Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:23:41 -0400
From: Chris Johns <chris-johns@hotmail.com>
Subject: Compassion Pt 12

				COMPASSION
				Chapter 12

The Double M became a second home for Andy during the next couple of years,
with the open encouragement of his parents. Doug admitted to John one day
that he had never expected his son to grow up so self assured. After the
beating he was worried that the boy would withdraw into his shell and
become almost invisible to everyone.

"I don't know how academic Andy is Doug, but he would sure make a great
cowboy. He rides better than most of my hands, and I've watched him rope a
cow better than most of them as well. He's still too small for me to allow
him to down and tie them for branding, but apart from that the boy is
something special."

They thought he was so special that for his fifteenth birthday John and
Sheila, Jack and Darren, bought him his own saddle and a pair of hand
tooled cowboy boots, (two sizes too big for him), with some extra thick
socks to allow him to grow a little more before they became too small for
him.

Doug and his wife were the ones in tears when the presents were presented
to their son. Andy was just too stupefied to do anything except splutter
out a thank you before throwing himself into Darren's arms to say thank
you, then Jack, and then more sedately John and Sheila.

Darren turned to Jack and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I think it's great having a little brother Jack, don't you?"

That was when the dam burst and Andy dissolved in tears of pure happiness
that these two men that he worshipped thought of him as their brother.

In bed that night John unloaded his thoughts on Sheila.

"I think I may be assisting another family to put their son through college
Hun. If Andy expresses a wish to be involved with ranching I can justify it
to Doug by signing Andy to a five year contract as a trainee manager to pay
for his college funding. Jack will never be able to manage this place by
himself and run his veterinary practice."

Another year elapsed before John sat Doug and Andy down one Sunday after
Doug had come out to the ranch to pick up his son. Andy had made it clear
that ranching was where his heart lay. He had watched, listened and learned
from the cowboys, and from Jack and John so that he was a capable hand at
most tasks. His only set back was that he had remained small.

"The only thing that needs to be big to manage this place Andy is your
heart, and I know that is."

John had told him that in discussion with the boy before talking to Doug as
well.

"Doug, if Andy wants to do ranch management after college, I'll fund his
college expenses if he signs a contract with me for five years after
that. Jack will need a manager when I bow out, while he runs the veterinary
practice and Gavin will almost certainly retire when I do. After his five
years he can leave or discuss a new contract with Jack."

Father and son were blown away, but it didn't sound like largesse on John's
part, just a plain business deal, sponsored scholarships were common so
that's what this looked like.

"I don't know how to thank you John. We would have struggled to give Andy a
good college education. This looks like it solves a problem for both of
us."

"There is one more thing I'd like to do Doug. Andy comes out here almost
every weekend and works like a cowhand. I know he does it because he loves
the ranch, but I don't pay him. Now I would like to by buying him a Jeep to
travel by himself after he has his driver permit."

Father and son looked at each other in shock.

"That's too generous Mr. Hancock. I should be paying you for what you've
done for me since my beating."

"No boy, it's what you did for yourself. I bet 99% of boys wouldn't have
recovered from what you went through. It was your big heart that drove you
to where you are today. That's what I'm buying, and I reckon I'm getting
the best part of this deal if you go for it."

A handshake sealed that deal.

The next piece of fun on the Double M was Jack and Darren taking Andy to
town after he got his driver permit and helping him select a Jeep Wrangler
to his own spec. Of course, the selection of a Wrangler had nothing to do
with the fact that both Jack and Darren still drove Wrangler's the same as
they had since they were sixteen!

With his new mobility and his self assured attitude Andy thought he could
broach the subject of his sexuality to Darren, and ask for his advice. He
wanted a boyfriend, and he didn't have a clue how to find one. Problem for
Darren, he didn't either. Finding Jack had been a stroke of luck that he
never stopped thanking God for.

"I belong to the LGBT group at school Darren, and a lot of people think I'm
gay, but I don't get any hassle and I don't get hit on by other gays, so I
don't know who is, or might be boyfriend material."

"I would probably have been the same as you Andy if I hadn't been really
lucky. Jack found me. We were partnered in science projects after I had
been bullied and Jack came forward as my protector. I guess you are going
to have to look among the ranch hands for a kindred spirit."

Both men laughed at that because Andy and Darren thought that cowboys were
such a macho bunch.  That conversation did give Andy food for thought
though. Most of the ranch hands were too old for him to want as a partner,
but there were a few younger ones. He started to pay more attention to the
ones he worked with. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, mannerisms,
the odd words that might be inappropriate for a straight man to use, a
look, anything. There didn't appear to be any likely candidates among the
guys he worked with at weekends. That state of affairs continued until the
summer break before starting his final year at school.

"Andy, I've talked to your dad and he's okayed my suggestion. If you come
out to the ranch to live like a hired hand this summer, and next, I'll pay
you the going rate for a ranch hand. That will serve two purposes. You'll
build quite a substantial pot of money for college and you'll see how the
cowboys live, that will be good for when you come back to manage them."

"Gosh, thank you Mr. Hancock, I'd like to do that very much."

That was how it worked. John told the ranch foreman that he wasn't to show
any favouritism to Andy.

"You treat him like any other new boy Jake, move him round so that he gets
a good grounding in all aspects of working the ranch. You know he's not
very big so just be a little careful with some of the jobs, make sure he
sees how they are done but I don't want the boy hurt."

