He sucked in a breath and clenched his teeth as it stung sharply. But then he relaxed a bit as the plant matter began to soothe the discomfort.


(ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh..............................)

Catori quickly finished applying the paste to his wounds before stepping back. She hesitated before speaking. "Better?" she asked.

He nodded, as the pain numbed. "A lot better. Thank you."

Catori smiled brightly at his answer. She looked down at the bath tub Nathan had moved and a curious look crossed her face. "Um...why?" she asked, wondering why he was trying to move something so heavy when he was still injured.

He smiled slightly. "Water for horses, the river can be dangerous, especially for Cheveyo."

Catori nodded in understanding. "Help?" she asked hesitantly. She didn't want him hurting himself further and she was a lot stronger than she looked.

He paused, and then nodded and smiled. "Yeah. But dont hurt yourself." He went into the stables, coming out with a second bucket. He offered it to her, picked up his own bucket and went to the flat bank, filling the bucket not quite full with the fresh, sweet water and carried it to the tub. He poured about half the water into the tub to clean it, and then put the plug into place and poured the rest to begin filling it. This would take a while. He frowned, looking around for a hosepipe, a different idea coming to mind.

Catori smiled as she took the bucket from Nathan. She followed him and completely filled her own bucket. She carried it back to the tub and dumped the water in. She noticed Nathan was looking around and tilted her head like a confused puppy. "Look?" she asked.

He contemplated how to describe what he was looking for. "Its like a snake. Looks like a snake, but is empty." he said, wandering towards the rubble, looking.

Catori looked at him, slightly confused but went ahead and started to look for what he had described. She was looking through a patch of really tall grass when she spotted a long tube-like thing. She lifted it up and stared at it curiously. "This?" she asked, looking over at Nathan.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, coming over to examine the length of hose. In theory, the water from the river should have enough momentum to run through the hose and into the tub. In practice, i might not work quite so well.

Catori stood still as she watched him. Waiting for instructions on what to do next.

Onyx lifted her heads when Nathan and Catori started looking around in the tall grass, while Cheveyo continued to graze although his ears stayed pointed in the humans' direction. He snorted softly and moved closer to where he thought Onyx was, pressing his side against the black mare.

Nathan handed Catori the end of the hose. "Put that in the tub?" he asked, and took the other end, placing it in the river, so the water would flow through. "Oh, i hope this works."

Catori simply nodded and placed her end in the tub. She watched silently, but curiously as Nathan put the other end in the river.

Sure enough, the force of the current sent water pouring from the hosepipe into the tub. That would make it a lot easier. Nathan looked around. The main bit of the old farm was tidy, but around the old paddocks and the old farmhouse there were things strewn through the grass. He'd clean that all up to be sure Cheveyo couldnt hurt himself. It was going to be a long day.

(i saw a picture on Judge My Ride of a girl doing barrels on a horse, but she was trotting because the horse was still in training and completely blind!)

Catori was surprised when water started to fill the tub.

(That is awesome!)

Nathan grinned wider at Catoris surprise, laughing heartily. He pulled the hose out when the tub was filled, and beckonex for Onyx to lead Cheveyo over to the new, safe water source. He thought to himself, getting an idea for a new outdoor water system. He could set up a better irrigation system to the food garden. He was going to set up a wash rack, by the time he was done with this place it'd be like a while new property. He smiled and looked up at Catori, wondering if she'd stick around.

Onyx nickered and nudged Cheveyo at Nathan's beckon. Cheveyo snorted softly before following her. The black mare stuck her muzzle in the water and snorted loudly to let the stallion know there was water in front of him. Cheveyo nickered and stretched his head forward, the moment his lips touched the water he started to drink deeply.

Catori was smiling softly as she watched the two horses. She felt someone looking at her and glanced over at Nathan. She tilted her head like a puppy, a questioning look in her eyes.