The Trust Ch. 09

Mason picked up the abandoned beer and took it over to the sink, leaving it to drain as he wandered to the pools edge and took a seat enjoying the show. Abby was on Pat's shoulders, her big tits riding the top of his head, they were up against Katey and Cindy, who was a little scrapper, and had some nice tits of her own, Mason observed.

Katey and Cindy won the match handily, though from the way Pat and Abby came back up from their dunking, with Abby laughing and splashing water at him, Mason figured Pat had taken the opportunity for a few liberties and wasn't too upset about it.

Katey waded over next to Mason, and motioned for him to get in. "I've got things to do." She told him, "You can take my place and help Cindy defend our title."

Mason looked at Cindy, surprised she would agree to this, since she always seemed nervous around him and found her with both arms crossed over her tits, blushing furiously. "Not this round," he told Katey, "she'll have to find another steed. This Guinness went right through me." and he held up the bottle as proof. He saw Cindy relax, though she didn't drop her arms. He wondered what had happened in her past, but knew it was none of his business. "Maybe after we eat." Getting to his feet, he realized he hadn't really been lying, so he headed inside.

He ducked into the gym and headed for that bathroom. The MMA cage was fully functional now, and the coin grip rubber flooring was in place. The newest thing though, was a rope ladder that was strung overhead. It spanned the gym from the hall wall across, about four inches from the ceiling. In the middle, it crossed over a pipe saddle that was bolted into the ceiling. The idea was to swing across it like monkey bars, but it was far harder, because it sagged and moved as he did. He'd only managed to make it to the pipe so far, his fingers cramping. Cybil had done it with no problem at all, but she hardly made it move.

He did his business, then headed back out, Ardella and Jess stepping out of the elevator as he approached it. It was a fine sight, and he knew his cheesy grin probably looked stupid, but he couldn't help it. Both women were wearing high cut french bottoms and nothing else. He'd always liked Ardella's smaller tits, but Jess' looked simply huge on her slim form.

"I thought you were in red?" He told Ardella, who now had on lavender.

She rolled her eyes at him. "You don't like?" she asked and slowly spun for him, showing him that the back consisted of a string between the cheeks of her glorious ass. And Jess giggled, before flashing the fact that her suit was the same cut.

"Beautiful." Mason told them, then waved them towards the door, not caring what kind of grin he wore. "After you, ladies."

***

Marcus hadn't lost his touch with the lamb, it was spicy and succulent. Katey turned out some roasted red potatoes, the baby ones cut in quarters, with onions and carrots. And some mixed greens cooked in bacon fat, the bacon mixed in. There were crusty rolls and garlic butter, as well as some hard salty feta cheese and sliced tomato in case anyone wanted to make a sandwich.

The laughter at the tables was only topped by the horseplay. It seemed women had a hard time sitting next to other topless women without copping feels and tickling each other. And the garlic butter had a tendency to drip from the hot buns, landing in places that almost demanded to be licked clean.

Pat turned to Mason after taking a second pile of lamb and building a sandwich with it. "I did some checking after your call yesterday, and there are still houses available to rent for the turkey run. Most of the hotels are already booked." Mason looked at him a little confused, but Abby got excited.

"Oh, I'm going if your headed down there." She told Pat. "That's where I got my baby."

Pat saw the looks and explained. "The turkey run is the biggest car show and swap meat on the east coast. It's called that because they traditionally do it at Thanksgiving. They have it at the Daytona Speedway, starting Thursday, running through Sunday. There will literally be thousands of show cars, and thousands more for sale. It's also the biggest gathering of parts vendors for classic cars almost anywhere in the world." Everybody was getting a little excited as he went on. "Of course, there are always the beaches and all the other attractions around Daytona, but if your serious about restoring that GTO or finding another project or two, there's absolutely no better place to go looking."

"Yup, I found my little Spider there." Abby confirmed for him. "Got a damn good price and had a dozen to choose from. The place is a buyers market."

"What are the houses?" Brigid asked.

