THE ROCK CREEK
ADVENTUROUS TALES, PART 1
Simon Davenport is seated a top an enormous black stallion driving a herd of cattle from the grazing pastures into the corrals close to the barn. He shouts and hollers at the animals until every last one of them is snuggled in the corrals. The blinding dust from the stampeding cattle has Simon rubbing his eyes with his gloved hands that are also polluted with dirt. Simon watches as a ranch hand closes the corral gate shut and locks it, keeping the cattle inside from escaping. He leads his horse over to the barn doors and dismounts, giving the reins to another ranch hand. The ranch hand leads the black stallion into the barn, while Simon slaps the dust from his clothing.
Simon heads over to the ranch home that resembles a small mansion from a large eastern city. He lives in the home, but Oliver Anderson and his family own the home and the ranch. Simon is engaged to Oliver's younger daughter, Charlene, and he is expected to inherit the ranch once Oliver Anderson can no longer manage it.
Simon is six foot tall and every inch of him reminds you of a rugged cowboy. He has a muscular frame with broad shoulders and rough calloused hands. He is not afraid of hard work. His hair is sandy brown and cropped short. He has a mustache and a smallish amount of growth on his chin that can't really be considered a full groomed beard. It appears to be a forgotten ten days worth of stubble growth. He wears a typical cowboy hat along with a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. His eyes are a cold blue. His facial expression is harsh and stone like. He rarely offers a smile to anyone including his lovely fiancée.
Simon walks up to the steps leading to the front porch of the spacious home. He notices her sitting on the porch swing, but she doesn't bother to glance up from her novel letting him know she is aware of his presence. Charlene Anderson is his fiancée. She is sitting comfortably on the porch swing, swinging back and forth lightly while gazing through a novel.
Even through he believes she is unaware of his presence, she knows perfectly well that he is near. She swings her legs onto the swing to prevent Simon from sitting down on the swing next to her. His company she despises and the attention he makes her suffer through disgusts her.
Simon is determined to make this defiant woman obey is every whim and order. He reaches her by the swing. He gazes down at her shapely legs resting on the side of the swing where he should be sitting. Without a single word to his beautiful bride to be, he lifts her legs up high enough for him to squeeze underneath them, and seats himself on the swing next to her. He gladly rests her legs on his lap and places his arms over them.
Charlene makes an ugly face at his attempt of affection. She swiftly swings her legs back down until her feet are once again touching the wooden porch flooring. Her eyes refocus on her novel.
Simon is rather stunned by Charlene's actions. He watches her intensely as she swipes a flying strand of her golden hair away from her blue-green eyes. "I intend to win this battle sooner or later Charlene. Why don't you make it easy for the both of us and let me win sooner rather than later."
Charlene slams her novel shut and proceeds to halt the swing from swinging. Without a hint of warning, she is off the swing and turns to face Simon, who is still sitting on the still swing. "You may win the battle Simon, but I intend on winning the war. Why don't you make it easy on yourself, and surrender now," Charlene spoke with venom in her tone of voice. She swiftly turns on her heels and walks away from Simon's sight before he can retaliate with a response.
Simon's face breaks its normal stone appearance. A shrewd smile plays along the edges of his lips. She is starting to play the little games that he has been playing with her all along. She needs to be put in her place. She meant for her words to be threatening to him. Perhaps he should take the little vixen's words seriously. He wonders to himself if Oliver would allow his daughter to treat her future husband in the manner that she is becoming too accustomed to. A private conversation with her stringent father might just bring Charlene back to her obedient senses.
Charlene strolls into the study where she thought her father would be going over the financial books. Instead she finds her older sister, Hannah sitting at her father's marble top desk going through the ledgers of the Anderson Ranch.
Charlene walks into the study and shuts the door quietly behind her. "Did you acquire a new duty?"
Hannah tucks her long black hair behind her ears as she gazes up from her paperwork to look at Charlene from deep blue eyes. She takes her reading spectacles off her face and lays them gently down on the ledgers she had been thumbing through.
The two sisters look nothing alike. Hannah acquires her dark hair beauty from her mother. Charlene is an exact duplicate of her father. Both women though are blessed with sumptuous figures and intent on showing themselves off wearing the finest, and most expensive dresses money can buy.
