Everyone was quiet as they rode back into the ranch, and put up their horses and gear. Ralph walked slowly to the ranch house to report to Seth. Their conversation was short and friendly.

"I'm glad that everyone had a good time," Seth smiled.

"Yes, sir. It was a good break from the routine. Well, I'll be going and let you get to bed."

"You have a good rest too. We'll talk in the morning. And thanks for stopping by."

Seth waited a moment hoping to speak to Jesse before retiring. After a while he decided that he wasn't going to come to the house right away, and so he walked up to his bedroom.

Jesse and Calvin had walked off by themselves after getting squared away. The weekend in town had given them a chance to become better acquainted. They had spent almost all their time away from the ranch together.

"I wish that you could come up and stay with me," Jesse said as he held Calvin close to him.

"I understand," Calvin kissed him tenderly, then he teased, "I could pull the Romeo trick and climbed up to your window."

"You wouldn't!" Jesse was horrified.

"Of course I wouldn't," Calvin reassured him, holding him even closer.

"I'd better go in," Jesse sighed, "Father will be wondering what I'm up to."

"I suppose."

They hugged and kissed longingly, before Jesse pulled away reluctantly. They parted each going their own way.

Conversations the following week concerned the trip to town, and the adventures. Rusty and Jim didn't join in the talk, nor did Jessie or Calvin. The four of them had recollections they couldn't share with the others. It wasn't that the others didn't know that they were involved, but they wouldn't have wanted to talk about it.

Gradually the talk of the "holiday" subsided and when the first snow fell, the conversations turned to the winter ahead, and what the last one had been like.

Rusty recalled what Ralph had told them about had happened after it was over. Over half the men had left because of it. Ralph now assigned Rusty, Jim, and Jesse to go up to the high country again, and make one last search for strays. Ralph had not wanted let Jesse go, but he had begged his father to let him go. He'd never gone on such a search and wanted to get the experience. Seth finally relented and agreed that he did need to know what it was like, so that in later years he would remember and choose the right men for the job.

The three men packed food and supplies enough for a month, and their warmest clothes. They planned on only being gone for a couple of weeks, three at the most, but the extra would come in handy in case they were delayed by a storm.

Seth and Jessie embraced as they stood on the steps of the ranch house.

"See you later, Father," Jessie said softly.

"You take, Jessie," Seth said trying not to sound too concerned, and he add, "Now you mind what Rusty and Jim say."

"Yes, Father, I'll be good," Jessie smiled down at his father and winked.

Seth smiled back. He knew that he shouldn't say what he did. Jessie was a full-grown man now, and he knew what he was doing, at least for the most part.

Jessie gave him one more hug and hurried down the steps. He felt a little embarrassed by the emotion that he and his father displayed, especially when the other men were sitting waiting on him. But he truly loved his father, and wanted him to know it, even if he didn't actually say it.

Rusty and Jim waved to Seth as they rode away. Jessie looked back too and gave a wave. Seth stood watching as the three men rode out of sight. He looked startled when Ralph came up the path and stood in front of him.

"You going into town this week?" Ralph asked.

"No I hadn't planned on it. Why do you need something?"

"Yes there's a few things we could use. I hate to wait too long to get them. One never knows when the weather's going to turn bad," Ralph answered.

"Well," Seth said, "Why don't you and Jed go in, I'm sure he has some things he could use too."

"Okay, Boss."

"Tomorrow okay?"

"Sure, that'll be fine. I'll plan on leaving first thing in the morning."

"I'll tell Jed to be ready."

Ralph turned and walked back to the bunkhouse, thinking as he went about the things he need to get. He already had made a list. He went over it in his mind so he wouldn't miss anything.

Jim led the way with Rusty and Jessie riding beside each other, and Jessie with the pack horse tether tied to his saddle horn. They followed the familiar trail leading into the high range, and were soon climbing the rocky trail along the edge of the last low meadow. By dusk they were high above the low range and could still see the ranch in the distance. The lights from the house shown in the twilight. Jim suggested they make came beside the brook which fell into the valley below.

Their evening meal was quickly made as Jed had packed things for the first night that required only that they be heated. They sat about the fire smoking and chatting in quiet voices.

Rusty and Jim were looking forward to being able to sleep together. They had thought that Calvin would be with them on the trip, not Jessie. Rusty was a little embarrassed by the fact that he and Jessie had been together that one time, and he hadn't told Jim about it.

"Jessie," Jim said matter-of-factly, "You know that Rusty and I are going to sleep together. Would you like to join us?"

Rusty was startled by the question as much as Jessie was. He looked at Jim and grinned.

"I, … I guess that would be fine," Jessie said after trying to find words to say it.

"Good," Jim said, "It's settled then, I know Rusty won't mind, even though we never talked about it. He's pretty flexible." Jim smiled and winked at Rusty.

Rusty who was sitting across the fire from Jim picked up a small stick and tossed in Jim's direction. Jim ducked and it passed him by.

"Well, then," Rusty said, "Let's make up the bed then. I moon will be up soon, beside I'm getting chilly."

The three of them laid out the blankets on top of the canvas ground cloth and got ready for bed. With their outer clothes off and placed under the blankets to keep them warm and dry they climbed into their makeshift bed. It wasn't long before the long johns that they had left on were also under the blankets too.

