Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 11:00:50 EDT
From: Tulsadriller7@aol.com
Subject: Tales from the Ranch, Chapter 7/?

Disclaimer:  The following story is a work of fiction.  If you
are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man
relations, please exit this page.

TALES FROM THE RANCH
Copyrightc 2002 by Tulsa Driller 7.  All rights reserved.

This is a story of men who have two common interests.  You will
see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is
also the story of young men who love other men and their coming
of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding.  It is a
story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues
but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's
world.

This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any
specific person or persons.  Any similarity to actual persons or
events is entirely coincidental.  This work is copyrightedc by
the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the
specific written permission of the author.  It is assigned to the
Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but
it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the
written permission of the author.

PLEASE:  In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist.  My characters
have unprotected sex.  I hope you use proper precautions because
I'd like you to be around the read the last chapter of this
story.

Tales from the Ranch
Chapter 7:  The Next Morning
     Dale woke up the next morning with Craig spooned up against
his chest.  'Wow!!  What a way to wake up, with a beautiful man
in your arms,' he thought.  He had a morning piece of wood.  'A
steel Woody,' he thought to himself.  He wondered what time it
was, surely must be getting time to get up and start the day, but
he didn't want to disturb Craig.  'Well, why not disturb Craig?'
he wondered.
     He brought his hand around to Craig's pecs and massaged his
nipples, pinching them lightly.  Then he put his tongue in
Craig's ear and wiggled it.  He felt Craig's body stiffen, and
then relax, and he stretched.  Craig wiggled around, his lips
searching.  Dale moved his lips to Craig's.  A tentative kiss,
then their tongues were let loose for exercise.  'Uuhmm. I'd like
to wake up this way every morning,' Dale thought.
     Craig thought the same thing.  He finally pulled back and
said, "Hi beautiful.  How's my guy this morning?"
     Dale liked the words "My Guy"!!!  That sounded good to him.
He wondered. 'Could this be true?  Is this for real?  Does he
really like me for who I am. or is it just sex?'
     Craig dropped his mouth to Dale's chin, then down to his
throat, nuzzling his way south.  All Dale could do was make
sounds as he moaned at the exquisite feeling.
     Dale put his hand under Craig's chin and pushed it back up
so their mouths would meet again.  No morning breath?  Why?  Why
not?  Okay by him.  All he wanted to do was use his tongue like a
mop on Craig's face, anyway.  This was a plus; they could kiss
each other without grossing out.
     About the time they were starting to swab each other's
tonsils, Craig said, "If I don't go pee right now, I'm not going
to have to."  He pulled himself loose, got out of the bed and
rushed to the bathroom.
     Dale took the opportunity to turn so he could see the clock.
It read 6:29.  'Glad to see that my internal clock works,' he
thought.  Just now time to get up.  He sat up and headed to the
bathroom, joining Craig in peeing in the toilet bowl.  Both
emptied their bladders, milking the last drops out of their
cocks.
     "We didn't talk about the morning routine," Dale said.  "I
usually get up about 6:30, which it just now is and make a pot of
coffee before shaving and showering.  Is that okay with you?"
     "Don't let me cause you any problems in getting ready to go
to work.  I'll go home to clean up and dress before going to my 8
o'clock meeting at the office."
     "Come on to the kitchen with me and I'll pour orange juice,
if you want it.  The coffee won't take long to be ready.  I have
some fresh milk from the ranch if you'd like some.  It's raw milk
and tastes like the real thing. not like what you get at the
grocery."
     Craig wrapped his arms around Dale, nuzzling him under the
jaw.  "Why don't you show me where stuff is and I'll make coffee
and pour juice or milk while you are getting ready? Okay?"
     "Fine."  Craig followed Dale to the kitchen, looking at his
     hairy butt cheeks.  "You're not 'walking funny' as you had
     feared.  How do you feel?" he giggled.
     "Never better.  Anyway I don't have to ride a horse today.
Just kidding.  But. we do have a lot of hay to bale and move
today."
     They were in the kitchen.  Dale showed Craig where the
coffee filters were, along with the coffee can.  "Here are
glasses for either milk or orange juice.  I'll take orange juice
before my coffee - black and no sugar.  Need anything else?"
     "No, think I'll do fine," Craig said, wrapping his arm
around Dale and giving a big squeeze.
