The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The Coffee Shop V: Happiness Is A Handsome Hypnotized Hunk

Chapter 11 Cowboy Up.

I don’t know how Andy talked me into it. I don’t know why I agreed to do it. Maybe he cajoled me into it by telling me that if I was going to dress like a cowboy, the least I could do was to try riding a horse once in my life. I guess that stung my male pride, and that was why I agreed to be open-minded about it and give horseback riding an honest try. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Andy did not bully me or pester me into agreeing to go to the riding ranch. He mentioned the idea and asked me what I thought about it. We talked about it for a while, and at the end of the discussion I told him that I wasn’t sure it was a good idea or that I really wanted to try it. A quick check with my doctor eliminated my recently healed ribs as a valid medical excuse to refrain from trying horseback riding.

It was only after Andy informed me that he was an experienced horseman, and that he wanted to share that part of his life with me, that I finally relented and agreed to accompany him to the riding ranch. Like me, Andy was a city boy and had never been around horses before in his life. All that changed when Andy underwent his Mountie training at the Depot, though. There Andy first saw the performers of the ‘Musical Ride of the RCMP’ practicing, for the show that they were going to give in Regina. It was then that he fell in love with horses in general and discovered within himself a desire to become a member of that precision performing team. Andy was disappointed to discover that there was a significant waiting list to become a member of the “Musical Ride”. Members of the RCMP Musical Ride were all volunteers and their tour of duty lasted only for three years. In the meantime Andy had decided to learn how to ride on his own time, and at his own expense. Andy was still working towards his goal of joining the “Musical Ride”, when he first met me. He had spent many years learning about horses, and he enjoyed spending time with them, both in and out of the saddle. Now he was offering to share that facet of his life with me. All he asked me was to try riding once and see if I liked it.

Looking back now, I think the real reason I agreed to go with Andy to the riding ranch was so that I could spend more time with him, and be with him. Andy liked to spend a free weekend out at the riding ranch when he could arrange it. He averaged at least one weekend a month. I knew that it would be foolish (not to mention completely unreasonable and selfish) of me to ask Andy to spend less time at the ranch so he could spend more time with me. He had his interests and hobbies and I had mine. If I wanted to spend more time with Andy, I would have to at least try to take an interest in his hobbies. After all, this was no different than my teaching Andy how to play chess. He wasn’t interested in the game at first, but he tried it anyway because I was interested in it. He soon developed some enthusiasm for the game. I think the copy of Battle Chess on my computer helped. One thing is for sure, his game definitely improved after the first time we played ‘strip chess’. Strip monopoly is fun too, but it takes much too long before it starts to get interesting, if you know what I mean. (I am too much of a cowboy gentleman, dear reader, to offer any further information regarding our ‘strip chess’ game, other than to say that I checkmated Andy but good.)

The trip to the riding ranch from the city wasn’t a long drive, but I was nervous as hell. Why? Well, because all these years I’d been dressing like a cowboy, and now I was going to have to deal with real cowboys, who would be able to tell at a glance that I was a true yahoo. (In case you are interested, the cowboy term for someone who dresses like a cowboy but is not a cowboy, is ‘yahoo’.) It was a blow to my self confidence, and it shook me up, a lot more than I cared to let Andy know. At least I was smart enough to dress in quiet colours consisting of a light blue cowboy shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, a plain black belt (without a big shiny belt buckle, just a simple, metal D-loop and tongue), black cowboy boots and a light straw cowboy hat.

In addition to his black cowboy boots, Andy was dressed in a pair of light blue jeans, sporting a black belt with a large plain silver belt buckle. His red plaid cowboy shirt was firmly tucked into those jeans, and the white straw cowboy hat on his head was the finishing touch. Andy looked like a real cowboy, more to the point he seemed like a real cowboy. There was something about the way he carried himself that let you know he was the genuine article. He was a horseman.

The drive to the riding ranch was quiet. It was a beautiful spring Saturday morning, bright and sunny with a zephyr that kissed the leaves on the trees. I couldn’t deny that Andy had picked an ideal day for me to make a fool of myself, trying to ride a horse. (Yes, dear reader, I had more than a few reservations about this whole proposal. The only thing that kept me going was that I had given my word to Andy, and I could not bear to disappoint him. Ah, the things you do for the one you love.) Andy pulled up to the riding ranch and parked his car off to the side in an area that was clearly marked for visitors. “Hang on just a second,” he said to me as he shut off the motor and turned his head to look over at me.

“Yes?” I asked him as I looked him in the eyes. (Damn, I loved looking into his eyes. He had very sexy eyes, either that or my hormones were running riot again. Most likely, it was a bit of both.)

“I want you to know a couple of things,” Andy said as he looked at me with a sober and serious expression on his face, and placed his right hand on my left shoulder seeming to give his words more weight.. “First, everyone’s a greenhorn at one time or another, so don’t concern yourself with that. Listen and learn, and you’ll do fine. Second, and far more important, I want to thank you for coming here with me today. I know this wasn’t your first choice on how to spend a Saturday afternoon, and I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” I muttered to Andy, looking him right in the eyes. What I wanted to do was to hug him, but we weren’t exactly alone, so I had to make do with those few words, as inadequate as they were.

I climbed out of Andy’s car and looked about, trying to get a feel for the place. It was a ranch. Directly in front of the car was a fence, with an open gate in it. Beyond the gate, and off to the right was a large ranch house. Off to the far left were several large barns. It was a pretty safe bet that the horses were housed there. It was still fairly early in the morning, but even so there were many cowboys moving about the place. Some were on horseback, some were just walking around, and others were leading some horses to various places. I was mildly surprised by how busy the place looked. I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly, but I certainly had not expected the ranch to have this many cowboys wandering about. Then again, what the heck did I know about ranch life? Suddenly I felt very stupid, and very out of place.

Andy lead me up to the ranch house and as we approached I noticed a sign that said ‘Office’ on one of the walls. I followed Andy into this ‘office’ and laid eyes on a middle aged man who was probably the owner or at least the manager of the office. This man was nearly as tall as Andy, say six feet one inch, but looked shorter since this man’s legs were slightly bowed. He had a lean and firm build to his body, to judge from the way he filled out his jeans and denim shirt. The rest of his nondescript outfit consisted of a plain light brown leather belt, with a simple D-loop and tongue buckle, a pair of dust covered brown cowboy boots and a pair of dusty tan chaps. All looked well used, suggesting that this was not a man who remained sitting behind his desk all day. He was physically fit, there was no question. His arms were well muscled but not built up like a body builder. His hands were large and powerful looking. His chest and torso were in perfect proportion to the rest of his body, and his stomach looked flat and firm. His hips, legs and the rest of his body followed suit. Everything matched, except for his face. His face was tanned almost burnt from countless hours in the sun, with wrinkles decorated around the corners of his eyes and mouth. These wrinkles added an air of maturity and experience to this middle aged cowboy who stood before me. His short and neatly trimmed sun bleached sandy brown hair was noticeably thinning. The bushy moustache that resided between his upper lip and his nose was liberally sprinkled with gray hairs. It was his eyes though, that caught and held my attention. They were a dark and deep blue, the colour of the sea in the middle of a storm. Those eyes seemed to look right though you as if this cowboy was sizing you up, to see if you met his standards. Yet at the same time, those eyes seemed to glow with friendly warmth that made you feel as if you and the cowboy were old friends. It was confusing to say the least.

“Howdy, Andy!” The cowboy called out as he walked over to where Andy was standing, and greeted him with a firm handshake and a slap on the back.

“Howdy, Lee!” Andy answered back enthusiastically. “It’s great to see you again!” I was forgotten for the moment as these two friends quickly got caught up with each other. I stood there quietly listening to their conversation, as they chatted for a few minutes. I waited patiently for them to remember that I was still in the room. It wasn’t as if I had a meeting to rush off to or anything.

“And who might this be?” Lee asked Andy as Lee looked over at me, seeming to notice me for the first time.

‘A friend of mine, Paul Walton, who is interested in learning how to ride,” Andy answered, turning to look at me.

“Is that so?” Lee asked looking me directly in the eyes, seeming to want some type of answer from me.

I looked at Lee, and tried to think of how I should answer him. Something told me that a lot depended on my answer, and that a simple ‘yes’ would not do. “If you think I’m worth the trouble of trying to teach, then yes I would like to learn how to ride,” I replied softly while still keeping eye contact with Lee. (I was surprised at how much effort it required for me to keep looking Lee in the eyes. Lee had a powerful, domineering personality.)

“Might I ask what your name is?” I asked keeping my voice soft but strong.

“Lee Carson, is my name, Mr. Walton,” Lee replied. “And just what did you mean, Mr. Walton?” Lee shot back at me, seeming to pounce on my reply. His voice was a mixture of caution and curiosity, as if he had not yet made up his mind about me.

“What I know about horses, and riding horses could be printed in billboard sized type on the head of a pin, Mr. Carson,” I answered him truthfully, keeping my voice soft but clear and strong. “I am, what is commonly referred to as a ‘greenhorn’. Maybe I can’t learn how to ride. I don’t know. What I do know, is that I am committed to learning how to ride. I will do my best to learn. It is up to you to decide if you wish to put forth the effort to teach me.”

“A man who is smart enough to admit when he doesn’t know anything,” Lee said to me as he looked me over, nodding his head thoughtfully. (I was starting to feel like a bug under a microscope. It was a most uncomfortable feeling.) “Tell me, do you even know what a horse looks like?” He asked me with a slightly sarcastic tone to his voice. (I was being kind by thinking that. The air was so thick with sarcasm that you could have cut it with a knife.)

Now I was confused. If this was Mr. Carson’s way of taking on new students, it certainly wasn’t very friendly. If anything it was insulting. I couldn’t help but feel as if he was pushing me around verbally.

“Yes I know what a horse looks like, and right now I’m getting a pretty good idea of what a horse’s ass looks like,” I flippantly replied.

“I see,” Lee replied as he pressed his lips together in a firm thin line. I could see more than a hint of anger coming to the surface of his face. “You’d best leave now, if you know what’s good for you.”

“As you wish,” I said to Mr. Carson, as I turned around. ‘So much for learning how to ride a horse,’ I thought to myself. “I’ll wait for you in the car, Andy,” I called out to him as I took a step towards the door.

“Wait!” Lee called out to my back.

I turned slowly back to face Lee, and looked at him. “Yes? Is there something else you wanted to say to me?” I asked him, as I stood there looking him in the eye.

“You gave up awfully easy, didn’t you?” Lee asked me.

“I didn’t come here to fight or to banter words with you, Mr. Carson,” I said to him coolly. “I came here with the intention to learn how to ride a horse. It seems clear to me now that this will not be possible. I am sorry to have wasted your time. Now, if that is all, I’ll be leaving. I’m sure you have things to do.” I turned about and walked stiffly out of his office, leaving Andy behind. I felt a twinge of disappointment in myself I’d let my temper get the better of me. I don’t like it when someone attempts to ‘put me in my place’. Somehow, the conversation had quickly gone downhill. It wasn’t all that hard to understand. I’d been insulted and my pride had been stung. It was a foolish reaction, but at the same time it felt right, somehow.

As I walked to Andy’s car, I let the anger I’d been feeling at Mr. Carson loose. As I cooled off, I realized that it was a simple case of good old fashioned wounded pride that had caused me to react (okay, over react) to Mr. Carson’s words. I didn’t like being talked down to. (Who does?) That didn’t solve the problem, though. I’d blown any chance to learn horseback riding. It suddenly struck me that Andy was going to be disappointed in me, for screwing up an opportunity for us to spend more time together, in an innocent manner. Yeah, I’d blown it big time because of my foolish pride. Sometimes, dear reader, I can be a flaming idiot.

I found walking quickly to Andy’s car had helped cool my temper. The spring breeze helped. I might not be riding a horse today, but I could walk around and look at the horses, and watch the cowboys in action. As long as I kept out of the way, I couldn’t see how that would cause any harm. It wasn’t much, but it would do. Some cowboys can be damn sexy, and if I was lucky I’d get to innocently watch a few in action. I was still figuratively kicking myself for rising to the bait and losing my temper with Mister Carson, when Andy caught up with me at his car, a few minutes later.

