Chapter 6 #3
“You can see the cattle grazing over there.” Joey motioned in the direction they were riding. “Our ranch is about two miles square. We graze 30 head, give or take. You and me will be herding them this summer, driving them to the spring, then to the corral next to the barn.”
“I read about cattle drives from Texas to Kansas, but never thought I would participate in one.”
Joey laughed. “We stay behind them and make a lot of noise. It’s not the most fun thing I can think of doing. And it’s dirty work, which means washing off in the spring.” Joey winked.
Felix caught Joey's wink, and heat rose to his cheeks. The idea of swimming in the spring with Joey roared back into his head. He changed the topic. “What else will we do besides drive cattle?”
“We’ll ride fences.”
“Pa Sterling mentioned that as he brought me to the ranch. He laughed when I asked if it was painful. What’s riding fences?” Felix glanced at Joey. “A game where you sit on the fence?”
Joey barked a laugh. “You’re toying with me, aren’t you?”
Felix shook his head. “No, I never heard of riding fences, so I don’t know what it means.” He did know Joey’s laughter warmed his insides and made him smile.
“Sorry. I need to remember you aren’t rancher stock.” He grinned at Felix. “Yet, cowboy.”
“So we don’t straddle the fence?”
Joey chuckled out a response. “No. We’ll ride along the fence looking for broken posts, sagging wire, or breaks. If we find any problems, we fix them.”
“I see. It sounds less dirty than driving cattle.” Felix found himself disappointed that no dip in the spring was needed.
“Not the most fun thing I can think of, but you are right…not as dirty as driving cattle.” Joey smiled.
That tingle emerged again between Felix’s legs, and he made himself think Emmaline Crabtree…Emmaline Crabtree… The tingle evaporated. “What else will we do?”
“We’ll brand cattle. New calves need to have our brand put on them, so we’ll be roping and branding later this summer.”
“What does branding involve?” Felix knew nothing about cows except that beef came from them.
“We rope the calves, lay them on their sides, bind their legs, and use a hot iron to burn our ranch symbol into the hides.”
Felix grimaced. “Ouch…that sounds painful.”
“There is lots of mooing, but they get over it. We put a dollop of salve on the brand to help it heal.”
Joey pointed as they approached the herd. “In a couple of weeks, we’ll drive these cattle to the spring, then to the corral.”
Felix motioned to the calves he saw among the herd. “There are a few little ones.”
“Yeah. We had about fifteen calves this spring. Those are the ones we’ll brand.” Joey gazed at the sky. “It’s getting close to noon. Let’s head back to the house. Ma will have lunch ready soon.”
“Sounds good. I like Ma Sterling’s cooking.”
“Felix, let’s run the horses. They need exercise. C’mon.” Joey gigged Lightning and shouted, “Hyah!”
Not to be outdone, Felix gigged Sparkle.
“Hyah!” Sparkle took off after Lightning.
Felix had never galloped. The ride on Sparkle was exhilarating.
His heart beat faster as Sparkle carried him across the prairie beside Joey, his mane flopping in the breeze as his hooves beat a steady rhythm.
He slowed Sparkle as they neared the barn, noticing Joey do the same with Lightning.
“You’re an accomplished rider, cowboy.” Joey panted the words, catching his breath from the joy of the ride.
“I never galloped before. It was fun.” Felix breathed through a smile, making his cheeks hurt.
“You never galloped? You handled Sparkle well, and he responded to your hand. Like I said, you have a magic touch with horses.”
“I don’t have a magic touch,” Felix said. “Sparkle is a fine horse.”
“Sparkle is a fine horse for you, and a reason you will be a great cowboy. I’m glad my Pa and your father talked, Felix.
Pa knows I’ve been lonely since Jacob left, and when your father asked if Pa would consider training you, he thought of me and how much I'd enjoy having someone my age on the ranch.”
“So our fathers planned this whole thing?”
“Yes, and I’m glad they did.”
“Me too, Joey.”
