The Next Moment
"Ma!"
"Clemsy?" inquired Randi.
"Randi?" replied Clemsy slowly coming to his senses, which were registering the fact that Randi was keeling by his side, her left knee lightly pressing against his hip.
"Clemsy. I'm not yer Ma."
"Not m'Ma? Dang, a course yer not m'Ma. What're you talkin' 'bout, Randi?"
By this time Clemsy was up on an elbow trying to make sense of the world. A crowd was gathering, blocking Sidetrack's view until he nudged up against the hitching rail and looked over the onlookers' shoulders. There was nothing like Clemsy putting on a show. Runt sprang atop the horse's back and climbed to the best seat in the house between Sidetrack's ears.
Of course, only the children, pointing and giggling, noticed this.
"You called me Ma, Clemsy."
Clemsy sat up shaking his head, brushed his hair out of his eyes and looked at Randi. A small part of his mind was aware of how amazing this moment was and wondered how long it would take for the rest of his mind to realize he was talking to a beautiful young woman sitting well within his personal space.
"Why would I do that? My Ma..." He paused and looked down, scrunching his eyebrows together in concentration. "Ma?..." There was something... "Ma..." He found it. "Ma!" His eyes went wide and he scrambled to his feet almost knocking Randi over. "Ma!" he exclaimed again and stepped purposefully one way, turned around and stepped the other way, stopped again as the vision he'd had while unconscious went from foggy to blurry to crystal clear focus. "Ma! Pa! I gotta git..."
Slack-jawed, he looked up at Sidetrack and Runt looking down on him. Then Randi and everyone else noticed the odd spectacle.
"What?" Sidetrack snorted.
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