“You can still take lessons, if you want to,” Andy said to me a few seconds after he was standing in front of me.

“Say what?” I asked puzzled.

“When you left, Lee told me that he thought you had spunk. I think you impressed him. He’s agreed to take you on as a student, a paying student,” Andy answered.

“I lost my temper with Mister Carson. I called him a horse’s ass, and then I walked away from him. How does any of that add up to impressing him?” I asked, clearly not understanding Andy’s or Mister Carson’s thinking.

“You were not afraid to stand up to him. You got angry, but you kept your temper in check and stayed focussed on the main point which was the riding lessons. When he needled you about your inexperience, you admitted it. You were honest and straightforward, in your shortcomings and in your desire to learn. You walked away when you knew you couldn’t win the fight, but you did it with dignity and pride in yourself,” Andy answered.

“I still don’t understand, Andy. Why now does Mister Carson say he is willing to teach me?” I asked more perplexed than ever.

“You showed the qualities that a cowboy respects, Paul,” Andy said with admiration in his eyes.

I had seen a lot of expressions on Andy’s face, love, trust, tenderness and kindness, but never admiration. I still didn’t understand it. I thought I’d blown it, and here Andy was telling me the exact opposite. It didn’t make any sense. “Okay, Andy,” I said to him doubtfully.

“You’ll understand in time, Paul. For now, just accept that he’s agreed to teach you, more or less,” Andy said in a reassuring voice.

I looked at Andy and did a double take as I digested the last few words of what he’d just said. “More or less. What exactly does that mean?” I asked.

“Mister Carson won’t be teaching you himself. One of his instructors will be doing it, but you’ll still be paying the riding ranch,” Andy said calmly.

“That seems fair,” I responded. “Who’s the instructor?”

“Me,” Andy said with a grin.

“You work here? Part time, I assume?” I asked.

“I help out when I have time and when the ranch gets very busy with students. Lee thinks I’m ready to take on another student.,” Andy answered.

“So I’m not your first?” I asked playfully.

“No, you’re not,” Andy answered. “I’ve given lessons before. Are you sure you want me as your instructor?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked.

“Our relationship will be different here. I am the teacher. You are the student. To be blunt. You do what I tell you, when I tell you, and you don’t question my orders. Is that clear?” Andy fixed me with a stern no nonsense gaze. It took me a second or so to realize he wasn’t kidding. He was dead serious about this. I gulped once.

“Crystal clear, sir,” I answered softly but firmly, looking him dead in the eye.

“Good. Now I have a few things to take care of for the next half hour or so. Meanwhile you can wander about the ranch, but stay out of everyone’s way. Got it?” Andy’s tone of voice suggested that he strongly doubted I’d be able to do that.

“Yes, sir,” I replied, keeping my voice cool and controlled. I didn’t like this sudden ‘superior’ attitude that Andy had taken on. I felt like I was being verbally ‘put in my place’, yet again. As Andy walked off towards one of the barns, I realized that this is exactly what Andy had done. He had firmly established our relationship at the riding ranch. He was in charge. I was not. If I wanted to learn to ride, and I wanted Andy to be my teacher, I was going to have to go along with this. It was a difficult pill to swallow for one who was used to being the dominant one in our relationship.

I walked about the ranch looking around at the various fenced off pens and areas. I had no idea what the cowboys were doing, or why. Across from the general parking lot was a large open field with a small herd of horses wandering about in it. They looked content. Several of them trotted about briefly, moving about the field in no particular pattern. I walked up to the fence to get a better look a them. They were beautiful animals, a wide mixtures of colours and patterns on each animal. Don’t ask me to tell you the breeds. I don’t know much about horses, other than I find them graceful, strong and powerful. I also find them a bit scary too, if the truth be told, but I wasn’t about to admit that to anyone, much less Andy.

I looked about and noticed that off to the left a few yards away from me the pasture was fenced off, and in it was a lone brown horse. This animal was more like the colour of rust, than brown. I didn’t know if the horse was male or female. The animal had an air of sadness about it as it moved slowly about the pasture. I did know that horses are social animals, and it was unusual to have a horse isolated. Walking over to the fence I noticed that it was in fact a double fence with about three feet of empty space between the two fence lines. I walked over to the double fence and carefully climbed up on the fence that held the single horse. I did not want to spook any of the horses and it seemed safer to me to sit on the fence that corralled the single horse rather than the herd. I sat with my back to the single horse, looking out at the herd of horses, watching them move. I started studying each animal, wondering which one I would pick to learn to ride, that is if I had any say in the matter. Watching them move was mesmerizing. It certainly helped to pass the time as I waited for Andy. I started to swing my right foot about, as I watched the horses move.

Suddenly my butt start to move downward as I felt myself starting to slip. A half second later I lost my sense of balance and fell over backward. I felt my back thump into the dirt, a pain in the back of my head and then everything went black.

The next thing I knew is that my face was wet and I could feel two big warm lips moving across my face. I cracked my eyes open slowly, and blinked a few times, trying to figure out what I was looking at. It was big and sort of brown coloured, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I took a deep breath and the unmistakable smell of unwashed horse filled my nostrils. I jerked back in fright as I realized I was looking up at the head and neck of a horse standing above me, running its lips over my face. While I admit, it is an effective way to wake a person up, it’s not very pleasant. It was also a bit scary.

The horse bolted away from me. I guessed that my sudden movement had startled it. I rolled over and got to my hands and feet, looking quickly about. The horse, and it was the rust coloured one I’d noticed earlier had moved ten or fifteen metres away from me. In only a few seconds? Boy could that horse move!

I decided that a speedy retreat out of the pasture was in order. I climbed to my feet. I never made it all the way up. When I tried to stand, I discovered that my right ankle would not bear my weight. I could not walk! This was going to make things difficult. The fence was only a few feet away. I hoped over to it and placed my hands on it as I steadied myself. My head wasn’t spinning and my vision seemed to be normal, so the blow to my head wasn’t too serious, I guessed. I looked at the fence, and discovered that it was intact. It took only a few tries for me to determine that there was no way for me to climb over that fence. I looked about. I couldn’t see a gate in the fence anywhere. I knew there had to be one somewhere. Hoping to spot a ranch hand and get some help, however humiliating that might be to me, I looked all round me. I didn’t see anyone. All I saw was that rust coloured horse looking at me. It was standing there just looking at me, ears perked up. It was about ten metres away from me.

I started hobbling down the fence away from the pasture with the herd of horses, as there was no gate in that direction, that I knew of. Right now, one direction seemed as good as any other. But why did I suddenly feel so sad? Sure I was in pain, and hurting, but I shouldn’t feel this sad. The hobbling was going very slowly. Every step with my right leg, was a new adventure in pain. One never truly appreciates the absence of pain, until one is faced with having to deal with a mountain of it. After a few more minutes of hobbling (if you could call it that), I stopped for a breather and stood next to the fence leaning up against it with my left leg. This let me put all my weight on my left leg and let me rest my right leg as much as I could. I looked about. I froze. The rust coloured horse was less than two feet from me. It had walked up behind me, while I was hobbling, and I hadn’t even noticed. I had been paying attention to the task of trying to walk, rather than to my roommate in the pasture. Horses are big strong animals. Generally they are gentle, but they can easily kill a man. I was alone, injured in a field with a strange horse, whose temperament and tolerance of strangers, I knew nothing about. In other words, I was in deep shit, and I’m not talking about anything the horse might have deposited in the field.

I stood still and did my best to remain calm. The horse looked as cool as a cucumber. The ears were still up. The horse moved slowly towards me, one step at a time. It didn’t seem upset or nervous about being so close to me. (Well that made one of us.) When the horse was less than a foot away, it slowly reached out its head and placed its mouth on my right hand that hanging down my right side. The horse ran its lips over my hand slowly and gently, as if it were feeling me out.

Suddenly the feelings of sadness intensified. Mixed in with those feelings was loneliness. I could also feel longing and a sense of profound loss. The feelings were not coming from me. They had to be coming from the horse. Somehow, I was picking up on what the horse was feeling. I wasn’t in contact with any other person, gifted or otherwise. The only physical contact I was experiencing was with the horse. I was dumbfounded. Mary had never told me that my mental powers would ever work with animals. I had handled lots of cats and dogs since developing my super hypnosis powers during the past several years, and I had never had any type of a reaction with any animals. But then I had never been in contact with horses before.

I concentrated. Maybe if I could tune in more clearly on what the horse was feeling, I’d be able to figure out if I was in any danger. I took a few deep breaths and calmed my mind. Loneliness. Sadness. Loss. A longing for company. The horse moved one step closer and place its head against my chest, nuzzling me. It was a gentle push, but it nearly knocked me over, since I was standing on only one leg. Hesitantly I reached up and softly patted the horse’s muzzle between its nose and it’s eyes. Now I felt the loneliness fade away and a warm feeling replace it. At first I wasn’t sure what the new feeling was. I had to examine it for a minute or so before I realized it was a sense of belonging of purpose of partnership. This poor horse was aching for companionship, and had reached out to me, maybe because it knew that with my sprained ankle, I couldn’t get away, and I wasn’t much of a threat. Not a comforting thought on my part, but it seemed to fit the facts.

“Easy old girl,” I said soothingly. I knew this horse was female. No, I did not ‘check under the hood’, I just knew. I could feel it. The horse pressed closer to me. She seemed to draw calmness and peace from contact with me. An idea sprang into my mind. This horse might be able to help me, as I was helping her. The question was, would she agree to it? You have to understand that I was going on my gut feelings. I knew nothing about how to handle a horse. I was scared and I think the horse knew it. Each time I admitted to myself how scared I was of her, she nuzzled me softly, as if she was trying to calm my fears. I couldn’t help but think that she was treating me like I was her injured colt. It was a dumb idea, but again it seemed to fit the facts and the feelings I was experiencing.

“Listen, old girl,” I said softly. “I’m hurt and I need your help. Can I hang on to you, while I hobble to the doctor?” Boy, that sure sounded dumb. I was talking to this animal like she was fluent in English. She didn’t seem to mind. If anything, the sense of calmness and peace increased as I talked to her. I hopped over so I was standing her on her left side. She didn’t move a muscle, or make a sound. Carefully I put my right arm about her strong neck and shifted all my weight to my right shoulder. Gingerly I put my right foot down on the ground. As quickly as I could I took a big step with my left leg and move about two feet forward. The horse took a half a horse step and kept pace with me. The pain in my ankle was intense but blessedly brief. I hobbled forward a few more steps, the horse keeping pace with me as if we had practised this manoeuvre for years.

“Thanks girl,” I said, trying to offer her praise for doing this for me. “You’re a real lady.” Stupid thing to say to a horse, I admit, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say. It’s not like I had an apple or carrot to offer her.

The next half hour or so, to judge by my watch, was spent making my way down to the gate at the far end of the field. (Why is it that, the gates are always far away when you are injured and in pain?) The horse, was with me every step of the way. When I stopped to catch my breath and wait for the pain in my ankle to subside to bearable level, she was right beside me, nuzzling me, as if she were offering encouragement to me. I don’t recall what I said to her, though. It was probably something stupid, which I’d probably not want to remember anyway. Somehow I got the gate open and the two of us walked out of the field. I closed the gate after we passed through it, since leaving it open seemed like a very bad idea to me. The horse didn’t seem to care one way or the other. We headed up the deserted road towards the cluster of buildings near the main entrance and parking lot. I figured that I’d run into someone along the way who could help me. I didn’t know where the local first aid station or doctor was (heck I’d even take a vet right now). It seemed logical to assume that someone in the main office would know.

Half way down the road I looked up to see a cowboy standing about ten feet away from me. He was looking at me, as if he’d seen a ghost. “Could you help me, please?” I called out to him. He stood there, just looking at me and the horse, and then he took a step backward. He wasn’t going to be of much help it seemed. The horse seemed to find his reaction puzzling. She wasn’t upset by it, though. “Could you at least point me in the direction of the doctor or first aid station?” I asked the cowboy.

