WACO’S
LUMMOX
By
Waddie Greywolf
Chapter
56
After
Shane serviced his beloved pa, and the mechanical cock crowed, they lay
together in an embrace and talked for a few minutes while they waited
for their hearts to crank over for the day.
“You’ve sort of
adopted the old man as your granddad, ain’t you, Master odd-job?” Cole
asked Shane.
“Sort of?” Shane
laughed. He hadn’t thought about it, but he had to admit
that’s exactly what he did. “Why not, I never had me one of them
either. Judge Potter suits me jes’ fine for a granddad. I
think I’ve fallen in love with the old man.” he admitted.
“I gotta’ admit,
I’m awfully fond of him myself, Master.” admitted Cole.
Shane felt so
damn strange for a minute. They were busy all day. Shane
didn’t
pay much attention to how Cole addressed him, but when he called him
‘master’ at that moment, it struck a dischord. Here he was
twenty years Cole’s junior, but looked even younger because of the
longshot. If you didn’t live in the community and met Shane for
the first time you would swear he was about eighteen years old; twenty
at the most. His physical stature and massive body development
helped make his appearance a bit more mature, but if you were fortunate
enough to see him in the nude it was obvious he had a very young
and supple body. He didn’t think of himself as young.
Paying one’s dues was something Shane knew about personally. In
ten years as a slave he paid his fair share. He was certainly
more wise and mature than his physical presence belied, but to have
this mature cowboy slave he considered a father figure for ten years
call him ‘master’ just didn’t seem right somehow. He loved Cole
deeply no matter their difference in age and he respected him beyond
measure. He considered all he was today as a man was due to the
strong, quiet, influence that was Cole Jenkins; something he could
never say for Bill Birdsall.
“Cole, I know
you’re my slave, and you wanna’ be respectful to me as you should be to
any master, but let’s set some ground rules or parameters for our
working and personal relationships. When I was a baby slave
you started calling me ‘odd-jobby’ because I had one hell of a time
training my bowels to operate on a slave’s schedule, but when I
couldn’t git no other slave to change my diaper when I soiled it, for
no amount of promises of service, you always took pity on me and did
the dirty job. To make matters worse, you never took advantage of
my services in return. I felt so damn guilty when I would have to
come to you and ask you as my last resort. You never once said
‘no’ or turned me away to go find another slave. You always took
care of me and for all my begging and pleading with you to let me
service you, you told me not to worry about it. As time went on
you shortened my cognomen to ‘odd-job.’
To be honest, at
first I hated the name ‘odd-job.’ It embarrassed me because it
fit me so well, but after I was broken and you continued to call me
that, it became something I learned to love and cherish about
you. Still do.” Shane smiled. “My point is, I don’t wanna’
give that up, because it reminds me of a time when I was the lowest
denominator and most humbly desperate of creatures who sought out your
generosity and compassion; but also, every time you call me ‘odd-job’
it reminds me of how kind and gracious you were to me. You
taught me a great lesson about charity and compassion which ultimately
resulted in me getting my sentence reduced by five years. For
that, I’ll always be grateful and indebted to you. I never
want to forget that. You taught me by example, as any good father
should teach his son. Therefore, I came up with ‘pa’ as a
nickname for you for obvious reasons. I don’t want to give that
up either. When we’re home together if you call me ‘odd-job,’
‘son,’ ‘boy,’ or ‘Shane’ I’ll know you mean it with love and
respect. I don’t need to be called ‘master’ or ‘sir’ all the time
unless you feel you need to make some point; same as when we’re with
the old man. I’ll tell him of our agreement, but I still expect
you to show him the respect he’s due unless he tells me different.”
“You know I
will, Shane.” Cole said quietly.
“When we’re out
in public, like today, I expect you to show him and me the respect
we’re due by referring to us as ‘master’ or ‘sir’ mainly to keep up
appearances and to keep some ignorant hard-nosed conservative bastard
of a slave
owner from accusing you of disrespecting your master. You can
also refer to me by my other title among our Grange family as
‘Captain.’ So do you understand my wishes, Pa?”
“I do, my
faithful odd-job.”
Regarding the
slave ritual, always watch me for a signal. I know it may seem
demeaning to snap my fingers for you to go into action, but it’s short,
neat and efficient; or I just may use the word, ‘slave’ and you will
know I mean to hit chore’ knees and pay homage to the freeman’s boots
I’m speaking with. I don’t know about you, but it’s one of the
things about slavery I’m gonna’ have a hard time giving up, but then
again my mama didn’t raise no fool when it came time for me to buy a
slave. Now I got me ma’ pa’s big handsome buckaroo boots to clean
and pay homage to anytime I want, right?” Shane grinned like a kid in a
candy store.
“Only if you
promise to do a good job, boy.” Cole laughed.
“If’n I don’t
please you, I fully expect you to turn me across yore’ knee and use
your belt on me. Is that understood?” Shane exclaimed, then
smiled.
“Are you
serious, odd-job?” Cole asked him.
“Dead serious,
Pa.” Shane stole a kiss. “And I promise, you will never be punished for
it neither.”
“You’re a piece
of work, odd-job. God, I love you, boy.” Cole stole his kiss
back. “I gotta’ admit I don’t mind the slave ritual a bit. I did
at first, but as time went on I began to see the deeper meaning of it
and found it immediately establishes a grounded relationship between me
and any freeman. I ask only one concession, odd-job.”
“What’s that,
Pa?”
“Please, don’t
never stop me from showing homage to yore’ boots when we’re in public,
and I think the moment calls for it.”
“Concession
granted, Pa. Any questions?”
“Naw, Sir, I
think we understand each other.”
“If you ever
want to talk with me about anything regarding our relationship and
you’re unsure about it, ask my permission to speak freely and if I give
my permission, say what you will within the boundaries of common
decency and respect. As the judge said to me the other day, I
would expect that from any man, free or slave.”
“Sounds like
good advice to me, Sir.” Cole didn’t hesitate to use the
honorific. Shane knew he was making a strong statement. It
said Cole knew what he was doing and for Shane not to concern himself
about it too much.
The men got
cleaned up and dressed in their best Western clothes. Cole always
looked like the last of the American cowboys to Shane even with his
clothes off, but dressed up in his Western outfit he looked like a
thirties or forties Republic Western cowboy hero. There was one
other mental picture of Cole, Shane carried with him. On many hot
West Texas days, too many to count, Shane would be working on a pony
and watching Cole out of the corner of his eyes, standing at the forge
with his shirt off, wearing his rawhide farrier’s apron, a piece of
rawhide tied around his brow to keep the sweat from his eyes, pounding
out and shaping a pair of horseshoes, his arm muscles working, so
clearly defined by the sweat and dust from his work, sweat pouring from
Cole’s head and massive pectoral muscles, dripping off his wet and
matted chest hair to make sizzling sounds as it dropped onto the red
hot coals of the fire. That was the mental snapshot of Cole he
carried with him at all times and could find comfort in
remembering. The mere thought of the image of Cole at the forge
never failed to cause an erection.
Potter was up,
dressed and had coffee waiting when the men knocked at the rear door
and walked into the kitchen of the big house. After greetings
they made breakfast. The men talked about many things.
Potter and Cole had more questions for Shane which he patiently
answered. They had one last cup of coffee and talked about how
they might travel to Charlie Goodnight’s ranch. Their old truck
wasn’t real comfortable so Judge Potter suggested they take his ranch
wagon or truck.
“You men said
you wanted to see my ship. I could have her pick us up if you
like.”
“I’d like that!”
exclaimed the judge.
“Me, too,
odd-job.” Cole added. Potter looked at Cole and smiled at him for
not attaching the word ‘master’ and reckoned correctly Shane and he set
some ground rules. Potter may have been up in years, but he was
still sharp as a tack; a bit forgetful at times, but that’s to be
expected of anyone as they begin to age.
“Kyron?”
“Would you like
me to send the Bluebonnet for you and your family, Captain Shane?” his
deep voice boomed.
“Thank you,
Kyron, I would. When Ms. Maybelle gits here just have her bring
us
aboard.”
“Will do,
Captain. By the way, Captain Waco, Ox and Patty are here in the
control room. They’re expecting family from Mars port in about an
hour. They want to know if they can come along for the ride?”
“Sure, be happy
to have them. Tell ‘em to come on.” Shane said.
The men were
more impressed than ever with the voice of Kyron. Shane tried to
explain about several different forms of artificial intelligences and
some they were working on. By the time he got to
describing the whale nodules, the Bluebonnet was directly overhead, and
Waco asked if they were ready to come aboard.
“Do we have to
go outside, Son?” Potter asked.
“Naw, Sir, jes’
put your coffee cup down and stand up.” Potter did as instructed.
Shane stood and indicated for Cole to stand, too.
“We’re ready,
Captain Waco.”
There was a
bright flash of light and the men found themselves on the bridge of the
good ship Bluebonnet.
“Woah!”
exclaimed the old judge.
“Dogies!”
exclaimed Cole.
“Welcome to the
Bluebonnet, Judge Potter, and Cole.” Waco was all smiles as he
offered his hand to Judge Potter. They shook hands and Waco
pulled him
into a hug. “Thank you for your gacious consideration and
generosity to
my uncle, Sir. Your courage and compassion will not soon be
forgotten.” Potter almost lost it. Waco’s big lummox stood
silently behind him, but he had a pleasant look on his face and smiled
approvingly from time to time.
Cole was looking
to his master for a cue. Shane nodded his head and Cole fell at
Waco’s boots to pay homage to them. Waco was a big fan of slave
protocol, but not because he was a conservative; far from it. It
just turned him on sexually to have a fine looking man pay homage to
his boots, and the smaller brain in his penis overcame his
compassion. Cole could almost sense it and made a fine display of
his humility. They completed the ritual and kissed a very
stimulating kiss.
