#wheres her electric pony... shes replacing him with a horse...

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch2: Hey Sailor

Chapter Summary: Mary is excited for her first riding lesson, and it seems that she’s not the only one…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Again, as you will all know I’m a Brit so apologies if too much British horsey lingo slips into this…ASK away if you don’t understand. Tagging all my SSB/CSI readers…if you want in or off the list PLEASE just tell me. This chapter is a bit of a filler, things start getting a bit more interesting in the next one, and then we’ll be diving into the Gifted story line in Chapter 4.

Thanks to my beta reader/sounding board @icanfeelastormbrewing​ for her input and her modes of transport kink...

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 1

“Mary…” Frank sighed. “Take the boots off and get in bed.” “You told me that Miss Gallagher said I needed to wear them.” she looked at him.

“Yeah, but you can’t wear them in bed…”

Mary flopped onto the side of her bed and reached down to unzip the boots before she kicked them off and Frank picked them up and placed them out of the way. Mary shuffled down under her covers and lay her head back on the pillow and, once she was settled, Frank gently smoothed her blonde hair back off her face and smiled at her. Times like this she really did remind him of Diane.

“Frank?”

“Yeah?” “Can I read for a little while?” she asked.

Frank rolled his eyes “Mary…”

“Please!”

“Fine, fifteen minutes tops. And I’ll be in to turn the light off, ok?” With a grin she sat up and reached for her latest book- Moby Dick, and he dropped a kiss to her head and left her to it. He made his way into the kitchen, cleared the dishes and then grabbed a beer his attention turning to the table which was had clear, the other half scattered with the parts from one of the engines he had been working on. He knew he really shouldn’t bring this home with him but sometimes it was just easier.

His phone buzzed and he reached for it, glancing down at the unknown number.

“Hi Mr Adler, just a courtesy message to remind you of Mary’s lesson tomorrow at One. If you can’t make it please let me know ASAP so I can offer the slot to someone else. Otherwise see you then. Regards, Fliss.” Frank smiled, like he would have chance to forget. Mary had talked of nothing else since Saturday. His fingers hovered over the reply button, before he dropped the phone back down. He didn’t need to reply…did he? I mean…

Oh fuck it. What was a bit of harmless flirting? He picked the phone back up and tapped in a quick response.

“Like I’d have chance to forget. She’s been like a broken record since Wednesday. I had to pry her

boots off tonight as she was threatening to wear them in bed.” Setting the phone down he headed back through to check on Mary, her 15 minutes was over. He found her fast asleep, book clutched to her chest. Gently taking it from her, he slipped the bookmark into the page and turned off the lights, making sure she was tucked in. When he moved back into the main part of the trailer he had a reply.

“Brilliant! That’s what I like to hear. Get used to it, you’re going to hear about nothing but horses now for the rest of your life.” “Great, I can’t wait…” he set his Nokia down, not really having a smarter response to that, so he gathered a few pieces of the engine, setting to work. About five minutes passed and his phone went again.

“You know I offer starter lessons for adults too, maybe you should try it, see if you understand what the fuss is all about.” “No thanks, my feet stay firmly on the ground. Unless I’m on a boat.” “A boat? I didn’t have you pegged as a sailor?” At that Frank let out a bark of a laugh.

“I’m not, not really. I fix them. And besides, you don’t sail speedboats.” “What do you do then?”

“You drive them.”

“Do you drive them on water?” “Dur.” “That’s called Sailing.”

His work abandoned, he took a pull from his beer bottle and shook his head, smile tugging at his lips as he replied.

“But they don’t have sails…” “It’s a boat. It goes on water. It’s called Sailing.” “Alright, I bow to your superior knowledge…” “Glad we agree…even if I do detect a serious underlying tone of sarcasm in your message. See you tomorrow Sailor.” He laughed again, shaking his head. He tapped in a goodnight and placed the phone down, turning his attention to his work.

***** “What are you grinning about?” Bill Gallagher looked at his daughter as they walked across the field, Thor and his own dog, Rupert, hurtling ahead in front of them, their flashing collars keeping them located in the twilight.

“Oh, nothing, just winding someone up.” she smiled “One of the dad’s from tomorrow’s lesson, trying to convince me you drive, not sail, a speedboat.” “Hmmm…well they don’t have sails.” Bill mused.

“Whatever, they go on water, they sail.” Fliss shrugged, slipping her phone back into her pocket as Frank’s ‘Goodnight’ rounded off their conversation.

“So, who is he then?” Bill asked.

“Oh, his name’s Frank.” Fliss replied, nonchalantly, but her dad didn’t miss the flicker of a smile that hit her mouth.

“Is he the one that your mum said was eyeing you up in the bar?” “He was not eyeing me up.” Fliss groaned “He was just being friendly.” “Sure he was.” “Dad.” she warned him, nudging him with her elbow.

“What?” “You know what!” she laughed “Stop it.” “Alright.” he smiled, holding his hands up “I yield, it’s just nice to see you happy, that’s all.” “Well, I am.” she said after a moment, and she meant it “The last six months the riding school has taken off, I’m feeling more, well, myself than I have in years. Just need to find an apartment now.” “Well, on that.” Bill looked at her. “Me and your mum have been thinking. We thought, maybe, you might want to move into the annex. We can do it up, gives you your own space…”

Fliss paused walking and turned to her dad. “That’s where Steeby stays though, when he comes out with Sian and the kids.” “There’s plenty of room in the house.” Bill shrugged “And they come like what, four times a year? It’s stood empty the rest of the time.” Fliss bit her lip.

“It’s just an idea and your brother won’t mind. Look, I know it’s probably not what you had in mind, living in your parent’s annex but for the time being until the Yard starts to turn over more of a profit we just thought it might give you a little bit more freedom.” “Whilst still staying close.”

“I want to keep you safe Titch.” Bill shrugged “I didn’t do that before but,” “Dad don’t.” Fliss shook her head “None of that, it wasn’t your fault. I hid from everyone what was happening…you didn’t know.”

“I should have.” he sighed “You’re my daughter.” “He had everyone fooled, including me. This is no one’s fault but his, I get that now.” Bill smiled and pulled her into a hug. “I know.”

“We should head back.” Fliss smiled, pulling away. “Mum will be wondering where we are.”

“You have anything to finish off?” he asked

“Nope, everything is out for the night and looks reasonably settled.” she squinted at the various horses dotted across her land.

“Hmmm, unlike this fencing.” Bill frowned, examining the broken bit of post and rail that Fliss had patched up with electric tape “This could do with replacing, love.” “Yeah, I know.” she shrugged “I was going to mention it but forgot. The temporary fix has worked for the time being.” “I’ll stop by and do it tomorrow.” he nodded, “Won’t take me long. I’ll level that top field as well whilst I’m at it if you want.” “Thanks Dad” she smiled. In comfortable silence they made their way back towards the main part of the yard. *******

Fliss grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge in her office and took a long drink. The heat was pretty intense today, and she was just wondering if really holding Mary’s lesson as advisable when she realised it wasn’t like they’d be doing anything too strenuous. She adjusted her baseball cap and walked back onto the yard, shouting instructions to the three members of staff to go and take a water break. Just as they were passing her towards the office, she saw Frank and Mary walking onto the yard. Mary was sporting a new riding hat and Fliss couldn’t help but smile.

“Well check you out!” she said, tapping the little girl on the head “Nice hat.” “I liked the silver on it!” Mary grinned, pointing to the sparkly strip that ran along the front.

“Me too.” Fliss nodded. “I have the same hat but mine has blue sparkles.” she straightened up and looked at Frank. “Hey Sailor.” He gave a snort of a laugh “I told you, you don’t sail speedboats.” “They go on water.” Mary said, “Its’ sailing.” “Ha, see!” Fliss laughed

Frank sighed “Whatever.” The corners of his mouth turned up and he handed Fliss the forms he had brought back.

“Oh great…” she thanked him “I’ll just file these and then Ruby will get Monty ready. I thought you might like to help her.” Mary nodded eagerly. Fliss excused herself and Frank heard her shouting something and a moment later a tall, wirey Hispanic girl emerged from the office with a saddle. Fliss followed, bridle slung over her shoulder and gestured for Mary to follow. Frank watched as the girl skipped off following and headed after her at a slower pace, rubbing at his neck which felt like it was burning. He’d slathered Mary in sunscreen before but of course had forgotten his own.

He stepped into the relative cool of the barn and watched as the stable hand was explaining to Mary what each piece of tack was as she began to place it onto the pony. He knew Mary would be taking all of this in, just like she did with everything, and Roberta would be hearing all about it later on.

Fliss handed over the bridle and stepped back, heading towards Frank. “I normally do have the ponies ready” she said, almost apologetically “But I thought she’d enjoy this bit.” “You thought right.” Frank laughed “I was just thinking to myself she’ll be chewing our neighbour’s ear off later.”

Fliss smiled and they both stood in silence watching until the other girl said they were ready.

“Alright, let’s go!” Fliss grinned and they walked out into the yard. She took the pony from her staff member with a thanks, and walked with Mary following into the riding paddock. Frank leaned on the fencing outside as Fliss led Mary and Monty over to the wooden mounting block at the side.

“Ok, so…” she turned to Mary and patted the top step “Climb up here…” Mary hopped up.

“Left foot in this stirrup,” she instructed. Mary placed her foot in. “Left hand here,” she guided it to the front of the saddle, “and then I want you to swing your right leg over.” Mary did as she was told, sitting down on the saddle.

“Good stuff kiddo!” Fliss smiled as she checked the stirrups “Ok, so we need to put these up a hole so…”

She busied herself shortening the stirrup leathers, and eventually when she was happy she nodded.