     Dale headed to the bathroom and was starting to wash his
face when Craig came back with the orange juice.  "Thanks.
You're a good cook," Dale said, wondering if he would be lucky
enough that the previous night's activities and this morning's
routine would be repeated.  He thought about it a second.  'Yeah,
maybe.  Craig had spent the night and didn't act like he was
ashamed of what they'd done.'
     Dale soaped his face and started to apply shaving cream.  He
thought a second.  "     Craig."
     "Yes?"
     "Do you think I'd look good with a mustache?"
     "You're pretty sexy now, I don't know if I could stand you
having a mustache.  But, I'm willing to find out," he leered.
     Dale started shaving his face, except for his upper lip.  As
he finished, he rinsed his razor, turned around and rubbed the
excess shaving cream on Craig's face.  "I'd lick this off, but it
doesn't taste as good as cum," he chuckled.
     With that, he headed to the shower.  "Sorry that this is a
little broom closet.  I'd love to share but there's just barely
room for me to shower."
     "That's okay.  When you're at my place we can shower
together.  I have a huge shower that I had built when I bought
the place."
     Dale liked what he heard.  'Craig wanted him to spend a
night a his place.'
     "I can hardly wait."  He wanted to ask Craig when it would
happen, but decided not to be too anxious.
     He reached in to start the water, and then adjusted the
temperature.  When it was like he wanted he crawled behind the
curtain to clean his body.
     Craig could just barely see through the opaque curtain, but
he wanted to watch this stud. his stud. take his shower.  He put
the lid down on the toilet and sat down, waiting for Dale to
finish.
     Dale's shower didn't take very long but he didn't know where
Craig had gone so was pleasantly surprised when he opened the
curtain that Craig was holding a towel for him.  Another kiss.
As Dale took the towel, Craig handed him the glass of orange
juice, taking a big swig of his own.  Dale drained his glass,
handing it back to Craig.  "Come're. he said to Craig.  "Thanks,
guy," giving him another kiss.
     "Tasted good, kinda orange," Craig answered.  "I'm going to
get coffee for us."  He left the little bathroom.
     'What did I do to deserve this guy?  Does he really like me?
Is there a chance for US?  What will Marty think?  Will Mort find
out?'  These were thoughts going through Dale's head when Craig
came back in with two steaming mugs of black coffee.
     "Do you want to shower here?" Dale asked, hoping to prolong
their togetherness.
     "What time do you leave for the ranch?" Craig asked.
     "Usually try to get away from here about 7:15 at the latest,
however, I'm a little flexible."  Then he remembered.  "I have a
new hire coming to work this morning.  I need to be there by 8
o'clock to get the guys started and show him what I want done."
     "Not a problem.  I have a meeting at the office at 8
o'clock.  If I leave here when you do, I'll still have time to
shave and shower, dress and make the meeting."
     'He's not in any rush to leave.  That's a good sign,'
thought Dale.  He remembered he hadn't brushed his teeth, so took
care of that after rubbing his hair dry and running a comb
through it.  He knew he was going to be sweating a lot today, so
no need to do more than comb it into place.  He laid the comb
down and got the tube of toothpaste.  Craig thought maybe he
should do the same, so picked up the one he'd used the night
before and squeezed some gel out, then vigorously brushed.
     Dale waited until Craig spit out the extra paste and rinsed
his mouth before attacking him again.  They wrapped their limbs
together, rubbing on each other's body, mouths searching for the
other.
     The clock moved almost five minutes before they broke the
clutch, both hard and leaking precum.  "Ahhh, the little guys are
glad to see each other," Dale teased.
     "I don't think 'little' even begins to describe you, unless
you want to call it 'Dale, Junior,' Craig teased.
     "Don't sell yourself short.  It felt like a telephone pole
when you started to fuck me last night.  Then after I got
accustomed to it, I hoped you'd never take it out."
     "I'm getting hard again, just hearing you describe it,"
Craig smirked.
     "Well, I'd like to go another round, but we both have places
to go. people to see. things to do," replied Dale.
     They went back to the bedroom, this time Craig was pinching
Dale's butt.
     "Do you want help smoothing out the bed?" Craig asked.
     "That's a good idea. and the sheets do need to be washed for
some reason.  They were clean last night," Dale teased.
