I wrote this for my husband right after doing our Trash the Dress photo shoot. I thought he might like it as he is into heavy equipment and has several bulldozers, but he kind of laughed the story off, finding it "humorous", but did not seem to appreciate it much. A lot of my erotic stories are just that, based on sex, but this was based more on what our Trash the Dress Photo shoot was...a dressed woman getting really muddy, and yes we used one of his bulldozers in that photo shoot. Maybe the people on here will like the story? You decide...

....

Chapter 1: The Power Line Road

Three weeks of nothing but rain, Ricky said to Amy as the big diesel pickup tore its way through the makeshift road that wound its way up the power line deep in New Hampshire's North Country. How can a company build a new power line in weather like this, he asked rhetorically as the trucks tires spun a combination of mud and gravel up off the road, and pitching and rolling, forced Amy to grip tightly to the handle just above the door?

Tracks, Amy said with a grin.

They are expensive to maintain, but they always seem to get the job done no matter what the weather, don't they, he stated? But if I need tracks down in that bog, then you are going to need something beside high heels to wear. There is nothing but mud down there, he said as he looked down at Amy's feet, the jarring of the truck being so bad on the crude corridor that Amy had them pressed hard to the floor to keep her feet into her black pumps.

Part of the job, she simply said with a shrug of her shoulders; only partially lying as a set of washboards set the truck up in a repetitive, unforgiving slamming motion that sent the rear of the truck sideways, causing Amy to lurch askew from it all. She wanted to tell the power line contractor driving the truck to watch the path ahead of them instead of her legs, but the truth was, she actually wanted him to stare at them.

For the first month of being a sales lady for a heavy equipment dealer, Amy Lynn Steele had tried her best to break into the male dominated heavy equipment market by just being one of the boys, but the tactic failed miserably. Customers would park beside the bulldozers, graders and forestry equipment and look them over with obvious interest, but when she approached them, would make some sort of excuse and leave. Other times they would ask for the other salesman, who were just that, men, and leave her standing there with a brochure in her hand and no customer to hand it to. The turning point came one day when an effluent contractor came into the dealership while the other salesman was out, and upon finding out that he was not in, stated that he would come back when a man was there. At that point Amy knew she had to change tactics or she would never sell equipment, and started taking her own brochures home at night and studying the specifications and features of the equipment she was trying to sell and committed them to memory.

She also went shopping.

Sex sells, she told herself regarding the long-established mantra of the advertising world, and decided if she was going to sell anything in a male dominated business, she was going to have to play upon her gender and get the men in the heavy equipment business to want to see her. At thirty-four years old, she had always kept herself in shape by working at the gym and watching what she ate, and to that end she gave something for the men to look at by trading in her T-shirts for stylish tops; her denim jeans for skirts; her plain white socks for pantyhose, and her black steel toed boots for high heels.

It was awkward at first, but it was hard to ignore the change in the atmosphere at work. When she had a service request for the mechanics in the service bays, they greeted her with smiles instead of scowls, included her in their banter instead of just giving her one-word replies, and invited her to use their coffee maker instead of buying it from the coffee machine in the customer lounge. This gave her insight onto weak points in the equipment she was selling, but also kept her informed on the service bulletins and how the manufacturers were addressing the issues. In short, they wanted to see her now that she was wearing something more alluring.

She had worried about her boss the most, the general manager, but he seemed to like her new look and invited her into his office more, included her in more meetings, and seemed to know that her new image would increase overall sales. Once, when she was seated at her desk with her shoes kicked off, she noticed his gaze linger at her feet for a bit too long, and deduced that he liked a woman barefoot. It was just a hunch, but unless she was going out into the service bays where there was grease and oil on the floor, or outside to show a customer a piece of machinery, Amy padded around barefoot, or clad only in her nylons, knowing the simple act just might keep her in the good graces of her boss.

She also noted her new style of dress put her customers at ease. When she stepped out from behind the desk without her shoes on, she would greet them with a smile and a handshake, which made her height shorter and gave her a relaxed, vulnerable look that seemed to tip the negotiating power of expensive pieces of equipment in their favor. If they wanted to go outside to look over a piece of equipment, or talk to one of the mechanics in the service bays; gripping onto their arm as she toed on her shoes, gave them a sense of chivalry and a personal touch that would never have occurred with a male sales associate.

