A Second Chance III
Life Must Go On

Chapter 4

By Tickie

©Tickie
Editor: Radio Rancher
Co-Editor: HetepHamaMeret

The boys entered the house and found that everyone was already at the table and waiting for them to join them, "I think you should go get washed up before you eat." JC told them.

Colt and Matt took off toward the bathroom, followed closely by Earl.

"Hey guys, wait up. I don't know where anything is, ya know."

"This way, Earl!" Yelled Matt, with his usual giggle.

The boys all washed up quickly and hurried back to the dining room.

"Well, that's better" said Mike, "Now you look like people, instead of mud creatures from another planet." The boys hung their heads and tried to look like they were ashamed of themselves. Of course they couldn't hold it for long, and began to laugh, They all sat down to a scrumptious meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and all the fixin's. It didn't take them long to clear out most, if not all the food, and sit back looking like stuffed pigs.

"That was a wonderful meal." said Earl. "I don't think I have ever had one that good before."

"Well that is the kind of meals we get here all the time." said Colt. "Julie is a great cook."

Julie beamed, as each of the boys got up from the table, embraced her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

The boys excused themselves and headed into the living room. They all settled down on throw pillows in front of the fire. Colt and Matt were cuddled together, with Matt leaning back into Colt and Colt wrapping his arms around Matt, kissing his neck and nuzzling his ear, playfully.

Matt looked over and saw Earl with a sad lonely look on his face. "Hey bud, come over here and lie down with your head on my lap, why don't you?"

Earl quickly moved over to the other two boys and lay as Matt had suggested. He smiled broadly as Matt stroked his hair and massaged his shoulders. Earl almost purred. He was finally getting the care and attention he so desperately wanted and needed. Matt leaned down and kissed Earl on the top of his head.

"You will always have a place here when you need it, Earl. You are our friend and we look after our friends." Matt told him.

"How would you like to ride Star tomorrow?" asked Colt.

"Oh god, would he let me ride him?" asked Earl.

"I am sure he would," said Colt, "but you probably should ask him yourself. He will tell you if it is ok. No one ever tries to force Star to do something he doesn't want to do. In fact, none of our animals are forced to do anything they don't want to do, and neither are our friends."

The boys had been lying in front of the fire for some time now, and had started playing a trivia game. Earl had all the pie pieces and was trying to win, but Colt and Matt kept picking the sports questions, and of course Earl was stumped and couldn't go ahead. It looked like the game would be tied and finally they asked the one question that Earl knew the answer to, and he won.

"Ok" Earl said," What do I win for my prize?"

"A full body Massage," Matt told him.

"I'll go heat up the Massage oil." said Colt. "You are going to really love this, Earl.

As Earl lay on the bed, the two boys gave him the most wonderful massage he could have ever imagined. He was completely relaxed and he never felt better in his entire life. He reached up and kissed each of them. Once the massage was finished and Earl was cleaned up, the boys decided it was time to go to bed. Earl asked if they minded if he slept with them for the night. They agreed and all three boys climbed into the huge bed and fell into a deep relaxing sleep.

They all woke up early the next morning, as the light filtered in through the window. Earl was sandwiched between Colt and Matt. They each had an arm draped over Earl's chest and their legs were all tangled together. Matt and Colt each gave Earl a tender loving kiss, and he kissed each one back, in turn, saying, "I can't believe how wonderful it is, being here with you guys. Thank you so much for letting me come here."

The boys slowly got untangled and made their way to the bathroom, all three of them playing water sword fight, with their streams cascading into the toilet.

It still amazes me that kids find it fun to play games with bodily fluids; well some bodily fluids are more fun than others. I should point out.

The boys decided to jump in the shower together, and Colt and Matt took turns caring for Earl. He was in heaven from the sincere helpful treatment the two brothers were giving him. They finished dressing and headed to the dining room to have breakfast. Everyone else was sitting at the table and they all teased the boys for still being in bed at eight o'clock in the morning on a ranch. It was all in fun though, and of course Colt and Matt knew what was going on, but Earl was nervous and blushed a bright red when JC told him that if he was going to be on the ranch very long, he would have to learn to get up earlier.

Mike joined in and told Earl that he could sleep in late on weekends: He could stay in bed till five thirty on Sundays.

JC and Mike tried hard to hold the stern faces they had shown to Earl, but it was not something that either one of them could keep up. They both broke into laughter at the same time and told Earl that they were only kidding him, and that he didn't have to worry at all about getting up at the crack of dawn. The ranch had hired hands that were being paid quite well to do early morning chores.