     "Doesn't cost much to do laundry," laughed Craig.
     The bed tidied up, Dale went to his dresser, pulling out
clean Levis, jockey shorts and boot socks, then tossed them on
the bed and went to his closet.  He selected a long-sleeved
western shirt.
     Craig asked Dale if he was ready for another cup of coffee
and got an affirmative nod and smile.  He took the mugs back to
the kitchen for refills and returned to the bedroom, then walked
back out to the living room, scooping up their clothes from the
night before and carried them back to the bedroom.
     While Dale was putting on his socks and shorts, Craig
started to dress himself in his wrinkled clothes.  "Well, these
clothes look like I've slept in them.  Ought to give the
neighbors sometime new to gossip about."
     "If they only knew the truth," Dale teased.
     "So, what's your schedule for today?" Craig asked.
     "We're gonna make hay while the sun shines.  We've got two
men driving the hay balers and one to drive the flatbed hay
wagon.  Two of us will handle the bales and stack them on the
wagon.  If we're lucky, we should get the entire field baled and
hauled off to the barn today."
     "You are going to be tired and sore when you're through,
aren't you?"
     By this time Dale was dressed and was pulling his boots on.
He turned to Craig and said, "Yeah, that's a lot of work and
several tons of hay bales."
     "Poor Baby.  Why don't you come over after work?  I have a
hot tub with a Jacuzzi to help you relax, and then I'll order in
something for dinner."
     Dale was excited.  'Dale wanted to see him again!  Maybe
this wasn't just a one-night adventure for them.  He hoped not.
     "I probably can't be there much before 8 o'clock.  Is that
too late?"  He hoped not.
     "Didn't think you'd be through that early.  I thought you
ranch people worked from sunup to sundown?"
     "No, the only time we do that is if we have a critical crop
and there is a threat of bad weather.  Sometimes we cut wheat 12
hours or more straight through.  When it's dry, we have to move."
     Dale kissed Craig, putting his arm around his waist.  "I'll
look forward to coming over this evening.  It will sure seem like
a long day until we can be together again."
     They moved back to the living room and Dale excused himself
to the kitchen to make a couple of sandwiches for himself.  He
added a piece of pie and some cookies to his lunch pail.  He
looked at his watch.  It was 7:10.  Right on time.
     "I never thought about you fixing lunch to take with you.
What do you like?  I'll be glad to have what you need on hand for
tomorrow morning."
     Dale couldn't believe his ears.  Craig wanted him to spend
the night.  There was a God after all.  He was elated.
     "I usually buy some minced ham or old-fashioned loaf, a
couple slices of cheese, lettuce if you have it and an apple or
banana, maybe some cookies.  I can pick some stuff up or bring
things from here."
     "Wouldn't hear of it.  Be sure to bring your toiletries and
clothes for tomorrow so you don't have to come back here to get
ready for work.  No use rushing around."
     Craig made it sound like he was moving in.  Could he really
hope for that?
     He happened to think that he had some Levis in the dryer.
He'd better check them to see if they were dry.  He went back to
the kitchen to check.  They were dry, so he had clean pants for
tomorrow.
     He moved back to the living room.  Craig looked him over,
saying, "You look like a cowboy who is a real sexy hunk and I
like what I see.  Woof. woof!!  Then he happened to think.  "You
don't know where I live, do you?"
     Dale laughed, "No, I didn't even think of that."
     The address is 3718 Larcher Drive.  It's at the northeast
corner of 37th Street at Larcher.  Two blocks north of Commercial
Street.  The building is called ' The Carriage House' and I'm on
the 5th floor, to the left after you get off the elevator.  You
can park behind the building.  Should be plenty of space.  Oh,
and my phone number is on my card."  He dug in his pocket and
gave Dale another one.  "Both home and business numbers are on
it."
     As Dale put the card in his billfold, Craig wrapped his arms
around Dale and locked his lips with Dale's.  It was a very
passionate kiss.  As he pulled away, he said, "I hope that will
hold you for the day.
     Dale said, "I don't know, all of a sudden my Levi's are
tight."  He laughed, then said, I'll call you as soon as I get
back here to clean up and change clothes so you'll know when I'll
be there."
     "Okay, but it's going to be a long day.  At least 12 hours
from now."