"There are a lot of vacation homes and just plain homes that get rented out when these bigger events roll into town." Pat told her. "Some of the nicer ones have private beaches even. This late in the game, that would be our best bet for lodging. I'm assuming if we go, we'll stay until Sunday." He looked questioning over at Mason, who nodded. It sounded great to him.

"Would we fly down?" Brigid asked her next question.

"You'd pretty much have to," Abby told her, "it would be a long days drive, even if you got lucky and made it through New York, Washington and Philadelphia without hitting any traffic, which is not going to happen."

"I can call around and see what the local charter outfits have that's big enough for us." She told Mason, who nodded.

"Why don't you find us something large enough, with one of those beaches." Mason told Pat, "since you've already started looking, and I'll give you my card to put it on. Book it for the whole show."

"My dad is going to want in on the trip." Cybil told him, and Mason frowned.

"You better just get the biggest place you can find," Mason amended, "I think I still want to do Thanksgiving here in the hall, since it's the first one. So we'll probably head down there late Thursday, or Friday morning, but I'd imagine you'll need to book all four days." He paused and looked around. "I guess I'm assuming everyone here is planning to spend the holiday here?" there were assurances all around. "Then I guess if any of you wants to invite family, please do. Certainly we'll have Benny and Saul out for it."

Ardella laughed, "My parents retired to Florida about six years ago, they have a place at Indian Harbor Beach, just below Melbourne that I've never seen. If we're going to Daytona, I'll have to run down and see them at least."

Mason hadn't figured Becky or Katey would have anyone coming, knowing what he did about their lives, so he nodded in understanding when they each looked at him. Jess looked surprised when he turned to her, but he pointed out that she lived there now. She just shook her head, saying her only family was a younger brother out in California. Cindy just looked sad.

"You can invite someone if you want." Brigid told her.

"Don't got no one." She said and shrugged. Brigid reached over and took her hand.

"Don't look at me." Abby told him. "The only relative I can stand is my grandson Tommy, and his mother would make his life a living hell if he didn't go there for the holiday. I'm lucky she lets him work at the dealership, or I'd never see him. So it'll just be me, if I'm invited?"

"Of course you are." Cybil told her, then looked at Pat. "You too daddy." She told him and he barked a laugh.

They spent a while sitting around the tables talking, but after the meal, no one really felt much like swimming any more. Marcus brought up the fact that his place was going to be ready to move into soon, and said he planned to head back to Charleston Friday or Saturday to pack his stuff. Brigid got involved, she'd been going to pack up the house before they'd ended up flying out, so she wanted to go too. Of course Cybil wanted to see where Mason had grown up, and soon they were going to fly down and get a moving company to come out. Marcus said that would work, but he was planning to drive back, pulling the duel deck sheep trailer behind his old Dodge Ram.

"Danny's getting fat and lazy around here without the girls to look after." He told them.

The extra food was put in the reach in, in the hopes that another break in the storm would show. And they headed inside.

***

Cindy couldn't believe she was flying. She was kneeling on one of the couches, Danny next to her as the two of them stared out one of the little windows. It was warm in the jet, but she still shivered, agreeing with the quiet little whimpers that Danny made. Marcus had asked her if she was going with them, and no one had stopped her, so there she was.

It was also Cybil's first time flying, and she was already planning on joining the mile high club. It didn't look like it would happen on the way to Charleston, but there were a couple of couches in the back, as well as a bathroom, so she'd figure out a way to get it done on the return flight.

Brigid had settled on a local company that had several business class jets, including a twelve passenger Dassault Falcon available. And the difference between it and the plane they'd flown to Boston in was night and day. The little Piper had been like a taxi, you climbed in and took a seat, where you stayed for the entire flight. The jet would make the same flight in an hour and twenty, almost three times faster, and had plenty of room to move about.

"We should charter this for the Florida trip too." Brigid told Mason, tucking her feet up under her in the roomy seat.

"Yeah, this is nice." Cybil agreed, stretching a toe out to poke Katey in the side.

Katey had come along because it sounded fun, but flying wasn't agreeing with her. She wasn't feeling sick, she just missed the ground, a lot. There was no way she was getting out of the seat, let alone unbuckling, until they landed, something she longed for and dreaded at the same time. Shelby was holding her hand in sympathy.

