My New Life chapter 73
Stories by James
on Nifty
This is the story of the last concert in *Nsync's No Strings Attached Summer Tour. And what happens when they meet one of their fans, late that night in the hotels hot tub. This story pairs Joey with one of their fans.
Is our history written in stone? What would happen if one thing in a person's life could be changed. See what happens when the Backstreet Boys take a ski trip that change their lives, for ever.
My New Life
by James
Disclaimer:
This story is the sole property of its author and may not be copied in whole or in part without the permission of the author. The posting of this story on any web site must be with the author's prior knowledge and permission.
This story deals with the fictional relationship between the members of the musical groups *Nsync, Backstreet Boys (And who ever else shows up in the story.) and a male fan. The sexual orientation of the members of *Nsync or the Backstreet Boys are not known by the author and what is depicted in the story came from the imagination of the author.
If you are not 18 years old or it is illegal in your area to view such material please read something else.
These stories can also be found on my web site
Boy Band Fan Fiction
More stories
This ia a story that spans the generations. Lance finds love and romance with someone he feels he has known all his life.
This is my newest short story I posted just before Christmas. Lance has returned home after not being able to complete his life long dream, going into space. He feels his life has no meaning and he struggles to regain his self worth. He finds what he is looking for in the form of an abused little boy and his friend Ethan
Last time:
Tom was sitting at the breakfast bar with a cup of coffee when Lance and Marc entered the kitchen. “Good morning,” he greeted.
“Good morning, Tom.”
“Good morning, Dad.”
“How are you doing, son?” Tom asked Marc.
“A lot better,” Marc said with a sigh. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”
“Where else, would I be? I knew my boy, needed his dad.”
“I did,” Marc said. “When do you need to get back?”
“I should be returning this afternoon. I’ve got surgery scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
Marc looked to Lance, “Can you get away for a few days?”
“I’ll have to check with Johnny.” Lance went into the study to give Johnny a call.
“You going to spend some time at the lake?” Tom asked.
“No, I need James to meet someone.”
Tom gave his son a questioning look.
“Dad, there is still a year between my leaving the clinic and showing up in your emergency room. I need to show James where and with who, I spent that time.”
“I agree. What you told me last night is hard to believe. And I don’t think he would truly understand if you just told him.”
Lance came back into the kitchen with a big smile on his face.
“Good news, I hope,” Marc said.
“I’ve got the next week off. Johnny said he only needed Josh and Justin. They need to finish the mixing of the new songs.”
“A week, good,” Marc said with a smile. “That will give us some time to spend with the boys.”
Lance offered to call for plane reservations. Marc gave Tom a wink and told him, “Everything was arranged.”
“When do we leave?”
“As soon as we can get packed,” Marc replied.
“Oh, okay,” a puzzled Lance answered. “What should I pack?”
“Come on, I’ll help you pack,” Marc said as he and Lance headed up the stairs.
Marc drove the three of them to the airport.
“You’re going to miss our exit,” Lance said pointing at the sign to the terminal. “You missed it.”
“Relax. I know where I’m going,” Marc said as he slowed for the next exit.
“This is the wrong terminal,” Lance tried to point out.
“No, this is the right one,” Marc said as he pulled up to the private flight terminal.
An attendant rolled a luggage cart to their van and started unloading their bags. Marc turned the keys over to the valet, informing him they would be returning in six days.
“If you gentlemen would just follow me,” the attendant said as he headed into the terminal.
Lance was completely lost as to what was going on. He expected to find some type of ticket counter when they entered the terminal but there was none. They walked through the building and out the other side to an awaiting private jet.
Lance had stopped about ten feet from the plane, wide eyed, with his mouth open.
Marc turned back to his partner, and chuckled.
“Are, are we going to fly on that?” Lance managed to ask.
“Only if we get aboard,” Marc said as he guided Lance forward.
At the top of the stairs they were greeted by a pretty female attendant.
“Welcome aboard. Marc it’s good to see you again.”
“Thank you. Jill, I’d like to introduce your other passenger, Lance Bass.”
“Welcome aboard, Mr. Bass.”
“Please, it just Lance.”
“Very well,” she smiled. “As soon as Eric has all you luggage stowed we will be ready to leave. If you would take your seats.”
With his hand on the small of Lance’s back, Marc prodded him into the main cabin and into a seat.
After buckling their seat belts Marc leaned over to Lance, “I know you have a thousand questions. Once we get to level flight I’ll tell you a story.”
The door was closed and the cabin pressurized. A slight yawn helped relieve the pressure in their ears. Lance was waiting for the engines to start and was surprised when the craft began to move. ‘Had the engines been idling the whole time? If so they sure were quiet running,’ Lance thought.
In a matter of minutes they were in the air and climbing to their cruising altitude.
When the fasten your seat belts sign went off Lance seemed to relax somewhat.
