"Annabelle. Annabelle, come here," Connie Hundley called to her beautiful little black standardbred mare. "Come here, Baby," as she walked down the gravel road toward the river, which was five miles away.

"Take a horse and go out there and they will come back," Johnny said seeing that his three-year-old roan walking gelding, Renegade, was gone too.

"Here, take her," Sara Copley said as she handed the reins to the silver walking mare to her brother-in-law, Johnny Hundley.

"If that little mare doesn’t want to be caught, there isn’t anything here that can catch her," Eddie said regretfully as he turned back toward his walking stallion.

Grant Collett swung into the saddle of Brenda’s red and white spotted gelding. He followed Johnny away from the rest stop through the woods and down the road.

Both men rode away chicken legged since they had jumped on women’s horses and the stirrups were much too short.

I really expected them to return in 15 minutes or so. I went over to look at the stirrup that Sara was working on.

"Look. They are different. How are they supposed to be?" Sara asked me as I looked at her new saddle leathers.

‘My old Kentucky spring back saddle has leathers like this and it holds straighter if you turn the strap once," I told her as I tried several times to get it right.

Eddie came over and we worked on it some more. Finally Eddie figured out how we used to buckle it.

"That’s right. Now let’s do the other one," Sara agreed. After a few minutes that stirrup was fixed too.

"I feel bad about the horses leaving because I asked Johnny to fix my stirrup," Sara said.

"Well, you didn’t tell them not to tie up the horses," I said in an effort to comfort her.

After waiting for about 30 minutes, we began to laugh and make jokes about not tying up horses. After an hour, Billie Browning said, "I bet Connie is back there at camp eating our beans in the crock pot."

I got out a map and spread it out to see where we were and the most likely direction the horses might go.

"They will go clear to the river," Eddie insisted. We had taken that ride two days ago.

After locating the gravel road close to the rest stop, I agreed that the only way they would go is toward the river.

"We had better not tell Connie about our jokes until we see if she is laughing or not."

After waiting more than an hour, we knew they had not caught them very close to the rest stop.

Billie said, "We had better try and get back to camp. How come I am the only one without a horse. Why, did I give Johnny my horse? All of our lunch is in those saddle bags."

I dug out some cookies and fig newtons and passed them around. We were not really hungry, but we had to do something to pass the time.

Sara whispered to me, "Billie didn’t give the horse to Johnny, I did, but I’m not going to tell Billie. This will never happen to Connie again. She learns from her mistakes and it only takes one time. Me and Billie might have to do it three or four times, but not Connie."

After an hour and a half, I asked Brenda, "Would your husband expect you to stay here and wait for him or go back to camp?"

"He would probably expect me to go back to camp," she answered.

"Can you ride his horse?"

"Yes. I can ride him," Brenda said as she looked at the tall four year old gelding.

"Why did he take your horse rather than his?" I asked.

"I don’t know," she answered.

Sara asked, "Was he closer to yours than his?"

"No. He was standing between the horses," she said.

Eddie went over to help her adjust the stirrups up several inches. We were real impressed when Brenda drew a pair of hole punchers out of her husband’s saddle bag. Soon the new stirrup leathers had new holes in the correct places and the horse was ready.

"We had better go back to camp," Billie insisted, "But I can’t walk and I don’t have a horse."

We all knew Billie had knee surgery last spring after whacking her knee on a tree at Birgsong Trail Ride last fall. It had given her a lot of trouble ever since.

"I can walk," I told Billie, "But not in these cowboy boots. It is about five miles. I guess we should ride in shoes or boots that would be good for walking too."

"I can walk" Brenda said. "Last time I walked a mile and a half leading my horse when he threw a shoe."

I knew if we doubled up on anything, it would have to be Cody. Sara’s horse was rather small, Brenda’s horse was still somewhat spooky and I had all I could do to ride Teege alone.

"We could ride double," Billie said hopefully. "I could ride double on Cody, but I want you to know Eddie will probably have bruises on his belly because I am going to hang on real tight," she said looking at me.

Keeping Billie in suspense was rather amusing, so I didn’t tell her right away that she could ride my mare. I dug into a pocket and found a paper towel. I tried to write ‘Back to Camp’ on it, but contrary to legend, you can’t write with a burnt stick. Sara was out in the middle of the road building an big arrow pointing back to camp. She had gathered poles and sticks. That would suffice.

Now, nobody, but nobody rides my mare. I always say, "If I didn’t give birth to them, they don’t ride my horse."

"Billie, I’ll ride double on Cody and you can ride my mare," I told her softly.

"You mean I can ride Teege! Wow. Nobody rides Teege."

"I know. You don’t know how lucky you are. You owe me," I told her.

"I figure Cody would be more likely to let me ride double than anybody else." Besides, if there is anything I like better than my mare, it is my man.

Eddie made sure everybody was on their horse and he asked me, "Do you want to ride in the saddle or behind?"

Eddie and I both knew Cody had never ridden double unless you count little bitty grandchildren in the front of the saddle. I never doubted he would submit to it, because Cody is 14 years old and dead broke -- as well as strong. Add to that, I had never ridden double either. I knew we could both do it.

