Tea Biscuit

IX

Amy looked up uncertainly. She saw Beth already mounted on Lucky. She saw Daphne de Winter mounted on Caligula and Julia Michaels mounted on her Big Foot. All stared her right back at her. “I'm not certain that this is a good idea. In fact, I'm very certain that this isn't a good idea.” Amy had no love of riding. She was larger than most of the girls who rode and not all Ponies could carry her comfortably. She had only agreed to come along because Beth loved so much to ride and all agreed that she could ride Ethan or Tea biscuit as he was now called.

Saddled and bridled, Tea Biscuit waited for her to step up on his thigh and swing into the saddle.

Julia Michaels shook her head sadly. The poorest rider had demanded the best Pony of the four.

Beth sat quite comfortably in her saddle and implored Amy with her eyes.

Amy saw Beth and rallied her flagging spirits. She simply had little love for the male creatures except perhaps for Beth's Tea Biscuit. She stepped up on Tea Biscuit's thick thigh and swung her left leg over his muscular neck. She settled herself awkwardly in the saddle and set her long legs in the stirrups. She grasped his control rods firmly. Amy took a great deep breath. “Up!” she commanded.

Noting happened for a full second. Amy began to doubt her ability to command the large male. Then Tea Biscuit rose quickly to his full height. Amy hung on for dear life. She scrambled to regain her balance. Beth, Julia, and Daphne were heading up the trail toward the Red Lake Reservoir.

Julia spurred her mount and he surged forward. Daphne followed close behind. Life had changed for Daphne since the tragedy with Noblesse Oblige and changed for the better. She conquered French with Julia's help. Somehow or other, she had learned how to listen. Daphne had friends and was finally doing well in school. Three years zipped by and everyone wondered where the time had gone. Soon, Amy and Beth were off to the city. Daphne would be going to graduate school. Julia juggled two job offers.

Amy still sat there, perched in Tea Biscuit's saddle. Beth waited for Amy. Lucky, her mount seemed much more patient than she.

“Go, Tea Biscuit. Go!” she urged, sounding a bit frantic. Tea Biscuit just stood there. The reigning rods made hearing difficult. Tea Biscuit did not move. Intact males tended to be lazy, impulsive, and prone to violence. Amy's frustration mounted. “Tea Biscuit, please!” she pleaded. “Pretty please.”

Beth sighed and shook her head. “Kick him, Amy. Just kick him. Don't argue with him.”

Amy kicked him but tentatively. Her rubber heels carried no spurs and Tea Biscuit barely felt them.

“Kick him, Amy. Hard!” Beth called. Amy kicked him harder and her mount ambled ahead. Amy struggled to keep her balance in the high saddle.

The women talked and laughed on the steep trail up to the Reservoir. Julia rode in front on Big Foot and Daphne followed her on Caligula. Amy followed on Tea Biscuit and Beth brought up the rear on Lucky and kept a close eye on Amy and Tea Biscuit.

Tea Biscuit envied Lucky for his precious burden. He wanted to carry Beth on his shoulders, just like in the old days. Although he was Daphne's Pony, he had had many opportunities to carry Beth and sometimes, it was just like in the old days. He delighted in every flash of her smile and every touch of her hand, no matter how inadvertent. He relished every sound she uttered and the mere sound of her voice.

Tea Biscuit kept looking back at Beth whenever Amy gave him enough slack on his reining rods. He slowed down, trying to get closer to her, trying to catch some whiff of her perfume. Amy was too tentative a rider to keep him strictly to task.

He felt the pressure of Amy's thighs on his strong shoulders through her coarse jeans. Her weight was nothing to him despite the challenging grade of the steep trail. He felt the warmth of her body and her warm breath. He inhaled the scent of her perfume.

Tea Biscuit envied Amy for her relationship with Beth. He had been totally oblivious in high school when Beth was his jockey. He had had years now to think about things in the long quiet nights in his stall. Loss of the ability to speak had not deprived him of his ability to think. He had been alone while Amy was with Beth. Today, they would lock him in his stall and Amy would go home with Beth.

The women dismounted. Saddles and bridles were stripped from the Ponies. Beth removed Tea Biscuit's gear and Tea Biscuit was grateful for the attention. The Ponies were given water and hobbled in the shade.

Julia and Daphne spread out the picnic. Beth and Amy stripped to their undies and swam out to the raft.

Tea Biscuit pulled against his lead and tried to watch Beth disrobe. He may have become accustomed to being naked himself. His nudity now evoked no comment and little interest. Ponies were always naked. Once upon a time, a woman's female parts were called her “shame.” Now a woman's female part were celebrated as the source of pleasure and the origin of life, but not so casually flaunted.

Beth was fond of Tea Biscuit. She certainly had no sexual interest in the male. Her preferences were known and unambiguous.

Tea Biscuit may have been unable to put a name on his powerful feelings. He was endlessly thrilled by the soft curve of a female breast, the full ripeness of a female ass, or the secret place between two shapely thighs. His frustrated urges bordered on the desperate. Unable to speak, he moaned his desperate longing. No one paid him any attention.

Julia looked out at Beth and Amy cavorting on the raft. She pointed. “Yuck!” she said. “I hate public displays of affection.”

Daphne looked at the couple and smiled, a little bit embarrassed herself. The day had been wonderful. Daphne was filled with gratitude for her good friends. “Julia, thank you for all the help in French. And Beth, thank you too. Thank you for your help that terrible day. Thank you for your trust and encouragement in the difficult time that followed. Thank you for Tea Biscuit. I wish I knew how to make this up to you,” she told them later after they had returned the Ponies to the stable.