Their bodies joined and their lips pressed against each other's. Passions rose quickly and with it the juices that flowed from within. They lay in a circular fashion, with Jim sucking on Rusty, Rusty on Jessie, and Jessie on Jim. The excitement of the situation affected them all, and all three were close within minutes of beginning. But it was Jessie who now that he was sucking Jim for the first time with Rusty sucking on him lost what little control he had. His hips thrust vigorously as he exploded sending a fountain of cum into Rusty's throat. Jim equally excited by the new mouth on his cock and hearing Jessie's deep groans let loose his load into Jessie's mouth. Rusty having held back as long as he could relaxed his control and flood Jim's throat with his thick stream of spurting cum. He thrust deeply into Jim's throat as he continued to spout like a mountain geyser. The three lay panting in the darkness trying to catch their breaths. Spent like three wild horses they tried to breath more normally again. Gradually first one than another slowed to an even, regular breathing.

"God!" Jessie sighed running his fingers across his own breast, "It was wonderful."

Morning brought the realization of the coldness of mountain. Frost covered everything. Ice had formed along the edges of the stream, in the quiet places near the grass that grew on its banks. Steam spewed forth from the nostrils of the horses tethered nearby, and rose lazily from the piles of dung freshly deposited on the grass.

Quickly the three men pulled on their clothes and boots and hurried off to begin their morning rituals. A fire was built and soon the aroma of coffee filled the crisp mountain air. The sizzle of thick slices of bacon frying on the fire could be heard as they readied themselves for the new day's journey.

Rusty who was tending the food and fire called out to the others, "Come and get it!"

Jessie and Jim didn't wait for a second call but hurriedly grab a plate and cup from the stack where they had been placed the night before and waited as Rusty heaped the plates with the bacon and beans. They helped themselves to the steaming coffee and found a place to sit nearby.

"You shore do make a fine wife," Jim teased, and he dodged a small stick thrown his direction nearly spilling his coffee in his lap. Jessie giggled at the jest, but managed to keep his coffee cup upright.

As soon as they were finished eating they cleaned up their camp area. Jessie fed the horses from the bag of grain they'd brought along. They were ready for another day's ride into the high country, and their search for stray cattle. The morning sun quickly warmed the air and melted away the frost.

By noon they crested a mountain peak, not a very high one, and looked down into a valley that none of the three recalled having seen before when they were on the cattle drive earlier. Far below was a herd of cattle.

"That looks like about three hundred head," Rusty called out.

"Quite a find," Jim said laughing.

"Well, I'll be," Jessie joined in.

"I wonder," Rusty asked, "If there are any more like these?"

"Won't know until we look," Jim said.

"What'll we do with these?" Jessie asked.

"Just leave them be for now. They won't go anywhere, they've got what they need."

Jim marked the spot on the rough map they had, and they headed off along the ridge searching out another valley. During the afternoon they'd looked in two more valleys without finding more cattle. Just as the sun was beginning to set they crested another peak and looked down to see more cattle grazing. In the poor light it was difficult to see them, much less estimate how many there were. Jim suggested they camp part way down to get away from the cold of the night air. They rode quietly down toward the herd, and finally found a spot suitable for their camp. They strung a canvas between two trees to give them more shelter than they'd had the night before.

After the fire was built and bedrolls laid out, supper was fixed, more beans with cured ham. Hunks of hard bread completed the meal that was washed down with a pot of boiled coffee.

Rusty washed out the dishes in the stream and stacked them where they could find them in the morning. Then he sat down with the other two men for one last cigarette for the evening. Jessie and Jim were sitting next to each other on the end of the bed. The firelight flickered on their faces. He could tell by the expression on their faces that they had been talking of personal things.

"You figure there are any more cattle out here like the two groups we've seen?" Jessie asked.

"I doubt that there are any as large as these, but it won't matter, we can't handle more than we've already found. We'll have to come back out and look some more," Rusty suggested, "after we get these back to the ranch."

"Your Dad's gone to be mighty please," Jim said laughing. "I don't expect he thought we'd come back with more than fifty or so." He turned to Rusty, "What do you figure we've got?"

"I don't know for sure, but I'd say at least five hundred head." Rusty pushed off his boots and unbuttoned his shirt. "Well, guys, I'm going to turn in. Check on the horses before you come to bed."

"I'll do it now," Jessie said and he got up.

Rusty didn't miss the print of his hardened cock down his pant leg, but did say anything.

"You don't mind?" Jim asked. He'd seen it too, and knew Rusty knew that he wouldn't say anything even if he did.

"Not at all, maybe I'll get some sleep tonight," Rusty teased.

"That's what you think," Jim laughed, "I'll still want mine when we finish."

Rusty reached over and cuffed him lightly. Jim reached out and pulled him close. They kissed tenderly.

"I love you," Rusty said softly, then as he pulled away, "Even if you are over sexed."

Jim laughed, "I wouldn't talk about being over anything. You still have the biggest I ever did see." He reached over groped Rusty, and found the he was already hard. "Talk about over sexed, I'd say you were really over-sexed."

To be continued