     "I know, but it's my job."
     "Hey, I'm not complaining.  I just don't want to share you
with Marty and the other men that work for you."
     Another quick kiss and Dale opened the front door so they
could leave.  Craig headed to his car with a wave, hollering,
"See you later!!"
     Dale got in his car, dropping his lunch pail in the
passenger seat and waited for Craig to drive away before backing
out in the street.  He dropped his car in gear and headed to the
highway to take him to work.
     Fifteen minutes later he pulled into the driveway of the Bar-
W just as the school bus came around the curve behind him.  He
stopped to greet Jason and Kevin.  They exchanged greetings, and
then headed to the waiting bus.  Dale drove on to the office.
     Within 15 minutes Pat and Michael drove in, this time in
Michael's car.  They had barely gotten parked when John's Honda
rolled in.  As they were getting out of their cars, Albert
Connell drove in.  Al was a retired night watchman they
frequently hired to work when extra help was needed.  Before
making their way to the barn/office, Dale made sure everyone had
been introduced.
     Everyone stowed their lunches in the cooler then filled
their thermos bottles with ice and water.  Pat showed John where
the extra thermos bottles were kept and helped him and Al put
nametags on the ones they were using.
     Dale had them sign their time sheets and they were ready to
go to work.  Although the flatbed hay wagon was pulled by a
little tractor, it had a trailer hitch so it could be towed
behind the pickup and taken to the field.  Dale would have to
return to get two more hay wagons for the days work.  They set
out with Pat and Michael driving the bailers and Dale driving the
farm pickup behind with his flashers turned on.  Al and John rode
with him.  They were ready for a day of hot, dirty, tiring work.
     * * * * *
     That day Kevin, along with Terry and Jack, opted to eat
their lunches with Jason.  Their friends from the bus, John and
Tim, were sitting with Jason.  They hadn't seen the Riley twins
that morning.  It wasn't until later in the day that they learned
the twins had caused an outburst in their homeroom and had been
sent to the office.  Not being able to find their parents, the
vice-principal put them in supervised suspension for the day.  It
was somewhat like a study hall, where they were supervised and
required to complete their homework.  Teachers rotated
supervisory duties in that room and the boys actually completed
their schoolwork and got it right.
     The last period of the school day was Jason's Phys. Ed
class.  He was a little bit nervous about the "test" Mr. Thompson
had set up for the boys.  Not quite sure what the locker room
routine was, he walked into the room.  Mr. Thompson was standing
in the middle of the room directing the activity.
     "Get your clothes baskets and get changed.  Ten minutes to
the gym floor.  Wear sweat socks, gym shoes, jock straps, shorts
and your t-shirts.  Put your street clothes in your baskets and
lock them up!  Hurry it up!!  Ten minutes.  Move it!!!"
     Jason remembered his lock combination and quickly carried
the wire basket containing his gym clothes to a bench along the
side of the room.  About that time John and Tim appeared on
either side of Jason.  They laid their gym clothes out, and then
started stripping their street clothes.  All pulled their polo
shirts off first, then Jason sat down to pull off his cowboy
boots and socks.  John was also wearing boots and Tim was wearing
white Nikes.  Jason stood up to unbutton his 501's and as he
dropped them, John and Tim dropped their pants, too.  They were
all three standing there wearing just their shorts.  Almost
together, they dropped their jockey shorts.  This was the first
time Jason had seen another boy naked except for his brother.
     Without realizing it, he checked them both out.  John, who
was in the 6th grade, had a cock that was quite a bit larger than
Jason.  It was un-cut and he had a fair amount of pubic hair.  He
looked at Tim, who appeared to be about the same size as himself.
He was circumcised.  It was the first time Jason had ever seen a
cock like that.  It didn't look that much different except there
was no foreskin to cover the head.
     He reached for his jockstrap and pulled it on, along with
his gym shorts.
     "Are we supposed to wear these?" Tim asked, holding up his
athletic cup.
     "I think you're only supposed to wear them when playing
baseball or soccer, so you don't get hit in the nuts," replied
John.
     "Okay," the other guys said.
     About that time Mr. Thompson blew his whistle.  "Let's move
it.  You've got three minutes to get dressed and out on the
floor.
