Chapter 3
Lydia was miserable. She had to go to the bathroom, and she needed help getting off the damn horse and getting back on again. She hated to ask Travis for anything, but it was either asking him or peeing in her bloomers.
“Travis, I need to go to the bathroom. Can we stop for a few minutes for me to go? And will you help me get down and get back up on my horse?” Lydia asked him with gritted teeth.
Travis looked to heavens for patience. He tied off his reins and stopped. He stomped back to her and lifted her down. “Hurry up, at the rate we’re going, we won’t reach Angel Falls for another two days.” He told her without smiling.
Just for spite, Lydia walked slowly to the bushes to do her business.
Travis stewed the entire time she was gone.
He knew she was taking her time; he waited until she started back to him and went and picked her up and almost threw her on her horse.
“Next time, get up when I tell you to get up…and the next time you walk that slowly, I’ll leave you behind us.
You can get on your own damn horse. You deliberately walked as slow as you could just to piss me off.
” Then, he walked back to his horse and picked up all the reins and started off again.
Angie and her boys followed behind, leaving Lydia to follow or not.
She was furious at how Travis treated her.
He should be a gentleman to her and helping her all he could, but he wasn’t! He made her so mad!
She steamed the rest of the day, even when they stopped to water the horses and go to the bathroom later in the day.
He watched her go with Angie to the bushes and turned to take the two boys with him.
They were up on the blasted horses in fifteen minutes.
Lydia was so sore she could hardly bare to sit on the horses’ back again, but she bit off the retort she was going to give to Travis when he threw her on the horse.
She saw him limp and knew that his leg was bothering him.
Good, she thought. I’m glad I’m not the only one hurting.
The day seemed to go on forever. The only good thing on the horizon was that Travis did find another hot spring for them to soak in tonight before they went to sleep.
But he told them before anyone soaked in the hot water, they had to gather enough wood for their fire.
He was going to find some game to cook for their dinner.
Lydia watched him leave and said to hell with him. She was getting in that hot water while he was gone. She marched straight for the hot spring only to be caught by him and brought back and dumped on her sore rear end.
“I told you to help gather wood before anyone could soak in the hot spring. You will start carrying your weight around here or you will not soak in that hot spring. You heard me and deliberately went for the hot spring anyway. You want to eat supper tonight; you will gather wood. Do you understand what I’m telling you?
” Travis told her in a no-nonsense voice.
“You are not the boss of me. I don’t have to listen to you or do what you tell me to do. I am a grown woman of twenty years. I can do what I want, when I want. Stop telling me what I will do when I will do it!” Lydia yelled back at him. She also hit him in his chest.
“If you want to get safely to Angel Falls, you’ll follow my directions and do what I say when I tell you to do it.” Travis told her and pushed her hand away from his chest. That’s when she tried to slap him across his face for daring to touch her hand and stopping her from slapping him.
“I have put up with you long enough, Princess.” Travis told her and picked her up and put her across his lap.
Then, he proceeded to start giving her a spanking.
He wasn’t at all gentle about it either.
She acted like he was killing her. Angie couldn’t believe it but felt that Lydia had brought it on herself.
She was acting like a child; it was only right that she got a spanking like a child.
Travis only swatted her backside about ten times and then set her on her feet.
“You either start pulling your weight or I’ll paddle you again.
Grow up and start acting your age. Now, gather wood for a fire and I’ll try and get us some dinner.
Although with all your yelling, you probably scared everything in a mile radius away.
” He got up and walked away. He winked at Angie, Will, and Bobby as he passed them.
Lydia was so mad and embarrassed to have been spanked in front of these other people.
She was also tempted to march over to that hot spring and get in it just to make her own point that he couldn’t tell her what to do, but her backside was still hurting from his swats.
She started gathering wood just like the boys were doing.
She felt her face was flaming from her embarrassment, but she did it without saying another word.
Travis came back with a doe. He had already gutted it and cut off its head.
He told Angie and Lydia to go and take their baths in the hot spring.
While they did that, he and the boys would get the deer set up in a spit to start cooking.
It would cook all night, and they’d take it with them to eat tomorrow as well.
He started a fire and dug a pit for the doe.
Lydia took off without a word, Angie followed behind her.
Fresh venison sounded good to her, and a hot soak in the hot spring sounded like heaven.
She knew that Lydia was sore, but so was she.
She wasn’t used to riding all day long. She was using muscles that she wasn’t used to using.
She was so proud of her little boys. They did what she asked them to do without complaining, whining, or crying. They acted better than Lydia did.