“Damn, Mr.
Jenkins, no
wonder my uncle wanted you for his slave. Good choice,
Uncle. Welcome aboard Captain Shane’s ship, the Bluebonnet.
By the way, my lummox slave don’t speak, but he said to tell ya’ll
‘welcome.’”
“Thank you,
Master Waco and thank you, Ox. It’s a privilege and an honor to
be here. This is fantastic.” said Cole.
Sitting off to
one side was Patty dancing from one foot to another waiting for the men
to finish their greetings and acknowledge her.
“Come here,
pretty lady.” Shane called to her. She was in his arms with two
bounds and one giant leap, gifting him with numerous doggie
kisses. Shane started laughing at her.
“Oh, Captain
Shane! It’s so good to see you again. I ain’t seen you
since we got back from Venus. That’s too long and now you done
went and become a freeman. I’m so happy for you.” she went on
and on. Potter and Cole couldn’t help but smile at her
enthusiasm. They never heard a talking dog before.
“Miss Patty, I’d
like you to meet my new family. This gentleman is Judge
Potter. I’ll be working for him as foreman on his ranch.”
Patty ran over
to Potter held up her paw for him to shake. He smiled and gently
took her paw. “It’s a great pleasure and honor for me to meet the
man who freed my brother, Judge Potter. I can’t thank you enough,
Sir.” she gushed.
“It’s a great
pleasure for me to meet Shane’s pretty little sister and the honor of
granting Shane his freedom was all mine.” Potter assured her.
She next went to
Cole to offer her paw. He got down on his haunches to take her
small paw and smiled as he looked into her eyes.
“Cole, Cole,
Cole! I’ve heard so much about you. You’re far more
handsome than my brother described. You’re all Captain Shane can
talk about.”
“Patty!” Shane
exclaimed and blushed. Everyone laughed.
“May I give you
a kiss, Cole?” Cole didn’t know what to think but went along.
“Sure.” he said
as Patty placed both paws on his knees and gave him a big wet lick on
his cheek. Cole roared with laughter.
“Ain’t never had
me no better kiss, Miss Patty. I won’t warsh that cheek for a
week. I promise.” he swore laughing. Patty was
pleased. Everyone laughed.
“Nothing says
welcome to our family like a big wet doggie kiss. Consider
yourselves officially welcomed, Judge Potter and Cole Jenkins.” Waco
laughed.
“Gentlemen, I’d
also like you to meet my right-hand lady, Miss Maybelle.” Shane urged
and called their attention to a video screen over the bridge console
that just came to life. On the holographic video view screen was
projected the picture of a matronly older lady of obvious breeding and
grace, with her hair piled up and around on her head the way a woman at
the turn of the twentieth century might wear it. She was wearing
a bone colored,
lace filled dress with a high neckline with short puffed sleeves from
the same period. A simple strand of very tasteful white pearls
hung from around her neck almost down to her mid-section. She was
sitting in a white, high back, wicker, throne chair with a pitcher of
lemonade and glasses sitting on a table next to her. She was the
picture of Southern charm, grace and hospitality. She spoke with
a delicate Southern lilt to her voice. Her voice reminded Judge
Potter of an old television actress Suzanne Pleshette. It
reminded him of what a huge crush he had on her as a young man.
“Welcome Judge
Potter and Mr. Cole Jenkins to Captain Shane’s ship the
Bluebonnet. I would love to offer you a glass of my lemonade I
have here next to me if I were a physical presence, but alas, I am the
Bluebonnet’s artificially evolved intelligence. There’s really
nothing
artificial about me because I am the surviving organic brain of the
physical image you see before you. I requested this assignment
after my body gave up and expired, and I’ve had the pleasure of being
this ship’s coordinator and facilitator for a number of years.
Captain Shane is my first full-time captain. Allow me to humbly
thank you Judge Potter for granting our good captain his emancipation
and congratulations on your retirement. I know it’s going to be a
wonderful time for you.”
“Thank you, Miss
Maybelle. It’s certainly a pleasure to make your acquaintance,
ma’am. I hope you’re right about my retirement, but I don’t know
how many more surprises from your young captain I can stand before my
old heart gives out.” Potter laughed.
“Many more,
Judge Potter, I can assure you, and I can further assure, you will
experience many. Captain Shane will see to your needs and well
being. You need fear nothing with him. And you, Mr.
Jenkins— you are, indeed, a handsome cowboy. I told my good
captain he had good taste when he chose me out of hundreds of other
ships to bond with, I knew then he was an intelligent and sensitive
young man, but you exceed all my expectations for him. My, my,
my!” she gushed, “Miss Patty was so right to give you a kiss. I
would surely do the same if I were physically present. Until
then, Sir, consider yourself kissed.” Everyone laughed at her
brazen flirtations.
“Why thank you,
ma’am. I’m truly honored. You are a lovely lady.”
“Pshaw. Go
on with you cowboy, but it’s nice of you to say.” she giggled.
While they
talked they were docking with the Bandersnatch. Waco finally got
to Shane and gave him a big hug and a two dollar kiss.
“I can’t tell
you how proud I am of you, Uncle. You don’t know how much I’m
gonna’ miss you paying homage to ma’ boots, though.” Waco joked.
“Hey! You
know how to rip an ex-slave’s heart out, nephew. I said them very
words to my slave this morning.” they all shared a laugh. “We’re
here, gentlemen. This way.” Shane led the way. Waco
and Patty brought up the rear. They said their goodbyes to Miss
Maybelle on the way and thanked her for the ride. “You folks have
a pleasant day now, ya’ hear.” she said sweetly and signed off.
Potter and Cole’s brains were spinning. They were in awe of
everything. Cole could only remember Shane telling him he would
take him places he could never imagine, and here he was doing just
that. He wasn’t alone. Judge Potter was just as much in awe
and exhibiting childlike wonder about everything they encountered.
“Gentlemen we
could walk, but it would take us about fifteen minutes to git to the
heart of the ship. Best we use a gate.” said Shane.
“Is this ship
that large?” asked Cole.
“You saw the
size of Captain Shane’s ship. This ship houses three hundred jes’
like it, with room for two hundred more.” answered Waco.
Shane walked to
a terminal, punched in some coordinates and a gate sprang up.
“Last one
through’s a lazy old hound dog.” yelled Patty as she giggled and jumped
through the gate.
“This is your
first experience with a gate, gentlemen. Ain’t nothing to
it. You just step through, and you’re there. It’s like
going from one room to another. You need me to take your hand the
first time, Judge?”
“Naw, Son, I
don’t care to be a lazy old hound dog.” the judge laughed and walked
through.
“Neither do I,
Master.” Cole winked and stepped through. Waco, Ox and Shane
followed.
“Captain Shane’s
a lazy old hound dog.” Patty sang out and everyone laughed.
“I’ll git chu’
for that, you silly pup.” Shane laughed and ran after her. She squealed
and ran for protection in Waco’s arms. Shane reached out and
scratched her head and gave her a big kiss. Shane was her
love. With the entry to the Bandersnatch, Shane introduced Judge
Potter and his slave, Cole Jenkins to a fascinating and in some ways
more bizarre world than the land of Oz. The only difference was
the men had to keep telling each other this world was real and not an
illusion. They only had a few minutes on board the mighty Bee,
but they met and recognized many of the strange folks and critters
Shane explained to them from his video presentation the previous
evening. Most startling to them were the bio-mechanical men in
sickbay, the son’s of Admiral Long— Cable, David and Jonathan.
Potter and Cole couldn’t take their eyes off them and immediately
sported erections and wet spots at their crotch. Shane laughed at
them, but told them it took him months being around them before he
stopped doing the same thing. Now he thought of them as his
brothers and close friends.
They passed
through another gate onto Charlie Goodnight’s ranch. Since
everyone in the town of Reason were invited Lazarus and Charlie were
very careful those more unusual critters and folks living within the
colonies on board the Bandersnatch and other smaller ships were
restricted from coming to Saturday’s party. The colonies wanted
to celebrate their brother’s freedom as well and were promised another
party the following day. No one made a fuss because they all
understood certain sacrifices had to be made to protect and hide their
presence on Earth. The party at
Charlie’s ranch did have some unusual characters like several huge
Visallian warriors, but they looked like big muscle builders in cowboy
drag. They easily passed for Earth men, but there were many
others
who would not blend in. Much to their dismay the talking
pups were banned from attending and had to wait another day to be with
and celebrate their brother, Captain Shane’s emancipation.
Nevertheless, it was a good day and Judge Potter and Cole met many
wonderful, new, and interesting people in the community. They
seemed to separate into groups of those in the ‘know’ and those who
didn’t have a clue. The judge
enjoyed meeting the men Shane showed videos of who had the longevity
serum. Warren Steele recognized his old friend, but when he first
spoke to Potter and shook his hand, Potter didn’t recognize
Warren. Then it dawned on him when he finally made the mental
association from the video. He was astounded how young Mr. Steele
looked, but for a man who was considerably younger, Mr. Steele had a
big gut on him. Maybe the man loved his beer, Potter thought.
“You think’n on
joining the Grange now you’re retired, Clarence?” Warren called
him by his given name because they grew up together.
“My foreman
showed me some remarkable videos last evening of so many wonders it’s
hard for me to wrap my mind around them.” he replied.
“Naw, it ain’t,
Potter. You take it a little at a time, and it’s the most
wonderful group of misfits you ever might want to throw your lot in
with. There are some wonderful benefits. Look at me.
