Sam and Marie

[x-cannonball.livejournal.com]

Backdated to Tuesday. Sam goes down to the stables to say one of his goodbyes, and Marie comes down to say goodbye as well.
---

"Hey there, Lardbutt," Sam murmured to his horse, rubbing gently along his nose as it whickered softly at him. He fed Lardbutt a sugar cube and brushed his mane out. "Ah'm gonna miss ya back in Kentucky, ya know."

"Bet he's gonna miss you too," came a soft Southern drawl from behind Sam. "So you make sure you promise to visit him regularly or he might just end up sulking in his stall."

"Until ya mentioned the stall, Ah was wonderin' if ya were referrin' ta Lardbutt or Scott," Sam joked with a grin, turning his head over his shoulder. "Heya, Marie," he greeted her, keeping his voice quiet so as not to spook Lardbutt or any of the other horses.

"Who said Ah wasn't talking about Scott? Where do you think he plays his sax?" Marie teased, grinning right back. She took a few steps forward, leaning against the stall door. "How's your mom doing?" she asked, face and voice becoming more serious.

"She's doin' all right," Sam replied. "Hurt her pride more'n anythin', Ah think. Ya know how much pride momma has." And it was true. Lucinda Guthrie had pride enough for an entire houseful, and then some. "She near ta bit m' head off when Ah offered ta come home and help out. If'n the doc didn't know her so well and hadn't given her strict orders ta stay off her feet for a few weeks, Ah don't know that she woulda let me." He chuckled.

"Ah'm still amazed she did," Marie teased. "You're gonna get home and she's gonna start askin' you why you bothered, she's just fine." Walking over to one of the other stalls, Marie clucked her tongue and began stroking the horse's nose. "So how 'bout one last race for old times sake?"

"Ah'm game for it. How about it, Lardbutt? Ya up for a rematch against this no-good cheatin' so-and-so?" Lardbutt tossed his head and gave Sam a particularly fulminating look. "Ah'll take that as a yes," Sam said, turning to Marie. "But don't be thinkin' Ah ain't on ta ya this time."

"Ladies don't cheat," Marie said, turning up her nose as she walked into the tack room to gather a sadle and bridle. "We won fair and square and you're just sore. Ain't that right Taffy?"

"One of us is gonna be sore, an' it ain't me," Sam promised as he saddled Lardbutt up.

---

"Ah'm gonna miss this somethin' fierce," Sam declared as Lardbutt and Taffy moved forward at a walk later on. Racing was a lot of fun, but it was also nice to take your time and be able to talk to whoever was riding with you.

"If ya miss it, just means ya gotta come here for a visit. Ah've got no problems taking a break to whoop your butt," Marie teased. "Plus there's this new fangled invention called a phone. Ah hear it does wonders for keeping in touch when you have to move to a different state from your friends."

Sam blew out a raspberry. "Ya think y'r funny, don't ya, Mississip'?" he asked, mock grumpiness in his voice. "Of course Ah'll call an' such. An' visit, too, seein' as Paige is back around these parts."

"Ah don't think, Ah know," Marie said with a grin. She was going to miss having another Southerner around, or at least one who she felt close to. But hopefully Sam's mom would get better soon and he'd be able to return to the mansion soon. "You just take care of yourself, ok? It's be sad if you managed to make it fairly unscathed through countless missions and then had a tractor fall on you at the farm or something."

"Ah ain't about ta do any damnfool thing like lettin' the tractor fall on me, don' you worry. 'Sides, Ah'd never hear the end of it."