Jill came to their seats. She smiled briefly at Tom before turning her attention to them. Marc looked across the aisle to find his dad was already napping. “Did he sleep on the flight down?” Marc inquired.
Jill nodded, “The whole flight. Can I get you gentlemen anything?”
Marc looked to Lance. He nodded yes.
“Ice Tea?” Marc asked.
“Yes, sweet please,” Lance replied.
“Make that two,” Marc added then looked at his dad. “Can you bring them to the conference room?”
Marc lead Lance through the door at the back of the cabin. They entered a large room that seemed to take up a third of the craft. A large table dominated the center of the room with eight high backed chairs positioned around the table. Marc went to the chair at the head of the table and gestured to the one on his right.
As Marc took his seat, Lance’s eyes were drawn to the insignia on the wall behind Marc’s seat. Marc turned to see what had captured Lance’s eye and smiled.
“Now, where have you seen that before?” Marc said with a smirk.
“It’s your phoenix tattoo.”
“Actually, my tattoo was based on the logo for the Phoenix Foundation.”
“That’s the ones paying for your education?”
Marc nodded, “And a lot more.”
“This jet belongs to the foundation?” Lance asked.
“The foundation leases it.”
“Ok, but why are we using it?”
“My Dad wanted to get down to Orlando in a hurry, he asked to use it.”
“Why would they let him us it?”
“Because he is a member of the board of directors.”
Lance still looked confused.
“Remember me telling you about Marcus Long?”
Lance nodded. “He set up a trust to pay your education.”
“That’s right, at least that’s what I thought. But a week ago when I flew out to L.A. I flew on this plane. My lawyer, who is also a member of the board, so I wasn’t surprised that we were using it. What I didn’t know at the time there were other passengers. It turns out the governing board was also with us.”
“Why?”
“Well, they were here to bring me up to date on my position with the foundation. It seems Marcus also left me the title of Chairman of the Board, among other things.”
“What other things?”
“The foundations holdings is considerably larger than I had been led to believe.”
“How much more?”
“Ah, within a month it’s worth should surpass a billion dollars.”
Lance’s mouth dropped open. “You control a foundation worth a billion dollars?”
Marc nodded, then continued to fill Lance in on his new position.
Before they knew it they were descending into the Madison airport. As the plane pulled up to the terminal Lance saw Toms 4X4 waiting on the tarmac. After a quick good-bye at the bottom of the planes stairs, Marc and Lance were headed into the wild blue yonder, (actually headed for San Antonio, Texas) to meet with someone Marc refers to as Cowboy.
Chapter 73
When they got back on the plane, Lance noticed Jill give Marc a cryptic nod. ‘Now what’s up?’ Lance wondered.
Once again they took their seats and buckled in. Within minutes they were back in the air.
When they reached flight altitude Marc took Lance’s hand. “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the plane.”
Lance followed him through the conference room and through another door. A smile spread across his face as he saw the next room was a bedroom.
Marc saw the smile. “Sorry love, we’re not here for what you think.”
Lance’s smile faded. “I always wanted to join the mile high club.”
“I know,” Marc chuckled. “The thought crossed my mind too. But, we don’t have the time.”
“We have several hours,” Lance pointed out. “Then why did you bring me here?”
Marc picked up their carry on bags and put them on the bed. “We need to change. And I thought it would be better to do it in here then give Jill a show.”
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
Marc pulled out jeans and western style shirts. “I’d like not to stand out so much. When in Texas, dress like the locals.”
“I don’t have my boots.”
Reaching down Marc presented their boots.
“Did you bring the chaps too?” Lance laughed.
Marc’s smile grew into a devilish grin. Bobbing his eyebrows he said, “Later.”
After changing their cloths they returned to the conference room.
“James, there is still parts of my life I haven’t been able to tell you about.”
“Like what?”
“You remember me telling you about my dreams?”
Lance nodded.
“Well the dream about the crash was extremely accurate. I was thrown from the van when it rolled down the hill. Luckily I was thrown out behind the van and away from the truck that hit us. I hit the ground pretty hard and must have been knocked out for a few minutes. The next thing I knew was some loud noise brought me around. What I saw was horrifying. Our van had ended up on it’s side and the truck ended up partially on top of it. The noise that I heard was the fuel tank of the truck exploding. Moments later the vans tank exploded.”
“Oh, my god!” Lance cried out. “Your family!”
Marc shuttered as he closed his eyes. Drawing a ragged breath Marc continued. I don’t know what happened. I just sat there and watched the van burn.”
“There’s nothing you could have done,” Lance said taking Marc’s hand.