     The three boys sat down to put on their sweat socks and gym
shoes.  Jason finished tying his, stood up to pull on his t-
shirt, then packed his clothes in the wire basket.  He waited for
John and Tim to do the same, then led the way to the rack where
they slid the baskets in place, locking them.
     As they headed for the gym door, Mr. Thompson blew his
whistle one more time to hurry along the boys that weren't
changed.
     The three who had changed clothes together were among the
first out on the gym floor.  Within two minutes almost everyone
else was on the floor, too, including the Riley twins.  Jason
guessed that they had been allowed out of detention since this
was the last class period of the day, although he didn't remember
them being in this class yesterday.
     Coach Thompson blew his whistle, telling them to get into
two lines.  Jason noticed that Coach Dennison was there to help,
too.  Mr. Thompson introduced the other coach and explained that
he was helping him, as there wasn't time to check every boy's
beginning endurance and ability by himself.
     "I want you in two lines, one in front of each mat here on
the floor.  The first thing I'm going to check is your ability to
do sit-ups.  They are to be done like this."  He then dropped to
the mat; lay flat on his back, brought his legs up to about a 45-
degree angle with his feet flat on the floor.  "I want you to put
your hands behind your head, like this," he said, locking his
fingers together.  "Then the next guy behind you is to hold your
feet on the floor.  Raise your upper body as far as you can
stretch toward your knees," like this.  Coach Dennison dropped to
the floor to hold Mr. Thompson's feet on the floor.  He quickly
did 10 set-ups, stopped and jumped to his feet.  "Okay, each of
you is to do as many of these as you can and I'll record the
numbers."
     Jason was first in line, so he dropped to the floor.  John
Clark was right behind him and held his feet after he got in
position.  The first person in the second line took their
positions, also and the trial started.  Jason managed to do 12
sit-ups, but was unable to pull himself all the way up for the
last one.  "That's fine, Williamson, don't strain yourself," the
coach said.  Jason got up, John got on the floor and Tim moved to
hold John's feet.  The coach told Jason to sit on the floor and
watch, and then they would do push-ups.
     John managed 11 sit-ups and Tim managed nine.
     About that time Jason became aware of some scuffling in the
middle of his line.  Sure enough, it was the Riley twins.  Coach
Dennison was on them in a minute, pulling Larry away and putting
him in the second line.  He heard coach say, "Don't you ever try
that again!" but didn't know what the boys had done.
     In a few minutes, Jerry Riley was the one next to help with
the sit-ups, holding Jimmy O'Brien's feet.  As Jimmy sat up the
first time, Jerry said, "One for pussy boy."  Jimmy laid back,
sat up again and everyone heard, "Two for pussy boy."  The coach
was on him immediately.
     "Riley, language like that will not be tolerated in this
class.  You've been in detention all day because of a disturbance
this morning.  I guess you didn't learn your lesson, did you?
Now count them off right!"  Coach Thompson was mad.  Jimmy did 9
sit-ups and coach wrote the number next to his name.
     Jerry lay down on the mat, got into position with Jim Bob
Johnson holding his feet.  Jerry lifted his upper body and
everyone could tell that it was an effort for him.  He finally
accomplished three, then couldn't complete the 4th one.  Coach
Thompson said, "Okay, that's enough Riley.  Next!"
     Jerry started to get up, then yelled, "This ass-hole didn't
hold my feet right.  He kept me from being able to do this."
     Coach was losing his patience, but calmly said, "Okay,
Riley, I'll hold your feet and I want to see you do this over."
     Jerry lay back, and then started again, accomplishing two,
but giving up on the third.
     "Okay, you're finished," said the coach.  Since it's you,
I'll give you credit for five.  Which one of the Riley's are
you?"
     "Jerry," he said quietly.
     Meanwhile, Larry Riley was ready to take his turn on the
mat.  His helper, Dante Rigga, counted loudly.  "One. Two." Larry
didn't even try for the third.  And, he knew it wouldn't do any
good to complain like his brother had.
     The two coaches put the boys through the push-up routine.
Jason accomplished 15 with no problem, but had a hard time with
the next.  Finally, after the coach said, "That's fine, don't
strain," he stood up.
     Jason decided to watch the Riley twins.  Jerry completed two
and Larry completed one.  He thought, 'For as tough as they think
they are, they can't do anything except make noise.'
