Tales from the Ranch

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 23: Finally - The End of the Day

After Dale and Craig's rushed, but gratifying sex, they went through the shower to get rid of the faint trace of "horse smell" and lingering river water residue. Although the rocky bed made the water clear, there was no guarantee it was pure water.

Without asking, Craig got out glasses and fixed them each a gin and tonic; then laid out some cheese and crackers to go with the drinks.

Each had put on a pair of boxers and settled down in what had become their favorite place to sit, the love seat in the living room. Dale sat with his back to the corner, his right leg stretched along the back so Craig could settle in front of him in a position where they could caress each other and kiss. Before settling down, Craig had put on a CD of "easy listening" music from the Big Band Era. It suited their mood perfectly.

They were sipping their drinks and snacking, mostly Dale taking charge of the food and drink distribution, feeding both of them. All the while, they were admiring the other and looking at their new rings.

"I love our rings. I hope you don't think we overspent on them," Craig said.

"We can afford it and they look good on our hands," Dale replied.

"I know, but we also could have spent a lot less and gotten plain bands, too. I just hope you don't think I forced you into this," Craig told him.

"No, not in the least. The important thing is that we have each other and we bought each other a ring to seal our commitment."

"I'm glad you feel that way. What do you think about asking Fr. George to bless our union, like Tom and Eddie did?" Craig asked.

"I'm all for it, but as I said this morning, I want to attend inquirers class and I think I want to be baptized and confirmed first."

"Were you baptized at the Victory Temple?" Craig asked.

"I don't remember that I was, but I don't think so. Since my mother didn't feel worthy and we didn't attend their services often, I really doubt it. Even if I was, I don't think it would count if I were to ask for membership in the Episcopal Church."

"If they baptize by immersion, they probably don't baptize infants anyway, otherwise you would remember it. and I see your point about wanting it done in a legitimate church," Craig agreed.

"Now, since we are on the subject, do you want to tell me a little more about the church service and what the various parts of the ritual and ceremony mean?" Dale asked.

"Sure, let me go get a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, last Sunday's order of service and a couple of other things." Craig crawled off the love seat, but was back in a couple of minutes, settling himself against his lover again.

"I don't know where to start, but maybe describe the building where the service is held. St. James building is what is called a cruciform shape. It is like a cross, with the high altar and the area behind the communion rail, that is called the sanctuary being at the top. Then the choir area is called the chancel. You notice that there is an empty area in front of the chancel steps that called the crossing. On either side are two areas used as chapels where there are small altars. These areas are called transepts and represent the arms of the cross. The area to the west of the crossing is called the nave, where the congregation sits.

"Not all churches are designed this way. The architecture of some of the more contemporary buildings does away with the chancel and in others, the choir and organ are even in the rear balcony."

Dale didn't have any questions about that. It all made sense to him.

"You noticed last Sunday that most of the vestments the clergy wore were green. The liturgical colors, as we call them, are used throughout the church year. The church year starts on Advent Sunday, four weeks before Christmas and the color is purple, which in this case represents expectation of the birth of Christ. White is generally used for the major feasts and festivals, but some have their own colors. You'll find white used for Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, All Saints Day and for weddings and funerals, plus a few other times.

"Green is used during Epiphany season. Purple is used again for Lent as it represents penitence. Easter is white and the color doesn't change until Pentecost. Red is used for Pentecost, Confirmations and Saints who were martyred. White is used again for Trinity Sunday, but the color for the rest of the Sundays is green until Advent starts the cycle over again.

Dale had seen the Church Calendar hanging in the kitchen, but hadn't thought about all the different colors used for the various dates.

"Okay, then the colors on the pulpit and lectern are the same?" Dale asked.

"Yes, and you will also see them reflected in the trim worn by the acolytes and others in the procession.

"Next is the mass itself, the ordinary, which never changes, and the propers that change from service to service, Sunday to Sunday and holy day to holy day." Craig explained the lectionary and the three-year cycle of readings from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the Psalms and the Gospel readings for each day of the year.

Dale frequently asked questions, either to clarify what he had just been told, or that which had been explained had caused another question in his mind.

"Next is the music, ranging from chanted prayers to the music used from Sunday to Sunday." He outlined the common "said" mass, then explained how it was embellished with music of chants and hymns, the readings, candles, incense, Sanctus bells, vestments; sprinkling of holy water, but everything centering on the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

"Did I completely confuse you?" Craig asked.

"No, some things are more clear. What about bowing, genuflecting, crossing yourself and standing and kneeling?" Dale asked.

"This all varies from parish to parish and here is where we get into the definition of "Low Church, Middle Church and High Church." Fr. George says that the only difference between Low Church, where there is little ceremony and High Church like we have at St. James is spelled 'L-A-Z-Y'."

They both laughed.

"My family used to attend a church in Arlington, which had a very plain service. The only time you ever saw the priest make the sign of the cross, was at the benediction. After my parents visited here for the first time and I took them to St. James, they loved it so much they started attending another parish that was more like what we have here."

"Well, I like it because I feel that something important is going on. The church we used to attend on occasion was nothing but a bunch of loud hymns, shouting and pounding the pulpit and being told we were all condemned to hell. We never heard anything about God's love and certainly nothing like last Sunday when Fr. George preached about brotherly love and tolerance for people who were different. I don't think I ever heard the words 'God loves you' at the Victory Temple. Instead it was something like none of us were worthy to go to heaven."

"Something important is going on," Craig replied. "As far as the outward parts of the ceremony, we bow at the passing of the processional and clergy crosses, at the mention of the name of Jesus Christ and at the words in the Creed 'He came down from Heaven' and usually at the mention of the Holy Trinity.