“I know that now. They were already dead from the crash. But at the time I didn’t know that. I must have gown into shock because I don’t seem to remember too much about what happened next. I do remember running through the woods. Running as fast and as far as I could. I wanted to get away from the sight and memory of the crash. I ran until I couldn’t run any more. I curled up under a tree and cried myself to sleep. When I woke I had no idea where I was. I didn’t know which way to go, and I was getting hungry. I wasn’t really thinking straight. I started walking, hoping to find a road or trial. Something that would lead me out of the forest.”
“They should have been searching for you by then.”
“That’s what I thought. But what I didn’t realize is that no one had any idea I had survived the crash. There wasn’t much left of the bodies. The authorities figured the whole family perished in the crash.”
“When I woke the next day all I knew was I needed to find some food and water, I was so hungry. I did managed to find a few berries to eat but there was no water to be had. By mid afternoon of the third day I was exhausted and getting weaker. I found some shelter under a tree and curled up and slept. It was dark when I finally woke. As I lay there feeling sorry for myself I started thinking I wasn’t going to make it out of this forest alive. Then something caught me attention. The faint whiff of burning wood. I started to panic, at the idea that the forest was on fire.”
“Was it?” Lance asked.
“No. As I said it was faint. It was carried by the wind and it didn’t get any stronger. But it also carried something else. The smell of food cooking. That meant someone was close by. I called out for help. I kept yelling for help until I lost my voice. It became obvious who ever had made the fire was too far away to hear my call.
I could still smell the burning wood and I decided to follow my nose. Keeping the breeze to my face I started making my way through the dark forest. It was hard going and I kept tripping over fallen trees and rocks. I don’t know how long I walked but the sky was starting to get light. I was about to give up when I spotted a campfire through some bushes. It looked like it may have been about a quarter mile away so I headed for it. I slowly crept up on the camp.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Because of what I was able to see, as I got closer to the camp.”
“What did you see?”
“About a dozen big motorcycles. You know the ones they call hogs. I almost turned away from the camp. I didn’t want to tangle with a bicker gang. But my stomach overrule my common sense. I needed to get something to eat. I stayed hidden in the bushes, scanning the camp site to see if anyone was stirring. It looked like everyone was still sleeping but I managed to spot what looked like packages of food setting next to a picnic table. I slowly made my way around the edge of the camp until I was as close as I could get and still remain undercover. The packages of food was only about twenty feet in front of me, with the picnic table between me and the sleeping bikers.
As quietly as I could be I crept out of my hiding place. My eyes were locked on my goal a box of crackers and a bottle of water. What I didn’t realize was my approach had been monitored by someone.
I grabbed the food and as I turned to make my escape there stood this big hulking man blocking my way.”
“What did you do?”
Marc chuckled, “I fainted.”
“No!” Lance said astounded.
Marc nodded. “I was so weak from lack of food, the shock of being caught made me faint. I don’t know how long I was out but when I started to come around I heard a lot of voices; discussing what to do with me.”
“Shit!” Lance muttered. “Ops, sorry. What were they saying?”
“I don’t remember much of it. Someone was saying to leave me in the woods. But there were other voices saying something about me being hurt and needing attention. I don’t remember much I kept drifting in and out of consciousness.”
“When I finally came around I was warm, wrapped in a blanket, and being tended to by one hell of a good looking biker.”
Lance’s only comment was a arched eyebrow.
“Hey, I may have been in bad shape, but I wasn’t dead. Yet. As I looked around I started to get scared. They were all big, intimidating, men. I’ve heard the stories about bicker gangs, and how they treat gays. All I wanted to do is get out of there.”
“Did you?” Lance asked.
“No. I was in no shape to leave if I wanted to. Physically, I couldn’t. Mentally, I was in worse shape.”
“For some reason a couple of the bikers seemed to understand I had been through something traumatic. They fed me and kept me warm. They asked me what had happened, but seemed to understand when I couldn’t answer them. And when I had the nightmares they were there to hold me and soothe me.
“How long did you stay with them?”
“They stayed there for three days. When I’d gained my strength back they took me with them.”
“They did! How?”
“How do you think? On the back of a Harley. I was so scarred. I plastered myself to the back of the biker and held on for dear life.”
“Where did they take you?”
“At the time, I had no idea where they were taking me. The only thing I knew is I would be safe with these men.”
“But they were a biker gang,” Lance pointed out.
“No, they weren’t a gang. They were a family. The biker I was riding with was called Waddie.”
“Was he the leader?”
“I don’t know. As I think back on it, there really didn’t seem to be a leader. They just seemed to be a group of men that enjoyed traveling the open road on their bikes.”
“Is that how you ended up at the clinic?”
“Yes and no. When we broke camp we rode for two days. Stopping late in the day to set up camp.”
“Why didn’t they take you to a hospital or the authorities?”
“I don’t know. We rode the back roads and seemed to stay away from cities. When we would stop for gas or something to eat it was always at the edge of some small town.”
“Where they trying to keep you out of sight?” Lance inquired.
