HARD TIMES... change, but not for the better (Part 55a)


I had a couple of days before shipping the horses. Since I wasn’t going to race the three footed horse before leaving I had to give him a training session. When we race we use a little two wheel thing called a sulky to sit on since we don’t ride on the horse. When we’re training we use a more comfortable but, heavier, cart. I had just finished one of the four trips and was on my way back to the barn. It’s called “jogging” when the horse is going slow. I was jogging along with both my feet out of the stirrups and the next thing I knew the horse was down and I was up against the dash and in great pain. Luckily there were some horse people nearby and they ran over to sit on the head of the horse to keep him from trying to get up with the cart still attached. I managed to extract myself from the reins and the cart. I know I was in a lot of pain but my thoughts were on getting the horse up. We had to undo the cart and the only way to do that was to take the harness off the horse. Once done we tried to get the horse up but it was obvious that there was a major problem. The foot that had been "nerved" wasn’t pointing in the right direction. One of the men ran off to call for a veterinarian. When he got there he gave me the worst news a horseman can hear. He’d fractured his ankle and would have to be euthanized. I asked if there was anything that could be done to save him and he was sympathetic, but said “no”. The only thing I really remember was seeing this canvas screen being placed around him and hearing a muffled sound. By then I could hardly walk. My ribs were sore and my lower back was just throbbing in pain and I had to call AJ to let him know. Technically it was his horse and that made it even worse. I don’t remember any of the conversation. All I wanted was to do something about the pain. I didn’t have any health insurance but the pain was so great I didn’t have any choice but go to a doctor. I had Asa drive me. Other than some pain pills he didn’t do much. He told me that I should rest and that would be the best thing. The problem with that was that if I didn’t work I didn’t get paid. Thankfully, Asa could jog the two remaining horses and I did try to rest as much as I could until Saturday when we were to ship the horses to Boston.

Any time a horse is "put away" at a race track, word gets around quickly. Even though I hadn't made any really good friends there were a number of trainers who stopped by. One was Dan, the trainer who had made a broad offer of a job to me when the Grand Circuit was at the other track. This time he made a much stronger, but not detailed, offer and told me if I was the least bit interested to call him by the middle of the upcoming month. I hadn't taken him seriously the first time but he did get my attention this time.

The pain wasn’t as severe when I started to get the trailer ready to move it. George, my neighbor, and his daughter came over and did the unblocking of it. I have one lasting memory of Ellen and that was after her father had jacked the trailer up a bit and she squatted down to pull the wooden wedges out. I got a really good DP (downpants). I just wished that I’d actually had more chances to see what kind of panties she wore while I was at the track. George hitched the trailer to the car for me and wished me luck.

The trip itself wasn’t all that bad. It was when I had to get out of the car that I felt it. As I pulled up to the gate the guy there told me I couldn’t bring the trailer inside. I was in no mood to be told that. I was probably just a bit “testy”. I was told that since the track was inside the Boston city limits it was not allowed. Without going into all the details I’ll just say that I was finally allowed to park it in the compound where the horse vans were stored. The “deal” was that it had to be parked right up tight to the fence with the door facing it. Now I had to find a place to stay. What made that even worse was that AJ hadn’t arrived and he had my pay for the week.

I don’t remember what the reason was why he was late in getting there but the short end of the story was that I slept in my car, bad back and all. On top of that there was a thunder storm with almost torrential rains. If you’ve ever been in a convertible when it rains you know how loud it can get. By dawn I was exhausted. In all, we had 14 horses with 12 on one side of the barn. The other two were stabled in the middle of the facing barn. It was still raining so all I could do was to just see that the horses were fed and watered... and wait for AJ.

While standing there (it hurt less to stand) a young blond man came up and introduced himself. His name was Eugene and he and his father had the other horses stabled with the two odd horses we had. They were from Delaware and this was the farthest from home he’d ever been. The family raised chickens and raced horses as a hobby. Normally they raced at tracks in Delaware that were close by to their farm. The season there was almost over and when they heard how much the purses (the money paid) were in Boston decided to give it a try. Eugene told me that he wanted to race horses for a living and this was a really big thing for him. I liked him right away even though I felt he was a bit of a “rube”.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54j)

I was looking forward to the Grand Circuit arriving. It seemed like there was ”electricity“ in the air what with the big name stables and their famous trainer/drivers. Even with the poor performance with the two year old in his last start I was looking forward to racing him against some of the best in his class. I was worried about drawing for post position because, on a half mile track, things are a lot tighter and an inside position would not have been good for him. I was afraid he’d act up with horses all around him. I needed not to worry as they ended up with eleven horses entered. Since they starting gate could only accommodate eight horses it meant that three of them would have to start behind them. I was so happy to draw position ten. It meant that I’d be able to take him back and get him to the rail early.

I knew the owner would be there and entered his other horse. What I didn’t expect was to have AJ there as well. He decided to drive the other horse which upset me a bit as he’d raced so well for me. But, the boss is always the boss. The other horse raced before I did and didn’t do all that well. I don’t remember much about it as I was focused on my race. I wasn’t as intimidated by the reputations of the other drivers as last time which helped to keep me calm. When the race started I did just as I planned. I held him back and quickly got over to the inside rail. There were a lot of horses ”parked out“ (It means they had to race a whole lane from the inside rail making them have to travel a further distance) which was good for me. I just had to have patience and hope that I’d find a way to get to the outside when we got to the head of the stretch heading for the finish line. Patience for a twenty three year old novice driver is not easy to find. I waited and waited and finally I had a chance to pull out at the 3/4 pole. It was earlier than I’d wanted but... When I got to the head of the stretch I pulled him out into the middle of the track and just turned him loose. I knew we were ”flying“ as I passed a bunch of horses on the inside of me. When we crossed the finish line I wasn’t sure where we’d finished. When I came back to be excused by the finish wire judge I saw that we were in a photo finish for 3rd. I also saw we were around 70 to 1, really long odds. It took what seemed like an eternity before they announced that there was a ”dead heat“ for third which meant the judges couldn’t determine a clear separation. I was in another planet! (9).

The owner was beside himself. Here was his home-bred, racing against some of the best two year old horses in the country, finishing third. As I readied to take him back to the barn to ”cool him out“ I saw the same famous trainer who had spoken to AJ and the owner the first time we raced walk up to the owner and start to talk to him. I didn’t hear what was said this time but he appeared to really be interested in the horse. I wondered what would become of that.

Back at the barn AJ congratulated me. It was rare for him to offer up much in the way of criticism or praise so it caught me by surprise. It didn’t take him long to get to the real point of his visit. He told me that he was shipping to another track located in Boston. It was a running horse track that had decided to try harness racing. AJ told me that it was just a month long ”test“ for them and it was to see the public interest. They hadn’t gotten a good response from trainers so, to induce them to ship there, they were offering some really good money for the purses. It was somewhere around 50% more than we’d raced for all Summer. AJ, who’d not had a good season, was hoping to do well there. I heard what he was telling me but, on a personal level, it meant the end of my ”independence“. Since two of the three horses had raced that night AJ told me not to enter the other horse and to be prepared to ship on Saturday.

That news took all of the excitement from doing so well with the two year old away. When I got back to my trailer I just sat on the step wondering what the new track would be like and how I’d adapt to no longer being my own ”boss“. I’ll admit that I was hoping for a ‘show” from Ellen but the lights were out and didn’t come on before I finally went inside.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54i)

During supper, where he grilled hamburgers on a charcoal grill in the little yard that we shared, I found out the he was divorced and that his daughter, Ellen, spent Summers with him working as a groom. I was more than pleased that I got to see a very nice DP (downpants) and VPL (visible panty line) while we ate. It was like a private ”welcome“ just for me. I left looking forward to more than just racing the horses.

It was probably Wednesday the next time I saw Ellen. I was coming back to the trailer to take my afternoon nap and I saw her hanging wash on the line between the two trees in out shared yard. At first I just waved at her but when I realized that there were panties on the line I stopped. Seeing the wash also triggered the thought that I was going to have to do my own. I walked towards her and glancing quickly at the panties, asked where the laundry was. She turned away from the wash and pointed towards a second gate. While she did this I took a closer look at the panties. All three were of a different color. I don’t remember exactly what colors but what I do remember was that there were days of the week embroidered on them. As she turned back towards me I diverted my eyes from the panties. But she then bent over to get more wash from her basket and I got another DP. I was really liking this!

AJ wanted me to train the 2 year old once on the half mile track before entering him in a race. That meant I had to wait a week. I got to race the three footed horse and as I remember it, finished third with him. The first time I raced the other horse, owned by the same man who owned the 2 year old, I drove a very poor race and finished way back. I was especially mad at myself because I’d talked down the owner’s ability and hadn’t done any better than he had. I was really looking forward to racing the two year old as he had trained really well.

By the end of that week I hadn’t seen as much of Ellen as I’d hoped. I’d been going to the races each night to observe, trying to get a handle on how to race on a half mile track. I didn’t want to make the same error that I’d made with that one horse. By the time I got back to my trailer the lights were usually out in George’s trailer. It was on Sunday that I decided to go ”exploring“ in the surrounding area. I took off after feeding the horses that afternoon and found a lake and spent some time there, reminiscing about all the things I liked about being near water. It was dark and probably around 10pm when I got back to the track. It was very humid so I decided to sit outside on the step. I was looking right across the yard at George’s trailer and could see a dim light on inside. The curtain was open and all of a sudden I saw Ellen, braless and in her panties, walk past the window. That caught my attention and answered the question as to her "shape". I sat there waiting for her to return. Unfortunately, she didn’t. But how could I complain. I didn’t get to see much of her panties but the braless view more than made up for it.