They rode into the barn. Felix unsaddled and curried Sparkle.
“It’s remarkable how calm Sparkle is with you, Felix.” Joey worked the brush through Lightning’s coat. “He’s not like that with me or Pa. Like I said, you have a kind of magic touch with horses.”
“The only horses I rode or tended are our two in Blackfield. Sparkle is a magnificent steed. I figured he was a well-trained horse.”
Joey chuckled. “No, but he did take a shine to you.”
They finished with the horses, ensuring they had plenty of feed and water. Then headed to the house. The aroma of fried chicken wafted from the kitchen as they approached the back door. Felix’s stomach growled.
“I’m hungry.” Felix bounded up the back steps and pulled the screen door open. The squeaking hinges made his summer home seem more real.
Joey grabbed the edge of the screen door. “Me, too. Ma makes the best fried chicken in the county.”
They rushed inside and shoved against each other at the sink. Felix liked pressing against Joey, feeling guilty that he had discovered the pleasure of touching another human being, especially another man.
From her position at the stove, Mabel glanced at them. “You men sit down. As soon as Grover gets here, we’ll eat lunch.”
“I’m here.” Grover walked into the kitchen. “We’ve got a couple of hungry men on our hands, Mabel.” Grover pulled out his chair and sat. “Let’s feed them.”
Mabel set a platter of fried chicken on the table, along with a bowl of mashed potatoes and a boat of gravy. She plopped an ear of corn on each plate before taking her seat.
“Dig in, cowboys.” Grover speared a crispy fried chicken breast.
Felix loaded his plate and devoured his lunch like he was starving, not taking time to utter a word.
“Whoa, Felix. Don’t they feed you back in Blackfield?” Mabel chuckled as he reached for another chicken leg.
“Yes’m,” Felix mumbled with a full mouth.
“Well, son, a chicken only has two legs, but I think you ate three already.” Mabel laughed. “You eat all you want, Felix. Young cowboys need a lot of nourishment.”
“I think Felix is taking a shine to ranch work.” Grover chuckled at Felix’s appetite. “I never saw a young man eat so much.”
“Leave him alone, Pa,” Joey said. “We rode the ranch this morning, and I told him about mending fences, driving cattle, and roping and branding. He probably got tired thinking about all that work.”
Felix swallowed his food. “This food tastes better than what my mother fixes. She cooks good food and all, but nothing like this.”
“I’m glad you like it, honey,” Mabel said. “We’ll get you fattened up before you go back home. Now have a slice of apple pie.”
“Yes’m.” Felix held his plate out.
Joey laughed out loud. “I’m gonna have to roll you out to your horse, Felix.”
Felix grinned as he lifted a forkful of apple pie to his mouth. It tasted as amazing as he expected.
Grover turned to Felix. “How did you do with Sparkle? Any problems?”
Felix shook his head, his mouth full of apple pie.
“Pa, you should have seen it. Sparkle stood still as a post while Felix saddled him.”
“Sparkle?” Grover expressed surprise.
“Yeah, and when we got back from the ride, Sparkle stood still while Felix curried him. It was amazing.”
Grover tousled Felix’s hair. “You must be a magic cowboy. Sparkle isn’t that calm with either Joey or me.”
Felix beamed at the praise. He didn’t have any magic. But it was fantastic that Sparkle liked him. He favored Sparkle, too.
After lunch, Joey led Felix to the barn. “I’ll show you how we feed and tend our horses. It’s probably the same as what you do in Blackfield, only we have more horses.”
Felix walked beside Joey. “I can curry horses and pick their hooves.”
“Yep. You did it yesterday with Maybelle and today with Sparkle. I’ve never seen Sparkle so calm with anyone. I think Sparkle has claimed you as his own personal cowboy.”
“I am pleased to have Sparkle as my Sterling horse. I’ll be here all summer, after all.”
“I’m glad, Felix. Now, let me show you about feeding our team. Come with me.”
Felix followed into the tool stall, where Joey found leather gloves for each of them. They went to the ladder, tugging the gloves on as they walked, and climbed to the loft.