Took about a year for the serum to work its full wonders, but I feel
better and look better than I did when I was this age. We need
men like you, Clarence. You’ve been talked about a lot, but we
didn’t wanna’ get too close because of your political ties. Now
you’re retired, you have greater freedom to keep the two
separate. My boy, Sonny and his wife, and their boys are big
members. Sonny and Vivian adopted two wonderful alien children
called Evanescents.”
“Are they the
folks who disappear and reappear?” Potter asked.
“The same.
Ma’ boy and his wife won’t let them be alone with their daughter
because she always wants to talk with them about Jesus.” Warren
rolled his eyes. “My granddaughter, she’s the pretty little thing over
there with her fundamentalist bible thump’n husband, don’t have no
clue, but they know some strange things is going on. You know
it’s funny, they just seem to think my physical transformation is a
miracle. Well, in a way I guess it is, but it’s a miracle based
on science and technology they ain't got no clue about. It’s what
separates gods from men and men from superstition.” Warren
noticed Potter kept looking at his gut and smiled. ‘I know what
chore' thinking, but It ain’t no
beer gut, Clarence. I done swore
off alcohol years ago. Don’t tell nobody,” he whispered, “but
I’m three months pregnant.” then he laughed when he saw the look of
disbelief on Potter’s face. He reckoned correctly Shane hadn’t
gotten around to telling Potter everything. Potter laughed
nervously thinking good ole Warren Steele was just blowing cowboy smoke
up his butt. Warren told him how good it was to meet up with him
again and would look forward to seeing him around the Grange.
Chief Ten
Penny
came over to speak with the old judge. Potter was again impressed
he was not looking at a man in his late sixties. The Chief looked
sound and fit. He was very solicitous of Potter, and he also
urged him to consider joining the Grange.
“I started
changing within days of the longshot, Judge.” he shared with
Potter. “By one month, I was able to go a full day without taking
a nap in the afternoon, and big chief begin waking up in mornings with
heap-big totum pole.” he laughed at his use of phony Indian
vernacular. “Ain’t done that in years. By the second month
I was having sex with my squaws again. By six months I took on a
younger squaw. After a year I took on another younger than her.”
he laughed. Potter couldn’t help laugh with him. “All my squaw’s
got the shot. Now, I can’t keep up with all of them. They
gonna’ be the death of me.” Chief Tin Penny laughed, “Ma’ boys
and their families got it, too. All the Grange members got the
shot. I think you should consider joining us, Judge. You
won’t be sorry ya’ done it.”
Potter thanked
the Chief and told him he was convinced it might be the thing to
do. He stressed he’d fallen in love with Shane, and if he was
representative or a reflection of the people in the Grange, he would
certainly petition to join.
“That boy ain’t
had an easy row to hoe in his life, but I’ve seen a dramatic change in
him in the last five years since Ramrod Long came to Charlie
Goodnight’s ranch and the new Grange was formed. You won’t find a
better soul or partner to share with than Captain Shane Goodnight.” he
assured Potter. My grandson swears by him, and I trust that boy
with my life. Little Bear's the future of our tribe and Captain
Shane is
his sworn blood brother. That makes him a full member of our
tribe. We’re very proud of Captain Goodnight. He’s gone out
of his way to do many good and wonderful things for us. That’s
why we stood up for him at the hearing.”
Potter was
shaken by the sincerity of Chief Tin Penny’s words. The judge
was impressed and was all the more convinced he had been sent his own
personal miracle in the form of Shane Goodnight. Everything Shane
told him and Cole was turning out to be true. Shane was right
about another thing. The spread of food from Charlie, Lazarus,
Angus and the women of the Grange was phenomenal. Everyone ate
too much, but had a great time. Later in the day there were
several announcements and personal gifts for Shane and surprisingly a
couple for Judge Potter. Talk gets around in a small town faster
by word of mouth than any other means. The men of the Grange were
aware Potter planned to start up his ranch again and contracted with
Shane to be his foreman. No one knew for sure, but many suspected
they formed a partnership. They wanted to
do something to encourage him and Shane. Each of the ten major
ranchers in the area donated cattle to his and Shane Goodnight’s new
enterprise. The combined total was sixty head with one good
quality bull from Charlie. Charlie gave them two seasoned cowboy
slaves who knew Shane well and loved him. They volunteered to go
live and work for Shane and be his slaves.
Lazarus went to an
auction in another county for a rancher who suffered several terrible
health crises with his family which wiped him out. Even in the
mid
twenty-first century if you were a working class family you didn’t get
sick. If you did you were looking at financial ruin or
worse. The corporate theocracy didn’t run charitable health care
facilities. They weren’t about patient care, they were about
making money; the more the better. The rancher’s wife suffered a
long battle with cancer and his son had numerous health problems.
He was down to selling the last of his cattle, and his last two
faithful cowboy slaves he consider family members. Lazarus was
the highest bidder for the two mature cowboys. They were
understandably emotionally distraught about being sold and taken away
from their master of many years whom they loved and worked for most of
their adult lives. Lazarus purposely bid high to get as much
money into the seller’s hands as he could to help him. He gave
them to Shane and the judge. He promised the cowboys they would
be going to a fine ranch run by good men. They were somewhat
consoled when they learned their new owner’s last name was
Goodnight. The Goodnight name was synonymous with good business
and fair slave practices. Lazarus also purchased the rancher’s
cattle to give to Shane and Potter.
Lazarus’
personal gift for Shane was a bit more extravagant. He bought him
a brand new pickup truck. One of the latest model Fords 3/4 ton
with crew cab which ran on a combination of hydrogen cells and
bio-diesel fuel. Most ranchers learned to be self-sufficient and
produced their own fuel or they belonged to a co-op which provided fuel
for a more reasonable price than the oil companies. The oil
companies raised prices and gouged the American public for so many
years they finally suffered a huge implosion. With a collapsed
economy and major depression, following the crash of 08, no one
could afford their prices. No money. No demand. Bye,
bye big oil. Shane’s new truck was a beautiful, dark navy-blue
color and shined like a new penny. Shane and Cole were blown away
by Ramrod Long’s generosity. They agreed they would not use this
vehicle for a work truck. They wanted a panel truck with lots of
compartments for various tools and equipment.
Potter never
entertained what was his or what was Shane’s. He later set down
with Shane and suggested they form a partnership or corporation and
became the Goodnight/Potter Ranch Enterprises. Whatever profits
they made, they split right down the middle. Not only was it a
wise idea on Potter’s part, he gave Shane and Cole an incentive for
something to strive for. The carrot on a stick, the core kernel
of capitalism. While they had their farrier business to sustain
them, they had the promise of far greater personal rewards for hard
work through managing the ranch. Potter had a very lucrative
retirement package from the county, state and federal
governments. One thing the theocracy couldn’t touch and drain the
life from were men of Potter’s status. Political clout, religious
zealots and big money walk hand in hand and always protect their
own. Potter could afford to be generous with the men. He
was self-sufficient for the rest of his life. Whatever their
small corporation made was gravy for him, but he wasn’t a greedy man.
It was another
day of emotional roller coaster rides; not only for Shane but for
Potter and Cole as well. The evening came to an end and people
began to leave. Shane and his family stayed on for a while, ate
more good food but finally decided to take off. They spent an
hour thanking everyone with hand shaking, hugs, kisses and more
tears. Potter was so taken with it all he was exhausted and would
start to fall asleep if he set down. He was so tired from the
full day he was dozing off sitting at one of the tables with Shane and
Cole. Ida Mae Wallace packed them three big cardboard boxes of
food so they would have something to nosh on if they got peckish.
They climbed into Shane’s brand new pickup truck. Shane asked
Cole to drive. They put the old man in the back and made sure he
got strapped in. They no sooner got him into the truck when he
passed out. They left about nine in the evening, but it was still
light outside. The sun was starting to set in the West.
Cole reached over and took Shane’s hand in his.
“Happy,
odd-job?” he asked.
“I can’t
remember ever being this happy, Pa. No that ain’t true. I
guess there are levels of happiness. There were times in the past
when I was alone with you I was happy; happy just being with you
whether we said a word to each other. Like the old man told me,
life should be about building good memories. I have a happy
memory of the day you pulled the truck over and gave me your
present. Today was a fine day
to remember. I was proud of you, Pa— proud to have you by my
side.”
“I can’t tell
you how proud I was of you, boy. I never suspected your world
away from the ranch could be so different and interesting. I had
my doubts when you told me and Judge Potter about your life, but I’ll
never doubt you again. My respect and admiration for you has
skyrocketed. No matter what the future brings, I wanna' be by
your side.”
“You know what
I’d like to do this evening? What would be the perfect ending to
a great day?”
“I got me an
idea.” Cole grinned real big.
“You been read’n
ma’ mail, cowboy?” Shane smiled.
“Naw, odd-job,
wouldn’t do a thing like ‘at. I just think I know you well enough
to guess.”
“What’s your
guess, Pa?”
“You wanna’ pay
homage and make love to your old pa’s boots, clean ‘em up real good for
him, and sweet talk him into filling up yore’ tank again.”
“Hell, if you
ain’t a mind reader. Pert-damn good one, too.”
“Can we watch
more of that video of you and me?” Cole asked shyly.
“Does that turn
you on, Pa?”
“Shore’ ‘nuff
does, big time, odd-job.”
“I always
suspected behind that strong, silent, stoic, mature cowboy facade beat
the heart of a pre-vert.” Shane laughed. “Do we even have a T.
V.?” Shane asked.
“Yeah, I
uncovered a nice one in the family room.” Cole confirmed.
“If it works,
we’re in business, Pa. Then can we make another movie? This
one with the other stuff you threatened me with last time?”
“Damn straight,
Son! Wonder what the old man would think about that?” Cole smiled.
“Let’s jes' make
sure we git him the longshot before we show it to him.” Shane laughed.