"We cross ourselves at the beginning of the mass at the words 'Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, at the end of the Gloria, at the end of the Creed, at the words 'Bless Thy Holy Name', the blessing after the General Confession, the words at the Sanctus-Benedictus, 'Blessed is He that cometh', at the elevation of the bread and wine, the words before communion, 'The Gifts of God for the People of God', before receiving the bread, before receiving the cup and as you leave the communion rail, and at the benediction. Also, any personal prayers you might have before the service, after receiving communion when you are back in the pew and after the mass is over."

"Wow, that's a lot to remember."

"You will pick it up very quickly. Just watch me, but don't worry if you don't manage to do it every time."

"What about genuflecting?"

"It's a sign of reverence upon entering and leaving your seat. Some people barely bow at the waist or nod their heads and others make a deep bow (or genuflect) with their knee going to the floor."

"Okay."

"Don't worry about 'doing it right'. There is no right or wrong. What people do in one parish doesn't necessarily fly in another. If I went to our old parish in Arlington and did all the ceremony we do at St. James, people would think I had dropped out of the sky. Certainly I would be marked as a visitor from a 'high church'," Craig laughed.

"I was worried I might not do it right. That makes me feel better."

"Just watch me. Fr. George will explain everything in the inquirers class and I think I'll go with you, because I don't know all the reasons for doing some of this, I just follow the people who are sitting around me."

Dale leaned over and gave Craig a kiss. "Thanks for explaining this. I think it helped me and explains some of it more fully. I'm sure I'll have more questions."

"I might not be able to answer all of them, but certainly we can call Fr. George and he will answer our questions. I'm so glad you are interested in my church and hope that soon it will be 'our church'. I can hardly wait for some of the upcoming Holy Days, like All Saints, Advent Sunday, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Those are the highlights of the Christian year."

"I've never heard most of those names mentioned. Sure, there was Christmas and Easter and maybe Pentecost, but the rest were never mentioned at Victory Temple. I can't imagine a service more grand than what I saw last Sunday."

"Trust me, you will see plenty of them."

Tom and Eddie had really enjoyed the day, being able to be with two guys whom they already thought of as close friends. And. they had enjoyed being outside and riding the horses to the picnic area, then on to the ravine up the river. Both had a hard time believing that country like that existed so close to Williamsport.

Eddie parked his little pickup in their garage and they went into the house. They barely had time to shower and change clothes before going to a school faculty party. Thank goodness they didn't have to provide a covered dish. It was $7 each for the catered dinner and that was a bargain for the good food provided.

Kevin and Terry had a great time on Friday evening. Terry had never spent the night away from home before, nor been on a ranch where there were animals to look at. He was especially taken with the new goslings and the baby ducks, which were just sprouting their first feathers to replace the downy fuzz they had when hatched.

They were up late on Friday night, playing

Nintendo games. Terry was surprised that Kevin's parents allowed them to stay up as late as they wanted. At home he had to be in bed and asleep by 9 o'clock. It was almost midnight when he and Kevin finally crashed. They slept in separate beds, Terry sleeping in the bed that was supposed to be Jason's, but shared by he and Kevin when they weren't sleeping in Kevin's bed.

As they were getting in bed, Terry said, "I'm having a great time. Your parents are so cool. Do they always treat you nice, like this evening at supper?"

"What do you mean? That is the way we always

eat dinner." He was clearly puzzled at Terry's question.

"My Dad never lets us talk about anything except church and the people he says are going to hell and those who haven't paid their pledges and the people who quit going to church there and what's going to happen to them."

"That must be a weird church. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound that way."

"That's okay. I think he's the treasurer and

bullies some of the people into doing what Rev. Jimmy Bob wants done. If they don't do it, they better watch out because. (he whispered) I think Rev. Jimmy Bob tries to get even with them."

Kevin was surprised at that statement. It

wasn't anything like he'd ever heard about before.

"I can't imagine our priest trying to get even

with anybody," Kevin told him.

"Aren't you Catholic? My dad says they are

dangerous and are going to try to take over the world." "No, our church is St. James Episcopal. I guess

it's kinda like a Catholic Church, but we don't believe in the Pope, just the Archbishop of Canterbury in England."

"That's that big church that my dad calls 'the cathedral'. He says that church likes fags and

queers." Kevin was really puzzled. That

sounded like something the Riley twins would say. He didn't know how to answer that statement.

"I don't know what you mean. I've never heard

that before."

"Well, it's just what my Dad says. and what Rev. Jimmy Bob said."

"I'm sleepy, it's been a long day. Are you ready to go to sleep?" Kevin asked Terry.

Terry really didn't know what he was talking

about, either. He was just repeating conversation from their dinner table at home. "Go'nite Kevin. Thanks for having me to stay at your house. It's a really neat place."

"Thanks," Kevin replied. He felt sorry for Terry. "Good night," he said, reaching over to turn off the light.

The boys in Jason's tent all woke up when the

trumpet player blew "Reveille" at 7 o'clock. It was time to start the day. Jason, as well as the other boys in his tent, woke up with dried cum on their stomachs and groins. The wet tissues didn't really do anything except to smear it around and cause it to dry faster.

They weren't alone. Probably half the boys in the camp had the same problem. Or if they didn't, they wished they did. But this was part of growing up and going on a campout. The Boy Scouts could make all the denials they wished, but in their organization a camping trip was where the majority of the boys got their basic sex education, no matter how wrong the information might be. Facilities were set up where the boys could brush their teeth and wash their faces, comb their hair and the Porta- potties were next to it. The kitchen wagon was putting out food for the boys. There were scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, V-8 juice, orange juice, biscuits and coffee. Everyone ate like they were starved to death. It certainly wasn't "roughing it", but scouting had changed a lot over the years.

Scott was standing at the opening to the tent he shared with Jason and Dustin.

"Remember, what we did last night is just

between us, okay?" he asked.

"Sure. I wanna do it again tonight," Dusty said. "It was fun and I won't tell what we did," Jason avowed.

"Thanks guys. We can probably do something

tonight, too."