"You had better drive," I told Eddie, probably to his relief. He climbed into the saddle and kicked the stirrup loose. I stood on a log and put my right foot in the stirrup as Eddie pulled and I struggled. Finally I was settled on the back of the stallion.

"Billie, keep Teege right beside Cody and he won’t do anything. Don’t let her get too fast," Eddie cautioned since we all knew Cody was prone to stand on his back legs and walk if Teege got very far away from him.

Sara said we needed a picture and I told her to get mine out of the horn bag. We needed proof of this!

Cody moved out slowly making little grunting sounds with each step. "Uh, uh, uh." The black stallion’s back is so short that the saddle takes up all of the room.

Watching someone ride on the back is very deceiving. Each hip bone comes up like pistons punching you in the bottom. There is enough of a tilt that you feel like you are going to hit the ground any second. Your legs are totally useless. They must hang limply, lest your feet punch him in the flank and make him kick or buck. I didn’t like this a bit more than the horse did.

"Uh, Uh, Uh." Cody repeated as we took off down the trail. I figured any traveling we went was a success if we ate distance off the five miles back to camp.

"I guess we don’t have to worry about Cody bucking, since we are probably holding this end down," I commented.

"Don’t be too sure of that," Eddie added.

Every now and then Cody would try to get into his short stepping rack but Eddie would pull him back.

Did you know that a rack feels remarkably like a trot when you are riding double? Smooth doesn’t exist back there.

"I guess you guys know I will have an eight inch bruise across my pelvic bone," I informed them. "Billie, you owe me!"

"Yes. I know. I owe you. And I got to ride Teege," she answered.

"Just keep her beside Cody," I urged as I kept a tight grip on Eddie while allowing my entire lower half to go limp. I was sure if I relaxed my firm grip, the horse would jump and I would tumble to the ground.

"Are you doing all right, Brenda?"

"Yes. I am all right. He has a smoother walk than my horse," she said.

"Have you ever ridden him before?" I asked.

"No. I told Grant that I wanted to ride him this trip but I didn’t know it would be like this," she said.

Eddie said, "You had better reach around me and hold on to the saddle horn."

I quickly reached around him and took a firm hold, glad that he had lost 25 pounds or that might not be possible.

"Don't jerk me off," Eddie told me.

"That would be kinda hard to do right now, wouldn't it Melani?" Billie questioned.

That made me laugh so hard that I could not even talk.  I clasp the saddle horn, lay my head against his back laughing uncontrollably that I couldn hardly get my breath.  I feared that my legs would soon be dangling over the stallion’s tail any time as we went up the steep place.

"I’ll ride behind you, Melani, so if you slide off Cody, Little Silver’s head can catch you," Sara said encouragingly.

The vivid picture in my brain of these events taking place only added to my unrestrained laughter.

When we got down to the little bridge blocked by a big fallen tree, I told Eddie to let me off and I would walk over the bridge.

The horses had to go over the hill that had three or four logs stacked on the bank, cross the black mud hole of a creek, climb the other bank, cross limbs and logs and curve in and around trees. I thought that might be asking just a little much of me to hang on behind Eddie. I could just imagine myself laying on my back in the mud hole!

I slid off and climbed over the fallen tree, crossed the bridge and climbed up on to the abutment on the other end. I thought it would be easier to climb over rather than up on the horse.

I was standing on the bridge abutment thumbing as the riders came down the little bank. Eddie brought the horse around and backed him up into the bridge, since there was not enough room to turn the horse around. He was still not very close and I waited while Eddie backed him up again in an attempt to get close to me.

"That’s all right, Eddie, I’ll just jump," I said. At which, the girls roared with laughter.

There I was. A 62 year old short, fat woman standing on a rail about to jump three feet onto the back of a stallion. I can’t believe I was not a bit afraid to attempt it. I took a big jump and landed on behind Eddie. I did it! Cody said "Uh" and we were on our way.

"When we get home, Eddie and I are going to learn to do trick riding. Billie, you can put a cigarette in your mouth and I’ll knock it out with a whip at a fast gallop," I told the laughing Billie.

Sara got the last picture on the film and eased on down the road toward camp. Billie stayed by our side and Brenda brought up the rear.

Billie was so tickled to be riding Teege, telling me what a good horse she was. She said, "She doesn’t know how to do anything except that strut stuff, does she?"

"Sara will be back with another horse, if there is one in camp," I told her sister.

"She’ll probably be back with the ranger’s golf cart," Billie corrected.

"Or the bobcat loader," I added, since Sara cleans her barn with her bobcat.

Eventually we reached an empty camp. No runaway horses, no Connie, Johnny or Grant. We put up our horses.

Eddie told me, "Get a flashlight." He is cautious that way since having to stay all night on the trail in the Smoky Mountains. We loaded an ice chest with pop and water in case they were desperate for drinks. We got in Sara’s truck to head for the river.

Our fear was that something was very wrong. A horse might be injured and need to be hauled back to camp.

