M and M Coltsfoot - Introduction

Dedicated to my friend Vickie Tern

Author's Notes: M and M Coltsfoot is a work of fiction. The characters and plot represent no known people or actions. The geographical locations in Texas and elsewhere are quite real, however, and described as best as the author can make such description. The same is true of the several universities mentioned in the story. This will be a rather lengthy and multifaceted story. I intend to post a chapter approximately every week. After much consideration, rejecting both Loving Wives and Interracial as possible categories, I have decided to post this in the Novels and Novellas section. The story will also contain elements of First Time sexual experiences and Transgender situations. All characters engaging in adult, sexual, situations throughout the entirety of the story are at least eighteen years of age or older.

This initial post, Epilogue and Prologue, introduces the primary characters and places the geographic setting as Texas, West and Central.

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EPILOGUE

August in Dallas, Texas, two women are shopping on a hot as only Texas can be hot summer Saturday afternoon for first day of school clothes for the girl child walking between them holding their hands. The two women look enough alike to be sisters. Both have sun streaked tawny colored hair with sun and wind weathered faces. Both are wearing only enough light daywear makeup to contour their face, highlight lips and enhance their natural feminine look. The young girl between them looks like neither. She has a darker, caramel colored, complexion with brown curly hair and an infectious smile.

They've bought shorts, skirts, tops, shoes, and socks. The adults carried several bags each. The six-year-old girl carried a single bag while skipping along between adults wearing her new shoes. The smile on the young girl's face being the center of attention, shopping with the women was infectious to all of the other shoppers they passed. Several pointed and waved to her.

One of the women insisted on one more purchase. All three made their way through shop lined corridors of the North Park shopping mall in air conditioned comfort protecting against that August Dallas heat sweltering outdoor shoppers as they took in the window displays.

"Every girl has to have a special new dress to wear on her first day in First Grade."

"How about this store, Mommy?"

"Honey, you are special, a one of a kind little girl. Your first grade dress needs to come from Neiman Marcus."

Sue Beth Coltsfoot was not about to send her daughter off to first grade wearing pink. The saleslady tried to show them fluffy pink dresses. Too many mothers might be talked into pink for their daughters, but Sue Beth was not any mother. Her daughter was special. She would be her one and only child, and Sue Beth intended to devote her mothering life teaching her daughter just how special she could be.

"I want her dress to be West Texas Morning Sky blue."

Saleslady held up a blue dress on hanger. "That's it, that's the one I want; it will look perfect on her."

Sue Beth took her daughter into a changing room leaving the other woman with the saleslady.

"She certainly knows what she wants, doesn't she? Is she a close friend?"

"We are family."

"Oh, sisters?"

"Yes, we are sisters, so to speak."

Sue Beth and her daughter returned to model the West Texas Morning Sky blue dress. The saleslady made some tugging adjustments,

"You look like a sophisticated young woman wearing that dress. It looks so good on you. What is your name, young lady?"

"My name is Burnette Rayne Coltsfoot, but my daddy calls me Burn Girl."

"That's so cute, and you have a very unique name. I can see how your mother knows you are special."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Will that be all today, ladies?"

"Yes, I think we have done all the shopping we need to do for the day. Ready girls?"

In fifteen minutes the girls were home. Shopping at North Park was so convenient to the Coltsfoot home in the Lakewood section of East Dallas. Thanks to the efforts of her husband, the engineer, Sue Beth and Burnette lived in a uniquely modernized, two-story, Tudor style home with a Texas field stone exterior. Less than ten minutes after arrival, the two older women sat on their patio drinking margaritas in the shade of a live oak tree. Their daughter had a glass of sweet tea with lemon. All three sipped their icy drinks to ward off the oppressive heat of a Texas summer.

"It's hot, it is August, we are in Dallas, and it is hot."

"Raynie, do you think it is any cooler in Andrews? We could try going back home to visit our parents for the summer next year; they would love to see Burnette."

"Your parents would love to see Burnette. My mother would love to see Burnette. My father, the Old Buffalo, believes in that punishment until the seventh generation thing. He might not say anything in front of Burnette, but you know I would hear about Burn."

"I guess it would be hotter in Andrews in every way, wouldn't it?"

"When I finish this drink, I am going to change into something cool and comfortable. If I turn the fountain on I will feel cooler out here even if it is still hot."