“No, I could have talked to anyone I wanted. But at the time I wasn’t talking to anyone.”
Lance nodded he understood.
“There was one small town we did drive through, Chapel Creek. We drove right down the main street. A lot of the people smiled and waved to the bikers. It turned out Waddie grew up in that town so everyone knew him and his biker friends.”
“Just outside of town we turned down a dirt road and traveled for a good fifteen minutes before turning into a gate. It was still almost a mile past the gate to the ranch house.
The big cowboy was watching the big gray mare and her new colt as she cautiously moved out of the barn into the corral. The new filly was only two days old but seemed to be enjoying the larger area of the corral. She would wonder a little from her mother before mom would give a loud snort calling her back.
The sound of a pickup coming up the road caught the cowboys attention. Pushing off the top rail he had been leaning against he shifted his weight to his cane. Squinting, he looked at the approaching truck. A truck he didn’t recognize.
The door slammed shut as a equally large cowboy stepped onto the porch. The sound of an unfamiliar truck coming up the road catching his attention. Giving a questioning look to the man across the yard, he stepped off the porch.
The big cowboy understood the questioning look, giving a shrug of his shoulders as his replay as the two of them went to see who had just pulled up.
“Boo, it’s just like you described it in your dream,” Lance said as he gazed out the trucks window. The approach of the two cowboys caught his attention.
Marc gave Lance’s hand a squeeze before opening his door. Stepping around the front of the truck he waited as he was given a quick look over by the approaching men.
Lance stayed in the cab of the truck, as Marc had asked him to. The two approaching cowboys nearly took his breath away. They both stood over six feet tall; exact height was hard to estimate with their cowboy hats. The first thing he noticed was both men must have been brothers. They had the same deep blue eyes, and a well defined, square jawed face; with a Kirk Douglas dimpled chin. Strong wide shoulders with still somewhat narrow hips, covered by tight Wranglers displaying a ample package. Lance estimated their ages between late forties and mid fifties. Stopping about ten feet from Marc they gave him a look over.
The older cowboy leaned on his cane as he looked Marc up and down.
“How you been boy?” he asked.
“Well sir,” Marc answered.
“You have a name?”
“Yes sir. I go by, Marc Newman Morgan, now.”
“That’s a hind sight better then Boo,” the cowboy laughed.
Marc smiled, “Well Boo, turned out to be short for Booth. My birth name was Booth Marcus Stevens.”
“Was?”
“Yes sir. I was injured after I left you. For the last four years I had no memory of my former life. I took the name of Marc Newman.”
“Where does Morgan come in?”
“That’s the name of my adopted family.”
A smile spread across the face of the big cowboy. “It’s good to see you’ Marc.”
The big cowboy held out his arms and Marc flew into them.
Lance’s jaw dropped when he saw Marc hug and kiss both men. Not just a quick peck on the cheek but a full kiss on the mouth.
Marc motioned Lance to join him.
“I’d like you to meet my partner, James Bass. James, this fine cowboy is Mr. Waddie Claymore one of the angels that saved my life.”
Lance stepped forward offering his hand to the handsome cowboy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Claymore.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Bass. And please just call me Waddie.”
“Thank you sir. Please call me James.”
“And the other angel that saved my life is this equally handsome cowboy is Mr. Gip Claymore,” Marc added.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Claymore,” Lance said as he shook the other cowboys hand.
“Glad to meet you son. And it’s Gip. My daddy is Mr. Claymore,” Gip laughed giving Marc a wink.
“Thank you sir,” Lance said feeling something had just flew over his head. “And it’s James.”
Gip’s brow furrowed, “I thought you went by Lance.”
“You know who I am?”
“Son, I got me two teenage girls,” Gip chuckled. “I can’t help but recognize ya from the thirty or so posters plastered in their room.”
Lance gave a nervous look around the yard.
“Relax, they don’t live on this ranch,” Marc said softly.
Lance let out a sigh of relief.
“Is he always so skittish?” Waddie asked Marc.
“It comes with his job,” Marc chuckled. “I think being chased around a mall by a dozen screaming teenage girls kind of puts him on edge.”
“My boys would have thought that as something great,” Gip said with a grin.
A loud whinny came from the corral getting everyone’s attention.
“I wonder what got into her?” Waddie quizzed.
Marc’s eyes lit up, “Lucy?”
“Yep,” said Waddie. “And it seems she remembers you.”
Marc walked over to the corral. The big brown mare stuck her head over the top rail as he approached. “Howdy girl. Do you remember me?”
Lucy nodded her head before she pushed her snout into Marc’s chest. Marc’s arms came up into an embrace.
“They seem to know each other,” Lance stated.
“You could say that,” Waddie chuckled.
Marc lean in and rubbed his forehead against Lucy’s; ending their greeting with a kiss between the big mares eyes.
