(no subject)

[snowy_river_man]

It's hard, really, to go about your business when there's a door to the end of the universe just around the corner and no one else seems to notice. Hard, but not impossible.

That doesn't mean Jim doesn't think an awful lot about it while chopping logs and mucking out the stable. He's half convinced the other stablehands are enjoying a joke at his expense, but as far as he can tell, no one seems to pay the door any attention, or even use it for whatever it's true purpose is meant to be.

It's a mystery, but not the only mystery on Harrison's cattle station.

Take Curly, for example. Jim can't fathom why Harrison hired on a duffer like that. Earlier, Jim had been working hard in a stall, ignoring the sweat dripping down his forehead, when Curly and another man had decided to make their presence known.

Jim hadn't particularly cared for them on sight – there’s something about the way Curly insists on wearing a waistcoat and long pocket watch chain, as if he feels himself above everyone, that irritates Jim -- but he stopped shoveling, wiped his hand on his pants and offered it anyway. “Oh, g’day. I'm Jim Craig.”

"Pretty good at shoveling that, aren't ya?" Curly hooked his thumbs in his lapels. Neither man shook Jim's hand. "Pretty smart for a mountain fella. Usin’ the front-end and everythin'."

"Yeah," the second man laughed.

Curly reached behind his ear for a cigarette and gestured for a light. "Like bandicoots in the mountains. You diggin’ for grubs, bandicoot?"

Hands clenched tightly around the shovel handle, Jim walked past and fixed them with a cold look. "Have they given you the day off, then?"

Curly dropped the lit match to the stable floor, flashing Jim an antagonizing smile. White smoke puffed from his mouth. "I'm studyin’ to be supervisor." The match landed in hay, damp but still flammable.

Jim gave him a disgusted look, scooped up a pile of dung and dumped it on both the match and Curly's foot. "Studying to be stupid."

As first meetings go, it wasn't terribly pleasant. Curly shook his foot and looked ready to carry it further, but they soon found themselves interrupted by Jessica Harrison, walking directly for Kip's stall.

"I'll be back later to check on your work," said Curly, leaving him to it. Jim noticed he doesn't walk like he owns the place when anyone of authority is around.

Keeping his eyes on Jessica, Jim went back to his work. He watches her now, wondering if she remembers him from the train station. Part of him hopes she doesn't. It's only a very small part.

Comments

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

Dressed casually in shirt, vest, calf-length skirt and black riding boots, and carrying a saddle over one arm, Jessica dismisses Curly after a few formal pleasantries.

The pretty green-eyed brunette certainly does remember the boy from the railway station who had left the crowd of onlookers and easily calmed the spooked colt. He had called her mate! The cheek of it. And he had made her look inept and feeble by stepping in and taking control of the situation.

Jessica Harrison has a way with horses too. She can handle them very competently, thank you very much, and she did not need the lad's unbidden help. She doesn't quite see why her father needs his help around here either. Hence why there is only a cursory glance of acknowledgement for the new stablehand as she passes him and enters the stall of her grey gelding.

[snowy_river_man]

Curly had been right about one thing: Jim wields the shovel with competence, making doubly sure that the match is extinguished before scooping soiled hay into a wheelbarrow. It's soothing, in a way, both the work and the steady scraping sound, broken only by the whinny of a horse.

He pauses, a small smile curving his lips. She really is quite pretty. It wouldn't be such an awful thing to see her eyes flash green fire at him again.

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

The lad is safe from her ire for now, as Jessica seems to be ignoring him for the most part. She places the saddle over the sidewall of the stall and turns her attention to the horse.

"Kip," she says in a light accusatory tone. "What have you been up to, eh?"

The gelding has fouled up his headcollar rather spectacularly. It is hanging uselessly about his ears and neck, noseband torn. Jessica tsks good-naturedly and removes the loose straps from him.

"There you go," she says kindly, smoothing her hand down his neck. Kip whickers gratefully and nudges her with his muzzle. The girl smiles and takes up a length of lead rope from a nearby hook. She will just have to fashion a makeshift halter for him.






Practice turns out to be harder than theory though, and her initial efforts to tie the rope into the requisite bridling loops are pretty woeful. Frowning more intently now, she keeps trying. And failing...

[snowy_river_man]

She's going about it all wrong. One hand loops over the other in the wrong direction, and it's clear the rope will be nothing more than a tangled mess should she continue.

Jim is not entirely without a brain in his head, however. Should he step in, he runs the risk of further animosity. Perhaps an offer made in kindness would be better received.

"Uh," and it's very unassuming, "can I help?"

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

Jessica looks up from her unaccomplished knotting work, a little taken aback. Where does this lad get off coming to her rescue when she doesn't need it?

"No, no," she replies pertly. "Thank you."

She can do this, so her words are devoid of any real gratitude. To be honest, it took quite a lot of effort to bite back a more scathing turn down.

She returns to her task with renewed determination.

Over and around, then pull through the loops... annnd... she is left with a balled mess of rope that can't really even be classified as a knot. Frustration and confusion are both apparent in the resulting scowl.

[snowy_river_man]

Unseen by Jessica, Jim allows himself a small eyeroll and amused smile. There's no shame in admitting you don't know how to do something, Jim thinks. Not if you then make an effort to learn it.

But there will be no arguing with Jessica. If she won't accept his help, then he'll do it anyway. Her pride will be just as bruised if he stands here and watches her fail.

