I woke up when Carrie took my hand. I opened my eyes and she was sitting

cross-legged on the bed, looking at my face. "I was hoping I could take

your hand without waking you," she said.

"It's Ok to wake me," I said. "Do you need something? Do you have to

pee?"

"No. Yes. No." She laughed. "What I mean is, I do have to pee, but it's

not urgent, it's not the reason I took your hand. I've been watching you

for 30 minutes, and I wanted to touch you."

I gently pulled her on top of me and hugged her. "What am I going to

with you? Some day you'll figure out I'm just some guy, not whatever

you've convinced yourself I am. I'm afraid you won't want to be with me

any more when that happens."

She pulled back and looked me in the eye. "That will NEVER happen," she

said forcefully. Then her voice softened. "I'm trying to be as

transparent to you in my thoughts and my feelings as I can be. We've

already agreed that I'm a little confused emotionally right now, would

you rather I not tell you what's on my mind until I get everything

sorted out?"

"No, tell me everything," I told her. "I want to know as much about you

as you can share with me. I guess I'm doing a poor job of accepting your

adoration, knowing that there isn't much adorable about me."

"You're wrong, and some day I'll help you see that. Now I do have to

pee, come with me."

While she peed, I carefully inspected her piercings, and one of the

holes had a slight reddening around it. That could have been from last

night's activity, or it could be the start of an infection. To be safe,

I put her in the shower and washed her thoroughly, and of course she had

to reciprocate, then I put some more antiseptic gel in each piercing.

Carrie said she assumed we would make another trial run to the picnic

hill today. I asked her if she was up for it. She said she was, and

asked if she could wear the pony harness. I said sure, why not? I told

her we would skip her elliptical trainer session again today, but

tomorrow we would resume her regular training schedule.

She said that, if there was nothing else on the agenda, we should carry

a picnic lunch and stay on the hill all day. I laughed, and told her she

would be carrying it, so that was fine with me. She said sure, the pack

pony could carry the weight. I told her I would go find Philip and tell

him we needed picnc lunch, and that we were ready for breakfast. She

pointed out that it was only 6:00, and Philip wouldn't be here for

another hour.

"In that case," I told her, "we're going up to the hill right now. It

will be good for you to get outside in the early morning chill. It'll

give you a modest preview of what it will be like in the cold and snow.

I could tell she didn't like the idea, but I didn't give her a choice. I

told her to fill the canteen, put some fruit in a bag, tie everything to

the backpack frame, and then bring it back here. I would get everything

we needed from the basement.

I had just double checked that I had brought everything up from

downstairs. Carrie walked into the bedroom, and I immediately started

dressing her. First I put on her boots, then the tail plug, then the

harness. I said I thought we should leave off the crotch strap, but I

would let her decide. She said she wanted it, so on it went. I put on

her head harness, then asked her if she wanted to be steered by the bit

or by her nipples. Of course, she chose nipples. I took her to the

bathroom and put dental floss loops on both nipples, tightening the

floss until she groaned. Then I put the nipple clips on loosely over the

dental floss, and attached the jingle bells.

We were just about to leave the bathroom, when I had an idea. I tied a

6-inch piece of dental floss to each of her labia rings. I said as she

walked they would brush her pussy and legs, and remind her that her

reins would eventually be attached there. She grinned.

We went back to the bedroom and inspected her backpack. She had packed

everything I asked for. I got her too-long sweater that covered her ass,

rolled up a pair of her socks and walking shoes in the sweater, and

attached the roll to the frame with bungee cord. I told Carrie that the

sweater was a reward if we got to the top. If we didn't get to the top,

she would remain naked until we got home.

Before blinding and deafening her, I gave her some more rules. Any fall

would be punished harshly, because I wanted her to be very careful and

to remember that her balance would be totally different with her pony

boots than with walking shoes, and I didn't want her to fall. Also,

there would be no rest stops. Once we left the house, we were going

straight to the hilltop. I told her if she got in trouble or couldn't

continue, the signal was to simply stop. She said she understood.

I put the backpack on her, made sure it was secure and as comfortable as

possible, then attached the reins to her dental floss loops and threaded

the reins through and out the rear of the backpack frame. I put on her

wrist manacles and attached them to the bottom rear of the frame, then

put the bit in her mouth and secured it. Before blindfolding her, I got

a jacket from the closet and put it on. She gave me a dirty look, and I

just smiled at her and shrugged. Finally I put on her blindfold,

carefully inserted her earplugs, then patted her on the ass.