"You guys had me a little worried." Said Earl. My uncle always made me do the chores before I could eat breakfast, so I figured it was the same here. Thank you for setting me straight, so to speak."

"Don't worry, Earl, we will never make you do anything that we don't do." said Colt. "You are one of us now, and everyone does the best he can and we all help each other when someone needs help."

"Thanks guys." said Earl, smiling to himself. “Guys, I was wondering something. Would it be alright if I invited my friend Jack to come here for a couple of weeks? He Lives in Casper, and we are pretty close. He has never seen a ranch before either, and I think he would be tickled to see what it is like to be on one."

"Well I don't see any problem having him here, but we will have to ask our dads." Colt told him. "Let's go see if our dad's say it's ok.

"Colt, do you have Jack's contact information?" Earl asked hopefully.

"Yes, it is in that club information pack that we put together at school. Just a minute while I find it." Colt went to retrieve the contact info.

The two boys entered the living room and found Mike and JC sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, staring into the fire.

The two dads' were thinking how lucky they were to have two such caring sons, and how proud they were of them for wanting to help their friend.

"Pop, and Poppa Mike, can we ask you a favor?" Matt asked with a sheepish grin.

Of course boys," they both answered at the same time, and then like a couple of school kids, they punched each other in the arm and said, "Jinx! You owe me a coke."

"You two are weird," said Earl.

"Yeah, but that is part of why we love them so much." said Colt. "Anyway, can we invite Jack over here to stay for a couple of weeks? He and Earl are good friends and Earl wants to show Jack what it is like to live on a ranch."

JC looked at Colt and Earl for a few seconds, to make them think he had to think about it, and to tease them a little. "I don't think..." he paused deliberately and watched the boys' faces fall, and then he finished, "...there is any reason not to have him come here. It would be a good experience for him."

Colt and Earl both punched JC in the arm and said. "You did that on purpose. You wanted us to think you were going to say no, didn't you?"

"Of course; that is what loving parents do. We are always trying to tease our kids, and then let them do what ever they want. Ah, maybe that is an exaggeration."

Mike spoke up. Saying, "Let me call Jack's folks and see what we can arrange with regard to his coming here for a few weeks. Colt, Let me have the number please."

Colt gave Mike the number, and Mike made the call.

"Hello, Mrs. Eagleclaw, this is Mike Anderson at the Lazy-L ranch. I have a question for you, concerning your son, Jack."

Mike grinned and held the phone away from his ear, as the woman on the other end sputtered, "What did that little son of a bitch do this time?"

"No ma'am, it's nothing like that." Mike had a hard time not giggling. "We were just wondering if you would be willing to allow Jack to come stay at our ranch for a few weeks this summer. He is good friends with one of our boys, and Earl expressed his interest in having Jack come here to visit for a while. It wouldn't be the slightest trouble, and we will take care of all related expenses."

I love having the ability to see into someone's mind. That 'woman' saw dollar signs when Mike told her that they would take care of all related expenses. She wasn't originally going to let Jack go, but when it looked like there might be something monetary involved, her whole mindset changed. Oh well, so be it. That woman was out to get what ever she could. She was totally greedy. I was amazed to notice that Mike saw through her as easily as I did. I couldn't help but chuckle. It only took a few minutes for her to give permission for Jack to come to the ranch.

As soon as he had hung up from Jack's 'mother', Mike called Larry and asked him to bring the car around in the morning, around ten, so they could get Jack, bring him to the ranch, and take the boys out to lunch at the Corral.

When the boys finished eating everything in sight, and finished by demolishing the dessert tray, everyone piled into the waiting car and Larry took them back to the ranch.

Jack was very impressed by the ranch and what was involved in keeping it running smoothly. He was so excited about being there, that he bubbled over with it and spoke so fast we could hardly understand what he said. "I can't believe how kewl it is being here on a real working ranch. I always wanted to live on a ranch like this. I want to learn everything about farming and ranching and... Well, just everything. Thanks for inviting me to come here. You have no idea how much this means to me. I really have a hard time being at home during the summers. They act like I'm some kind of fifth wheel when I am there." he said, his eyes tear'd up, but he never let himself really cry. I could feel the hurt in his mind and could see it on his face, whenever he thought about his home life.

"James," I said, "We have to help Jack too, you know. Earl is hurting because of the way Jack is being treated at home."

"I don't think Earl realizes yet, just how much he cares about Jack, but he soon will." James told me.

"Yes, that was my thought as well, my love. I am so glad we think alike. It will mean a lot for all the boys, to have Jack here with Earl, once some of the changes happen around here." I said to James, as I kissed him and began to cry softly.

