As Candice ascended the hills, her sandaled feet crushing the daisies and buttercups that pebbled the grass, she could make out ahead of her, at last,...the silhouette, clouded and still hazy, of the mountain kingdom she sought. The Staff of Readiness was gripped firmly in her right hand, giving to its owner that extra stamina and energy that all these leagues of travel would surely have defeated a lesser woman. Around her shoulders was wrapped the Shawl of Comfort, which would warm Candice. It was so soft, and it felt good, but i prayed that He was not finished with the crop. After a few minutes of gentle rubbing, i felt the crop come down on my ass again, this time with more force. i shuddered as my breath escaped me, and i felt incredibly alive. i realized He knew i only wanted more. And just as i was absorbing the sensation from this first real blow, He struck again on the other cheek. As He continued this lovely torment, i knew that i had come home. The funny thing was, it was. Freddie Gonzalez brought the end-of-game ball back to me in the dugout and congratulated me.When Amy met us outside the locker room for the ride home, she gave me a surprise kiss -- with a little tongue, even -- that made my knees wobble! "Congratulations!" she said.There hadn't been as much fuss made, over Shiggie's four-hit shutout the night before, as was being made over my 5+ innings of adequate-but-shaky relief.I realized it was just that more was expected of Shiggie than of me. I was just. Sue took her two horses slightly upstream of Jake.Once all of the horses had drunk enough, Jake led them to the grassy area and just let them go. They would be tired after the day and would want to eat. Jake knew that Blaze wouldn't wander, and with the bushes on all sides apart from the running water of the stream, he didn't think the others would go anywhere.Jake started to gather a few sticks to make a small fire, but Sue came and took them out of his hand, making a "Tsk" noise as she did.