The hot spring and water felt wonderful on their aches and pains. She could imagine what it felt like on Lydia’s sore bottom after she was spanked. She didn’t speak to Angie, and she sure didn’t say anything to her. She didn’t stay long and she got out. Lydia wouldn’t get out, and she left her.
She came back to start turning the spit. Travis just looked at her, and she shook her head. He got up and told the boys to come with him. Angie knew what was going to happen even before it did. They went to the hot spring with Lydia in it.
She screamed when she saw them. “What are you doing here? I’m naked or almost…I have my chemise and bloomers on. You can’t be here…I’m not done. Go away…I’ll get out in a little bit.”
“Sorry princess. Your time is done. It’ll be dark soon and the animals will come to the hot spring.
We get our turn too in the hot spring. We’re taking off our clothes.
If you don’t want our company, get out and get dressed like Angie did.
She told you it was time to get out, and you ignored her.
That’s on your head and you know it.” Travis told her and started unbuttoning his shirt and jacket, so did the two little boys. Then he started on his pants.
Lydia shrieked and ran in the water for the banks.
She climbed out and grabbed her clothes to her wet chest. She was cursing Travis all the way back to the camp.
That’s where she got dressed. She ignored the look Angie gave her as she turned the spit.
Her hair was wet and tangled, and she couldn’t do a thing with it.
She had never had to take care of her own hair, what was she supposed to do? !!
“Angie, would you help me get the tangles out of my hair…I can’t seem to be able to do a thing with it. My servants were always around to get the tangles out of it. I’m about ready to cut it all off.” Lydia told her and held out her brush for her to start brushing it for her.
But Angie didn’t take the brush or start de-tangling her hair. Lydia turned to see why she wasn’t doing it and instead saw Travis standing there.
“Are you going to tell me that you can’t even brush your own hair?
I’d be embarrassed to even ask Angie to try.
Brush your own damn hair or keep it in tangles.
Angie, Will has a rock bruise on his left foot.
Rub some aloe on it so that it doesn’t get infected.
I have some in my saddle bags. I’ll get it for you.
” Travis told her and walked over and gave it to her.
He took over the spit, and she took care of Will’s foot.
She also brushed their hair and noticed that Travis had already brushed his own hair. Lydia was trying to brush her own hair and crying pitifully while she pulled the tangles out of it away from all of them.
Finally, Travis started cutting some slivers of the venison for all of them to eat. “Lydia, come eat some venison. You can work on your hair later.” He told her.
“I’m not hungry.” She told him between yanks of her hair.
“You either eat now or wait till morning.”
“Fine, I’ll wait till morning. It’ll probably take me that long to get the knots out.” She told him in a huff.
“So, be it.” Travis told her. He gave more slivers to Angie, Will, Bobby, and himself.
They all had a good meal. They washed up.
He told them to go to sleep; he’d sleep and keep an eye on the spit and keep it from burning.
It should be done by morning. He watched Lydia fight with her hair.
He thought it was a crying shame that a twenty-year-old woman didn’t know how to brush her own hair.
Her parents should be shot. Nobody should be that pampered as they were growing up.
It was after midnight when she finally laid down with a wet head to go to sleep.
Her hair was tangle free but looked like hell.
Travis just shook his head. He felt like going over and cutting it off to make it easier for her to take care of her hair.
But that would be all she needed to send her over the edge.
Morning found them getting up when he woke them up.
He gave them all some venison slivers to eat for breakfast…
even Lydia. She almost wolfed them down; she was so hungry.
They washed up and wrapped the doe in her own skin to carry with them.
They climbed back onto the horses and started back up without too much talking or arguing, which was a first.
Travis kept watching the sky. It looked like rain.
Dark clouds were coming from the mountains, and a colder wind was blowing toward them.
He was looking for a cave or even a stand of fir trees that would offer some protection from some hard rain.
It wasn’t until toward late in the day that he saw a small cave.
He called a halt and then went to make sure that it wasn’t being inhabited by any wild animal.
It was free of habitation, but it was filthy.
He told them to start bringing in wood before it started to rain.
He took the horses to a stream to get water while they all brought in wood to keep them warm.
They had found the cave none too soon. Lightening streaked across the sky, with thunder making the ground quake shortly afterwards.
They rushed to the cave for safety. There was barely enough room for all the horses and them too.
The dry wood made a fire and soon made the cave warm and comfortable.
He heated up the venison for them to eat while the skies opened up, and the rain poured down outside.
He held a tin cup outside for them to drink water with the venison he cut from the doe.
It was a good meal after riding all day.
They also held their hands outside to wash them.
Even Lydia didn’t complain. They were safe and dry from the thunderstorm and they were all glad.