The Messy Hunt

Hilary was bubbling with excitement as she entered the room. "What has got into you?" Caroline smiled, hugging her friend and lover.

"I am excited because we have been asked to join the local hunt!"

"Oh..." Caroline frowned. "I am not into hunting, its a bit cruel."

"Don't be silly, since the hunting ban they don't chase real foxes, they lay a trail for the hounds and that is what they follow." Hilary smiled. "You haven't seen the best bit!" She reached down and picked up two suit covers, she unzipped on revealing a hunting pink jacket and brillant white jodhpurs.

"Wow!" Caroline grabbed the bag. "So we get to look the part!" She giggled "And all those sexy huntsmen!" She saw Hilary frown. "I'm only joking."

"And..." Hilary pulled out an envelope. "We are guests of honour at the hunt ball also!"

Hilary and Caroline were both young and fit riding instructors from the Abbeyway Equestrian Centre. At twenty-two, Hilary was tall, slim and well built drawing admiring glances from male visitors to the stables. Her piercing blue eyes and almost model features were matched with a body honed by hours of hard work, mucking-out, riding and working with horses. Caroline was, twenty, she was tom-boyish, had scruffy brunette hair, brown eyes and a wicked sense of humour.

***

The day of the hunt arrived, Caroline and Hilary had been told to arrive where the hunt was meeting. "I am guessing that we will be borrowing someone's horses there. Just as well, I don't think the riding school horses would do any good in the countryside." Hilary parked up the Land Rover, there was a large number of horses ridden by people in immaculate outfits. Caroline and Hilary drew admiring glances as they stepped from the car and walked into the throng. They ignored the whispers and laughter between some of the riders. "Ignore them Hil's." Caroline smiled. "They are just jealous of us, I mean we do look pretty damn good!"

Hilary was dressed in a brilliant red hunt jacket, white blouse and stock with skin tight white jodhpurs finished off with shining black riding boots, Caroline was dressed the same and had spent hours polishing her boots until you could almost see your face in them, a far cry from how she would usually dress on the yard. "Good morning ladies." The hunt master strode towards them, looking them up and down. "I see the outfits suit you very well." He smirked. "I hope you will have a good day's hunting. You are pretty important to the day so thank you for joining us."

The master stepped away, leaving the girls standing while he spoke to the kennel man, suddenly the hounds bounded towards them, they were soon surrounded by dogs. Hilary laughed as the hounds lept at them with their tails wagging. "Ahh... Nice doggies."

"They have to get your scent." The master laughed.

"What?" Caroline's blood ran cold.

"Yes..." The master stopped laughing. "Oh did you not realise?"

"Realise what?" Hilary shuddered.

"As you know we don't hunt foxes anymore. But to be honest we still find ways to have a good hunt! I hope you are feeling fit today ladies."

"What?" Hilary snarled. "No way!" She span on her heel to run away but was boxed in by horses and riders, they jostled the two girls until they were caught in a circle of horses. The riders laughing at them as they tried to escape.

"Oh now, you don't want to spoil the hunt now do you?" The master smiled. "We will give you a head start, and then let the hounds find you. There is a prize for the rider who catches one of you first and then of course you will be our guests at the hunt ball tonight. Look it is just a bit of fun."

"Okay..." Hilary smiled. "As long as we won't be hurt."

"Of course not."

"Right... When do we start?" A cheer erupted from all of the hunters, the master blew his hunting horn,

"Ladies, you have a forty minute head start." He paused. "Oh by the way, you should know that there are some surprises waiting for you."

"Surprises?" Caroline shook her head. "What the hell do you mean?"

"Oh you will see... Off you go, it's your time."

***

Hilary and Caroline set off running across the muddy field away from the hunt. They could hear cheering and horns blowing behind them. As they reached the top of the hill they stopped to catch their breath. "What the hell have you got us into?" Caroline had her hands on her knees.

"Sorry!" Hilary hugged her.

"Oh I don't care... This is fun." She smirked. "And by the way..." She shoved Hilary so that she slipped in the mud falling into a muddy puddle. "I am not going to be caught!" She ran quickly, vaulting the field gate and across into the next field.

"You nasty cow!" Hilary yelled, laughing. So she wanted to play it that way... Well, two can play that game!