I was hyped up to race the 2 year old and when the night finally arrived I was a nervous wreck. Everything went well until we were called up to the starting gate. I distinctly remember we were number 7 which, on a half mile track, usually isn’t good. But I was happy because it would allow me to pull him back off the gate fairly easily. The problem arose as we approached the gate. The arm wouldn’t swing out. After a number of tries to force it into place they went to get the auxiliary gate. In the meantime all the horses were just walking around in circles on the track. As I’ve mentioned, my 2 year old wasn’t all that happy around other horses and I could see he was getting agitated. By the time the replacement gate appeared on the track he was in a frenzy and I couldn’t really control him. I should’ve taken him back to the paddock and had the veterinarian ”scratch“ him from the race but I didn’t. When we reached the starting line he was on a dead run and we’d gone almost a quarter mile before I got control of him. After the race I got called into the office of the track judge where he told me I’d have to qualify him again before he’d be allowed to race. I protested trying to explain that it wasn’t his fault but they weren’t listening. I was really upset.

I did manage to finish second with the horse that I’d driven so poorly the first time I’d raced him. In reality, I should’ve won but it was still a big improvement. I don’t remember the second race for the three footed horse. As far as the 2 year old was concerned, AJ told me to skip the qualifying race and just wait for the Grand Circuit race. As a pre entered horse, the track could not prevent him from racing. It made me feel a lot better.

George had some friends over for a cookout the following Sunday and also invited me and the guy in the third trailer in our triangle. Because of the age of the people I didn’t think I’d see anything of Ellen but I was wrong. She was wearing what I’d noted to be her preference, shorts and a sleeveless shirt tied in the middle. George had asked (required) her to stick around to keep the guests supplied with food and drink. I was certainly happy about it. Over the course of the afternoon I got plenty of ”views“. By the time it was dark I was pretty drunk and most everyone had gone. I ended up back inside my trailer and fell asleep on the sofa. When I woke up I knew I was going to puke so just opened the door and stumbled out. When I finished I just sat on the step. It was like deja-vu as I saw Ellen, topless again, walk past the window. The sight of her like that certainly helped to sober me up. The best part was when, this time, she walked back from where she’d come from. She was totally engrossed in something and, thank goodness, totally unaware of my presence.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54h)

I know I was excited about the next day and the move to the new track and being on my own. But it was the thought of those panties, just sitting there on the sink, that kept me awake. The alarm went off at 5:30am. I was supposed to be ready to load up the horses at 6am. I picked up the last of my things and stuffed them into my pillow case and headed for the bathroom as I left. When I walked in I saw that both items were still in the same place as I’d left them. Without a lot of thought I grabbed them both, stuffed them into my pillow case and headed downstairs for the car and trailer. It was already hitched up and ready to go and go I did. Based upon what Elle had told me Lisa was seldom up and out of bed before 10am and I knew I’d be more than halfway to the next track by that time.

It was probably about that time when it came to me that once Lisa realized that the items were missing that she wouldn’t really have a hard time in tracking me down. I knew that she and Elle had talked quite a bit and that she had enough information to track me back to AJ. To say that the last part of the trip was a bit uncomfortable is putting it mildly.

Once I drove though the gate into the track my thoughts changed to the horses. I was totally impressed with the track right from the start. It was more like a park than a race track. I had one groom (Asa) to help me which meant that I had to do groom work as well. It was early afternoon by the time we had everything squared away. Asa was ready to eat but I still had to get the trailer in place. I’d been given a map when I’d signed in and as I followed it I found myself even more impressed with the track. Unlike the way the trailers had been placed at the other track (all in one row) they were ”clustered“. There were anywhere from three to six of the full house trailers in a group and each group had trees and grass. For the camp trailers like mine it was somewhat the same. My spot was with two others and were set up in a triangle formation. In the middle were two trees and a patch of grass. As I drove up I saw a clothes line with some towels blowing in the wind. It was set up so that the entry door was facing into the middle (grassy area) of the triangle. I liked it. Because this was my first venture with a unit like this I was a bit out of my element when it came to getting it set in place. Harry had given me some cement block to help stabilize it but I didn’t have a jack that could help me get it level. All I had to work with was the jack on the tongue of the trailer itself. I was struggling when I heard a voice with a heavy city accent behind me. It was George, a trainer I’d met at Harry’s barn earlier in the season.

George had pretty much sized up the situation and arrived with just what I needed... a bottle jack, some wood to use as wedges and a level. In a matter of minutes the trailer was in place, stable and level. George helped me connect to the electric and water and I was good to go. There were no sewer facilities in this area and since I didn’t have a toilet it didn’t really matter. My trailer was really just ”bare bones“. I didn’t have a refrigerator but I had a real old fashioned ice box. There was a place for a block of ice and room for just a few items. I’d determined that it was adequate enough for me. There was a sink and two gas burners. Water from the sink just drained out into the ground. As you walked in there was what passed for a sofa. It folded out to make a double bed but the problem with that was that with it down you had to crawl over it to get out or in. There was a small closet just to the right of the door. In the back was a booth like affair with a table much like you found in diners of the day. The table could be removed and placed between the two bench seats and with the cushions placed just right it made into another bed. I decided that was the way to go. I decided to reuse the sheets that had been on the bed in the apartment. As I dumped out the things I'd stuffed into the pillow case I saw Lisa's panties that I taken earlier in the morning. I opened them up and saw the label "Argo Knit" on the outside. I was happy. I also opened up the other "ball" that I'd taken. It was Lisa's bra. The label read "Maidenform" 34 B which was the same size that Elle wore. I decided to set them aside and do something with them later.

All I had in the way of food from the apartment was a few half filled boxes of cereal and a jar of peanut butter. I figured the first stop I needed to make was to a grocery store and with directions from George headed for town. A quick drive through told me it was basically the size of the town where my grandparents lived. It was very much like the racetrack with a lot of landscaping and very clean. I located a store and was lucky to find block ice at the same place. Feeling very proud of myself I headed back. Once there I felt pretty foolish. I found I hadn't thought to buy a pot, can opener, dishes or utensils. It had been my stomach doing the thinking. I figured why not ask George if I could borrow them until I could get back to town. When the door to George’s trailer opened it took my breath away. Standing in front of me was this pretty girl with jet black hair down to her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of light blue shorts and a blouse that had probably been one of George’s dress shirts with the sleeves torn off and the shirttails tied in a knot right in the middle of her stomach. Because it was so big on her it was impossible to see her ”shape“. I was certainly not expecting anything like that. When I caught my breath I asked for George and she invited me in. The trailer was much like the one that I’d rented at the end of the previous season with a real room in the back part of it. George was sitting at the built in table and formally introduced me to his 16 year old daughter. I don’t know what the look on my face was but I do remember thinking that she looked more like 26 than 16. After I asked if I could borrow the things I needed he invited me to eat supper with them. He also asked if I wanted to go to the paddock with him that night as he had a horse racing. I remember thinking how lucky I was to have had my trailer placed there.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54g)

Even though I’d seen Lisa a few times during that week I’d been so frazzled that I don’t think I peeked in her room even once. I spent Sunday afternoon packing my things and immediately found the new trailer to be a big help. Lisa stopped by during her break and seeing her in her uniform made me think about the first time I’d seen her and how I’d followed her up the stairs. She asked if she could help and, thinking about that episode, said yes. It was the third time up the stairs that I got what I was looking for... a real time, moving, panty peek. As I’ve mentioned, the only panties I’d seen of hers were “common” cotton and I’d pretty much determined had been worn when she had her period. But these were band leg and because of the breeze blowing up the stairwell I got a good look at both cheeks and she filled them out very well. When the last of what I’d packed was loaded Lisa said she was going to go sit out back. Having been “stimulated” by the sight of her panties I decided that I would actually take a chance and go into her room and take a look in her dresser drawers. I hit “paydirt” on the second drawer. It was obvious that she was very precise as there were separate piles for each type of undergarment... slips, bras, and panties. Panties were my focus and I found three piles. The most obvious one had the band leg panties like what I'd seen her wearing. It wasn’t just that they were band leg that made them stand out. It was that they were obviously new. I carefully picked up the top pair and held it up and saw something I’d never seen before. The label was on the outside. It read “Argo Knit” with the size (S-5) listed below. What impressed me was the size of the crotch from front to back. I was sure that they would show a very noticeable VPL whenever she wore shorts. I flipped though the rest of the pile and found 4 more, all appearing to be new. After folding the pair I’d inspected back up and placing it back in the drawer I checked the next pile. They were similar to the ones I’d checked out hanging on the clothes rack except they seemed to be newer. There was a small label on the inside but it was totally blank and they had leg elastic. Again, I’d describe them as “common’. It was the ”Argo Knit“ panties that intrigued me. They were very similar to the ”Lollipop“ band leg panties that I’d seen any number of times before. I probably spent no more than two or three minutes in her room but I didn’t want to take a chance on being caught so I went back to my room.

I ended up at the restaurant around 7pm, wondering why the owner wanted to meet with me. I wasn’t about to turn down a free meal, especially at a nice restaurant. His wife was with him which made it doubly uncomfortable for me. As we were being led to our table I saw Lisa heading towards us. After a few words with the maitre d’ he changed direction and we followed. Lisa had asked him to seat us in her area. I kind of liked that. After some small talk the owner showed his hand and started asking questions about AJ. I had mentioned that I felt the reason I got to drive some of the horses that I did was that AJ was somewhat afraid of them. I got the impression that the owner felt that AJ wasn’t driving his horses aggressively enough. Truthfully, I felt the same but loyalty to AJ prevented me from verbally agreeing. It was a very uncomfortable situation and I was certainly glad to see Lisa arrive with our food.