“He had a good
day, but it was a little hard on him, I think. He’s
exhausted. We’re gonna’ have to put him to bed.” Cole allowed.
“I know, but I
don’t mind. ‘At’s what families do for one another.” allowed
Shane.
Cole was
right. They had to help the old man up the stairs and into his
bedroom. They laid him across his bed, and he was out like a
light. Shane turned down his bed and Cole slowly and carefully
undressed him. They got his nude body moved around in the bed and
tucked him in.
“You know,
odd-job, for his age, he ain’t got a bad body.” Cole commented.
“I know. I
been skinny-dipping with him twice. There’s just something about
him I wanna’ cuddle and protect. He’s git’n that shot
tomorrow. The sooner the better. I’ll have Cable run some
tests. I’ll have him give you the shot tomorrow, too.
Although, as a bargaining point I told my brother you’re a little long
in the tooth to be considered prime cowboy slave meat, you’re young
enough Cable probably won’t need to run any tests on you.” Cole frowned
at him. Shane put the back of his hand to his mouth and laughed
at his response. Cole grinned.
“I wish’t ta’
hell I could a’ heard that conversation.” Cole said.
“You can.
Remember them robo-cams? We can play it back if’n you want.”
Shane grinned. Cole shook his head and broke up laughing.
They each kissed
the old man on his cheek, turned on a small night light, turned out the
other lights and left the room. They walked out into the night to
find the same scene they experienced the previous night. The moon
was even bigger. They hadn’t noticed it in the sky when they got
home. Obviously, it rose in a very short time.
“That’s spooky.”
said Cole.
“Naw, it’s
awesome, Pa. It’s telling us we’re going in the right direction.”
They left the
truck parked by the big house and decided to walk up the hill to their
new home. Once again, Cole took Shane’s hand, and they walked
together in silence to the house. It was a moment of closeness
where words would only get in the way. Cole remembered
Shane’s comment to him about how he talked too much and smiled to
himself. They decided they didn’t want to watch the video after
all. Cole said he’d rather make a new one like they talked
about. It turned out to be a great success. Shane took good
care of his pa’s big buckaroo boots and the amount of tongue and tender
loving care he lavished on them was directly proportionate to the
amount of good, hot cowboy fuck’n he received from his pa in
return. To have sex all decked out in their cowboy gear was a new
experience for both of them, and it inspired them to new heights of
sexual fantasy and passion. They were sparing verbally with each
other to get their dirty cowboy talk to coincide with their on-screen
performances. They knew someday, some dork of a historian
somewhere, would probably play these videos back for posterity or for
his
master’s thesis and receive the shock of his young life. They
certainly didn’t want to disappoint or discourage the stimulating
inquiry into higher education.
* * * * * * *
Shane took care
of his pa again early the next morning, but they decided to sleep in
until six. They were used to getting up at four-thirty, breakfast
by five and out to work an hour later. The old man was still in
bed when they arrived at the big house. Cole made coffee and
Shane went upstairs to wake him. He was lying in bed awake with
his old pole tenting the sheets. Shane grinned when he saw
Potter’s morning woody.
“Come on,
Judge. We got coffee on. Get up or I’m gonna’ call Cole and
sic him on yore’ bone.” Shane laughed.
“I’ll git up.”
he jumped, “I don’t wanna’ use him up.” he said. “I don’t remember
coming home last night. Did you men put me to bed?”
“Shore’
did. We undressed you, discussed whether or not we should take
advantage and ravage yore’ body, but we decided it might not be a nice
thing to do. We put you under the covers, each gave you a
goodnight
kiss, tucked you in, turned out the lights and walked home.” Shane
grinned.
“Ah, then it was
them goodnight kisses what done it!” he exclaimed.
“Done what, Sir?”
“Made me have
more of my wonderful vivid dreams.”
“You had more?”
Shane sounded surprised.
“Oh, Shane— you
should have seen the beautiful horses we were raising. They were
huge. They looked like them Budweiser horses only different, but
they were only a few of the wonderful critters and people we had living
here on the ranch, and we were making money. Everything we
touched turned to money, and we used the money for good purposes, and
we were happy, and we had more family join us, and they were happy, and
...” Potter stopped abruptly.
“And what,
Judge?”
“I don’t know
about the next part. It got kinda bizarre. It couldn’t
possibly happen.” he shook his head.
“Tell me about
it.” Shane urged.
“We,... I mean
us,.... no, no, I mean you and Cole— well, we all talked about it—
decided we wanted children, and you got pregnant with Cole’s baby.” the
old man looked stricken.
Shane couldn’t
help himself, he started guffawing with laugher. He rolled on the
bed at Potter’s feet laughing. Cole came up the stairs to see
what all the merriment was about. Shane was almost in
tears. He got himself together.
“Forgive me,
Judge.” Shane told him, “Never discount your dreams. Ever!
I assure you if Cole wanted me to have his baby, I would in a
heartbeat, but you know what? I could tell you what that dream
means, but I don’t think you’d believe me. I’m gonna’ let you
find that one out for yourself. I promise you, you’ll discover
its meaning before this day it over— trust me.” Shane took his hand and
smiled at him.
“What’s this all
about?” Cole asked.
“Oh, nothing
much, the judge just had another dream about the future. In his
dream we decided, as a family, to have children, and I got pregnant
with your baby.” Shane laughed, “Was it a boy or a girl, Judge?”
Shane asked as an afterthought.
“A beautiful
little boy and when he was born, he looked just like his daddy. I
remember watching Cole cradle him in his arms and the look of love on
his daddy’s face. It makes me wanna’ cry.” Potter’s eyes got
watery.
“So he looked
like his daddy. Makes sense to me. ‘At’s what I’d want him
to look like.” said Shane. “Well, all I can tell you, Judge, is
me and my pa are shore’ ‘nuff work’n on it. We done made us
another video last night what was smoke’n.” Shane laughed “Ma’ pa
done fucked me so good last night I had to take ma’ buckaroo hat off
and fan my behinder. My old butt was so hot I thought my ass was
on fire. When he shot his sweet cowboy load I thought he’d
forgotten where he was and was use’n my ass for a pinball
machine. I felt it hit my liver, my spleen, my gall bladder and
then bounce off my prostate. Scored a thousand points, he did,
until I shot me wad, and the game went ‘tilt.” Shane roared with
laughter at his own crude cowboy nonsense. He remembered Phil
Pie’s outrageous deliveries and knew in his heart the old cowboy would
be proud of his sweet-meat baby slave boy.
“For God’s sake,
whatever you do, don’t show it to me!” Potter exclaimed, then
laughed. Cole didn’t know what to think, but he laughed at their
nonsense anyway.
They got Potter
up and into the shower. Then they went downstairs and fixed
breakfast. Cole was very quite while they worked. Shane
didn’t look at him, but could hear the wheels in his head
turning. Once in a while, one would slip a cog or make a grinding
sound like a novice truck driver who ain’t quite got double clutching
down pat. Cole remembered the voice in his head from several
nights before when he had his epiphany about Shane’s ass. ‘It shall
bear your children,’ it said. He dismissed it completely at the
time, but now with this new revelation, he was beginning to
wonder. What was it all about? Just before Potter came
downstairs, Cole turned to looked at Shane and grinned.
“Men don’t have
babies in your world do they, odd-job?” he asked quietly like he was
afraid to hear the answer.
Shane almost
broke up again. “Because I promised myself I’d never lie to my
pa, I’ll tell you the truth, but if you doubt me, after what you
witnessed yesterday, I’ll never tell you anything like this again.”
“I’ll believe
you, odd-job.”
“Yes, it happens
all the time. It’s quite common. Remember the big cowboy
you met yesterday by the name of Arlen Jones.”
“You mean
the big cowboy, Captain Jones, Master Long’s mate?”
“The same.
Remember the twin coyote cowboys?”
“Don’t tell
me...” said Cole and stopped.
“Okay, I won’t.”
Shane shutdown.
“No, no, ‘at
ain’t what I meant, and you know it. I have to know.” Cole
persisted.
“I watched
Captain Arlen Jones give birth to them boys.”
“No!
Really?” begged Cole.
“Careful,
Pa. I got videos to back me up.”
“So what Master
Potter dreamed last night might come true?”
“I ain’t say’n
it will, but it could. It’s within the realm of
possibility. Do you remember commenting to me after meeting Sonny
Steele’s daddy, Warren, how he must really like his beer, or he’s got a
tumor in his gut?”
“Oh, my
God! Is he pregnant?”
“‘At’s right,
cowboy. Either that or he’s got a very active tumor in him what’s
grown feet and kick’n the crap out of him ever’ now and then.” Shane
grinned at him.
“Oh, dear
God! What are you gonna’ tell me next.” Cole moaned.
“If you don’t
want me to, I won’t tell you nothing. You don’t need to know more
than I love you, no how.” Shane grinned echoing Cole’s own words.
“I guess I
deserved that.” Cole conceded.
“No, you don’t,
Pa. I’s jes’ being mean. You were right. I was
wrong.” said Shane. “Yesterday, you only got a glimpse of what you two
are gonna’ experience today. I can’t wait!” exclaimed Shane, then
fell out laughing. Cole looked at him and grimaced. It only
made Shane laugh harder.
The old man
looked revived from his shower. Shane fixed him a cup of coffee
the way he liked it and set it before him. They set down and ate
a good breakfast. You can bet talk was lively around the table
that morning. All of a sudden Judge Potter stopped eating and
dropped his fork in his plate. He was staring off into space like
he was watching a scene from a private movie.
