Sexy Rescue Pt. 1 - Sexy Planning

The sexy rescue is a big deal so I'm splitting it into three parts. That may seem excessive but I have a LOT to say about sexy rescue and I don't want to die from dehydration writing one long post.

So...part 1: Sexy Planning

All winter there's been a rumor going around De Smet that there's a farmer 40 miles outside of town with a barn full of wheat. It's literally 100% conjecture but as the town gets more and more starving this brimming barn starts to seem a lot more real. But Houston, we have a problem- it's wall to wall blizzards up in De Smet this winter, yo. There's almost never been a whole day of clear weather between screeching blizzard winds and blinding snow. It actually pretty dangerous for Pa to even be going 3 miles out to the homestead to get more hay for fuel during the breaks

What manly 19 year old (or 19 year olds) would be willing to ride into the freezing snow plains in hope of finding a possible, not even probable, barn of full of wheat?
Duh, Almanzo Wilder, the future Mr. Laura.

He's hard working, and ballsy with piercing blue eyes and according to the man himself, 'I'm free, white, and twenty-one'
At first I was like, uh, okay that's a weird way to say that you do as you please, but then the next day I read the same exact phrase in Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge!
'Well it's your own money. You're free, white and twenty-one'
So this must have been some kind of semi racist, but really probably more just realist, earlier American idiom which thankfully has gone out of fashion.

I know that was a little off topic, but I had to say something because coincidences always seem steeped in meaning to me.

Obviously, once Pa hears that Almanzo's the kind of man who shares his love of risking his life to save townspeople he wants in. However, when he gets home and brings the idea up to Ma instead of deploying her patented 'Oh, Charles' she goes right into the cupboard, rustles up her backbone, blows the dust off, and shakes it in Pa's face.

'No!' said Ma.
Pa looked at her, startled. The all stared at her. They had never seen Ma look like that. She was quiet but she was terrible.
Quietly she told Pa, 'I say, No. You don't take such a chance.'
...Pa said mildly, 'Not as long as you feel that way about it, I won't. But...'
"I won't hear any buts, ' Ma said, still terrible. 'This time I put my foot down.'
'All right, that settles it' Pa agreed.

BooYEAH! Ma is finally in the house. Figuratively, of course, since she's barely been able to leave the house since November. Defcon 5 may actually end up being good for the Ingalls family dynamic in the long run. Depending, of course, on who ends up with what starvation related disability come Spring.

So sadly (for him) Pa will be sidelined for this near death adventure. Luckily, in the on deck circle, we have easy going, blond Cap Garland. Of the smile like the sunrise fame. Swoon. Someone send Mr. Edwards a telegram or a smoke signal so we can get the dreamboat trifecta going!

As soon as the next blizzard ends (blizzard 11: Jack Frost ripping at your toes) at 3am, Cap and Almanzo meet up in Main street for the trek south east in search of the mythical wheat. It's not exactly a walk in the park.

There was something mocking in the glitter of that trackless sea where every shadow moved a little and the blown snow spray confused the eyes searching for lost landmarks.

Luckily their horses and sleds keep falling into pockets of soft snow that won't support them. That way they can warm up by trampling the snow down and leading their horses out of the huge snow holes that result and maneuvering their sleds around them. Just as good a cup of hot tea. I really enjoy how chill Almanzo and Cap act while navigating what could very easily end up being a march to death. They joke about how to keep their feet from freezing and falling off, and how to navigate a completely landmark-less landscape. It's pretty hot.

'Which way'll we go?' Cap asked
'Any way's as good as any other,' Almanzo said. They rewound their mufflers again. Their breath had filled the mufflers with ice. They could hardly find a spot of wool to relieve the pain of ice on skin that it had chafed raw.
'How are your feet' he asked Cap.
'They don't say,' Cap replied.

These 19 year olds are men. They're a refreshing antidote to that whole 'stunted man-child' meme that's so popular now. But don't worry, if their feet get too frozen they can just rub snow on them. You know it's cold when rubbing snow on your feet warms them up.

Up next Sexy Rescue Pt. 2 - Sexy Success!