Lisa had mentioned that Sunday evenings were fairly slow as the main attraction was the brunch. By the time we finished there were very few people left in the restaurant and it was only around 9pm. I said my goodnight to the owner and his wife and walked across the street headed for the apartment. It was still very warm and at the last minute decided to go out back to the stream. I’d only occasionally had the opportunity to spend time out there by myself and this would be my last time. Elle had often sat at the edge of the stream with her feet in the water to help her cool off. I decided to try it. I dragged one of the chairs over and actually into the stream and with my shoes off, relaxed. I actually fell asleep.

It was Lisa who woke me up by calling out asking who was out there. When I responded she joined me. She asked what I was doing there and I answered by asking what she was doing there. She said that she would often come out there after work, especially on the hot, humid nights. Then, she sort of chastised me saying that if I wasn’t there she’d be getting out of her uniform to go for a ”dip“. Just hearing her say that started a bulge in my pants. I told her that she was welcome to go ahead and that it wouldn’t bother me at all. She laughed. I’d had a number of conversations with Elle asking about why girls were so concerned about guys seeing them in their underwear. It was my thought that it was basically the same thing when they wore a bathing suit, especially the new bikini style that was just becoming popular. Elle’s response wasn’t really an answer saying that it was ”just different.“ I asked Lisa basically the same thing and, because all we had was ambient light, I couldn’t really see the expression on her face. As I remember it she sort of hemmed and hawed but then suddenly started unbuttoning the front of her uniform. The slight bulge quickly became a large bulge. She was actually doing a strip standing right next to me. I watched her pull the uniform up and over her head but all I got to see was her slip. As soon as she had the uniform off she started out into the stream. As I’d mentioned earlier, Mrs M’s son in law had dug out the middle of the stream to make a small pool like area. It only took a few steps for her to be in up to her thighs and, at that point, she pulled the slip over her head an squatted down into the water. I only got to see a bit of the top of her panties before they (and she) slipped under the water. I have no idea what we talked about but it wasn’t long before she started moving back towards the edge of the stream. Even though it was fairly dark, I remember that her bra seemed to be illuminated as she rose out of the water. My attention quickly focused on what was below that and I saw more and more of her panties with each step she took. Once on firm footing she grabbed her uniform and held it up in front of her. I had visions of following her as we went up the stairs but she quickly put an end to those thoughts. She asked me to stay and wait for her to get upstairs. There wasn’t much I could say. The bulge soon disappeared as I waited to head upstairs. Once there I did check down the hall and saw that the bathroom door was closed. I waited at my door for her to leave and when I saw her dash across the hall to her room I headed in. I used the toilet and was washing my hands when I saw two little balls of material behind the knobs for the faucets. I picked up one and saw it was her panties. I quickly balled it back up and put it back where I’d found them. From there I headed for bed.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54f)

The following week is just a blur in my memory. I’ve tried to put all that happened into the proper sequence but to much happened in a very short period of time that I couldn't. So what I’ve done is to just put down the events.

The most significant was when AJ took me aside to tell me that he was sending me with three horses to a half mile track about 3 hours to the East. At first I thought he was kidding but he just wasn’t that type of a person. I knew that the 2 year old that I was training and racing was entered in a Grand Circuit race at that track but I had assumed that we would just truck him over and back. AJ told me that he wanted him to get used to a half mile track (the track we were at was 3/4 mile). He wanted him to be in a race before the “big” race and that the best way was to ship him to the track and then just stay there. As much of a shock as that was it was a bigger shock when he told me about one of the other two horses that I’d be in charge of. The two year old was owned by the man who had fancied himself as a “driver“ and whom I’d pretty much ”dissed“. It was his idea to send the horse he’d been driving so that both his horses would be together. AJ had then added the ”three footed” horse that I’d been racing as he felt that he was actually better suited to a half mile track. Whatever the reasons, I was excited. AJ still had to work out the details so I didn’t know when I’d be on my way.

The first person I told about my good fortune was Harry. I stopped at his barn when I was on my way to the apartment for my afternoon nap. It was obvious that he was happy for me but he also put somewhat of a damper on my excitement. The track was located in a resort area and also was home to a running horse track (think Kentucky Derby). There was a distinct shortage of reasonable priced places to stay. After some discussion he gave me a suggestion to think about. He offered to sell me a 16 foot camp trailer at his cost with a guaranteed buy back if I didn’t want to keep it. All he wanted was $200 down. My first reaction was to say “no, but thanks anyway” but I didn’t. I needed all the money I could come up with because of the new baby that was due. As I was leaving he told me about his “big news” and that was that his nephew, Levi, was going to drive in his first races. He was to drive a couple of Harry’s horses at the same fair that I’d raced at the previous Summer. I was hoping that I’d be able to be there but Harry didn’t know the schedule.

When I got to the apartment Mrs M was waiting for me with a message to call Elle. I did, right away, and got another shock. We’d anticipated that the baby would be born around November 1st. Elle had gone to her new Doctor and he told her that she was going to have the baby around the 1st of October, a month earlier that expected. That news certainly explained why she was a big as she was. It meant that there was only 6 weeks until the baby arrived.

As I stated above, there was a LOT going on in a VERY short period of time. Money, and my lack of it, was certainly central in my thought process. Of course I was excited about going off on my own but Harry’s warning about the lack of affordable housing put a damper on that. Then there was the question of where I’d be located with the horses when the baby was actually due. The more I thought about the offer for trailer the better it looked. So, without a nap that afternoon I went looking for Harry.

Getting the trailer to the track was not a problem. The problem was getting a trailer hitch put on the car. I’d mentioned the service garage that was located just outside the rear gate for the track. It was where I’d taken Pat’s (the track photographer) car when she “cooked” the motor. I had to start somewhere so that’s where I went. As I walked inside the building I couldn’t help but notice a race car parked near the back door. That caught my attention right away. Of course I had to go look at it. It was somewhat similar to the one I’d had but with one major difference. Where I was used to old Ford “flathead” engines, this car had a much newer type V8 Chevrolet engine. Just seeing the car brought back memories of home. The car belonged to the son of the owner. As I explained what I needed for my car I told him that I’d owned a race car and where I’d raced it. He suddenly became very friendly and told me he’d come up with something.

I was pretty much resigned to not getting any money back on the rent for the apartment. I had to prepay each month and with the season winding down there wasn’t a lot of demand for rooms. Basically, the room rentals were the only income Mrs M had. When I told her that I’d be leaving she was very sad. She and Elle had become friends and I, certainly, knew of all the little thing that she did to help us. But she offered to return the portion without being asked. The amount was enough to pay for the trailer hitch, license plates and the extra insurance required.

It was at the end of the week that AJ got confirmation on the stalls at the track I’d be going to. We decided that I’d be on my way first thing the following Monday. Once I knew the date I started telling people including the B’s, my friends up in the clubhouse. They were excited for me and made me promise that I’d stop by their table that Saturday night. When I finally got there I found that they’d set up a small party for me. Among those who were there were a couple of AJ’s owners who I’d introduced to them. One of them made me promise to stop over at the restaurant across the street from the apartment on Sunday evening. I wasn’t comfortable with it but if there was one thing I’d learned about the business was not to say “no” to an owner.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54e)

As far as racing was concerned I was having what could best be described as ”marginal success“. I got a couple of 3rd place finishes with the three footed horse and a 2nd and a 3rd with my grandfather’s horse. The two year old was getting better behaved and that was good as his first race was coming up. In harness racing they have a special series of races each Summer called the Grand Circuit. Horses are nominated for these special races at the time of their birth. The purses (the dollars that they race for) are much larger than 95% of the regular races so there is a lot of attention paid to them. The Grand Circuit was scheduled for their week at the track in the middle of July. The highlights of the week was in seeing many famous drivers and some really good horses. The owner of my two year old (the one who decided to drive his own horse) had entered him in one of the special races scheduled for the week. I was sure AJ would take over the driving duties just because of the prestige of the week but he said I would drive. I was very nervous leading up to the race because I would be competing against some really expensive (and good) horses and very famous trainer/drivers. There was also the fact that the horse had not competed in a night race that I had to factor in.

On opening night of the Grand Circuit the owner who was driving his own horse caused a big wreck. No horse was hurt and the other drivers escaped with just bruises. The officials suspended his license which was way overdue in my mind. I know it made AJ happy. In spite of what I’ve written about the man he actually liked me. When it came time to race the two year old I think he was more nervous than I. Harry, even though he didn’t have a horse to race on that night, came just to wish me luck. Without Andy as a mentor, I’d turned to Jackson, who was having a very good year, and he told me to just ease my horse back from the gate at the start and get to the rail and then see what I could get during the last quarter mile. It was good advice. I was last for the first three quarters and then pulled out and just let him go through the stretch. I ended up finishing 5th which doesn’t sound like much. But when you look at the whole picture... it was the very first race for the horse... he was racing against some of the best two year old horses in the country... I was still a ”rookie” driver... and the horse earned more money for finishing 5th than if he’d won a regular race for two year olds at the track... it was a very successful outing. But the best part was yet to come...

One of the competing trainer/drivers in the race came up to me (and AJ and the owner) after the race and wanted to know more about the horse. I’d gone past him like his horse was standing still and he was truly impressed. I was so excited during the race that I neglected to start the split timer on my stopwatch to see how fast he'd gone that last quarter of a mile. The owner volunteered that if the race was another 100 feet or so that I would’ve been second or third. In any case, the famous trainer and driver left saying that if the owner wanted to sell the horse he’d be interested. To say that I was excited was putting it mildly. It was a bigger thrill than winning my first race.

Another trainer/driver that was there for the Grand Circuit was Dan, the man my friend Alida (from my first season with AJ) had sold her good horse to. He had a number of good two and three year old horses entered and after my big night came up to me and also asked about the two year old. The fact that a couple of big name trainers had taken notice made me feel really good. In Dan's case, he made a point of talking to me a couple of other times and, in a round about way, inquired if I might be interested in making a change in jobs. There was nothing concrete but it gave my ego a boost just to know someone had been watching me and had made an inquiry. When the week was over I was sorry to see all the big names leave.