“Oh, my
God! Warren Steele told me yesterday his gut weren’t no beer gut,
he was three months pregnant. I thought he was embarrassed by his
extra weight and was making a joke about it. When I didn’t say
anything he looked at me funny. I realize now, he was expecting a
different response. He really is pregnant, ain’t he, Shane?”
“Yes, Sir.
Don’t feel bad. The same thing happened to Cole yesterday.
I didn’t tell you men, because I thought it was a little advanced for
right now, but what the hell. You couldn’t help but hear about it
today. Ever’body knows about it. Ever’body talks about
it. It goes on all the time. It’s common place in the
colonies.”
“Tell him about
Captain Jones, odd-job.”
“You met Arlen
Jones, Judge. The big cowboy what’s Admiral Long’s mate.
You met the coyote cowboy twins. I watched him give birth to
them.”
“Oh, my
Lord. Then my dream was correct. You mean you could have
Cole’s children?”
“Sure could if’n
I chose to.” Shane confirmed.
The old judge
knew in his heart Shane was telling him the truth. In the short
time he knew Shane he never caught him in a lie. It wasn’t
Shane’s fault these things seemed strange or bizarre to him. Many
practices in other societies seem strange. He thought of the
Muslims and their extreme practices and devotion to dehumanizing
religious practices. He considered it a religion that never grew
or advanced from its primitive origins. It was just as backward
thinking today as it was fifteen hundred years ago. Cole decided not
to tell Shane about the voice he heard in his head. He thought
Shane had enough on his plate with the judge. The old man just
shook his head and started eating his breakfast again. There was
a pregnant silence around the table for a few minutes. Then the
judge decided to move on.
“When are the
slaves and cattle gonna’ be delivered, Son?” Potter asked.
“I told my uncle
and ramrod Long I’d get back to them after I talked with you, Sir.”
“You don’t need
to talk with me to make decisions like that. You’re the
foreman. Anything dealing with the day to day operations of the
ranch falls under the parameters of your job. I’ll expect you to
take care of those details. Just keep me informed.”
“No disrespect,
Master Potter, but my master is still thinking like a slave, and
probably will for a while. I’ll work with him to help remind him
of his new responsibilities and duties. He and I have worked
closely with Master Birdsall and Master Angus. We know the day to
day operations of a ranch like the back of our hands. We won’t
let you down.”
“Thanks, Pa.”
Shane said quietly.
“I knew you two
were a winning combination. I have no doubt about your
abilities. I have full faith in you men.” allowed Potter.
Shane was
momentarily embarrassed, but Cole was right. It was then Shane
began to realize how valuable Cole was going to be to him, not only as
a hard worker but continuing as his mentor and surrogate dad. In
several ways it eased Shane’s mind. Shane liked the idea of
himself
being in charge. He finally would have some say in how his life,
Cole’s life, and how life at the ranch would flow. He could plan
it and run it anyway he wanted as long as he continued to make money
for him and Potter. Just like Ramrod Long, he could make time for
both worlds and not neglect either. He decided he would make time
for his family as well.
“I’m bringing
back our four new slaves with us this evening. The two my brother
Charlie is giving us are men I know’d and would trust with my
life. They’re good hardworking cowboys and self-sufficient
workers. The other two I don’t know but are from a reputable
ranch in another county. Ramrod Long swears by them; says they’s
like the two ma’ brother’s gonna’ give us. They need a good home
right away. Ain’t no need for Cole and me to do all the work
around here when we got slave labor to help. Even though we don’t
have no cattle yet there’s enough around here to do to keep them
busy. Even if they have some slack time to relax and get
adjusted, that’s all right. While I believe in being firm with
slaves, I believe in fairness tempered with mercy. We ain’t
gonna’ be running no Simon Legree slave camp here. Cole’s gonna’ be
my ramrod, my top waddie, and I’ll have him put them to work to make
sure everything is operational and fix things that ain’t. They
can help with the repair work on the foreman and his ramrod’s
house. Also, they can be here for backup to take care of the
place and the critters if’n we need to be away for a day or so. I
ain’t having no cattle delivered for two weeks. When was the last
time you took a vacation, Judge?” Shane asked him.
“Never,
since my wife passed away fifteen years ago.”
“Cole and me
ain’t had us no vacation in years. Slaves don’t git
vacations. We deserve a week or two to git to know one another,
and for me to introduce you to the rest of my world. I guess you
two got a pretty good snoot full this morning.” Shane chuckled,
“But, there’s so much more that ain’t as shocking as a man having a
baby. Actually, once you git used to the idea it don’t seem so
unnatural. When you think about it, anyway life comes into being
is precious. It’s keeping it alive in today’s world what’s the
trick. Anyway, I guess what I need from you, Judge, is a decision
whether or not you’d like to join the Grange and become a part of our
family?”
“Yes, I thought
a lot about it yesterday, and more this morning. Something is
showing me these things through my dreams for a reason, and I’m finding
out the wildest of them are true. I think it’s trying to tell me
this is something I have to do. It’s something I have to know
about. Some things may take some adjustments on my part,
but I’ve
always prided myself on being open minded and capable of learning to
accept new
ideas. All in all, it’s just too damn fascinating to pass up a
chance like this. Of course I’ll join your family,
Son.”
“Good. We
can start the ball rolling today. We should get going as soon as
possible. I want to start in sickbay with Cable and his team to
check you out and give you both the longshot. Cable might want to
run some tests on you, Judge. I don’t know about Cole.
We’ll see. It won’t take long, then we can go through the gate
to Parsons.”
“There used to
be a town in Arizona named Parsons. I had a cousin living there
whom I loved very much. It was totally wiped out by a meteor;
destroyed the whole town; everyone died; there was nothing left but a
huge crater.” lamented the old man.
“Uh,— no,
Sir, they didn’t die. Admiral Long plotted the course of the
meteor and saw where it was gonna’ hit, raced to the spot in the
Bandersnatch, and lifted the whole town into his ship and miniaturized
it. The meteor fell to Earth, but there was nothing there but a
big crater when it hit. It just made a bigger crater.
That’s where the party is being held today. Your cousin is
probably still alive and well on the Bandersnatch.”
“My God that
would be fantastic.”
“What’s his
name, Judge?”
“Her! Her
name is Estelle Potter. She never married.”
“Kyron?”
“There is an
Estelle Potter who lives at 343 West Laurel Lane in Parsons.” came
Kyron’s deep voice.
“My God in
heaven. She still lives at the same address. That had to be
ten years ago or more.”
“Eight, to be
precise, Judge Potter.” corrected Kyron. “She still teaches Latin at
the high school and is active in women’s league, two quilting circles,
she sings in her church choir and is involved in many other civic
activities.” added Kyron. “She’s currently learning to play the violin
to become a part of the Parsons’ newly formed philharmonic. There
are a number of fine musicians in the other colonies. They will
give their first concert this fall. Right now, she’s in her
kitchen baking you some cookies, Judge. She was informed you
might be coming to Parsons today. She’s looking forward to
reuniting with you again.”
“Thank you,
Kyron.” Shane said. The old man started to weep for joy his
cousin was still alive.
“She’s the only
relative I have left. I thought she was dead. Why hasn’t
she tried to contact me?”
“After the town
was brought aboard the Bandersnatch, the Admiral let them watch the
meteor hit where their town was. It was a sobering sight for them
to realize the man in the huge spaceship rescued them from certain
death. Admiral Long never made anyone stay who didn’t want
to. He gave them choices. He would set them down anywhere
they wanted if they didn’t wish to stay. He even gave them large
sums of money to get reestablished, but he asked them not to tell what
happened to them. Some chose to return to Earth, but many didn’t
and stayed on with the Admiral. A few who were returned didn’t
keep their agreement and tried to tell their story, but no one believed
them. They were just considered another UFO freak. Those
who chose to stay reaped the benefits of an advanced civilization and
are living a good life today. She probably regrets not being able
to contact you, but she made her choice. Just like your made a
choice to join us, Sir.”
“When are we
leaving, Son?” he asked anxiously.
“As soon as we
clean up the dishes. I don’t think we’ll feel like doing them
this evening, and I’d like not to leave them for Mrs. Huggins in the
morning. I’d like her to find a clean kitchen. It won’t
take us but a few minutes. Grab your hat, Judge, and have another
cup of coffee while Cole and I do the dishes.”
It didn’t take
Cole and Shane but a few minutes working together. They left the
kitchen spotless. They decided to take their new ‘Cowboy
Cadillac’ which just happened to be a Ford. It still had the new
truck smell about it that made it seem luxurious and reeked of
comfort. Other than Shane’s ship, it was the first new vehicle
for both of them. They were thrilled and somewhat in awe of it.
They arrived at
the Goodnight ranch, but everything was quiet. It was
still early in the morning though, and little seemed to be going
on. Shane instructed Cole to park
next to the old barn. They no sooner got out of the truck when
out the back door of the big ranch house came eight boarder collies
yelling Shane's name at the top of their voices and only one, the older
female was barking. That was Happy the mother of the six pups
accompanied by her spouse Scraps. Two of the pups, Larry and Shep
wore head bands which showed the Visallian house they belonged to and
their rank. They were very proud of them and wore them
everywhere. They felt it set them apart from their brother’s and
sisters. Moe and Laverne were visiting from the colonies.
A
surprise for Shane was Maxine was among them. She went to live
with Sheriff Lassiter and his family who had an autistic
daughter. Maxine became her constant companion, and her window to
the world. Shane later found out the little girl contracted a
particularly virulent form of pneumonia and died quite suddenly in her
sleep before the family could get medical treatment for her.
