**** Chapter Twenty – Fun in Texas ****

I woke early the next morning and Matilda was gone. I wasn’t surprised, this had happened before and the only difference was that this time I was sober and could remember the experience.

Breakfast was biscuits with sausage gravy and eggs, the coffee was excellent. The chores were done and Matilda was hooking up her dog cart. Sonya was still in a sour mood and refused to have her spirits lifted; she declined a trip into town preferring to sit at the table and frown at her phone.

I went into town and picked up our packages, restocked my beer supply and ran a few other minor errands. I had a noon appointment with a dog breeder which would be the last stop of the day; I was due to meet Kordi, a black and mahogany rottweiler bitch.

The breeders kennel was another nice suburban setup, he had a huge, fenced yard for the dogs to exercise in and a tiny barn for them to sleep in; everything was clean and neat. Kordi was delightful; she was young and full of energy and exuberance. She wasn’t highly trained like Brin and Mila but she understood the basic household commands. She would require some training on my part but she would also be part of the pack and would emulate the other dogs. Group social pressure works on dogs as well as humans and that was how I planned to spend my future anyway.

We sealed the deal and signed the now standard documents, with a final handshake I loaded Kordi up and off we went to our camp site. Kordi wasn’t very well car trained yet and I feared she may not have been trained to be away from home, I had a very real concern that she might pull a bolter back to her old master and pack. I’d have to keep her on a tether for a long while until she settled down, some dogs never rehome and are basically untransferable; those dogs are best returned to their original masters for at some point they will bolt and try to find their way back home.

I met up with Matilda as I approached the camp site and ended up following her slowly up the driveway as she trotted the dogs back up to the camp site. After we parked I jumped out of the truck and asked Matilda to leave the dogs in their traces, I wanted to control the situation when I introduced them to Kordi. Even Sonya roused from her misery long enough to come over and be part of the action.

I brought Kordi out of the truck and she met both Matilda and Sonya; Kordi was full of youthful energy and lack of disciple. An overly large bundle of happiness was beating us to half to death with her tail and intent finishing the job by licking us the rest of the way. We got her to settle down after a few minutes and then led her over to Brin and Mila, a sniff-fest ensued but everyone seemed amicable enough.

I tethered Kordi to the trailer and asked Matilda to release Brin & Mila from their traces. I won’t say that calmness prevailed but an all-out war didn’t erupt so I thought we were on safe ground. All three dogs were tethered to the trailer and while we did have a brief out-break of dominance regarding their beds again, Mila had decided that her bed would be center of the pack. Sonya voiced concern and I simply stayed out of it. Mila would run her pack as she chose and I knew better than to get involved.

I came to the conclusion that it was best to keep Sonya busy so I decided to take the ladies out to the paddock and teach them how to saddle and bridle Abigail. There was, however, a tense moment when I asked Sonya to leave her phone on the table; I reminded her that this was business and that I needed her complete attention so she ultimately conceded. I’m not sure if she bought that snow job; hell, even I thought that claim was flimsy as could be but it seemed to be my best and only option and she went with it. So off we went for a little bit of equine training.

Matilda paid rapt attention and mastered it on her second try, Sonya remained distracted and it took her a while. I was patient with her; I knew something was going on but I was her boss and it wasn’t really my place to delve into it. Sonya finally got the hang of saddling a horse, well mostly got it anyway – time would tell.

I mounted up and gave Abigail a few laps around the paddock, showing off a different pace on each pass; after each circuit I explained to them what that gait was and when it was used. After a last circuit at a full-on gallop, I specifically asked Sonya to grab the dog cart and bring out Abigail’s feed for her evening and breakfast meals. Matilda went with her.

I gave Abigail another slow walk around the paddock while the girls were gone as a cool down after the gallop circuit while the girls hitched up Brin to bring out her food. We really didn’t need the cart to bring food out to Abigail but I was focused on keeping Sonya distracted, this was simply busy work. When they got back we went through the unsaddling and grooming procedure. I was adamant that the horses had to be cared for each and every time they were worked in any way.

Both Matilda and Sonya were required to saddle and bridle Abigail and then mount. Mounting was new to both and it took a few tries, Matilda’s short height was a huge challenge and the look of disdain I got from her told me she’d always be in a cart or on her feet. Matilda was sharp though and got what I was up to. They both fully curried Abigail after the unsaddling and Abigail was pretty content to receive that level of attention.

I had Matilda do everything first, Sonya was last and I showed her how to use the grooming brush at the very end of our lesson. She was gently grooming Abigail when Matilda and I walked away; Sonya had a distraction and Abigail was in heaven.

It was almost two hours later and the sun was setting when Sonya showed back up with Brin and the dog cart. Matilda had dinner going so I showed Sonya how to brush out Brin and we fed the dogs for the night. The dogs settled in.

Dinner was yet another delight from Matilda, I wasn’t sure exactly what it was as it looked like a curry yet had the flavor of a mole’. It was a treat regardless and was one less thing I had to do for myself every day. Matilda tidied up afterwards and refused any help, as always. Sonya and I brought out our laptops and got down to business, it was thankfully short and sweet tonight and I deferred anything I could until tomorrow during the next leg of our drive.

I decided a nightcap might be the best idea at this point, Sonya accepted a small glass of bourbon and we toasted the trip and sipped in the moonlight. I finally embraced the issue and asked her “What the hell is going on with you?”.

Sonya was evasive yet finally looked me in the eye and stated, “I think my boyfriend is ghosting me.”

I wasn’t really surprised and that was very bad news but it didn’t seem to be everything so I pushed her, “and?”, I asked.

“I think my sisters and mother are ghosting me also”, came her expressionless reply.

I was her boss and couldn’t really get involved so I merely poured her another two fingers and stated, “that is beyond fucked up. Do we need to buy you a plane ticket?”

“No”, she replied, “It’s pointless.” Sonya was in deep misery.

We finished our drinks and she went off to bed taking Mila with her. Matilda sat down at the table and said quietly to me, “You fix. Fix Now!” I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

I took Brin and Kordi and went off to my tent to consider this fucked up situation going on with my PA. I decided to call David and get some actual intel on what was happening. It turned out David knew a guy and the guy could find out; David could be scary like that.

I went to sleep thinking that Texas hadn’t been much fun.