Packing up the reins, I drove her through the house to the back door. I

could tell she had a definite balance problem on those very high heels,

but I had to wait and see if she could work it out.

As soon as we stepped outside, I was afraid I had made a mistake. It was

very chilly. When I pulled Carrie to a stop so I could close and lock

the door, I heard her groan loudly, and she started stamping her feet. I

could see our breath in the air, I guessed it was 50 degrees or maybe

less.

I shook her reins, and she started off. She was doing her usual good job

of interpreting my steering cues, but her unfamiliarity with the pony

boots made her very slow. I didn't want her to fall, but I didn't want

her to get hypothermia either. My only choice was trust her, that she

would let me know if she got too cold, or else call the whole thing off.

I decided to trust her, primarily because this was a great opportunity

for her to excel. If I called it off, in her mind it would be a failure

on her part.

She had goose flesh all over. I was trying to figure out how long before

we would be in sunlight. I knew the sun was up by the amount of

daylight, but it wasn't shining on us yet, or on any place I could see

that we were heading for.

About the time Carrie was getting the hang of her new footware, the

terrain started getting rougher and she had to slow down again. But at

least she was adapting to the environment. I estimated we had been on

the trail for 35 minutes when we reached the spot that took us 20

minutes yesterday. It would take us at least another hour to reach the

top.

My brain was in turmoil. One second I would think we have to go back,

the next second I would think we have to go on. But I wasn't the one

freezing my ass off. I thought that, when this is over Carrie is either

going to be totally elated, or totally pissed off at me. The only thing

I knew for certain was, the one thing she would never do, no matter

what, was stop moving. That would be the signal she was giving up.

After another 20 minutes, we came around a curve on the trail and into

bright sunlight. In fact, the sun was right in front of us, warming

Carrie's entire front, head to foot. Her posture visibly straightened,

and she whinnied. That's when I knew we would be Ok. Unfortunately, the

direct sunlight only lasted for about five minutes, then we were in

shadow again. But the little bit of extra warmth seemed to energize

Carrie.

At the steepest place she stumbled yesterday, she stumbled again, and

went to one knee. She recovered immediately, but froze waiting for the

promised punishment. I patted her on the ass, then signalled for her to

go on.

Finally we reached the top and came into sunshine again, an hour and 45

minutes after we left home. When I stopped her she whinnied and stamped

her feet. I quickly freed her wrists and got her out of the backpack,

then took the bit out of her mouth and removed her earplugs and

blindfold. I was getting her sweater off of the backpack, when she said

"Fuck me." She was shivering and her teeth were chattering. I told her

she needed to warm up, I wanted her to put the sweater on and wrap

herself in the blanket until she was warm. She said "Fuck me first." I

looked at her and saw the determination on her face.

I threw the blanket on the ground and pointed down to it, and she

dropped onto her hands and knees. I quickly but carefully removed her

crotch belt and butt plug, and noted her skin was very, very cold. I

dropped behind her, whipped out my cock, spit in my hand and rubbed it

on my cock, and plunged it into her pussy. I leaned over her back,

putting my hands on the ground beside her, trying to shelter her body as

much as I could, and transfer whatever heat I could give her. I stroked

her for about a minute, then willed myself as much as I could to cum. As

soon as I felt the orgasm building, I told Carrie to cum with me, and

she nodded her head. In about another minute I came, and she came a few

seconds later. Without even pulling out of her, I grabbed the sweater,

pulled Carrie up off of her hands, and put the sweater on her. I told

her to get up while I completely unfolded the blanket, then we made

spoons on the blanket and I wrapped it around us, and put my arms around

Carrie and my top leg over her legs. I could feel her shivering, and her

teeth were still chattering. I pressed my body against her, trying to

transfer as much heat as I could, and we lay that way for about half an

hour.

Finally Carrie spoke. She laughed, then said "Damn, that was a bitch."

"I'm sorry, Carrie, I didn't realize how cold it was. We don't ever have

to do this again."

"Oh, yes we do, I need a LOT of practice, or I'll never make it in

freezing weather. We need to do this every few days as the weather

changes, so I have half a chance of making it at the first snow."

Arguing would have been pointless, the matter had been decided when she

first heard the idea of coming up here and getting fucked in the snow. I

could have ordered her to give it up, but I knew I wouldn't do that.

I suddenly thought of her survival kit. We lugged that thing around with

us everywhere we went, now we finally had a use for it. I stretched out

one arm, snagged the backpack, and pulled it to us. Fumbling with one

free hand, I finally got the survival kit detached from the frame and

open. I pushed the pistol aside, then rooted around inside until I came

out with her panties, jeans, and another sweater.

