Love Refound
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 13

Record Setting Performance

This is still Doug.

I was awakened the next morning by a knock on my bedroom door, and a voice asking,  “Uncle Doug, Uncle Doug, can we come in.”

I recognized Jeff’s voice, “No, no, not by the hair on my chin.”

The door opened and the guys came in. Trevor was carrying a tray, and Trevor started, “We aren’t here to take care of the hair on your chin,  Jeff immobilize the patient while I shave the hair on his pelvic area so he will be so itchy that he won’t be able to ride today.  While we have him captive, maybe we should shave his head, too.  Let’s get started.”

Jeff yanked off the sheet that was covering me, and both guys stepped back.  Jeff turned to Trevor, “He’s even bigger than I remembered.  Heck, he must never masturbate, look at the size of his ovals.”

I pulled the sheet up, “Look you two, fun is fun, but this isn’t funny anymore.  You had no right to do that to me.”

Trevor had tears in his eyes, “I’m sorry Mr. Doug, we got carried away.  We brought you some coffee.  Breakfast will be ready shortly.  I apologize.  If you had been anyone else, we would never have done what we just did.  We both consider you to be a special friend.”

I climbed out of bed even though I was naked, “Guys, I’m sorry I reacted the way I did, but if you had pulled that stunt almost anyone else, they would have been very offended, or worse yet, they might have tried to make you do things that you might not be ready to do.  Thanks for the coffee, and I’ll be down as soon as I take care of the morning necessities.”

When I got to the kitchen, Mis’ Leonora and Mis’ Louisa were already at the table drinking their coffee and the three guys were dishing up the breakfast.  After I greeted the two ladies, the three guys each arrived carrying two plates with two fried eggs, a slice of ham, and grits with red eye gravy and two biscuits.

I looked at the plate, “It’s a conspiracy.  The guys are trying to make sure that I gain so much weight that Arabian Prince won’t be able to move.  That’s okay, Trevor has probably been feeding him sleeping pills too.”

As we were finishing eating, Mrs. Nixon informed us that she and Louisa would clean up the mess the guys had made since we needed to get ready to go to the show arena.

I looked at Trevor and Trent, “I assume you gentlemen have arranged for us to have the same accommodations this week.”

Trevor answered, “Why of course, Mr. Christiansen.  We don’t handle change well.  We’ll see you at the stables.”

When I got to Uncle Howie’s farm, they already had Arabian Prince in the trailer with the tack.  Uncle Howie looked at me, “We were beginning to think that you weren’t coming.”

I laughed, “Trevor, Trent and Jeff fed me so much to make sure that I couldn’t mount the Prince.  Are you all coming to the show?”

Mr. Nixon was laughing, “We wouldn’t miss the ’Challenge of the Century’.”

When I was checking in, I was informed that I was to be the first rider for the day's competition.  When I got to the stable, Trent, Trevor, Spring and Autumn were already grooming their horses with Jeff and Adrian looking on.

I announced, “I’m the first rider in the competition today.  I need to get my act together since some people tried to make me ill this morning.  What positions did the rest of you draw?”

Spring was to be the fifth rider, Trent was to be the tenth rider, Autumn was to be the fifteenth person and Trevor was to be the last person to ride.

Trevor had to add his two cents, “They put me last to make sure I would lose.  How much did you pay them, Mr. Christiansen?”

I made sure that the Prince was ready and went to change and I was surprised when Trevor followed me,  He hugged me, “Mr. Christiansen, please don’t hate us for what we did this morning.  I realize now that it was totally out of line.”

He hugged me again and the tears were starting to form in both of our eyes as he departed the changing area.  I thought to myself, ’Why is he so attached to me?  He doesn’t even really know me.’

I was dressed in my riding habit and mounted the Prince.  Trevor opened the gate for us and he and Steve led us to the arena area.  At precisely nine o’clock, the arena announcer started his announcements.  When he finished the announcements, he announced that the first contestant of the day is Mr. Doug Christiansen riding Arabian Prince.

I surveyed the course and decided it was a brutal course.  We finally finished the round, but we had two faults.  The gang was sitting there as we exited the arena,  I looked at them, “The course is extremely tight and there is absolutely no spring in the ground.  I would be very surprised if there were any perfect rounds today.”