A high pitched whinny to the side drew Marc ’s attention. “Well, who do we have here?”
“Lucy, just became a mama,” Gip said.
“And she is a fine looking young lady,” Marc said as a way of a compliment to Lucy.
Lance swore he saw the twinkle of pride flash across Lucy’s eyes.
“Have you named her yet?” Marc asked.
“No not yet,” Waddie said. “We haven’t had time for that. She arrived night before last.”
Marc cocked his head toward Lucy. A smile spread across Marc’s face. “That’s perfect. I love it!”
“Love what?” Gip asked.
“The fillies name.”
“And what would that be?” Waddie inquired.
“Pretty Lady. But Lucy said we could just call her Lady.”
Waddie and Gip laughed as they shook their heads.
Lance only had a puzzled expression on his face.
“Pretty Lady, can’t argue much with it,” Waddie agreed. “Coming from her mama.”
Gip leaned into Lance’s ear. “I take it you didn’t know he is fluent in Horseonics.”
“Horseonics?”
“They understand each other. Somehow they get into each others head.”
“Like reading minds?” Lance asked.
“Yeah, some’n like that,” Gip laughed. “When he made his way back here he still had a lot of issues. When we could get anything out of him he stuttered. Trying to figure out how to connect with him really had my dad stumped. He gave him chores around the barn to keep him busy. One day when he was mucking out the stalls Dad walked in on him and found him talking to the horses. He didn’t stutter a bit. The damnest thing, when Marc needed to clean the stall he opened the stall door and ask the horse to steep out so he could clean the stall. The horse would come out and stand to the side as he cleaned the stall.”
“He didn’t tie the horse to the ring outside the stall,” Waddie added. “The pony just stood by her stall watching. I swear, if it didn’t look like she was supervising.”
“How long did it take for Marc to open up?” Lance asked.
Gip looked to Waddie, “It was what? Three, four weeks?”
Waddie nodded, “Reckon it was bout three weeks. I can’t take much credit for it though. It was them ponies. They did him more good then anything.”
“He rejoined the human race,” Gip added.
“How’s that?” Lance asked.
“He started to trust people again,” Waddie said. “He opened up to a point. He started to answer questions when asked.”
“So he told you what happened to him?”
“No. Not directly. It took weeks to get just an outline of what happened. From what little information we could get he lost his family in some sort of accident.”
Lance nodded, “His mother, father, and two brothers were killed when their family van was hit by a truck. The van rolled and Marc was thrown out.”
“Shit!” Waddie swore.
“I was knocked unconscious,” Marc said as he joined Lance. “When I came around the van was ablaze. And my family was in it. I don’t know why but I needed to get away. So I ran. . . and ran. . . I was still running when I came across your camp.”
“That explains your condition when we found you,” Waddie sighed. “I figured something traumatic had to have happened. I’ve seen men in your condition before.”
“You did. When?” Marc asked.
“When I was in Nam. A lot of our boys experienced untold horrors. The only way they could cope was to turn into themselves.”
Retiring to the front porch for iced tea and conversation. As they talked Lance could see way Marc held these two men in so much respect. He figured out quickly that his first impression about the two men being brothers was wrong. They weren’t brothers but father and son.
“So you spent that missing time learning to become a cowboy,” Lance teased.
Marc started to laugh. “Cowboy! Not quite.”
“You weren’t that bad,” Waddie chuckled. “You took to riding real quick. You just couldn’t get the hang of roping.”
“My hand eye coordination sucked,” Marc laughed.
Lance looked at Marc with surprise. “Someone that can play a huge theater organ, has hand-eye coordination problems?”
“The organ does not move. I had no problem roping a object that was standing still. But roping a cow while riding a horse was a disaster.”
“You were starting to get the hang of it near the end,” Gip pointed out.
“It was Roddy, the horse I was riding. He knew I was so bad, he would adjust his position, just as I was about to toss my rope.”
“I suspected it was something like that,” Waddie hooted.
Everyone had a good laugh at Marc’s expense.
Miss Webster, Waddie’s housekeeper, fixed a delicious supper for everyone. Marc and Lance helped Miss Webster with the dishes afterward.
Returning to the porch they enjoyed the setting sun.
“I understand you spent over a year here,” Lance said. “How did you end up at Big Bear Lake?”
Waddie could see Marc was having a hard time deciding where to start. “I know part of the story,” Waddie offered. “Each year my biker family takes a road trip. We hit the open road looking up old friends as we go. Our boy Boo here had come a long way over that last year. So I asked him if he wanted to come along.”
“It was fun, for the most part,” Marc added. “The weather was clear and warm. We’d ride most of the day and some how, at the end of the day, there was always a friend of one of the bikers that would put us up for the night.”
“That’s convenient,” Lance said. “And a good way to keep expenses down.”