Burnette finished her iced tea and wandered off to do whatever young girls do for play. Raynie decided a bathing suit would at least help her feel cool; she put on her red tank suit and a short pareo wrap skirt. Sue Beth decided on a modest bikini, but she didn't bother with a skirt. They returned to the patio to enjoy the late afternoon shade while relaxing with another margarita to escape the heat.

Raynie asked Sue Beth about Burn. "Is he coming over tonight to visit. Can he spend the night?"

"I don't think so Raynie, he said something about a men's night thing. If he does come it will be late, very late I'm sure."

"Burn Girl will be disappointed. I know she wants to model her new dress for her other daddy."

"She can show him tomorrow, you know Burn can't stay away all weekend."

Raynie decided a Sunday fashion show for Burn would be just the perfect way to make Burn Girl's first day of school special.

Burn Girl did model her new West Texas Morning Sky blue dress for her other daddy just before she said grace for Sunday's afternoon meal. Raynie wore a full length cotton apron while she was grilling their steaks. With steaks on the table, the apron came off and Raynie made a graceful pirouette to show Burn a new pink dress he had never seen her wear. Sue Beth removed her frilly apron and curtseyed holding the hem of her Yellow Rose of Texas sundress wide. After Burn Girl said grace, Burn complimented his women for their beauty and style. Burn Girl dominated the luncheon conversation in her excitement for a coming new stage in her young life.

After their meal, Burn Girl changed clothes to playwear and returned to the adults. "Daddy Burn, will you walk me to Janet's house? We are going to watch videos this afternoon."

Sue Beth walked with them to the entrance; she kissed her daughter goodbye for the afternoon. Burn held her little hand in his big one.

"We will have something cold for you when you get back; as hot as it is you will need to cool off."

"Do you want to change now or give Burn another look at our new dresses."

"Oh Sue Beth, let's wait and let Burn decide. Men are supposed to make decisions, and he does like to do the deciding in the family."

Burn decided what he really wanted was another fashion show in the master bedroom suite. His second fashion show ended with his black body and two pale women nude in bed. They made love as threesome for an hour and then donned casual clothes to sit out back in the shade with cool drinks.

PROLOGUE

The Coltsfoot story starts in childhood on the windswept plains of West Texas. In Andrews, Texas, North of Odessa, in the Permian basin oil field to place exact location of the story's genesis. Millions and millions of years ago the land around Andrews, Texas was lush and green. Passing time covered the verdant land with a shallow sea. The passing of those millions and millions of years compressed and transformed the residue plant life into oil. The land around Andrews Texas is no longer lush and green with abundant plant life, but there is enough grass, and just barely enough water, to ranch cattle. Oil, cattle, and the resourceful people who harvest both define Andrews, Texas in modern times.

Rayne Allen Coltsfoot was the second of three sons born to the Coltsfoot family of Andrews, Texas. The eldest Coltsfoot child, Bridger Zeb, and youngest, Joseph Drake, were Rayne Allen's brothers. Patriarch of the Coltsfoot clan was Burford Wheedle Coltsfoot. Contrary to West Texas tradition that insists on greeting men, and women too, by their complete given names, no one ever called him Burford Wheedle. Acquaintances often used the mispronunciation Buford, and added his middle initial; he was mostly called Buford W. His friends called him Buffalo. Momma really ruled the family. Her name was Mary Elena, but everyone called her Miss Marlena.

Coltsfoots had ranched their land on the outskirts of Andrews since the late 1800's, just a tad more than two thousand acres. They could run upwards of a hundred head of cattle, but normally the count was closer to eighty. The early Coltsfoots could get by, not rich certainly, just get by because they could augment their eighty to a hundred with range longhorns that ran wild. They could get by as long as they kept a sharp eye on the weather.

Buffalo Coltsfoot and family did a little better than get by. In addition to the upward of a hundred cattle, the Coltsfoot ranch had twelve producing wells. Buffalo's grandfather owned the land, including mineral rights, when a wildcatter struck oil on nearby land. Humble leased and drilled on the Coltsfoot property, and Buffalo still collected royalty checks regularly. The dozen pumping wells kept them comfortably provisioned with far less concern about the weather.