     After all had completed the push-ups, the two coaches
demonstrated the rope climb.  He had gloves in several sizes for
the boys to wear while climbing.  Jason got to the top with no
problem, and then rapidly descended.  None of the other boys did
as well, although John and Tim made it almost to the top.
     "Good going, Williamson," praised the coach.
     He blew his whistle.  "Okay, as soon as you fellows have
each had your turn, go back to the locker room and take your
showers.  That way we don't all pile in there together.  Get
clean, your mother doesn't want to smell sweat."
     Jason headed off to the showers with John Clark and Doug
Phillips catching up with him.  Both boys slapped Jason on the
back, telling him that he was the best in the class.
     "Thanks, but I had some help from one of our foremen last
night.  He showed me and Kevin how to do the stuff in gym class.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have known how."
     "Can you believe the Riley twins?" John asked.  I'm glad
that somebody realizes that they are trouble for the rest of us."
     "My friend, Dale, that helped me last night said that their
older brothers are even worse than they are.  He said they were
insecure and tried to make everyone else look bad."
     "They may be insecure, but they made themselves look bad
today.  Where did they come from, I don't remember them being in
my lower school? asked Tim."
     "They went to Sam Houston Lower School until this year.
They had a fire at the house they were renting.  My dad's a
fireman and said his dad went to sleep, or maybe passed out from
drinking too much, and his cigarette caught the divan on fire.
It almost burnt the house down.  They moved into the awful
trailer park on the edge of town after the fire.  That's why they
now go to Austin with us," John filled them in.
     The three retrieved their clothes baskets went to a bench
and stripped off their gym clothes, which were a little damp, but
not sweaty.  More boys were coming in, so they headed to the
shower room to stay ahead of the main crush of bodies.
     All were eyeing each other as they undressed and then again
in the shower.  Being 5th grade students, Jason and Tim had never
encountered gym class or showering with other boys before.  Jason
knew that he had never seen another boy without clothes except
for his brother, anyway.
     As he showered and washed himself, he avoided getting his
hair wet because he didn't have a comb with him.  He climbed out
of the shower, grabbed a towel from the cabinet and started to
dry himself.  Certainly not a nice fluffy towel like he had at
home.  He went back to the bench where his clothesbasket was so
he could put on his street clothes.
     Tim joined them about that time and was eyeing both Jason's
and John's cocks.  He wasn't shy and asked, "How do you guys pee
through your wieners?  It looks like you have skin over the end."
     John proudly said, "The same way you do, but I have to pull
the skin back."  He moved his foreskin and the cockhead came into
view, then he covered it again.
     "Wow, I've never seen that before.  Why is it that way?"
     Jason was starting to get a little stiff, but said, "To
  protect the head of our cock so it doesn't get sore."
     "Mine doesn't get sore.  I think it's kinda neat that you
can do that, though."
     Lesson over.  The three boys got dressed and put their gym
clothes back on the rack, locking them up.
     * * * * *
     Jason rode the bus home by himself as Kevin had gone to
Jack's house to work on his Cub Scout badge.  Although the Riley
boys were on the bus they didn't talk to any of the other kids.
After they got off at their stop, John leaned over to tell Jason
that he'd heard Wade Harris, the driver, tell them that he would
not tolerate them harassing the other passengers, so if they knew
what was good for them, they would sit down and keep their mouths
shut.  It was a pleasant ride home as all the other kids were
laughing and talking and ignoring Larry and Terry completely.
     * * * * *
     Jason arrived home and walked the half-mile to the main
house.  His grandmother was working in her flowerbed, gathering
fresh flowers.  He ran over to see her, giving her a big hug and
kiss.  Jeanine Williamson was proud of her flowers, which she
raised in huge quantities.  After finding out about Kevin's day,
she gave him a large basket of flowers to take to his mother.  He
told her good-bye and headed to his own house.
     Sandy, the collie that belonged to the boys, came bounding
down the driveway to meet Jason.  He knelt down to scratch her
ears and hug her to him.  They walked to the house together.
     When he and the dog went through the kitchen door, Mrs. Wood
was just taking a couple of pies out of the oven.  "Mmmnn! said
Jason.  Something smells good."
     "Jason, I'd forgotten that Kevin wasn't coming home with you
this evening, but there are plenty of cookies in the canister.
