Lizard Canyon

(This story is a sequel to "Sawtooth Mountain," which can be found in the 'Mature' section of literotica.com. This story is written for L, whom I must necessarily love from afar. Happy anniversary, Lady!)

*

Cal Benton leaned comfortably against the side of the barn watching his two trail hands in the distance rounding up the horses. This would be the last trail ride of the season - in fact, it might well be his last ever - and he watched his two friends with interest, wondering which one he should name as trail boss for next year.

Only 31, Cal had the quiet confidence of a much older man, and the weathered face and hard muscles of a true ranch hand. Life had been good for him the past ten years since leaving Sawtooth Mountain; but it had been lonely and he was ready to return to the only place where he had found true love.

Shifting slightly to get the sun over his shoulder, Cal pulled from his shirt pocket the letter that he had received the day before, reading it carefully for the umpteenth time.

Dear Cal,

I hoped I would never have to write this letter but I have run out of options. Bobbie has gone into the Army and Rob left me for another woman two years ago. Leah is in trouble, Cal, and I can't find a way to help her. She still remembers you with respect and love. Could you possibly come back at least for a visit before she goes over the edge? I don't dare say much in this letter, but she quit college and is mixed up in drugs and maybe worse. Please call at least. Thank you, friend.

Jan

Cal looked up again as his men drew closer with the herd of horses, and tried to remember eight-year-old Leah with the bright smile and quick wit. In trouble, Jan said, with drugs or worse. He sighed deeply and leaned his head back against the barn, enjoying the heat of the sun on his skin.

There had been times he had wanted to return to Colorado and Sawtooth Mountain, but knew his affection for Jan's mother would immediately bleed over into affection for the beautiful, caring daughter. But now that she was single, and asking him to come and help with her own daughter, he realized he no longer felt the same desires. Nevertheless, he had made a vow to Peggy Whistler and her daughter that he would never leave them in time of need.

So, it was settled before she ever wrote the letter. Cal knew his life was about to move to a new chapter.

Life had been pleasant at Lizard Canyon. He had found the place - and its owner, Bill Haffner - less than a month after leaving Sawtooth Mountain following Peggy's death. He had met Bill at a bar in Taos, both drinking heavily to forget things in the past.

Cal had just lost his first real lover; and Bill had just returned from Vietnam to attend his father's funeral.

After recovering from their hangover the next day the two new friends traveled the 50 miles to the old ranch Jack Haffner had worked his entire life, to see what was left. Within a week they had begun the paperwork to form Haff-Bent Enterprises, a partnership using Bill's land - which included the beautifully rugged Lizard Canyon - and Cal's money to start an ambitious project, turning the ranch into a resort that would feature trail rides in the canyon during the summer and three ski slopes down the side of the adjoining mountain in the winter.

Every dime earned was turned back into the venture and now, ten years later, the two men were enjoying the contentment of small businessmen who had made their own way.

Bill had married and had a family of five; Cal had occasionally strayed into Taos with his cowhand friends for one-night stands but had otherwise ignored the opposite sex, spending his spare time on the ranch, enjoying the solitude it afforded.

Cal's reverie was broken by the dust that billowed up from the horses' hooves as they came into the corral, circling the perimeter before settling into the area nearest the barn - where they knew their food would soon appear.

After unsaddling their own mounts, the two trail hands walked toward Cal with the rolling gait of men who rode horses regularly. Cal smiled to himself remembering the first time these two tried to navigate the ski slopes . . . that was when he and Bill had realized they would have to hire different help in the winter and let the two cowboys take care of the stock and buildings.

"I reckon we'll grab a beer and let these critters settle down some before feeding them," the older of the two hands said as they approached Cal. He nodded his agreement and watched as they strode across the parking lot toward the lodge.

Jake, 34, was the older of the two and a very solid trail hand, but Cal suspected 28-year-old Willie would be his choice for trail boss due to his gentle-yet-firm way of dealing with animals and people that made them want to do his bidding. Four days and three nights on the trail in remote New Mexico required the leader to be equally respected and liked by both man and beast if the trail ride was to be a success.

