Wyatt suddenly seemed a little nervous as he sat down. The confident man had lost a bit of his confidence, now that he was sitting on a two thousand pound animal.
“Alright, my man,” the attendant said to Wyatt. “This guy that you're sitting on is named Wilfred. He's four years old and has a ton of energy. Lucky for you, though, he's been trained by the best. All you need to do is hold the reins and click your tongue. He'll walk around the edge of the fence in a loop. He's as calm as a cucumber, so you've got nothing to worry about.”
Wyatt nodded in agreement and then clicked his tongue. Lily squealed in surprise as Wilfred lunged forward and began to walk. Maggie was in complete awe. Her jaw had literally dropped. She glanced back toward Lily.
“What do you think, little pirate?” Lily asked. “Is this fun?”
“Sooo fun,” Maggie said.
The platform they rode on seemed to shift a bit from side to side as Wilfred lumbered along. His steps were slow and awkward, making for an interesting ride. Lily looked forward, noticing that Wyatt's knuckles were white as he held onto the reins.
“You alright up there?” Lily asked.
He glanced back nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine. Why?”
“You seem a little tense,” she said, with a smirk.
“No, not at all,” he replied, spinning back around and squeezing the reins a little tighter. “Just making sure old Wilfred here does what he's supposed to.”
Like the attendant had said, though, Wilfred was as calm as a cucumber. He did exactly as he was supposed to and walked around the inner circumference of the fence. It only took about five minutes before they arrived where they had started, at the top of the stairs. It was a short and pretty uneventful ride, at least in Lily's opinion. Maggie, on the other hand, thought she had just died and gone to heaven. She was still smiling as they got off of the camel's back.
“Bye, Wilfred,” she said, patting him on the neck. “I'll miss you.”
“Awe, Maggie, you're so sweet.” Lily took Maggie's hand and stepped away from the camel. Wyatt followed them down the stairs and let out a huge breath.
“That was... interesting.” He stepped up beside them and Lily noticed that the blood had returned to his knuckles.
She just laughed. “It was interesting. I didn't know you were such a natural camel rider.”
“Very funny.” Wyatt smiled and shook his head. “No, I think had better keep my day job.”
Lily glanced at her watch. “Hey, if we hurry, we can catch the next jousting competition.”
“Let's do it.” Wyatt grabbed Maggie's other hand and the three of them picked up their pace.
The trail was long and meandered up a steep hill. They walked quickly through the crowd. Lily had to maneuver a few times just to avoid running into someone dressed as a knight or an elf.
Finally, after a stressful couple of minutes, they arrived at the jousting arena. The bleachers were packed, but there was a small opening on the top row at the very end. The trio made their way to the seats. Wyatt and Lily sat down, while Maggie stood up on the bleachers between them. She lifting herself up onto her tip toes, trying to see over the people in front of them.
“Here, get on my shoulders, Maggie.” Wyatt reached over and lifted his daughter up, sitting her up onto his shoulders. “Is that better?”
“Yep,” Maggie said.
Lily scooted closer to Wyatt. Their legs touched and she looked over at him. “Sorry. I just couldn't see from where I was.”
“It's no problem,” Wyatt said.
After he spoke, he reached over and wrapped his hand around the outside of her hip. Then he pulled her a little closer.
“Does that help any?” he asked.
Their bodies were now pressed against each others. Her thigh was against his thigh. Same with her hips and her shoulders. She tingled all over and shifted a bit in her seat. She'd never been that close to him before, minus a casual hug here and there. It made her a bit self-conscious.
I hope my hair smells good, she thought. And I hope I sprayed on enough perfume this morning.
“Oh look, they're starting,” Wyatt said, pointing forward.
Sure enough, two men on horses rode out into the center of the arena. They greeted the crowd and then rode to separate ends. One of them was dressed in all green and the other one was in red. They both had a giant metal joust in their right hands.