“So, what we’re gonna do for today is a bit of walking around, and stopping, and then if you’re happy with your balance we can try a bit of trot ok?” Mary grinned.

“Right…so take your reins…” Fliss showed her how to hold the reins correctly, and then she slipped the lunge line through the ponies bit and looked at the girl. “If you feel wobbly or anything you grab this…” she said, gesturing to the leather strap around the pony’s neck. “And shout to me ok?”

Mary nodded.

Fliss began to walk besides the pony who followed her like a dog. Mary all the time concentrating on what she was doing. Fliss explained to her how her legs made the animal go, and how to make it stop, and they practiced that for five minutes before Fliss moved slightly further away to let Mary take a bit of control, instructing her to go, then stop, go, then stop…

Frank watched intently. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t slightly nervous about Mary falling off but he knew that he had to let her discover all this for herself. He leaned further over on the fence, watching and couldn’t help but smile at the look on Mary’s face, she was concentrating so hard her brow was furrowed, tongue poking out from the side of her mouth.

“Your kid?” a deep voice with a similar accent to Fliss said and he turned to his right to see a tall, stocky guy in his sixties, maybe, dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans looking at him.

“Neice.” he nodded, “First lesson.” “Ahh...” the man chuckled “Yeah I remember Fliss’ first lesson. I crapped myself.” Frank let out a laugh “Yeah, I’m a little nervous.” “Bill Gallagher” The man stuck his hand out “Fliss’ dad.” “Nice to meet you, I’m Frank.” Bill looked at him, nodding before his attention turned to the paddock “Hey, Titch, sorry to interrupt…” Fliss stopped the pony and turned to her dad “Hey.” “Fencing is done but I can’t get that bloody tractor started, so the field’s gonna have to wait.” “I can look at it.” Frank offered immediately “I mean, if you want.” Bill turned to him, “You a mechanic?” “No he’s a sailor.” Fliss shot back and Frank rolled his eyes.

“I fix boats. Engines, that type of thing.” “Huh.” Bill nodded appraisingly. “Well if you wouldn’t mind…” “Not a problem. Mary you okay here if I go for a minute?” Mary looked at him “Dur.” Bill let out a chuckle as Frank turned to him “Tell me raising them gets easier.” “Oh no mate.” Bill shook his head, grinning “You just get different shit to deal with.” Frank followed the man round to the back of the barn and spotted a dark green baby tractor. Bill explained what it was doing and Frank crouched closer to have a look before he headed to his truck for the jump leads.

After ten minutes or so he’d found the problem. They could start it, but it wasn’t holding any charge. Meaning when the turned the engine off it needed jump starting again.

“I’m pretty sure it’s the alternator.” he chewed his lip, stepping back “I’ll need to strip it down to see whether I can repair it or if it needs a new one but we can get it started again you can do what you need to do for today.”

Bill nodded “So not quite ready for the scrap heap?” “Not quite.” Frank smiled, wiping his hands on his jeans “Just needs a bit of a fiddle with.” “Don’t we all?” Bill quipped, making Frank laugh. They jump started it again and Bill thanked him before hopping on and heading over to the gate that led to the field.

By the time Frank returned, he was surprised to see that Mary was now riding the pony almost unaided in a circle around Fliss who was holding the end of the line attached to the Monty’s bridle as it trotted around. Mary was gripping the strap round the pony’s neck and trying to rise in time to the trot. It was clumsy and she was a little bit out of balance but that didn’t matter. He could hear Fliss shouting gentle encouragement to her, counting out the rhythm and eventually Mary fell in time with her counts.

“Good!” Fliss beamed “see, I told you you’d get it…” This continued for another 5 minutes or so before Fliss told Mary to slow Monty down to a walk and give him a good pat. They walked the pony around for a while, to give him chance to cool down a little before Fliss walked towards Mary gathering up the line as she went.

“That was awesome for a first go!” she said, smiling “Did you enjoy it?”

Mary nodded “Yeah, it was really cool!”

“Good!” Fliss said. “Now I’m gonna unclip the line and walk around for a bit. He’ll follow me but when I stop I want you to stop him yeah?”

Mary nodded eagerly and she unclipped the line and began to walk. Fliss knew Monty would stop when she did but she wanted to let Mary have a go anyway. They did a lap of the paddock and on the second she stopped by Frank.

“Look, Frank!” Mary smiled “I’m not on the line.” “Yeah, I see!” he smiled at her “Good job!”

“How’s my tractor?” Fliss asked.

“Think it’s the alternator. We got it started for your dad but I’ll need to strip it down properly…I can come back tomorrow and sort it properly if you want?” “Oh, I don’t wanna put you out.” Fliss started to protest but Frank shook his head

“It’s no bother, honestly.” he ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t promise I can fix it but I’ll be able to see if I can or if you need a new one.” Fliss looked at him and then nodded “Alright, but in that case today is free.” “No, that’s not why I offered.” Frank began to protest but Fliss shook her head

“I know.” she smiled that damned gorgeous smile again, and Frank felt his stomach flip. “But I’d like to.” Frank looked at her for a moment, her brown eyes locked onto his and he swallowed, nodding. “Ok, thanks.” “Wait am I coming back tomorrow?” Mary asked

“I’m booked up, sorry sweetie.” Fliss looked at her “But you’re welcome to come anyway, that is if Frank says its okay. You can always give Monty a groom.” “We’ll see. “Frank looked at Mary.

“I can put her to work.” Fliss said, grinning “Nothing like a bit of child labour.” “That’s illegal.” Mary said.

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” Fliss looked at her and Frank gave a chuckle.

They made their way out of the paddock and Fliss showed Mary how to swing her leg back round the saddle and slide down. She landed on her feet and took the reins from Fliss’ hand, leading the pony back to his stable. She helped untack and then Fliss handed her the bridle to carry. They walked into the office and Fliss tapped a code into the door to the left and led them into a tidy tack room, rows of saddles and racks adorned the wall along with bridle pegs and a few shelves full of rugs and blankets for the horses. Fliss slipped the saddle onto a spare rack and then directed Mary to Monty’s bridle peg. Frank took the bridle from her as the peg was a little high and hooked it over.

“Now, you need a drink.” Fliss looked at Mary “I got water or some apple juice.”

 “Apple please.”  Mary said. Fliss nodded and headed back into the office, giving her a juice box from the fridge “Frank?”

“Oh, errr, water would be great thanks.” She handed him a bottle and he screwed off the tap.

“So, do you want to book in again now or do it tomorrow?” Fliss looked at him. “I think she’ll cope on the group lesson fine.” “So when do they run?”  Frank asked, swallowing his water.

“Saturday afternoons at two.” Fliss said. “Or Wednesday at six.” “Can we come Saturday?” Mary asked.

Frank hesitated “I did say you couldn’t do this every week.” “Yeah but you didn’t pay for today.” Mary shot back.

Jesus Christ

He glanced up at Fliss who was biting her lip, trying not to laugh.

“Fine, you can come this Saturday but then that’s it, we go to every other week like we agreed, okay?” Mary nodded.

“Settled, I’ll book you in.” Fliss grinned. “If you get here about quarter to I’ll introduce you to the other girls before you join.” Mary frowned a little, before she recovered and nodded. “Okay.” “So do you like work here every day?” Frank asked and Fliss nodded

“Mostly. If I want a day off then I get Joanne to cover the lessons and the girls can open and close up.” she said “But it’s few and far between. Like I said, still in the early days so…”

Frank nodded “Yeah I know what it’s like, trying to get yourself established.” “I take it you’re a self-employed sailor then?” Fliss smiled and he gave a grin back and nodded.

“He takes me for rides.” Mary said “In the boats sometimes.” “That’s really cool. I’ve never been on speedboat.” Fliss mused.

“You should come with us one day, right Frank?”

Frank hesitated a little, surprised to find that he wasn’t filled with dread at the idea of her joining them.

“I’m sure Fliss has enough to be doing without you demanding more of her time.” he shot the girl a look, his tone even.

“Yeah, I’m very busy.” Fliss smiled, offering him a way out. He shot her a thankful look.

“We can do it when you’re free…” “Mary!” Frank’s tone was exasperated as Fliss laughed.

“Maybe one day.” she said, nodding.

This placated the girl somewhat and she bounced off towards the truck.

“Sorry.” Frank turned to Fliss “She can be a little bit…” “Tenacious?” “I was gonna say a pain in the ass.” Frank shrugged, causing Fliss to laugh, her soft chuckles made him feel a little warm, or maybe it was the afternoon heat…

“She’s a good kid.” Fliss said gently.

Frank smiled and then jerked his head in the direction of the car park “I better…” “Sure.”

“I’ll drop you a message about tomorrow?” Fliss nodded “Yeah, but don’t put yourself out.” “Well I owe you now for the lesson so…” he shrugged “I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Yeah, guess you will.” Fliss smiled. There was a pause again and Frank nodded, before he turned and headed after Mary. He turned to look over his shoulder at Fliss who was now walking back towards her office before he wandered onto the car park to find Mary was now chewing Bill’s ear off.

“For the love of God.” he mumbled as he drew nearer to find her mid discussion with the man about the Olympics.

“Did you go?” she was asking.

“You bet!” Bill smiled “I’ll tell you something else as well…” “What?” “Those fences are even bigger in real life than they look on the photos.” “It said on the internet she jumped One meter forty!”

“The internet?” Bill asked.

“Yeah, we googled her.” Frank groaned “Mary.” “What?” she looked at him. “I was just saying…” “Well don’t.” He said, “Truck, now…”

“It was nice to meet you Mary.” Bill smiled as the little girl bid him goodbye.