None of the boys were about to tell of the fun they had participated in. After they cleaned up and ate breakfast, the plans for the day were outlined by the Scoutmaster and his assistants, then the Patrol Leaders made sure each of the boys understood what was expected of them.

Jason was assigned to a group of boys learning to tie a variety of knots, and then later listened to the description of the various merit badges they could work toward earning.

A few of the boys' fathers came to the

campground to see what their boys were doing, but most were there because of a sense of duty, not because they were really interested in what was going on.

About 11:15 Marty arrived, driving one of the ranch pickups. Since he had been in Boy Scouts and had camped at this very site with the troop when he was a young boy, he had great appreciation for the Scoutmasters and those helping with the experience the boys were having.

Jason was really excited that Marty was there, although he had been assured his dad wouldn't miss visiting for anything. Jason felt very grown up, even though he wasn't quite 12 years old.

Marty sat in on the knot-tying demonstration and helped Jason and a couple of other boys. He explained to Jason which knots would come in handy on the ranch and made sure he understood how to tie them properly. After that Marty sat in on the merit badge seminar and he and Jason discussed which ones he should start with. He knew Jason would excel at anything he tried, but wanted him to start with some easier ones and work toward the hard ones.

About noon, several of the boys saw four men approaching on horses. This caused a lot of excitement, as many of the boys hadn't been around horses before, even though this was a rural farm community. Most farms didn't keep horses around since they were expensive to maintain and house.

Jason knew it was Dale and Craig, but he was surprised that Eddie Thompson and Tom Bryant, his favorite teachers were the other two on horseback. Mr. Bryant was riding his dad's horse, Sourdough, and Mr. Thompson was riding his mother's horse, Molly.

He felt so proud that he had so many adult friends who were interested in what he was doing. The bonus surprise was when Eddie Thompson told him that he was an Eagle Scout. Jason was anxious to show them the campground and then demonstrate the few knots he'd learned to tie that morning.

The men didn't stay long, but Marty ate

with Jason's patrol, and then left afterward. Many of the boys were envious that Jason's father had visited and especially that Mr. Bryant and Mr. Thompson and the two other men were riding horses that belonged to his family and had come to the camp to see him. This gained him a lot of points with the older boys, but there were a few who were more jealous than impressed.

The rest of the day was spent on various scout activities. There was a nature hike, games, craft projects and most importantly, study for goals they hoped to achieve, whether it be merit badges or the next rank.

The evening was spent much as the night before

with a campfire, songs, stories and fellowship with "Taps" being played at ten o'clock.

Chris and Kevin took Terry home at 3:30 and Beth greeted all of them, thanking Chris for bringing her son home. She would have liked to invite Chris in for a cup of coffee, but knew her husband wouldn't approve. He was all wrapped up in Rev. Jimmy Bob's philosophy of how the world should work. Most of the time it had nothing to do with reality, but she didn't dare tell her husband that.

Her oldest son, Bret Junior, had spent all

morning in his room thinking about the conversation at the dinner table the night before. Finally after a sandwich at noon, he went to the Public Library to see what he could find out about two subjects. The first was homosexuality and the second was to see what information he could find out about the Episcopal Church.

The Williamsport Public Library had a wealth of information about homosexuality and Bret read for over two hours. He then found a couple of books that were written for teenage boys like himself. One was called, "You Are Not Alone" and the other was "Being Gay Isn't Your Choice." He spent an hour reading each book and each answered a multitude of questions he had. The research on the Episcopal Church proved to be a real eye opener for him. Not only did he find out that the denomination had been in the United States since it was made up of colonies, but had become an independent church after the Revolutionary War, still with ties to its parent church in England which came about with its separation from the Roman Catholic Church in the middle 1500's and claimed their line of Bishop's went clear back to St. Peter through the Roman Catholic Church.

What was surprising to him was the tie to

St. Peter, who was one of his father's heroes. And. his father certainly wasn't a Roman Catholic. This was all very interesting. He read of the belief of the Episcopal Church and of its ritual and ceremonies. This just made him all the more determined to find first-hand knowledge about it.

How was he going to do that? If he showed

up at the church, would they even allow him inside? Did he know anybody who went to church there? What. what. what? were the questions going through his mind.

It was time for the library to close, as it was

4 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon. Reluctantly he put the books back on the shelf, but knew he would be back to do more reading and research.

He arrived home. His mother was preparing

dinner and Terry was babbling on and on about what a great time he'd had at the Williamson's ranch.

Bret wasn't even asked where he'd been, as his parents didn't try to communicate with him. It was too much of an effort.

After dropping Terry Jenkins off at his house, Chris drove to Jack Harper's house. Eileen Harper and Chris were both from Dallas and had attended Baylor University at the same time, living in the same dorm, but on different floors. Although they frequently worked on school committees together, their social activities didn't often cross.

Eileen's husband, Doug, worked for the

Williamsport Public Works Department as the assistant manager of the power company. Doug Harper was an easy- going guy, and had served as an assistant Scoutmaster since they had moved to Williamsport. He could hardly wait until his own boys were old enough to join the troop, although both belonged to Cub Scouts.

Jack was the older boy, almost 10 years old and

Jamie was seven. Jack and Kevin had worked on several Cub Scout projects together, and of course, knew each other from school. Like Terry Jenkins, Jack had never experienced farm life.

For a treat, Eileen was going to take Jamie out

for pizza, and then they were going to a movie, as they were alone for the evening.

Chris and Eileen visited while Jack took Kevin

to his room to show him the latest model car he was assembling. Kevin could hardly wait to show Jack the latest model airplane that Jason was helping him with. Soon the boys were back downstairs, ready to go.

"Bye, Mom, I love you," Jack said as he gave his mother a hug.

"Guess that's the signal that they are ready to go have fun," Chris laughed.