The cowboy lifted up his arm and pointed down the road to the main building. “Thank you,” I said. A lot of help he was. I absently noticed that he appeared to be a working cowboy, and not a guest like me. His faded jeans were dust covered, as were his chaps, and his dark blue denim shirt. The straw cowboy hat resting on his head had seen better days. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, but otherwise he was attractive. Certainly he was physically fit. I was in too much discomfort to pay him any more attention. He wasn’t offering me any help right now. If anything, he was working hard at keeping his distance from me. I couldn’t understand why, though. I wasn’t much impressed by the staff at this riding stable, if this was an indication of how they treated their paying students. True, I had not actually paid any money yet, but the point was still valid.

The horse and I continued our slow journey down the road. We came across two more cowboys, again both were working cowboys and both were attractive. Neither offered me any help. They just pointed further down the road when I asked where the doctor or first aid station was. They too stared at me as if they had just seen a ghost, and when I started to walk towards them, they walked away from me. They too were keeping their distance from me. During one of my short pauses to catch my breath I reached down and checked that my fly wasn’t open. It wasn’t. I was getting a bit pissed off by their refusal to help me. I suspect that is in part what drove me onward. If they were not going to help me, then to hell with them and I do this myself. I’d show them! Silly and stupid thoughts, but they got me through the pain. If I hadn’t had the horse to lean on and to bear my weight I knew I never would have been able to walk those thirty miles. (I know it wasn’t anywhere near thirty miles, but it sure as hell felt like thirty miles. I was in a lot of pain. I’m allowed to exaggerate.) I thanked the horse for her help and support as we walked. I let her know how much I appreciated what she was doing for me. Even if she didn’t understand my words, I was sure she understood the warmth in my voice. We made our way, painful step by painful step, to the main office of the riding ranch.

The scene at the main office was not at all what I expected. There was a group of cowboys waiting for us at the main office, all of them staring at me and the horse like we were visitors from another planet. I could see Andy amongst them. He looked as surprised as the rest of the cowboys. I looked over the cowboys a second time, and realized that they looked more scared than surprised. Surprised made a bit of sense to me, but scared did not. I noticed Mister Carson was there as well. Unlike the others he looked angry.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Mister Carson barked at me.

I looked up at him and blinked. “I’m looking for a doctor or a first aid station. I hurt my ankle,” I answered.

“Never mind about that. I’m talking about the horse. Just who the hell do you think you are, that you can take one of our horses and go where ever the hell you want?” Mister Carson yelled at me. His temper was going up. This was not good. Any chance I had to take riding lessons seemed to have gone up in smoke.

“She offered to help me get here,” I answered. “She seemed to enjoy the walk and the company.”

“What the hell did you do to her?” Mister Carson demanded.

“Slow down. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything to her. She walked up to me and woke me up when I fell off the fence and knocked myself out,” I said with a blush. I figured I might as well come clean and admit my own stupidity, and take any ridicule Mister Carson was going to send my way.

“You’re lying,” Miser Carson said. “Horses don’t do that.”

“Well this horse did. Now, I need some medical attention. Would you be kind enough to get the doctor for me? In the meantime, could someone help this horse to a stall or something?” I asked as I stood there balancing on one leg, while looking at Mister Carson. Andy remained silent through all of this, which I thought was rather odd.

“Buck get a rope ‘round Rusty and get her into the second barn. I want Doc to check her over,” Mister Carson said without taking his eyes off of me.

A tall, slim cowboy slowly approached the horse and me. I guessed that his name was Buck. He walked up to the right side of the horse very slowly. I could see the fear on his face. He gulped once or twice as he approached the horse. He was acting like he was a member of the police Bomb Squad, approaching a ticking time bomb. In his hand was a rope of some kind. Carefully he placed the rope over the horse’s head and down her neck. With a click of his tongue he gently tugged on the rope. The horse, whose name was Rusty I now realized, turned away from me and calmly let the cowboy lead her towards the barn. I didn’t have any time to get a really good look at the cowboy, other than to register that he was kind of cute. I was more concerned with getting myself to a doctor.

Andy walked up to me a few seconds later. He stood on my right side. “Lean on me and we’ll get you to Doc,” he said.

“Thanks, Andy,” I said to him. It was a lot easier hobbling with him, than with the horse.

“This ain’t over, greenhorn,” Mister Carson barked at me.

I ignored him. The pain in my right leg was more important to me right about then. “Just get me to the Doc, Andy,” I said.

“Sure,” Andy replied and we hobbled off. He didn’t say anything as we made our way to the back of the main building where the medical office was. I didn’t feel much like talking. I just wanted the pain to end, or to get off my feet at least. Andy could very easily have carried me using the fireman’s carry if he’d wanted to, as he’d done that before in my apartment. It would have been faster and easier for both of us. However, he let me keep my dignity by helping me to hobble over to see Doc.

We arrived in the small medical office. It might have been a vet’s office for all I knew. There was no one in the room. It appeared to be a combination of an office, and an examination room. There was a desk, a couple of chairs and the examination table you’d expect to see in the examination room of a doctor’s office. There were several cabinets along the far wall. Nothing out of the ordinary.

“Someone’s been sent to find Doc, and get him here to look at you,” Andy said to me as he helped me up on the examination table. I sat there for a half a minute or so. Andy didn’t say anything more to me. That wasn’t like him.

“What’s going on, Andy? Why is Mister Carson so upset with me? Why did those cowboys look like they’d seen a ghost?” I asked

Andy looked at me hard. ‘What did you do to that horse, Paul?” He asked me, ignoring my questions.

“I didn’t do anything to her, Andy,” I answered, puzzled by his question.

“It’s only us here. You can talk freely. You used your powers on her, didn’t you?” Andy asked.

“My powers don’t work on animals, Andy. I didn’t do anything to her,” I answered. I didn’t like where this conversation was going. I had a pretty good idea that Andy thought I was lying to him, and he wasn’t pleased about it.

“Don’t lie to me, Paul,” Andy cautioned me. I could hear the anger beginning to flow into his voice.

“Hold on a second, Andy. I don’t understand why everyone is so upset with me. All I did was hobble here for some help, and Rusty was kind enough to help me. In fact, she offered to help,” I said to Andy.

“And you know this because?” Andy prompted me. From the look on his face it was clear that he had strong doubts about my story.

“It’s kind of strange. When I touched her, I could feel what she was feeling. Why was she in a field all by herself? She was lonely and very sad. Was she being punished?” I asked.

“My God, how could you know that? You’ve never been to this ranch before, right?” Andy asked me, as his face turned white.

“Andy what’s wrong? What did I say? What did I do that’s got everyone upset?” I asked him suddenly concerned for him.

“Just answer my question, Paul. You’ve never been to this ranch before right?” Andy asked again.

“Yes, that’s correct. I’ve never been here before,” I answered. “I never even knew this place existed until you drove us here this morning. You never even told me the name of the ranch when we talked about this,” I reminded him.

“That’s right. You couldn’t have known,” Andy said thoughtfully. He looked over at me, studying me. “You say that when you touched Rusty you felt what she was feeling? Did you read her mind?”

“No. All I got were feelings that I knew were not coming from me. Since Rusty was the only mind around, the feelings had to be coming from her. Andy, this has never happened to me before. Is Rusty okay?” I asked.

“Apparently she is, and that’s what’s got everyone so spooked,” Andy answered.

“That makes no sense at all, Andy,” I commented. “You’ve got to explain what’s going on around here before it drives me crazy.”

“I fear you’ll have to explain a few things to Mister Carson. He thinks you drugged Rusty.” Andy answered. “Now before you say anything more, let me tell you what I know,” Andy said holding up a hand to forestall my response. ‘About six months ago Rusty gave birth to a beautiful colt. Everyone thought the colt was healthy. It died suddenly one night about three months ago, for reasons unknown. Since then, Rusty has had to be kept away from all the other horses, especially mares with colts. She kept trying to steal those mares’ colts. The resulting fights were not pretty. Rusty also hasn’t let a cowboy near her in three months. They have had to put her feed and water in the fenced area where you found her. She won’t let anyone near her. They even had to tranquillize her to let the vet examine her. It was getting to the point where Mister Carson was not sure what to do with Rusty.”

Andy took a deep breath and continued. “Now you hobble up to the main office with Rusty next to you, pretty as you please, without a bridle, a lead or even a rope about her neck. They all expected Rusty to bolt or go crazy. Then they saw Buck walk up to Rusty, put a rope around her neck and lead her away, like the last three months never happened. Is it any wonder the cowboys are all spooked? Can you blame Mister Carson for being upset with you?”

“Holy shit! I really put my foot in it this time!” I exclaimed.

“Yup,” Andy said. “I don’t know how you’re going to talk your way out of this one, without revealing your powers to Mister Carson.”

“Perhaps, I can help,” said a soft voice from the other room. Andy and I looked up at the sound of that voice. We were both a bit upset at having been overheard. That’s what we got for not closing the door after we came in to the room. I guess we were both so concerned about what had just happened, that we were not thinking clearly.

In walked a devilishly handsome cowboy, closing the door behind him. He was as tall as Andy, but had a much lighter build. There was a dirt stained yellowed straw hat sitting on top of his head of short straight back hair. Clean shaven and with a kind face, this cowboy did not appear to be a threat, but I was still concerned that he had overheard Andy and I speaking. The cowboy’s face was handsome, with dark brown eyes, thick black eyebrows, a straight hard nose, a pair of medium sized full lips, and a hard chin. His face wasn’t rugged, rather it looked mature with just a dash of kindness thrown in. I quickly looked over his body, since I had the opportunity. He was physically fit. His shoulders were not anywhere as broad as Andy’s nor was the cowboy heavily muscled. He looked like your average ranch hand, physically able to do the work expected of him. He was wearing a gray cotton cowboy shirt, open at the neck. I could see the top of a white t-shirt peeking out from beneath the cowboy shirt. The shirt was tucked into a pair of comfortable fitting dark blue jeans. They could have been Wranglers, but I wouldn’t know that for certain until I got a look at the cowboy’s butt. All in good time, I told myself. The jeans had a dark brown leather belt looped through them, and the belt was fasten with a cowboy belt buckle that had a golden eagle on a plain silver background. The jeans ended above a pair of dusty dark brown cowboy boots. At least I think they were dark brown, it was hard to tell. The jeans fit the cowboy well, They were loose enough to give the cowboy comfort when he moved about, and snug enough to hint at what might be concealed beneath them.

“If you’re done checking me out,” the cowboy said with a slight smile.

“Err..sorry about that,” I said and blushed. I hated it when guys caught me checking them out. I always felt like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. I looked over at Andy. The big grin on his face, and the way he playfully waggled his right index finger at me, didn’t help matters any.

“I’m the unofficial doctor for the ranch, by the way,” said the cowboy. “The veterinarian is examining Rusty, and I’ve been asked to give you a good going over.” The cowboy raised one eyebrow at me, suggestively.

“What do you mean by unofficial doctor?” I asked, cautiously, ignoring the raised eyebrow, and the unspoken implication.

“In exchange for my medical services, I get to board my horse here for free,” the cowboy answered. He reached back with his right hand and pulled his wallet from his right back pocket. He carefully opened the wallet and fished out two cards. “Here’s my driver’s license and my doctor id from the hospital where I work. “ He handed the cards to me with his left hand, while he put his wallet back in his right back pocket.

I took the cards from him, and examined them. They were both photo ids. He did appear to be whom he claimed he was; Doctor Robert Bolen. A smile came to my lips. “Can I call you Doctor Bob?” I asked.

“As in the Muppet Show?” Doctor Bolen replied back grinning. “I remember that television show too. Yes, you can call me that if it makes you feel better.”

I handed the cards to Andy to let him examine them. It was good to know that this doctor had a sense of humour and didn’t take himself too seriously. I thought that I was going to like him. The doctor bent forward and pushed the right leg of my jeans up to just below the knee. The doctor asked me to spin about and lie down on the examination table, and to raise my right leg in to the air. I complied. . Carefully the doctor tugged at my right cowboy boot and slowly worked it off of my right foot. It took about ten minutes, during which the doctor grunted a few times and I hissed at the pain in my right ankle and foot.