Maxine woke when she heard the little girl stop breathing and rushed to
alert her family, but the child was dead before the paramedics could
get there. Maxine was unconsolable and blamed herself. She
was depressed and wouldn’t eat. She lost a lot of weight and the
Lassiters were worried about her. They tried to reason with her
there was nothing she or they could’ve done. Maxine continued to
spiral into depression. As much as they loved her and considered
her part of their family, they were so concerned they decided it would
be best to return Maxine to the Goodnight ranch to be close to her
family. She’d been back at the ranch almost a week and was
already
gaining back some of the weight she lost.
The pups just
had to meet Judge Potter whom they all referred to as the ‘great
emancipator.’ Patty told them all about meeting the judge and the
handsome Cole Jenkins, Captain Shane’s slave. Potter
couldn’t get the smile off his face. He was so impressed with
seven talking dogs. Shane explained their mother, Happy, could
only say a few words. She learned basic words to communicate what
she wanted or how she felt about something. She learned one word
very well, ‘No!’ She was constantly getting onto the pups even as
old as they were. You could hear her yell at them across the yard
when they were misbehaving, “No, no, no!” Alas, a mother’s job is
never done.
Lasarus, Arlen,
Charlie, Hank Morgan, Waco, Lucas, Little Bear, Travis, JR,
Indigo/Blue, Gavin, Jerry, Bron, Bronc, T’gan and the four coyote
cowboys came out of the house to welcome them. Bryce was not with
them. He shacked up with his main squeeze Blake Tindell for the
night. They would be along later. The men just finished
breakfast. From the barn lumbered Waco’s giant lummox Potter and
Cole met on Shane's ship. He was accompanied by Ping and
Pong and Jack and Jill. They ran, hopped and jumped to Judge
Potter and were all over him. He was thrilled to see them
again. They silently introduced their parents to him and he and
Cole graciously acknowledged them. Potter thanked Ping and Pong
for allowing Jack and Jill to come to his horse’s rescue. They
seemed pleased by his kind words. Cole and Potter met all the
humans the day before but had a difficult time keeping track of who was
whose and where they belonged. This assembly made it a little
more understandable. Shane spoke for his family.
“Judge Potter
has decided to join the Grange and our extended family.” Everyone
shook his hand and congratulated him. “Could we get him fixed up
this morning, Admiral?”
“Don’t see why
not. It’s early, and I don’t think much is going on. Folks
won’t start arriving for another couple of hours or so. C’mon,
let’s go on board the Bandersnatch and see what ma’ boys are up
to. As you know they don’t never sleep.”
“Lazarus led the
way. He asked Arlen to go with him, invited Charlie, Waco, Lucas,
and Indigo/Blue but dismissed the others so there wouldn’t be so much
confusion in sickbay. The old man and Cole had no trepidation
going through the gate this time. Potter marveled at how quickly
the human mind can adjust to new situations. Cable and his
brothers graciously welcomed the men to sickbay and immediately ran a
few tests. They took blood samples from both men which were
analyzed in minutes. They did a full body scan on both Judge
Potter and Cole Jenkins. Cole was healthy as a horse, but Cable
noticed most of his teeth needed replacing. He decided Cole would
have to lose them all, but Cable wouldn’t extract them. He would
inject him with a regeneration serum that would cause new buds in the
sockets of his teeth to form and start growing. The new
teeth would destroy the roots of the old teeth as they developed.
The old would simply fall out, like baby teeth. They gave him
both shots, including the longshot. The old man was a bit
different. Cable spotted something on his prostate and brought it
to Lazarus and Arlen’s attention. Cable asked him a few questions
about urination. How often he went, and did he experience any
pain? He answered ‘no’ to all questions.
“We found a
cancerous growth on your prostate, Sir, but not to worry, from all our
test it seems to have been neutralized. It’s in the process of
being absorbed by the rest of your body. It’s highly unusual
because prostate cancer is one of the fastest growing, most aggressive
cancers
in men. Have you been doing anything unusual lately or eating
some foods you haven’t been eating before that might cause it to be
killed and go into remission?”
“No, I can’t
think of anything. Other than going skinny-dipping with my new
ranch foreman a couple of times in the old creek on my property.”
“Did you happen
to swallow much of the water?”
“No, I don’t
think so. Shane and I played around some and did a little ass
grabbing but not much.”
“Did you have
much full body contact with Captain Shane, Sir?”
“Why, yes, we
did any number of times. He held me in his arms and we
talked. I felt very comfortable with the young man and his close
physical contact was relaxing and comforting to me. We even
kissed a couple of times as I remember to seal our bond of friendship
and trust with one another.”
“Thank you,
Judge, that pretty much tells us what we need to know. Something
we’ve suspected for a while now.” Cable smiled at him.
“What would that
be, Sir?” Potter asked Cable.
“In your stack
of letters you received about Captain Goodnight were their any which
claimed miraculous healing after a visit from him where he touched or
hugged someone?” Cable inquired.
“Many. He
and a couple of other cowboy slaves would go to individual homes and
hospitals in our county to perform rope tricks and talk to the children
about the life of a cowboy slave. They did it as volunteer work
and not because their master ordered them to. Most of the
children whom Shane visited he would hold or touch in a benign manner,
and they claimed it was because of him they recovered; none of the
other cowboys, just Shane. They would pester their parents
relentlessly until they got them to sit down and write me a
letter. I never gave it much thought other than he was a fine
young man for going out of his way to comfort sick children. You
mean to tell me— ?”
“Yes,
Sir. We suspect Captain Shane is developing into a healing
empath. He hasn’t fully bloomed yet as several of our other
family members, but after his heroic work on Venus, we think his powers
have been greatly enhanced. We think you have Captain Shane to
thank for the death of your prostate cancer. Anyway, other than
that, you are sound, and I will be happy to administer the longshot for
you. You should start to feel its effects almost immediately
stamina wise, an almost instant increase in your libido, but it will
take several days, perhaps a week or more, for you to begin to notice
any physical changes. Would you like a new, full set of teeth,
Sir? They will be better than the ones you have now, more perfect
and will never suffer decay or rot.”
“Who
wouldn’t? Of course, Sir, I would be most grateful.” Potter
agreed.
“Good, you
wouldn’t want a new car with old grillwork, would you?” Cable
asked rhetorically. Potter smiled at him. “We would like to
see you again in about a week to confirm our observations regarding
your prostate. I will ask Kyron to remind Captain Shane. We
want to make sure it’s going away and hasn’t started regrowing. I
think there’s little chance, but to be on the safe side make sure you
give Captain Goodnight a couple a hugs, perhaps when you wake in the
morning and once before you go to bed in the evening so you may have
full body contact, and perhaps a couple of goodly kisses per day until
further notice. That shouldn’t be too difficult a pill for you to
swallow, will it, Sir?” Cable smiled at Potter.
“Not at all,
Sir, but I feel certain Captain Goodnight may be addictive. I
just hope I don’t run the risk of becoming dependent or worse suffering
an overdose.” Potter laughed at his cleverness.
“Little chance
of that, Judge.” Cable assured him. “Physical contact with others of
their kind is necessary for the generation and preservation of good
health for all primate species. As a matter of fact, my brothers
and I find we have a higher output level in direct proportion to the
number of humans, with which we have physical contact. We’ve yet
to establish a required minimum daily dosage, but a brief period of
mega-doses of much harsher substances is quite common in medicine and
alternative therapies and will have no ill effect.” Cable spoke like a
knowledgeable doctor prescribing a potent medication. ‘If it's
true, Shane can heal prostate cancer, he is, indeed, potent,’
thought Potter. He wondered if Shane didn’t have a little of the
‘omni’ in him. Cable gave him both shots and they were done in
sickbay. Cole and Potter graciously thanked the bio-mechanical
men. They were still sporting erections when they left.
Cable, David and
Jonathan promised Shane they would see him later in Parsons. They
had become quite custom to leaving the Bandersnatch for the comfort of
attending functions in the nude in the small town. Everyone knew
and loved them and had no problem with them walking among them
naked. Many others chose to do the same. Most came to them
regularly for medical attention and considered them close
friends. They were welcome everywhere they went. For some
reason children found them particularly attractive and had no
compunction running to them for a hug or a quick kiss. Potter and
Cole decided they would certainly have no compunction doing the
same. The beautiful men knew all the children’s names, would make
over them, inquire about their family, their health and if they had
been good, brushing their teeth regularly, and taking care of their
little brothers and sisters.
Judge Potter’s
first stop after arriving in Parsons was to head for his cousin’s
house. It was within walking distance from the gate and Potter’s
mind raced back to a time when he last visited the small town.
Little changed in eight years. It looked perfectly preserved and
all the small houses were immaculate. Not one had a neglected
lawn or needed maintenance. Every shutter was in place. It
looked like something out of a Disney movie. He came to his
cousin’s house on Laurel Lane and almost wept when he saw the perfectly
taken care of small two bedroom cottage. He remember how many
times Estelle told him ‘Laurel Lane’ was named for Rhododendron maximum
and not Stan. She asked Kyron if he would be so kind to alert
her to her cousin Clarence’s arrival, and she was waiting at the front
door for him. Shane and Cole
stood back with their hats in their hands as they watched the old man
sob his heart out in his cousin’s arms. She was a nice looking,
prim and proper middle aged women whose eyes were bright and full of
intelligent mischief. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body,
but she loved a good laugh and would set you up in a heartbeat.
The old man got himself together. She took one look at him and
declared,
“Look and you, Clarence. You’ve allowed yourself
to get old. I thank God you found young Captain Goodnight in time
and had the good sense to befriend him, and knowing you like I do, you
probably thought you were doing him a favor.” she laughed
wickedly. She held out her hand for Shane and Cole. “Come,
Captain Goodnight and Mr. Jenkins. Welcome to my little
home. It isn’t much, but I do so love it.” She picked up an
eight by ten glossy photo of Shane she had sitting on a small table
waiting to be framed and handed it to him. “Please, Captain
Goodnight, would you do me the great honor of autographing your picture
for me. I would be most grateful.”