She also noticed her new style of dress just downright brought customers into her office; many stopping by for a chat when they were not looking to buy any equipment, but rather just there for a part, or to have service done, no doubt just to look at her long legs streaming out from under a short skirt that their wives or girlfriends would never wear. Even so, a relationship was building with her clients evaporating the once awkwardness of dressing in such proper clothes, and the added expense that came from them. Without question it was a look her clients enjoyed, and so with it, they also invited her to their shops more, and out to see their projects like Ricky had done, and while she knew her high heels would certainly be ruined by the mud; the commission on a two hundred and seventy thousand dollar piece of equipment would quickly pay off the eighty dollar pumps.
Chapter 2: A Wager is Made

No, no, no, Ricky yelled out as the truck rounded the top of a short, steep hill that the truck had labored to climb up, only to pitch downward upon making the crest as the power line's repeated pattern of poles and wires suddenly came to an end. With its end, bulldozers and excavators huddled up around the edge of a large bog in a semi-circle, trailers with huge rolls of cable parked waiting for the poles to be placed across the bog and beyond.

From her vantage point Amy could see a ribbon of crane mats; large wooden timbers eight inches thick and sixteen feet long laid edge to edge making for a temporary road out into the swamp. In soft ground Amy knew, they provided enough surface area to keep the equipment moving, but where the bog was dissected by a stream, Ricky's crew had place large diameter culverts. These were now washed out by the three weeks of steady rain; their silver, twisted up metallic forms now downstream by a hundred yards caught on a rotted log, but shuddering from the onslaught of water trying to free them as it rushed against and through them.

Ricky had already bailed from the truck, leaving its door open as he tried in vain to stop the operator of the large D-9 Caterpillar bulldozer from crossing the flood swollen stream. On its blade was another new culvert, four feet in diameter and costing over three thousand dollars, as the operator of the bulldozer half slid, half rolled the road building material into place. Even Amy knew the plan would be foiled by the raging waters, or even the deep mud that lay deep before it, which was Ricky was racing down to stop.

Even as the sound of the bulldozer's powerful engine began to labor from the brute force that it took to power fifty thousand pounds of heavy steel through soft mud, Ricky's yells were lost in the din of it all. He was only halfway down the hillside when the impressive machine began to churn tracks, but made no forward progress as the deep grouser's slung mud backwards, but proceeded to settle the machine deeper into the mud. In a minute's time, all forward movement was lost, and as the operator tried to back up, the reason for Ricky's yells were realized as bulldozers excel at going forward only. It was blatantly clear; the massive machine was hopelessly stuck.

Ricky's fears were realized, not only in the bulldozer getting stuck, but in Amy's high heels being ruined upon her first step. Good tires had propelled the pickup through the muddy road, but it was several inches deep, and Amy's stiletto heels did little to hold her up in the quagmire as they punctured the ground, and sank up to the top of her shoes. As mud seeped in over the top, and soaked into her nylon feet, she knew the black satin shoes were ruined, but continued to walk as best she could down the hillside towards Ricky balancing precariously as she did so.

What were you guys thinking, she could hear him yell, though she was still a hundred feet from him and where his crew gathered? If the first three culverts washed out in this rain, then certainly a few more will. Now that new bulldozer is stuck and we are going to have to get it out.

Maybe you should have bought a John Deere, Amy called out mockingly upon hearing him? As a sales lady for a John Deere dealer, she was there to see what Ricky had for equipment needs, but to also ask him why he had recently bought a bulldozer from her competitor; a Caterpillar. And while she meant it in innocence, Ricky was not in the mood for idle equipment banter, especially in front of his crew.

And you think one of your John Deere's could have powered through that, he asked turning towards her?

I know it could. Wider tracksmore horsepower Amy could tell she had struck a nerve and was starting to get apprehensive when Ricky moved from his crew and started halfway up the hill towards her, moving at a run as he did so.

Then get your bulldozer out here and let's see it do it, he said calling her bluff when he reached her!

We'll have it out Monday Morning, Amy started to say with her hands on her slender hips, but Ricky was not about to let a few days go by.

Oh no, not in a few days when the waters go down and the mud is half-dried up. You get on that pink cell phone of yours and call Bill and have him bring that new John Deere 850 you have sitting there right over, right now, he said so forcefully Amy felt a bit of his spit come with it as he said it. Let's see if your machine can wallow through that mud.