I went to the stable to take care of Prince and change my clothes.  I met Spring and Adrian as I was walking toward the arena.  Spring looked at me, “Doug, this must be one tough course, because everyone of the other riders so far have looked as if they were total beginners.  I’m almost afraid to ride.”

I took my seat beside Autumn, “Are you still upset with me?”

She smiled, “Yes, but not as much.  We need to talk away from everyone.”

I thought to myself, ‘What did that mean?’

My attention was refocused to the arena because the announcer had announced that the next contestant was Spring Winters riding Cracker Jack.

Spring had a perfect round going until Cracker Jack knocked down a bar on the next to last jump.  That seemed to throw him off his stride and he knocked down two bars on the last jump.

As Spring was riding out of the arena she stopped, “This has got to be the toughest course that I have ever competed on.”

Trent looked up at us as he was getting ready to go get dressed, “Wish me luck, I don’t feel very lucky today.  I guess it was all those grits you forced us to eat.”

When Trent took the course, he looked confident but Prince knocked down a bar on the first jump but otherwise they had a perfect round.  When he came by he nodded, “I thought the Prince was going to throw me a couple of times because he was stumbling.”

Autumn got up to go and she motioned for me to stay where I was and I was a little perturbed because she didn’t want me to go with her.  I was to find out later why.  When she entered the entryway with the General, Trevor looked at her, “Miss Autumn are you okay?  You seem awfully nervous.”

She looked at him,  “Trevor, I’m not used to having so many people I know scrutinizing me.  Yes, I’m very nervous.”

Trevor was very direct, “Miss Autumn, relax or General Beauregard is going to feel your nervousness, and he won’t do well on the course.  Now think of you and Mister Doug, lying on the beaches of Bermuda watching the whales go by.  Now get out there and show Jefferson Davis what you can do.”

Autumn laughed, “Whatever you say, boss.”

Autumn and the General had a fantastic round, except the judges declared that one of the General’s rear feet hit the water at the last water jump.  It was almost not visible but they reviewed the tape and the decision was correct.  They declared Autumn and the General had a fault.

I was watching Trevor and Jeff as they climbed down to accompany Autumn back to the stable so Trevor could change.  Autumn returned and I informed her that no one had come close to what she or Trenton had done.  I whispered, “The course is even getting harder than when I was riding, the horses are having to stop and spring load to make the jumps as if they were a cat.”

Autumn  looked at me and hit me on the shoulder, “Wait until I tell General Beauregard that you compared him to a cat.”

The announcer came on and announced, “Our last contestant today is Mr. Trevor Nixon on the Knight.”

Jeff climbed up beside Autumn and me and whispered, “Trevor is really nervous about the course.  He won’t admit it, but he wouldn’t even talk to me as we were walking back from the stable.”

Autumn hugged Jeff, “Jeff, he was probably trying to visualize the course.  That is why I prefer to be alone when I’m getting ready to ride.”

Trevor and the Knight assumed the ready position and it was a sight to behold watching the horse and his rider.  They looked as if they were flying through the air as they maneuvered through the course without even the slightest trace of a fault.

Trevor came out of the arena and was standing beside where we were seated and was talking to Jeff.  The announcer came on, “The results are official, not only did the winner have a perfect round, but he and the Knight have broken the record for the best time of any competition in this arena that has withstood the challenges for over twenty five years.  Ladies and gentlemen, may we present Mr. Trevor Nixon and his faithful horse, Knight of Papillion.”

I watched to see what Trevor would do.  I was sure he would go galloping into the arena, but instead, he and the Knight sauntered in and when they got to the judges stand, Trevor had the Knight bow as he took off his hat and waved it at the crowd.”

If it makes any differences, Autumn won second place and Trent took the third place ribbon.

As we were departing the arena, Spring approached us, “Autumn, please take care of the horses.  Mr. and Mrs. Pearson and Adrian want to leave now to go meet with my parents.  We probably won’t be back until late tonight.”

Jeff heard what was said, “Never fear, Super Jeff will help Miss Autumn and then Uncle Doug can take us to lunch.” 

Trevor started to giggle, “Miss Autumn, I pity you if Super Wimp is going to help you.  Heck, he doesn’t even know which end of the horse is the front.”

Trevor’s mother scolded, “Trevor, I don’t want to hear any more talk like that.”

