Making sure her boots were in the stirrups, Maizie let go of the horn, picked up the reins and balanced herself on the saddle. “Guess I’m ready.”
Capp untethered the mare and then turned his horse toward Maizie. “Now hold the reins in your left hand and just give Breezy a tap with your heels. Let your right hand rest loose and relaxed at your side. That sweet mare knows what to do.” Maizie did as she was told, and, heeding the cues, started off slow and steady.
As the two horses continued on the quarry road, Capp pointed out fields of wildflowers: Ozark phlox, Virginia bluebells, and honeysuckle in new bloom. “Everyone knows it’s spring when the bluebells bloom. They are waning a bit now, but we come to depend on them. They lift the winter doldrums right away.”
The limestone outcroppings, rough and captivating with their jagged peaks and edges, offered color and texture in the fields and dramatic interest to the landscape. Capp explained how the fields were perfect for grazing. He pointed to a herd of cattle with calves. He explained that the herd was raised and looked after by a nearby cattleman. “Mr. Glidewell allows the herd to graze here in exchange for a percentage of the dairy products and meat. Mr. Glidewell is a fair man. He only wants what the ranch can consume, no more. Dem, that’s the cattleman, can grow the herd to a real good size and make more profit. The Glidewells run a good ranch which benefits many people.”
“I know that’s true, Capp. They are good to me.”
Capp nodded. “Why, it’s as if my dad built his own horse center. Mr. Glidewell gave him full control. Dad always dreamed of breeding and raising his own line of quarter horses and here was his chance.”
“Is Mr. Glidewell excited about horses?”
“Are you kidding? He’s crazy for them, especially thoroughbred racehorses. He has a big scrapbook in his office of newspaper articles, betting stubs, stuff like that. He’s been to the track. Seen races firsthand. It gets in your blood. But Mr. Glidewell don’t know nothin’ about horses really. He couldn’t have a better team of managers than us.”
“You a manager too, Capp?”
“Not yet, but one day I will be. Horses are in my blood. Been riding since I was little. Mr. Glidewell pays me for what I do. So I guess I’m a manager’s assistant.”
The wagon road came to an end as Maizie and Capp arrived at what was called the Glidewell Castle. It was a peculiar outcropping of rock shaped now like an Irish castle. A cave opening served as the entrance. It was a beautiful sight and took a viewer by surprise. There wasn’t much need for a good imagination. The stone mass appeared as a castle to all who viewed it.
Capp removed the lead rope from his saddle, attached it to Breezy’s halter and led the horse to a hitching post. Jumping from his mount, he first tied Running Wild to the post and then Breezy. “Come down, Maizie. I’ll catch you. Just swing your right leg around the back here while holding on to the horn. Release your left foot from the stirrup and slide down to the ground.” She did as instructed but her left foot caught. As she struggled to right her error, Capp grabbed her and pulled her foot from the stirrup and set her on the ground. She accidentally stepped into Capp and he instinctively folded his arms around her. For one brief moment, the two clung to each other.
“You okay?”
“Just embarrassed.” With her head pressed to his chest, she could smell the clean fragrance of him, a mixture of leather and lavender. A feeling new to her began to stir and her heart pounded against her chest. She stepped back and rubbed her sweaty palms on her riding pants.
“No need to be embarrassed. Your dismount looked real good at first. Catchin’ your foot in a stirrup is easy to do. Some folks fall, or worse, get hung up. If the horse takes off… well, it’s dangerous. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong.”
Maizie nodded, her eyes downcast as she explored this new feeling of being so close to Capp. Capp untied the lunch bags from his saddle and asked Maizie to undo the canteen. “Come on. We’ll have lunch in the castle.”
Stepping down about six feet on rock hewn steps, there was an entrance to a cave. Cut by the force of swirling water over thousands of years, the cave felt cool and damp. They found two flat benchlike boulders and sat near the entrance while the horses nibbled on grass close by. They began to unpack their lunch. “Where you from, Maizie?”
“Mississippi, I guess you’d say. But my mama and me had no home. We were wanderers.”
“I’m from Texas. When my mother left my dad, he went lookin’ for work in new horse country, Kentucky and Tennessee. My dad loves horses. Think that love kind of made up for my mom leaving.”
“Where’d she go?”
“We don’t know. Dad told me when I was old enough that she took a hankering for any man that come along. He sometimes would joke that he could tame a wild horse, but not a woman.”
“Do you think he wishes she had stayed?”
“Truth is, I don’t think so. Seems me and horses was all the love he wanted. My dad don’t talk much about sensitive stuff.”
Capp looked into the lunch bags in earnest now. “Nothin’ like a trail ride to get the hunger pangs goin’.” He pulled out two sandwiches. “Egg or ham?”
“I like both.”
“Well, how about we split?” Capp handed one half of the ham sandwich to Maizie. She looked up, her eyes blue and sparkling.
The two sat quietly eating their sandwiches. Capp removed his cowboy hat to expose a head of blond curls. “Maizie, tell me about yourself.”
Maizie hesitated. “There really isn’t much.”
“Well