"I hope he won't be any trouble for you, this is his first time to stay overnight with anyone," Eileen explained.

"No trouble at all. Last night was the

first time that Kevin has had anyone stay over, but I think this is just the first of many for both my boys."

"They are at the age where they want to explore and experience new things," Eileen said, not realizing exactly what she had just said.

"That they are. They will all be gone to

college the next time we blink our eyes, I'm afraid," Chris told her.

By this time both boys were more than ready to

leave and Chris told them to get in the car.

"It's good to see you again. Marty and I need to have you and Doug out sometime, but our schedules seem to revolve around the boys and the ranch activities."

"Don't worry about it. Doug is either involved in Boy Scouts or a Chamber of Commerce committee. He likes to volunteer his time to the community."

"That's good. We need young people like him to be involved in this town. That's what keeps it progressive, yet a good place to live and raise a family," Chris told her.

"He's gone too much to suit me sometimes."

Eileen trailed off.

"I have the same problem with Marty. When he's

home he's involved with either the ranch or community boards or the bank. Thank goodness he doesn't have to travel much and I can usually go with him."

Chris realized that she had sent the boys to get in the car and that she should do the same.

"We'll drop Jack off in the morning about 10 o'clock on our way to church, unless you want him here earlier."

"No, that's fine. Just make sure he's had a shower so he can dress for church when he gets home," Eileen said.

"That shouldn't be a problem. Kevin has to

be dressed for church also.

"Maybe the next time Kevin can stay over

with Jack." "That would be fine. We're

going to a horse show in Waco in a couple of weeks, we'll see what happens," Chris said, moving toward the door.

The two women exchanged good-byes as Eileen

walked Chris to the door.

After arriving at the Bar-W Ranch, Kevin helped Jack take his things to the rooms he and Jason shared. Jack was excited about seeing what "farm life" was all about. He had been out to the ranch before but it was only to bring something that Kevin had accidentally left at his house.

The boys left the house with Sandy leading the

way to go gather eggs and feed the chickens, then on to feed the horses. Kevin's grandfather, Martin Senior, would feed and milk Star a little later when he returned home from a committee meeting in Williamsport.

Kevin showed Jack how to get the eggs out of the chicken's nests and twice they had to make a chicken get off her nest so they could take her eggs. The count was only 19 eggs this evening. They set off for the barn/office to put the eggs in cartons. Mrs. Wood had requested a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk, so Kevin showed Jack what they had to do. They took the eggs and milk to the house, Sandy again leading the way.

The next stop was the horse barn. Kevin showed

Jack about the carrot treats and they put feed out for the horses who went into their stalls in the barn when they saw the boys approaching. Jack was impressed with the horses and especially that Kevin and Jason had their own horses. Of course, Jack wanted to ride but Kevin explained that he couldn't saddle the horses without someone older to help him.

"Maybe we can get my grandpa or Dad to saddle Muffin and Blaze and we can ride for a little bit after my chores are done."

While they were in the horse barn, Martin Senior had started for the barn/office to feed and milk Star. Kevin was going to check on this later as he wanted Jack to observe this chore and maybe his grandfather would allow him to show Jack that he could milk the cow, too. Maybe Jack would even get to try.

The boys, again with Sandy by their side, were on their way to look at the new goslings. As they approached the area where the next was, the gander came to greet them, not at all happy they were there. He was hissing and making a lot of noise. Although Kevin had told Jack what to expect, it still scared him and he thought they were being attacked.

What the boys didn't realize was that a

rattlesnake was in the area of the nest and the gander was trying to scare it off. As the two boys approached the nest, they both heard the snake about the same time. They were within about 3 feet of where the snake was coiling. Sandy sensed trouble and as the snake started to strike at the boys, she rushed the snake, being bitten in the neck area.

The boys saw what had happened and started screaming at the top of their lungs for help!! Although Sandy had taken a severe bite, she was still trying to protect the boys and grabbed the snake in her jaws and started shaking it, trying to kill it. She suffered another bite in her right flank.

Both Mrs. Wood and Martin Senior heard the

boys screaming. Mrs. Wood called for Marty and Martin Senior ran from the barn toward the boys. Marty arrived at the scene shortly after Martin did. The snake wasn't dead, but was wounded enough that it wasn't going to live.

Sandy was another matter. She was lying on the ground, gasping for air. Her having tried to kill the rattler had increased her heart rate and spread the venom in her bloodstream.

The boys were beside themselves and were scared to death. Both were crying, Jack because he was frightened and Kevin because he was scared that Sandy was going to die.

Martin retrieved a shovel from a storage

shed and killed the snake.

He told Marty, "This is the first rattlesnake I've seen this close to the farm buildings since shortly after you were born. I wonder how it got here?"

Marty examined Sandy and discovered the two wounds. He was most concerned about the bite on the neck as that was the one that might prove fatal.

"Help me get Sandy in the pickup and call the vet that I'm on my way with the dog."

Marty ran the 50 feet to where the pickups were parked and was back to get Sandy in two minutes time. He and Martin loaded the dog onto the front seat and Marty took off for town.

Martin herded the boys to the barn/office and called the vet, telling him what had happened and that Marty would be arriving in about 5 minutes. He then tried to calm the hysterical boys.

"Grandpa, is Sandy going to be okay?" Kevin

sobbed. Martin knew he couldn't give false

hope. Although the snake was only about 4 feet long, it was an adult and the diamondback rattlers had a more potent venom than others.

"I don't know, boys. Sandy took two pretty

bad bites and one was in her neck. She may not make it. But bless her; she kept you boys from getting bit. She loves you, Kevin, and she was protecting you." Martin was choking up, too.

By this time, Chris came out to see what was going on and both boys went to her for comfort.

"Sandy killed a rattlesnake," Kevin said. "But she's hurt pretty bad. Dad took her to the vet. Mom, what if she dies?" he cried.