“There. That’s better,” the doctor said as he wiped his right forearm across his brow, sopping up the beads of sweat.

“Your cards, Doctor Bolen,” Andy said as he held out the two cards to Doctor Bolen.

“That’s so formal, Andy. Bob will do,” Doctor Bolen replied as he used his left hand to take the cards from Andy. Bob fished out his wallet with his right hand and flipped the wallet open. It took him only a few seconds to put the card back where they belonged, and return his wallet to his right back pocket. His wallet, from what I could see, looked to be a cowboy style wallet. In case you are not familiar with it, it is the wallet that sticks out about a half an inch from the top of the back pocket of a pair of jeans, and usually the wallet has a round metal circle stamped into the leather. (Yes, I know, dear reader. Me and my fetish for men’s butts and men’s wallets. What can I say? It’s a favourite hobby of mine.)

Bob returned his attention to my right foot and ankle. I kept quiet, so as not to distract him.

“Your right ankle is severely sprained. You’ll have to use crutches to move about for the next week or so. I have a pair of crutches here that you can borrow, as long as you promise to bring them back. Aspirin should be all that you need for the pain. I would caution you though, that your ankle is going to swell up for a day or so. I’d be surprised if you’ll be able to wear a shoe on that foot much less a cowboy boot for the next few days. In fact, I’d recommend against it,’ Bob said.

“Thank you, Doctor. What am I supposed to wear on my right foot to get home?” I asked him.

“This plastic bag should do nicely to keep your foot dry,” Bob replied as he turned around bent over and then squatted down as he rummaged through a cabinet under the sink behind him.

Yes, I was getting a full view of his butt in those cowboy jeans, which were Wranglers by the way. I couldn’t help but smile at the delightful site before me. The doctor was quick. I barely had time to wipe the smile off my face as he turned about, plastic bag in hand. He quickly slipped the bag over my socked right foot and fastened the bag closed with a rubber band. He looked up at me and smiled. “Do you like my butt?”

I blushed as I tried to think of something to say.

“Of course he does, Bob. He’s a butt man,” Andy chortled, enjoying my embarrassment.

“Andy!” I said, while punching him playfully in the shoulder. Andy looked back me, chuckling. “Hey, wait just a second,” I said as I caught on to what was going on. “Are you suggesting something, Doctor?” I asked cautiously, a sudden stab of fear jutting into my heart.

“Come now, Paul. Do I have to say it out loud?” Bob said looking me in the eye.

“I’d like to clear about this, yes,” I answered. I wasn’t sure if Andy was out to this doctor, or if the doctor was gay as well. He was suggesting that was the situation, but he wasn’t coming out and saying it. (Okay so that was a very bad pun, dear reader. Shoot me.)

“I’m as gay as Andy is and as you are, Paul,” Bob said calmly, with a warm smile. “We are alone in here so it is safe to talk about it and other things. Andy and I have known each other for years. In fact, I was Andy’s first gay crush. You might not know it, but Andy makes the saddest puppy dog eyes at you, when he’s in love with you, or thinks he’s in love with you.”

“Is that true?” I asked Andy looking at him.

Andy blushed, looked down at the floor and then slowly raised his head and looked me in the eye. “Yeah, it’s true. I sort of made a fool of myself over Bob. Lucky for me, he was already taken, and he knew how to let me down gently,” Andy said in soft voice. “I never thought I’d ever get over Bob, until that night I saw you by candlelight, Texas.”

I smiled at Andy, as the warm memory of our first date washed over me. “Thank you, dear heart,” I replied. I looked over at Bob and smiled at him as I said, “Yes, Andy does make the saddest puppy dog eyes at you when he’s in love with you.”

“Aww, gee, Paul,” Andy said as he blushed a bright beet red. “Did you have to tell him that?”

“Think of it as payback for telling him I’m a butt man, Andy,” I said smiling.

“Okay, we’re even. Let’s get back to your ankle, shall we?” Andy suggested, as he flashed that sexy grin of his at me.

“As I said earlier, try to stay off your right foot as much as possible for the next few days. Now that we’ve deal with your sprained ankle, let’s deal with your other problem,” Bob said looking at me and Andy.

“Other problem?” I asked innocently.

“I’m Gifted, Mister Walton. I saw what happened when you hobbled up to the main office, leaning on Rusty. As you so eloquently said earlier, you really put your foot in it this time. You really shouldn’t have drugged that horse. What did you give her, anyway? The vet will want to know,” Bob frowned at me, like a teacher disciplining a naughty school boy.

“I didn’t drug the horse. Bob,” I said awkwardly. I was a bit uncomfortable talking with this cute cowboy doctor. While it was true that he’d just helped me, I wasn’t about to trust him, even if he was Gifted. “Is it safe to talk about this stuff here? Anyone could walk in.”

“I set up a ward off field around the main door, so that’s not very likely, Mister Walton,” Bob replied. “Only if someone has an urgent need for my medical services will they enter this building. If they come here for any other reason, they will suddenly feel that there is something else they have to urgently deal with. Do you mind if I call you Paul?”

“I don’t mind if you call me Paul, but I didn’t drug the horse. I wouldn’t even know how to drug a horse, much less what drug to use. All I did was pick up on the emotions that Rusty was feeling. For some reason, she wanted to help me. I know it sounds kind of lame, but it is the truth,” I said.

“Possible. Unlikely, but possible,” Bob said thoughtfully, looking at me like he was trying to decide if I was lying or not. It was a look that I found disquieting. “It’s not unheard of, but it is rare.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, unable to follow Bob’s train of thought.

“Based on what you have told me, you appear to have a rare gift. The development of your super hypnosis powers have made you empathic with animals. You can feel the emotions that they feel. This generates a strong level of trust with many animals,” Bob answered. “Generally the more intelligent the animal, the more trust and empathy is created.”

“But it only happened when I touched Rusty,” I commented.

“Yes, I would expect that you would need physical contact. You’re not telepathic. The interesting thing is that the animals pick up your emotions as well, when you touch them. This would explain why Rusty remained calm when you were hobbling along with her,” Bob said nodding his head in agreement.

“This doesn’t bring me any closer to an explanation with Mister Carson,” I pointed out.

“True. I suggest you tell him the truth. Well, as much of it as you can. Tell him that you and Rusty just clicked for some reason,” Bob said.

“He’ll never buy that!” I protested.

“He might not, but it is worth a try. I suppose you could use your powers and make him accept that explanation. The Council would not object to that course of action, if that is your worry,” Bob said calmly.

“You work for the Council too? Why am I surprised?” I asked.

“I’m Gifted, Paul. We all answer to the Council, sooner or later. Even you. I happen to know about you, because of your unique circumstances,” Bob said.

“You’re watching me too, then?” I asked.

‘Not at all. I am just offering you some advice, and letting you know that using your powers to solve this problem would not be frowned upon by the Council,” Bob said. “Now, you’d better hobble over to Mister Carson in the second barn. Turn left out of the door. Andy, you’re expected in the third barn. You have students waiting. I sent James home sick and we need someone to take over his riding class. Mister Carson is expecting you to take up the slack.”

“Right. On my way,” Andy said as he turned about heading for the door. “I’ll be a couple of hours at least Paul, and then we can get back to starting you with riding lessons.”

“Okay,” I agreed. What was I going to do, object? I had to face Mister Carson sooner or later, and I might as well get it over with. Andy knew I’d be alright since I had permission to use my super hypnosis powers, if I got into serious trouble.

“Thanks for your help, Bob,” I said as I hopped down off the table, onto my left foot and grabbed the crutches.

“Call me, Doc. Everybody does,” Bob said as he handed me the crutches, after taking a few moments to show me how to use them.

“Later, Doc,” I said as I started out the open door. It was slow going, but I wasn’t in any rush. Mister Carson would just have to wait until I got to the barn.

As I hobbled my way there, I couldn’t help but notice the strange looks the cowboys on the ranch were giving me. Word travelled fast, it seemed. I suspected that the story had been embellished somewhat, to judge from the puzzled looks directed at me. A few of the cowboys actually sneered at me, as if I had committed some grave violation of the cowboy code. For all I knew, I had done exactly that. Oh, this was not going to be easy. All I wanted to do was hide in Andy’s car, but that was not an option. I was a yahoo and a greenhorn, but I sure as hell wasn’t a coward.

I entered the barn and looked around. It was half filled with stacks of bales of hay. There were some open areas near the sliding doors where I had entered. There were a couple of benches in the middle of the open area. Standing next to one of them was Mister Carson. He was wearing a white straw cowboy hat which looked new or nearly new. He looked very good in it, although he did not look at all happy to see me. I hobbled over to Mister Carson, keeping my eyes on him as best I could. When I was about a metre away, I stopped and stood in front of him. “Doc mentioned that you wanted to talk with me, Mister Carson,” I said.

He looked at me, but he didn’t say anything. I looked back at him, and decided to wait until he said something. We were staring each other down like two gunslingers in an old west movie. I looked over Mister Carson, as I waited. He was a handsome figure of a man, as I had mentioned earlier. Andy liked him. I did not share Andy’s opinion of Mister Carson. This business with Rusty and me, just might cost Andy his riding privileges at the ranch. I didn’t want that to happen, but right now I didn’t see any way out of the problem at hand.

“Get out. Get off my land. I never want to see you again,” Mister Carson said with a voice so cold that I was surprised icicles did not form in the air.

“As you wish. I will have Andy return the crutches when I am done with them,” I said with a sigh. There was no room for discussion. Mister Carson had made up his mind about me.

“Andy is still welcome here, but only without you,” Mister Carson said in that same cold voice.

“Thank you for that, Mister Carson,” I said as I turned about and started to hobble towards the door.

Suddenly, two cowboys appeared from behind the stacks of hay bales and slide the bard doors closed. They smiled at me, with smiles that were anything but friendly. Slowly I turned about and faced Miser Carson. I started to gather my mental powers.

“You ain’t leavin’ ‘til you tell me what you did to my horse,” Mister Carson said, as two more cowboys appeared behind him and walked up to stand next to him. I thought I recognized one of the cowboys, but did my best to conceal my reaction.

I sighed to myself. First he wants me to leave and now he won’t’ let me go. Did this man even know how to make up his mind about something?

“I didn’t do anything to your horse. Sometimes animals have a preference for a particular person. In Rusty’s case she knew that I wouldn’t hurt her. I was no threat. I was injured when I dropped in on her. Haven’t you ever heard of a horse whisperer?” I asked.

“Bull shit,” Mister Carson replied. “You ain’t no horse whisperer. I don’t buy that story for a second. It’s so lame it’s pathetic.”

“It’s the truth. That is what happened,” I tried to think of some way to explain what had happened without using my super hypnosis powers on Mister Carson. Then an idea hit me. “You have to admit that sometimes animals have instincts and pick up on things that people don’t. For example, horses know when to avoid treacherous ground. Horses know when the rider on their back is experienced or not. Why can’t a horse sense that a person is no threat? Why is what I am telling you, so impossible for you to believe?”

“You had to have drugged that horse,” Mister Carson said stubbornly.

“Search me right now,” I challenged him. “See if I have anything that I could possibly used to drug a horse.”

“Do it Cody,” Mister Carson ordered. The cowboy who approached me a few seconds later looked very familiar, but Cody was a very common name for a cowboy, so I thought nothing of it. I didn’t see any spark of recognition in his eyes as he walked towards me. It wasn’t the same guy. Or was it? I put on my best poker face as I realized it was quite possibly the same cowboy named Cody that I’d encountered at the restaurant those many months ago. Now this shifted the odds a bit more in my favour, in the unlikely event that a physical altercation developed.

Cody patted me down for any type of concealed equipment. He asked my permission to search my pockets. He found nothing out of the ordinary.

