Their right fielder sprinted to the corner and dove for the ball. I was running full-out as I rounded first and watched the ball smack off the fence a...d catch the top bar to come back into the field at a funny angle.Coach Way was our third base coach and he was signaling me to round second. He gave me the universal sign to slide as he waved both arms down with his palms down. I hit the dirt and felt the ball catch my shoulder; it popped up and rolled towards home. I jumped up and thought about. I didn't take my sexiest negligee, that was for Early only! However, what I grabbed wasn't sackcloth either.I looked at my watch as I got in my car to follow John to his house. It was almost 6:00, lunch had lasted far longer than I'd thought. As I drove behind him, I started to panic and almost turned around and went home. Part of me told me I shouldn't even be driving after all that I'd drank, but I followed John to his home and parked my BMW beside his garage. We were both quiet when we got. Zena gave him another of those big, toothy smiles. ‘Thanks. You really know how to make a girl feel good.’ She laughed, but blushed at the same time. Bill recognized the sign. She was flattered by his comment — he hadn’t expected that. He was struggling to think of something else to say to keep the banter alive. ‘So, do you live nearby?’ he tried. ‘Yes … just a few blocks up the road. I have a small apartment I share with another girl. We don’t make much at the store, so we have to be careful. It was a bright, sunshiney day, as most mornings are that time of year in West Texas, when I started out. I was planning on taking my time and making 15 or so miles a day. It was around 700 miles to Dallas, so it was going to take a minimum of 6-7 weeks to get there, if I was not delayed, and I really went that far.The first couple of days went by with not much happening. I had been warned to watch out for marauding Comanches and Kiowas. This was the season for war parties, especially the young.