Help yourself to milk or juice.  One of these pies is fresh apple
and the other is rhubarb."
     "No choice as far as I'm concerned.  I love rhubarb."  Jason
sat down the basket of flowers his grandmother had sent with him.
She made the appropriate "oo's and aah's" and started laying them
out so they could be trimmed and arranged in vases.  He grabbed a
glass and poured himself some cold milk, then opened the cookie
jar, taking three cookies.
     Mrs. Wood was fussing around the kitchen, working on the
flowers and mixing up something.  Jason was in a hurry to change
clothes and get outside because he had both his and Kevin's
chores to do.
     "When you come in from the chores, I need another gallon of
milk and about a quart of cream.  The eggs are okay."
     "Gottcha," replied Jason as he started up the backstairs.
Sandy followed him.
     After he got to the room, he looked in the mirror and
decided that he'd better put on some old Levis, boots and a not-
so-good shirt.  He quickly peeled off his school clothes and hung
the Levis in the closet.  They would do for another day.  He dug
out his old boots.  They were getting too snug to wear
comfortably for any length of time.  He pulled on the Levis,
buttoned them, and then put the boots on, grabbing a shirt and
heading out the door.  "Come on, Sandy, let's go do Kev's
chores."  Sandy followed along just like she knew the routine.
     Back in the kitchen, Jason got clean containers for the milk
and cream.  "See ya," he said to Mrs. Wood and was out the door.
     He hoped he would see Dale today, but he wasn't around the
barn anywhere, then he remembered they were baling hay a couple
of miles down the road.  He put the dairy containers in the
cooler, then headed for the chicken house to feed them and gather
eggs.  There were 15 eggs today.  Back to the barn to deposit
them in the cooler, putting them on the backside of the other
cartons so the oldest would be used first.  Then to the other
barn to check the supply of feed in the horse troughs.  The barn
was empty which meant all the horses were in the corral.  He put
several scoops of oats and horse feed in each bin before letting
them in.  Like cattle they knew which stall they belonged in and
were ready for their evening feeding.
     Jason hurried back to the other barn.  Star was in her pen,
so he let her into the area where she was milked.  She had a lot
of milk this evening.  He wondered how much his grandfather had
gotten from her that morning.
     Taking the milk to the cooler and putting it in the can, he
opened the other can and dipped cream off the top, then deeper
for the milk he needed to fill the milk container for the house.
     Back to the house.  He was making great progress.  He put
the milk in the large kitchen refrigerator, and then told Mrs.
Wood that he was going to saddle a horse and ride down to where
they were baling hay.
     He ran toward the corral, telling Sandy to "stay" as he left
the kitchen.
     He went to the horse barn and his horse, Blaze, was finished
with her feed.  He led her out of the stall, and then got a horse
blanket and saddle to get her ready to ride.  Blaze wasn't a
large horse and Jason had been able to saddle her by himself for
a couple of years.  He cinched the belt under her belly and made
sure it was tight.  Taking the leads, he walked her to the corral
gate.  She walked through and stood while he refastened the gate.
Putting his left boot in the stirrup, he swung up on Blaze's
back.  Clicking his tongue and giving her flanks a squeeze with
his feet, they started down the driveway, past his grandparent's
house then riding on the shoulder, alongside the highway to the
hay field.
     He was enjoying the ride.  Blaze was in a slow trot and they
were at the field in 10 minutes time.  He spotted the two balers,
pickup and hay wagon about a half mile further in the field and
gave Blaze a light kick to let her know he wanted her to run.
They were where the men were working in short order.
     All five of the guys were working without shirts.  He knew
Dale, Michael and Pat, but had never seen the other two men
before, although he wasn't sure about Al.  Maybe he'd helped at
the ranch before.
     Pat and Michael were driving the balers while Al was driving
the little tractor pulling the hay wagon.  John was loading bales
on the conveyor belt at the front of the wagon and Dale was
pulling them off and stacking them for transport.  All of them
waved at Jason as he rode up.
     About that time, the baler Michael was driving ran out of
the wire that was used to bind the bales.  The last bale came
apart as it dropped from the chute to the ground.  Michael
stopped the baler and shut it down.  Ranch rules.  Never let
machinery run unattended.  The pickup was close by, so he ran
over to retrieve a new spool of wire out of the bed.  Jason rode
over to the pickup to see if he could help.  Michael had worked
there long enough that he knew Jason and Kevin could do little
jobs for them.  It made them feel important and that they were
helping the crew.