“He’s clean, Mister Carson,” Cody reported a few minutes later. He walked back to Mister Carson and resumed his earlier position. Cody looked back at me, sternly. He was confident of himself. His manner and his voice did seem very familiar, but it had been at least six months since I’d seen the cowboy named Cody that I’d hypnotized, so I couldn’t be absolutely sure. It sure seemed to be Cody, though. I knew of one way to be certain. Use Cody’s trigger, and see what happened.

“Fine, but your story still doesn’t make any sense,” Mister Carson said.

“It makes even less sense to me. I’m a greenhorn, remember? Nonetheless, it is the truth. All I can do is to ask you to believe me,” I said calmly.

Mister Carson stared at me, but he didn’t say anything for a few moments. “I don’t have any proof of it, but I still think you did something to that horse,” Mister Carson said stubbornly. The tone of his voice was less stern, as if he was coming to believe me.

“Well, the fact of the matter is, that I didn’t do anything to Rusty,” I said calmly. “You have all the facts before you. Whether or not you believe me is, of course, your decision. I don’t have any magical powers over animals. I’ve heard that people can hypnotize animals, but I never learned how to do that. I can only hypnotise people,” I said, hoping to get a conversation going with Mister Carson.

“Yeah, right,” Mister Carson said doubtfully. “Now you’re telling me you’re a hypnotist.”

“I’m not a professional one, but I am skilled at hypnotizing people,” I admitted. “Would you like proof?” I asked with a grin. Oh, this was going to be sweet.

“Yeah, okay. Prove it,” Mister Carson said.

“I hypnotised Cody there and turned him into my obedient and willing hypnotized cowboy slave,” I said with a smile. Cody was indeed the cowboy standing to Mister Carson’s right. I could see an alarmed look come to his face as Cody finally recognized me. He remembered our last encounter, or rather what I wanted him to remember. The intervening months since our last encounter accounted for the initial lack of recognition that we each had for the other. Cody remembered me now though.

“You want to borrow a shovel to move the pile of manure you’re dumping?” Mister Carson said with a laugh.

“Do you mind, Cody? May I hypnotize you again?” I asked Cody using that same calm voice.

“No. No thanks,” Cody said shaking his head, keeping his eyes glued on me.

“Sorry, Mister Carson, but Cody’s not interested,” I stated.

“Do it to him anyway, if you can,” Mister Carson demanded. “I want proof that you can hypnotize somebody. Cody, tell him it’s okay. Heck there are three other cowboys here to make sure nothing happens to you.”

Cody looked at me sternly for a second. “Only if you promise not to make me do anything stupid, foolish or embarrassing,” Cody said to me.

“Agreed, Cody. Cowboy Up Cody,” I called out. Cody’s eyes’ immediately glazed over and that vacant expression with the silly grin appeared on his face. “Now be a good little cowboy and crawl over here to me on your hands and knees, Cody and then sit down beside me on my left side.” I ordered him.

“Yes boss! Right away!” Cody replied as he dropped to his knees. He crawled over to me, looking up at me smiling. When he was in front of me, he carefully crawled to his left, around and behind me. It took him only a few more seconds to crawl up next to me on my left side and then to sit down on the ground on his butt, with his legs out in front of him. His hands were resting by his sides in the dirt. “All set, boss,” Cody said with a big smile as he looked up at me.

“Good boy, Cody,” I reassured him, without looking down at him. I had been watching Mister Carson the entire time. His self assured confidence had just been shaken somewhat at my demonstration of my control over Cody.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Mister Carson asked the surprise covering his face.

“I hypnotized him many months ago, as part of a bet,” I explained. “I never removed the hypnotic trigger. Cody never asked me to do that.”

“He’s faking,” Mister Carson said dismissively.

“No, he’s not. Or does he often crawl around on the ground when told to?” I asked softly, but with a hint of steel in my voice. “Cody, stand up.”

“Yes, boss,” Cody replied as he scrambled to his feet. As soon as he was standing up and looking at me, the expression of joy returned to his face. He did so like doing what I told him.

“Well then make him take off all his clothes and act like a chicken,” Mister Carson taunted me, while ignoring my question.

“I don’t’ humiliate the people I hypnotize,” I said scornfully. “Besides, he asked me not to do that, before I hypnotized him. But in your case, Mister Carson, if I hypnotized you, I’d be tempted to make an exception.”

“You? You’re gonna hypnotize me? Dream on, greenhorn. I know you can’t do that,” Mister Carson said and then laughed at me.

“Oh I can, but I choose not to waste my time on you,” I said calmly. “When I snap my fingers this one time, Cody, you will awaken from your trance and be back to your normal self in every way, remembering everything that happened in your trance.”

“Yes, boss,” Cody agreed and then he frowned at me. “But boss, I want to stay here. It’s so nice and it’s been so long since I’ve been back here.”

I ignored Cody’s plea, and snapped my fingers of my right hand. Cody awoke with a jerk. He blinked his eyes and looked about as he got his bearing. He quickly recognized me and a look of caution came to his face. He didn’t fear me, but he was giving me a healthy dose of respect. Slowly he backed away from me as he spoke. “Thank....thank you for waking me up, Paul. Thank you for not making me strip and act like a chicken. I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you earlier.”

“You should know me well enough by now, to realize I keep my promises Cody,” I said to him. “You have done everything I have asked of you this time. There is no need for you to apologise to me.”

“Is what he said true, Cody? Did this guy hypnotize you?” Mister Carson asked Cody as he turned his attention from me to Cody.

“Yeah, we had a run in, and Paul here taught me a lesson or two. You do not want to mess with him, when it comes to hypnosis. He challenged me, and two other cowboys, and he hypnotized all three of us. We did whatever he said, and we couldn’t stop ourselves. He made it so that we didn’t want to disobey him. Even now, a part of me wants to go into hypnosis for Paul. The only reason why I’m not high tailing it out of here is that I know he’d never trance me without my permission,” Cody said to Mister Carson.

“So why don’t you act like a man and beat the shit out him then?” Mister Carson demanded of Cody.

“He won’t let me. I can’t hurt him, even if I wanted to. To be honest, I don’t want to, anymore,” Cody walked away from Mister Carson and stood next to me. Cody turned around and looked at Mister Carson. “Paul is not my friend, but I will defend him, if I must.”

“Why would you do that? Did he hypnotize you so you’d protect him?” Mister Carson asked.

“No, he didn’t hypnotize me to do that. Over the past few months, I’ve come to understand what a jerk I was. I still am a jerk, in some ways, but I’m working on it. Paul showed me that. I don’t like him much for doing what he did to me, but I’ve come to understand why he did what he did. He’s honest. He’s earned my respect. Maybe someday, I might even call him my friend, that is if he will let me,” Cody answered.

I was moved my Cody’s words. I had never expected him to have such a revelation. It felt good to know that my efforts had paid off unexpected benefits.

“Well get on with it then,” Mister Carson said with a sneer. “Hypnotize me, if you can’t, but I gotta warn you I ain’t going to cooperate with you.”

“I wouldn’t do that, Mister Carson,” Cody warned him.

“You keep your weak willed mouth shut, Cody,” Mister Carson ordered. “This is between me and Mister Hypnosis, over there. Now take your best shot.” Cody looked at Mister Carson as if he had been slapped across the face by Mister Carson.

“Fine.” I said as I walked up and faced Mister Carson so that I was standing as close to him as I could.

“What are you getting in my face for?” Mister Carson said. “Back off.”

“I don’t want to accidentally hypnotize Cody or anyone else. I need to talk to you softly and quietly, while these other gentlemen watch from a distance.”

“Oh, I guess that’s okay,” Mister Carson agreed. He wasn’t giving more than he absolutely had to.

I decided to make this a fast super hypnosis induction, by using physical contact. “I’m still a bit unsteady on my legs. Would you mind bracing me by putting your hands firmly on my shoulders?” I asked him softly.

“Like this?” Mister Carson said as he placed one of his hands on each of my shoulders and grasped them firmly.

“That’s fine, thank you,” I said as I looked into his eyes.

“Nope,” Mister Carson said with a smile as he quickly shut his eyes. “I told you I’m not going to cooperate.”

“Okay,” I replied softly. I was focussing most of my attention on the physical contact that I had with Mister Carson’s body. Quickly I exerted my super hypnotic mental powers and pushed them into his mind by way of Mister Carson’s arms. I fought to contain the smile that threatened to break out on my face. Miser Carson’s mind was like an open book to me. I could clearly sense his thoughts and how firm his intention was to resist my hypnotizing him. Carefully I inserted the thought into his mind that he would open his eyes and look deep into mine, just to prove to me how strong his will was. It took only a few heartbeats to set the suggestion in place. I left the mental contact in place so I could monitor his reactions. If I read him correctly, he’d be under my control very quickly.

“Too afraid to look me in the eyes, eh Mister Carson?” I taunted him. I knew what his reaction would be, thanks to a little help from my powers.

“Hell no!” Mister Carson cried out as his eyes popped open. It took him only a few seconds to lock eyes with me. The determined set on his face looked like it was carved in stone. “There isn’t a man born yet, that I can’t stare down.”

Oh I was so loving this. Hypnotizing Mister Carson was going to be a lot more enjoyable than I’d thought. As much as I wanted to drag it out and savour it, I had to hypnotize him rather quickly. There was no telling how long the other cowboys would wait before they tried to interfere. I thought for a moment and then pushed some more commands into his mind. ‘Each suggestion, each word that I say to you now, Mister Carson, takes effect immediately. You will find yourself falling into my power and under my control very quickly. You will find that you enjoy it a lot and want it to continue. It just seems natural and good. It feels like it is the right thing to do.’ Now that he was primed, mentally, I could do the induction using my voice.

“Go ahead and stare deep into my eyes, Mister Carson,” I encouraged him, still speaking softly so that we could not be overheard. “Most guys that I hypnotize soon find that they enjoy looking in my eyes. It’s amazing how deep they actually are. It surprises a lot of guys that when they look deep into my eyes, just as you are doing, they find themselves staring deeper and deeper into my eyes. And soon and very soon indeed they discover that my eyes are like cool calm pools and they find it pleasant, even relaxing, to continue to stare into my eyes. As you said, Mister Carson, there isn’t a man born yet that you can’t stare down, so naturally you want to keep staring into my eyes.”

“Yeah, I could do this forever,” Mister Carson agreed, with a slight nod of his head. He didn’t realize it yet, but the tone of his voice had softened a lot. It wasn’t nearly as harsh and hard as it has been a few moments ago. He was speaking almost as softly as I was. The confident, arrogant tone of his voice had melted away.

“So keep on doing it and as you do, you’ll find that my eyes seem to go on forever. The deeper you look into them, the deeper you seem to go. It doesn’t concern you in the least, because you know you can never be out stared by anyone,” I said playing on his ego.

“Damn, right,” Mister Carson agreed, interrupting me.

I ignore the interruption and continued on. “Just looking deeper and deeper, and the deeper you look the easier it becomes to keep on looking deeper. Soon, and very soon indeed, you’ll discover that you really like to look deeper in my eyes because it feels so good, so relaxing to do so. It seems that with each word that I utter and with each breath that you take, all you can do now, is to stare deeply into my eyes.” I told him as I continued with the induction.

“Stare deeply into your eyes....yes,” Mister Carson said with a soft sigh. The look of determination on his face softened now as my super hypnosis took firm hold of his mind. His face relaxed more and more as he continued to speak. “Deeper and deeper, yes. So easy to just stare and go deeper. Can’t be stared down. Eyes so deep, just have to keep looking deeper, yes.”

“That’s right Mister Carson. All you can do now is to keep looking deeper and deeper into my eyes. You don’t want to look away now. In fact, with your next breath you won’t be able to look away. In fact the harder you try to look away from my eyes, more strongly your eyes become locked on mine, and the deeper you look into them,” I said in a soft but very firm voice.

Mister Carson sighed and then spoke. “Can’t look away? Sure I can. Anytime I want to. Sure...I....can....” There was a brief pause in his words as he tried to wrench his eyes away from mine. He blinked a few times as if that might help break the contact between us. It was ineffective of course. “Don’t want to...look away. Feels so good to keep looking deeper.” Mister Carson sighed a few more times before he continued speaking. “Looking deeper feels so good. Keep looking deeper and keep going deeper.”