Potter and
Cole’s mouths dropped open.
“I’d be proud
to, Miss Potter. Please, call me Shane, ma’am.”
“Nonsense, young
man. You deserve your honorific title of 'Captain,' but I will
concede to Captain Shane as others refer to you. I’m so honored,
Sir, to have you in my home.”
“Why, thank you,
Miss Potter, the honor is mine, I assure you.”
Shane signed the
picture: To Miss Estelle Potter, my gentle and gracious friend.
All my love, Captain Shane Goodnight.
“That’s just so
like you, Captain. What a nice, sweet sentiment.” she spoke
sincerely. Shane blushed. “I can tell by the looks on you
men’s faces you have no idea the accomplishments of this young man and
his cowboy brothers. I can assure you he is a great hero to the
people of the colonies, Mars and Venus.”
Potter just
looked at Cole and shook his head. She knew all about what her
cousin Clarence had been up to and followed his career from afar.
She apologized for not being able to contact him, but perhaps he
understands now why it would have been imprudent for her to try.
Potter couldn’t get over how young she looked. She didn’t look a
day over thirty-five or forty at the most. Compared to her,
Potter could be her father when, in actual years, they were the same
age. She served them fresh baked cookies and a delicious pink
lemonade. They had to be the best cookies Shane and Cole ever had
and told her so. It got them a couple more. Potter wanted
to stay
and let Shane and Cole go on without him. Estelle put the kibosh
on that idea.
“Nonsense,
Clarence, you go with these young men and get to know our world.
If you are to be his business partner you need to know these things
about him. We have nothing but time to catch up and visit with
one
another. I will expect a weekly visit from you, preferable on a
Saturday or Sunday afternoon for a progress report on yourself, your
sojourn into our world, and updates on Captain Goodnight and his
handsome cowboy slave, Mr. Cole Jenkins. Of course, Captain Shane
and Mr. Jenkins have an open invitation to accompany you on any of your
visits when they can spare the time to get away. They are always
welcome. I’m busy weekdays with my teaching job and my evenings
are mostly filled with activities. I’m also currently seeing a
nice man from one of the other colonies, and he takes some of my
time. I love you, Clarence, and I’m so glad we’re in each others
lives again. I just want you to know you’ve done the right thing
by joining the Grange, becoming a part of our family and our small
world. You won’t regret it, I assure you.”
Shane fell in
love with Miss Estelle Potter. One day he hoped to sit in her
Latin class and translate the classics. Cole found her to be a
classy lady with a great deal of strength, wit and charm. She
assured Captain Goodnight she would see him later at the several
functions. She would not miss it for the world and thanked him
again for his kind autograph. She would always treasure it.
Potter and Cole heard rumors of Shane’s popularity elsewhere, but it
was their first dose of the adulation Shane commanded everywhere he
went. It was not to be the last.
“Cole,” Potter
said to him during the day, “how are you adjusting to all of this?”
“Adjusting?”
Cole
laughed, “Adjustment has no meaning in my master’s world. I no
sooner think I can handle some new concept when around the next corner
we’re presented with something else to accept. There ain’t no
time
for adjustment. It’s like waking up in a different world, but
think about it, Master Potter, would you wanna’ go back before we
had Shane in our lives.”
“Good point,
Son. No, at best I was looking at a very lonely old age.
Now, I’m not sure what old age means anymore.” Potter patted Cole on
the back like a comrade at arms, smiled and shook his head.
The good people
of Parsons decided to hold a carnival and rodeo for the day. The
carnival would go on all day, but the rodeo was suppose to run only for
a couple of hours. It always ran over and became a standing
joke. Nobody cared as long as they were having a good time, and
there was always enough variety and surprises to be thoroughly
entertaining. No one ever left a rodeo in Parsons yawning.
It was not yet
midmorning as they walked away from Miss Estelle Potter’s neat little
cottage waving goodbye to her and headed for the downtown section of
Parsons. The good folks of Parsons went all out, and there were
giant banners proclaiming: Congratulations Captain Shane. We Love
You. Another read: Captain Shane Goodnight Our Hero. Potter
and Cole were impressed. Everywhere they went there would be
adoring crowds gathered around Shane asking for his autograph, just to
touch
him,
to tell him how proud of him they were and congratulate him on his
emancipation. Potter and Cole could tell they genuinely loved
Shane.
As they walked
along they came upon Strom, Lyle Chambers and their family of Kuluke,
T’kan and Strom’s young son Storm who was just learning to walk.
He held onto his big daddy’s hand with his left and his smaller daddy’s
hand with his right. Shane introduced them. Strom was one
of a few lummox who learned to talk and didn’t mind speaking. He
didn’t talk a lot, but he made a great effort to be social. Their
adopted son’s Kuluke and T’kan quickly picked up speech and were his
primary motivators. They were after him all the time to talk with
them and were loving, supportive and patient with his efforts. It
became sort of an extra bond with them. Kuluke and T’kan had the
extra support of an English teacher for their other dad and learned
proper English, but would still lapse into the cowboy lingo with their
cowboy brothers. Kuluke and T’kan were all over Shane hugging him
and patting him on the back. They were thrilled with his
emancipation. Lyle gave him a good handshake and a hug.
Strom picked Shane up like he was nothing and held him to his huge
chest, snuggled him and sang to him. Finally, he said in a deep
voice, “Strom love Captain Shane. Strom make Captain Shane his
son.”
“I would be
pleased and humbled to be your son, Strom. I couldn’t think of a
greater honor.” Strom squeezed him again and set him down.
Potter and
Cole’s eyes were bulging out of their heads.
“Judge Potter
and Cole Jenkins may I introduce the family of Mr. Lyle Chambers, his
husband Strom and their three bairns Kuluke, T’kan, and the baby of the
family, Storm. You remember Mr. Chambers, Judge? He used to
teach English lit in high school in Reason for many years. Now he
teaches at the high school in Parsons. He and Strom bonded
several years ago and decided to have a family. They are
successful farmers in the community.”
“Of course I
remember Mr. Chambers. What a fine looking family.” Potter
was a little intimidated by the size of Strom. “How old is the
little one.” he asked.
“Let’s
see. When did I give birth to little Storm? Do you
remember, daddy?” Lyle asked Strom.
“Ten and three
months.” Strom boomed.
“Get use to it
gentlemen.” said Shane, “There are several human-lummox couples in the
colonies, and they are very happy together. Your old friend
Warren Steele mated with one of the biggest lummox on record.
They fell in love and now Warren is carrying his mate, Horse’s
bairn. One of the greatest and strongest bondings known in the
universe are male human and male lummox. You will learn more
about it as we go along. During the
morning they ran into Warren Steele accompanied this time by his mate,
Horse, who was, indeed, the largest lummox Potter or Cole ever ran
across. He was not only tall but immense. They were with
Jack Hall and his mate Buck Hall who were dressed in their buckaroo
finest. Once again Potter was impressed how young Jack Hall
looked in comparison to how he remember him in his court several years
before. He looked great and his mate was a stunningly handsome,
well built young man.
“We got the same
last name, Judge, because I adopted Buck as my son, but that weren’t
enough for me. I didn’t want no self-righteous religious
hypocrites saying we’s living in sin ‘cause I’s bang’n ma’ boy, so I
done went and asked Admiral Long to marry us about a year and a
half ago. Ain’t sorry I done it, neither.” Jack Hall
explained. Potter and Cole were again stunned. They just
assumed Jack Hall was the very straightest of cowboys. He was—
once. He didn’t bother to explain Jesse Watkins gift to him and
Buck. In the colonies, no one cared. Neither did Jack
anymore. He had what he wanted out of life. Personal
happiness has a way of overlooking the pettiness of the world.
Potter shook hands with his old school chum Warren Steele again.
“Please, Warren,
allow me to apologize for my inappropriate response yesterday.” Potter
said.
“No apology
necessary, Clarence. I done reckoned you ain’t been told about
our ways here, and that’s all right. I have several weeks left to
go, and I’ll give birth to ma’ first bairn. H’it ain’t gonna’ be
my last, neither. Horse and I done decided we want a big
family. The birth of a new bairn is a special occasion among the
colonies because there are so few left. Their species was almost
wiped out, but we’re doing our small part to try to increase their
kind. The birth of any new bairn becomes a social event, and I’d
like to invite you to witness it if you like. I know Captain
Shane will be there. He’s already done promised me and
Horse. You’re certainly welcome to come, too, Mr. Jenkins.
Many men do come.” Warren chuckled at his double entendre as he
included Cole, then added, “I know I filled my Wranglers the first time
I witness a man giving birth.” he grinned wickedly.
Potter pulled
Warren aside and spoke to him quietly. “Forgive me for asking,
Warren, but your mate has to be huge. How can you take him?”
“You got chore’
question wrong, brother.” Warren smiled at Potter, “Take a good
look at him, Clarence, ain’t he the most handsome, finest look’n beast
you ever done see’d? The question should be, how can I not take
him?” Warren laughed. “I assure you the human sphincter
can learn to adjust to almost any size. I’m so used to my husband
by now, I could never have sex with anybody else. I would never
feel ‘em.” Warren laughed. Potter turned a light green
color and just shook his head. If that
wasn’t enough, along came the Trong-Fielding family. Two of the
young men Potter and Cole recognized, Gavin and Jerry, they met the day
before and earlier that morning as members of Charlie Goodnight’s
family and part of Waco’s cowboy brothers. Of course the entire
family was all over Shane congratulating him and giving him great pats
on the back, hugs and kisses. It was a family composed of human
children as well as lummox. It threw Potter and Cole for a
loop. They couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on.
