© 1997 Derrick M. Water Hole Custom Leather Inc. This manuscript cannot be published in any form or by any medium without written consent rom the author(s).
Michael was not sure how much sleep he got, but he got up at
3:30 am and dressed. He filled his cooler this time and grabbed
a bag of chips as he did not have time to make a lunch if he was
going to make it to the evaluation. Then he drove back to the
ranch. He pulled up at the gate at about 3:55 am. The guard welcomed
him back and, after signing him in, told him that he was to park
where he did the day before, but that he also was to stay in the
truck and to wear this (the guard handed him a blindfold) until
some one came for him. The guard also said that he should be aware
that he would be watched on cameras, so that it was important
to follow the rules and put the blindfold on as soon as he parked
the truck -- not a second later. Michael told him he would, although
now he was very confused and extremely nervous. God he must want
this job very badly. He parked the car and slowly put the blindfold
on.
His breathing started to get a bit quicker and his pulse was racing.
It was a warm early morning, so the driver's window was down.
As he started to calm down a bit and get used to the blindfold,
he began to notice a lot of sounds around the area. He could hear
trainers talking to their ponies, saying giddy up. He could hear
feet outside. Some sounded like they passed right past the truck.
But he did not hear the heavy hooves of horses. This was confusing
to Michael, and his mind wandered. He was getting a bit hard as
well, and this both excited and confused him.
Michael was drifting in and out of a dream state. How long had
he been waiting? Oh, how he wanted to at least take a peek at
what time it was. How long would he have to wait? All of these
questions, plus the ones that surfaced after he read the letter,
were going through his head. He was very confused. Why was he
putting himself though this? Because he wanted to be here under
any terms? Because he wanted to be as close to ponies and horses
as he could possible get?
He was confused.
The sun had moved considerably when finally he felt someone at
his door.
"Michael, how good to see you" the voice said. It was not the Lady, but indeed it was a powerful woman's voice. "We did not really expect that you would come, but we are happy you did. Come with me now."
And she opened Michael's door and stepped aside.
What was he suppose to do with the damned blindfold? How could he follow if he could not see.
"May I remove this blindfold", he asked.
"Are you asking me a question, Michael? I thought you understood that you should not ask the employees questions. You can only answer ours. But you are new, and I am in very good spirits today, so I will forgive you this offense. I will not even bring it up in your evaluation -- unless I am asked directly by the Lady of the ranch, of course."
Then she gently and tenderly laughed and said "By the way, of course you can not remove the blindfold, Michael. Why, do you ask? Do you need assistance?"
"Yes" he said. "I have never had to follow someone with a blindfold on, but I will respect that there are things happening here that you do not wish me to see. But I will need help"
"Of course you will respect our privacy, Michael. That is why the Lady chose you. She knew you would. Are you certain you need help?"
"Yes"
"OK - then I will help you -- by the way -- my name is Susan"
With this she snapped a rope to the side of his blindfold. "Pardon my use of a lead, but this is the only way I have been trained to assist those who are blindfolded."
He was taken aback, but accepted her explanation. And he accepted the use of the lead. In fact, strangely enough, he rather enjoyed it, but did not seem consciously aware of that fact just yet.
As he followed beside her he continued to hear the voices of trainers, but no sounds of horses -- how strange. He also could tell that people stopped to look at him -- and he heard conversation, as people conversed with Susan.
"Good morning to you! Is this another recruit?"
And that familiar gentle laugh again. "No, no ... not yet ... simply an employee ... we do not know if he holds the promise of a recruit yet."
"Susan?" he whispered...
"Now, now, Michael, you are not going to test that rule again, simply because I let it go the first time. Do not make me feel like I should regret my good will."
He shook his head and stopped talking. But, damn, what the hell were they talking about? He wanted to ask, but he knew now that he could not.
And they continued onward until they reached a barn -- Michael could tell by the smell.
"Now, I am going to remove your blindfold Michael and stand you next to one of the stalls. I would suggest you remain quiet and still as you watch the conversation that is about to occur. This would be your best bet. The Lady of the ranch may offer you other options, but I would suggest you choose this one. Do you understand?"
"Yes, and thank you, Susan", Michael said. God he wanted to ask about that recruit thing, but maybe it would reveal itself to him if he were just patient.
And the blindfold was removed.
What a magnificent barn this was. So large -- so much room. And so many stalls all around its perimeter. All so clean and fresh. All so well kept. Ah, the horses who were boarded here and who trained here were lucky indeed.
He saw a large table in the middle of an open space. Four woman, including Susan, and two men were seated. Where was the Lady of the ranch? Wasn't she suppose to be here?
God, all these persons were so beautiful. The four woman all had long thick hair -- and all wore leather -- tight and sleek. The two men were bare chested, but had leather pants on. Clearly they worked out. They were quite handsome and cut. God, what a beautiful set of trainers. But where was the Lady?
He glanced about the barn and saw many many things. Whips, leads, grooming buckets, hay, feedbags, harnesses, blinders, and the most gorgeous of saddles. All looked normal --- ahhh, better than normal actually -- he had never seen such perfectly made and perfectly kept gear and equipment.