"It's ok, love. Things will work out alright." James told me, as he reached out and pulled me close to him and held me tightly. "Love has a way of soothing the hurt away." James said, as he kissed me deeply.

Jack took to ranching very quickly. He told Colt and Matt that he wanted to pull his own weight around the ranch, and he didn't seem to mind doing any kind of work that he was asked to do. If he didn't know how to do it, he would just simply ask. He even volunteered to Muck the stalls a few times. He said that being on the ranch was such a wonderful experience that any work he had to do was worth it.

He is a real natural, when it comes to ranching. One day I watched him in the blacksmith shop, working the bellows, and he took note of the color of the molten steel, which made me realize he had acquired still another new skill.

James and I noticed, even if no one else did, that Earl and Jack were becoming much closer to each other. They were each carefully looking at the other when the other one wasn't looking. One day Jack had gone for a ride on Star, and had stopped near a stream at the edge of the ranch. Star was grazing, and Jack was softly brushing the beautiful stallion. Jack absentmindedly began muttering to himself and of course to Star as well.

"I wish I knew how to tell Earl that I love him. I'm so afraid he will hate me, once he finds out I'm gay, and that I'm attracted to him." He finished brushing Star. Star had nickered when Jack mentioned loving Earl. Jack thought that was a little strange, but figured that the horse was responding to the sound of his voice and his inflections. Jack looked at Star and smiled. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you understood me just then." he said and Star nuzzled him in the chest and nickered again. Jack hugged the big beautiful horse, and kissed him on the nose, and said, "Thanks Star for listening to me, and, somehow, I'm not sure why, but I think you do understand me. Maybe I can find a way to let Earl know without being to obvious, in case he doesn't feel the same way about me."

He mounted Star again and headed back to the barn. When he got there, the other boys were just finishing up the chores, feeding the other horses and cleaning things up. He unsaddled Star and went to the tack room to put everything away.

After Jack had left. Star said to Earl, "Remember when you told me how much you cared about Jack? Well he told me he feels the same way about you. I tried to tell him that you loved him too, but He couldn't understand me when I talked to him. I just nuzzled him, and I think he liked that, cause he rubbed my head, thanked me for listening to him, and kissed my nose. I like it when people do that, and I'm not sure why, but It really feels good. I love you too, Earl."

Earl Kissed Star on the nose and said, "Thanks Star; you have no idea how happy you have made me."

When Jack came back into the main area of the barn, He was completely taken by surprise when Earl rushed up to him and pulled him into a warm hug, and then began to kiss him passionately. "I have been wanting to do that ever since you got here, and maybe even before that. I just didn't know how you would feel about it. Now that I know, I am going to show you just how much I love you, every single day." Earl began rubbing Jack's back, and soon the boys were breathing raggedly.

"What ever made you decide to tell me now?" asked Jack, as he realized that his dream had actually come true.

"Star told me." Earl said flatly.

"What are you talking about?" said Jack.

When you went to the tack room, he told me you loved Me." said Earl. I had already told him that I loved you, and he said you told him today that you loved me, so I thought I would let you know that the feeling is mutual. I love you, Jack.

"W...w...Wait a minute. Are you telling me, he understood me, and told you what I said to him........and you understood him?"

"Of course. We talk to each other all the time. I talk to Ginger too. She isn't as smart as Star, though. All she thinks about is eating and getting laid. She loves Star, but she is mostly thinking like a horse. Star is a lot smarter than that, and he can really understand us. I love it, cause people are always telling him stuff that they don't even realize they are telling him, and he always tells us the things that he thinks we need to know." Earl giggled. "Star is kind'a like a brother to us. He watches out for us, and lets us know if anything is wrong."

"Well, Thank you Star, for telling Earl how I feel, cause I don't think I would have had the courage to tell him myself." Jack said.

Star whinnied, and Earl grinned.

"He says he was pretty sure you felt that way, and he tried to tell you how I felt about you, but you couldn't understand him. He also said to thank you for grooming him so nicely today. He loves you, you know." Earl replied.

Star nuzzled Jack again and nickered. "He said you can ride him any time you like, and to please bring him some carrots next time. He really likes carrots."

Jack was taken aback a bit. It still hadn't quite filtered through to his brain that Star could talk to Earl.

"Can anyone else understand Star when he 'talks'?" Jack asked.

"Oh yes, Colt and Matt can talk to all the horses. I guess I can too, but I usually just talk to Star, cause he is the one that really likes to talk to us. The others will answer if you talk directly to them and ask them something, but they won't hold conversations much. They don't think like we do. It's all food and sex to them, or in the case of the Geldings, it's mostly food, not much to have a discussion about, so we usually confine our remarks to them to just letting them know how pretty they are, and that we love them." Earl said.