The heat of the Summer was getting to Elle. She was much bigger than in her first pregnancy and her wetting was worse than the last time. The baby was growing and into everything. It was a good thing that Mrs M and Margie were so nice. Lisa was also a big help. Elle needed to take a nap each afternoon just as I did. One or the other of them would look after the baby so we could get some rest. Finally, in early August, Elle decided that she wanted to go home. We’d planned that she’d have the baby there and was originally going home when we shipped out to New Hampshire in September. I didn’t argue because she was pretty miserable to live with. I worked it out with AJ to do it over a weekend. We’d managed to put some money away for the delivery and with Elle living with her parents would save even more money.

We left for home after I got through my training chores on a Saturday and got home late that night. It was a miserable trip as the baby fussed most of the way and Elle basically sat in a puddle most of the way. I stayed until early Sunday afternoon and got to visit with my grandparents. That turned out to be very good. He’d already planned for Elle to be home to have the baby. He made arrangements with a Doctor friend of his to take care of Elle and the birth. Elle wasn’t so sure about it as she'd wanted to talk with some of her friends that still lived in the area as to who she should go to. She understood the money factor so kept her mouth shut. It turned out that the doctor was the uncle of MJ, my friend from when I went to school in the city, and had a very good reputation. I headed back feeling pretty good.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54d)

I got another surprise from AJ the following week. A new horse had been added to the stable and AJ had put me in charge of training him. He needed to be ”qualified“ (meaning he had to show that he could go a mile, in a race, in at least 2 minutes, 12 seconds). I looked over his ”papers“ and saw that he really wasn’t much of a racehorse. But like I said before, I was willing to drive anything. I got him qualified the first try and entered him in a betting race as soon as I could get him in. He was in the lowest class (C-3) racing for the least amount of money but it didn’t matter to me.

I was really excited the night of his first race. It was the first time that I was listed in the program as ”Trainer“. I didn’t expect a lot but I certainly didn’t expect what I got.
Since the majority of the races were at night we raced under lights and at the finish line there were a special bank of lights that lit up the width of the track to aid the photo finish cameras. I don’t remember where I was as far as position was concerned (maybe 6th) when we reached that point. But, when he reached the bright band of lights he tried to jump over it. It scared the shit out of me. When he came down he stumbled and almost went down. I don’t know how I stayed on the sulky (the little cart behind the horse where the driver sits). It wasn’t until I got back to the paddock that I could breath normally.

As frightening as that was it was soon replaced by a mild kind of euphoria. I won with my grandfather’s horse. I was surprised that I wasn’t more excited. AJ soon added another horse for me to train and race. It was 2 year old who had shown some exceptional speed but was rather unruly on the track, distracted by other horses. Looking back on it now I know what what AJ was doing. Horses that he was afraid of were shunted off to me (with the exception of my grandfather’s horse). I didn’t care. It was all a learning experience and I wasn’t intimidated by it.

Harry shipped his horses in to the track the middle of June. His nephew, Levi, had been "promoted" and was now listed as an Assistant Trainer and was going to try and get his drivers license. I was excited for Levi but recognized that my chances to get to race any of Harry's horses were much diminished. When I stopped at their barn, located at the old fairgrounds, I was introduced to Georgie, another trainer/driver stabled there. As soon as he opened his mouth it was obvious that he was born and raised in the city. Not only that but he talked a mile a minute which made it doubly hard to understand him. It wasn't Georgie that caught my whole attention. It was the girl who appeared to be working for him. Without a doubt she was a "looker". I would've liked to have spent more time finding out about the two of them but I had a horse waiting to get out onto the racetrack. I knew there would be more time in the future.

It was in early July that I finally got my chance to see Margie’s panties up close. The area we were in was known for Summer thunderstorms. They would blast in with wind and fury for a short time and then leave with sunshine soon reappearing. On this one particular day a storm came in right before lunch and drenched everything. When I got to the house I saw clothes still on the line and knew it was Margie’s day for washing. Mrs M usually took Margie’s clothes in on those occasions and I thought it was strange that they were still there. Elle told me that they had gone somewhere for the day. I tried to think of a reason to go back downstairs to take a look but couldn’t. I could only hope that they wouldn't be back by the time I was ready to head back to the track. I know I didn’t nap all that well thinking of the opportunity to finally see the panties.

When I got to bottom of the stairs I knocked on Mrs M’s door. Usually it was open but I wanted to make sure she wasn’t there. With no answer I became emboldened and headed for the other side of the house. As I approached it I could see that the wind had blown some items off the line and into the back yard. The first thing I came to was a pair of what were obviously Mrs M’s panties, just from the size of them. I looked out towards the grove of trees and saw other items as well. I headed that way and found some of Margie’s daughter’s clothes. Finally, I found what I was looking for draped against a bush. I’d taken far more time than I’d intended and was worried that Elle would wonder why I hadn’t left so just grabbed them and stuffed them into my pocket. Thank goodness they were just damp. One nice feature of nylon panties is that they dry fairly quickly.

I didn’t look at them until I got to the barn. I went for the label first. Mojud, size 5. It was a fairly familiar label for me. They were plain, just like the other Mojud panties I'd previously come across. They didn’t have any noticeable staining in them which told me they were probably fairly new. As I studied them I thought back to the night I’d seen the lot of them hanging on the line and hadn’t gone over to take a look. I consoled myself saying that Summer still had a long way to go.

I’d not had a lot of luck in seeing much of Lisa, the waitress. Elle rarely went anywhere and was satisfied to take the baby out back in the afternoons to give me some peace and quiet. Elle had only used her to look after the baby a few times when she and Mrs M had gone food shopping. I don’t remember exactly when I finally got a peek into her room. The one thing that struck me was that she had a folding clothes rack set up over by her window. I didn’t see any clothes on it but it was a signal that she would hang some of her wash on it from time to time. On this one day I came home for lunch only to find Lisa out in the yard with the baby. I stopped and chatted for a few seconds noting only that her shorts weren’t as short as Margie’s. I went upstairs and as I went into the bathroom saw that her door was open and that there were clothes hanging on the rack. I know I didn’t hesitate as I walked in and saw three pair of panties blowing back and forth. As I looked at them I could see Lisa and the baby in the yard. I picked up one pair and saw they were cotton. I went to find the label and was disappointed in not finding one. I spread them out and saw that they were obviously her "period panties" as the were blood stains on the leg elastics. They weren’t special in any way. I classified them as ”common“ and probably purchased at a ”Woolworth’s“ or another 5 and 10 cent store. I hung them back up without looking at the other two pair. I left feeling somewhat disappointed.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54c)

The two other renters had moved in and Elle had met them both. She seemed to be at ease about the man after meeting him. The girl was a mystery to me though. Any time I was around she wasn’t. Elle described her as being very nice and very good with kids. Our daughter went right to her even though she was a complete stranger. It was the same with Margie’s kids. Elle said it was amazing. By then we’d been there for almost four weeks and Mrs M still wasn’t accepted that well by our daughter. The girl’s name was Lisa and she'd volunteered to babysit Monday through Thursday from 1 to 4pm at which time she had to report for work. Even though I was usually there during those hours I was usually taking a nap. But I made a note to keep my eyes open for her.

AJ gave me a chance to actually race a couple of horses at the end of the first full week of racing. It certainly picked up my spirits even though the results weren’t all that good. One of the horses belonged to my grandfather and I sort of knew that he was behind me getting to drive it. The other was a horse that had been in the stable for over a year and owned by a man who was really slow in paying AJ. The horse had a hoof problem and if he wasn’t racing (and winning money) AJ wasn’t going to get paid. In a desperation move AJ had a veterinarian ”nerve“ the offending hoof. It meant that the horse would no longer be able to feel anything in that hoof. It had been a fairly common procedure in ”the good old days“ but had been outlawed with the new found popularity of harness racing and much stricter rules. With the lack of feeling in the hoof there was possibility of the horse stumbling. (Think of having your foot go to ”sleep“ and then trying to walk on it.) Being somewhat wary soul to begin with AJ decided that I could drive him. At that point in my frustration with the lack of drives I didn’t care. I’d drive just about anything. I’ll admit I sort of held my breath the whole race. But he raced well and it was my conservatism that kept him from doing better. Later, AJ said I could drive him again which pleased me to no end.

One thing that I noticed right away was that some of my driver friends had not returned to the track this year. The most noticeable was Andy. Harry and Clyde were also missing but that was because the track would only give stall space to horses that were race ready and the harsh Winter had them and others who trained up North behind on their schedule. It wasn't that I didn't know anybody but they were my closest racing friends.

The baby’s first birthday was the next Sunday. Elle and I had decided not to buy any presents and forgo a party to save some money. Elle’s and my parents had sent us a batch of new clothes for the baby to grow into. Being a Sunday, I still had to go to the track to check on the horses and upon my return I found the yard almost filled with cars. I had to park on the lawn. As I walked over to the door I could see a bunch of people in the back yard and I recognized Vi, Harry’s wife. Puzzled, I walked over to the group and saw Elle, Mrs M and Margie along with some other people that I didn’t recognize. There were also a group of young children running around. Mrs M, without saying anything to Elle, had organized a party for the baby. Margie invited some of her friends, along with their kids, to make it a ”real“ party. Vi had the birthday written on her calendar and as I’d told Harry where we were living this season, was able to find us. The one thing that stood out to me when I walked up was that the baby was in a playpen. It turned out that it was gift from Harry and Vi. I arrived just in time for the cake and ice cream. The interesting part of that was that up to then the baby had never had ice cream. I wish that we had a camera because she didn’t like the cold and would just shake her head after feeling it on her lips. She did finally catch on.