"I understand Boss, but I'm not sure there is very much more we can teach
him about the manual side of ranching, he is one verysmart kid. He'll make
a good boss one day, I reckon."

"I do too, that's why I'm going to hang on to him after college."

Andy moved into the bunkhouse and loved it from day 1. Some of the younger
hands were a little wary of him to start with knowing that he was a special
guy, who had been living at the big house when he worked at weekends. That
reticence didn't last long. Jake allocated work to him without showing any
favouritism and he settled in without any airs or graces.

About halfway through the summer John took on a new hand. He was straight
out of high school and had been brought up on a farm. Parents couldn't
afford to pay him so he had looked for work as a ranch hand. He could ride,
but that was about all that he was useful at for a rancher. Jake thought it
would be good to link him with Andy for everything except branding, Andy
still wasn't allowed the final bit of that operation and would not
therefore be allowed to teach it.

"Andy, this is Raul, I'm puting him in your charge, teach him as much as
you can. He's a good ole farm boy so he shouldn't be too difficult."

Raul blushed at that comment and Andy had a good look at this boy who was
only a year older than him. The two became good friends, living and working
together they lost most of their inhibitions around each other. In the
bunkhouse nude cowboys going to and fro from the bathroom were a natural
sight. Andy had been careful about scoping out his fellow workers but had
garnered a good idea of everyone's tackle. He and Darren had laughed at
some of the stories he had recounted.

"Lucky boy, almost as good as the locker room at school."

"Oh, much better Darren, the cocks are bigger."

Both men were laughing their asses off.

What Andy hadn't told his friend and mentor was that Raul looked as though
he had quite a good sized piece of man meat, and that the friendship was
causing him problems because a good deal of lust was creeping into his
thinking. He knew, from seeing Jack in tight jeans with chaps, that he had
a substantial package. So, could he ask Darren how he handled it,
particularly for anal. Summoning the courage he did. He then had to tell
him why.

"The new hand, Raul, has become a real friend and I want more from our
relationship. I don't know if he is gay, but if he is I'm worried about the
cock between his legs."

Darren realised Andy was serious so he stifled the laugh that wanted to
come out.

"Don't worry about his size Andy. As long as he opens you up properly
you'll be able to take anything he has."

That problem out of the way, the next thing was to try to find out if they
were of like minds. There were quite a few days when that became
possible. Riding the fences kept them out on the range all day, so they
stopped for lunch in the shade of some trees. Andy's self confidence came
to the fore now. He felt brave enough to question Raul about himself.

"How come you picked a ranch so far from home Raul?"

The boy blushed and stuttered out a reply.

"I just wanted to get away from all the guys I went to school with."

"Oh, weren't there any friends you wanted to stay in touch with?"

Raul shook his head and looked sad.

"Well I'm glad you came here. The only real friends I have are Jack and
Darren, and they are so much older than me."

"They're a pair of faggots aren't they?"

"That's a horrible word Raul, yes they're gay, and the two nicest people I
know. Darren saved my life when I was twelve, he and Jack are responsible
for me not being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life."

"Oh, what happened?"

"I was nearly beaten to death by a gang that thought I was gay. My dad took
me to Darren before the hospital because he thought I was too badly damaged
for the long drive. He was right, and Darren stayed with me until I
regained consciousness after six hours in surgery. Him and Jack made me
their project after that, got me off a ventilator and out of my
wheelchair. Darren was pretty brutal with me, but as you can see, it
worked."

"Are you gay then Andy?"

Andy looked down and mumbled. "I can't tell you that."

"You just have."

"What do you mean?"

"If you weren't gay you would have said no."

"Please Raul, don't tell anyone else, I can handle it but I don't want to."

"That's ok. You see the reason I came so far from home was because I was
caught having sex with another boy and was pretty well ostracized by my
school mates. I wanted the chance to start over. I've tried not to think
about gay sex but it's been awfully difficult being around you so much."

"Wow, are you attracted to me then?"

Raul looked at Andy, blushed a deep crimson and after biting his lower lip
for a while replied in a very unsure voice, "Yes Andy, I think you are so
sexy. I've wanted to kiss you and make love to you almost from the first
time I saw you."

Andy wanted to scream his pleasure to the heavens, instead he jumped on
Raul, pushing him flat to the ground before planting a serious kiss on his
lips. When he came up for air he was grinning like a Lune.

"Mmm, ditto big boy."

That was the start of a longer than planned lunch break. No messing for
these boys, Andy started undressing Raul. When he was naked he sat back in
awe. Raul was beautiful to his eyes, the cock wasn't as frightening as he
suspected, which made him happy.

"Oh Raul, I think you are the most beautiful man I have ever seen."

Raul laughed and replied, "But you see me naked nearly every day."

Stroking Raul's very hard cock, Andy laughed and said, "Yes, but not like
this."

"Well I'm going to find out if you are the same," and with no more to do
Raul stripped Andy naked.

"Oh gosh, I love that cock. Can I eat it?"

"You can do anything you like with it, as long as I can do the same to
you."

Raul had some experience and led the following action. He swivelled round
and took Andy in his mouth. Andy did the same, and for the next little
while tried to do the same to Raul, as Raul was doing to him. It was magic
for Andy. All the pent up feelings since he was twelve came out and were
channelled into satisfying Raul. By the time they had both taken a mouthful
of love juice they wanted nothing more than to snuggle for a while. The
snuggles went on too long and to make up for lost time they continued
working until it was nearly dark.
*******************************************************************************
The normal problems of life continue at the Double M Ranch