“That’s right Mister Carson. The deeper you go the better you feel, and the better you feel the deeper you go,” I said in response to his words. “Now be a good little cowboy, be my good little cowboy and go ten times deeper now, as you listen to my words. You cannot resist my words. They flow into your mind and take you deeper into my eyes, into my power and under my control.”

“Deeper into your eyes.... Deeper into your control...” Mister Carson said a few seconds later. His voice was now as soft as mine. His face had become blank as he agreed with my words. “Why the hell not? I just want to go deeper into your eyes.”

“And deeper into my control?” I asked him.

“Yes, sir, deeper into your control, sir,” Mister Carson agreed a half second later.

“I’ll bet you never knew that hypnosis could feel so good, or that you would wind up going so very deep into hypnosis that you would love the feeling of being controlled by me,” I said as I piled up the suggestions onto Mister Carson’s mind.

“Yes, sir. It does feel so good. Yes, sir. I love being controlled by you, sir,” Mister Carson agreed after a few moments.

“It just continues to feel good as you go down deeper and deeper, Mister Carson,” I responded, exerting more of my super hypnosis powers on him. “Following my words down deeper into my power and into my control of your mind. It leads you down into a special place in your mind where you are safe and secure. All the sounds, other than my voice, just fade into the background as your powers of concentration become stronger and focus only on the smooth soothing sound of my voice. It feels so pleasant to listen to my voice and my words, doesn’t it, Mister Carson?”

“Oh yes sir. Your voice is so strong, so powerful. Why didn’t I notice this before?” Mister Carson asked, a look of puzzlement appearing on his face.

“In hypnosis, you’re able to focus your mind and notice things that you might not otherwise be aware of,’ I answered. “Just keep looking deeper and deeper into my eyes, and let yourself fall into my power and into my control. You know you want to do it, Mister Carson. So why not go for it?” I prompted him.

“Yeah, go for it. Go deeper into your eyes. Deeper into your power. Deeper into your control. Why the hell not? It feels so damn good,” Mister Carson agreed after a second or two. A smile flashed on his lips, before the blank glassy-eyed look returned to roost on his face. Mister Carson was progressing very well. My monitoring of his mental state confirmed that he was in fact going into a state of super hypnosis.

“Soon and very soon indeed, Mister Carson, you’re going to feel that you must obey my every instruction, my every suggestion. You will feel the joy, the wonder, and the pleasure, of being my obedient good little cowboy. You’ll want that feeling very soon. In fact, you want to feel that feeling now. And when it happens, when you feel yourself letting go so much, when you feel yourself going deeper than you could have ever imagined, you will let me call you by your first name. In fact, you will beg me to call you by your first name.” I told Mister Carson. He was very deeply hypnotized and under my control, and had been almost from the time he’d made eye contact with me. I had to make him aware of that state and have him admit to me that it was true. By making the state as pleasurable for him as possible, it would make it much more acceptable to his conscious and subconscious minds. “Now be a good little cowboy, and go deeper for me, right now Mister Carson,” I said in a firm authoritative voice.

“Yes..... I must go deeper,” Mister Carson said. He was actually starting to sway back and forth a bit, as he relaxed into my voice and surrendered to my power. He kept repeating the word ‘deeper’ out loud as he kept looking into my eyes.

I looked at Mister Carson, and waited for him to assimilate my instructions and do what I knew he had to do. It took about a minute before Mister Carson started to respond.

First his arms dropped to his sides. He took a deep breath and as he let it out, his head dropped to his chest, as if his head was just too heavy to hold up. “Please call me, Lee, sir,” he muttered. I could barely hear him.

“Raise your head up and speak more clearly to me, Mister Carson,” I said sternly.

“Sorry sir,” he said and snapped his head up, looking me in the eyes again. “Please sir, call me Lee. I really want you to call me Lee, sir,” he said clearly.

“I’ll call you Lee, Mister Carson, if you will drop down to your knees in front of me, and ask me again,” I told him. I was no longer speaking softly. The trance induction was complete, so it was safe for me to talk in an normal voice. “I want to see that you truly want to be my good little cowboy, and the best way you can show me that is by kneeling in front of me. Kneeling in front of me would result in you taking on a submissive position in front of me.” (Yes, I was drawing this out a bit, but can you blame me, dear reader? Mister Carson was a handsome cowboy. It was sweet to see him melting before me, into my control.)

“Yes, sir,” Mister Carson said, and he dropped to his knees in front of me. “Please sir, I’m begging you. Please call me Lee, sir.”

“Very good, Lee,” I said with a smile. “Thank you for dropping to your knees and showing me that you are serious about being my good little cowboy. Go deeper now and enjoy yourself.”

“Yes, sir. I’m your good little cowboy. Go deeper, sir. Yes, sir,” Mister Carson agreed happily.

I looked up away from Mister Carson, and looked the other cowboys standing around in the barn. The stunned looks of amazement on their faces as they shifted their gaze from Mister Carson to me and then back again, was a pleasure to behold. As they slowly came to accept that Mister Carson had in fact been hypnotized by me, a couple of them smiled. I didn’t know what they were thinking, but I had a pretty good idea of the general direction their thoughts were headed in.

“Lee, do you remember what you said to me, when Cody was hypnotized by me?” I asked him.

“Yes, sir. I asked you to prove to me that he was hypnotized by making him take off all his clothes and act like a chicken,” Lee answered warmly. The calm, peaceful, nearly tranquil expression on his face showed that he was content to keep kneeling in front of me.

“What would you say to me telling you to do that right now, to prove to me and everyone else here, that you are hypnotized and under my control?” I asked him.

“It sounds good to me, sir. Shall I start now?” Lee answered as he stood up.

“Yeah! Make him do it!” one of the unidentified cowboys called out. “

“Make him crow like a rooster, too! I’d pay good money to see that,” another cowboy called out.

I turned and looked at the cowboys. They were smiling at me, but there was a touch of malice in their smiles.

“Please, don’t do it, Paul,” Cody said as he walked up to me. “If you do, Mister Carson will lose his authority in these cowboys’ eyes, and they won’t respect him anymore.”

“Point taken, Cody,” I said to him. I turned my attention back to Lee. “Kneel, Lee. Remaining kneeling in front of me. It is not necessary for you to strip and act like a chicken. I am pleased that you would do that for me, though, if I asked you to, Lee,” I said with a smile.

Lee quickly dropped back down to his knees in front of me. “Thank you, sir,” Lee replied looking up at me with devotion. He was my obedient good little cowboy now, and he knew it. He liked the idea.

I had proven my point. There was no need to do anything more with Lee. I was tempted for a few seconds, but I knew that there would be problems if I did. Cody had mentioned a few of the immediate problems.

“Ah, hell. We was only gonna have some fun with him,” one of the cowboy said to me, a look of disappointment on his face. I noticed that he seemed to be a handsome man, with that classic rugged cowboy look that exuded sex appeal.

“The only way I’d agreed to do that with Lee, is if I hypnotized all of you first,” I told the cowboy.

“Why‘d you want to do that?” The cowboy asked, a puzzled look coming to his handsome face.

“So that after you’d had your fun with Lee, he could have the same fun with you,” I answered.

“Forget it, then,” the cowboy said with a slight scowl.

As I had thought, the cowboy didn’t think the ‘fun’ was going to be all that much fun, if it was going to be done to him too. I turned my attention back to Lee, who was still kneeling in front of me, waiting to be told what to do. “At the count of three, you will awaken and be your normal self in every way, Lee. You will wake up refreshed and alert, feeling very good overall. You will remember everything that happened when I hypnotized you. You will not be able to assault me, in any way or by any form of proxy. I am not giving you trigger to go back into hypnosis, Lee. Should you ever wish to do hypnosis with me again, feel free to let me know. Do you understand?” I asked him.

“Yes, sir,” Lee answered, still looking at me like he was in love with me. In a manner of speaking, he was in love with me, at least he loved being hypnotized by me.

“Coming out and returning to normal. One. Two. Three,” I said. It would be interesting to see Mister Carson’s reaction.

Lee blinked his eyes a few times. He looked around the barn, realizing where he was and what had just happened to him. He blushed briefly, but quickly got himself under control as he stood up. The look of devotion on his face was quickly replaced by one of embarrassment. Seconds later his expression had changed to one of stern control. He was back in command of himself and the situation.

“You made your point,” he said curtly to me.

“Thank you. Now, am I free to go?” I ask him, calmly. I didn’t bother asking him what he thought about his session with me. It was unlikely that I’d ever be hypnotizing him again.

“If you’ll agree to do a small favour for me, first, yes,” Mister Carson said.

“I don’t agree to do favours blindly. Tell me what you want, and if I think it is reasonable, I will let you know, Mister Carson,” I answered cautiously. I knew better than to call him Lee. When I had hypnotized him, I had made him agree to let me call him Lee, but doing so now was not a good idea. Mister Carson needed to project an air of authority and command, in order to run the ranch.

Mister Carson was still standing next to me. He moved his head close to mine as he spoke softly to me. “I need you to help me with a ranch hand that has a problem with his temper. He gets into a fight at the drop of a hat. He’s really good with horses and as a ranch hand, I’d hate to let him go, but if things don’t improve I may have to,” Mister Carson said to me.

“And how exactly would I be able to help you with this ranch hand?” I asked perplexed.

“You can just zap him with hypnosis and fix it so that he doesn’t get into fights anymore,” Mister Carson answered.

“Hypnosis doesn’t work like that, Mister Carson, and even if it did, it wouldn’t be ethical of me to do that to him without his permission,” I answered.

“So you’re saying you can’t help?” Mister Carson asked me, with a sigh.

“I’m saying that I’ll talk with him, and if he agrees to it I’ll hypnotize him. Perhaps I can relax him enough so that he and I can talk about why he gets into fights so much. If you tell him that he has to talk with me, or he will be fired, that should motivate him to speak with me, in private,” I answered.

“That’s not far off the mark. If things don’t improve, he’s gone soon, and he knows it, “ Mister Carson agreed. “Would next weekend, after your riding lesson with Andy, be okay for you? The ranch hand I’m referring to is not working today.”

“So you’re going to let Andy take me on as a student, then?” I asked, wanting to be sure we were both clear on the point.

“Yeah. You’ve earned it,” Mister Carson said. “You can meet Andy out by the riding barn, which is where they took Rusty. She used to be one of our best riding trail horses. Maybe with you, she can be again. You’ve got to learn how to handle a horse, so you might as well start with her. You said that she seems to trust you. Now we’ll find out.” Mister Carson turned away from me to address Cody. “Show this new riding student to the riding barn. Take him to Rusty’s stall.”

Mister Carson’s barbed statements suggested that he didn’t think I’d have much success with Rusty. He was dropping the question of whether or not I’d drugged Rusty. He was forcing me to put my faith in the connection I’d made with Rusty. All too soon, we would see who was right.

“Yes, boss,” Cody answered. “This way, please, Mister Walton,” Cody said to me as he gestured me to follow him. It wasn’t easy but I hobbled on after him as best I could. I was glad to get out of the barn. I was a little concerned though, because several of the cowboys snickered at me as I hobbled past them. It could have been that they were laughing at me walking with crutches and a badly sprained ankle. It could also have been that they thought I was headed for trouble with Rusty, and was about to make a world class idiot of myself.

I didn’t much care what they thought. I had stood up to Mister Carson, while respecting him in the process. I could have humiliated him, and he knew it. He did not come right out and say it, but I had earned his respect, by showing him respect. I didn’t know much about real life cowboys, but I was learning.

The walk to Rusty’s stall was deathly quiet. Cody did not speak to me. He looked back a couple of times to be sure that I was following him. He did slow his walking speed down, though. I was disappointed to note that Cody’s jeans were not the butt hugging sexy ones I remembered. He was wearing a pair of comfortable looking jeans which allowed him a lot of freedom of movement. We made a slight detour to pick up some treats for the horses, carrots, apples and a few sugar cubes. Cody lead me directly to the stall that Rusty had been placed in.