"I know I want to talk more once we go to bed tonight. I want to show you just how much I love you, and a lot of other fun things we can do together." Earl told Jack, while they worked.

The boys finished up their chores and headed into the house.

At supper that night, Jack and Earl held each other's hands under the table and their smiles were so broad that Mike and JC noticed the difference immediately.

"You two finally told each other that you loved one another, didn't you?" Mike asked, bluntly.

Yes, but how did you know?" asked Earl.

"Oh, I don't know, Mike grinned.”Maybe it was the incredibly huge smiles on your faces, that gave us a clue, and the fact that you have hardly looked at anything other than each other all through the meal."

They all gave Julie her thank you hug, and headed for other parts of the house to enjoy the evening.

It got late rather quickly, as always seems to happen when you are having a good time, and the boys finally settled down in their beds. I laughed when I noticed that Earl and Jack were sharing the extra bed and Colt and Matt were in the big bed with just each other.

Matt sat up in bed and grinned his most gorgeous grin. "Guys!" he said, "I just had a great idea."

"What is it?" the other boys all asked, each in his own way.

"I think we should have a camp out." He answered. "Maybe we could have it near the back of the ranch by the stream near the woods. Isn't that where you were when you told Star that you love Earl, Jack?"

"Yes, Jack replied, "It is so beautiful there. That would be a great place for a camp out.

"We have tons of camping equipment, and we can get food to fix, and maybe we could catch some fish too." said Colt.

"I like that Idea," said Earl. "I have never been camping before."

"Neither have I," said Jack, but I am sure I would like it, if you were with Me." he beamed that wonderful smile of his, at Earl. Earl blushed.

"When we get up in the morning, let's see if Pop and Poppa Mike think it will be ok, and then if they agree, we can start getting stuff together to do the camp out." Matt giggled as he found himself being kissed in a very interesting place and his attention was drawn away from any thoughts of camping, although, there were some tents being pitched. The two sets of boys began making the most interesting noises, squeaks and moans of pleasure, could be heard all the way into the living room, where Mike and JC were cuddling together on the love seat, as the level of hormones began to rise significantly, in both rooms.

James and I watched the entire spectacle take place, simultaneously. We got such a kick out of being in as many places at once as we wanted; we shared the love with all three couples, and added ours to theirs. They didn't know it, but their lovemaking that night had ten times more power than usual. It was our present to Earl and Jack, who were making love for the first time to another person. At first we were only going to enhance their love making, but then we thought why not give everyone a little extra boost. We might as well share the wealth, so to speak. They all looked so happy. James and I watched for a while and then we looked at each other and James said, "Hey, why should they have all the fun?" He pulled me to him and began to slowly massage my back and other areas that made me feel oh so wonderful. OH HOW I LOVE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!

The next morning at breakfast, Matt, asked JC and Mike if he and the other boys could do a camp out. I saw JC look at Mike and smile.

"You guys should do that." he said, giggling, looking at Mike, and grinning.

All the boys surrounded Mike and JC and hugged and thanked them.

"There seem to be a lot of firsts this summer." said Colt, "Jack and Earl's first lovemaking, their first camp out, and their first time being on a real ranch, among other things. I am going to go find all the camping gear, and try to get it ready to start our camp out."

He hurried outside toward the barn. The other boys soon followed him, after they thanked Julie for the wonderful breakfast, in the usual way, and she kissed them gently in turn.

Colt came back in, shortly and apologized for forgetting to hug her. He gave her a big kiss on the cheek and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Julie. I guess I got carried away with the idea of the camp out and wasn't thinking." he told her, as he kissed her again. "You are so good to us, and we all love you so much. Thanks again." He bounded out the door again slamming it behind him, making Julie jump as she always did when one or another boy or man slammed that darn old door.

'One of these days,' she thought, 'I'm going to get one of those door closing thingies that softly close the door, and put a stop to slamming once and for all.'

Colt and Matt had most of the gear ready to be loaded on the pack horses. Colt walked up to Ginger and asked her if she would mind carrying some of the camping stuff, as he handed her a piece of apple, one of her favorite foods. She took it politely and said, "thank you. I don't mind carrying things, but it was nice of you to ask me, and I do enjoy the treat."

Either Colt or Matt, each asked the various pack horses if they felt like carrying a load of camping gear to the campsite, after giving them each a treat. The only one that grumbled was Sugar. That little stinker wanted double the oats, or she was not going to allow them to put that 'damn contraption' on her back, and there was no arguing with her on the point.