"Honey, things like this happen of a farm

sometimes. I'm sorry this had to happen to Sandy, but she was protecting you. She knew you were in danger."

Martin again repeated what he'd said earlier. "I haven't seen a rattlesnake this close to the ranch buildings for over 30 years. They usually stay way up in the ravine where it's rocky. I'm concerned that it might not have been alone. Sometimes they travel in pairs."

"Dad, don't they sometimes crawl up under parked vehicles, ride a long ways and then drop off when they are parked again?" Chris asked.

"Yes, but I'm wondering if that could have

happened, although. Mort, Sam and Lee have all been up in the high pastures in the last couple of days, and then came here to these buildings. I guess that could have happened, too."

By this time Kevin and Jack were returning to

near normal. Chris sent them to the house to wash their faces and clean up.

Marty drove fast, but didn't take any chances. He didn't think Sandy was going to make it, although she was still breathing very shallowly and at a slow rate. He rubbed the top of her head as he drove. He arrived at the veterinary clinic within five minutes of leaving the Bar-W, as the clinic was on the edge of town closest to the ranch.

Dr. Paul Craven was waiting for Marty at

the entrance with a gurney. He opened the passenger door as Marty got out and came around to help him.

"She took the first bite in her neck and the second in her right flank, but she almost killed the snake. She wounded it to the point it was going to die."

"Was it a diamondback?" Dr. Paul asked Marty.

"Yes. Dad said that he hadn't seen a rattler around the buildings for 30 years. We don't know how it got there. Sandy was trying to protect Kevin and a friend who is visiting."

By this time they were in the examination room and scooted Sandy onto a table. The doctor started an IV, then grabbed electric clippers and removed the fur from the wound areas. Both wounds were still oozing blood.

"Looks pretty serious. I'm going to give her some antivenom, but we'll have to see. Both are pretty good punctures and it's hard to tell how much venom was injected. How old is she now?"

Marty had to think. "She's at least twelve.

really closer to thirteen. Chris and I got her about 6 months after we got married," he said while rubbing her behind the ears.

"I don't want to give you any false hope, but she has a very slim chance of surviving this. I'll have to keep her here. We have a couple of other sick animals here right now and someone will be spending the night with all of them, Sandy included."

About that time Sandy seemed to take a big breath, then go even more limp than she had been.

Marty looked at Dr. Paul with a question in

his eyes. "I'm sorry, Marty. There really

wasn't much that I could do, considering the circumstances, even if she could have been treated immediately. You had her here within 15 minutes of the time she got bit. There was just too much poison for her system to handle.

Marty felt tears gathering in his eyes. Dr. Paul shook his hand and gave him a pat on the back.

"What do you want me to do with her?" the

doctor asked. "Just dispose of her the best

way. cremation?" he said. "That's the usual

way, unless you want to take her home to bury her."

"Let me talk to Chris and we'll call you right after I get home, if that's okay." "Sure. And again, Marty, I'm sorry. I know she

has been a great dog for your family for many years.

"It's the boys' dog. She adopted Jason when we brought him home from the hospital and then Kevin came along. She died protecting them," Marty said, choking back the tears.

"I won't do anything until I hear from

you," Dr. Paul said.

"Thanks, Paul. Either Chris or I will call you

in a few minutes."

In the meantime, Martin had disposed of the rattler by dumping it into the trash burner. He'd see to it that trash would be burnt the next day. He went back to the barn to feed and milk Star.

About 20 minutes later Marty drove in the driveway and parked the pickup in the driveway by the barn/office. He went inside to tell his father what had transpired. "I'm so sorry, Marty. The boys will really miss

her, but I think you need to get them a new dog right away. That will give them something to help them understand that life goes on and new things have to take the place of the old."

"Right, Dad. We're lucky that she was with

the boys. Otherwise it could have been either Kevin or his friend, Jack."

It was with a heavy heart that Marty made his

way to the house. Chris and Mrs. Wood could tell immediately that the news was not good. Kevin and Jack were upstairs.

Marty shrugged his shoulders. "There wasn't anything the vet could do. Too much venom and it was injected into her neck. It had to go to her heart and brain almost immediately."

"Honey, I'm sorry. Kevin blames himself for

going to look at the goslings."

"I'll go talk to them. Oh, we need to decide

about what to do with Sandy's body. We can either have her cremated or bring her home and bury the body somewhere."

"Let's have her cremated and bury her

ashes. I think that will be easier on both Kevin and Jason,"

Chris said. Marty made the phone call,

arranging to pick up the ashes on Monday. After the telephone call, he and Chris went upstairs to talk to Kevin and Jack, who were just lying on the beds, not talking.

They knocked on the open door before entering the room. Kevin knew that the worst had happened and started crying.

"It's all my fault, Dad. I wanted to show

Jack the little goslings. If we hadn't gone over there."

Marty sat beside Kevin and Chris sat on the edge of the bed where Jack was resting.

"Kevin, son. don't blame yourself. That snake could have been anywhere around any of the other buildings. We don't know where he came from, but that doesn't make any difference. What matters is that you and Jack are safe. It is just the nature of a dog like Sandy to protect the people she cared about."

Kevin started crying. "Jason's going to be

mad at me." "No, no. Kevin, listen to me.

Jason is not going to be mad at you. He will understand. It could have happened if he'd been along, so don't worry about it."

Sobs shook Kevin, but he soon calmed down with Marty rubbing his arm and back. Jack sat up and Chris put her arm around him. The boys had suffered a very traumatic experience. She just hoped that Jack wouldn't be afraid to come back to visit another time.

Chris realized that the boys needed some activity to take their minds off what had just transpired. She looked at Marty for his assent as to what she was about to suggest.

"Would you boys like to go to a movie

tonight? There is a new Disney movie at the theatre or we could go to Blockbuster and rent something and look at it on the big screen TV in the den after we eat."