Looking up the side of the mountain that closed off Haff-Bent Ranch from the rest of the world, Cal saw the first vehicle full of trail riders working its way down into the valley, moving slowly from one switchback to another.

He would have to teach Willie that this was one of the most important times in the trail ride, as the riders disembarked and, as if drawn by a giant magnet, moved to the corral to view the horses up close. It was during this time that Cal matched rider with horse, watching mannerisms and hearing the riders express their expectations and concerns regarding their potential mount.

With only 15 riders per trip, and 20 horses from which to choose, Cal was usually able to match horse and rider compatibly - a necessity if everyone on the trail ride was to come away fulfilled.

As the older model station wagon pulled into a parking space, two young boys spilled out and headed for the corral only to be stopped by a word from the woman who emerged from the driver's door. They obediently returned to her and the three walked toward the lodge with the woman hugging each child to her as she talked to them.

Cal frowned slightly, knowing that he had gone over every trail rider's advance registration - each rider had to have some degree of experience with horses and had to show proof of insurance - and he could not remember a mother with two sons.

He was drawn to the woman, though, in a way that surprised him. Her motherhood skills were evident in the way the boys both obeyed and showed respect for her, and he was impressed by the way they accepted her affection without embarrassment or discomfort.

There was more, though, that caused him to watch her closely as the three approached the lodge. She looked to be in her mid-30s or early 40s with shoulder-length brunette hair. She was of average height and build with no outstanding features - either positive or negative. She had clearly not tortured herself into keeping a 'girlish' figure, though her form was still very feminine and inviting.

Something stirred inside Cal as he watched the young mother climb the stairs to the lodge office, surprising him because he seldom if ever responded just to the sight of a woman. He didn't exactly understand the attraction, but his body was telling him this was a real woman, not just another female along for a ride.

Several minutes later the woman emerged from the office with her two charges and, with a nod of her head, dismissed them to run wildly across the parking lot to the corral. Cal was familiar with this routine and watched the two boys closely as they approached.

They did not have the wide-eyed expectation of the typical young rider, however, but climbed on the corral rails and eyed the horses with curious, yet saddened, expressions, confirming Cal's belief that they probably were not registered but had driven to the ranch "just in case."

As the woman walked toward the corral she spotted Cal leaning against the barn watching her, but did not change direction, continuing toward the boys. Neither did she change either her pace or the open, graceful way she moved across the ground - much like the horses he enjoyed being around.

She had a full figure accentuated by hips spread slightly by childbirth, breasts that were not too full, shapely legs strong enough to carry her well-distributed 130 pounds, and a pleasant face that spoke of love, compassion, humor and heartache - all at the same time.

Cal let the woman and her sons watch the horses together for a few minutes, matching them in his mind as he always did with potential mounts, before approaching.

"Howdy, my name is Cal Benton and I am the trail boss here at the ranch," he said with his trademark grin and a slight tip of his well-worn cowboy hat.

"I am Lisa Payne and these are my sons Dennis and Andrew," the woman said quietly, holding out her hand. Cal shook all three hands as they were offered, liking what he saw in the eyes of the two disappointed boys, and their mother.

"So, will y'all be riding with us this week?"

The older boy, who looked to be about 12, looked at the ground and scuffed a clod of dirt with the toe of a new pair of cowboy boots, while the younger, clearly not more than 8 or 9, looked up at his mother with pleading eyes.

"I guess we will have to wait until next year," Lisa said, ruffling the hair of her youngest. "A young lady at the motel in Taos told us about your trail rides and highly recommended them so we changed out plans a little to stop by, but we didn't know you had to pre-register at the beginning of the season. We thought we might be able to register today for a short ride later this week."

Cal nodded at her reply and watched the two boys as their eyes returned to the horses.

"You boys know how to ride, do ya?" he asked casually, watching for a reply.

"Yes sir," the older said, looking at him cautiously as the younger boy nodded his affirmation vigorously. "We take riding lessons back in Michigan where we live."

"Our rides are four days and three nights, have you ever been on a ride like that?"