Waving her panties in front of Carrie's face, I said, "Wiggle into these

to protect your piercings, then put on the jeans."

When she saw what I had, she laughed. "It's about time we used that

stuff for something." She struggled into the panties under the blanket,

then I handed her the jeans. She couldn't get them on over the boots, so

I got out from under the blanket and had her stick out one leg at a time

so I could remove the boots. When she had the jeans on, I had her sit up

then forced her second sweater on, over the one she already wore.

Reaching under her sweaters, I first removed the clips and dental floss

from her nipples, then unfastened and removed the harness straps.

I sat facing Carrie, trying to find a way to tell her how stupid I had

been. She reached out, took me by the shoulders, pulled me to her, and

gave me a big wet kiss. "Don't beat yourself up, we got here didn't we?

The next time we'll know what to expect, how to prepare, and I'll be

faster." She gave me a stern look, then said, "Don't chicken out on me

Master, we're going to make that movie."

While she sat wrapped in the blanket, I put socks and walking shoes on

her feet, then asked her if she wanted to head back. "Are you crazy,

after what it took to get up here? No, I'm not ready to go back. Let's

have some fruit and water while it warms up some more, then I want some

proper fucking, not that quickie you gave me while ago." I shook my head

and laughed.

We lay down together again, face-to-face this time, rolled ourselves up

in the blanket, and nuzzled until the air seemed warmer. I snagged the

bag of fruit Carrie had packed and pulled out an apple. We shared

alternate bites, then I tossed the core and opened the canteen. I

offered Carrie a drink, then took one for myself. "Are you really glad

we did this, or are you just being the good slave?" I asked her.

She kissed me, looked into my eyes, and said, "I'm glad we did this. I

feel like it was a hell of an accomplishment, I'm glad my Master ordered

me to attempt it, and I'm proud of the way we worked as a team to get

here."

I told her she was right, it was one hell of an accomplishment, and I

was very proud of her.

We nuzzled some more, then Carrie said she wanted to get up and move

around awhile, and see how warm it had gotten. We both got out from

under the blanket and walked the perimeter of the small flat spot we

called the picnic area. Carrie did a few jumping jacks, then said it

felt pretty warm, she was going to lose the second sweater. I took off

my jacket, and when she noticed she said she was really pissed off when

I put that jacket on in the bedroom. I told her I knew she would be, and

she grinned and wagged a finger at me. She said she was still hungry,

and pulled out a bunch of grapes. I had a few, and she ate the rest.

When Carrie had finished her grapes, she looked at me, shrugged, and

peeled off her sweater. She walked around topless for a few moments,

then took off her jeans and panties. She walked up and pressed her body

against me, and said, "Are you going to fuck me, or what?" I

straightened out the blanket and helped her lay down. I put her on her

back, oriented so her body would receive the maximum sunlight, then

knelt between her legs. First I removed the pieces of dental floss still

tied to her rings, then I buried my face in her pussy and began rolling

and rubbing her nipples. She came almost immediately, and kept coming

about once a minute as long as I worked on her.

Carrie said I was making her insane with my tongue and fingers, she

wanted some relaxing butt fucking for awhile. Then she grinned and said,

"maybe I should call it remedial fucking, after your earlier attempt."

I knew she was just baiting me, so I jabbed back. "You came, didn't

you?" I said with a grin. She laughed, patted me on the head as she was

changing positions, and said it only took one word from her Master to

make that happen. Our butt fucking session ran the usual time for us,

about 40 minutes. Again she came many, many times, and I came with her

on most of them. Finally she said she was really tired, and asked if we

could stop for awhile. I flopped on my back beside her, and pulled her

down on top of me. She tenderly kissed me for a few minutes, then

started working her way down to my cock. I asked her if she had had

enough sex to last her until we got home, and she said she guessed so,

if I wanted to stop. I told her to just cuddle with me for awhile, I

could clean off my own cock with canteen water afterwards.

Carrie shrugged and flopped down on top of me again, and we kissed for

more minutes. After awhile she said the happiness and contentment she

was feeling now was such a contrast to the misery she was in about an

hour ago. I almost started another round of apologies, but then I

realized that's not what she wanted. She had a thought that was

interesting to her, and she simply wanted to share it with me. I kissed

her.