Marty picked up on the suggestion immediately. "I think it would be fun to rent a movie and we can all watch it together. What do you think, guys?"

Kevin wasn't too sure, but he realized they needed to do something fun instead of just sitting there moping about Sandy. He was coming to terms with it, but he knew he owed it to Jack to help him have a good time while he was his guest. "Sure. That would be neat. Can we have popcorn

and Root Beer or Cokes, too?"

"That's fine," Chris said, smiling. They usually didn't watch movies as a family and she wondered what the boys would choose to watch. She looked at the clock. It was an hour until dinner, so there would be plenty of time to go rent a movie.

"I'll take them," Marty said, also wondering what he would have to endure, hoping it wouldn't be a horror movie. "Come on, guys, let's hit the road." They started for the garage, the boys getting in Marty's Oldsmobile and sitting in the back seat.

"Dad?" Kevin asked as they started down the

driveway.

"Yeah?"

"Grandpa said that he hadn't seen a rattlesnake up around the buildings for over 30 years. Where did this one come from. I mean I know that there are a lot of them up in the ravine, but isn't this a long ways for them to come here?"

"You are right. I think this is just a fluke,

but we will all have to be careful that there aren't any more of them around. It's hard to know exactly how it got here, but I would guess that when Mort or Lee or Sam were in the upper pastures that it could have crawled up under the chassis of their vehicles, rode back to the ranch, then dropped off when it was parked back here at the barn. We know that's happened in other places where snakes have wound up in cities, miles from where they came from. It happened in San Antonio several years ago. The man had been out in an area inhabited by rattlers. He decided to get his oil changed after he got back to the city. They put the car up on a lift and the attendant got bit when he started to remove the oil filter. The snake had wrapped itself around part of the frame and they thought it had ridden that way for over a hundred miles."

"Wow!" Jack said, with Kevin echoing the thought.

They were soon at Blockbuster and Marty followed the two boys in. They immediately went to the "children's classic" section. One of the movies they chose was the old Disney "101 Dalmatians" and the other was "The Wizard of Oz". He was relieved, as he was afraid it would be one of the scary Halloween movies or a science fiction offering.

He charged the movies after presenting his

membership card and they were soon on the way back to the ranch.

Mrs. Wood was invited to join the family for their Saturday night dinner and she gladly accepted. Conversation was interesting with each contributing something that had happened to them during the day, but each was careful to avoid the really big incident.

Bret Jenkins, Junior, realized that he still had at least two hours before it would be time for the family to eat supper. He grabbed an apple from the bowl of fruit on the counter, got back on his bicycle and headed down the street. As he approached St. James Church, he realized that there were a couple of cars in the parking lot and another parked at the curb close to the back of the building. About that time another car pulled up to the curb and he rode up on the sidewalk to ask the woman if he could look inside the building.

The woman got out of her car and spotted Bret. "Young man, could I get you to help me carry these flowers inside?"

He was elated. He was going to get to go

inside and no longer had to worry about getting caught

sneaking in. "Certainly, ma'am," he said in

the most polite voice he could muster. He leaned his bike up against a large oak tree on the edge of the parking lot. The lady had two armloads of freshly cut flowers

from her garden and she smiled as she handed him a large bundle, taking the other in her own arms. He meekly followed her to the door. He expected it to be locked, but it wasn't.

"Follow me," she said as she led the way

inside to a small room with a sink. There were two large brass urns and four big glass vases sitting on the table.

"If you can wait for a few minutes, I'll have these ready for the altars and you can help me carry them in and place them where they belong," the lady said, smiling at him.

She didn't seem to expect an answer and he simply nodded his head as he stood there watching as she swiftly arranged the flowers among the various containers. Bret could hear organ music, like none he'd ever heard before. Paul Rathborne, the organist, was practicing for tomorrow's services. He could almost feel the building vibrate.

The lady, having finished arranging the flowers, handed one of the large brass urns to Bret, saying, "This way," as she started through the door. They walked down a short hall and Bret realized the organ music was getting louder. They turned down another short passageway and were in the church proper. He was stunned. Nothing had prepared him for what he saw. Stone walls, soaring upward, beautiful stained glass windows with what appeared to be pictures painted on them - and words, too! There were organ pipes, some quite long on the two walls in the area where he was standing and the organist was playing this mighty organ that had supposedly cost almost a million dollars.

He realized that the woman had placed her flowers on a stand and was motioning for him to bring the one he was carrying. He couldn't help it, he couldn't believe that he'd gotten inside so easily and no one had questioned his being there. He walked to where the woman was standing and she took the urn from him, placing it on another stand. Bret couldn't help but stand, look up, look down and look around. This place was huge. The whole of the Victory Temple could almost fit in the area where he was standing. The lady backed away from the big altar, knelt on one knee, and then indicated he was to follow her.

She spoke again. "We still have four more vases to put in the chapels in the transepts." Bret didn't know what that meant, but followed the woman to get the other flowers. This time when they returned, it was through another passageway that put them in a different part of the building. This part of the building had cushioned chairs instead of the hard pews like Victory Temple had. The woman placed the flowers she was carrying on a small altar (as she called it) and bowed deeply as she backed away. As they crossed to the other transept, she again knelt on one knee, then placed the flowers as on the other altar, backed away, then thanked him for helping her out, then left.

Bret stood in the nave, looking around. He really felt that he was in "God's House" for the first time ever. There seemed to be hundreds of chairs in neat rows in this part of the building. And. of course. more of the beautiful windows in two rows. The lower ones started about 7 feet off the floor and were quite tall. Then up on what would be a tall second level, there were larger windows. As he looked around, he spotted more organ pipes in the back, up high. Some of them were a copper color and mounted horizontally instead of vertical. He wondered why. He wandered about the nave. Some of the windows

had names and dates at the bottom. He found several that had the name of Williamson with dates over a hundred years old. Bret was curious as to the number of chairs and started counting. A quick calculation told him that there were over 750 seats there. Could they all be full on Sunday?