“Here she is,” he said simply. He stood back away from the open stall.

Rusty looked the same to me, as she had a short while ago. She seemed calm and her ears were perked forward. I leaned my crutches next to the barn wall and hobbled up to her as best I could. She looked at me as if this happened to her every day.

“I have something for you, Rusty,” I said softly as I held out a carrot to her. She stretched her head towards me and began to chomp the carrot. It was gone in less than thirty seconds. She pushed her nuzzle next to my hand, as if asking me if I had anything more than the carrot. I brought out half of the apple Cody had given me. He’d cut the apple in half, as he intended to give the other half of the apple to some other horse. Rusty gently took the apple from my outstretched right hand and munched on it contentedly.

“Listen, ol’ girl,” I said to Rusty as I stroked her muzzle lovingly and fed her another carrot. “Would you like to go for a ride out there? With me?”

She tossed her beautiful head up and down a few times and nickered softly. Slowly I hobbled over to her and wrapped my arms about her soft neck in a gentle hug. “Cody!” I called out, hoping he was still around. He had left as soon as I’d given Rusty the first carrot.

“What?” Cody answered appearing a few seconds later.

“Could you help me with Rusty? She needs her saddle and bridle,” I called out to him when he stopped several paces away from me and Rusty.

“What fer?” he demanded, looking at me strangely.

“She wants to go for a ride, and I need your help,” I explained to him. “You know a lot more about horses than I do.”

“Y’all got that right, greenhorn,” Cody agreed. “But I ain’t taking no chances with that she-devil of a horse. Mr. Carson never said anything ‘bout handling her. You’re on your own, greenhorn,” Cody looked at me, daring me to push the issue.

“I’ll do it,” said the most wonderful voice in the universe. It was Andy. He had walked up behind me, unnoticed while I was talking with Cody. “Come on, this way,” he said as he lead me and my newly adopted partner to another part of the barn. With Andy’s help I learned how to saddle a horse and put a bridle on a horse. Andy moved with slow deliberate motions, and cautioned me to do the same. Horses, it seems, are easily spooked by strangers. Neither of us had ever worked with Rusty before, Andy explained, so it was very important to constantly reassure Rusty that we were no threat to her.

Rusty was equipped for riding. All that remained was for me to climb up into the saddle. This was going to be a lot easier said than done, since I still had a badly sprained right ankle, and no boot on that foot.

“Once you’re mounted on Rusty, stay here, until I get Blizzard and join you,” Andy told me, with a stern look.

“Yes, boss,” I said meekly. Something told me that a short submissive answer was best. Usually I would given some off the cuff answer like ‘I do not even know how to put this thing in gear, Andy.’ Something told me levity was not appropriate right now.

Rusty neighed softly as Andy approached her. She trusted me, but was still leery about anyone else. “It’s okay, ol’ girl,” I said to her as I patted her neck reassuringly. “I can’t climb up on you without some help. Andy’s going to help me up. Okay?”

Rusty looked at Andy as he stood there a few feet away and then tossed her head up and down slightly. With slow, unhurried and deliberate moves Andy approached Rusty and me. Slowly he braced my right side, taking as much of my weight off my right leg and ankle as he could, as I slid my left foot into the left stirrup of the saddle. Andy had a very firm hard gripe on my buttocks. Any other time I would have started moaning with joy, but this was not the time to be thinking about that sort of thing. (Mind you, dear reader, with a hunky handsome man like Andy, it’s hard NOT to think thoughts like that, especially when Andy’s dressed like a cowboy.) I grabbed the saddle horn firmly and Andy shoved me up and over the saddle while I swung my right leg out as far as I could. Andy used both hands on my ass to push me up, and I smiled to myself as I thought that he must have secretly enjoyed that very much. (I sure as hell knew I did!) It took me a few minutes to settle in and adjust myself to the strange feel of the saddle as well as the hardness. I gingerly put my right foot into the right stirrup and was relived to discover that there was only some slight discomfort. My booted left foot easily slid into the left stirrup. Carefully I took hold of the reins and softly spoke to Rusty.

“Steady girl,” I soothed her. “Let’s wait for Andy and Blizzard, okay?” Her respond was a soft neigh of agreement, and a gentle toss of her head. Otherwise she stood her ground waiting patiently.

I sat upon Rusty and watched as Andy walked over to a snow white stallion standing in an open stall a few stalls away from where Rusty and I stood. The stallion was already equipped for riding. Being a much better horseman than I, it took Andy only a few seconds to mount his beautiful white stallion. Slowly Andy edged Blizzard over to where Rusty and I waited. It wasn’t a trot but a slow walk. I gulped nervously as I suddenly realized that I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I had been told by Cody on the walk over to her stall, hat Rusty didn’t like anyone near her not even other horses. I was trusting her not to hurt me, just as she had trusted me not to hurt her earlier.

Blizzard and Andy arrived and stood just in front of Rusty and I. Blizzard neighed at Rusty and waited for a return of his greeting. Rusty stretched her head and neck towards Blizzard and then slowly laid her muzzle along side of his. She neighed softly and then withdrew her head. “Gently press the toes of both of your feet into Rusty’s sides to tell here to move forward. Pull gently on the bridle in the direction that you want Rusty to turn,” Andy said to me as he began to give me my first riding lesson. Andy slowly pulled Blizzard about and trotted off towards the gate that lead to the riding pasture.

“Come on, girl. Let’s go,” I called out to Rusty and gently pressed my toes into her sides. Hesitantly she took a few steps and then fell into a canter as she tried to catch up to Blizzard. A few moments later as she came along side him, she slowed down to a trot that matched his. When we arrived at the gate to the pasture, Cody was already holding it open for us. We trotted through, and Cody quickly shut the gate behind us. The look of stunned amazement never left his face. While I was secretly pleased to see Cody looking so befuddled, I still did not understand why he and the other real cowboys were acting that way.

“Thanks for helping, Andy,” I said to him as we rode beside one another. “I think she likes Blizzard.”

“He sired her last foal, the one she lost,” Andy said with quiet reverence. “It’s a miracle that she’s let him this close to her again.”

“Maybe it is,” I agreed with him. “Or maybe when she helped me through my pain, it helped her through hers.”

Andy shot a look at me as if I were crazy, but he didn’t say anything. He merely looked at me a bit longer and then a sad expression crossed his face. I looked back at Andy and blinked my eyes in confusion. He turned his attention back to Blizzard. His silent rebuff hurt. I suddenly understood that I was in Andy’s world now. A world unknown to me. It was stupid of me to have made such a comment, especially when I knew nothing about horses or how to handle them. I should have known better, and kept my mouth shut. I silently vowed to follow Andy’s example. Keep my mouth shut and my ears open. I looked down at Rusty’s head, and shoulders. After a brief look over at Andy, and the clear disappointment written on his face, I couldn’t bear to look at him anymore. I hung my head in silent shame, still unsure how it was that I had failed him. I knew only that I had failed him. After all the time that we had spent together, I could not possibility have been mistaken about the look Andy gave me. Andy’s silent disappointment in me hurt more than any words he could have spoken. I was sure he knew that, too.

A few minutes of quiet followed as Andy slowly lead Blizzard, followed by Rusty, around the open field. It was the longest few minutes of my life. It wasn’t easy for me to not say anything. I kept Rusty on a clear path following Blizzard as best I could, but I did not say anything. I desperately wanted to fill the stony silence, and to talk with Andy. But if I wanted to share this part of his life, this most private part of his world, I had to understand and obey the rules. The problem was, I didn’t know what the rules were. I was guessing here, and making a damn poor showing at that. Slowly in the deafening silence of those eternal minutes I came to understand what it was that Andy was trying to teach me. If I wanted to be a cowboy, as he was, I had to learn the first and most important rule: Shut up and do as you’re told. For a man used to being in control all the time, it was a difficult adjustment to comprehend. I had to be submissive and subordinate to Andy, and do as he said. It was almost as if our roles had been reversed. He was the hypnotist and I was the subject. The thought chilled me. I won’t lie. The thought scared me clear down to my toes. As these thoughts kept running through my head I kept my gaze down on Rusty’s head, all the better to unravel this enigma. That’s when I was forced to look down deep inside myself, at who I was, and what I was.

Soul searching on the back of a horse plodding along at a slowly steady clop, is easier than you might think. There is something about the steady rhythm of the clopping of the horse’s hooves, and the gentle rolling in the saddle that helps clear and focus the mind. Slowly a smile touched my lips and my head rose up, as the truth became as clear and bright to me as a diamond sitting in the afternoon sun. I looked over at Andy, who to my surprise was looking back at me. Slowly I nodded my head up and down slightly in a ‘yes’. To my eminent relief, Andy smiled back at me and nodded his head, sealing the agreement. Can’t you guess? Don’t you know by now? Ah, well, I guess you had to have been there to truly understand the wordless contract that we wrote with only a short glance into each other’s eyes. Andy would teach me to ride and to be a cowboy, and in this he was the master, and I the humble and obedient apprentice. I wasn’t the student, but an apprentice, which is somewhat lower on the scale.

The minutes continued to drag on, interminably. Finally, he started instructing me on how to guide my horse. I paid strict attention to everything he said. We trotted onwards heading out into the field, stopping several times to be sure that I knew how to pull up on the reins to signal to Rusty that it was time to stop. Rusty stayed right by Blizzard’s side (or was it the other way around?) as we slowly made our way around the practice area for the first time riders. Rusty was the perfect lady the entire time that Andy and I rode together. Not once did she show the slightest interest in any of the young foals that were frolicking about with the other mares, in the nearby pastures. She was content to just trot about with Blizzard and exchange casual neighs of horse ‘hellos’ with the other horses and their young riders that we encountered.

There were some cowboys sitting on one of the fences that surrounded the practice area, watching us as we worked our way around the practice area. They didn’t say anything to us. They just looked at us. I figured that they were taking a short break from whatever it was that they were doing. I didn’t pay the cowboys much mind, as I was more interested in Andy’s riding lessons. There seemed so much to learn, and I had barely started. After a while, I noticed that the number of cowboys sitting on the fence had increased and they were starting to talk amongst themselves, and one or two of them would point at me. Either it was at me or it was at Rusty. I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about, but I did find it a bit distracting. I felt like I was the main attraction at some kind of side show.

Andy noticed the break in my concentration. He told me to wait there, and he would look into the matter. Andy rode over to the group of cowboys. He talked to them. They talked back. This went on for several minutes. Rusty didn’t make any sounds or move about at all. She stood there content to wait for Blizzard to return. I was too far away to hear any of what was said between Andy and the cowboys. I had a pretty good idea that the topic under discussion had something to do with Rusty, and the fact that I was riding her. The cowboys nodded their heads at Andy. Andy nodded his head back at them. Some type of agreement was made. Andy rode back to me. “Just ignore them,” he told me. “They won’t make any sounds or do anything further to distract you. Let’s get back to your lessons, greenhorn,”

“Yes, boss,” I replied firmly. Part of me was burning to ask Andy what was going on, but I knew better than to do that. Andy called the shots. If he didn’t wish to talk about it, then I’d best keep my mouth shut and my ears open. The lessons continued.

While we rode, Andy and I talked about horses and what beautiful animals and companions they can be. Well mostly Andy talked, and I listened. I asked a few dumb questions about horses, and Andy chuckled as he corrected some of my ‘city boy’ misconceptions about them. Slowly I began to get a glimmering of how much Andy enjoyed his time here at the ranch, and what spending time with these beautiful animals really meant to him. My heart soared with silent joy, when Andy threw a few approving smiles my way. Smiles that showed he knew how hard I was trying to understand and learn about this part of his world. I nodded my head slightly in acknowledgment as I successfully fought back the tears that tried to fill my eyes. Cowboys don’t get sentimental and mushy in public.

Suddenly Andy broke off his instruction to me and looked me square in the eye, while continuing to ride beside me. “You’re doing well, for a greenhorn,” he said quietly. He looked at me as if expecting a response. I wasn’t sure but I thought I could detect a note of pride in his voice.