I told Carrie she could wear the panties and jeans home if she wanted

to, whatever she wished. She said just shoes and socks and the long

sweater would be fine. I told her to replace the items I took out of her

survival kit, then reattach it to the backpack frame. Meanwhile I washed

my dick with canteen water, then folded up the blanket. We made one big

roll of the pony girl stuff and my jacket, and attached that and the

blanket to the frame. I hoisted it onto my back, and we set off back

down the hill.

I showed Carrie the spot where she stumbled. She said what actually

happened was that she stubbed her toe, and she was so cold she couldn't

react in time to keep from going to one knee. She said those pony boots

weren't made for hill climbing, then she asked why I didn't punish her

as I said I would. I said I knew she was already suffering, and I

thought encouragement would be better for her than punishment. "You were

right, Master, it helped a lot," she said with a smile.

Once we cleared the rugged area, we walked home side by side with our

fingers intertwined. Two lives as one.

Back in the house, I told Carrie to go start a warm bath, then strip and

wait for me. As I was stripping the backpack frame, Philip came into the

room. He said he had assumed we were downstairs. I said No, we went for

an early morning hike. He then apologized for accusing me yesterday of

harming Carrie. I told him he would be a fool to trust me, considering

my background, but he had known Carrie all of her life, she was an

intelligent adult, and she was worthy of his complete trust. I told him

that when Carrie obeyed me, she did it by choice, not by force, and just

because she had the courage to live her life the way she wanted, that

didn't mean she couldn't take care of herself. I don't think he

appreciated being lectured to, he thanked me and left.

I found Carrie exactly where I knew she would be, waiting for me naked

in the bathroom, a big smile on her face. The tub was nearly filled, I

shut off the water and told Carrie to sit on the toilet. While she did

her thing, I knelt in front of her, gave her a kiss, and told her again

how proud I was of her accomplishments. "Our accomplishments, Master,"

she said with a smile."

"Yes, my role was the hardest. I had to follow you all the way up that

big hill. I was warm, I could see and hear and use my hands, I wore

comfortable shoes, but it was a real struggle."

She laughed. "Ok, my part was a little harder than yours. But in my

mind, it was a team effort. We each played our roles well, and we made

it to the top together."

"Seriously," I said, "it was very hard for me to watch you suffering,

and know I could stop it at any moment and bring you back here to the

warmth of the house. I was agonizing over my choices all the way up the

hill. I hope I made the right decision for my wonderful Slave."

She gave me a stern, almost Mistress Carrie look. "Didn't I tell you not

to beat yourself up? Decision making is sometimes hard, that's why it

takes strong people. You made the right decisions, we achieved our goal

together, we're both heroes, end of story."

We traded places, then used the bidet, then eased ourselves into the tub

and turned on the water jets. We lay side by side in the tub, Carrie

half sprawled on top of me, with one leg thrown over mine. I was

caressing her ass with one hand and a breast with the other and kissing

her. She asked what was on the agenda for the rest of the day, and I

asked her if she would be interested in an elliptical trainer session

after lunch. She said Yes, she missed working out and talking to me

nonstop. I said she really didn't need another workout today, but I was

also looking forward to her talk.

Just as I was considering staying in the whirlpool bath all day, Carrie

said we were getting pruney, it was time to get out. I quickly washed

her hair, then we got out and dried towelled one another dry. I took her

to her dressing table and brushed her hair, then dressed her in hot

pants, a semi-transparent blouse, and heels. She asked why I chose that

outfit, and I said because I liked to keep her guessing. She said I did

that really well.

It was only 11:00. We went hand in hand to the kitchen, confirmed a

12:00 lunchtime with Philip, then I led Carrie to the living room. She

looked at me when I told her to sit on the couch, but I told her it was

Ok, I could break my rules if I felt like it. As an afterthought, I said

I was amending the rule. The amendment was, if her Master dressed her

such that she was unable to bare her ass to sit down, then she would sit

normally. She thanked me, then sat down. She sat with her legs well

apart and her hands resting on the couch beside her legs, palms up and

open.

I wandered over to a bookcase in the corner, which I didn't even

remember noticing before. As I was browsing the titles, one caught my

eye, "Treasure Island." I took it over to the couch and showed it to

Carrie. She said that was one of her favorite stories when she was a

kid. I asked her which character was her, and she laughed and said "Ben

Gunn." I sat beside her, handed her the book, and asked her to please

read to me.

She looked like she was going to protest, but then slowly smiled. She

opened the book to page one and began reading. I leaned my head back on

the couch, rested a hand lightly on her thigh, and listened to her

beautiful voice, reading me a story from both of our childhoods.