“Sorry.” Frank apologised to him.

“Don’t be silly.” Bill waved his apology off. “She wasn’t doing any harm.”

“I meant about the google thing.” Frank sighed. “We weren’t prying, she was just curious after seeing the medal and…” Bill shook his head “Kids are nosey.” he shrugged.

With another nod he climbed in the truck and turned to Mary with a sigh “What did I say to you about not telling Miss Gallagher we googled her?” “I didn’t.” Mary said “I told her dad.”

There was a pause as Frank contemplated what she had said, and realised technically she was right. He should have closed that particular loop hole. “Smart ass.” He grumbled back, before he clipped in her belt and they left.

***** Fliss was surprised to see Mary wasn’t with Frank the next day. Frank explained he had come straight from the boat yard so she was busy doing some lesson work with their neighbour. “Gives me chance to work without her continually running around causing a nuisance.” he had explained, setting his tools down by the tractor.

Fliss chuckled, “Ok, well, I got another client due in a second so just give me a shout if you need anything.” He nodded. It didn’t take him long to realise he had been right. It was the alternator. He took the engine apart and was leaning over it on the flat bed of his truck when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to look at Fliss.

“It is the alternator, but it looks like it’s the brushes inside.” he said, “I can fix this.” She nodded, the movement almost imperceptible, and he frowned at the look on her face. She’d glazed over in front of him, eyes were widened, almost like she was stuck in a memory.

And she was. Something about the fact he’d been leaning over the back of a truck, his grubby t-shirt riding up slightly, dirt on his hands and arms had stirred a really inappropriate thought in her head…which in turn had triggered another flashback.

“He was fixing the car.” Fliss looked at John “I offered him a drink, that’s all…” “He was in our kitchen.” John advanced “I saw you looking at him. Admiring him…” “I wasn’t…”

“Don’t LIE TO ME!” John’s voice as loud and then there was a stinging slap to the side of her face, which sent her reeling. As she recovered, the ringing in her ear still loud from the blow, she gently reached up to her cheek, tears stinging her eyes. John’s face was immediately apologetic, and he reached out for her, causing her to shrink back against the counter.

“You hit me.” she gasped.

“Sugar, I’m so sorry.” John stuttered, his eyes filing with tears “I didn’t, you just made me so jealous…I…” He held his arms out and pulled her to him, his hands on her back as he dropped a kiss to her head “I will never do that again, I’m sorry…” “Fliss?”

She started slightly and looked at Frank. “Yeah, sorry, I was…” “Miles away?” he frowned.

“Something like that.” she nodded, shaking her head “Sorry, you said you could fix it?”

“Yeah.” he said “I can take it with me and then I can bring it back Saturday unless you need it before that?”

“No, Saturday’s fine.” she said gently.

“Look, I don’t mean to pry but are you sure you’re ok?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.” she spoke quickly. “Look, I gotta get on and…” “Sure.” he nodded, “I should be going anyway…” She smiled at him, and turned and headed back to the yard.

****

“You clearly triggered something.” Roberta said to Frank wisely as they both sat in his living room later that evening. He’d just finished telling her about the afternoon. “Some kind of memory.”

Frank hmmed his response. “Question is why are you so bothered?” Roberta asked.

“I’m not, I just, well it wasn’t nice to see. She looked so scared.” “Well you said her husband was sent down for assaulting her.” Roberta shrugged “She’s clearly had a lot of trauma. Maybe she just needs a friend.” “Yeah, maybe.”

“Could be good for both of you.” “I know what you’re doing.” Frank looked at her sternly

“I’m not trying to do anything!” Roberta chuckled

“Course you’re not.” he rolled his eyes before he changed the subject.

It wasn’t until he was alone later, that he pulled his phone out to text Fliss. He’d typed out his message, just a perfectly innocent one to check she was okay before he deleted it, shaking his head.

Whatever it was, it really was none of his business. He had enough of his own past demons to live with as it was.

But the more he lay there the more it wound him up. And he couldn’t get the thought of her out of his head.

“Fucks sake,” he grumbled, before he retyped the message and sent it.

**** Fliss was curled up on the sofa watching TV. Her parents were out for the evening so she was making the most of enjoying the space. Her phone went and she leaned over to grab it from the coffee table, unable to stop smiling as she saw who it was from.

“Hey, just wanted to check you were ok after before. I hope I didn’t do anything or say anything that upset or scared you.” The last line made her heart sink. He clearly knew about her past. Her dad had mentioned something about them googling her, and the case had been fairly big news amongst the equestrian circuit so she knew that the story was out there to read. Well, most of it was anyway. She rubbed at her eyes, thinking of how to respond. She hated that even after almost a year of him being out of her life John was till effectively a shadow she couldn’t seem to emerge from.

“It’s not your fault. I get flashbacks sometimes, nothing I can’t handle.”

“Well the past has a way of doing that. Trust me, I know.”

Fliss smiled gently as she tapped out her response. “Yeah, what is it Rafiki says on the Lion King? You can either run from your past or learn from it?”

Little over thirty seconds later he responded.

“Sound advice from a cartoon monkey…not always that easy in real life. If you ever want a non-judgmental ear to talk to, I’m a pretty good listener if you fancy a beer and a chat. Just as friends.” There was just something about this man, something that Fliss couldn’t help but warm to. She wasn’t stupid, the girls at the yard had told her a bit about him, his reputation amongst the ladies…he was a bit of a player from all accounts, but there was something there, something buried deeper, she could just tell. And what’s more, for the first time in years, she felt like she could trust another person other than her family.

It was for that reason she found it so easy to almost, sort of, maybe, possibly accept his invitation.

“I might just hold you to that Sailor.”

**** Chapter 3

[thedumbguywithaheart43]

BoomLords weird adventure

Chapter 5 reluctant companions

Rairty spoke up."excuse me darling what is the crazy stallion saying?"Twilight was spaced out for a moment trying to process what she had just done. Apon realizing Rairty was speaking she snapped back to reality."what oh Rairty. Sorry uh he was talking about me helping him to uh shit"She blinked, wincing as she couldn't get the thought of what she had just done out of her head. She didn't intend to create Rose fire in fact in that moment she had wanted to kill him to render the flesh from his bone, it was as if another creature had entered her head for a moment and fueled her rage."I think I have to go with him."before she could explain why."WHAT ARE YOU TAKING ABOUT HE JUST MESSED WITH YOU AND THE PRINCESSES HEADS!"rainbow yelled."I merely showed them what they wanted to know however to be honest I didn't expect this to happen. I had been looking for the rose fire in every world every terrifying, every cruel, and every unforgiving place in the Omniverse. But it turns out all I had to do was accidentally induced fear and rage into a horse."the pony stared at him for a moment."He's telling the truth and now that we know what's at stake we have no choice but to help."Celestia stated her tone was dark however as if she was doing something she wasn't so sure she wanted to."h-how long until it happens?"Boom and Celestia stared at each other for a moment. It was clear Boom really didn't want to answer this."could be days could be another year time works differently for me but if I had to give a rough estimate maybe a year or two or less."Celestia took a gulp of air as she looked to her fellow ponies. She looked as if she was holding back tears."my little ponies I ask no I beg you all to go with him this is no longer a matter in my control and I cannot force you to partake in this. What he is asking is dangerous beyond anything any of you have ever faced and while he may only require Twilight I would never send my student alone into what I was shown."this time no one spoke not even dash because when princess Celestia tells you shits about to go down it's going to go fuckin down. And in unison without hesitation without regret without fear all the ponies and Spike responded"were in!"boom looked at the group of ponies a look of discontent on his face."fuckin great I'm babysitting a whole party."most of the ponies ignored what he said with the exception of rainbow dash and Applejack."hey no one asked you"dash got in his face while AJ got close next to her."yeah that's right and don't think we're going to take our eyes off you for a minute partner. Not after what you just pulled.

2 spike walked over to the stallion cautiously"so how are we leaving? I mean you said we had to leave."well you see that's why I'm going to need my notepad and Pen also my satchel if you don't mind."a look of confusion re-entered the faces of everyone."oooo are you gonna draw us amagical portal to another dimension?"pinky blurted out as a few of the others started to chuckle."actually that's a pretty accurate assessment of what I'm about to do, in fact spot on."Twilights jaw nearly dropped as BoomLord began scribbling on the paper. Boomlord had drawn a nearly perfect circle on a piece of the notepads paper and in the center of it wrote the words, °home space°as he took the pen off the paper another electric golden ring started to form, the area within beginning to blacken about 10 ft away."okay everybody we're about to leave but don't worry I can send us back to this exact point in time give or take a few minutes so while we may be gone for who knows how long to the princesses it will only be a couple minutes."Boom that hope this comment would calm them however they're confusion only broaden. 'God how are they going to react when they all change'