“Thank you, boss,” I said respectfully. “I have a good teacher.”

“You do indeed, greenhorn,” he replied and flashed me a small grin.

I smile back and kept my mouth shut. I figured he had to have the last word in any conversation. Inside though, I was thrilled. I had passed my first test. Andy had me stop Rusty to let him and Blizzard walk ahead, just to be sure that Rusty would not try to take off on her own, after I’d signalled her to stop. She stayed just as she was supposed to, as Andy and Blizzard cantered on ahead of us. She only nickered softly, and tossed her head once, as we waited for Andy and Blizzard to return. Andy and Blizzard continued on for a bit longer, and then they slowed down and finally stopped. As I sat there upon Rusty, I was treated to the wonderful sight of Andy astride Blizzard, the two of them silhouetted against the sun. (We had been riding for hours, though it didn’t seem like it to me. Clearly we had, though, since the sun was now low in the sky.)

I stared in utter amazement; unable and unwilling to move or make any sound for fear that the moment would be shattered before I could engrave every precious detail into my memory. They stood there tranquil, a cowboy astride his noble steed, powerful and regal in a completely natural and unpretentious pose. I felt a lump suddenly come to my throat, and I sighed quietly, with suppressed delight, while I gazed at the two of them. The emotion of the sight before me was overpowering. Still I fought down the urge to openly express my joy and delight in looking at Andy sitting there astride Blizzard. (I could always claim I had dust in my eyes if anyone asked me why I was blinking my eyes so much.) Slowly it dawned on me. Andy and my long time fantasy of a cowboy hero, were one in the same. I drank in every precious second as I sat there astride Rusty, and feasted my eyes upon the man of my dreams. I didn’t want that moment to ever end. I felt humbled, blessed and beholden to the man upstairs. It had taken a long time, but he had finally answered my prayers.

The magic moment was shattered though, when I felt a sudden but gentle slap on my left arm. Surprised to say the least, I turned my head to the left and gazed upon the unexpected sight of Chuck Chatterly astride a large black stallion, standing right next to me. Somehow he and this monster of a horse had walked up next to me and I had not even noticed. Apparently neither had Rusty since she hadn’t uttered a sound. I was just a bit nervous since Rusty was still not completely comfortable around other horses. Chuck was my friend, as well as Andy’s troop-mate. I welcomed his presence as surprising as it was. Chuck had something large and powerful between his legs, which he appeared to be a master at controlling, and he was enjoying himself while he did it. (I’m talking about the horse he was riding, dear reader. What did you think I was talking about? Now get your mind out of the gutter, you slut puppy.)

Chuck looked at me as I wiped away the tear from my eye with my right hand, while I kept a firm grip on the reins with my left hand. (I had learned never to let go of the reins. Hey, I might have been a greenhorn, but I wasn’t stupid.) He didn’t ask, and I didn’t offer any explanation. He just looked at me thoughtfully as if he were trying to decide something about me. Chuck looked at me with a studied and penetrating gaze like some type of a scientist examining an alien form of life. (For the second time that day I felt like a bug under a microscope. It was not pleasant.) After a few moments Chuck seemed to come to some type of a decision. “You really do love him don’t you?” he asked me quietly, as he jerked his head in Andy’s direction while still keeping his eyes locked on mine. His words were soft but they thundered with meaning.

I nodded my head, and finally managed to speak in a calm steady self assured voice that carried with it a ring of simple truth. “Yes, with all my heart, and soul, I do love him.”

Chuck gave me a sidelong look, as if he were carefully measuring his words before he spoke. “You’ll do. You’ll do, just fine,” he declared with quiet authority in that commanding voice of his. Chuck leaned over and slapped me gently on the left shoulder. His lips were still unsmiling, but I thought I saw a flicker of warmth in his pale blue eyes. Without another word he pulled up on the reins and turned his stallion about into a canter. He left me sitting there dumbfounded staring after him.

It didn’t take me very long to figure out that Chuck was simply being cautious. He could not openly acknowledge the relationship that Andy and I shared. That flash of warmth in his pale blue eyes had spoken volumes, though. Chuck was behind us all the way. He was in our corner, and approved, finally. If someone as headstrong as Chuck could change their opinion of me and Andy, then maybe there was a bigger and brighter future to this relationship than I had thought. I turned my attention back to Andy and Blizzard. To my everlasting delight they were slowly walking towards Rusty and I.

Andy rode up to me, and told me that we were going to try a few more things for the next half hour or so, and then the lessons for the day would be complete. Andy did not ask me what Chuck and I had talked about, even though he had seen us together. I took this as a sign that Andy trusted me, as much as he trusted Chuck. I decided not to broach the subject. Instead I concentrated fully on Andy’s lessons. He was a good teacher. Calm, controlled and patient. Of course, I’m not exactly objective when it comes to Andy, so I guess you have to take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Eventually the ride came to an end, and I learned what was involved in helping a horse to cool off and to brush out its coat. First though I had to get off of the horse. With my sprained ankle Andy had to help me dismount, but he didn’t make a big deal about it. He merely mentioned to me that this was the first and last time that he expected to ever have to help me dismount. At first I thought brushing off a horse was going to be a lot of hard work, but after the first few strokes it actually became a soothing and wonderful experience. With a few simple strokes Andy showed me the proper way to brush down my horse. I paid close attention to his example and after a few strokes had some idea of what I was doing. Fortunately, by this time Rusty was much more like her old self. She accepted Andy’s presence in her stall calmly and without so much as a twitch of her ear. When we were about half done brushing her down, Andy left the stall. He returned a short time later with Cody in tow.

Cody looked at Rusty, and gulped once or twice. Andy handed the culling brush he had been using on Rusty, to Cody and asked Cody to help me with Rusty, since Andy still had Blizzard to brush. Andy knew that with my sprained ankle I’d have a hard time brushing Rusty myself. Cody approached Rusty warily, even though she made no motion that she objected to his presence. Hesitantly at first and then with slowly growing confidence Cody started to brush down Rusty.

I took a moment to look up and around, as I had the feeling that I was being watched. I turned away from Rusty and looked in the direction of the barn door. As I had half expected, there was a group of about a dozen cowboys standing in the barn doorway, staring in the general direction of me, Cody and Rusty. I looked at the group of cowboys for a few seconds longer, shrugged my shoulders, and turned my attention back to culling Rusty. If they were going to stare, they were going to stare, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Besides I had a job to finish, and that was more important than what those cowboys thought about me.

Cody and I did not speak much to each other, as we culled Rusty. Small wonder as he wasn’t exactly comfortable in my presence, considering what our last encounter was like. I’m sure he thought that since we were alone in the stall, that I was going to control him again and do something nasty with him. He should have known me well enough by now, to know that I wouldn’t treat him in such a manner, especially with an audience present. I had to ask Cody’s advice a few times on how to brush some problem areas, and in this he was efficient and polite. Still when the task was completed, Cody was relieved to be away from me. I give him credit, though, he concealed it well.

About an hour later, with the horses’ needs taken care of, Andy met me at the main office of the riding ranch. Andy reported to Mister Carson that I had made a good start in learning how to ride, and that future riding lessons would not be a waste of time. Andy was very spare in his praise. Mister Carson and I worked out the details of my riding lessons, such as the payment schedule. Mister Carson reminded me to arrive early next week so that I could help him with that special project he’d mentioned to me earlier.

We walked back to Andy’s car and prepared to drive back to the city. I made sure to pick up my right boot from the doctor’s office. We left the riding ranch as Andy drove us back in to the city. I leaned back in the seat carefully, trying to make myself as comfortable as possible.

“You okay, Texas?” Andy asked.

“Other than my sprained ankle and my sore ass, yes, dear heart,” I said with a chuckle. “You could have warned me about that, you know.”

“And spoil the surprise for you? That would have been mean, don’t you think? “Andy chuckled. “You’ll be okay in a day or so.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Are we heading to my place?” I asked.

“Yes. That would be best, I think,” Andy said. “If I may ask, what was that special project Mister Carson was referring to?”

I turned my head and looked at Andy quizzically for a moment before I answered. It wasn’t like Andy to ask me about a potential hypnosis session. “Mister Carson wants me to talk with one of his ranch hands, and convince him to let me hypnotize him. Mister Carson hopes that with hypnosis I can help the man with a problem that he’s having on the job.”

“I see,” Andy said thoughtfully. “Well, if you’re half as effective with him as you have been with me, that guy won’t’ know what hit him. You’re going to use your powers on him, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I had planned to do that, since it will be easier for me to hypnotize him if I do that,” I admitted. “Do you have concerns about this, Andy?” I asked.

“I’m not concerned about you, or about the cowboy, either. I was just curious about what Mister Carson was talking about. He made it sound so mysterious,” Andy said with a smile.

I smiled back at him, but didn’t say anything more. What more was there to say? Andy knew as much about this situation as I did. We’d both have wait and see how things worked out with this cowboy. The rest of the drive to my apartment was spent chatting idly about things in general.

When we arrived at my apartment, Andy was kind enough to give me a back rub and help me around the apartment. He didn’t wait on me hand and foot, though. He only helped when I asked him for help. He knew that I had my pride as well. We sat and talked for awhile. All too soon the evening was over, even though it was only 8:30 P.M.

“I have to go, Texas,” Andy said as he stood by the door holding me in his arms. “You know I have to work tomorrow.”

“Yes, I know that, dear heart,” I said to him. “But you promise me, you’ll be careful out there.”

“On my honour as an RCMP constable,” Andy vowed to me. It was an old vow, but one I made him repeat every time he left me to go to work. It was silly. It was superstitious. It was the one of the many ways I kept from worrying about him.

“You know, you did well at the ranch today,” Andy said to me and then smiled at me.

“Thanks, boss,” I replied acknowledging the sincere complement from my teacher.

“You should be proud, too,” Andy continued after acknowledging my comment with a slight nod of his head. “You may have been born and raised a city boy, but you have the heart and soul of a cowboy.”

I smiled at him. “If you say so, boss,” I replied cautiously. I wasn’t sure exactly what to make of his complement. I’d never thought of myself as having a call to nature or to the ranch life.

“I don’t. Rusty does. She’d never have let you near her, much less ride her, if you weren’t a cowboy at heart,” Andy said looking me straight in the eye. “She’s never let anyone but a ranch hand or trained horsemen ride her before. She’s very skittish around greenhorns.”

Andy turned away from me, opened the door and walked out. I was left standing there dumbfounded and speechless, as he closed the door on my bemused face. It took me a few minutes to recover from the shock of Andy’s statement. I knew that he believed what he had said. I also knew that he believed that some horses were good judges of character. But this conclusion of his was a bit much to swallow. I decided to sleep on it, and see how things looked in a day or so. Unquestionably, though, I had enjoyed my day at the riding ranch. Finally I understood why the cowboys at the ranch had been so surprised at my being able to ride Rusty. In their eyes, I was just another ‘city boy’. I shouldn’t have been able to get anywhere near Rusty. My successful riding of Rusty, as simple and basic as it had been, put them off balance. They didn’t know what to make of me anymore. They weren’t alone, either. I was unsure what to make of myself. I had my suspicions, though. It seemed to me that my powers were involved. That possibility was both exciting and frightening.

I closed the door and locked it. I spent the next few hours watching a few DVDs before heading off to bed. I didn’t feel much inclined to do anything else. My butt was sore from my first riding lesson, and I had a badly sprained ankle to deal with.

I thought about what Andy had said to me before he left. Andy considered me to be a ‘real cowboy’ even if I didn’t know how to ride, yet. Andy had opened the door to a part of his life, his world, and was offering to share it with me. I felt like I had been given a very special gift. I missed Andy fiercely, and was slightly sad that he couldn’t spend the night with me. I was comforted though, by the thoughts, hopes and dreams of a bright future and a lifelong marriage with Andy. It would be enough to see me through the night and the hours ahead until I could hold Andy in my arms once more. My last thought was of the memory I had seeing Andy mounted on Blizzard, the both of them silhouetted against the setting sun. I feel asleep with a smile on my lips.