Fake it 'til you make it!

"What? Of course I know how to ride!" Cody lied through his teeth, trying to his hardest to look confident and collected. "Obviously I wouldn't volunteer to work with them if I didn't have experience with horses."

"That so?" Christine replied, keeping her eyebrow raised as she stared down at him. It was a stare that made him begin to squirm a little in place, as if she were looking straight through him and his lie. "And you're _positive _you know what you're doing?"

"Er... yeah, sure I do."

Finally the towering woman gave a shrug as she turned and began to walk down the line of stables with Cody quickly following at her heels.

"If'n you're sure about it, I guess I could use the help. Old Poe could use a little exercise, so how 'bout you ride him out to the pasture so he can stretch."

"Wh- erm, you mean now?" Cody asked, a sudden and obvious sense of nerves in his voice. He was really hoping he would have been able to watch her for a little bit to try and pick up some basics before being thrown into things. This is what lying got you.

"Sure. If you're here you're gonna work." Christine said back, a grin on her face as she detected the obvious worry in his tone. "You said you know what you're doing."

"Y-yeah. I did say that..." Cody mumbled a little, kicking himself for being stupid enough to get himself into this mess.

Still, she did say his name was Old Poe, right? If it was an older horse then it had to be pretty calm, right? Maybe he could still get through this. Just keep his chin up and use whatever he'd read and saw on tv. He could fake this. He KNEW he could!

Or, rather, he was sure he could until he saw Old Poe. Old was clearly not a descriptor for age or build. Turning the corner to the stable Cody came face to chest with a clydesdale built like a mountain with a rich dark color that made him all the more intimidating. The fact the horse's back was higher than Cody's head gave him more than a little sense of doubt in his ability to bluff his way through the task at hand. Normally this would be when he would feel a sense of awe and excitement at being so close to so awesome a beast, but instead the only thing he felt was a knot in his stomach almost as large as the horse itself.

"Well?" asked Christine from behind him, still grinning as she watched the small young man try to come to terms with the task before him. "What're ya waiting for? Hop on."

"R-right, yeah." Cody answered back, trying hard to think of a way to even mount Old Poe. At first he tried to raise his leg as if he could swing it over, but realized how utterly fruitless that effort was. Then he attempted to reach up and hop but found that equally impossible. Watching his struggle with amusement Christine decided to give him a helping hand and, grabbing hold of his ass, lifted him effortless from the ground and onto the back of the stallion.

"There. You should be able to take it from here, right Sug?" came the resulting tease.

"Ahem, yes. Just uh... wasn't prepared for the height difference. I've uh, i've got it from here on out." he said back, trying still to play it cool despite the blush absolutely conquering his face. "Right. So. Uh. Giddyup."

Hoping to prod the beast into action Cody nudged the horse with his heels. Old Poe responded by standing there. Cody shook the reigns a little. Old Poe stood there. Cody tried all sorts of phrases and sayings he'd heard and seen on TV from horse shows and westerns. Old Poe yawned sleepily.

"Hell, boy. At least put a little effort into this." Christine laughed out before giving Old Poe a swat on his hind quarters, spurring the horse into action. First he reared up tall, completely throwing poor Cody from his back. Then he trot leisurely out into the pasture without need for rider. Cody on the other hand fell less leisurely through the air, absolutely certain he was bound for hard solid earth. Instead he found himself comfortably landing in the waiting arms of Christine who held him closely, draped between her arms, as if he were baby.

"You've never ridden a horse in your life." she said, grinning.

"Not even once." he sheepishly agreed.

"But you thought you could fake it."

"I'd sort of hoped."

"Ha! I like you, runt. You've got a spine, i'll give you that!" Christine laughed heartily as she held him, the rolling of her laugh making him all too aware how much of his position was being cushioned by her bountiful breasts.

"That uh, that mean you'll let me stay?" Cody hazarded.

"Hmmm, that's the question ain't it?" she said, a smug look on her face as she looked him in the eye. "Yer not a whole lotta good to me if you can't ride or work. But I like your guts and I guess you're cute enough. Tell me, you met with Viv yet?"

"Erm, Ms. Mitchell? I uh, I have, yes..."

Oh no...

"Then I think you know what i'm gonna offer. You gotta learn to ride if you're gonna work these stables, and i'm plenty happy to teach, but you're gonna learn my way and I promise it's not the standard. So what'll it be, sugar?"