3 boom was the first to enter the portal then Twilight followed by Pinky, rainbow,Applejack, rarity Fluttershy, and lastly young Spike. Boomlord looked down at himself. He was human again his blue jeans and thick yellow hoodie once again with him. Pulling back the sleeve he saw that the green fur that once covered his body was gone replaced with his light taned skin. Okay I hope everybody's ready for some exposition and descriptions. Boomlord looked back at the ponies first up was Twilight she had grown into a human form unsurprisingly. Her mane or I guess her hair had stayed the same she had fairly pale white skin and a few smalls freckles adorning her face she was also fairly short compared to Boom. Boom knew his height was about 5'7 give or take so Twilight had to be about 5'4 or 5'3 she wore a purple t-shirt and a darker purple skirt with pants to go with it all put together with very nice sneakers which all the girls have with the exception of rarity and Applejack. Pinky on the overhand was definitely much taller than Twilight in fact she was about the same height as boom. She wore a striped blue and pink shirt with a polka dot skirt and light pink leggings she had average white skin no major tan or anything although she did have pink nail polish on. Dash was next she still had her rainbow hair but she was on the shorter end with Twilight only being a inch or so taller along with fairly tanned skin as if she's been spending her days at the beach. She wore a plain blue sleeveless top and jean shorts her wings were also noticeably missing the same with Fluttershy. Speaking of Fluttershy her outfit was rather green she wore a green t-shirt with a yellow peace symbol on it and long jeans. Additionally in her hair she had is a flower crown witch she probably took off, besides that her skin was also fairly tanned. Applejack definitely took the show with her outfit she was wearing thick brown leather gloves and a brown leather vest with tassels on it. Underneath the vest was a plain white shirt covered in bits of brown dirt, and long stylish cowboy print jeans and good old-fashioned cowgirl boots. Applejack skin was also the most tanned being she was definitely the one who spent the most time outdoors. Also she and rainbow dash were the only ones with noticeable er muscle growth as even through their outfits they still kept their physical physique. Applejack and Fluttershy we're definitely the tallest of the group with Fluttershy being 5'8 and Applejack being at least 6'2.Lastly of the girls we have rarity wearing a clean white shirt with stylish blue diamond print in it, and a rather long dress to accompany it. Along her neck was a rather lovely diamond necklace and alot Lower down beautiful high heels. She also had the darkness pigment of her skin when compared to everyone else. Also sorry if that's not politically correct I'm not entirely sure what the correct term is now. Do feel free to let me know. As soon as the girls walk through the portal though most of them with the exception of Twilight who seemed almost familiar with the sensation of walking on two legs fell to the ground."oh no whats happing?"Pinky yelled and she started crawling on all fours along with Fluttershy. Dash and Applejack were occupied with balancing themselves on a desk next to them and rarity had somehow crawled her way to a sofa and dramatically pose."oh darling what has happened to us?"boomlord rolled his eyes as he knew he was going to have to teach them how to be human it also occurred to him where the hell was spike.

4 Then he saw it or well him. Unlike his fellow ponies Spike didn't turn into a human and no he did not turn into a dog. This isn't Equestria girls guys turning into a dog is really dumb and I already have one in the story. Spike's body had remained reptilian however he's noticeably taller now at least about Twilights size inner current form his body seemed to get longer and his claws along with it. His face has narrowed Abit becoming far more similar to his dragon freinds with the exception that he had a much longer neck which allowed him to survey his own body. Put it simply he looks more like what a small dragon would look like in our world if they existed."woah I look really cool!"spike yelled in excitement."ponies don't talk where I'm from so the portal has adjusted your body's to something a bit more familiar to me that I have set and in Spike's case I already had something in mind for dragons." Ponies now began to look around their surroundings. They notice they seemed to be in a rather decent sized living room a few desks a television ,yellow rug, a few lamps. The room seemed mostly normal only the walls and floor and ceiling all looked the same. It looks like the inside of a treehouse and where there was a window there was no... Well anything just an empty void."welcome to my home away from home a little place I made outside of the Omniverse and what I like to call free space, basically this entire place is an extension of a thought everything here with the exception of a few items were made from nothing. No magic and no magical effects can be taken here with the exception of the notepad so sorry girls but your wings and horns are temporarily unavailable don't worry when we go to other worlds you should be able to use them."Twilight rapidly blinked as she didn't expect well boom to look rather nice. He still had rather unkempt hair and the rings under the eyes but here the black in his eyes were gone however his irises remained red and gold. He had a warm smile or a warm fake smile and while definitely wasn't the biggest guy around he still had a rather fit physique. And the rarity was the first to comment on that"oh boom darling you look um..... Better than I would have thought."boom roll his eyes."well im far more comfortable like this."the girls who were having trouble standing took a few minutes to themselves to start copying the motions of Twilight who began pacing."uh hey are we safe here."like asked while moving around the girls who were rather surprised to see him as they did not expect such a change."spike looking badass today."rainbow dash teased.spike blushed slight as Boomlord spoke."well girls work going to have to set some ground rules since it looks like you'll be staying with me for a while."

(Oh one more thing because I know you're all wondering or at least some of you are wondering.

Breasts size from largest to smallest :Applejack dd followed by pinkie and Fluttershy then Rairty.twlight has the average size and rainbow dash is flat but that doesn't make her any less of a woman)

(not sure why I felt the need to put that there but I feel like some people just had to know)

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Riding High Ch2: Hey Sailor

Chapter Summary: Mary is excited for her first riding lesson, and it seems that she’s not the only one…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. 

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher 

A/N: Again, as you will all know I’m a Brit so apologies if too much British horsey lingo slips into this…ASK away if you don’t understand. Tagging all my SSB/CSI readers…if you want in or off the list PLEASE just tell me. This chapter is a bit of a filler, things start getting a bit more interesting in the next one, and then we’ll be diving into the Gifted story line in Chapter 4. 

Thanks to my beta reader/sounding board @icanfeelastormbrewing​ for her input and her modes of transport kink...

As always I’m a ho for a REBLOG and COMMENT! 

Chapter Song:  Tomorrow  by James

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

“Mary…” Frank sighed. “Take the boots off and get in bed.” “You told me that Miss Gallagher said I needed to wear them.” she looked at him.

“Yeah, but you can’t wear them in bed…”

Mary flopped onto the side of her bed and reached down to unzip the boots before she kicked them off and Frank picked them up and placed them out of the way. Mary shuffled down under her covers and lay her head back on the pillow. Frank gently smoothed her blonde hair back off her face and smiled at her. Times like this she really did remind him of Diane.

“Frank?”

“Yeah?” “Can I read for a little while?” she asked.

Frank rolled his eyes “Mary…”

“Please!”

“Fine, 15 minutes tops. And I’ll be in to turn the light off, ok?” With a grin she sat up and reached for her latest book- Moby Dick, and he dropped a kiss to her head and left her to it. He made his way into the kitchen, cleared the dishes and then grabbed a beer his attention turning to the table which was had clear, the other half scattered with the parts from one of the engines he had been working on. He knew he really shouldn’t bring this home with him but sometimes it was just easier. 

His phone buzzed and he reached for it, glancing down at the unknown number.

“Hi Mr Adler, just a courtesy message to remind you of Mary’s lesson tomorrow at 1. If you can’t make it please let me know ASAP so I can offer the slot to someone else. Otherwise see you then. Regards, Fliss.” Frank smiled, like he would have chance to forget. Mary had talked of nothing else since Saturday. His fingers hovered over the reply button, before he dropped the phone back down. He didn’t need to reply…did he? I mean…

Oh fuck it. He picked the phone back up and tapped in a quick response.

“Frank, please. And like I’d have chance to forget. She’s been like a broken record since Wednesday. I had to pry her boots off tonight as she was threatening to wear them in bed…”

Setting the phone down he headed back through to check on Mary, her 15 minutes was over. He found her fast asleep, book clutched to her chest. Gently taking it from her, he slipped the bookmark into the page and turned off the lights, making sure she was tucked in. When he moved back into the main part of the trailer he had a reply.

“Brilliant! That’s what I like to hear. Get used to it, you’re going to hear about nothing but horses now for the rest of your life.” “Great, I can’t wait…” he added a rolling eye emoji at the end and set down, gathering a few pieces of the engine, setting to work. About 5 minutes passed and his phone went again.

“You know I offer starter lessons for adults too, maybe you should try it, see if you understand what the fuss is all about.” “No thanks, my feet stay firmly on the ground. Unless I’m on a boat.” “A boat? I didn’t have you pegged as a sailor?” At that Frank let out a bark of a laugh. 

“I’m not, not really. I fix them. And besides, you don’t sail speedboats.” “What do you do then?” 

“I suppose you drive them.”

“Do you drive them on water?” “Dur.” “That’s called Sailing.”

His work abandoned he took a pull from his beer bottle and shook his head, smile tugging at his lips as he replied.

“But they don’t have sails…” “It’s a boat. It goes on water. It’s called Sailing.” “Alright, I bow to your superior knowledge…” “Glad we agree…even if I do detect a serious underlying tone of sarcasm in your message. See you tomorrow Sailor.” He laughed again, shaking his head. He tapped in a goodnight and placed the phone down, turning his attention to his work.

*****

“What are you grinning about?” Bill Gallagher turned his attention to his daughter as they walked across the field, Thor and his own dog, Rupert, hurtling ahead in front of them, their flashing collars keeping them located in the twilight. 

“Oh, nothing, just winding someone up.” she smiled “One of the dad’s from tomorrow’s lesson, trying to convince me you drive, not sail, a speedboat.” “Hmmm…well they don’t have sails.” Bill mused.

“Whatever, they go on water, they sail.” Fliss said, slipping her phone back into her pocket as Frank’s ‘Goodnight’ rounded off their conversation.

“So, who is he then?” Bill asked. 

“Oh, his name’s Frank.” Fliss said, nonchalantly, but her dad didn’t miss the flicker of a smile that hit her mouth.

“Is he the one that your mum said was eyeing you up in the bar?” “He was not eyeing me up.” Fliss groaned “He was just being friendly.” “Sure he was.” “Dad…” she warned him, nudging him with her elbow.

