Sapphic Cowboi by K'Anne Meinel Page B

her “see, it wasn’t so
hard after all” she teased.
    “ Hard?” Ariana pretended
outrage, “piece of cake!” she said as though she did it all the
time.
    They laughed together.
    Ariana had several of the seamstresses making
fabulous costumes for her too. There would be a cowgirl outfit that
would allow her to pretend to be Annie Oakley, another harem
outfit, which while initially made Maggie cringe, the skin colored
pieces she had to admit made Ariana look fantastic against the
black of the horses, and then there was an Indian outfit that with
her black hair made her look authentic. The horses too had all
sorts of costumes now too; some to match Ariana’s own, feathers,
leads, capes, and new equipment were added to their luggage.
     
    It was when they were in Denver that Ariana
suggested they go to the movies for the afternoon. “C’mon, you
never take a day off, I want to see this!” she encouraged her
friend.
    “ But I’ve got to brush the
horses…” Maggie began feeling the temptation of taking an afternoon
off, but most of all of spending time exclusively with
Ariana.
    “ They are shined, spit, and
polished, they are ready, how about you?”
    “ I don’t know, I’ve never
seen…” began Maggie only to be interrupted by her exuberant
friend.
    “ Of course you haven’t seen
it! Gone with the Wind only came out this year!”
    “ No I meant I’ve never seen
a movie” Maggie said quietly.
    Ariana stared at her in shocked silence for a
moment before her beautiful smile split her even lovelier face
“then this is the movie to see…” she told her. Ariana arranged to
borrow Cecil’s Model T and drove them into town to find a movie
theater. As it was Maggie’s first time in an automobile, much less
a truck, she was stiff in the passenger seat beside Ariana. “Relax,
I know what I’m doing” she said as she effortlessly shifted the
truck as she drove.
    Maggie nodded and tried to
comply, used to riding her horses everywhere she needed to go or
walking on her own two feet, it wasn’t like she hadn’t been around
cars and trucks. They had them in her small town but she had never
actually ridden in
one and she felt she could have avoided this new experience except
that the thought of leaving one of her precious babies outside a
movie theater for hours where it could have been stolen hadn’t
thrilled her. Besides, Ariana was having so much fun showing her new things for a
change. She was relieved when they pulled up in front of the movie
theater and then her stomach started fluttering at the idea that
she was going to see a real moving picture show and
in color! She was so excited.
    “ Two please” Ariana stated
at the ticket booth. Maggie was in awe as she looked up at the big
bulbous lights that circled the marquee with what Ariana assured
her read GONE WITH THE WIND.
    “ Here, let me pay you back”
Maggie reached into her dungarees to pay for her ticket.
    “ Nope, you pay for the
popcorn” Ariana said with a grin as she took Maggie’s arm to lead
her inside and handed their tickets to the ticket taker standing
inside the door, his little monkey hat perched jauntily on his
head, the strap under his chin, his matching uniform making him
look dapper.
    “ Good afternoon … ladies” he
hesitated over the last word taking in Maggie’s appearance of her
customary but clean dungarees and button down shirt as well as
Ariana’s sun dress and sandals.
    Maggie was shocked to find how much they
charged for popcorn, candy, and drinks, all things that Ariana
insisted they needed to get them through a movie. She shrugged it
off and followed Ariana’s lead since she had never known what it
was like to be in a movie house before. She mentally calculated the
pennies though knowing that she would have less to send back home
at the next show.
    Ariana was right; they wouldn’t want to leave
the theater once they sat down. Maggie never did taste the popcorn,
the candy, or her drink once the movie started.