The two sisters are both intelligent and witty. Intelligent enough to stand up and hold a conversation with the most intelligent of men. Witty enough to know the games some men play, and to play right along, not allowing the man to know she's out smarted him. Always let the man think he's victorious. That's the secret to keeping men content. While their guards are down because they are content, lash out at them like a panther stalking its prey.
One such man is actually Charlene and Hannah's father. The only real difference between their father and other men is that Oliver Anderson taught his daughter's how to outwit a man! It is extremely difficult to manipulate Oliver Anderson, he's played the game for too long, and his daughter's know it. In his case the girls are content to let their father spoil them with everything their hearts desire.
The evening hours are normally spent with their father. Neither sister seems to have much time for men with the exception of their father. He has taught both his daughters how to survive the ever-challenging game of life.
Hannah is wearing an everyday dress of marina blue with tiny white flowers throughout the fabric. The cuffs of the sleeves are made of embroidered white lace. The neckline is rounded and enhanced with the same embroidered white lace as the sleeves. The neckline is low and shows off her well-endowed bosom.
Charlene is wearing a crisp cotton dress in emerald green with an attached cream apron over the dress. The dress is made with a square neckline that is cut low to reveal her well-rounded cleavage. Her long blonde locks descend over the front of her dress and her breathless chest. She continues to breath heavily while talking to Hannah.
"Where's the fire sister?" Hannah asked slightly amused by Charlene's obvious intent of rushing into the house probably to escape Simon's clutches.
"Simon tracked me down again. I swear his nose is built like a bloodhound. He'd be able to find me if I were hundreds of miles away from him," Charlene complained loudly.
"He's been father's right hand man for six years now. He's becoming a master just like our father."
"Why did father have to insist on my becoming Simon's bride? Why couldn't father have chosen you for this terrible duty?" Charlene asked in a whiney voice.
"This isn't like you to act so defeated Charlene. Father taught you better than that. All you have to do is outwit Simon, and you'll be free of him."
"So you think father is testing me?"
"No. I think father wants his daughters to settle down, get married, and give him a few grandchildren before he dies. Unfortunately for you, Simon is always seeking father's approval. Which lead Simon to ask father for your hand in marriage. It's a game to Simon. He knows father wants his daughters to marry strong men, who are intelligent, hard-working, and won't take any back talk from his daughters."
"I am certainly not having any babies with Simon Davenport!" Charlene spoke with a sharp-tongue, her hands glued to her hips and her attitude becoming more unpleasant as each minute of the day passes by.
Hannah is slightly amused with her sister's displeasing predicament with Simon Davenport. The family, except for their father, deeply sees how tormented Charlene is becoming due to her upcoming nuptials with Simon. Their brother, Phillip Anderson, had even suggested that he could take Charlene far away from Rock Creek. Someplace where Simon Davenport would never find her. Charlene had agreed to the elaborate plan at first, but then the mere thought of having to stay away from her family for the rest of her life frightened her back to reality. There is absolutely no feasible way out of her marriage to a man that she can't even stand his touch. No, there definitely won't be any babies, unless Simon rapes her. That thought also has crossed her mind. He certainly has shown extreme patience in their unaffectionate relationship so far, but how long can a man lay in the same bed with a woman unable to have her. No, her only real hope is to convince her father that she deserves a better man for a husband than Simon Davenport.
Hannah can see her sister's mind working feverishly to find a solution to her problem. Hannah wonders, to herself, if Charlene has yet to contemplate murdering the poor man. Truth be known anything short of murdering Simon will not make her problem disappear. Hannah knows that her father thinks highly of Simon. He has already voiced his opinion countless times that Simon will be a good provider for Charlene, and not to mention an outstanding father to any children their union may present to the Anderson-Davenport family.
"Father can't see through Simon the way you and I can. We both know his past is a tale untold, or at least a truthful version of it," Hannah proclaimed softly not wanting anyone outside the study to hear her accusations of Simon.
"I believe Simon has his own agenda for wanting to marry me. He knows what he wants and nothing stands in his way of getting what he wants," Charlene spoke harshly about Simon.
Hannah reopens the ledgers before her on the desk. She places her spectacles back upon her face. "You need to find the hidden meaning for Simon wanting to marry you. I need to seriously attack these ledgers before father arrives back home, and I haven't finished sorting them out," Hannah spoke bluntly.
"Is that your way of shoving me out the door?" Charlene questioned meekly.
"Talk to Phillip. Perhaps he can come up with another plan besides hiding you away for life."
