(This is the first Hidden Ranch story and therefore it explains "The Hidden Ranch" as well as Mark's and Kate's lives together)
Hello, I am Mark and I will begin by telling you a little bit about the background of where I come from. You see, before I was born my parents made a rather odd decision and moved to this place know as "The Hidden Ranch." The Hidden Ranch is not really a ranch at all, but a community of people and a town. It is hidden though. The only way in or out is along a 25 mile long dirt road which looks like a driveway off of a rural highway. I would love to tell you where it is, but it is against the rules to tell, but I can say it is hidden by mountains and hours away from any major town.
I am sure that by now you are wondering what is the deal with "The Hidden Ranch" and what makes it so special. It was begun shortly before my parents arrived by a group of people who wished to return to some of the old traditions while still living a modern life. The government does not know who we are and we do not deal with them. No taxes, no laws, and no rules other than those that we have setup and controlled.
I fit into this picture as boy who has lived in "The Hidden Ranch" all my life. I have recently reached adulthood and I am fully sexual mature but yet I realize I have not reached my full mental and emotional maturity. I am around 6 foot tall with short spiky light brown hair. Since "The Hidden Ranch" must survive on its own, I have worked for years which has kept me in rather good shape and my muscles are partially defined. I have a not much younger sister, named Bethany, who has long dirty blonde hair. Bethany is short, only about 5'2", and a rather well shaped young women who has always made the other guys take notice, even me I will admit, but that is an other story.
What would I love to tell you about is the day a new family came to town. This new family, The Jacksons, they were called, was different than most families in "The Hidden Ranch" in the fact that they had started a family before they had come, but were accepted since their two daughters were less than two years old at the time. I really don't remember that day since I was very young as well, but I do know that the Jacksons and my parents have been close ever since.
This would be a good time to tell you about one of the rules of "The Hidden Ranch." Since the goals of the Ranch were to implement the traditions of the past, more of the traditional roles of women and family life have been accepted. One of these rules was that arranged marriages were the only form of marriage for the children in "The Hidden Ranch." Also, all married couples, whether arranged or chosen, were in a lifetime commitment, divorce and remarriage was not an option. There were several more vague rules that the people followed. The first of these was that while both men and women were both highly educated, women were more highly educated then men. This was encouraged since it was the job of women to raise and educate children in the home. Women were also encouraged to run businesses centered around their home. Men on the other hand did much more physical intensive work. Since much of "The Hidden Ranch" work was infrastructure, such as roads, sewage, water, and building, the men did this work almost exclusively due to its high labor content.
Well as you might have guessed, the Jacksons' oldest daughter Kate, who was slightly younger than I, had been arranged to marry me. Kate and I have spent a lot of time growing up together. From as young as I can remember Kate has gone to school with me. We though never talked much as little kids, she hung out with all the girls and I played sports with all the guys.
Then one day, when I was about 12, I was walking home on a beautiful summer day, Kate jumped out from behind a tree. I was not sure what to say, there she was in this not very fancy dress that many of the girls her age wore and I was in a shirt and shorts. She began by asking me if I knew that we would spend the rest of our life together and I told her I knew. She then asked me what I thought about her, I told her it didn't matter and I was already late for my game. She then grabbed me and pulled me off the path we were on. I lightly fell on the ground. Lightly looking up, all I saw was the sun, and then she landed on top of me and kissed me. I had never been kissed, I don't think she had either, but she just lingered there. I could feel her warm breath and I decided to wrap my arms around her. But as soon as the kiss began she got up and began to run away.
Kate and I didn't say a word for about a year, even in school. Every night though I would think about what she looked like that day. I saw as Kate went from 4'6" to 5'8". I saw her go from baby fat in her cheeks to having full curves in her hips. I saw her go from flat to 34 C. Most of all I saw her go from this poorly dressed confident girl to a shy and quiet beautiful woman. Many days in class I would have to wait to stand to not be embarrassed. Many nights I would fall asleep dreaming of her. Then I graduated and went to do my internship to learn many of the required technical skills that every male learned. Part of this internship was the raising and building of my, and soon Kate and my, house. This took 2 years and all the while Kate was in school finishing her education.
Then came Kate and my wedding day. Everything had been planned by Kate's parents and I just followed what people told me to do. By end of the ceremony, our closing kiss was only the second time we had ever touched intimately. The ceremony was cut short, as was tradition, so we could spend our first night together in our new place.