He was fascinated with the sound coming from the organ and remembered that he had seen a young man sitting in front of some keyboards when he had been up in the other area at the front. He slowly made his way down the center aisle, up 3 steps where there were pews that sat 90 degrees to the chairs where he'd just been. He decided that maybe this was where the choir sat. But why didn't they face the congregation like at Victory Temple?

There was a step up into the area where he'd first been and it looked like gates that shut, but were part of a rail with cushions on the floor in front of it. Then, inside that area there were three steps up to what the flower lady had called the "high altar". He wandered over toward the organ console. Wow!!! There were four keyboards and all kinds of knobs and buttons. He wondered how the organist knew which to use.

About that time the music stopped. Uh oh, he'd

been caught. Instead, Paul in a friendly voice said, "Hello. How are you this evening?"

Bret had been ready to run, but realized that he didn't need to.

"I'm Paul," the organist said. "I don't think I've met you before."

Bret gathered his voice. "No, the lady asked me to carry some flowers in. I've always wanted to see the inside of the building. so here I am," he said proudly.

About that time, Father George Tikker walked up, wearing his cassock, surplice and a purple stole. He'd been hearing confessions. Bret was in awe.

"Hello, young man. I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you. I'm Father George or Father Tikker, whichever you want to call me."

Bret was somewhat startled. No one was questioning why he was in the building. He took a deep breath. "I'm Bret Jenkins. Junior," he answered.

"Hello Bret. Welcome to St. James. Have you ever been in the building before?"

He suddenly felt very comfortable in the presence of these two men. "No, I've always wanted to, but didn't think I'd be allowed in. Then a lady asked me to carry some flowers for her. so here I am. This place is awesome." "Of course you are allowed in. We're very proud

of this church and we welcome all visitors. Maybe you would like to come to our high mass tomorrow morning? It's a beautiful service and wonderful music with the organ and choir."

"You mean it would. be. okay. for me. to come

here to church?"

"Of course it would. You might not understand it, but I can arrange for you to sit with someone who will guide you through it and help you," Fr. George said.

"Can you sing?" asked Paul.

"A little bit, but since my voice changed I'm not sure of the notes anymore."

"We have a choir made up of men and boys and are always looking for new members. You would be welcome to audition if you are interested," Paul told him.

Bret couldn't believe it. These people actually acted like they wanted him here.

"Do you attend church anywhere now?" Fr.

George asked. "Yes. The Victory Temple," he

replied. "Aahh, the Reverend Jimmy Bob Jones," Fr. George

said with somewhat of a smirk on his face.

"He's a creep," Bret said before he could check himself.

"I don't know that 'creep' is the right word, but I don't think he knows the same God we do here at St. James," Fr. George replied. "I know they don't sing out of the same hymnal,"

Paul chimed in.

"If you can come to our service tomorrow morning, be here about 10:15 and come in the front door on the west side of the building. Do you know Mr. Thompson, the coach?"

"Yes. You mean Eddie Thompson?" Bret

asked.

"The same one. He will be one of the ushers tomorrow. I'll tell him to be watching for you and he'll see to it that you sit with Mr. Bryant, the history teacher."

"I know him, too," Bret said, getting more

excited. "Good. I hope to see you tomorrow

morning," Fr. George told him.

All of a sudden, Bret felt better about himself than he had in a long time. He was actually looking forward to going to church here and he knew that it wouldn't be any problem to sneak away. He didn't sit with his parents anyway, so they'd never miss him.

"Thanks. Fath. Father Geor. George," Bret

stumbled on the words. It was the first time he'd used the word "Father" instead of "Reverend".

Paul spoke up. "We have cookies and punch in the parish hall after the service. Come for that and you can tell me what you think about the service."

"Okay," Bret replied. He started for the door. "Thanks," he told them.

He was happier than he'd been in a long time.

"Hon," Paul said to George after Bret left. "That is going to be one very surprised young man. Nothing they have ever done at Victory Temple has prepared him for what he is going to experience tomorrow. I bet we have a potential convert," he giggled.

"We may at that. I think that's the church where Dale Richards used to attend some. We have a convert there, too."

Scott, Jason and Dustin made their way to their tent and followed the same routine as the previous night. The lantern was turned down as low as they could make it and hung from the pole at the top of their tent. Scott secured the tent flaps. They were just getting ready to strip off their clothes when they heard someone slap the tent and say, "Hey guys, can I come in?"

Scott asked, "Who's there?"

"It's Davis," the voice replied. It was Davis Horton, the assistant patrol leader, who was 16 and had just become a Life Scout. Scott asked the other two if it would be okay to let him in and they assented.

Davis and Scott had been playing around for over 2 years, but had never ventured beyond watching each other jackoff.

"Skip and John wanted to go to sleep and I'm not sleepy yet. I thought I'd see what you guys were up to." Scott had confided to him that the three of them had a jackoff session the night before.

"Just getting ready to take our clothes off and get comfortable. We thought we'd eat some cookies and talk for a little bit," Scott replied. "Do you have any snacks?"

"Yeah," Dusty replied. "You're not gonna

eat all of our cookies." "I've got some in my tent. Let me go get them,"

he said.

Davis went back to his tent and retrieved an almost full package of peanut butter cookies, his favorite. He dug in his knapsack and found a deck of cards and took those, too.

Skip and John were pretending to be asleep, but Davis knew they were faking it. He didn't care. He'd never been able to get Skip to do anything with him and John was new to the troop and patrol.

"Tie the flaps shut," Dusty said when Davis

reentered the tent.

"Hey, you brought some cards," Jason said. But he was thinking of playing something like Hearts or Rummy.

"Yeah, you guys want to play strip poker?"

