I looked surprised, and for good reason. Laurie gave me more gossip.
“The rumor is he must have drugged them or something. No way can a guy get down-to-earth girls like those three to go with him.”
“Wow, I think I need to meet this guy and learn his secrets.”
Bud seemed to agree with me, but Laurie wasn’t impressed.
We hit the runs and had a blast. They were giving me pointers, and I was getting better when I noticed most of the other people were off the run. By the third run, it was just us. I glanced over and Bev was taking pictures of us.
“It looks like they’re ready. Let’s get this over with,” Laurie said.
“Mind if I tag along?” I asked. “I want to meet this stuck-up dude.”
“Why not,” Bud answered.
We went to where Bev and her crew were waiting on us. Laurie took charge.
“Hey, Bev, are you about ready? Is the model-boy ready for his close-up?”
Bev kept a straight face.
“Just about. We need to get the model-boy into a new suit. While we wait for him, let’s get your brother’s face fixed, and I’ll show you some of the shots we took of the model.”
“Hey, I’ll see you guys later,” I said.
They just waved as Bev took them in to see the earlier shots. I went back to the wardrobe tent and changed. Mom was waiting for me when I came out. She didn’t look happy.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
“I found out that Kendal and Clare weren’t at your job this morning. I agreed to let you do this as long as someone was there to look out for your best interests. If I’d known that they weren’t going to be there, I would’ve been.”
She didn’t like the face I made.
“Don’t give me that look. I know you think you’re an adult, and we let you do things that normal teenagers aren’t allowed to do, but I’m not happy.”
“Mom, I’m getting it fixed. Ford is sending out their director of talent development today to deal with this. Kendal has been great up until Devin got into her pants. When he’s not around, she does a good job. I have no idea what Clare’s been up to.”
“I’m not sure what you need me to do while you’re working,” my mom confessed.
I hugged her.
“You’re doing it right now. Just be you, and if I look like I need some help, step in.”
That seemed to appease her, so we went to the work tent where Bud and Laurie were looking at the shots.
“He’s not terrible,” Laurie was saying. “You did a good job working with a rookie, Bev. The face-plant was pretty funny. He seems very familiar, for some reason.”
Bev chuckled and brought up her shots of the three of us.
“Awww shit! Oops. Sorry, Bev,” Bud said.
My mom started laughing.
“David has that effect on me all the time. Hi, I’m David’s mom.”
Laurie and Bud just shook their heads. They were good sports about me pulling a fast one. I teased them some more.
“Mom, you should hear the story going around about me. Apparently, I bedded four babes last night.”
“I’m so disappointed, only four?” Mom asked with a straight face.
“Yeah, I know. I must be slipping,” I answered.
Bev got us organized. Bud was sent to makeup to cover the scrapes on his face. That left Laurie and me. Bev had us only going about a quarter of the way up the towline and then coming down. I did some basic jumps while Laurie did some wild stunts on her board. Bud was just coming out of makeup when Bev called us in.
She loaded the shots and put them up on the screen. The one I liked best showed Laurie flying over me upside down. I remembered thinking she came damn close, and it turned out it made a great shot. Bev turned to Bud.
“Sorry to get you done up, but I have what I need.” She turned to me, “I understand your model release won’t be signed until tomorrow. May I ask why the delay?”
“Ford is sending someone from Chicago to handle that. She’ll be here this afternoon. Give me your number, and I’ll have her call you and make arrangements to get the pictures reviewed and signed off on.”
“So what you’re telling me is that the model releases signed by Clare Thomas aren’t valid?” asked Bev.
“I wouldn’t make any assumptions.”
Mom came back into the tent.
“Our ride to the ranch is ready. We have to get going.”
I said my goodbyes to everyone and we went to the next shoot. I leaned my head back and took a power nap.
WHEN WE GOT BACK TO the ranch, a session was going on in the barn. Mom and I went over to watch. Cody Chance was saddling a big black horse whose coat glistened in the light. Cody would pause, show each piece of tack, and then put it on the horse. When he had all the equipment on, he got up in the saddle. It looked like he was born on a horse. When the shoot ended, I went up to the photographer. His name was Jim and he was doing the work here at the ranch.
“It’s nice to meet you. I hear you’ve been destroying the slopes,” Jim said. Cody came up to us and Jim performed the introduction. “Cody, this is David.”
Cody was in his mid-30s and looked like a cowboy. He took his leather glove off and shook my hand.
“Pleasure.”
“Cody, you and David’ll be doing the riding shots after this. I want to finish the horse tack and supply shots, and then we’ll get outside. David, I want you to go change in the trailer and get ready. We’ll be done in a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll go right now.”
I went off to the trailer they had set up for the shoot. Inside, a nice young man had me get dressed in western wear. I chuckled when I saw myself in the mirror. I’d always wanted to be a cowboy for Halloween, and this was better than I ever expected. When I was done, I went out to find Jim.
The plan was for Cody and me to go into the trees and then come out together about 100 feet from where we entered. This way the snow would look pristine. Cody wasn’t very talkative, so it was a quiet ride. When we got into position, we needed to wait for Jim to get set up. They had an area prepared with a tent, and there were several vehicles parked around it. Mom was sitting in a chair off to the side. She waved when we came into view.
When Jim was ready, he had us trot out of the woods and ride towards the tent. When we reached the tent, Jim wasn’t happy with the lighting. He had us go back and do it again, but further down from before. When we were in position, we heard a growl. Both horses bolted, and suddenly I was hanging on for dear life. The four stooges had decided to spring an ambush. These wolves didn’t sound or look like pups to me.
Things went from bad to worse when the horses split up. My horse decided to head back to the barn, and Cody’s went towards the tents. The wolves were on our heels. I turned back to look and saw Cody’s horse stumble, and him go over the horse’s shoulder and sprawl out on the ground. The wolves saw it too, and turned to go after easier prey. I turned my horse, trying to figure out what I should do. Cody wasn’t moving, so I was afraid he was in trouble if the wolves got there first. I kicked the horse’s flanks, and he charged forward. I was leaning forward when the wind caught my hat, so I slammed it down on my head so it wouldn’t blow off.
I was relieved to see Cody get to his feet. I heard a Jeep fire up. The wolves were bearing down on Cody when I ran my horse through the pack. The big one caught a hoof in the ribs and went sprawling. His yelp brought the other three up short. I slowed my mount down, took off my hat, swung it wide, and yelled at the wolves. They decided I was scary, and bolted for the woods.
The Jeep had made it to Cody, and the driver was checking him out. The passenger was catching the spooked horse. I trotted up and found Cody had a big cut in his hairline where his head had hit something and was bleeding.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Cody shook his head.
“Son, does it look like I’m okay?”
He really didn’t. I gave a nervous laugh.
“You ready to do that again?”