Well I don't know if Bill can come right now, Amy started to stammer, but Ricky was not about to let her off with such a feeble excuse.

Tell him that old payloader he was going to move can wait. If your 850 crosses over to the other side, I'll even buy the damn thing.

You'll buy it?

At sticker price; no questions asked, he said with a smirk.
Chapter 3: The Wait

As Amy used her cell phone to make the call to Bill; the dealership's heavy haul truck driver, she was well aware that Ricky's crew had little to do until the bulldozer arrived. And while the view from the top of the hill was stunning with the bog below, and the right of way cutting through the woods for what seemed like an eternity; a woman in a skirt in the middle of a utility line construction project was rather unique, and Amy was well aware that all of Ricky's crew was intently watching her as she made the call to have the new John Deere bulldozer hauled in.

Amy had always enjoyed contrast, and if being the only lady fashionably dressed on a power line construction project was part of that contrast, then the black and white outfit she wore only added to the fact. She liked the look because it was timeless, and being late spring, it muddled the fashion directives that dictated at what times white could be worn. She had been bold enough to wear red at times, and even the more subdued mint green, but being outside today with such a prominent contractor, Amy wanted to be trendy and confident, and as such matched a white and black graphic skirt in tribal print with a solid white peplum top. A thin black belt gave the outfit the contrast she was after as well as giving her body a slightly hour glasses figure by securing it high at her midriff. Fearing winds would turn brisk, Amy had added a white leather jacket to the outfit; the stylish coat being cropped in length with exposed zippers on the sleeves up to her forearms and big black buttons on the front, though Amy now let it gape open, not buttoned at all.
Like all of her skirts, Amy liked the hemline to fall several inches above the knee, but while she had overheard men call them miniskirts, Amy was not sure that was a fair assessment. They could have been shorter, but Amy decided that if she was going to be reserved on hem length then she would at least make sure they were tight, always buying them a size too small and of a material that stretched so that not a wrinkle was formed in the fabric.

Her makeup and jewelry was chosen with just as much attention to detail, knowing anything she wore was there to catch men's attention. There was red lipstick of course, some subtle rouge upon her cheeks, but really the minimum as she feared the affects of outside weather of wind and possible rain on her makeup. A French manicure and pedicure graced the tips of her fingers and toes to coordinate with her outfit, while for jewelry she wore the staples; a set of triple gold chain earrings to draw attention to her earlobes, a bangle bracelet upon her right wrist, and matching gold toe rings upon her opposing middle toes in order to give men something to look at if her shoes happened to be off. Finally she wore her ever present ankle bracelet, on the right ankle as she was not married, but always worn to give men her silent consent to look at her best feature; her legs as jewelry was only worn to embellish a part of the body.

Walking in the mud in such an outfit was difficult, especially in her high heels, so Amy joined in with the crew after her call ended as they took their coffee break, huddled around the back of a service truck that Amy found a seat upon. One of the mechanics gave her a cup of coffee, and always the saleslady, Amy was quick to start up a conversation on what their preferences were regarding that of John Deere and Caterpillar equipment. Some were antagonists and deliberately embellished the proficiencies of her competitor's Caterpillar equipment, while others who wanted to stay in her good graces, championed the virtues of the John Deere brand. All were eager to talk to the young lady, and while some of the mechanics and operators were older then she was, a few of the laborers were younger, but both vied for her attention. All this Ricky took in quietly, amused by her presence and knowing no amount of motivation would break them of her spell and get them back to work. When pressed for his opinion on the Caterpillar and John Deere brand rivalry though, Ricky was uncharacteristically mum and merely pointed to the top of the hill when a set of air brakes went off, and the long awaited John Deere 850 bulldozer had arrived.

I'll save my opinion on the subject until Ms. Steel's bulldozer crosses to the other side, he said. As his smirk was extended to her, she in turn extended her hand out, at which Ricky gripped it and helped her down off the truck's tailgate. She grinned back, enjoying the charade that they had been playing for the last hour or so.