Ardella and Becky were the only ones left at the hall. Ardella trying to make some changes in a few of the unfinished projects after the storm made a few things obvious. Like louvered panels for the walls of the parking structure, where the plans had openings to allow for ventilation, as well as closing in most of the front, just leaving a wide entrance. She was also making sure Marcus' cottage was ready for occupancy. Becky still worked at Leathers and Feathers, even though her expenses had all but disappeared, because she liked it and had a shift later.

Marcus wasn't too fond of flying either, but his solution was to stretch out on the other couch and take a nap.

Jess was along under orders, Ben telling her to stay close to Mason. Though she would have gone along anyway, just to get away from David. He'd been leaving voice mails that had quickly turned bitter. After the last couple, where he called her a scar faced bull dike and a slut, she wondered what she'd ever seen in him. The funny thing was, she now knew his boss, so if he kept it up, she had more options than just kicking his ass.

Mason and Ben had talked, and she was now on duty with Mason full-time. Ben was separating her from the regular guard detachment, though she still had rank to use if she needed to, he wanted her to be free to act more as a bodyguard when needed. He pointed out that with her new digs at the hall, and being a female, which young Mason seemed determined to surround himself with, she was perfect for the job.

Katey didn't let go of her death grip on the chair arms until the door was open and the steps lowered. And then, Mason had to go down in front of her, worried she wasn't going to make it.

It was still short of noon when they left the airport in the rented Suburban, Mason making a quick stop at the U-haul for some moving boxes. The movers would have them for sale too, but they wouldn't be coming until the next morning. Brigid was dreading even the idea of opening the fridge, so she had Mason stop for groceries before they made it through Charleston. When they were checking out, Marcus came up with a cheap beer cooler and had them put two blocks of dry ice in it. He had a freezer full of meet that needed to stay cold during its trip.

Mason was feeling nostalgic as they drove along the Elk River, and a little sad when he realized it was probably the last time for a while. When he stopped at the gate, Marcus climbed out to get it, and Danny was through and gone as soon as the space was wide enough for him. Marcus just climbed back in, knowing Danny would check the flock and have it ready when he went looking.

The house was a lot simpler than Cybil had expected. She'd envisioned a grand manor, but it was just a good-sized two-story ranch. Brigid frowned, because without Danny there, the sheep had decimated her flower beds. Then shrugged, they'd never get to the ones in her new greenhouse.

The house felt like they had just gotten back from a trip into Charleston, it was warm and neat, until Brigid steeled herself and took a quick peek inside the fridge. She'd just stocked up on fresh vegetables before they'd taken off, and it wasn't pretty. Closing it just as quickly, she decided to have Mason drag it out back, some rubber gloves, a handy trash can and the garden hose seemed like the best solution.

They planned to pack what they needed in the house, plus Marcus' little carriage house that afternoon and evening, so that it was ready when the trucks showed in the morning. They had ordered a forty-foot moving van for the household stuff, and a multi car flat-bed to haul Brigid's Miata and Marcus' John Deere tractor, plus all the attachments.

Mason started in his room, Cybil and Katey going along to help, but getting side tracked when Cybil found the album Brigid had given him for his birthday. He'd been afraid it would get lost or damaged when he first headed out to school, so it was left in his room.

The two of them sat on his bed cooing over it, and giggling at his younger pictures. "So that's where you got the blue eyes and dark hair." Cybil told him, "Your mother was really beautiful."

There wasn't really a lot left in the room Mason thought he wanted to take to the hall. But he carefully packed the few toys he had from when he was a child. Most of then bought for him by Brigid after his parents were killed. The box half full of GI Joes and Hotwheels didn't look like much, but great battles and demolition derbies were in there.

The desktop computer was still a good one, but nothing like the laptop he now used, so he was thinking about leaving it, but Cybil suggested that he see if Cindy wanted it.

Cybil got a kick out of the box he pulled from the closet that had the pink boxing gloves and other gag gifts from Marcus in it. But silly as it was, he wanted that box. In the end, he only had five boxes to contribute to the next days load.