For me, it was like a show. Including Margie, there were three young women in short shorts, all with young children that needed to be chased. Each time one would bend over to pick up one of their charges I’d get either a peek at their panties from under the leg openings or a nice VPL. I was in heaven. I was sorry to see the party break up.

Actually, it was my first official meeting with the girl who lived down the hall. As I mentioned before, she worked at the restaurant across the road. On Fridays and weekends they were open for lunch as well as dinner and she’d finished up her lunch time duties and was on her way up to her room to rest. I held the door open for her and followed her up the stairs. I couldn’t help but look up as I did. Her uniform was pale yellow and fairly short with a somewhat full skirt. I won’t lie and say I got an eyeful. It was close but I didn’t see her panties. The hem flounced from side to side but I never saw the ”target“. But, what it did was to get my mind racing even more. She wasn’t particularly pretty but she had a decent figure. She was maybe a couple of inches shorter than Elle. Knowing that I had to walk past her room to get to the bathroom was certainly an interesting thought.

Elle had put the baby down for a nap and lay down on the bed herself. I joined her with all the memories of the afternoon racing around in my head. Elle was showing a lot more than at the same time with the first pregnancy and it was taking a lot more out of her, especially with the stairs. I thought I might find some ”afternoon delight“ but she was ”too tired“. I remember waking up having had a wet dream and being embarrassed.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54b)

I knew that Elle had worked out a schedule for clothes washing with Mrs M but because I wasn’t around most of the day it didn’t affect me. But that night I pursued it with her. Because her daughter also used her washing machine and had diapers it was decided that they would take turns during the week but Sunday was for Mrs M unless there was a weather problem. Like so many people of the day they used a four line T pole wash line. But, from the driveway it was out of sight and on the other side of the house. I had encouraged Elle to tell Mrs M about her “problem” just so she’d understand if she regularly saw sheets on the line or a lot panties. I knew that Elle could use as many as a dozen pair over a two day period although she’d been doing fairly well over the Winter. She wasn’t keen on the idea but I also wanted her to let Mrs M know that there was protection on the mattress so she said she let her know.

With my new found interest in getting a peek at Marge’s panties I made a concerted effort in finding a reason to go around to the other side of the house. On the next nice evening I told Elle I was going to follow the stream. Because she was carrying the baby in her arms and, at almost a year she was getting heavy, declined to go with me. I started off in the opposite direction from the house. When I saw Elle had gone inside I turned around. Even though there were no clothes on the line at that time I got a good idea of just how it was positioned for when I wanted to take a serious peek. I followed the stream all the way to the highway. While standing there found that if I stood at the beginning of the small bridge that went over the stream that I could see the clothes line. I determined that if I slowed my car when approaching the bridge that I’d be able to determine if there were clothes on the line or not. At that point I had the first part of my plan in place.

It only took a couple of weeks for me to really miss not having the trailer parked right across from the barn. I could no longer just run across the way and get something to drink, eat or to grab a kiss (or maybe something else). The only way to get in touch with Elle was to get in my car and drive to the apartment. Elle, on the other hand, was really enjoying her time with Mrs M and her family. Elle had learned that the other two rooms upstairs had been rented but wasn’t too thrilled with the fact that one of them was to an older man. Mrs M told her that he’d stayed with her since the racetrack had opened almost ten years earlier and had no problems. He worked at the track selling the betting tickets and was supposedly so quiet that the most noise he made was shutting his car door when he got in at night. When Elle told me I couldn’t do any more than shrug my shoulders. The other room was rented to a college girl who would be working at the restaurant across the street as soon as her classes were over. That news certainly interested me and upon hearing it I couldn’t wait to see what she looked like. I tried to use it to calm Elle’s concern about the man as this was going to be her second year staying with Mrs M. If there had been a problem she wouldn’t be returning. All we could do was to wait and see.

As far as the wash line was concerned there were a couple of days where I could see wash blowing in the wind when I got there for lunch. I couldn’t come up with a reason to walk over to the side of the house where the line was located so had to bide my time. With Elle and her “problem“ she’d only had a few ”misses“ and they weren’t at night so there wasn’t much in the way of extra wash. I just had to be patient. It was hard because I’d had another peek (a down pants) of Margie’s panties and that ignited the desire to see more than just a peek.

Things got really busy when AJ shipped the rest of the stable in. It was right before the track opened for the season. I think we had around 20 horses but, unlike previous seasons, almost all were race ready. On opening night we had five horses racing so I was out of my mind busy. I was still spoiled by having been home at night for the past six months so by the time I got back to the apartment at 1 am I was exhausted. On top of that the tractor trailer rig was blocking most of the yard. I ended up having to drive around it and onto the grass. In so doing I ended up in the back yard with my headlights shining on the other side of the house and... on clothes hanging on the line. For a few seconds I honestly thought about going over to check it out. But I was just about falling asleep behind the steering wheel. I figured that it was a long season and I’d have many more chances... and went on upstairs to bed. But believe me, I questioned myself in the morning when I got into my car and saw five or six panties hanging on the line. I wanted to kick myself.

To be continued...

GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54a)

In the back of my mind was the apartment that the female photographer, Pat, had rented. All I could do was hope that it might be available. AJ’s plan was to take the race ready horses to Delaware and I would take the others on back to the track where we’d raced for the past four years. AJ had assigned Ed to go with me which allowed me to leave early. I arrived before the horses and went right to the apartment. I’d “sold” Elle on it even though it had some obvious negative aspects. The best part was that, even though only one room, there was plenty of space. It also had a big, grassy back yard with shade trees which would allow Elle and the baby to spend a good bit of time outdoors. It was also only 5 minutes walking time into town. The negatives were that it was on the second floor and had no sink so dishes had to be washed in the bathroom. We pulled in and the owner was sitting in a lawn chair, soaking up the sun. Mrs M was a large, pleasant woman. Elle and I liked her immediately. She showed us the apartment and when Elle reacted negatively to the lack of a sink Mrs M immediately offered up the use of her washing machine, at no extra cost, to compensate. Elle, by then, had become very good at knowing costs and weighing them into the big picture. We both knew washing clothes and diapers were going to be a cost that we hadn’t had to face all winter. I looked at Elle and she gave me a weary smile back. We had a deal.

All our things were loaded into the car but I knew I had to be at the track when the horses arrived so needed the car. Mrs M came to the rescue. She told me to take her pick up truck and she would help Elle unload the car. The timing couldn’t have been better. The first truck had passed through the gate only a short time before. It was early afternoon and I hoped we could get the horses settled in before dark. That thought was like a death wish because we had some problems. The order for hay and straw had gotten fouled up and by the time all the horses were bedded down and fed it was dark. When I got back to the apartment I found my way partially blocked by a big tractor trailer truck. I found a place to park and went upstairs only to find Elle and the baby asleep. On the chance that she’d had a chance to get some food I checked the refrigerator and found a plate of food there along with eggs and milk. It was a pleasant shock. I tried to be quiet but managed to wake the baby who, in turn, woke Elle.

It took her a little time to get focused but caught me up to date. Mrs M had gone into town and bought some staples so we’d have something for breakfast. Then she ended up cooking dinner for Elle and me. Listening to Elle rave about how nice she was was a noticeable change. She’d taken to complaining about almost everything and I, in some ways, couldn’t blame her. I was pretty tired myself and was ready to go to bed but Elle wasn’t done. I decided that it would be a good idea to take advantage of Elle’s good mood.

Mrs M introduced Elle to her daughter who lived in a trailer that was parked next door. I’d seen it but it didn’t think much about it. It didn't appear to be connected with Mrs M’s house and yard. The tractor trailer rig in the yard belonged to her son-in-law who was an over the road trucker. He was home for a few days and would move the truck in the morning. They had a son just a little older than our baby and a daughter about 3 years old. Elle said she’d met the daughter, Margie, and her kids. Elle was excited about the boy because it would be the first time that our baby would get to play with anyone her age. She went on to tell me that Mrs M had shown her the back yard and she said that there was a fresh water stream that ran through the wooded area. They had cleared an area along the stream where they had some chairs and a table set up. After having cooked out in the sun the whole previous Summer she was looking forward to spending time back there. It wasn’t the same type of water she was used to but at least it was wet and she could wade in it to help keep cool. For the first time since I had suggested that we not haul the trailer all the way back to the track Elle seemed to be happy about the situation. At least I wouldn’t have to worry as much about it.

For me, work was somewhat fun because I was in charge. Ed was a tremendous help and without having AJ hovering around all the time it made my life a lot easier. Racing hadn’t started so meant I still had my nights free. Being May, the nights weren’t all that warm but we did manage to have a few where we could spend time out in the yard. One thing I remember vividly was watching our daughter make her first foray out into grass. It must’ve tickled her because she’d go a few feet, flop down, rub her feet and toes and then do it all over again. Mrs M’s daughter brought her kids over and our daughter seemed to be intimidated by them even though they had met a few times before. It was the first time I’d formally met her and as we watched the kids I kept looking at her trying to figure out weather she was cute or just plain.

She was about Elle’s height and weight but she had a round face and big, dark eyes. I finally decided that when she smiled she was cute. Her hair, dark brown and almost black except for when she was in direct sunlight, was cut into one of the popular styles of the day for women, a page boy. It made her face seem even rounder. I remember that she and Elle talked mostly about the kids and I just sat and observed. The first time I found myself even the least bit interested was when Margie's daughter ripped a toy away from her son and he started bawling. She jumped up to go pick him up and when she bent over to lift him up I got the first VPL I’d seen in a long, long time. That little look got me immediately thinking about her panties and just where her wash line might be.

To be continued...