But he also saw things he could not really comprehend. These things looked like they would fit humans -- not horses. Restraints of all types. Blindfolds, gags, butt plugs, enema bags, whips that one would not consider using on a horse, candles, harnesses, and much more. What was this place -- what were these things? His mind was reeling again.
But before he had much time to think, the Lady came in from behind him and touched his shoulder. He was startled, and jumped a mile!
"Hello Michael, so glad you decided to join us. So sorry to keep you waiting so long. And so sorry to have startled you -- I should have known to alert you to my presence with a tap on the butt. I could have been injured if you had decided to kick."
She was dressed as her trainers -- all in black leather -- with gloves that were smooth to the touch. He knew this because as he jumped, she touched his neck and rubbed him gently. "Do not worry, Michael -- I mean -- this is not a life and death situation -- it is merely one of many inspections and evaluations -- you will get used to them if you decide to stay -- and if we decide to keep you ... under our employ that is."
And she smiled at him and then walked past.
God, she made him quiver. As he shook, she turned around quickly. He was once again embarrassed to be noticed in this way by her. He gathered himself and stood straight and tall.
"By the way, Michael, I want to give you a choice here. I am about to join that group of people over there -- my trainers. They are the ones who were inspecting you yesterday. It may be difficult to hear us from way back here -- and it might be quite important for you to understand all that was looked at and how you were rated. Therefore I would like to offer you the opportunity to come stand by the side of the table, next to Susan, so you can listen carefully. This would also afford each of us the opportunity to ask you questions or to have you show us things that we did not, yesterday, understand. So, of course, it would be helpful to us. But really, Michael, the choice is yours. It is sometimes hard to be in ear shot of people who are evaluating you so stringently. Many egos cannot take it. So I would be just as pleased to have you wait here and hear what you can. Susan will come and tell you the final results, in case you miss anything. Your choice, Michael. What will it be"
God, was he confused now. Susan was so clear it would be best to stay here by the stall. And yet, the Lady was so kind in her offer to let him hear -- and to answer questions and do things so that the evaluation and inspection could be as fair as possible. What should he do!!!!!!! Could he handle hearing whatever they had to say? Would he become defensive and nervous (God, he already WAS nervous). Was it safer to stay here? What would it mean? How would he be viewed if he stayed? If he came? God, he did not know.
"By your silence and your shocked look, Michael I assume you have made the choice to remain behind. Am I correct in my assumption, Michael?"
Michael nodded his head yes. He could not even manage a sound -- even if his life depended on it -- he was unable to manage one little grunt.
During the evaluation, he stood, and every so often closed
his eyes for a short period, taking
very deep breaths and hoping that Susan was not setting him up
-- that she was correct -- that this was the easiest and best
way to do this.
While standing there, the people at the table turned around every so often and pointed to him and nodded or shook their heads as they were going over their notes. It seemed like forever.
The Lady whispered something to Susan and she came over to Michael. She said, "you are requested to take your shirt off and follow me to the table". As Michael took off his shirt, she gestured for him to hang it on the hook, jutting out of the post behind him. As he did so, she mentioned to him that he was not to say a word -- that they, at this point, would be talking "about him" and not "to him". She added that he was to follow any instructions given by anyone sitting down at the table -- to the letter -- without hesitation.
Michael finished hanging up his shirt, making sure it was neat. He then turned and followed behind Susan as she led him to the table. When they got to the table, Susan lifted a part of it and gestured for Michael to walk into the center. The center was about 4 feet around. Susan closed the table top and took her seat. Michael looked straight ahead and no where else. Not so much because he was behaving very good, but more because he was almost paralyzed with fear at this point. It seemed that all that went through his head was every thing he had done wrong the past few days -- from meeting her to his first day and how it ended. He had all he could do to keep tears from forming, and took very deep breaths and licked his lips a lot. He also was moving his fingers -- rubbing them together. He had an itch, but dared not scratch it. He wanted this job so bad. So many things were going on in his head right then as the evaluators just looked at him. He could hear some talk. Just as Susan said -- they were talking about him, not too him. He felt sort of odd -- like a pet of some sort that they were all talking about.
One of the men mentioned that Michael would need some more working out to build his upper body and trim his waist line. One of the woman was talking about his ass -- that it needed to be a bit fuller. They did like the way he kept himself clean and his smells. Then the conversation shifted to matters that made no sense to Michael. They started to talk about harnesses, carts, and saddles. Where did all this fit in? They did mention that Michael was well mannered and showed great possibilities (but for what he thought ).