So whose the best operator on this crew, Amy asked as they watched the low bed split apart, then the sight of black smoke belching from the exhaust stack as Bill fired up the dozer and began to unload it from the low bed? There was a low grumble as all the men talked at once, but in quick order one name surfaced above the others; and older gentlemen that had not said a lot during the coffee break, but had an air of proficiency about him. Well I guess I know who will be driving my bulldozer across the mud, Amy said to Rick with confidence.

Well I was going to make you be the operator seeing as how you are so confident in your machine, but on second thought you are going to need all the help you can get to pull this off. If you want Jim running it; so be it.
Chapter 4: Bulldozer in the Mud

And how do you want to do this, Jim asked?

Keep the blade up and just see if she will slog through the mud to the other side. How that gets done is your call, Ricky said, then turned to Bill. You better stick around. You might be hauling that bulldozer back home in a few minutes, but then again you might be towing an empty low bed too. Either way I bet you want to see this.

Jim was already climbing up the bulldozers massive tracks and was opening the cab door when Ricky said this, so Bill just nodded as he followed the small group of power line workers down over the embankment to get a closer look at the edge of the bog. Amy had to walk a bit slower due to her high heels and the mud that was everywhere, but she had no shortage of help as every time she lagged behind a bit, one of the workers was there to help hold her hand and usher her down to the contested bog. Chivalry was not dead, at least not in a power line construction project in Northern New Hampshire.

As the group formed, Jim brought the bulldozer down the hill at about half throttle, but just before crossing the stream, brought the bulldozer to an idle with the decelerator pedal and carefully planned his attack. After about thirty seconds of careful deliberation, the sound of the bulldozers one hundred and eight five horsepower engine went to full throttle and he eased it forward..

As Amy gathered around the men, she noted, it was almost like driving off a pier; and it was clear where remediation efforts of the crew had left off making for a stable embankment, and where they had stopped. Almost instantly the tracks of the large bulldozer began to sink out of sight, first the grousers, then the idler wheels until finally the entire tracks were submerged.

Engine throttle was the key in negotiating deep mud, and while sometimes the operator wanted less power going to the tracks to keep the added torque from spinning them uselessly; in cases like this, it took every horsepower to churn through such a tough medium. They churned now, treading up thick, black goop that smelled of sewage since it had been decaying for years underwater in an oxygen deficient environment. The men could also hear the mud as it began to swallow up the bulldozer, chunks of it ricocheting off the inside of the engine shroud as the fan began to pick up mud and fling it; such was its depth.

At this depth, the bulldozer was at the mid way point in the crossing, but while it was the deepest point as well, the bulldozer was struggling. Its massive engine was far from full throttle and labored down by the mud it was trying to work through. Forward movement was also slow, the tracks churning and churning, but having nothing to get a grip on, the heavy machine was settling down deeper and deeper as its tracks tossed out mud underneath it, instead of propelling it forward.

Amy looked worried and rightfully so. The operator wanted to find better grip for his tracks, and while sometimes turning a bulldozer can give the tracks something better to grip onto, Jim was afraid if he tried that he might get sideways in the stream channel it would get him stuck for sure. With no forward progress being made, he tried the only option he had left and that was to back up and try for a different area. The problem was, bulldozers do not back up well in the mud and after moving only a foot or so, the bulldozer was stuck.
Chapter 5: Stuck

Ricky made a slashing motion across his throat with his hand knowing anything Jim did from here on out would only mire the heavy machine deeper. Amy's heart sank as she watched all the men on Ricky's crew turn in unison to see what her reaction would be. The look of disappointment was deep within her obviously as they looked her with raised eyebrows. For a moment she thought she was going to be sick, the disappointment so deep within her that her stomach churned from the nasty coffee she had just had, and knowing that she had just lost her chance for her first equipment sale. Bill would inevitably tell the General Manager about the bet and she would be reprimanded for agreeing to the ploy that cost the dealership not only valuable transportation costs, but also clean up costs as well. Perhaps even more disappointing was at losing a potential customer over insurmountable odds. No bulldozer could have crossed that mud hole and reached the other side, and yet only her pride kept her from being more reasonable. However, if she thought losing the wager was bad enough, Ricky was about to drop a bombshell upon her. Grabbing a hand held radio from one of his guys; Ricky keyed the microphone and spoke to Jim inside the bulldozer.

Stay put for a minute and we'll get you out, just as soon as Amy here gets a shackle on that bulldozer so we can pull you out.

What do you mean, she demanded?

