of need for breath rather than from second thoughts. “Did it hurt? Getting these put in?” She squeezed the breast again, enjoying the sensation.
“There was discomfort at first. They needed to be massaged for weeks. Ooh! Kind of like you’re doin’ now.”
Alice stuck used her other hand to pull the end of the shirt out of Michelle’s skintight jeans and unbutton it, leaving both breasts free for her eager hands. She fondled, groped, pulled and prodded Michelle’s enormous tits. She felt the steel-like muscles of her abdomen and traced the muscled along the small of her back.
“I don’t know what you’re lookin’ for hon, but I think it’s a little south.” Michelle reached around her own back, grabbed Alice’s hands and placed them firmly on the muscular woman’s denim-clad ass. “You know, this would be much easier on the ground.”
“So you want to get off?”
Michelle grinned. “That’s my plan little one.” She lowered Alice to the ground before swinging down herself. She pulled the saddle blankets from the horses and threw them onto the ground. Alice was staring at the other woman. Her shirt had fallen to the ground, leaving the muscular woman standing in the tall grass wearing nothing but tight jeans, a cowboy hat and a smile. Alice felt herself getting even warmer. Michelle move at what might best be considered a mosey, unzipping her jeans as she went. Once on the saddle blankets, she shirked her boots and pants. She wasn’t wearing any underwear. “Is this what you want?” Alice’s hand found their way back to Michelle’s ass.