Black Water

Chapter 9

Ren cursed lightly, the foal was covered head to toe in petroleum. The ground must have eroded away by the resent storms. Kyoko looked at the mess amazed and puzzled.

"What is this?" She asks Ren rubbing the thick black liquid through her fingers.

"It's petroleum, oil or kerosene; used up north in asphalt for paving the streets. Worth a lot of money to some." Kyoko nods thinking back to a newspaper she read back home, introducing asphalt and what it could bring to the community.

"I need to let Lori know so we can fence this area off and this won't happen again." Ren said motioning tot the trapped and very dirty foal. Ren unhinges a pile of rope from the side of the carriage and walks to the edge of the hole carefully not wanting to fall in. He swings the rope loosely making the lasso plenty big for the young foal. With a flick of his wrist the lasso sails and lands perfectly around the young ones neck. He pulls the slack tight and the foal bucks and struggles against the line. Ren holds the line firmly in his grip and backs away from the black pit toward the carriage, ties the rope to the horses hitch. He climbs into the drivers seat and pulls on the reins easing the horses backwards, slowly pulling the foal from the petroleum. Kyoko watches from the sidelines in quiet fascination.

When the little horse is free it falls to the earth no doubt exhausted. Ren jumps down and promptly ties it's legs together, whispering soothing words. He picks up the foal bridal style soaking his cloths in petroleum, luckily these are his work cloths anyway so the added stain does no harm. He puts the foal in the back of the wagon for cleaning when they get back to the ranch.

While Ren is busy Kyoko watches until something on the grass catches her eye. Positioning her crutches in a more comfortable position she begins to make her way to the opposite side of the petroleum Ren was on. Black boot prints, leading away from the petroleum...

'Not the Indians from before...' Kyoko remembers none of them wore boots but moccasins. Ren walks over to Kyoko curious what has caught her attention, his sudden deep voice and close proximity makes her jump. Her crutch which she was leaning on slips out from underneath her. A squeak sounds from her throat and down into the petroleum she goes. Ren reaches out just in time to grab her around the waist but the petroleum on his anchored foot is thick and slippery and he can't get any momentum to pull her back. They both tumble into the blackness. Kyoko and Ren resurface both completely drenched in black. They stare at each other for a few seconds both taking in the others dripping black face and dyed black hair.

"Pfft..." Kyoko tries to stifle her rising laughter bit it bursts forth and soon is full blown laughter. Ren joins her and once again she catches a resemblance with the little boy of her past. Before she can ask Ren her burning question Ren's face becomes deadly serious and he motions for her to stay low and quiet. He unholsters his pistol and does a quick inspection, useless. His Henry Sharps is on the wagon under the seat also out of range and useless from this position. The soft footfalls and low male voices he heard moments ago only get closer. Ren strains his hearing trying to catch the words. Before anything else is said however two tall figures block out the sun and Ren has to wait for his eyes to adjust to see the men clearly. He just makes out the leather clothing and the headdresses, the Sioux. The lead man wordlessly outstretches his hand to Ren and the other follows suit for Kyoko. She glances quickly at Ren who nods his okay and they are both pulled from the petroleum. Kyoko holds onto Ren's shoulder as they clear the liquid, once again on solid ground having lost her crutches in the black mess. Kyoko is glad for the black liquid now caked to her face for she is no doubt blushing from her intimate contact with Ren and she has a performance to uphold being face to face with White Cloud and his war party once more.