Well someone has to pull out your bulldozer Honey, he said condescendingly. It's too early in the morning for one of my crew to get all muddy and have to spend the day in wet clothes. You said it would cross the mud, and now it is stuck, I think it is only fair that you attach the cable to it so that we can pull it out with the excavator.

You can't just put the bucket on it and tug it out like you did the caterpillar, shed asked rather humbly?

We can, but do you really want that brand new bulldozer banged up by the bucket? The Caterpillar is ours, but I don't think you want us busting up your dozer in case you actually find someone willing to buy it later?

I can put that cable on. I don't mind getting muddy, one of the laborers started to say, but Ricky cut him off.

I don't think so. It is her bulldozer, she said it would not get stuck and now it is her responsibility to get it out.

Amy just glared at Ricky knowing he was just trying to humiliate her in front of his crew. With a quick assessment of the mud, Amy knew she really only had two options and neither were good. She could strip down to near nudity, keeping just her underwear on which would of course save her clothes, but show a construction crew more of her body then she ever wanted to; or she could stay dressed, but ruin her clothing. Either way, she knew both choices had an erotic appeal for the crew and already they were looking at her obviously enjoying the thought of such a pretty woman trudging through the mud. And while she was incredulous at the thought, she was not sure there was a way out of it either. She had touted up the bulldozers capabilities beyond what it was capable of doing, and Ricky was right, it was her responsibility to get it out. In trying to salvage what she had left of her credibility and reputation, Amy put her hands on her hips. Where is this shackle thing you are talking about?

Its right here, one of the guys said holding up a horseshoe shaped piece of steel that was rounded, with a bolt protruding from one end.

You must walk out to the rear of the bulldozer and dig the mud out from around the rear fuel tank and find the pad eye that is welded to the frame. We'll swing the cable out to you with the excavator, but you will need to put the cable eye through the round part of the shackle, and then thread the bolt through the pad eye so it will stay. Thread it all the way in, then back it off by a quarter turn, Ricky said specifically then looked at Amy knowing she was deeply contemplating her next move.

Chapter 6: Into a Man's World

Amy answered Ricky by gripping the front of her white leather jacket and pulling it off her torso. Taking off her jacket and throwing it on the hood of the nearby service truck drew the attention of the entire crew, everyone of them wondering what other clothing the stylish and pretty woman was going to take off.

Sorry boys, I am just taking off my jacket for this, she said as if reading their thoughts. Then Amy took a deep breath and then started for the bulldozer with the rather heavy shackle in hand, every worker there watching with surprise that she would even try such a thing. She had only gone twenty feet when her high heels began to dip deeper into the mire. Curling her toes, she tried to keep her shoes affixed to her feet, but the suction was so great, and the mud deepening with every step, that she knew it was futile to try and even wear them. Perhaps if she had been wearing some Mary Jane's, or some strappy heels; wearing shoes on her expedition would have been possible. Instead she stopped; and reaching down, she began to pull first her left heel, and then her right heel off in turn. Placing them side by side, she cringed as she started forward again, her nylons beginning to get wet from the soil that was so laden with moisture that it made a sucking sound with each step, and erased each footprint the second her foot plunged into the next hole.

Already the mud was up to her shapely calves, shaped by workouts and a few weeks of wearing nothing but high heels. Streaks and dollops of mud had splattered higher then that, dotting her pantyhose as her awkward steps flung the mud upward, but when the mud reached her knees, she stopped trying to make steps and just shuffled her feet in the oozing soil as it began to deepen and hover at the hemline of her skirt.

Turn around, one of the guys said, and since Amy did not quite hear him, she turned to see what he had said better when she saw him bring up his phone and knew he had just taken a photo of her. She flashed him a disgusted look for a moment before realizing that it would not win her any points. Being a witch about the whole thing was not going to help and since her sale of the bulldozer was already shot, she flashed a smile.

Wait a minute, she said and then waded deeper into the mud, a good dozen steps hiking her skirt up with each step so that it did not drop into the muck. When her white thong began to appear at the hiked up hemline, Amy pulled the elastic out of her hair that held it in a ponytail for added affect and let her long, blond hair down. Then turning around, but still holding up her skirt, she posed beautifully by smiling as if a model, and let the worker get a photo of her provocatively posed with the stuck bulldozer framed nicely behind her.