Less concern about weather does not mean ignore the skies. West Texas is hot, windy and dry in summer, and it is cold, windy and dry in winter. Spring and fall can be delightfully pleasant; what rain does fall around Andrews, Texas comes in the spring, April mainly, and in the fall, October. When the cattle need water in summer or winter, pumps and wells pull water from the ground. The same is true of the feed grains and grass the Coltsfoot ranch grows. No rain in spring and fall mean less water from the ground in summer and winter. In Andrews, Texas a close eye on the weather is still second nature, even when you own a dozen producing oil wells.

The Poteet family were neighbors of the Coltsfoot family. They lived about three miles down the ranch road, and their land closely matched the Coltsfoot property. They only had five producing wells; still enough to live comfortably. The Poteet's had children close in age, close enough to ride the same school buses, to the Coltsfoot kids. One difference about the Poteet family though, their children were all girls.

The eldest of the Poteet girls was April Beth. Two years younger was May Beth. When a third daughter was born three years later, the sire of the Poteet family, Lance Roan Poteet, put his foot down when it came to a name.

"Dammit Mary Beth, we ain't having no calendar; you can't name this child June Beth."

The youngest Poteet broke the mold as to naming. Sue Beth was the apple of her father's eye. Sue Beth became the apple of other male eyes as she matured; she gave every indication of having cheerleader cute looks and figure as young as ten years old.

Sue Beth Poteet had known Rayne Allen Coltsfoot almost her entire life. She could vaguely remember going to each other's third birthday parties. Rayne Allen was just one of her classmates, play friends, just another boy, until that one special day. First day of fifth grade, late August in Andrews, Texas would not normally be a special day. The weather forecast called for sunny skies and ninety-eight degrees, nothing unusual at all about the weather. Sue Beth knew everyone in Mrs. Baker's class; she had been going to school with them for the last four years. Many also went to her Sunday school and church. Rayne Allen Coltsfoot looked into Sue Beth Poteet's blue eyes at the exact moment she raised hers and saw him. They smiled and from that instant Sue Beth and Rayne Allen were a paired couple. They became that paired couple for life, just like the Whooping Cranes that winter at the Aransas Wildlife Refuge on the gulf coast of Texas.

As a pair the two just naturally did things together. They sat together on school bus rides, they ate lunch at the same table every day, and they studied and did homework assignments together when they could. As they moved on in school to junior high, Sue Beth did become a cheerleader. On days when he had no afternoon chores at the ranch, Rayne Allen stayed after school and watched Sue Beth practice so they could ride the late bus home together.

When they moved on to high school monthly Saturday dances provided some of their first dates. Rayne Allen was shy and awkward as many boys are at that age, but Sue Beth remained persistent, teaching him dancing and social manners. Even though Sue Beth was only five feet - six inches tall, she was taller than her boyfriend until the start of eleventh grade. Rayne Allen always wore western boots with two inch dogger heels to compensate for their height difference.

The western boots with dogger heels were more than an ornament for Rayne Allen. He competed in junior rodeos around West Texas, won several, and he had an impressive collection of belt buckles to prove his skill. Buffalo always wanted Rayne Allen to be the cowboy of his sons, and eventually assume management of Coltsfoot Ranch operations for the family. Rayne Allen enjoyed riding his favorite horse, and rodeoing was fun, but he roped and wrestled calves to impress Sue Beth, not his father. Sue Beth was always in the crowd, often rode beside her boyfriend in parade ceremonies, but she was wholly content to cheer for Rayne Allen from the sidelines rather than race around the barrels on her horse.

The logistics of dating improved when Rayne Allen finally got his driver's license four days after his sixteenth birthday. He had been driving pickup trucks and tractors around the ranch since he was thirteen, so his driving skills matured before the State of Texas judged his age sufficient to get a license. Buffalo Coltsfoot rewarded his son with a new Ford F-150 Crew Cab pickup truck that had been waiting at the Andrews Ford dealer for two weeks until Rayne Allen finally was legal to drive.

One freedom his new pickup truck gave the young couple was opportunity for private time together. Family outings were fun, and they often went together on First Baptist Church sponsored trips and activities with their friends. Church events were fully chaperoned, of course. Sue Beth took advantage of the freedom boyfriend's truck gave them to find private space and time so they both could learn, and practice to perfection, kissing and make-out skills they both enjoyed. The local drive in movie theater became a favorite Friday night date location until Marlena Coltsfoot and Mary Beth Poteet compared notes and suggested to their children the movie theater in town would be more appropriate. Sue Beth was the one who first suggested the park northeast of Andrews, Texas as a fun spot they could visit.