HARD TIMES... or what seemed like it (Part 53c)

She, as could be expected, was excited. But it wasn’t too long before the fact that we’d be flying in an airplane hit her. She’d never flown (remember, it was 1959) and as she thought about it started to worry. I, because of my Air Force ROTC time in college, had flown any number of times. It became sort of a game for me. Every time she’d get herself worked up I'd ask her, point blank, if she wanted to be home for Christmas. She’d always say "yes" so we would continue preparing for our trip.

The weather cooperated and it was an easy flight. The worst part was connecting up with the man my grandfather had hired to pick us up at the airport. We ended up going to see my grandparents first which didn’t sit too well with Elle. The baby was hungry and fussing and Elle’s “package” needed changing when we got there. It was awkward, to say the least. At least my grandfather seemed to understand and we set up a meeting for the next day.

Elle was certainly relieved to be back at her home. After getting herself cleaned up and the baby settled we called my parents to come on over. After my last experience with them when they had brought the new car up to the track, I’d had minimum contact with them. But they surprised me and were very warm and welcoming. It seemed like the old times when both families got together on a regular basis. I didn’t know why but I didn’t care at that point.

Since there was no way for us to carry material presents back with us we got cash for Christmas. What had looked to be a “hard candy Christmas” turned out to be quite wonderful. We had unseasonably warm weather the whole time we were there and Elle and I got to take a couple of walks on the beach. When we arrived back in North Carolina Monday afternoon we found the temperature to be in the high 70’s. If we hadn't had the baby I would’ve put the top down on the car. Once back, I was able to pay off most of my debt (with the exception of my grandfather) and that took a lot off my mind.

But that was the last of the good weather. The month of January was wet and cold ending with a monumental ice storm. We were without electricity for three days. That part was scary but we managed to jury rig a gas heater up to keep us relatively warm. We couldn’t do anything with the horses except keep them watered, fed and their stalls clean. That meant spending a lot of time with Elle and the baby. Her personality was starting to come out and in spite of the bad conditions I really enjoyed getting to be with her.

I think the big disappointment was that there were no others our age living in the trailer park. Elle became friends with the lady next door who was almost a clone of Gert, our neighbor from the Summer. But that relationship was fairly stunted. By March we both had “cabin fever” and were desperate to get out and about. It was almost like a prayer had been answered when a new stable shipped in. The bad weather we had experienced in January and February was universal up through the whole mid-Atlantic region. Even though the trainer didn’t want to go South, he was almost forced to do it. It was a father and son and the son, Maury, was just a little older than I was. I went out of my way to meet him and he seemed to welcome it. He was married and they had a son about a year old. The father had rented a house and the whole family was living there. I talked Elle into letting me invite them over for dinner that first Sunday. It turned out to be a good thing as the two women hit it off as did Maury and I.

In retrospect, it probably saved our sanity. Elle was able to get out and about with someone her own age and in basically the same situation she was in. For me, Maury introduced me to golf and that, in turn, brought me into contact with some other guys around my age. Because the race track was owned by the same company that owned one of the golf courses, people working at the track were allowed to use the course after 3pm each day. I was terrible but the others put up with me and I actually had some fun.

Elle missed her period in March and, at first we didn’t think much of it. But, when April came and still nothing. Elle decided she had to find out. She got the “word” on my birthday so you could say that it was my birthday present. It shouldn’t have been a shock to me but it really was. Not that we had a “plan” as far as kids were concerned but the timing of this one was not good. I’d priced out moving the trailer North for the Summer and then returning it in the Fall. Now, with another baby on the way, it was just too expensive. As we were scheduled to head North in the middle of the month we had to make a decision and quickly. One option was for Elle to spend the Summer with her parents. Monetarily, that was definitely the way to go but it was Elle who said “no way!” I had calculated what rentals might cost and knowing that Elle would eventually head for home as her due date approached, decided on that.

To be continued...

HARD TIMES... or what seemed like it (Part 53b)

By the time we left on Thursday morning both of us had sworn off hamburger for life. We ate it twice a day for three days. I was tempted to ask my father-in-law for a loan just to make sure we had enough money to make the trip but Elle talked me out of it. There was no way I was going to keep up with the horse vans as they had two drivers each. Because of the baby and Elle’s “problem” we were going have to make many stops. Reluctantly AJ let me leave early Thursday with the horses leaving that afternoon. I just had to be in North Carolina when the horses arrived. I just hoped I’d be there.

I’d asked Harry if he could/would move out trailer to North Carolina but he said his equipment wasn’t licensed for interstate travel. Fortunately, I’d heard from my brother that one of my old race car friends from home had gone into the trailer moving business. I was able to get in touch with him and he said he’d do it and I could pay later. But, when we left I didn’t know if he'd moved it or not. I’d told him that we were due there around the middle of the month. So, that was another worry.(1)

We did stop for about 5 hours sleep when we reached Virginia. The baby traveled well but Elle was miserable. I wasn’t as considerate of her problem as I should’ve been and basically drove a full gas tank full between stops. The only 4 lane highway was the New Jersey turnpike and no one had given me a good estimate of time the trip would take. Knowing that I had to be at the barn when the horses arrived was the overriding motivation to press on.

It was dark when we pulled into the track and a quick drive by the barn told me we’d gotten there before the horses. I then drove to where the trailers were parked and was somewhat surprised to see only four, including mine. It was definitely a relief to see that ours had made it and that it was blocked up. But, when I went inside I got a terrible shock. It smelled terrible. I couldn’t identify the odor and then, when I went to turn on the lights, nothing happened. I tried the water in the sink and, again, nothing. By the time I’d made all of those discoveries Elle had the baby in her arms and was headed towards me. At that point all she wanted was to get washed and into dry clothes. It was very hard to tell her that she couldn’t.

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know anybody in the area to call and I knew AJ wasn’t there. To say that Elle was VERY upset is putting it mildly. I did find some dry clothes for her but she wouldn’t let me watch her change. I really wasn’t in the mood what with being so tired from the trip and not knowing what to do about getting water and electricity to the trailer. The horses arrived around 10pm or so and by the time all the horses were bedded down into their stalls, watered and fed it was about 3am. Eddie, the long time groom for AJ, was from the area and told me that he thought there was a motel about 10 miles South of the area. Not knowing what else to do I headed in that direction.

I slept until mid morning and then headed for the track and the trailer. A quick tour of it explained the smell... mice... and a lot of them. Droppings were everywhere and they had eaten a whole corner of the bedspread to make their nests. Being a Saturday, the utility company was closed so the earliest we’d have lights was Monday. All I could do was to try and clean up some of the mess. I did buy some mouse traps and set them before I left for the day.

We lived in the motel until Tuesday. I borrowed money from Eddie just to live on. It took that long to get electricity connected. AJ had gone on a hunting vacation with some of his friends so I couldn’t get help from him and I was too proud to ask Elle’s parents (or mine). It finally came down to going to my grandfather. He was more that happy to help but reminded me that it was strictly a loan. As unhappy Elle was with the situation the baby was getting along well. I remember thinking of how lucky she was being so unaware of the world and it’s trials and tribulations.

I’d counted around a dozen mice that my traps had caught by the time we were ready to move back in. I’d scrubbed everything that they could’ve gotten on or in and washed everything else. The mattresses were spared because we had a piece of oilcloth covering them because of Elle’s “problem”. I was satisfied that the odor was gone but Elle swore that it wasn’t so she wasn’t happy. Fortunately there wasn’t much to do with the horses so I didn’t have that added pressure. By Thanksgiving everything had somewhat settled down. At that point in time I remember being around $200 in debt to various people and that didn’t set all that well with me. It was looking like anything but a Merry Christmas coming up.

Elle understood and the baby was too young for it to matter to her. We decided that instead of presents to each other we’d have nice turkey dinner. On the Monday before Christmas AJ called me into his office and handed me an envelope. I’ll admit I was hoping that it was a Christmas bonus but was totally surprised when I opened it. There were two round trip airplane tickets home. AJ sat there with this smile on his face as I read the itinerary. We were to leave on Wednesday, two days before Christmas, and return the Monday after. There was nothing in the envelope but the tickets so I immediately assumed it was a gift from AJ. He shook his head and told me they were from my grandfather. He and my grandmother had yet to see the baby. They were now great grandparents and wanted desperately to see her. AJ told me that he and my grandfather had worked it all out. Of course I was excited and ran back to the trailer to tell Elle.

To be continued...

HARD TIMES... or what seemed like it (Part 53a)

Before Elle left for home with her brother we packed up the trailer for the move to North Carolina. I had the things we needed for the baby packed in the car. I quickly learned the value of a convertible when it came time to load the crib and carriage. All I had to do was put the top down and load it. When loaded all I had to was put the top back up instead of fighting to fit things through doors that were too small. We timed her trip home to take place the day before the horses were to ship. Was I ever thankful that we’d decided on that. One of the horse vans broke down in Massachusetts and we sat by the side of the road for almost 5 hours. I didn’t even want to think of what that would’ve been like with Elle and the baby.

Once at the track things started going smoother although it took a few days to find a place to stay that I felt we could afford. Actually, we couldn’t but AJ agreed to advance me some money against future pay. It was a 21 foot, 8 foot wide trailer parked right across the street from the track. When I unloaded the crib there was barely enough room to get past it and to the back of the trailer. AJ had to wait a few days to enter our horses in the races which gave me the chance to go into Boston to pick up Elle and the baby. I had thought that the train was arriving at the North Station and went into a panic when she didn’t get off. After calming down and talking to the station master he located her at the South Station. When I caught up with her she was a mental and physical wreck... and mad at me for not being there when she got off the train. The baby was hungry and crying because when Elle had tried to breast feed her there was little milk. That and the fact that it had been almost seven hours since she last changed her “package” and the back of her dress was obviously wet. By the time we got to the track she had pretty much calmed down but was still unhappy. Seeing her new “home” didn’t help matters either.