It took all of her willpower, but Amy released the hem of her skirt and let it drop down into the mud knowing she had to wade in deeper then what she already was. With the next step she was treading through mud up to her hips and practically swimming in the thick goop. She could feel the tiny rocks imbedded in the mud rip and tear at her delicate nylons, the material acting as a backer that allowed the mud to squeeze between the porous material and yet stick there in heavy sheets that made her legs extremely heavy. Typically she did not wear pantyhose in the Spring, and wished she had not been wearing them now, but in trying to sell heavy equipment she was not spending as much outside and liked how they toned out her legs nicely, getting rid of the pale color and red blotchiness her legs sometimes had.

Amy was only thirty feet from the bulldozer at this point and looked up to see Jim staring at her through the back window, a little smile on his face as he did so. It seemed almost impossible to wade through the thick, soupy mud to reach it, but Amy managed to stay upright even as she worked against the mud, its consistency and temperature changing with each step. Sometimes it was cool and thick, and other times thin and warm. She knew that came from the bulldozers tracks which in trying to cross the stream churned up soil that had been deposited centuries before. Now upon reaching it, she turned and looked at the guys for help on what to do next.

Ricky and his crew had been watching her intently, and having retrieved heavy equipment from the abyss of mud many times, were well choreographed in what they had to do. Ricky gave Jeremy a nod, and he instantly started up the excavator as one of the guys slipped the eye of the cable through its outside tooth as Jeremy swung the boom over towards Amy so that she would not have to pull the heavy one inch cable through the thick mud to the back of the bulldozer. It was doubtful such a feat would have even been possible in such thick mud and with such a heavy burden, but as much as Ricky's crew wanted to ease the burden for her, they never anticipated that at the last second the eye of the cable would slip out from around the bucket tooth and land hard into the mud. As it slapped its surface, thick gobs of the wet mud splattered, and with the swinging of the boom, and its movement towards Amy, her face was suddenly speckled with mud with several big gobs of the smelly, sticky stuff landing in her hair. Everyone cringed as she let out a gut wrenching yell as she wiped the mud off her perfectly made up face, and tried to get the slime out of her hair.

Damn it, she yelled aloud.

Now thoroughly covered, Amy knew she had no option and reservation but to finish what she started, and began to paw through the mud, scooping gobs of the wet, foul smelling stuff off the back of the bulldozer so she could find the pad eye the guys had told her about. It was hard digging because with every scoopful of mud, it rushed back into the hole, but after a minute or two of searching, she discovered the heavy steel pad eye formed on back of the bulldozer the men said she needed and quickly understood what she had to do.

Doing so was another matter entirely as she had to try to hold up the eye of the heavy cable, while sliding the shackle through the pad eyes hole and line everything up. Even after she managed to get the threads of the shackle to start, tiny rock fragments and mud jammed the male end from threading into the prescribed hole. Using both hands, she managed to muster enough force to get the shackle in deep enough to hold.

The guys seemed somewhat disappointed as she completed her mission and began to retreat back to them by wading through the mud again. As she drew closer, mud dripped, oozed and dropped off her in gobs as she was utterly covered. Her face was speckled with it, along with wide streaks from where she had tried to wipe off them off. Dollops sat upon her hair, and from her neck down she was a drenched in a brown wetness that permeated everything, so much so that no other color but earthen brown appeared on her black skirt or white top. And being gilded in the thick mud meant that upon reaching her heels, she did not even try to put them on, but rather carried them in her hands as she walked to the back of the truck where the men were standing watching the whole spectacle unfold.

Amy wore a smile though; partly from having been given a challenge and persevered, and partly from the grins on the guys faces who obviously liked the distraction in what would have been just another work day. To that end Amy struck a final pose and let the guys take some pictures of her all drenched with mud with the stuck bulldozer in the background. Holding onto her heels, mud caked onto her nylons, and gobs, streaks and speckles of mud covering her from head to toe, Amy was sure a few were turned on by how she looked, but did not really care. She had did what none of the men thought she would do and now turned as Jeremy started to curl his massive excavator bucket backwards and took the sag out of the cable as it stretched between his machine and the stuck bulldozer.