***

Caroline leapt the gate and into the field, there was a clear path which across the field, she knew that she had to keep moving, she knew that she was fitter than Hilary so wanted to make sure she put as much space between her and the hunt and leave her to become the pray. She giggled at the idea, this was a perfect plan. The was striding easily across the field, there was a stile on the other side leading onto more open land. She reached the stile quickly, looking across she saw the ground was boggy, obviously the cattle had been standing there, but a bit of mud was no problem. She stepped onto the stile, swinging her leg over and leaping into the field beyond. Almost instantly she realised her mistake, the boggy ground had in fact been a deep pit of mud ready to catch anyone who used the stile. She had landed, immediately sinking to her waist in thick, gooey mud. She struggled but was trapped, swearing under her breath she tried grabbing for tufts of long grass at the edge of the mud pit.

"Well well..." Hilary leaned over the stile. Her white jodhpurs soaked and coated in mud where she had been pushed into the puddle. "Having a little trouble are we?"

"Hil's get me out of here!"

"Now why should I do that?" Hilary smiled. "You have made it clear that this is a race, you had better be more careful next time." Hilary gingerly stepped over the stile and leapt clear of the mud, landing on the grass to the side. "I think I will see you at the hunt ball!"

"Don't leave me!" Caroline cried out as she watched Hilary cross the next field. "Oh you are so dead!" She smiled.

***

Hilary spied a barn on the horizon. A though crossed her mind, if she could hide perhaps the hounds would not find her, she could escape and leave Caroline to be caught. She ran towards the barn.

As she approached she could see that it seemed to be pretty ramshackle but sturdy, she pulled open the heavy wooden door and peered inside. Most of the barn was empty but there was a clutter of old machinery and equipment at the back half hidden in darkness, what caught Hilary's eye was a ladder leading up to a floor above. She smiled and started to climb the ladder. The top of the barn was dark and dusty, she slowly walked into the gloom knowing that she could be totally hidden and escape the clutches of the hunt.

She edged along the floor as it creaked, there was a pile of bales in the corner, she could hide behind those and be safe. She took another step, suddenly there was a massive creak and the floor fell away from under her feet. Hilary screamed as she fell through the floor. She had a soft landing in a huge vat, Hilary splashed and sunk into a thick black ooze, she fought and struggled to the surface taking in mouthfuls of sweet goo. Eventually she was able to get to the side of the vat and see that she had fallen through a trap door into molasses. She was covered from head to toe in sticky black goo. She struggled to lift herself from the sludge as it tried to pull her back into its sticky grasp. Eventually she was able to pull herself up and sit on the edge of the vat before dropping to the floor.

She tried to get the worst of the molasses off her body but it stuck like glue. Her red jacket was coated and her white jodhpurs were now sticky black. She swore looking up at the trap door. This was no accident, she could see that, unlike the rest of the barn, the trigger for the trap door was polished and brand new. Suddenly she knew what was happening, they had been set up, the mud pit and this, the meaning of the 'surprises' was suddenly clear.

Hilary sighed, pushing the barn door open she went back outside, if they had set this trap they would know to check it,. these hunters were taking things to the next level. A frisson of excitement ran through her body. The treacle was seeping into her panties and definitely giving her a warm feeling despite the impending doom presented by the pack of hounds Hilary found the game pretty exciting. She took a deep breath and ran on.

***

Caroline was running along the hedgerow. She was exhausted after eventually managing to pull herself free from the mud, she was covered from her hips to her toes in heavy mud and her chest was coated where she had dragged herself out. She had to rest, a short distance away was a copse of trees, perhaps she could stop there and hide, hopefully she had still a clear lead on Hilary.

Caroline edged into the woods, the trees were overgrown and this gave a dark area of cover. She followed the path towards the centre of the copse, suddenly there was a crack and a sudden pain in her left leg. Caroline yelled out crumpling and grabbing her leg. She had been shot! Looking down she saw red pouring from her leg, she was on the verge of passing out when she saw it was paint. She sighed, some stupid paintballer playing stupid games. She stood up and yelled out "Look I am not playing paintball!" She took a stride and there was a sudden series of cracks, she was hit by a barrage of multi-coloured paint pellets. Spattering her chest and legs with red, green, yellow and blue paint. She shrieked and hit the ground.