“We were here yesterday, just for a quick tour.” Joey motioned to the wall. “Those hooks are used to move the bales to the edge. We shove the bales over, and they fall to the floor below. We then separate the bales and place hay in each stall.”
“Sounds easy enough.”
Joey reached for the hooks and handed them to Felix. “Why don’t you try it?”
Felix took the hooks and wrapped his fingers around the wooden handles. He went over to a bale and stood studying it. “Where do I hook it?”
“Sink the hook in each end and drag toward the middle. The hooks will catch in the binding twine holding the bale together. Then you can lift the bale and move it over to the edge.”
Felix did as Joey suggested, and soon, the bale toppled over the edge to the floor below.
“You act like you did this before, Felix.”
“No, but you telling me what to do made it easy.”
Joey reached over, took Felix's hooks, and hung them on the nails again. “I like coming up here. It’s quiet and peaceful, and nobody comes in. It’s like my own private getaway.”
“That is one advantage to having no brothers and sisters,” Felix said. “You can enjoy quiet time all to yourself.”
“Sometimes I come up here when I want to be alone and...um…to play with myself.”
“You mean like a game or something?” Felix scanned the area but found nothing that looked like game pieces or boards.
“No, not a game. Play. With myself…” Joey balled his fist like he was holding an invisible stick and moved it up and down in the air.
“I don’t understand, Joey.”
“With my dick.”
“Dick?”
“Yeah…that thing between your legs.”
The flash of heat rising through Felix’s body lit his face on fire.
He never talked about his privates with anyone.
He didn’t think anyone else should know what he did or did not do with his own…
what did Joey call it…dick. His father would be irate if he knew that thought even entered his mind.
He rushed for the ladder. “I think we'd better go down, Joey.” His father told him never to pleasure himself, so he was surprised that Joey would do that.
“Hey, Felix. I’m sorry.” Joey raised his hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“It’s okay.” Felix hurried down the ladder. “I don’t like to talk about stuff like that. My father told me it was unnatural.”
Joey followed Felix. “Hey…don’t worry…I won’t mention it again. The guys at my school joke about it in whispers on the playground, so I thought every guy did it. I guess guys from town are different.”
Felix mulled over the conversation as they mucked out the stalls.
He shoveled the manure-laden hay into a wheelbarrow.
He eyed the retreating figure as Joey wheeled it out to the pile north of the corral.
Did the guys at his school talk about such things?
Not having any friends, he never participated in conversations between guys.
Besides, his father would have been most irritated.
Felix climbed up and threw down two more bales, enough to fill the mangers and pad the stalls.
They brought buckets of water from the cistern to fill the troughs, still working without chatting.
Felix couldn’t stop thinking about what Joey said about playing with his dick.
His own dick plumped, which disturbed him further.
His mind struggled between his father’s stern words about touching his man parts and Joey’s ease with doing that very thing.
He forced thoughts of hefty Emmaline Crabtree into his mind to relieve the heavy weight in his crotch.
As they spread the last of the hay in the stalls, Joey removed his shirt.
It was a hot afternoon, and sweat stains covered the front and back.
He used the shirt to wipe the sweat off his brow and chest. Felix had almost to shout Emmaline Crabtree in his mind to keep his focus off Joey’s physique.
He couldn’t figure out why he liked looking at Joey so much.
That night, Felix struggled with a hard dick he was afraid to touch in his bed.
He fell asleep, but vivid dreams of Joey naked in the hayloft resulted in waking up with a mess in his drawers.
This wasn’t the first time he’d squirted in his sleep.
Over the past few years, it happened regularly.
He thought something was wrong with him, but he was afraid to mention it to his father or the doctor.
They would undoubtedly send him to a hospital for treatment.
As he cleaned himself and tossed the soiled underwear in the corner, he wondered how he would survive the summer. He had been afraid of spending the summer with strangers, but now he feared spending the summer with a best friend he was attracted to. What could he do?