Chapter 7: Retrieval

When it went taunt, everyone watched as the bulldozer throttled up and began to churn its tracks backward as Jeremy gave it a tug. There was a question for a moment if the bulldozer was forever stuck as the giant excavator rose up on its tracks, the backsides of which started to lift off the ground from the tremendous strain the operator was putting on it. But when one of the tracks got a fresh bite onto some hardpan down below, the bulldozer lurched backwards and the excavator slumped back to the level until Jeremy pulled again.

And so it went: a constant back and forth as Jeremy used the weight of his own machine to act as an anchor, pulling the giant bulldozer backwards through the mud. It would rise off its tracks when under hard load, but slowly the weight would settle down pulling the cable as it did so and allowed the bulldozer to get more traction. With every rise and fall though, the bulldozer gained speed and traction until finally the excavator stopped lifting off the ground and just needed a smaller strain on the cable until even that was not needed. At that point Jeremy just swung his huge machine around merely to keep the cable from fouling under the bulldozers tracks. Finally when the bulldozer was on hard ground again, Jim throttled the giant beast down by using the hand throttle and shut off the engine.

That is one muddy machine, one of the guys on Ricky's crew quipped.

I am not sure I want that hauled back to the dealership like that, Amy added truthfully because the tracks had spun up a lot of mud onto the machine, while the fan; having dipped down into the mud, had slung a lot of mud onto the cab, canopy and engine shroud as well. For a brand new machine costing nearly three hundred thousand dollars, it was as mud covered as its saleslady.

Well we can fire up one of the trash pumps and you can give the new machine a bikini bulldozer bath, the mechanic said, laughing at Amy as he said it. Everyone laughed at that statement including Ricky, though Amy only grinned, but was amused knowing the guys were picturing her doing that very act.

I'm not even sure I want to haul it down the road with something that muddy, Bill said worrying about the liability of having mud dry off then fly into the windshield of a car that might be behind him.

You won't be hauling it back. I'll buy it, Ricky said quietly.

You'll buy it, Amy repeated, completely surprised and was now looking at him inquisitively?

Yeah I'll buy it. Your bulldozer might not have made it across the stream, but then again I know the salesman for that Caterpillar Dozer would have never waded out into the mud like you just did. If you are willing to do that, then the least I can do is buy the damn thing off you.

Amy was taken off guard, but so elated that she could have kissed Ricky if his crew had not been standing right there, or if she had been so covered in mud. She was still smiling, her white teeth contrasting against the drab mud that covered her, but she managed to regain her composure and sound professional when she spoke.

Well let's go back to the shop and sign some papers.

And get you cleaned up, Ricky added with a grin.

Chapter 8: Wrong Road

In regards to the final point there was not much Amy could really do. She had pressed her hands hard against her legs in an attempt to squeegee some of the mud off her nylons, skirt and blouse, but much of it remained. She did managed to wipe off her feet enough so that she could put her feet back in her heels and give her some semblance of being properly dressed, but it was meager at best. But Amy was still smiling when she swung up into Ricky's pickup as they headed back down the power line road towards the shop, feeling a bit sorry that all the mud was messing up his clean interior.

Oh don't worry about it. That is why I buy leather seats; they clean up easily. You; I am not so sure about, he said with a laugh.

Me? I just need a shower and some new clothes. It is you I am worried about; the quintessential rugged power line construction worker. I am trying to picture you in a button up shirt, nice slacks, and dress shoes, but I am having a hard time picturing it.

I think you are picturing it quite well actually. Your first customer, well dressed and accompanying you at a nice steakhouse in town, Ricky said with a sly grin.

Well that is kind of presumptuous of you, isn't it?

Is it?

I suppose not. You did just buy a two hundred and seventy thousand dollar bulldozer. A celebratory dinner does seem appropriate.

Yes, but business in nature, or personal, Ricky asked as the pickup lurched and bounced along the makeshift road?

I don't know, Amy said with her own smile, I guess that would be up to you. If I am expected to pay for the meal then I know it is strictly a business dinner, but if you pay for it, then I know we're on a date.

'Oh I don't mind paying for the meal, Ricky said quickly to establish that he relished the thought of dating her.

I see, dinner and a movie.

I was thinking, dinner and a bulldozer; you know, to consummate the deal?

Oh I see. Now you are being presumptuous.

Am I, Ricky asked quickly?

No, not at all, Amy said with a big grin on her face as she said it. Just don't tell a soul what I did.