Uncle Howie looked at the assembled crowd, “Why don’t we meet at our house for a cookout tonight.  We’ll eat about six. Trent, why don’t you bring Cyndi?”

As we were walking back to the stable, I looked at Trevor and Jeff, “Guys, I’ll have to take a rain check on lunch.  I have something that I need to do and I probably won’t back until about five.”

As we were leaving the stable area, I whispered to Autumn, “I’ll pick you up about five.  I’m going to buy the gag gift for Trevor while I’m gone.”

After I had gotten Arabian Prince squared away,  I returned  to Fairacres to take a shower and put on some clean clothes. I made my way to a big shopping mall on the outskirts of Atlanta.  I was able to find an inexpensive trophy at a trophy shop and then went to a toy store to buy some balloons.  I made my other large purchase and stopped at a drug store to make my final purchases.”

I went to my apartment and wrapped the trophy and balloons in some clown wrapping paper that I had bought while I was in the drug store.  I wrapped the other small purchase that I had made in the drug store in bright red and had written a note that read, ‘This package should be opened only in the privacy of your bedroom.  Hope they fit.’

I drove directly to Autumn and Spring’s spread and it was exactly five o’clock when I arrived.  The door was opened and I called through the screen door, “Anyone home?”

Autumn answered, “I’m in the kitchen. Come on in.”

Autumn was finishing cutting a tray of the brownies that she had made.  She looked at me, “I made the brownies that Trevor and Trent like so much.  I figured that was the least I could do since everyone is always feeding us.  It looks as if you were able to complete part of your mission.  Were you able to get everything done that you needed to do?”

I nodded, “Yep, I thought I would leave Trevor’s gag gifts here until tomorrow, so he doesn’t get wind of the party.  I haven’t even told Jeff about the party for fear it might slip out.  Is there anything that I can do to help you?”

Autumn shook her head no, “Nope, the horses have been taken care of and I’m ready to roll.  Both sets of our parents were here and we spent the afternoon visiting.  The Dads helped me take care of the horses.  I really like your parents.  Our parents seem as if they have been best friends forever.  When they left, our mothers were going to go finish the salad for tonight.”

When we got to Uncle Howie’s spread, everyone was sitting around with a drink.  Uncle Howie looked at me, Dougie my boy, you’re in charge of cooking the shish kabobs.  Perhaps you can coerce Trevor and Jeff into helping you when they get here.”

He had no more than said it than the two cars with the people from Fairacres arrived.  Uncle Howie immediately corralled the two soon to be birthday boys and they brought two big trays of shish kabobs.  One tray was beef kabobs and the other was chicken kabobs.  It looked as if there was enough food to feed twice this many people.  Trevor looked at Uncle Howie and his dad, “You guys are going to get awfully tired of eating shish kabob leftovers for the next two weeks.”

Jeff added, “Don’t worry about it, Mr. Willingham and Mr. Nixon, there are enough hungry guys here to make sure that nothing will go to waste.”

The three of us were cooking and I took off the first batch and handed them to Trevor.  He yelled out, “The feeding frenzy is ready to commence.”

I watched as Trent, Austin and Derek escorted the women to the table.   I motioned for Trev and Jeff to go help.  I took the second  batch to the table and returned to the grills to finish the last group.  I looked up and Autumn was standing beside me, “I decided to wait for you.”

Trevor took the last tray to the table and pointed to us, “Age before beauty.”

Autumn sent everyone into hysterics, “Okay, if that’s how you feel, we’ll let you young guys go first since we beautiful people aren’t in any hurry.”

Trevor frowned, “We owe you one, Miss Autumn.”

After everyone had finished eating, Autumn and I started to clear the things away and the eight of us younger people had everything cleaned up in no time, and we joined the eight older people who were sitting on the patio talking.  I decided that it was time to spring my surprise.   

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  I was informed when I received this chapter that I  would have to decide form myself if this qualifies as a cliffhanger.  Personally, I don't think it could be rightfully called a cliffhanger, since it didn't leave anyone in danger. I would call it a bit of a sneaky way to end a chapter, but not a cliffhanger.  I liked the chapter. I think Trevor is happy.  I also think it is going to be pretty interesting to see what happens next. I have my suspicions as to what is coming up, but I will keep those to myself. 

I am hoping it won't be too long before we find out what happens next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher    

Posted: 02/20/09