“What?” “You know what!” she laughed “Stop it.” “Alright…” he smiled, holding his hands up “I yield…it’s just nice to see you happy, that’s all.” “Well, I am.” she said after a moment, and she meant it “The last 6 months…the riding school has taken off, I’m feeling more…well, myself than I have in years. Just need to find an apartment now.” “Well, on that…” Bill said. “Me and your mum have been thinking. We thought, maybe, you might want to move into the annex. We can do it up, gives you your own space…”

Fliss paused and looked at her dad. “That’s where Steeby stays though, when he comes out with Sian and the kids…” “There’s plenty of room in the house.” Bill shrugged “And they come like what, 4 times a year? It’s stood empty the rest of the time.” Fliss bit her lip.

“It’s just an idea and your brother won’t mind. Look, I know it’s probably not what you had in mind, living in your parent’s annex but for the time being until the Yard starts to turn over more of a profit we just thought it might give you a little bit more freedom.” “Whilst still staying close.” she said, looking at him. Bill shrugged.

“I want to keep you safe Titch.” he shrugged “I didn’t do that before but…” “Dad don’t.” she said, shaking her head “None of that, it wasn’t your fault. I hid from everyone what was happening…you didn’t know.”

“I should have.” he sighed “You’re my daughter.” “He had everyone fooled, including me.” she shrugged “This is no one’s fault but his, I get that now.” Bill smiled and pulled her into a hug. “I know.”

“We should head back.” Fliss said “Mum will be wondering where we are.”

“You have anything to finish off?” he asked 

“Nope, everything is out for the night and looks reasonably settled.” she said, squinting at the various horses dotted across her land.

“Hmmm, unlike this fencing…” Bill said, looking at the broken bit of post and rail that Fliss had patched up with electric tape “This could do with replacing, love.” “Yeah, I know.” she said “I was going to mention it but forgot. The temporary fix has worked for the time being.” “I’ll stop by and do it tomorrow.” he said, “Won’t take me long. I’ll level that top field as well whilst I’m at it if you want.” “Thanks Dad” she smiled. In comfortable silence they made their way back towards the main part of the yard.

*******

Fliss grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge in her office and took a long drink. The heat was pretty intense today, and she was just wondering if really holding Mary’s lesson as advisable when she realised it wasn’t like they’d be doing anything too strenuous. She adjusted her baseball cap and head back onto the yard, shouting instructions to the 3 members of staff to go and take a water break. Just as they were passing her towards the office, she saw Frank and Mary walking onto the yard. Mary was sporting a new riding hat and Fliss couldn’t help but smile.

“Well check you out!” she said, tapping the little girl on the head “Nice hat.” “I liked the silver on it!” she grinned, pointing to the sparkly strip that ran along the front.

“Me too…” Fliss nodded. “I have the same hat but mine has blue sparkles.” she straightened up and looked at Frank. “Hey Sailor.” He gave a snort of a laugh “I told you, you don’t sail speedboats.” “They go on water.” Mary said, “Its’ sailing.” “Ha, see!” Fliss laughed 

Frank sighed “Whatever.” The corners of his mouth turned up and he handed Fliss the forms he had brought back.

“Oh great…” she thanked him “I’ll just file these and then Ruby will get Monty ready. I thought you might like to help her.” Mary nodded eagerly. Fliss excused herself and Frank heard her shouting something and a moment later a tall, wiry Hispanic girl emerged from the office with a saddle. Fliss followed, bridle slung over her shoulder and gestured for Mary to follow. Frank watched as the girl skipped off following and headed after her at a slower pace, rubbing at his neck which felt like it was burning. He’d slathered Mary in sunscreen before but of course had forgotten his own.

He stepped into the relative cool of the barn and watched as the stable hand was explaining to Mary what each piece of tack was as she began to place it onto the pony. He knew Mary would be taking all of this in, just like she did with everything, and Roberta would be hearing all about it later on.

Fliss handed over the bridle and stepped back, heading towards Frank. “I normally do have the ponies ready” she said, almost apologetically “But I thought she’d enjoy this bit.” “You thought right.” Frank laughed “I was just thinking to myself she’ll be chewing our neighbour’s ear off later.”

Fliss smiled and they both stood in silence watching until the other girl said they were ready. 

“Alright, let’s go!” Fliss grinned and they walked out into the yard. She took the pony from her staff member with a thanks, and walked with Mary following into the riding paddock. Frank leaned on the fencing outside as Fliss led Mary and Monty over to the wooden mounting block at the side.

“Ok, so…” she turned to Mary and patted the top step “Climb up here…” Mary hopped up.

“Left foot in this stirrup…” she instructed. Mary placed her foot in. “Left hand here…” she guided it to the front of the saddle “And then I want you to swing your right leg over.” Mary did as she was told, sitting down on the saddle. 

“Good stuff kiddo!” Fliss smiled as she checked the stirrups “Ok, so we need to put these up a hole so…” 

She busied herself shortening the stirrup leathers, and eventually when she was happy she nodded.

“So, what we’re gonna do for today is a bit of walking around, and stopping, and then if you’re happy with your balance we can try a bit of trot ok?” Mary grinned.

“Right…so take your reins…” Fliss showed her how to hold the reins correctly, and then she slipped the lunge line through the ponies bit and looked at the girl. “If you feel wobbly or anything you grab this…” she said, gesturing to the leather strap around the pony’s neck. “And shout to me ok?”

Mary nodded. 

Fliss began to walk besides the pony who followed her like a dog. Mary all the time concentrating on what she was doing. Fliss explained to her how her legs made the animal go, and how to make it stop, and they practiced that for 5 minutes before Fliss moved slightly further away to let Mary take a bit of control, instructing her to go, then stop, go, then stop…

Frank watched intently. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t slightly nervous about her falling off but he knew that he had to let her discover all this for herself. He leaned further over on the fence, watching and couldn’t help but smile at the look on Mary’s face, she was concentrating so hard her brow was furrowed, tongue poking out from the side of her mouth.

“Your kid?” a deep voice with a similar accent to Fliss said and he turned to his right to see a tall, stocky guy in his late 50s, early 60s maybe dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans looking at him.

“Niece.” he said, “First lesson.” “Ahh...” the man chuckled “Yeah I remember Fliss’ first lesson. I crapped myself.” Frank let out a laugh “Yeah, I’m a little nervous.” “Bill.” The man stuck his hand out “Fliss’ dad.” “Nice to meet you, I’m Frank.” Bill looked at him, nodding before his attention turned to the paddock “Hey, Titch, sorry to interrupt…” Fliss stopped the pony and turned to her dad “Hey…” “Fencing is done but I can’t get that bloody tractor started…so the field’s gonna have to wait.” “I can look at it.” Frank offered immediately “I mean, if you want…” Bill turned to him, “You a mechanic?” “No he’s a sailor…” Fliss shot back and Frank rolled his eyes.

“I fix boats. Engines…that type of thing.” “Huh.” Bill said “Well if you wouldn’t mind…” “Not a problem. Mary you ok here if I go for a minute?” Mary looked at him “Dur.” Bill let out a chuckle as Frank turned to him “Tell me raising them gets easier.” “Oh no mate.” Bill shook his head, grinning “You just get different shit to deal with.” Frank followed the man round to the back of the barn and spotted a dark green baby tractor. Bill explained what it was doing and Frank crouched closer to have a look before he headed to his truck for the jump leads.

After 10 minutes or so he’d found the problem. They could start it, but it wasn’t holding any charge. Meaning when the turned the engine off it needed jump starting again.

“I’m pretty sure it’s the alternator.” he said, stepping back “I’ll need to strip it down to see whether I can repair it or if it needs a new one but…we can get it started again you can do what you need to do for today.”

Bill nodded “So not quite ready for the scrap heap?” “Not quite.” Frank smiled, wiping his hands on his dirty jeans “Just needs a bit of a fiddle with.” “Don’t we all?” Bill quipped, making Frank laugh. They jump started it again and Bill thanked him before hopping on and heading over to the gate that led to the field.

By the time Frank returned, he was surprised to see that Mary was now riding the horse almost unaided in a circle around Fliss who was holding the end of the line attached to the pony’s bridle as it trotted around. Mary was gripping the strap round the pony’s neck and trying to rise in time to the trot. It was clumsy and she was a little bit out of balance but that didn’t matter. He could hear Fliss shouting gentle encouragement to her, counting out the rhythm and eventually Mary fell in time with her counts. 

“Good!” Fliss beamed “see, I told you you’d get it…” This continued for another 5 minutes or so before Fliss told Mary to slow Monty down to a walk and give him a good pat. They walked the pony around for a while, to give him chance to cool down a little before Fliss walked towards Mary gathering up the line as she went.

“That was awesome for a first go!” she said, smiling “Did you enjoy it?”

Mary nodded “Yeah, it was really cool!”

“Good!” Fliss said. “Now I’m gonna unclip the line and walk around for a bit. He’ll follow me but when I stop I want you to stop him yeah?”

Mary nodded eagerly and she unclipped the line and began to walk. Fliss knew Monty would stop when she did but she wanted to let Mary have a go anyway. They did a lap of the paddock and on the second she stopped by Frank.

“Look, Frank!” Mary smiled “I’m not on the line.” “Yeah, I see!” he smiled at her “Good job!”

“How’s my tractor?” Fliss asked.

“Think it’s the alternator. We got it started for your dad but I’ll need to strip it down properly…I can come back tomorrow with my tools if you want?” “Oh, I don’t wanna put you out…” Fliss started to protest but Frank shook his head

“It’s no bother, honestly.” he said, running his hand through his hair. “I can’t promise I can fix it but I’ll be able to see if I can or if you need a new one.” Fliss looked at him and then nodded “Alright, but in that case today is free.” “No, that’s not why I offered…” Frank began to protest but Fliss shook her head

“I know.” she said “But I’d like to.” Frank looked at her for a moment, her brown eyes locked onto his and he swallowed, nodding. “Ok, thanks.” “Wait am I coming back tomorrow?” Mary asked

“I’m booked up, sorry sweetie.” Fliss looked at her “But you’re welcome to come anyway, that is if Frank says its ok.” “We’ll see. “Frank looked at Mary.