Brigid and Shelby were busy boxing up things in her room when he looked in, and Cybil and Katey went in to help. Not feeling like pawing through her stuff, he left them to it and wandered down to his parent's room.

He stood in the doorway and looked, not going in. He'd never been comfortable in the room, though he'd often stood where he was and tried to remember his mother. The problem was, he didn't think she was in there, he didn't see anything that looked at all personal. It was like a motel room, with a sigh that he'd let out many times before, he turned away and went downstairs.

His father's office was another one of those rooms he didn't go into. It didn't affect him like the bedroom, it was just that he hadn't been allowed in there as a child, so tended to ignore it now. Stepping into it, he realized it was just a room, even the specter of his father was absent. Probably because he'd never really seen him in there.

On impulse, he went behind the desk and sat. The soft leather chair was perfect, leaning back in it, he looked around. The room felt expensive, like something you'd expect to see a bond villain in. That made him smile, his father could have been one. What really surprised him though, was the picture of his mother that lay on the corner of the desk, like someone had laid it over and forgotten it. In it, she was hugely pregnant. He was still holding it when Brigid found him to say there were sandwiches ready.

Marcus' first concern was putting the dry ice in the chest freezer, then he went looking for the flock, Cindy tagging along. She was sorry she had when the first one they ran into happened to be the ram, her first impression was that its horns weren't symmetrical, they curled back the same, but then seemed to have minds of their own, ending in odd angles from each other. Her second impression was that she knew how Fiachna's men felt, as the crazy looking creature did a couple of stiff-legged hops and came charging at them. She gladly ducked behind Marcus as he stepped between her and the demonic beast, but then Danny was there, darting smoothly around it, turning it with nips on its flanks, slipping easily aside when it tried to attack him. Cindy watched a little breathlessly as the he quickly drove the ram back towards the other sheep, and through to the other side, a path opening for them like magic in the sea of wool.

"Danny's a good one girl." Marcus told her with a grin. "He'll not let that old bastard get you." all she could do was nod and swallow.

Marcus decided the flock looked okay, if a little lazy after a few weeks with no dog. He was pleased to see that the three ewes that had been gravid when he left had managed to lamb without him. And he could see Cindy actually twitching to hold one of the lambs.

"They're not pets girl." He told her, but got one and handed it to her anyway. He'd never met a woman yet that didn't look happier with a lamb in her arms, and if he did, he thought he'd run like hell. He let her hold the lamb until its mother started getting agitated, then took the lamb back and set it down, giving it a little shove towards its dam.

From there, he went to see if the tractor was going to start, or if he needed to put the charger on it.

By dinner time, anything that was going into a box or suitcase, was pretty much done. Mason had talked Brigid into waiting until the movers got there with dollies before they tried to take the fridge out back. Luckily Marcus' fridge hadn't had anything perishable in it. They talked about going back into Charleston, but it had been a long day, so they settled for lying around on the floor at Marcus' watching Pink Panther movies.

Mason was surprised that Cybil just wanted to snuggle when they crawled into his old bed. But figured they'd make love in the morning. Morning found him alone though and when he went looking, the movers were just pulling in.

They loaded Marcus' stuff first, while Marcus actually worked with the car hauler, loading the Miata, followed by the tractor attachments. It went pretty fast since he had the pallet forks on the tractor. He loaded them while the driver strapped or chained stuff down. They chained the tractor down last, and that truck headed for Arlington.

When Marcus found that his little house was almost loaded as well, he went to see if his pickup was going to start. The old dodge turned over hard, but caught. And he backed the fifth wheel coupler under the king pin of the double-deck sheep trailer. It was going to be a long drive.

The only furniture going from the main house, was a vanity that Brigid had and Mason decided to take the chair and desk from the office. He figured he'd swap them out for the ones in his room at the hall. The chair was definitely better, and the desk just seemed to go with it. By ten thirty, that truck was loaded and headed out too.

Brigid and Mason did a last walk through both places, finally throwing the main breakers to shut down the electricity before locking them down. Brigid shed a few tears that were hastily wiped away, then joined the rest milling around out front. About the time Mason started to go find and help Marcus, the old truck and trailer came around the house.