I was a little concerned because the light was getting a little dimmer and of all the trees and roots sticking up on this trail. I warned her to watc... out for those roots and then it happened. She tripped over a root sticking up on the trail and down she went. She fell to one side onto the palms of her hands and her knees. Both of these took the brunt of the fall and were scraped up badly. But the worst of it was when she ricocheted off the path and went head first down into a swale. I. I’m not sure if possibly we were moving too fast for mom, but I knew I was ready for all of it. Christy took us out to the spa, and excused herself for a minute. While she was gone I gave mom a nice tight hug and said, “Mom, I love you so very, very much.” Christy came back out to the spa with a bottle of champagne and three glasses. “Shari, Lez, I know that you shouldn’t be drinking, Lez, and I hope that you don’t until you’re of legal age, but I want to celebrate your graduation, but even. ” I hoped I hadn’t hit one of her raw nerves. Getting on her wrong side could earn me extra punishment as well as retraining time for being disobedient. “I’ll be home promptly at 2 p.m. , in another ten minutes. I want you to have your clothes ready to go out tonight.” “But ma’am, isn’t my master coming over tonight? Won’t we miss him?” I was desperate, risking my behind, or worse, by pursuing this line of questioning when she made it clear by not. The cart was metal, a bench seat for two with a foot rest and wire‑spoked wheels, like a motorcycle's. A tubular shaft went forward to a crossbar, where the ponies were hitched. The surprise was that the ponies, three of them, were women! They wore leather helmets which also covered the upper part of the face, with only a sort of oval tube in front of the eyes, which would allow the "pony" to see directly ahead and down. The helmets were decorated with plumes, red, blue, and green, the .