AJ had advanced my pay so I could buy food. We hadn’t budgeted for formula because when Elle had left for home she was still producing all the milk the baby needed. After buying a weeks supply of formula there wasn’t much left for food for the two of us. I remember eating cereal for both breakfast and lunch for that whole first week. Because there were so many horses at the track and we didn’t have but 14 horses there were a few nights that we didn’t have any horses racing. I was lucky and got a job taking horses from other stables to the paddock at $10 each which took some of the pressure off for our second week. There were no neighbors and the only person Elle got to talk to was the old woman who owned the house and property where our rental trailer was parked. I won’t say she was unfriendly but she didn’t have much of a personality. AJ’s wife had stopped in Massachusetts for the first two weeks where she had family so she wasn’t an option for Elle. I didn’t know many of the trainers and drivers and although I made an effort to make friends it was obvious that the “locals” looked at us as interlopers coming in to take their money.

The two owners who had been driving their own horses (with not much success) weren’t coming up so AJ finally got to drive them. One of them had been rated a mid grade “B” horse the previous season. But, with the poor drives the owner had given him he was now a low “C” (on an “A”, “B”, “C” classification scale). There was nothing wrong with the horse and I had this overwhelming feeling that AJ would win with him the first race he started. Even though I had the $10 that I’d earned the night before in my pocket I knew that anything can happen in a horse race and that if I lost any of it we wouldn’t have the money to pay for washing the baby’s diapers. So I didn’t bet him and he won paying around $12 as I remember it. If I’d bet but $5 I would’ve won $30. I was happy that AJ had won but it was somewhat bittersweet in that I felt I couldn’t have bet on him.

It was obvious to me that AJ was somewhat desperate to do well while racing at this track because when we left here we’d be heading for North Carolina for the Winter and his income would be reduced. With that mindset there was no way he was going to let me drive in any races. That didn’t make me any happier. I was unhappy. Elle was unhappy. The baby was unhappy (she didn’t take to the formula all that well). AJ was unhappy because he was only getting his horses in to race about every 10 days (as opposed to once a week all Summer long). It ended up being one very long month.

AJ had planned on staying until the season closed in the middle of November. As I explained in some earlier posts you entered your horses four days before they would race (enter Monday for a Thursday race). With so many horses (600) on the grounds and only 432 racing per week it was like playing roulette in getting yours horses in to race. Discouraged by the end of the first week in November, AJ decided it was a waste of time and decided to head for North Carolina. Elle’s parents, knowing they wouldn’t see her or the baby until at least mid April, decided to make a spur of the moment trip up to see us before we left. I’m being kind when I describe them as being “frugal”. As such, they NEVER ate out at a restaurant. That meant that we would have to plan on feeding them the day they would be with us (which was a Sunday with us shipping out on Thursday). The cheapest thing Elle could think of was meat loaf. I really didn’t want to give her the $5 to buy the meat and fixings but I didn’t have much choice. It was about an 8 hour trip for them so they drove to relatives in Massachusetts on Saturday and got to us about 10am on Sunday. The very first thing they said was that they were taking us out for a “good Sunday dinner”. I remember almost choking when I heard it. That was a whole tank of gas that was sitting in our refrigerator and we had a 750 mile trip coming up.

To be continued...

WORKING... and the reality of it (Part 52j)

It took a few days until I was able to fetch Carol’s panties. It was during the day and Elle was walking the baby. It gave me a good chance to fully inspect them and I found they were another brand that I’d never seen before... Sylray and the tag read Acetate. They felt like nylon and I was puzzled. I checked out the crotch and, although a little stained, they were not nearly as stained as the other pair that I had of Carol’s that were made of nylon. I didn’t have an answer so retrieved my ”stash“ box and added them to it. I was tempted to go through it and, wisely, elected not to as Elle was approaching.

Things turned a lot brighter when Harry showed up with his boat. Elle was so looking forward to getting to some water and a beach that she took her focus off of being mad at me. If there was one negative to our upcoming trip it was that she didn’t have a bathing suit. As much as I wanted to make her happy there was no way I could afford to let her go buy one as we were saving every penny we could for our move to New Hampshire. When Sunday came I persuaded her that she could swim in her clothes if she really wanted to swim. Not entirely satisfied she picked out her oldest shorts and a dark plaid short sleeve top to wear.

The boat was about 16 feet in length with about a 50 horsepower outboard. Harry had been right as it was easy to navigate the launch ramp. The problem was in getting the motor to start. I’d never operated one this powerful or made by this manufacturer. A boy, about 15 or so, seeing me struggle came over and flicked a few gizmos and started it right up. Elle wouldn’t let me open it up to full speed because of the baby but we still had some fun. Elle wanted to walk in the sand so we went in to the beach and had a bit of a picnic. I held the baby as I watched Elle walk out into the water up to her knees. After a few seconds I could see a stream of pee coming from her crotch and splashing into the water underneath her. I got an instant bulge. I was hoping she’d walk back up to where we were just like that but I watched as she waded further out into the water. I was disappointed until she returned. She’d chosen a pair of faded purple shorts and they were pasted to her body clearly outlining her panties. As I’d mentioned before, she’d taken to wearing a pair of cotton panties with a pair of nylon ones over them and, when she turned her back on me to pick up a towel I could readily see the outline of both of the panties. I was hard as a rock.

We stayed there for quite a while as Elle thought there was too much air blowing on the baby when we were riding around in the boat. There is one memory about that time and that is it was the first time that either of us had ever seen a female wearing a bikini bathing suit. There was a popular song on the radio at the time about an ”itsy bitsy teeny weeny polka dot bikini“. At the track we were pretty much insulated from what was going on in the rest of the world. We seldom watched TV and only occasionally got to see a newspaper so the sight of it was quite revealing. I remember Elle saying that she’d never wear one. All in all, it was a good day for us. The baby got more sun that she should’ve but that was the worst part. Elle was clearly over her "mad" at me which made my life a lot easier.

Elle got a letter from her brother telling her that he'd been released from the Army earlier than expected and he was coming up to see her and the baby. It was a bit of a shock to the both of us. He said he was bringing her mother with him and the timing couldn't have been worse. I was already worried about the move to New Hampshire as it would be the first trip with the baby. I had to wait to leave with the horses and was expected to be there when they arrived. I didn't know how we'd be able to do it but I didn't have a choice. As we struggled with the logistics I came up with an idea. It was to have her brother drive Elle and the baby home and that way I could do what I had to do with the horses as well as find us a place to stay. Then Elle would get her brother to drive her to the city where he was planning to live and let her take a train to Boston where I'd pick her up. Neither of us were crazy about the idea but we decided that's what we'd do.

I got to drive in two more races before we shipping out for New Hampshire. One was for Harry and it was at that time that he made me agree to accept the crib as "pay" for driving the horse. It was hard in that I fully recognized how much he’d helped me (us) in so many ways and I felt a bit guilty. Actually, if I had money I would've paid him to let me drive. I didn’t do well in either race and after the last one I found myself questioning my ability. The only credit I gave to myself was that I was a whole lot better than the two owners who had fancied themselves as drivers. I, at least, had finished ”in the money“ (first, second or third) in four out of the twelve races I’d competed in. Between the two of them they had only two in sixteen races. But, in spite of that I still liked the work I was doing although I was almost starving in the process. With the move to New Hampshire I was going to have to find a place for us to stay and, after a Summer of free rent, pay for it. As we packed up to leave I hoped I had enough money to cover the cost of the gas, food and for a deposit on a place for us to rent. If I’d learned anything that Summer it was that working when you HAD to work was a lot different than when it was somewhat for fun.

To be continued...

WORKING... and the reality of it (Part 52i)

I had a plan all worked out in my mind for Tuesday night. I couldn't wait to finish up my race track duties so I could put it into action. I'd asked Andy when Carol was going to finish up at the hospital and he'd volunteered that Tuesday night into Wednesday morning would be the last. That worked perfectly for me. As I'd gotten into the habit of doing I walked down past the cook house and blacksmith shop and then down the road where the trailers were parked. I slowed as I got to Andy's trailer and, finally, saw clothes on the line out behind it. My heart was pounding and it wasn't anywhere near the time I was planning to check the line up close and personal. I knew Carol usually left a little after 11pm. I still had chores to do at the barn and I was going to wait there until the lights on the track went out and then take another walk. Once there I had to make a choice as to which route I took to the back of the trailers. I could continue walking straight past the cook house and out into the field just as the grooms would do when "grassing" their horses. The problem with that was I would have to walk behind a few trailers and, as I'd discovered, sometimes people would sit out back at night. The other choice, much bolder, was to walk to the back by walking down along side Andy's trailer. I was almost ready to flip a coin but I decided on the latter path. Fortunately, the people in the trailer on the other side were asleep (at least the lights were out). When I reached the clothes line I almost couldn't believe my eyes. All four lines were almost filled. The first lines held sheets and pillow cases. The back two had all kinds of clothes on them. There was no doubt that they belonged to Carol (and Andy) as her uniforms were there as well. All like items were grouped together...all Andy's shirts... his trousers... his undershirts... his boxer shorts. All Carol's uniforms... her shorts... her blouses... her bras... and most important (to me), her panties. I think I stood there taking it all in for maybe 30 seconds. It was then I headed for the panties. My memory says there were at least a dozen pair if not more. I took the two pair at the end of the line and retraced my tracks. I could've stayed out in the back to get back to my trailer but with the dew in the grass my path could've been traced so I walked back to the road. When I reached it I looked both ways and saw some activity down towards my trailer so I headed back up past the cook house to the main road through the barn area. I was almost back to the barn when I saw headlights behind me. I couldn't believe it. So close to the barn and now there was someone behind me. Of all people it was the night watchman.