“I can put her to work.” Fliss said, grinning “Nothing like a bit of child labour.” “That’s illegal.” Mary said.

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” Fliss looked at her and Frank gave a chuckle.

They made their way out of the paddock and Fliss showed Mary how to swing her leg back round the saddle and slide down. She landed on her feet and took the reins from Fliss’ hand, leading the pony back to his stable. She helped untack and then Fliss handed her the bridle to carry. They walked into the office and Fliss tapped a code into the door to the left and led them into a tidy tack room, rows of saddles and racks adorned the wall along with bridle pegs and a few shelves full of rugs and blankets for the horses. Fliss slipped the saddle onto a spare rack and then directed Mary to Monty’s bridle peg. Frank took the bridle from her as the peg was a little high and hooked it over.

“Now, you need a drink.” Fliss looked at Mary “I got water or some apple juice….”

“Apple please…”  Mary said. Fliss nodded and headed back into the office, giving her a juice box from the fridge “Frank?” “Oh, errr, water would be great thanks.” She handed him a bottle and he screwed off the tap.

“So, do you want to book in again now or do it tomorrow?” Fliss looked at him. “I think she’ll cope on the group lesson fine.” “So when do they run?”  he asked, swallowing his water.

“Saturday afternoons at 2.” Fliss said. “Or Wednesday at 6.” “Can we come Saturday?” Mary asked.

Frank hesitated “I did say you couldn’t do this every week…” “Yeah but you didn’t pay for today.” Mary shot back.

Jesus Chris Mary…

He glanced up at Fliss who was biting her lip, trying not to laugh.

“Fine, you can come this Saturday but then that’s it, we go to every other week like we agreed ok?” Mary nodded.

“Settled, I’ll book you in.” Fliss grinned. “If you get here about quarter to I’ll introduce you to the other girls before you join.” Mary frowned a little, before she recovered and nodded. “Ok.” “So do you like work here every day?” Frank asked. Fliss nodded

“Mostly. If I want a day off then I get Joanne to cover the lessons and the girls can open and close up.” she said “But it’s few and far between. Like I said, still in the early days so…”

Frank nodded “Yeah I know what it’s like, trying to get yourself established.” “I take it you’re a self-employed sailor then?” Fliss smiled and he gave a grin back and nodded. 

“He takes me for rides.” Mary said “In the boats sometimes.” “That’s really cool. I’ve never been on speedboat.” Fliss said.

“You should come with us one day, right Frank?”

Frank hesitated a little, surprised to find that he wasn’t filled with dread at the idea of her joining them. 

“I’m sure Fliss has enough to be doing without you demanding more of her time.” he shot the girl a look, his tone even.

“Yeah, I’m very busy.” Fliss smiled, offering him a way out. He shot her a thankful look.

“We can do it when you’re free…” “Mary!” Frank’s tone was exasperated as Fliss laughed.

“Maybe one day.” she said, nodding.

This placated the girl somewhat and she bounced off towards the truck.

“Sorry.” Frank turned to Fliss “She can be a little bit…” “Tenacious?” “I was gonna say pain in the ass.” Frank said, causing Fliss to laugh, her soft chuckles made him feel a little warm, or maybe it was the afternoon heat…

“She’s a good kid.” Fliss said gently.

Frank smiled and then jerked his head in the direction of the car park “I better…” “Sure.”

“I’ll drop you a message about tomorrow?” Fliss nodded “Yeah, but don’t put yourself out.” “Well I owe you now for the lesson so…” he shrugged “I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Yeah, guess you will.” Fliss smiled. There was a pause again and Frank nodded, before he turned and headed after Mary. He turned to look over his shoulder at Fliss who was now walking back towards her office before he wandered onto the car park to find Mary was now chewing Bill’s ear off.

“For the love of God…” he mumbled as he drew nearer to find her mid discussion with the man about the Olympics.

“Did you go?” she was asking.

“You bet!” Bill smiled “I’ll tell you something else as well…” “What?” “Those fences are even bigger in real life than they look on the photos.” “It said on the internet she jumped 1 meter 30…” 

“The internet?” Bill asked.

“Yeah, we googled her…” Frank groaned “Mary…” “What?” she looked at him. “I was just saying…” “Well don’t…” he said, “Truck, now…”

“It was nice to meet you Mary.” Bill said as the little girl bid him goodbye.

“Sorry…” Frank apologised to him. 

“Don’t be silly.” Bill waved his apology off “She wasn’t doing any harm.”

“I meant about the google thing.” Frank sighed “we weren’t prying, she was just curious after seeing the medal and…” Bill shook his head “Kids are nosey.” he shrugged. 

With another nod he climbed in the truck and turned to Mary with a sigh “What did I say to you about not telling Miss Gallagher we googled her?” “I didn’t.” Mary said “I told her dad.”

There was a pause as Frank contemplated what she had said, and realised technically she was right. He should have closed that particular loop hole. “Smart ass.” he grumbled back, before he clipped in her belt and they left.

*****

Fliss was surprised to see Mary wasn’t with Frank the next day. Frank explained he had come straight from the boat yard so she was busy doing some lesson work with their neighbour. “Gives me chance to work without her continually running around causing a nuisance.” he had explained, setting his tools down by the tractor. 

Fliss chuckled, “Ok, well, I got another client due in a second so just give me a shout if you need anything…” He nodded. It didn’t take him long to realise he had been right. It was the alternator. He took the engine apart and was leaning over it on the flat bed of his truck when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to look at Fliss.

“It is the alternator, but it looks like it’s the brushes inside.” he said, “I can fix this…” She nodded, the movement almost imperceptible, and he frowned at the look on her face. She glazed over in front of him, eyes were widened, almost like she was stuck in a memory.

And she was. Something about the fact he’d been leaning over the back of a truck, his grubby t-shirt riding up slightly, dirt on his hands and arms had stirred a really inappropriate thought in her head…which in turn had triggered another flashback.

“He was fixing the car.” Fliss looked at John “I offered him a drink, that’s all…” “He was in our kitchen.” John advanced “I saw you looking at him. Admiring him…” “I wasn’t…”

“Don’t LIE TO ME…” John’s voice as loud and then there was a stinging slap to the side of her face, which sent her reeling. As she recovered, the ringing in her ear still loud from the blow, she gently reached up to her cheek, tears stinging her eyes. John’s face was immediately apologetic, and he reached out for her, causing her to shrink back against the counter.

“You hit me…” she gasped.

“Sugar, I’m so sorry…” John said, his eyes filing with tears “I didn’t…you just made me so jealous…I…” He held his arms out and pulled her to him, his hands on her back as he dropped a kiss to her head “I will never do that again, I’m sorry…” “Fliss?” 

She started slightly and looked at Frank. “Yeah, sorry, I was…” “Miles away?” he frowned.

“Something like that.” she nodded, shaking her head “Sorry, you said you could fix it?”

“Yeah.” he said “I can take it with me and then I can bring it back Saturday unless you need it before that?”

“No, Saturday’s fine.” she said gently.

“Look, I don’t mean to pry but are you sure you’re ok?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” she said quickly. “Look, I gotta get on and…” “Sure.” he nodded, “I should be going anyway…” She smiled at him, and turned and headed back to the yard.

“You clearly triggered something.” Roberta said to him wisely as they both sat in his living room later that evening. He’d just finished telling her about the afternoon. “Some kind of memory.”

Frank hmmed his response. “Question is why are you so bothered?” Roberta asked.

“I’m not, I just…well it wasn’t nice seeing. She looked so scared.” “Well you said her husband was sent down for assaulting her…” Roberta shrugged “She’s clearly had a lot of trauma. Maybe she just needs a friend.” “Yeah, maybe.”

“Could be good for both of you.” “I know what you’re doing.” Frank looked at her sternly 

“I’m not trying to do anything!” Roberta chuckled.

“Course you’re not.” he rolled his eyes before he changed the subject. 

It wasn’t until he was alone later, that he pulled his phone out to text Fliss. He’d typed out his message, just a perfectly innocent one to check she was ok before he deleted it, shaking his head. 

Whatever it was, it really was none of his business. He had enough of his own past demons to live with as it was.

But the more he lay there the more it wound him up.

“Fucks sake…” he grumbled, before he retyped the message and sent it.

*******

Fliss was curled up on the sofa watching TV with a glass of wine. Her parents were out for the evening so she was making the most of enjoying the space. Her phone went and she leaned over to grab it from the coffee table, unable to stop smiling as she saw who it was from.

“Hey, just wanted to check you were ok after before. I hope I didn’t do anything or say anything that upset or scared you.” The last line made her heart sink. He clearly knew about her past. Her dad had mentioned something about them googling her, and the case had been fairly big news amongst the equestrian circuit so she knew that the story was out there to read. Well, most of it was anyway. She rubbed at her eyes, thinking of how to respond. She hated that even after almost a year of him being out of her life John was till effectively a shadow from which she couldn’t seem to emerge.

“It’s not your fault. I get flashbacks sometimes, nothing I can’t handle.”

“Well the past has a way of doing that. Trust me, I know.”

Fliss smiled gently as she tapped out her response.

“Yeah, what is it Rafiki says on the Lion King? You can either run from your past or learn from it?”

Little over 30 seconds later he responded.