“It wasn’t like we were free loading,” Marc said. “In exchange for a place to set up camp, most every time we’d spend a day or more helping out with some projects that needed to be done.”
Waddie laughed, “I wouldn’t have missed the expression on your face when you found out we were going to spend the next day painting the outside of Jimmy John’s house.”
“I was expecting to be on a vacation. If I knew how much work there was going to be I could have stayed here and worked.”
“But you wouldn’t have had as much fun, if you had,” Gip reminded him.
Marc smiled, “Yeah, it was fun.”
“I don’t understand,” Lance said. “How did you end up at Big Bear Lake?”
Waddie’s expression grew solemn, “It was ‘cause of someone from my past. When I was younger, I was drafted into the service of my country. I served several tours of duty in Nom. I was a field medic, until I got shot up pretty badly and they sent me home. My wounds healed but my head was all messed up. When I mustered out, I didn’t return home to my family. Some how I just couldn’t face them. So like a lot of Vietnam vets, I bought a Harley and hit the road. Wonder’n around the country for a couple of years, until I met a group of men, like myself, were searching for some’n. We began rid’n together and became a family. Through mutual support, we slowly found the answers we were look’n for. When the time was right each of us would leave the family to face what we dreaded most. In my case; it was to return to my family, and try to pick up the pieces of my life.”
“You must understand most bikers are good men. But there is always a few rotten eggs out there. Unfortunately, we crossed the path of some of them on our way to Milwaukee.”
“I knew we were going to have trouble when Snake had words with my dad,” Gip said.
“I had hoped we would loose them on the back roads of the forest,” Waddie said. “We hadn’t seen hide or hair of ‘em for two day.”
“We had made camp,” Marc picked up the story. “We were getting ready to bed down for the night when the men in the camp suddenly became quiet. Waddie motioned for me to keep quiet.”
“Most of the men I ride with are seasoned combat veterans,” Waddie added. “We automatically went into alert mode. Six men were sneaking up on our camp.”
“No one sneaks up on someone unless they are up to no good,” Gip said.
“I knew the men we were with, and I knew I could count on them in a fight. The unknown was, how you would handle yourself,” Waddie said to Marc. “I felt it would be better to get you out of there.”
“You’re right, I was scared. I understand now why you sent me into the woods. If I had stayed I may have caused you more problems.”
“Lucky for us, those dirt bags, besides being loud, were also stupid. They didn’t even try to out flank us,” Waddie said with a sigh.
“I followed your instructions,” Marc softly said. “I went deep into the woods and hid. For the longest time I hid quietly like you said. Then all hell broke loose in camp and I could hear it. Then when I saw the explosion, I freaked.”
“One of Snake’ men threw a Molotov cocktail into our camp. They thought they had caught us sleeping, but we weren’t there. The fools rushed in with knives and tire irons to finish us off but all they found was empty bedrolls. We were on them before they could figure out it was a trap.”
“It was happening again and I had to get out of there. I just ran and ran.”
“We went looking for you,” Gip said. “But you weren’t where Dad told you to hide. At first light we split up and followed the river hoping to find some sign of you.”
“I don’t know why but I headed for the high ground. I must have followed the ridge for a day or two. It was after sunset when I thought I saw lights coming from a town. Like a fool I didn’t wait until first light. I tripped and fell into a ravine. The next thing I know I wake up to the sight of one ugly nurse.”
Waddie placed a hand on Marc’s arm, “Marc, I don’t want you to think we gave up. We looked for you for days.”
“Why didn’t you send someone for help?” Lance asked.
“I hate to admit it but it took us some time to find our way out of the forest,” Waddie said sheepishly.
Marc laughed, “You all got lost!”
“By the time we made it back to a town, to report you missing, we read in the paper about someone being found in a ravine. And by the description, we knew it had to be you.”
“Why didn’t you contact the authorities?” Lance asked.
“What could we tell them?” Waddie asked. “We knew him, but yet we didn’t. We couldn’t tell anyone his name, where he came from, or where to fine his family. We knew he was in a hospital and was getting good care.”
“So you just left him there,” Lance accessed, with anger in his voice.
Marc reached out to Lance. “No, James. Waddie is right. They knew very little about me. They had no information about me that would help identify me.”
“You’re wrong about us just leaving him,” Gip said. “I had a friend keeping an eye on you.”
Marc frowned, trying to figure out who in Big Bear Lake Gip could know. “Dillin?”
“Sheriff Dillin?” Lance asked.
A smile spread across Marc’s face. “Sure. Dillin was a perfect way to keep tabs on me.”
Lance looked at Marc with a lost expression.
“Gip used his professional contact to get information. Or I should have said, Sheriff Gip Claymore, used his position to get the needed information,” Marc said. ‘I don’t think Sheriff Dillin realized he was giving any information.”
“I met Dillin at a law enforcement conference, a while back. When we returned I found several inquiries he had sent out asking if anyone had information about a John Doe he had.”