     Michael handed the spool up so Jason could balance it on his
saddle horn.  "I'm going to get a drink of water since I'm
stopped," he told Jason.  Jason grinned and sat there admiring
Michael's physique, his hairy chest and muscles everywhere.  He
wondered how many push-ups and sit-ups he could do.  He thought
Dale was better looking, but liked what he saw.  He felt his
young cock give a twitch in his Levis.  It started to harden and
got tangled up in his jockey shorts.  He wondered why it was
getting hard and tried to wiggle around on the saddle to adjust
it, but couldn't stand up in the stirrups far enough to do it.
     Michael said "Thanks" as he headed back to the baler.  Jason
rode behind him feeling proud because he was able to help the
guys in the field.  They got to the baler and Jason struggled to
help Michael with the wire spool.  It was heavy, probably
weighing 60 pounds.
     "Can I watch?" Jason questioned.
     "Sure, this shouldn't take too long."
     Jason swung off his horse, telling Michael, "I'll get the
pliers," as he opened the toolbox on the baler.
     Michael teased him.  "Maybe you can show me how to do this."
Giving him a squeeze on the shoulder as Jason handed him the
pliers.
     Jason beamed.  "I don't know if I'm strong enough to do the
whole job.  Dad says I can help in the fields next summer when
I'm twelve.  I can hardly wait."
     Michael flipped up the lid on the wire box and pulled the
old spool out.  He handed it to Jason.  "Here ya go, bud.  Just
toss it in the back of the pickup."
     "Okay," replied Jason taking in the routine of replacing the
wire spool.
     About that time Dale walked up behind Jason, putting his arm
around his shoulder and neck, giving him a squeeze.  His hairy
chest was wet with sweat and actually felt cold against Jason's
shirt, even though Dale's skin was plenty hot.
     Jason, not knowing exactly what he was doing, wiggled
against Dale.  It felt good to have Dale's arm around him, even
if it did make his cock uncomfortable in his shorts.  He hadn't
adjusted himself after he got off his horse.  "Okay, Jase, I
think Michael's ready to start up again."
     Then to Michael, "Help me drag this bale back around to the
front and we'll run it through the baler again.  He handed the
pliers to Jason.  Bring these along so we can cut the wire that's
tied.  He put his hay hook under the wire and they dragged the
bale around to the front of the baler.  Jason handed him the
pliers.  Dale cut the wire and shook the hay loose so the
machinery could pick it up again.  Dale gave the pliers back to
Jason, saying "Put them back in the tool box."
     Michael started the engine on the baler and the machine came
to life.  He yelled, over the engine noise, "Thanks, Jason."
     Dale squeezed his shoulder, telling Jason, "Thanks Jase, you
got here just in time to keep us from screwing up the job."  He
hugged Jason to him.  Jason wiggled under Dale's arm.  He knew
that Dale was just teasing him, they had been doing this all day
without his help, but the fact that they didn't treat him like a
little kid made a lot of points for these two men in Jason's
mind.  He realized that Michael was waiting for him to put the
pliers in the toolbox on the baler, so ran back to stow them.
Michael was watching and waved as he started off, picking up more
loose hay.
     He carried the empty spool to the pickup and dropped it in
the bed, then walked back to Blaze, picked up her reins and
climbed up in the saddle.
Waving at the crew, he turned Blaze back to the ranch houses and
rode toward the highway.
     * * * * *
     To be continued
* * * * *
Author's Note:  This is my first attempt at gay fiction, and the
only way I can learn whether or not I should continue is from my
readers' feedback.  I would appreciate your comments, criticism,
suggestions, and anything else that you would care to say.  All
Email will be answered.  If you wish to receive e-mail
notification of subsequent posting, please let me know by sending
your request to the e-mail address below.  Contact me at:
tulsadriller7@aol.com

Thanks for the overwhelming response to previous chapters.  I
received positive replies from all over the world.  My special
thanks to RW, whom I've known for many years and value his
suggestions.  Also for the proofreading help of Paul Daventon,
author of  "Turning the Page" found in the "Adult-Friends"
section of Nifty.  Please read it.