Gavin saw their confusion and became the unofficial spokesman for their
family.
“Judge Potter
and Mr. Jenkins, nice to see you gentlemen again. You must be
wondering about our family. I know my little brother Jerry and I
were introduced to you earlier as part of the Goodnight family, and I
assure you we are. We have been for several years, but it’s so we
can
live on the ranch and attend school in Reason without suspicion.
These folks you see before you are our biological
parents and family.” Gavin went on to
introduce his two dad’s as Captain Trong and Commander Kyle Fielding,
explaining, together with their children they were the Trong-Fielding
family. He introduced his next younger brother, a handsome young
lummox male named Kurg, then Jerry who was very much human, then Bogg
another young lummox male, then Krenna a lummox female, and finally the
baby of the family, Ginny a human female being held lovingly by her
huge lummox father, Captain Trong. There was no doubt she was her
lummox daddy’s little girl. The love and trust that passed
between them was palpable.
“Amazing.
To have a giant furry teddy bear for your very own dad must be every
small girls dream.” said Potter under his breath. He heard a
chuckle from Cole standing next to him. “I can’t ever remember
being quite so impressed by such a large family.” Potter laughed.
Kyle Fielding and Trong laughed with him.
“We understand
it takes some getting use to. Welcome to the Grange and our
family, Judge Potter and Mr. Jenkins. We’re so glad to have you
as a part of our larger family.” said Kyle Fielding graciously.
“Thank you,
Sir. The pleasure is ours.” said Potter.
“You may wish to
review a video the commander and I made several years ago explaining
interspecies mating and birth practices. It’s considered very
informative and may help you gentlemen better understand our way of
life.” Captain Trong spoke in a slow but booming deep voice.
“Thank you,
Sir. We’ll keep that in mind. We’ll be sure to ask Captain
Shane about it later.” responded Cole.
The day progress
and the two men experienced more and more wonders. Waco came
along with his arm around a huge, fierce but handsome looking warrior
and his other arm around his lummox slave. Waco introduced the
big warrior as Captain Treygor Vinceeth, a Visallian warrior from the
planet Tentagel as his suitor. Trey Vinceeth hugged and kissed
Shane to congratulate his apprentice-warrior on his emancipation.
Another new title Cole and Potter knew nothing about. He shook
Judge
Potter's hand and congratulated him on his retirement. Cole
looked to Shane for a signal, but he shook his head 'no.'
Visallian warriors didn't like participating in slave rituals.
They didn't approve of slavery.
Cole was a big man, but Trey
Vinceeth dwarfed him as he gave him a hug, a quick kiss and told
him to take care of his younger brother, Captain Shane. He was a
fully invested apprentice-warrior under the protection of the Vinceeth
family tribe. Cole
assured the big warrior he would do his best. Sitting on Waco's
huge
lummox’s shoulder was a beautiful fairy like creature and others like
her flying around like they were her escorts and protectors.
That’s exactly what they were and Waco took great delight in
introducing Keekepata and her Shushonni courtiers. She thanked
the judge personally for granting her brother and master, Captain
Shane, his
emancipation. Waco didn't introduce her as his slave, but she
made a great point of explaining she belonged to Captain Waco as his
slave, and she
was proud of it. Keekepata also congratulated Potter on his
retirement, his decision to join the Grange and become a part of their
greater
family. The old judge and Cole could only look at each other and
shake their heads in wonder.
The whole day
was like that and the rodeo had many more surprises in store.
During the rodeo there were several short speeches made to congratulate
Captain Shane on his emancipation and to wish him luck. The
Admiral gave a brief speech and told how proud he was of Captain Shane
and of his heroic accomplishments on Venus. The rodeo and all the
unusual people and creatures gathered cheering Shane on made Judge
Potter and Cole Jenkins pledge themselves to help the young man achieve
his goals. They all yelled for Shane to say a few words. He
took the microphone and spoke. He told of how much the Grange and
his extended family helped him through the last five years of his
indenturement. He was grateful and loved everyone. The day
drew to a close, but it wasn’t until almost ten o’clock in the
evening Shane, Cole and Potter climbed into the front seat of his
new truck to return to the Potter ranch. The four cowboy
slaves loaded their gear and saddles into the back of Shane’s truck and
were waiting for them when they returned from the old barn gate from
Parsons. Cole drove. Shane was sitting between Cole and
Potter. Potter was going on and on about the wonderful day.
The front of the truck was divided from the crew section by a big piece
of glass. It could be raised or lowered but Shane had it up so
their conversation couldn’t be overheard by the slaves in the
back. At a pause
in Potter's ramblings Shane smile at Cole.
“Are you feeling
that much better, Pa?” he asked nodding his head at the old judge.
“Every
bit. You might have to put a cork up yore’ butt to keep me out
tonight.” he said without humor. Potter broke up. He
realized he wasn’t nearly as tired as he was the night before, but they
walked more and did twice as many things.
“I can’t believe
how much better I feel in one day. It’s absolutely amazing.
I just might have to watch that new video you men made last night when
I
git back to the ranch. Oh, but wait, I can’t unless you’re with
me, can I?” Potter sounded disappointed, “Ah, well, I’ll catch it
some other time.” he added.
“You don’t need
me, Boss man.” Shane told him, “As of today, you got three robo-cams on
you,
Cole’s got three on him, and our slaves back there got three on each
one a’ them; compliments of the Grange. You can speak with
Kyron anytime you want. He has my permission to show you the
video. I’ll go over the details with you and Cole later about
the
operation and functions of the cams and give you the access
codes. The slaves don’t need to know those things.”
"You know, one
might think that sort of thing smacks of ‘big brother’
to be under constant surveillance, but I suppose it would have a lot to
do with the purpose and use of such technology. If it’s to
communicate and protect then it becomes only another useful tool.
It could also be use to convict someone of a crime, but just as easily
be proof positive evidence of someone’s innocence. No wonder
you’re such a fine young man, Shane, you know your actions are always
being monitored.” said Potter.
“I never think
of it in those terms, Sir. I jes’ think ever’one should strive
for goodness in their lives and try to be the best person they can
be. Didn’t take no robo-cam to teach me that, I learnt it from
ma’ pa.” Shane stated as a fact, found Cole’s big, calloused hand and
slipped his
into it.
“Make that a big
cork, odd-job.” Cole said drolly. Shane and Potter broke up
laughing.
They arrived at
the ranch around eleven. Cole and Shane dropped Potter
off at the big house and drove the cowboy slaves up and over the ridge
to the bunkhouse/slave quarters in the valley below. Shane could
tell the men were impressed with the place. It needed cleaning,
but they allowed the bunks were better than the ones they had.
They each had a couple of duffle bags of clothes and a good size trunk
they could lock their personal items in. Shane told them to take
the two lead cowboy rooms on the right, two to a room, because he was
sure they would be getting more cowboys soon. Also, each wing had
its own hot water supply and Shane and Cole only lit the pilot for the
right wing.
They told the
men they were going to drive down to the barn and feed their ponies,
but
they would drop back by to check on them. He showed them the huge
bag of slave chow Angus gave him and a bag of nutritional
biscuits. He told them they would have to be patient and work
with him and Cole, but they would get more things and better food
tomorrow. The cowboys got busy checking out the place and getting
settled in for the night. Shane and Cole drove down to the barn
and fed the ponies. They gave them extra oats because they were
late. Shane promised there would always be someone to take care
of them from now on. They were forgiving. After checking on the
slaves, Shane and Cole
returned to their house and already began to think of it as
home. They decided to shower and go to bed. They had a lot
to do the next day. Cole looked out of their bedroom window down
to the big house and laughed when he saw dim flashing lights in
Potter’s family room.
“He’s watching
our movie, odd-job.”
“Good for him.”
said Shane. “After he loosened up and let go I think he had a wonderful
time today.”
“I know he
did. So did I. I can’t believe the people and critters that
you people have come in contact with and all live together like
family. It’s something I wondered about for years. Why
can’t the people on Earth jes’ get along?”
“Religion.” was
all Shane said. Cole shook his head, but had to agree with him.
Shane made sure
he cleaned himself well. They got into bed and were holding each
other.
“I ain’t wear’n
no cork, Pa.”
“Good. I
was jes’ kidding about it. Does that mean we can try’n make a
baby again, Son?” Cole joked.
“Go for it, Pa.”
Cole was
perfecting his technique. Shane swore Cole fucked him the best he
ever had. They made love for a while after Shane cleaned them up.
“Was you serious
this morning what you told the old man about having my baby?” Cole
asked.
“Dead serious,
Pa, but not right away. We can’t even think about kids right now
until we get established. Kids cost money. We gotta' get on
our feet first.
That’s gonna’ take a couple of years,
but what’s a couple of years when you’re looking at hundreds?”
“Will we live
that long, odd-job?” Cole asked.
“Admiral Long’s
rescued his mate, Arlen Jones, from the old West almost three hundred
years ago. He don’t look a day over forty. Since that time
he got his-self educated and has several degrees in different
sciences. He’s an excellent doctor and surgeon. When the
Admiral rescued him he couldn’t read or write.”
“When I gave my
life to Master Angus, I gave up any hope of ever having kids again,
but I would with you, odd-job.” Cole stole a kiss. “With parents
like us, I know they
would be wonderful kids.”
“That’s about
the sweetest damn thing you ever done said to me, Pa. See, I told
ju’ you got a romantic side to you.”
“I love you,
odd-job.”
“I love you,
too, Pa.”
End of Chapter
56 ~ Waco’ Lummox
Copyright 2008 ~
Waddie Greywolf
All Rights
Reserved ~
Mail to:
waddiebear@yahoo.com