The older boy shook his head but the younger, almost sensing that Cal was making an offer blurted his reply.

"No, but we don't have to be home for two more weeks so we have enough time."

Lisa smiled knowingly and pulled her younger son to her, hoping to hug away the disappointment he was feeling, and asking Cal with her eyes to not tease the boys any further.

While Cal's propensity for on-the-spot decisions amazed others around him, he was never amazed by his willingness to make snap judgments, nor by the high rate of success he had in judging the character of others. And he had already made up his mind that these boys could handle the ride and he wanted to be near their mother for the next four days to determine whether she truly was the complete woman she appeared to be.

"Well, here's the thing," he said in his most exaggerated cowboy drawl. "This is the last ride of the season and I like to take all the horses out that last time and I guess there is no need taking five horses with no riders when there are three experienced riders wanting to go."

The two boys immediately looked hopefully at their mother and she turned her gaze to Cal, working on her own spur-of-the-moment decision, searching his eyes for wrong motives or hidden agendas.

"Can you make that decision?"

"Yep, I reckon so," Cal replied. "The only problem is, that with that many extra horses it takes more care, so I would need the boys to kinda help out as junior trail hands to pick up the slack so Jake and Willie will not have any extra work."

Lisa Payne seemed satisfied with what she found in the man's eyes and turned her attention to her boys.

"You heard what Mr. Cal said, you would have to help with the work and take responsibility."

The two boys reacted to the news in totally different ways. Dennis nodded his agreement to the terms to his mother, shot a thankful glance at Cal and turned glowing eyes of anticipation toward the horses. Andrew's face broke into a beautiful, sunny smile as he nodded to his mother and then turned to wrap his arms around Cal's waist, enveloping him in a passionate bear hug.

Cal looked quickly at Lisa with a surprised expression and saw in her eyes that he was just starting to reap the benefits of his friendly offer.

"I guess we better put that 'Mister Cal' business off to the side for the next few days, though," he said to break what was becoming an uncomfortable situation for him. "Just Cal will do . . . for all of you."

Seeing Jake and Willie approaching across the parking lot, Cal released himself from the child's grasp and turned to his trail hands, smiling at the smirk on their faces as they discussed his newfound allegiance.

"We're taking on a couple of extra hands for this week's ride," he said, meeting their laughing eyes with his own wink and smile. "I would like you to meet Lisa Payne and her sons Dennis and Andrew."

The two cowboys shook hands all around before Jake nodded toward the barn. "Well, fellas, there's no better time than now to get started," he said heading off toward the barn. "Those critters are waitin' for something to eat."

Cal and Lisa leaned on the corral's top rail watching as the trail hands showed the two boys how to fill the feedbags with a mixture of oats and sweet feed and then hang it over the corral rail. The older men then handed each boy a brush, and worked with them as they moved through the herd, getting the animals "spruced up for the tourists," in Jake's words.

During the next three hours the rest of the guests arrived, checked in, spent time at the corral and then filtered off to the outdoor barbecue pit where Jorge, the trail cook, and his wife Manuela were busy preparing dinner for the crowd.

Cal and Lisa each stayed close to the corral, watching the boys as the milled with the horses in the arena. Cal was pleased at the way the boys moved among the horses, mimicking the older men. He was just as pleased at the way the horses accepted the new 'hands,' knowing success or failure of the experiment depended upon the animals.

By the time the dinner bell rang, Jake had found an old cowboy hat for Denny ("I ain't never known no hand named Dennis," the cowboy had said), and Willie had tucked a stocking cap inside an old hat of his own so it would not fall down over 'Andy's' brightly shining eyes.

The two boys were introduced as 'apprentice cowboys' by Cal during the organizational part of the dinner after Jake and Willie went over the rules for the week. Jorge then gave each guest a carrot and they all marched off to the well-lit corral to get to know their mounts for the week.

Cal felt good about his mount assignments, especially those for his special guests. Lisa was assigned to Ol' Sal, the lead mare of the herd who kept the other horses in their place and served as a calming influence on the herd.