“So you’ve been keeping an eye on me,” Marc stated.
“Only until we knew you were all right,” Waddie said.
“The last we heard from Dillin, was that you had been released from the hospital, and was going to start school,” Gip added.
When Waddie brought up the subject of Marc and Lance spending the night, Marc accepted. Waddie was going to show them the guest room when Marc had an unusual request. “Would it be all right if we spent the night in the loft?” Marc asked.
Waddie gave Gip an amused look. “Shore’ if you want.”
“You get’m settled in?” Waddie asked.
“Yeah, Marc seems excited. But I’m not too sure about his pod’na’.”
“The last time I saw the look he gave Marc, was when you informed your wife you and your boys were going to be gown a month, on roundup, at the Lazy 8.”
Gip laughed, “She made me pay for it, that night.”
“I heard she kept you up all night,” Waddie howled.
“She wanted to stock up. After all she wasn’t going to get any for a month.”
“Well, are you go’n to spend the night?” Waddie asked.
“Might as well. Cindy and the kids is still visiting her aunt, in San Diego. Is it all right if I give’m a call?”
“Shore’ nuff, and give’m my love,”
Later that night, Waddie was standing at the screen door as Gip returned from the barn.
“Well?” Waddie inquired. “What’s go’n on down there?”
Gip stepped onto the porch with a big grin on his face. “You will never believe it. Them two are sitting in the open loft door, singing cowboy songs.”
“What!”
“They’re singing cowboy songs. And every dam cow pony is standing in the pasture listening to them.”
Waddie shook his head as he turned back into the house. “I knew that boy was strange.”
“He shore’ nuff has the gift,” Gip added.
Lance was snuggled in Marc’s arms as the first rays of light came through the loft door. Opening his eyes just a slit he confirmed that last night was not a dream. They had in deed slept in a hayloft.
Lance thought Marc had lost his mind when he turned down the offer of a nice soft bed to sleep in a hayloft. All he could think about was how little sleep they would get sleeping on a pile of hay. Little did he know, hay was not what was going to keep him up.
Gip, had showed them where they were going to sleep.
“Do you remember where to find everything?” he asked Marc.
“Yea, I think so.”
“Well you two git some rest,” Gip said, giving Marc a knowing wink.
“Goodnight, see you in the morning,” Marc said to Gip as he headed back to the house.
“Now will you tell me why we are sleeping in the barn?” Lance asked.
Grinning Marc held out his hand. “Come on, I’ve got something to show you.”
Taking Marc’s hand they climbed the stairs to the loft.
“Is this where you slept when you lived here?” Lance asked.
“No, there is a bunk house on the other side of the house. Several weekends during the summer Gip and Waddie would have friends and neighbors over and they would rodeo. Waddie’s biker family would show up and the men would sleep up here.”
“His biker family?”
“Yeah, it turns out most of them are damn good cowboys. They could stand their own against the local cowboys. And a lot of times, beat them.”
“Don’t they keep hay in the loft?”
“Yeah, in half. The other half is set up for sleeping.”
At the top of the stairs Lance found a large open room. Along two sides were small sleeping alcoves. Each alcove had a simple bed large enough for two. Marc got blankets and pillows out of a small storage room in the corner of the room. After they made up the bed Marc showed him the large shower/bath room attached to the backside of the barn. After a long shower, that involved each of them making sure every nook and cranny was throughly clean. Along with a fair amount of groping and kissing. Taking big man size towels they dried each other before running back up into the loft.
They had just gotten to the foot of their bed when Marc turned on his heals and ran back to the stairs calling back he had forgotten something.
Lance, grabbed a blanket to cover himself when he heard someone coming up the stairs. The heavy sound of someone with cowboy boots was unmistakable.
Peering around the edge of the alcove the sight Lance beheld took his breath away. Standing before him was his lover, dressed in cowboy hat, leather vest, chaps, and cowboy boots.
“Howdy partner, you in the mood to do a little bronc riding?” Marc said with a big grin.
As a reply to Marc’s question Lance dropped the blanket.
Marc’s grin widened when he spotted Lance’s roaring erection.
There is something about Marc in leather that turns them both on. Hot and heavy was the only way to describe the sex that night. (Sorry, but you’ll have to use your imagination this time.)
They were laying in each others arms catching their breaths when they heard movement out in the corral. Getting up they went to the open loft door. Looking down they saw Lucy with her fold Lady. Outside the corral stood almost a dozen more horses.
“Roddy, that you boy?” Marc called out.
One of the horses let out a loud whinny, and Lance could see a head bob up and down.
“This is creepy,” Lance said. “Why are they out there?”
“Word must have gotten out, I was here,” Marc said as he sat down in the doorway.
Lance joined him. “Did they just come to say howdy?”