“Sound advice from a cartoon monkey…not always that easy in real life. If you ever want a non-judgmental ear to talk to, I’m a pretty good listener if you fancy a beer and a chat. Just as friends.” There was just something about this man, something that Fliss couldn’t help but warm to. She wasn’t stupid, the girls at the yard had told her a bit about him, his reputation amongst the ladies…he was a bit of a player from all accounts, but there was something there, something buried deeper, she could just tell. And what’s more, for the first time in years, she felt like she could trust another person other than her family.

It was for that reason she found it so easy to almost, sort of, maybe, possibly accept his invitation.

“I might just hold you to that Sailor.” 

 @the-omni-princess​​  @momobaby227​​ @geekofmanythings16​​ @angelofhell-666​​ @thewackywriter​​ @marvelfansworld​​​  @cobalt-gear​​  @asgardlover75​​ @jennmurawski13​​​​  @jtargaryen18​​​ @saiyanprincessswanie​​​  @navispalace​​​ @patzammit​​​  @joannaliceevans-fanficblog​​​ ​​ @djeniiscorner​​​  @ayamenimthiriel​​​  @coldmuffinbanditshoe​​​  @disneylovingal​​​ @madzmilllz​​  @sgtjaamesbaarnes​​ @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​​  @southerngracela​ @goldenfightergir​ @kellymat​ @official-and-unstable-satan​

[spacexmagicxandxsheepxbleats]

🌻 … having their back rubbed in sunscreen by your muse.

Ezra had, with out much effort it seemed, convinced Drexod to trek, on foot (mostly), several days south of the Lake to the shore of another such body of water.

Albeit smaller than her home lake this one was still rather beautiful. It’s water crystal clear as the waters of home, affording an unclouded view of the rocky bed. Tree trunks sunk to the bottom as well as run off from the surrounding hillsides and gentle streams feeding it from afar lent a lovely amber hue in the early morning light to the water due mostly to tannins and minerals from all its sources and dead-fall littering the bottom.

The ruins of a golden-age farm stood on a low hill, the descendants of its livestock still roaming the overgrown fields of now wild vegetables and herbs.

“…If you’ve ever wondered where my potatoes, celery and such comes from….its here….”

She spoke softly, her hand holding the woven rope leader belted over the muzzle of the shaggy grey pony that ambled easily along with her as she lead both her and Drex towards a weathered wooden cabin. On the animal’s back were a multitude of tools and materials, a few bags of linens and cloths, some cookware, burlap bags and other assorted items for the coming harvest of vegetables and fruits from the derelict farm’s orchard trees, a large sack of salt and other spices for prepping and preserving meats for fall and winter.

Once at the ramshackle door the Warlock began to unload the pony of its burden, simply setting items in or outside the small cabin depending on their purpose before removing the animal’s halter and padded blankets. Stroking the creatures nose, whispering softly to it in her odd way, she let the smokey hued beast amble away towards a herd of similar animals left to root and become wild…

“…Let me get some things put away…”

The Ram murmured softly, almost cheerily, as she propped the door open with a nearby stone before stepping inside. Dust hovered and floated softly in the air, the space smelt of old wood, soot and smokey animal fat. Carefully she opened the ancient glassed windows, allowing the morning breeze to slip in and freshen the space.

All in all, just like the rest of her life, this place seemed out of place in the ‘modern’ age. There was no electricity, for light Ezra lit the match dry birch wood in the stone hearth before setting the lanterns in the ceiling and on the shelves aglow.

With in no time the bedcloths that shrouded the bed under the windows were pulled away, tossed out the door to be washed and replaced with clean ones. All the items meant for inside use were tucked along shelves and counters and after a short while the Warlock changed out of her bulwark armor and into one of her woolen dresses, this one a soft shade of goldenrod with a deep red apron.

From time to time she’d ask Drex to fill a bucket with water and to fill a barrel inside the one room cabin, then if he’d mind bringing in some of the logs stored at the side of the building under the tin roofed lean to. She didn’t demand he complete the tasks rather asked him softly if he’d care to.

Pulling a cast iron pan from the wall near the hearth she set to frying bacon she’d brought with, along with a few eggs before brewing coffee in an old iron kettle on a bed of coals she pulled from the flames.

Her actions were measured and contemplative, as if she did this every year and if he asked she’d confirm as such to him. She knew Drex wanted her to have a ‘leisurely hobby’, knew that he felt like all she did was fight tooth and nail against not only Guardian’s but the wilds, but she hoped this little trip would give him a deeper perspective into the bigger picture of her life out here…that she wasn’t simply confined to just her lake and forest, that she had other little nooks that she often traversed to on a strange schedule dictated by the seasons.

In the matter of a handful of hours the wooden table and chairs were cleaned and set with cracked dishes and admittedly bent flatware. She placed a jar of honey coloured liquor near the Hunter’s setting while deep black coffee steamed near hers and soon she was imploring him to sit and eat. Soft bread and butter sat on the table between them, which she took a thick slice of and began to butter as she spoke to him.

“…The herd won’t be here for another three days…enough time to patch the fences and set the chutes up…..There’s a few sheds on the other side of the lake that the animals use for winter shelter…the roof collapsed this spring so, it needs to be repaired….”

Sipping her coffee in her pause as she explained a little about what was going on. The herd she touched on consisted of cows and sheep that had gone ‘wild’ but still returned to the lake to congregate and eat fallen fruit and other roughage (most of which was provided by the Warlock as she herself harvested the ‘crops’ that still took root in the over grown fields) in preparation for winter.

“…I usually stay here until the middle of Autumn…The pigs that lived here went straight feral and some will attack you on sight….it’s fine to kill those ones, trying to weed out that much aggression….There are a couple cows who’ve developed arthritis…those will go down this year….I have to look over the sheep….”

She was talking to him but to herself as well, using a lump of charcoal to scribble things on the table top.

“OH….there’s a roan horse I’ve been trying to catch….hes big, I think they called them ‘Draft Horses’….If I can get him, I can let Dust off in peace….er…sorry…….”

A soft laugh came from her as she realized she was rambling, taking another sip of her coffee she looked at Drexod for a long moment as Revenant bumbled about the space humming happily. Something about her expression gave the impression the woman was content and though she didn’t voice it she seemed happy that he’d come along.

“The water of this lake is warmed by a volcanic vein… it’s not close enough to the surface to boil through, but its close enough to keep it from freezing in the winter..to hot for fish or plants to grow but it gives the animals access to water all year round…”

She shrugged softly, peering out the window at the deep emerald fur trees looming behind the cabin, watching the birds flit among the branches, the herd of semi wild horses foraging between the trees.

“We, could go swimming this afternoon…it’s really clear outside and warm for this time of year…”

Turning back to the man she leaned back in her chair to sip her drink while her food cooled.

@drexodthegunslinger​

[itsworn]

A Woman Shows Men How A Charger Ought To Be Built & Driven!

Back in 1982, this guy named Bruce Feirstein wrote a book called “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche.” Meant satirically, most diehard Mopar guys still fondly remember the part about what sort of cars real men drove. Yep, good ’ol real Pentastar muscle iron, even if only a few of us ever got the chance to swap pistons out in our blown Hemi Road Runner as a regular, fun afternoon activity. Despite its politically incorrect undertones, it is not yet banned in the 21 century, and it might be worthwhile finding a copy of this former New York Times best-seller, just for old times’ sake. But, hey, we digress…

Meet “real woman” Jennifer Galambos. She and her husband John live in Anaheim, California, and they have spent the past few years upgrading one of the most iconic muscle car packages to ever come from Detroit: the 1968 Charger. While values have pushed a lot of these examples into the realm of “restore for the trailer” crowd, the Galambos crew decided it would be better to live up to the reputation these machines created, building the Dodge into a street-track cruiser that trips the timers down in the ten-second zone.

“My first muscle car was a ’69 Chevelle that I purchased from my uncle and drove as a daily driver in the late ’90s,” she told us. “I didn’t know too much about cars back then but had the desire to learn more and do my own tinkering. I always loved the bad guy’s car from the movie Bullitt. After my husband John told me that the hit man car was a ’68 Charger, I decided to focus on finding one that I could make my own.”

That effort led to a real R/T that was located in Las Vegas, which is where we also shot this story over a decade later. Jennifer and John made the purchase and she soon began to get busy with learning some of the ins and out of getting the Dodge back in shape. Though the car was already a driver when bought, it needed some work fairly early on. A real woman, she jumped right in.

“That was the beginning of a long road of work to get her to the shape and condition she is today,” admits the 37-year-old company comptroller. “We started with the dreaded wiring; I became very familiar with a soldering gun. Then the 440 engine that was in the car when we bought her had issues and I ended up throwing a rod out of the bottom of the block on the freeway heading back from a drag race at Barona.”

We have shown a lot of Chargers on these pages in the last three decades, but what made this one special is how it is used. Since the couple works in the real world like most of us, there was a limited budgeted, and many of the cosmetic things they wanted were put on the back burner for things the car needed for driving and racing. That’s ok, because it’s more fun embarrassing that loudmouth with the bright shiny Corvette by beating him in front of his girlfriend, especially when he sees afterward that Jennifer did the deed.

“The car was off the road for a while as we saved funds to build a stroker motor,” says Jennifer. “So while the engine was out of the car, I sanded and painted my engine bay. We also prepped a fiberglass hood as the engine would no longer fit under the factory one and I didn’t want to cut a hole in the original. The rest of the body we haven’t done a lot with. That Viper Red paint is probably around 17-plus years old.”