Denny was assigned a sleek, black gelding with a white star on its forehead and more spirit than most of the horses. Andy was quickly the darling of the ride, perched high atop a large red mare named Sassy with his oversized cowboy hat drooping over both ears and pushed back from his eyes in a cocky sort of way. The mare was as dependable as Sal and would not break and run or rear even if it came upon a snake.

The boys were up before dawn and were waiting in the dining room with their mother when Cal and the trail hands came in for breakfast. As they ate, Cal went over plans for the ride, assigning Willie and Andy to the job of riding point, Jake and Denny would be the rovers, moving along the line and keeping everyone together, while Cal and Lisa would ride trail where they could keep an eye on the entire caravan - and, Cal hoped, have time to get better acquainted.

The first day's journey was the shortest, allowing each rider to get to know their mount, get used to the saddle, and make friends. They stopped mid-morning for a snack, had a picnic prepared in advance by Manuela at the top of the canyon, and then wound their way down the canyon face to the small river below - where they had time to unsaddle their mounts and still play in the cold water of the swift-flowing stream.

Cal was surprised at how much he enjoyed the company of the young mother from Michigan. He learned she was a college professor who had left a bad marriage after the second child was born and had raised both boys almost entirely by herself - with some help from her own parents and siblings.

While they came from two totally different lifestyles, Cal found himself liking the woman more and more as the day passed, and realized by the time they joined the others at the small beach on the riverbank that he had told her more about himself than even Jake and Willie knew.

Jorge and Manuela had reached the site first driving their mule-drawn chuck wagon down a narrow road at the head of the canyon. By dark they had a large bonfire going and the smell of their barbecue ribs had everyone ready to leave the sparkling water for nourishment.

After dinner Willie pulled out his guitar and Jake accompanied him with a harmonica as they entertained the riders with cowboy music interspersed with tales of past adventures on the trail.

Each of the three campsites along the trail had a bunkhouse made of rough-hewn logs and furnished with 15 handmade bunks. There was an outhouse at each end of the building, and Jorge and Manuela simply hung a couple of curtains between the men's and women's sections of the bunkhouse, with the older couple occupying the double bed between the curtains.

Cal, Jake and Willie stayed in a small log cabin with three beds several yards away to which the horses' tether line was attached so they could get to the animals quickly if they became agitated by coyotes or a storm.

Though Lisa insisted she and the boys could sleep on pallets in the bunkhouse, the three trail hands would have none of that, yielding their cabin to the family of three and carrying their bedrolls outside to sleep by the dying fire under the stars - as they had many times before when the weather was right and they did now want to stay inside.

The next morning the entire entourage was on the trail early for the longest ride of the trip along the canyon floor to the Belly Pond campsite. Jorge's pancakes and ham steaks before leaving, and Manuela's picnic lunch at noon helped the riders endure the sore muscles, and the beautiful scenery of the canyon kept everyone's spirits high until they reached their destination.

Cal spent the day again getting to know his 'special' guest better and was surprised at how much personal information he was able to glean from their sometimes serious, often teasing, conversations throughout the day.

By the time they reached the campsite that afternoon everyone was anxious to swim and play in the pond and then soak up the last rays of the dying sun on the sandy beach. Shortly before dinner, while Cal was checking the horses to see that they had been fed and rubbed down properly, Jake approached with his ever-present smirk.

"Well, Boss, looks like you scored after only two days with that little lady," he said.

Cal simply raised his eyebrows in a question, not willing to become the butt of his friend's joke.

"According to the boys, they are going to sleep together on a bunk tonight and Willie and I get the other two bunks in the cabin," the cowboy continued, still smirking. "Seems Mama wants to spend some time with the trail boss by the fire tonight."

Cal's heart skipped a beat at the thought, but he maintained his composure as he searched the other man's face for signs of a put-on.

"Scout's honor," Jake said, finally breaking into a friendly laugh. "Willie is letting Jorge know so no tourists get loose tonight to come sneakin' around - and, of course, you know we aren't going to be wandering around tonight, seein' as how our jobs might be in jeopardy if we did."