“Something like that,” Marc said as he looked at the gathered horses.
Lance could not be sure but he suspected there was some kind of exchange between Marc and the gathered horses.
Without warning Marc started to sing Home On The Range. Lance joined in on the chorus. Next they sung Clementine, Cool Water, Git Along Little Dogies, Red River Valley, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, and Yellow Rose of Texas. Lance was amazed that he remembered the words to most of them.
It was the first time he had sung to a heard of horses. The strangest thing was Lance felt they understood every word.
“Sure y'all cain't stay longer?” Waddie asked as he walked Marc and Lance to their pickup.
“I wish we could. But I need to spend some time with my boys.”
“Understand, family comes first,” Waddie said. “But I expect to see y’all for the fourth July rodeo. Your boys will love spending some time, at the ranch.”
“I don’t know what life has in store for me. If it’s possible, we’ll be here.”
“The invention is open any time y’all can find time to visit,” Waddie said with understanding.
“Thank you. I guess this is goodbye,” Marc said offering Waddie his hand.
“What’s this goodbye shit!” Waddie declared. “You know that’s not the cowboy way.”
“I’m sorry sir. I forgot my manners. I meant to say,
See ya on down the road, pardner.
Waddie’s face broke into a big grin. “Now that’s more like it. See ya on down the road, ”pod’na’.”
Gip stood next to Waddie as they watched the pickup disappear over a hill.
“Why do I get the feeling you weren’t all that surprised when Marc told us about his boys,” Gip stated.
“The boy has a good heart. I’d expect nothing less from him.”
“It takes a big man to take on a family, like he his,” Gip said. “I just hope he isn’t getting in over his head.”
“With the help of his new family and friends he will make it. Besides, he has someone looking after him.”
Gip looked questionly at his dad.
Waddie looked to the sky and grinned.
“Me. Uriel?” Gip said in wonder. “Wow!”
“With that kind of help,” Waddie said as he put his arm over his son’s shoulder. “There’s no way for that young man to fail.”
It was early afternoon when Marc and Lance pulled into Helen Browns driveway. They weren’t even out of the car when Bobby flew out the front door.
“You’re here!” he shouted before jumping into his dad’s arms.
“Easy sport,” Marc chuckled as he regained his footing.
“Sorry,” Bobby said as he let his dad go.
Seeing Lance smiling at them he turned to give him a hug. “Hi, Pop.”
“Hi, son,” Lance said as he returned the hug.
“How long can you stay?”
“Not very long son,” Marc said. He could see the joy drain from the boy.
“Marc! That’s not nice,” Lance admonished.
Bobby gave Lance a questioning look.
“We’re here just long enough to get you packed.”
“Packed? Where are we going?”
“I wanted to spend a few days with my boys. I figured instead of splitting my time with each of you in two different locations. I thought we’d just pick you up and the three of us go see your little brother and Nana.”
“I get to see Shawn? Ah, we should ask Grams if I can go.”
“That’s already taken care of,” Marc said. “I talked to her a couple hours ago and she said it was all right to go.”
Grabbing his dad’s hand he pulled him toward the house. “What should I pack?”
It didn’t take long to get Bobby packed and they were soon headed for the airport. Bobby was intrigued by the plane they were to fly on. He had flown on the big commercial jets but this smaller private jet was a totally different experience.
Marc wondered if the attendant had a length of rope handy. Bobby had been super hyper since they had taken off. As soon as the seat belt sign was turned off he had been bouncing around the cabin looking out all the windows. Thank god the attendant managed to come up with snacks and a box containing a Game boy with a large selection of games to keep him occupied.
Marc had arranged for a car to meet them when they landed. In less than an hour they were pulling into Nana’s driveway.
Shawn was playing in a neighbors yard when he saw a car; he didn’t know, pull into his drive. He watched as a man got out the passenger side. His face lit up when he recognized Lance. He was halfway across the yard when he spotted his dad. He flew into his dad’s arms shouting, “You’re here! You’re here!”
“I told you we’d be back,” Marc said as Shawn hugged him around the neck.
“How long can you stay?” Shawn asked as his dad put him down.
“Only three days.”
The sound of the closing of the car door made Shawn turn around. There was someone else with his dad and Lance. A older boy had gotten out of the car. Shawn immediately recognized who it was. “Bobby!”
“Hey, Shawn. How’s it going?”
TBC
Well, here it is. Finally. This chapter fills in most of the missing blanks of Marc’s life since the loss of his family. I want to thank Waddie Greywolf, for the use of his characters, Waddie and Gip Claymore, and of course, Mr. Uriel.
I want to thank all of you out there for standing by me the last few months. I’m hoping that the chapters will come closer together the next new year. The foundation for Marc’s family has been laid and only time will tell how it will develop.
I want to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Till next year,
James
Copyright ©2000-2005 Phoenix Publishing.