This is the last installment for part 1. The next installment will be the first section of part 2. It's all about Katherine.
Sorry it's taken so long to get to her. This is my first attempt at writing a story like this and I seem to have a lot to learn about story pacing.
Thank you all for your patience, kind words, and constructive criticism thus far.
CHAPTER 18
Dave felt like Robert had something of an epiphany earlier that afternoon. The two of them had a good long talk about everything that happened. Robert told Dave how he'd frequented obscure slave auctions over the last couple of years hoping to find a good deal, and Robert thought he'd found one when the gavel fell leaving him as Winter's proud new owner.
Robert had been late to arrive at the auction that night and had missed the pre-auction viewing. So Robert bid on Winter based entirely on her looks. Winter was pretty average in all aspects. Average looks, average hair, average breasts, average butt. She did have a nice trim figure with just the right amount of body fat to give her a very feminine vibe. Robert thought she was pretty. Dave didn't disagree.
He really had bought her for a good price, she was well within Roberts budget. That made him both happy and a bit apprehensive at the same time. He'd seen slaves not nearly as nice as Winter sell for much more. So he couldn't believe his luck when he'd won. However, he couldn't help but wonder why no one outbid him. What was the catch, there had to be a catch. He figured he'd find out soon enough...boy did he.
Robert's story was much as Dave had expected. When he got home with Winter, she began to act up immediately and Robert had done all the wrong things to try to stop it. Dave knew he was Robert's last hope to get this slave under control, Robert had told him as much. Dave also knew that this was a situation that really needed more intensive training than he provided during the basic class. Problem was, Robert couldn't afford Dave's Wrangler training, that's why Robert ended up in the basics class.
Dave had a soft spot for the under-dog. He always had. That's what led Dave to become a SEAL. The older he got, the softer the spot became. Dave knew this about himself, but he felt no shame in it. He was actually kinda proud of it. So, Dave decided to help Robert learn skills that would be at least sufficient to get Winter under control. Robert would finish the class with a good foundation for moving forward with Winter. Dave would see to it.
Since James turned out to be much more competent than he'd been led to believe, Dave could focus more on Robert and Winter.
This reminded him, he needed to call Sam and Morgan. Sam was probably home by now, so Dave picked up his phone and called Sam's cell. The call was answered after only a couple of rings.
"Hey Dave, how're you?" Dave heard Sam answer.
"Pretty good, Sam, pretty good. I called to talk to you about James"
"Uh oh, bad news already?"
"No Sam, actually it's just the opposite. Do you want to get Morgan so I can talk to you both at once?"
"Yeah, let me do that." Dave hears quietly in the background, "Jane, go get Morgan, tell her Dave is on the phone with good news about James."
"Yes my Lord." Jane responded.
Sam came back to the conversation, "She'll be here in a minute, I think she's outside talking to Kara about the gardening.
The two men engaged in idle chit-chat until Morgan arrived. Seeing that Sam had Dave on the speaker phone, Morgan greeted Dave, "Dave! It's so good to hear from you. How are things down in sunny Florida?"
"About the same as always Morgan. You keepin' Sam in line?"
"Of course, someone has to do it. Sam needs a strong hand, but he has the good sense to do what I tell him."
All three of them chuckled.
"I'm sure nobody can say 'no' to you, Morgan. You are truly a force of nature."
"Well thank you Dave, I'll take that as a compliment. Now tell me all about my son. I've missed him so, and I want to hear all about him."
"Good, It was intended as a compliment."
"Now, about James, I think you two have him figured all wrong."
"Why is that?" Sam rejoined the conversation.
"I haven't seen him do anything I would classify as timid. He has Emily well in hand. She's one of the best behaved slaves I've seen in a long time. She had a bit of an issue focusing at first, but I think that was primarily due to the new environment. She's really taken to the instruction and has become a model student."
"Okay, okay, but what about James?" Morgan asked impatiently.