The body is still all steel save for the hood, which now has an opening made for the scoop to protrude through. By carefully considering other parts, the car hits the scales at 3,660 pounds even with a full interior. One change that helps in this was going to the Caltracs mono-leaf rear spring and bar layout, pulling off the heavy OE multi-leaf pack. The suspension is tunable by using Calvert’s adjustable shocks on all four corners as well. Welded-in subframe connectors tied it all together, and then adding fresh PST polygraphite bushings freed up the front end, an important consideration since the Charger has manual steering. Braking was also upgraded, with 11.75-inch sliding caliper 1978 Cordoba front discs and rear Wilwood discs now mounted on the Dana 60 housing. A dual master cylinder from Wilwood balances it all out.

Since we are still talking about a streetable package, the rolling package doesn’t feature skinny dragster wheels. Rather, under the nose are vintage 15×7 Indy Slots rims with 235/60R15 BFGoodrich rubber. Wider 15×10 ET III slot-type rims hosting Hoosier 325/50R15 drag radials are out back. What is coolest is that custom backspacing on these rims meant they snugly fit into the OEM wheelhouses. No minitubs on this one! The car still retains the OEM torsion bars and front sway bar. These are all very reasonable adaptations, and looking like the sort of mods that keep ’em guessing just what is possible once the red Charger pulls up next to you at the traffic signal.

“Everything needed to be beefed up so we wouldn’t have to worry about parts failure on the track or in traffic,” Jennifer notes. “I also can drive my car pretty much anywhere except when it’s raining, so I enjoy taking family and friends for rides down to the beach for a cruise or to pick up some yummy sushi or tacos locally. In fact, there are even a few valets who know me well and let me park my own car! I’ve also taken her on several car cruises, one of them being an annual Anza Borrego cruise which puts the car through corners and mountain terrain.”

Power for the program came from a noteworthy source, the legendary Joe Jill at Superior Automotive in Placentia. Again, nothing exotic was used here, but the circa-1968 440ci RB wedge pegged the dyno needle at 651 ponies once it was back together. Following machine work, pieces from Eagle and Ross pushed the displacement to 511 inches. That mill now sports 10.43:1 compression pistons, one of Jill’s well-selected cam grinds, and a timing and valve gear combo from Manley, Cloyes, Manton, and Harland-Sharp. Eye candy that also puts power down on pavement came from Edelbrock in the form of weight-saving aluminum RPM Performer cylinder heads and a matched low-profile dual-quad intake hosting a pair of ex-Carter Edelbrock 750 AFBs. These are topped by the injector-shaped air box that now comes up menacingly right through the hood.

Other upgrades helped as well. Spark comes from aftermarket parts including a Mopar distributor, MSD Blaster coil, and MSD 8.5mm wires. TTi long-tube headers and Dynomax Race Bullet mufflers rattle the windows next door. Keeping it all cool meant taking that power-robbing factory fan off the pulley and replacing it with twin electric units mounted behind a big Mark 7 radiator.

Making the driveline work in a street/strip car is never as easy as it seems. Spending money here is smart and it went into an A727. Protrans took the Torqueflite apart, added upgraded planetaries and lightweight internals, then capped it off with a reverse valve body and a 3,400-rpm stall converter. Though it retains the OEM ratios, the benefit is less horsepower-robbing weight in the driveline itself. Behind this is a Dana 60 with an Auburn SureGrip set-up and a 3.54 final gear ratio. Coupled to the larger rear tire, the car can hook and go but remains reasonably sane on the boulevard.

“Typically, I’ll fill the tank in Anaheim and drive to Famoso or Vegas, drag race all weekend, then drive her home. That’s what our goal was, to make a true street/strip car.”

Jennifer noted that the interior is just as God and Chrysler intended, and again, there is nothing here done for sheer appearance value. The factory steering wheel and dash are still in place, and a locking-design B&M Pro Ratchet shifter is in the console. Aftermarket gauges note what is going on under the hood. Legendary supplied reproduction seat upholstery and the fun began. “Yes, I learned the frustrating art of using hog ring pliers,” she joked.

“I started out not knowing a whole lot about drag racing, but after my very first trip down the quarter mile at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2003, I was hooked,” she says. “The Inaugural Mopars At The Strip, my husband and I both had our Chargers in the Mopar Muscle True Street Challenge. Her best time so far was at March Meet 2017 at Famoso, where she ran 10.94 at 121 mph running the Hoosier DOT drag radials and leaving the line at idle. We didn’t want to chop up the pretty body, so she’s running cage-less for now,” then added, “but the car sometimes runs a little quicker than the 11.49 cage requirement.”

As a life-long fan of real horses, Jennifer even uses distaff terms like “her” and “she” when referring to the car. All in all, here is a classic Charger that handles, runs hard, stays off the trailer, and gets driven like it should. As a result, we think Jennifer could probably even teach some of the hobby’s real men how to enjoy that classic iron. And if they don’t like it? Let ‘em eat quiche…

Fast Facts

1968 Dodge Charger R/T Jennifer Galambos Anaheim, CA

ENGINE Type: 511ci wedge design based on factory RB block Bore x stroke: 4.375 (.055-inch over) x 4.25 Block: OEM cast; cleaned and machined at Superior Automotive, clearanced for Eagle reciprocating upgrades Rotating assembly: Eagle crank, Eagle rods, Ross pistons, Total Seal rings ARP fasteners Compression: 10.43:0 Cylinder heads: aluminum Edelbrock RPM Performer Camshaft: Comp custom-grind solid roller, Intake 230/236 degrees duration at. 050-inch lift, .603-/.608-inch lift Valvetrain: Harland Sharpe 1.6 rockers, Manley valves, Manley springs, Manton pushrods Induction: Edelbrock low-profile dual-quad Fuel system: 2x4BBL Edelbrock Competition Series AFBs Exhaust: TTi headers, Dynomax Race Bullet mufflers Ignition: MSD and Mopar Cooling: Mark 7 aluminum radiator with twin electric fans Fuel: 91-octane pump gas Other: injector replica scoop from Summit, Braille light weight battery, high-output Mopar alternator Output: 651 hp and 720 lb-ft torque Engine built by: Superior Automotive, Jennifer and John Galambos Best quarter-mile e.t.: 10.94/120 mph

DRIVETRAIN Transmission: 1968 A727 by Dave and Darren Smith of Pro Trans (manual reverse pattern valve body, Pro Ratchet shifter, custom Continental torque converter (3,400 rpm stall) Driveshaft: American Drive Lines shaft with 1350 U-Joints, Mark Williams yokes front and rear Rearend: Chrysler Dana 60 with Dutchman axles, 3.54 ratio, Auburn SureGrip, factory width

CHASSIS Construction: Factory with Mopar welded-in subframe connectors Front suspension: factory torsion bars, PST bushings, Calvert adjustable shocks Rear suspension: Caltracs mono-leaf springs with adjustable bars, Calvert adjustable shocks Steering: OEM manual Front brakes: conversion to big-bearing—spindle 11.75-inch rotor with sliding caliper (circa 1978 Cordoba) Rear brakes: Wilwood disc layout, associated dual master cylinder

WHEELS & TIRES Wheels: 15 x 7 Indy Slot Mags (front), 15 x 10 ET Fueler with custom backspace (rear, no mini tubs) Tires: BFG 235/60R15 (front), 325/50R15 Hoosier DOT drag radial (rear)

INTERIOR Seats: Legendary replacement, black Instruments: OEM cluster, Stewart-Warner aftermarket gauge set, large-face tachometer Stereo: dual exhausts! (factory thumb-wheel AM Music Master) Shifter: B&M Pro Ratchet with T-handle top, console-mounted

The engine bay is clean and functional, while 511 inches of dual-quad RB wedge allow for serious performance. Due to the tall scoop design, a fiberglass hood was used, the only body-lightening component in this build-up. Note the small Braille battery, selection of black and bare metal cues on components, and nicely-smoothed firewall.

Upgrading suspension and braking pieces makes a difference, especially when you intend to drive the car. This master cylinder made the use of front and rear disc brakes of differing design possible, while PST’s polygraphite bushings throughout the front suspension helped the machine handle better. Jennifer gets to use it all, as the car has manual steering, eliminating yet another horsepower-robbing accessory.

Running 10s in any street car is a challenge, so two things are paramount: saving weight and taking drag off the drivetrain. This Mark 7 aluminum radiator and twin electric fans do both; the only pulley still working off the front of the motor drives the alternator. Selecting aluminum heads and intake, a smaller battery, and fiberglass hood helped get the car to scale at 3,660 lbs. event with Jennifer in the driver’s seat.

The factory interior remains intact, indeed, some small details have been left unattended to so that the money goes into making the rear tires work better. Jennifer used Legendary covers on the seats and handled some of that fun electrical harness wiring. The car uses S-W gauges and a B&M Pro Ratchet shifter with a Hurst T-handle over the reverse valvebody ‘flite by ProTrans.

Want to see what a functional 21st century rear set-up looks like? This is John Calvert’s race-designed-but-street-capable Caltracs mono-leaf spring and associated pre-load bar. The layout is behind an ET Fueler custom back spaced 15×10 rim, which allowed a 325/50R15 tire from Hoosier to fit under here without using minitubs. Finally, note the Wilwood disc outfit through the wheel openings.

Seen from behind is the business end of the driveline. The Dana 60 is bulletproof, with a nice 3.54 gear set. The short tailpipes exit just ahead of the wheel wells. Meanwhile, that relocated fuel line and filter on the big OE 22-gallon tank help make sure the 500 inches up ahead never gets too thirsty.

Jennifer Galambos has spent many years and hours building this Charger into a true street-strip beast. She admits that she takes it anywhere, and often refers to the car as “her.” A cruiser capable of 10-second times, few ’68s are still set up for this much fun.

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