*Ā frontierboundā : samuel silas.
āWhen it mattersāā¦to Samuelās mind it matters a hell of a lot more frequently than the loquacious Miss Ross judges it to, still he is not going to debate the matter with her, heās already learned that this child clearly has an answer for everything.
He watches as she stands beside the tree, stretching out her back in a way that suggests to him she is in some kind of pain.
āAināt you never ridden a pony for more than an hour?ā He laughs in disbelief, and while he does not intend for it to sound cruel or mocking, there is still a hint of it because thus far Mattie has made him feel like the less worldly of the two, despite the decades between them.
Standing up with a huff, he grabs her wrist and roughly tugs her forward.
āChrist almightyā¦come here.ā
Now standing on flat ground, he releases his grip and immediately encourages her to copy his movements. āArms up, right to the sky, reach āem up then out then bend and try nā touch your toesā¦like this.ā
Amusingly, when trying to touch his toes, Sam staggers to the side, but itās only the liquor and his still uncured hangover that causes the imbalance.
āNow sit on the ground, cross your legs and crawl forward with your hands until you feel like somethinās gonna give, gonna pop.ā
A rough instruction but one Sam knows will help to stretch out the youngers back.
āThen go fill up this canteen at the river.ā
This, of course, isnāt part of the lesson, Samās just feeling lazy and needs a drink of something other than gut-rot whiskey.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Somewhere, underneath the huffing and the stretching, Mattie can hear her motherās scold in her mindās eye. Her voice had a habit of going with her no matter howĀ far she ventured from home, and on this occasion it was tutting and naggingĀ about how a girl her age ought to not have many aches and pains. Mother hadnāt spent much time in a saddleĀ as far as she knew, and she found herself thinkingĀ that like it would chase the judgement from it.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā āI have never hadĀ to before. I have ridden on the back of a donkeyĀ for a few short minutes, but never for hours on end.ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā There had never been much need of it either. She helped her mother where she couldĀ and what she hadnāt spent with her had been spent handling her fatherās books and finances. She was very good with numbers and knew her way around a word or two, unbeknownst to her at the chagrin of any who came across her. When he tugs, Mattie has little choice but to follow.
Ā Ā Ā Ā For a long moment, she watches him with amusement. She would feel silly if she tried it, but with it only being the twoĀ of them this far outside of civilisation, she decides to trust his judgement. When she reaches her arms up, she feels the bones between her shoulders crack, and when she stoops to bend, her lower back does too. It provides a little relief from its ache. It helps enough that she moves to do the final position. She will not be sure that itās worked until she stands up.
Ā Ā Ā Ā For a long moment, the girl looks at the offered canteen, and then back to Samuel with the purseĀ of her lips.Ā āI will not. I am not here to fetch water, but if you are thatĀ thirsty, you might use the walk down to the riverĀ to sober up a little before we head off again.ā