Michael's head was a blur with so many thoughts and feelings. He heard something on the far off distance -- but as the sound got closer, it could identify that someone was calling his name. He turned. It was the Lady asking him if he was sleeping, as he did not appear to acknowledge her the first time. Michael turned white. A tear came to his eye, and he shook his head to signal no. Then he bowed it. The Lady came up to him and held a crop under his chin. "Calm down, Michael, and always keep your head up and be proud. Nothing bad is happening here. This is just a report from every one so every one knows what each person observed. We have very high security standards here, as well as basically high standards overall for our staff and our employees to stand up to. Until you are one of the ... (she cuts herself off at this point) ... anyway, do not be so fearful. And keep up the good work. You are doing fine right now. Please permit Susan to lead you back to the stall, put your shirt back on, and stand there until we have completed these evaluation procedures."
With this, Susan opened up the table top again and let Michael
out. She walked him back to the stall where he had been previously
standing. While he put his shirt on, Susan whispered to him "You
done good Michael." Then, as he turned to face the center,
where the table was. Susan held up the blindfold again, and he
knew it had to be placed back on until this was over and he could
be lead out back to his truck.
.
After Susan replaced the blindfold, Michael's breathing got slower
and he did feel more
calm. Susan joked -- "Gee, you act just like a real pony
when you are blindfolded." Michael's
head popped up, as he did not know she was still there.
Finally, Susan told him that this first evaluation was over. She clipped the lead on the blindfold again and lead him back to his truck (or so he thought it was Susan ). When he got to the truck, the blindfold was taken off and he looked up and saw the Lady. She had led him back to the truck. She handed him an envelope with the day's job and said she would leave a note regarding the results of his evaluation in his truck, by the end of the day. She also reminded him not to work into over time today, as she did not want him cheating himself, just as much as she did not want to be cheated.
Michael looked at his watch. It was now 7:15 am. He opened the packet. He took a walk over to where the day's project was. Today he was to repair a roof on a shed that had been built to cover some hay. The directions said that once he told the guard he was ready to begin, then the guard would move the hay. The note said that the hay had to be handled a certain way, just like the water trough. Michael went over to the guard station and showed him the note. The guard assured him it was not a problem, and that he would have a team come right over. Michael went back to his truck and got his tools and went over to the shed again and waited. Only a few minutes had passed when Susan came over and said that he had to be blindfolded again while the hay was being moved. He went to place the blindfold over his eyes, but Susan stopped him. "From this point on, we are required to put this on and take it off. Only Trainers can do this -- no one else. Also, right after Susan placed the blindfold over his eyes, she went behind him and pulled his hands behind his back, holding him still and straight. She whispered to Michael that this was to remind him not to respond to his urge to peek. Then she giggled.
Michael could hear a wagon pulling up but he could not hear the sounds of heavy horses. He could hear the crack of a whip and some moans, but these moans did not sound like horses. The noises changed as he heard workers pick up the hay and load it. He finally heard the wagon pull away.
Susan let his arms go and took off the blindfold. Michael looked
puzzled and said "you people sure like blindfolds around
here " and smiled. Susan smiled back and said, "Very
good, Michael, you did not ask a question. You learn pretty fast."
And, with that, she turned and walked
away.
Michael got started on the roof. It was in pretty rough shape. Many wood shingles needed to be replaced While it was hot, and the job was hard, the day itself was uneventful. He got the work done and the area cleaned. He raked it and took a magnet to check for any nails. He then packed his tools into his truck and drove to the guard house. On the way out he told the guard he was all done with that job and that he would see him in the morning. The guard gave him a package saying, "This is for you, from our Lady."
Michael took a quick look and saw a sealed letter attached to the package. On the outside of the envelop it said
"Please read this tonight before you retire."
Michael raced home, got some food, and then went to work at the store until closing. By 9 pm, he was very tired, as he had had a restless night, and had been awake by 3:00 am. He took a shower and opened the letter. The letter said.....
"Hello Michael,
Your first of many inspections and evaluations has been completed -- and you fared well. Congratulations! But there also are several areas of needed focus that you must improve upon if you truly want us to consider you for full time employment.
As I told you this morning, if you chose not to join us ear our table during the evaluation, then Susan would be the one to tell you the results. She will be ready to do this at the restaurant tomorrow -- during lunch. She will expect to see you there promptly at 12:00. I know you will not disappoint her. She will speak for all of us, and she will have some questions for you. Please refrain from asking her any questions -- remember that any concerns or questions you have should be directed solely to me. Anyway, I am sure you are relieved that the evaluation is over. Relax now and rest and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Most do not fare so well in a first evaluation -- and while you have many areas to work on -- you also showed some areas of strength as well.
By the way, Michael, the box contains something for you to wear tomorrow to help you carry necessary tools. I took the liberty of having it made for you after my assistants noticed the types of tools you carried about. I hope you like it as much as I do. You will notice that it could indeed have many uses. Do not open it until tomorrow, and groom yourself, and match the rest of your uniform accordingly.
As usual, the guard will have your instructions when you arrive."
No signature -- when was it that he would know her name?
Michael was grateful for this general statement of congratulations. At least he knew he was on the right track. He was relieved. But he also was nervous about those weak areas. I mean, what were they evaluating anyway?
He did have a difficult evening again -- tossing and turning. Wanting to open the box. It took him about three hours just to get to sleep.