Resting the shovel against a rail, Jim reaches for a rope -- it's new, slender and white with it -- and expertly flicks his wrist like he's about to lasso a calf. The rope snaps with a satisfying sound. A loop quickly forms, secured with a knot, and he strides forward to gently place it around the gelding's neck. Reaching down, he pulls another small loop through and slips it over Kip's soft nose, forming a makeshift halter.

The lead is offered to Jessica; he tries not to look too smug.

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

Jessica pauses in her current knotting attempt, initially irked by the uncalled for assistance, but quickly becoming wider of eye at the lad's deft work. It's hard to be irritated by such a masterful display of skill.

Expression bubbling with wonder, she tosses her own pathetic effort away and takes the lead rope from him. There's even a hesitant smile.

"Show me how you did that," she says.

His actions were far too fast for her to follow.

[snowy_river_man]

Pleased, Jim flashes a crooked smile. This is a new sensation for him; he hasn't had much experience with young ladies, not counting the women of ill repute who had tried to catch his attention in town.

"Easy," he replies confidently and reaches past her for another rope. Quick and nimble fingers repeat the knot, more slowly this time. "Like so. Then... in the loops, and-"

He grips the rope on either side of the knot and pulls. The knot disappears into nothing, leaving the rope straight. Lifting his eyes to meet Jessica's, Jim grins.

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

Jessica blinks as the knot vanishes into thin air. Then lets out a little laugh of delight.

"There's a trick to that one."

This simple lad is now wowing her with magic tricks. She's rather amused by his antics. One might even say that she's warming to him, slightly. He is certainly attractive, in a rustic sort of way. And now it turns out that he's adept and funny to boot.

[snowy_river_man]

The sound of her laugh sends a warm feeling down his spine, and he smiles, delighted, eyes widening with feigned innocence.

"There's no trick at all!"

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

"Tch."

Jessica rolls her eyes, though she's still smiling, and reaches out for the mystical rope.

"Alright. Let me have a go then."

Taking the cord from him, she curves it into two separate loops and lays one behind the other. A look of intense concentration descends again.

"Like this?"

[snowy_river_man]

Jim takes a step closer -- to keep Kip's big head out of the way, he tells himself, but he rather likes the way Jessica's hair smells when he's near her like this -- and lightly taps her left hand.

"This hand up," he tells her, nodding. "That's right. Now pull it through-"

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

"Uh huh."

Jessica follows his instructions faithfully, nodding along as she winds and tucks, and loops once more. The process seems more complicated and more laborious than when he did it, but she puts her trust in his guidance.

"Mmmm... and pull!"

Hope lights her face. The rope thwwps gently as she jerks it tight. And... she's left staring at another unsightly granny knot.

[snowy_river_man]

His guidance is good, but it's one thing to learn how to tie a knot and quite another to teach the skill. In the part of his mind that makes it hard for him to be anything but earnest and truthful, he silently admits that maybe he was a tad bit distracted. One incorrect pass of the hand, and it could all go wrong.

Which, as is perfectly obvious, it has.

Surprise registers briefly in his gaze. He blinks, then gives her a winning smile.

"Wrong!" he exclaims cheerfully. A laugh follows, but it's warm and kind. "What happened?"

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

Jessica shoots him a flat, unimpressed glare at first. She's not sure whether he deliberately misled her, but she's itching to thump him anyway.

Though only playfully perhaps...

His charming smile and chipper tone are all too infectious, making it impossible to be angry at him, even in pretense. She can't help but drop her head and break down into slightly embarrassed laughter.

"I don't know," she giggles.

[snowy_river_man]

He made her laugh! Honest laughter, the sort you can't contain.

That warm feeling is back, and Jim thinks his grin might very well split his face as Jessica starts to undo the knot and try again.

Loud hoof beats approach the stable, and quick to realize who it is, Jim feels his grin fading. Harrison rides his big grey into the center aisle. Jim feels momentarily confused, like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't, and he gives Harrison a quick glance while slipping the makeshift halter off Kip's nose.

He dare not look at Jessica.

[knot-helpless.livejournal.com]

Jessica's mirth fades rapidly as well. She feels the same sense of guilt for some inexplicable reason—not guilt at missing classes; but guilt for sharing a fun moment with this boy.

Her face becomes sober once more and she turns away from Jim as her father dismounts and barks an order for the stablehand to cool off his horse. She lifts up the rope over which they had bonded, and starts to coil it around her left elbow and shoulder. She says nothing else, and she doesn't chance a look back either.

[snowy_river_man]

'Craig,' Harrison calls him. Jim has the absurd notion that he should turn and tell Jessica that his name is Jim, but it's far too late and far too inappropriate. He takes the reins and nods his head respectfully, turning into the sunlight. It's too bright to look up, and that's why he kicks a stone out of his way, frowning.

His mood quickly takes a turn for the better, however, as he rounds the building and spies Curly trying his best to replicate Jim's knot. His best isn't good enough, a fact that likely stretches to all manner of things, Jim thinks.

"It's called a Tom fool's knot," Jim informs him, smugly, as he walks past. "You're getting the hang of it! I'll be back later to check on your work."

He can feel the glare eating into the back of his head as he begins to cool down the grey, but Jim is entirely too preoccupied with the memory of Jessica's laugh to care one way or the other.