The park had a small lake, man made of course, and the two lovers found a small copse of trees that became their personal picnic spot. They first found the shaded place on a Sunday, after church. The small cluster of trees gave just enough privacy to practice serious kissing and fondling for almost an hour, yet it was far too public to go too far with the kissing and get into serious trouble. In broad daylight, their special place in the park had enough privacy for limited pleasure learning adult skills with each other.

They first visited their favorite place in the evening during spring break of their senior year in high school. Sue Beth pondered her plan for several weeks beforehand; she was ready. She had every intention of dancing the night away at her senior prom with her chosen life partner as a complete and fulfilled woman. Eighteen years of life was long enough to wait; Rayne Allen agreed. Sue Beth Poteet and Rayne Allen Coltsfoot gave each other their virginity that spring evening; it was a Tuesday night of passion in the stand of trees by the lake. Fumbling and tentative as it was, both would remember the night forever and share the anniversary as a special date in their lives together.

Miss Marlena Coltsfoot and Mary Beth Poteet compared notes about their children's appearance and demeanor the Wednesday following. It was clear to both women that their children had advanced their relationship to an adult level. They agreed to speak to them about adult responsibilities.

"I guess I best take Sue Beth to my doctor as soon as possible. I still remember when I was young; the first time just wasn't enough."

"Good idea, Mary Beth, we aren't ready to be grandmothers yet. I will definitely talk to Rayne Allen."

> > > - - < < <

About the time Sue Beth Poteet and Rayne Allen Coltsfoot professed their adult love for one another beside the lake, Lincoln Burnside Schylur mustered out of the U. S. Army at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. Lincoln Burnside Schylur grew up in the piney woods of East Texas, Nacogdoches, Texas specifically. He enlisted in the army after high school; he served his initial tour plus one more. He was twenty-six years old, he had completed almost two years of college credit when he mustered out, and he was ready to finish his education and get on with life.

Just as Sue Beth Poteet acquired her name from her mother, with her father's initial guidance, so did Lincoln Burnside Schylur. "My grandmother was a slave, and Mr. Lincoln freed the slaves. I want my son to be a Mr. Lincoln"

Lincoln's father had no argument with Lincoln as a name for his boy. Lincoln's mother was a history teacher with a sense of the history of slavery and its end in the United States.

"There was a union general in the freedom war whose name I have always liked, Ambrose Burnside. Can we name our son Lincoln Ambrose?"

Lincoln's father thought on the proposed name; he thought hard and tried to look into the future his son would face. "Both Lincoln and Ambrose might sound a little prissy to his friends when he grows up. What if we use the last name of that general? We can name him Lincoln Burnside Schylur. Yes, I like that name; it is distinguished, the name has some history to it."

No one called Lincoln Burnside Schylur by his full name. His fellow soldiers tried the nickname Linc, but that didn't fit his self image.

"Just call me what the guys in school called me, Burn."

By the time Lincoln Burnside Schylur graduated from Stephen F. Austin University two years later, he was firmly established as Burn. Mostly, he wasn't even Burn Schylur; he was just plain Burn.

Burn tried living and working in Houston after graduation, but Houston wasn't the right place for him. Houston was too unstructured for a personality shaped by eight years of military life. After two years in Houston, Burn decided to try Dallas and see if he fit in there any better than in Houston. In Dallas, Texas he found his niche. He acquired a wife, a house, and eventually a real estate and insurance agency.

Three years after moving to Dallas and joining a small real estate agency, Burn was ready to set out on his own. He leased a small building just off the corner of Scyene Road and Second Avenue in the Fair Park section of South Dallas and hung out his shingle: Burn Real Estate and Insurance. At about the same time, Sue Beth and Rayne Allen Coltsfoot, now married and formally coupled, moved to Dallas. Rayne Allen deemphasized the two first names he used in West Texas and just called himself Rayne when he began working with one of the major oil firms in Dallas. In the coming years, the stories of the Coltsfoot family and the Schylur family would merge to tell the story that would become M and M Coltsfoot.