I don't know where it came from but when he stopped and asked if everything was OK I came up with the fact that I was looking for one of AJ's dogs. He then told me to jump in with him and we'd take a tour of the barn area to see if we could find him. I breathed a big sigh of relief although the damp panties were in my pocket and I could feel the wetness seeping through. It took about a half hour to make a full round and, of course, there was no sign of the dog. He left me off at the barn and I thanked him. Now my problem was what to do with the panties and, if Elle were up when I walked in, to explain why I was so late and also the wet spots on my pants.

I ditched the panties behind the steps into the trailer. That was the easy part. Elle was up and feeding the baby but with the lights out. When she saw the door open she turned on the light. I was already feeling guilty so I was like a deer in the headlights. She probably said something along the lines of ”Where have you been? It’s almost 1am.“ Worried about the wet spots on the front of my pants I just made a dash for the bathroom. She followed me in and luckily I was facing the toilet as if I were getting ready to use it. She turned and walked back into the living room. I knew she expected me to follow her but I went into the bedroom shedding my pants in the process. I knew that by ignoring her I’d made her mad but was willing to take the ”heat“ in exchange for her not seeing the wet spots on my pants. I don’t remember the conversation but it was obvious that she wasn’t happy with my excuse for being so late. As I remember it there were a few ”cool“ days in our relationship that followed.

To be continued...

WORKING... and the reality of it (Part 52h)

I felt a little guilty leaving at that point but I could see Elle was getting a bit upset. Once on the other side of the road Elle told me that she'd been peeing while we were talking with Harry and Vi and that it was running down her legs. Of course I had to take a peek and when I did she hit me on the back of my head... but it was worth it. I could see her whole crotch area was now wet and my bulge was growing. The problem was that I knew she was mad enough that I wouldn't be able to take advantage of the situation.

Back at the trailer Elle quickly got over her "mad" and focused on getting the new washing machine up and running. She had two days of diapers to do and as she changed and washed up I got it all set to run. I could tell she was calmed down by the fact that she reappeared wearing just her blouse and dry panties. The first load was done just about the time the baby wanted to be fed so I got the job of hanging the diapers on the wash line. As I stepped out of the door and looked towards the line I could see a pair of red shorts, white panties and a blouse on the line along with a pair of gabardine driving pants, boxer shorts and a western style shirt... the clothes Jackson and his girlfriend were wearing when we saw them down by the pond. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited at seeing the panties. Not only that but I was going to be close enough to touch them. I made sure that I hung the diapers so that I would be somewhat hidden when I took a close up view. I think my hand was shaking when I reached out to touch them. When they had been hung on the line they were inside out which meant the label was exposed. I sidled over to them and took a quick feel. The tag read Vanity Fair and it was embroidered. It also said "Size 5" but they looked bigger than Elle's size 5 panties. I also noted that the waist elastic was different than any that I'd ever seen. They sure were new to me. I couldn't stay for very long and hoped to get another feel of them when Elle finished the next load of diapers.

The washer seemed to do a good job but she couldn't put that many diapers into the tub. By the time she finished all of them she'd done three loads. That part was disappointing but she realized that if she stayed on top of them in the future it would work. When I took the last load out to the wash line it was almost dark. I checked Jackson's trailer and was happy to see it was dark and there were no cars parked in front. As I finished hanging the last of the diapers I walked past the panties and in one swipe grabbed them and the clothes pins. I stuck my head in the door and told Elle I was going to check on the horses and headed for the barn. The panties were just about dry and as I made my way over I could feel a bulge starting. I made a cursory look at the horses and finally stopped under one of the lights to get a good look at the panties. The leg elastics seemed like the type found on Elle's nylon panties but the waist elastic was really unique. The other thing that was different was that the inside of the crotch felt sort of like cotton but it was fuzzy. I just couldn't reconcile the feel of the material. I knew I better get them back on the line before Jackson returned but I'd seen enough to be on the look out for them when and if I got a chance to go panty shopping in the future.

Labor day was the penultimate day of the year at the track. Management featured an invitational only race with some of the best horses in the East scheduled to race. There were horses that shipped in from the city just for it. I was surprised to see Jackson was listed as the driver of one of them and in the paddock made a point to congratulate him on it. When he saw me coming he thought I was going to rag on him from the previous day at the pond. I guess he was feeling guilty because as I approached he started explaining. I just stood and listened. The girl (I don't remember her name) thought it would be fun to go for a ride in the boat (That sounded familiar...) but he found it was really muddy by the edge. He'd taken off his shoes, rolled up his pants and was in the process of carrying her to the boat when he tripped on a submerged stick. The two of them ended up in the mud and water. I had a hard time keeping from smiling as he explained but I was happy that it had happened for it had given me the opportunity to see a different pair of panties. (BTW: he ended up second in the big race .)

I also saw Andy and he confirmed that he would be leaving the next day with his horses. At first I was sad thinking that Carol would be leaving as well and that I might not get another chance at her panties. But he went on to tell me that she would be leaving on Wednesday or Thursday when the trailer would be going. Because of the Labor day holiday he couldn't get anyone to move it until then and Carol was staying to pack it up for the move. That news gave me some hope at one more try.

To be continued...

WORKING... and the reality of it (Part 52g)

With my head starting to reel I decided it would be a good idea to get some food. They were barbecuing chicken which was something Elle really liked. I fixed a plate for us and as I was carrying it to her ran into Carol and Andy. I pointed them to where we were located and they promised to stop by. By then the baby had fallen asleep so we were able to enjoy our meal together. By the time Carol and Andy got there the baby was fussing and Elle knew it was time to feed her. Because she was still breast feeding Elle wanted to go back to the car. Carol walked up and wanted to hold her before we left. She had her food on a paper plate and when she bent down to put it on the ground I got quite a view. She was wearing a pair of green shorts and when she bent over the outline of the crotch of her panties just kind of jumped out at me. There was no doubt that there were two pair of panties under those shorts and within seconds a bulge was growing in my pants. Even though it only took a second or two for her to put the plate down and to stand up again I saw what I wanted.

I’d made a few abortive attempts to find Carol’s panties on the clothes line again and again without success. One time I was headed that way when, luckily, I spied the glow of cigarettes behind one of the trailers between mine and Carol’s. I don’t know what I would’ve done or said if they had seen or caught me. After that I’d made a point of returning from the track by walking down past the cook house and blacksmith shop so that I could at least get a peek at the line from between the trailers before going out there. It was a combination of rain and being too tired to make the effort that had pretty much thwarted my attempts. But the sight of the VPL’s made me promise to myself to make one last attempt before they headed off to the next track.

I escorted Elle back to the car for the baby’s feeding. When she was done Elle handed me the baby to carry back to the picnic. When we got out of the car Elle just stood there. I asked her what was wrong. She gave me one of those half disgusted looks as if to say that I should know. She was peeing... into her package. When she had finished she said that she thought it might be a good idea go home. Now it was my turn to give her a ”look“. It took some persuading but I convinced her that she would be OK and that we wouldn’t stay too long.

Back with the group again we caught up with Mrs AJ and AJ. Of course she wanted her turn with the baby. She offered to take her to give Elle a break. We were at the fringe of the picnic on the downhill side of the field and Elle noticed the pond. At the last time I’d been to the picnic (Part 33) Pat, the track photographer, and I had walked down to it and we had an interesting experience, one I was NOT about to tell Elle about. Elle, who had been reluctant to sit down fearing that having peed in her ”package“ that it would leak if she did, suggested that we walk down to it. I really wanted to stay with the group and to mingle with my friends as I still hadn’t caught up with Harry and Vi and that was something I really wanted to do before we left. I needed to thank them for getting us the washing machine and also the crib, even though I didn't have the money to pay for it.

About halfway down I saw some people at the pond. I was pretty sure that one was Jackson, our next door neighbor, because of his height. He was, by far, the tallest driver at the track. We had seen him earlier with who we assumed was his girlfriend. As we approached I could see that they were both semi wet with mud all over both of them. It was a pretty funny sight. They weren’t too happy to see us and as we got to them Jackson told us not to mess with the boat. I immediately remembered my experience with Pat from my last time there and told him there was no way I’d go near it. Just looking at the two of them told me there was a good story there.

There was a grove of trees with a few fallen ones to sit on. As small as the pond was it was water and it made Elle somewhat melancholy. This was the first Summer she hadn’t been home and she really missed the beach and being able to see the water. I told her that if the weather was good the next Sunday I’d take her to the lake North of the track. When I told her that it had a beach she was really excited. The baby became restless and Elle said she really wanted to go home. When we got up I could see that Elle’s fear had come to fruition. There were ”smiles“ around her butt cheeks where her pee had leaked out from the leg openings of her sanitary panties. The sight excited me but, at the same time, I didn’t want her to be be embarrassed. I also knew that if I told her that she’d really be upset and probably mad at me for talking her into going back to the picnic... so I decided not to say anything. It really wasn’t that noticeable and I felt that if she knew she’d be self conscious and draw attention to herself. We went back to Mrs AJ and the carriage and said our goodbyes. Just as we got to the road that we had to cross to get to the car we ran into Harry, Vi and Levi.

They were disappointed that we were leaving but Vi wanted her turn with the baby. I said my "thanks" for getting us the washing machine and crib. I was concerned about the cost and Harry kept telling me not to worry about it. In spite of his words I couldn't help it. As Vi and Elle were chatting she mentioned that I’d promised to take her to the lake the next Sunday and was all excited about it. Harry happened to overhear it and jumped in to say that he’d bring their boat up during the week for us to use. He told me they had a boat ramp there and it was an easy in and out. That excited both of us. We stood there talking for a while and finally Elle poked me. I looked at her and was giving me the ”sign“ that we had to go.

To be continued...