It was there that she saw the fishing line glinting in the sunlight, there were tripwires all along the path, almost invisible in the darkness. Grabbing a stick she prodded the next line and paint balls shot into the empty space before her. She stepped carefully over the next wire, walking slowly feeling with the stick for any resistance, soon she had reached the clearing in the centre of the woods. Well, at least no one else can get in without me hearing them she thought.

The clearing was silent, the only sound was the distant sound of a hunting horn. Caroline thought that she could wait here, hiding from the hounds. She walked into the centre of the clearing carefully looking for trip wires. She breathed a sigh of relief when suddenly there was a crack. Only a twig she giggled nervously, without seeing the pressure pad she placed her booted foot onto. There was a click, Caroline looked up mounted on a tree in front of her was an hour-glass, she watched as it turned, attached to a pulley and almost invisible fishing line. "Oh this cannot be good..." She watched as the sand flowed before running out, nothing happened. She breathed out deeply, a sigh of relief.

Suddenly and without warning there was a boom, above her head five barrels which had been pressurised with compressed air burst as small pyrotechnic charges destroyed their already strained plastic walls. Caroline was hit by a flood of paint and glue. Black gloss, white emulsion, red floor paint, in fact every spare bit of left over paint that the hunt could gather had been placed in the plastic barrels which had been pressurised as part of the trap. Caroline screamed, she was covered from head to toe and the glue was already starting to react with the air making her movement more difficult. She bolted from the clearing triggering a barrage of paint balls making her yelp as she ran out into the open.

***

Hilary struggled to run as she was coated in a thick layer of treacle, she suddenly heard the sound of a hunting horn and knew that she had to go faster. Crossing behind the barn she entered a farm yard. She hoped she maybe able to clean off some of the mess that covered her and looked around for something she could use to get the mess off with. Across the yard was a raised water tank, it had a pipe coming from it and a pull handle, it seemed that pulling the handle would open the valve and release the flow of water. A perfect shower she thought and dashed towards it, she positioned herself under the pipe and pulled the handle, it was stiff and needed all her strength to wrench the valve open, she pulled down using all her weight, the valve moved and there was a rumble as the water flowed.

Hilary looked up ready to wash the molasses from her eyes, but instead was shocked to find that she was covered in more black ooze, this time smelling strongly of... She shrieked it was old engine oil, she was covered in a fast flowing stream of oil which hit her body and knocked her from her feet. She slithered and slipped trying to get purchase to stand up as more of the mixed oil and grease fell onto her. Eventually she was able to escape the flow, but her pace was made even slower as she moved like an ice skater as the oily mess lubricated her every move.

***

Caroline left the woods, she was covered in paint and glue, swearing revenge on everyone involved, it was then that she stopped, she could see a familiar form in the distance. Was that, she paused, it looked like Hilary but totally in silhouette. She called out and the oily being turned and waved at her. Caroline quickly approached her. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I could ask you the same..." The sound of dogs in the distance shocked them both. "Quick run!"

The hounds were on the horizon and approaching fast Caroline and Hilary dashed out of the farm yard, the dogs were almost upon them, they ran as fast as they could but were soon surrounded by horses and hounds. Hilary held her hands up. "Okay... You got us!"

"You look as if you found some of our surprises." The master laughed. "But not our last one... Ready, aim, fire!" The girls shrieked as the hunters pulled out super-soakers from their saddle bags. There was a deluge of mess as they were covered in jets of custard, cold soup, syrup and ketchup. In less than a minute Hilary and Caroline were unrecognisable blobs covered in layers of mess. The master raised his hand as he noticed the two of them were shuddering. "Are they crying?" He asked his assistant, somewhat concerned.

"No!" Caroline cleared her eyes. "Laughing..." She giggled. "What a lovely mess!"

"Excellent.." The master smiled. "I told you these were game gals, they will do well at the ball tonight! We had better get them ready!"

Hilary recognised the local vet approaching them. "Hello Steve what are you doing here with that?" Before she had an answer he had spiked Hilary with the syringe he was carrying. Caroline gasped, but he was quick and she received the same treatment. He stood back as both of the girls slumped to the yard.