Brenda said, "I just might as well go with you because I don’t have the keys and I can’t get in anything at our camp."

"We’ll ride the back," Billie said as she and Brenda climbed up in the truck. Sara went and got them folding chairs.

"I’m getting in the seat. I already rode the back today once," I said.

Eddie had talked to someone in camp and they told us how to go to get back to the rest stop in a truck. We made a right turn into the gravel road and turned again into the first turn to the right.

"They’ve been here. There is one of my chubby pops. It bounced out of that saddle bag. They’s been through here. It was in the mare’s saddle bag," Sara exclaimed as she stopped the truck.

We got out and saw there were tracks both ways. We walked back toward the bigger gravel road to see it tracks went down. Yes. They did, but they also went back.

"Here is an arrow raked into the gravel pointing toward the river!" Brenda said.

"I guess both sisters were making arrows about the same time," I said in amazement.

We got back in the truck.

"Let’s run on down to the rest stop and be sure they aren’t there," Eddie suggested.

"Yes. We might as well since we are so close," Sara agreed as she put the truck in gear. At the rest stop, we could tell they had been there. The arrow was disturbed.

We turned around and drove back to the big gravel road. "We might as well go on to the river since we are this close," Sara said.

We stopped at the point where the trail crossed the gravel road. We all got out and looked for tracks.

At the river there was not a soul in sight. Every time we stopped Billie couldn’t get back in the truck. Brenda would stand up and help drag Billie back on the truck tail gate.

Finally Sara yelled to Billie, "Billie, I bet Brenda would appreciate it if you would stay in the truck."

"Yes. I sat in the truck for a little while thinking she would stay in there with me, but she didn’t. She would just jump right out and took off again," Brenda said laughing.

After that, Billie was miraculously able to get back in the truck all by herself.

Sara backed the truck toward the bank to turn around. She saw a branch back there and backed right at it on Billie’s side so Billie would have to move to get away from it. Another sister trick.

We turned and went back toward camp. We stopped once and Eddie got out and picked up a disposable camera in the road that had been run over. It did not belong to us. The film was open and ruined.

Eddie said, "Well, if they’re not there when we get back to camp, I’ll saddle Cody back up and ride back around there looking for them."

I said, "Well, I’ll saddle Teege up and go too. You want to go, Sara?"

She said, "I just might."

When we got back to our camp, they were eating beans. Everybody was talking at once but the horses were all right and the people were all right.

"They went all the way to the river crossing, but they didn’t go across. They went on down beside the river," Johnny said. "They were standing down there in a little pond of water and I had to wade out and get the mare. I walked around my colt and got the mare. Then the colt followed us."

"I walked all the way out that road hanging parts of my clothes on tree branches in case somebody had to come looking for me. I was hoping we would catch them before I got to my under ware," Connie said.

"We didn’t see any clothes," Sara told her.

"I gathered them back up as we rode back," she answered easily. "At the gravel road, a Ranger came along in a truck and stopped. He asked me, ‘What are you doing out here walking?’ and I told him, ‘I’m tracking my horse.’"

"Why did you turn it loose?" the Ranger asked.

Connie was in no mood to deal with a stern question, even if it was asked by a Ranger. "It happens!" she answered shortly.

"They had a report that there were riderless horses down by the river. I caught a ride down to the river crossing with the Ranger," Connie added. "We had to get out and walk way down beside the river."

"That little gray mare is a great ride. She is the most sure footed horse I ever rode. She wanted to go and she just flew around there. She went right over big rocks and never missed a beat," Johnny said bragging on the little mare.

"Ever time I caught sight of Annabelle, I would just see her black tail going around the corner. She would just take off.

"I was scared to death I would round a curve and find one of them laying in the ditch with a broken leg," Johnny admitted, "Or that she would run my little colt to death and I would find him standing with his head hanging and sweat pouring off him."

Grant split off from him when they got to the main road. Johnny rode the trail down, hoping he would get down there and cut them off. He didn’t.

"Grant, why did you take your wife’s horse instead of your own?" I asked.

"I knew I would never catch anything on my horse. Her horse is faster," he answered.

"Well, you might have lost your horse because she said he is smoother than hers," I told him.

"That’s what happened to me," Johnny said. "Connie rode mine and then she took it away from me. I had to find me another one."

"I bet you let the stirrups down the first time you stopped," I questioned.

"No, we didn’t. We never did let them down," he said.

Connie said. "You know, the reins were still over the horn. I was afraid somebody would catch them and load them in a trailer and we would never see them again. That will never happen again."

"I told you," Sara said. "It only takes one time for Connie."

After they caught the horses, everything was funny again.

We sat around and ate pinto beans, taters and cornbread. It all turned our well this time.

"Those beans are as good as any I ever ate," insisted Grant as he headed back over to the crock pot.

That night we had a big camp fire and sat around it and told embarrassing tales on ourselves and each other. We were thankful for our new friends and we insisted we were coming back to Station Creek.

"It’s the best place I ever rode." Eddie said. We all agreed.