The boys gave in, cause they didn't want to mess around resizing everything to fit on Fern. They gave all the horses extra oats that night, though, and all the others thanked the boys, but Sugar just grumbled.

After all the hassle, the boys finally got everything packed and moved to the little campsite near the creek where Jack told Star that he loved Earl. The horses had been turned loose to graze as they pleased. Then the boys set up the camp and had a nice fire going in no time. They had corn on the cob in aluminum foil drenched in seasoned butter. There were baked potatoes also wrapped in foil, and the steaks were grilled to perfection. Earl had the biggest smile that anyone had ever seen when he tried the food cooked on the open fire.

"I can't believe how wonderful it is." He told Colt. "I have never had anything like it before."

After the food had been consumed, or should I say vaporized, the boys cleaned up the utensils and put them back in the packs, for safe keeping. Then they all sat around the fire, snuggling up to their partner and telling all the spooky stories they could think of. As the evening wore on they got more and more tired and they all decided to turn in. They all slept in the one big tent, and there was only minimal hanky panky before they all fell into a deep restful sleep.

While all the fun was happening at the campsite, JC and Mike, decided to make the most of the opportunity afforded them by having the boys out of the house. They made passionate love in several different places in the house, and in different ways. The hot tub got a good work out, as did that huge bed. They tumbled around and made passionate love in as many ways as they could possibly think of.

"I never thought of doing that with a candle like that." exclaimed Mike, while JC cleaned the spunk off of it and put it back in the candle holder.

"Well, neither did I," said JC. "Till I saw it there last night, and I thought, Hey! Why not?" I think it would be cool to try to do something new at least once a week, don't you?" said JC.

"Oh God, I love you so much!" said Mike “You always manage to keep me on my toes".

Somewhere around one or two in the morning Mike and JC finished showering and crawled into bed exhausted, but very happy.

The boys spent three days camping, and only had to go back to the ranch house once or twice a day to get things they had forgotten. For instance Colt realized that to flip over pancakes, you probably should have a spatula. Fingers were not really suited for that job, and Earl had forgotten the sunscreen.

When Earl went back to the house at around two in the afternoon to retrieve the sun screen, he heard some strange noises coming from Mike and JC's room. Earl knew what that sound was, so he quietly walked past their door, and went out through the kitchen. Mike and JC were way too busy to notice the intrusion. Earl could have walked in and greeted them by name and they wouldn't have noticed.

I walked in the room with Mike and JC and sent them each a burst of love and kissed each of them. They both had their eyes closed, and they each thought, at first, that it was the other one that kissed them, till I said, "You two are doing a wonderful job. Keep up the good work." I know they both heard me. I giggled, and they heard that too. JC threw a pillow in my direction, which I caught and tossed back at him. I giggled again then made my way back out to the boys, to start a little mischief out there.

The boys were packing up the tent and other supplies and getting ready to go back home. I sent a big flurry of leaves flying around the boys, and then I dumped the wash basin off the tree stump it had been sitting on for a couple of days. Then I went up to the boys and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. James swatted me on the butt and told me I was going to get us in trouble if I kept it up, so he and I lay down near the stream and made love. I know the boys heard us moaning and grunting. But, hey we heard them so turn about was fair play, wasn't it?

Colt and Matt both knew who it was that was doing it, but they didn't tell Earl or Jack. I guess they were afraid that the other two boys would think they were nuts.

They packed up their gear and stowed it back on the pack horses and they slowly made their way back to the house. It was so much fun to see them having the time of their lives, but summer was coming to a close and soon the boys would be heading back to school. There were still arrangements to be made to get Earl out of the custody of his 'family', but that could be done anytime, since he would be in school with the other boys, and far away from the people that treated him so badly.

It is amazing how many things accumulate when you are a kid and start to collect stuff. The boys had a ton of stuff to take back to school with them, not including all the clothes that JC and Mike bought for them. Earl and Jack both were amazed that they each got completely new wardrobes along with Matt and Colt.

"You boys are part of the family now, and there is certainly no shortage of money, so if there is anything you need or want to have for school or for that matter something you just want for yourselves, all you have to do is ask and we will see that you have it." said Mike. All the boys hugged Mike and JC. And the love that poured out and back and forth between them all was simply breathtaking.

It was soon time to load the plane to take the boys back to school. Richard had made arrangements to have a van available at the airport to transport the boys and their luggage to the school. As Colt lifted the plane into the air Earl sat in the co pilot's seat and they headed for Crazy horse.