Jason had never thought about that possibility. Certainly, he was for it as he might get to see Davis naked. Davis played soccer, so had a tight body. He was about 5'10", weighed 145 and had really hairy legs. His hair was thick and auburn colored.

Scott and Davis had played strip poker before when they had stayed overnight with each other. Scott thought it was a sexy way to get undressed. "Let's make it that the loser has to jackoff the winner," Davis suggested.

Scott was surprised at that suggestion as he'd

never been able to get Davis to touch him before.

Everyone agreed, but Scott suggested adding the provision that the one had the next most clothes remaining had to be done by the next one with the least clothes.

Again, they agreed.

The boys decided that the easiest way to do this was to fold up two of the cots and lay those sleeping bags on the tarp covering the ground, and then they could sit on the bags to play. That done they quickly determined that Davis was wearing one more item of clothing than the rest. He had a t-shirt under his outer shirt, so he had to take the cloth shirt off before they began.

The rules were quickly agreed on since Jason or

Dusty didn't know how to play any of the other poker games. It was decided to count each card at face value, with face cards counting as 11 each and aces as 12. Each would receive three cards and in case of a tie, they would draw another from the deck as many times as it took to determine the winner of that hand. Low score lost a piece of clothing.

Scott took the deck, shuffled and dealt the first hand. Dusty had the high score and Davis lost. He took off his tshirt first. Jason was pleased to see that he had some hair running up the middle of his torso, from his belly button almost to the area between his pecs.

The game progressed quickly, each taking turns dealing when the deck ran out. Jason seemed to draw the lowest cards and losing the most clothes with Davis being luckier, keeping most of his. It was fairly even between Scott and Dustin, although in the end Scott had one more item of clothing than Dustin. After it was determined Jason had to jackoff Davis and Dustin had to do the same to Scott, they shed all their clothes.

After sharing some cookies and rubbing themselves, all were hard and ready to continue with their goal of getting off.

Jason was pleased to find out that Davis was not circumcised, like himself. That put the two circumcised boys together, too.

Davis' cock was about the same size as Scott's - about 6 inches, but the fact that he was uncut made it look larger. He had big balls that had a lot of hair on them, an ample amount of pubic hair for a 16-year old and, of course, the trail that ran up the middle of his torso. Jason thought himself lucky because he'd gotten to see two high school boys without any clothes and was allowed to explore their bodies and pleasure them.

Scott provided some hand lotion for all of them to use and they were ready to begin. Dustin wondered if he could make Scott cum before Jason brought Davis off, and almost suggested a bet.

The boys went to work. Jason wanted to try to kiss Davis while he was masturbating him, but Davis wouldn't hear of it. He thought it was gross.

However, Scott and Dusty were kissing while Dusty worked on Scott's cock. Scott wished he'd known about kissing a long time ago, but was going to suggest it to his brother, Derek, the next time they played around.

Scott started moaning and Dusty worked all the harder. Soon Scott started breathing harder and Dusty could feel his cock twitch. With his other hand, he pinched Scott's left nipple and it brought the desired result. Scott's first shot hit Davis on his chest, and then he had several shots hit the sleeping bag Davis and Jason were using. Jason scooped up the glob of cum on Davis' chest and applied it to his cock, which made the lubrication slicker.

Seeing Scott cum caused Davis to tense up and unload with no warning to himself or Jason, although he could sense that Davis' cock was swelling. His first shot hit Dusty on his upper chest; several on the sleeping bag and then Davis made Jason turn loose because his cockhead was too sensitive.

After the two older boys recovered, Scott suggested they change the rules and the older boys masturbate the one who had just gotten them off. That was fine with all of them.

Davis scooped up some of the cum on the sleeping bag he was sitting on and applied it to Jason's dick. It felt cold. Scott used hand lotion on Dustin. It felt cold,

too.

Davis gave Jason a great hand job. "Remember, I can't shoot cum, yet," he reminded him.

"I know, but it doesn't make it feel any less good," he replied.

Meanwhile, Scott was making Dusty feel better than he'd ever felt before. Probably, because he had gotten stimulated jacking off Scott, Dustin dumped his load in about 2 minutes time. And he produced more cum than the night before, an all time record for him. It didn't take Jason very long, either, and soon

they were cleaning up with the wet towels Scott provided.

"That was fun, guys, thanks," Davis said as he

was putting his clothes back on.

"I think we all had fun tonight. I know I did," Scott said.

Jason and Dustin agreed.

Davis gathered up his cards and the remainder of his cookies and let himself out of their tent. Dustin tied the tent flaps shut as soon as Davis was gone.

"Jeez, it smells like a sperm factory in here.

All of them laughed.

"It'll be even more so after I can shoot, too,"

Jason said, still giggling.

"Thanks, you two," Scott said. "I'm glad you taught me about kissing. It really stimulated me and I'm going to see if I can get my brother to try it."

Jason kept quiet about kissing or playing with his brother. He didn't think that either Scott or Dustin were ready for what he and Kevin did to each other.

The three pulled their shorts and socks on, set up the cots and put their sleeping bags back where they belonged. As they got in their bags, they told each other good night. Scott didn't need to say anything more about keeping their activities quiet. He hoped that maybe part of his patrol could have a sleepover at his house sometime soon.

• • • • • Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long to produce. I'm almost back together after the flood caused by the water heater two floors above me. The only "benefit" was new pad and carpet throughout my apartment. However, I was lucky in that no furniture was damaged.

I would appreciate your comments, criticism, suggestions, and anything else that you would care to say. All Email will be answered. Thanks for the kind notes that appear in my dmail after each chapter. If you wish to receive e-mail notification of subsequent postings, please let me know by sending your request to the e-mail address below. Contact me at: tulsadriller7@aol.com

For helping proofread and edit, my special thanks go to Paul Daventon, author of "Turning the Page" found in the "AdultFriends" section of Nifty. Please read it.