It was his twenty-third drive from Georgia to Manitoba, interrupted only by two summers in the army. He wondered if this would be his last. He made it in five days, sharing time behind the wheel with his scout Booty Blevins. Both were exhausted when they arrived. Neighbors came over and took charge of the dogs and the stock. Too tired to eat, he and Booty were quickly under blankets and asleep in the shack that served as their home for July and August.
Then a surprise. He heard a car horn, rose, walked outside. In the car was a beautiful woman, alone, a woman he had seen before only in the company of her husband, his best customer. She stepped from the car, walked to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.
They had never touched before, except when he helped her mount a horse to ride behind one of her husband’s bird dogs. They had exchanged glances before, and the glances spoke volumes.
“Come with me,” she said , and walked him to the passenger side, then drove him thirty miles to her motel. In minutes, they were in her room and unrobed….
* * * * *
He was being shaken…where was he? Then he heard a voice he knew, a male voice, a black voice, Booty’s voice.
“Wake up boss, it’s daylight, we got things to fix, dogs to road.”
He slowly woke, and more slowly realized the adventure he had just awakened from was but a dream. At first he was disappointed, then relieved.
Booty had the coffee pot boiling on the wood stove.