Quality of Mercy
There was nothing like watching the different hues of color that lit up the sky at sunrise. That was where Jack found Ennis, sitting on the back deck behind their ranch. Jack carried two mugs of coffee and handed one to his man. He silently filled the seat next to Ennis.
"Whatcha doin out here, cowboy?"
"Just watchin the sun come up." Ennis took a sip from his mug. "And thinkin about stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Jack drank from his mug as he stared at his partner, wondering what was going on inside his head.
"Just feelin lucky I guess. I finally got what I always wanted."
"Oh yeah?" Jack smiled and moved his leg until it was touching Ennis'.
"Got myself a ranch, a new life up here in the mountains way from everything. Fresh air to breath."
"And?" Jack looked at him expectantly.
"And nothing," Ennis smirked as he brought the mug up to his lips.
Jack swatted at his shoulder.
"Yeah, okay, and I got a handsome fella to share my life with."
"That's better," Jack leaned over and kissed him.
It had only been six months since they purchased this ranch. They got it dirt-cheap cause it was a fixer upper. They'd spent their time fixing the ranch house, it wasn't a large spread about eight acres. They fixed the roof on the house, put in new windows, painted the house and barn and fixe the fences on the property.
They heard from a rancher in town that he was retiring from the ranching business. He'd sold his property to the national park service and was looking to get rid of what was left of his stock and horses.
And that was how Ennis and Jack acquired their first herd of cattle and the horses they needed to make it all work. They called their place Mountain Cow and Calf operation. Jack had never seen Ennis so excited as when they looked out over their land and saw the cattle grazing peacefully and the horses running in the pasture.
"Ennis?" Jack heard his man walking in the living room.
"Whut?" Ennis peaked into the kitchen.
"Are you headin out?"
"Yeah, Mr. Hanson called the hay delivery is ready for pick up."
"Okay, let's go." They grabbed their hats off the pegs by the door and drove off in their pick up.
They drove miles upon miles where the only things you saw were the mountains, trees and an occasional deer. They made it to the Hanson farm in about an hour.
"Hey, Mr. Hanson," Jack was the first one out of the truck and he shook the old man's hand.
"Hello, Jack." He smiled at Jack then shook Ennis' hand. "So how are you fella's doin?"
"Real good, the ranch is really shaping up." Jack, ever the more talkative of the two, filled Mr. Hanson in on the work they were doing to whip the place into shape.
"I'm glad to see that place didn't go to pot. After Paul decided to retire I wasn't sure anyone was going to take it over. Too many ranches have gone belly up and are abandoned. Just left to rot, ain't right, I tell ya." The gray haired man shook his head.
Ennis listened quietly, but Jack could tell by the way he shifted his feet that he wanted to pick up the hay and go.
"I think I'll start loadin the hay now, Mr. Hanson." Ennis said quietly.
"Oh, sure, sure, you two go on now, It's over in the barn. If you need any help you can ask one of the hands to help you."
"Thank you," Ennis tipped his hat politely with his finger and he and Jack loaded up the truck.
They went over to Mr. Hanson to pay him.
They decided to take Route 27 home. It was a short cut that Ennis hadn't tried yet. They were the only vehicle for miles driving down the country road. Ennis drove and Jack stared out the window at the scenery as it whizzed by. His head nearly hit the dashboard when Ennis suddenly slammed on the brakes.
"What the hell did you stop for Ennis!"
Ennis was looking out across the road at a dried up pasture. There was a horse walking slowly around the parched ground. Ennis got out to take a closer look and Jack followed him.
The horse was thin as a rail, his ribs showed through the dull red coat. He looked like he hadn't had anything to eat and drink in quite some time. He looked over to the two men with sunken eyes and he limped over to the fence. Despite his poor condition the horse was curious. He looked Ennis in the eye, like he was pleading for help, and Jack saw Ennis tense.
"Go get the horse trailer, Jack." Ennis said to him through clenched teeth.
"Ennis we can't just take him, that's stealin. Let's go talk to the owners."
"Be right back for ya, boy." Ennis said quietly as he rubbed the horse's head to assure him.
They went up to the house and no one was home. It looked like no had been there in a long time. They found dead animals all over the place. Chickens, goats, even a dog with puppies.
"You go on and get the trailer, I'll stay with the horse." They were just about to go back to the horse when they heard a faint whine coming from the barn. They walked over and hidden in some dry hay was a puppy, one of the litter had apparently survived. Jack picked him up.
"We gotta get this little guy out of here." Jack picked up the weak puppy and held him against his chest. Ennis looked him over.
"We'll call the vet to take a look at both of them." Ennis found a spigot and filled his hand with water, he put it in front of the pup and he lapped it up.
"That's a good boy."
"We gotta call the cops, Ennis, these bastards gotta be caught for abandoning these animals."
"If you ask me they should be shot and I'd be only too happy to pull the trigger on these pissants."
Jack took the pup with him and drove back to the ranch. The drive was only half hour and in no time they were pulling up in front of the house. Jack took him inside and put some newspapers down and some water and a blanket.
"Don't worry, pup, Ennis and me will be right back." He hoped the pup would be okay alone. Jack called up the sheriff and told him what happened. He said he'd meet him up at the ranch.
He hooked up the horse trailer and made one quick stop in Maron to pick up some puppy chow and two bowls for the puppy and went to meet with Ennis.
By the time Jack made it to the abandoned ranch the sheriff was already there talking to Ennis.
"Hey, Jack." Sheriff Taylor greeted them. Ennis and Jack met the Sheriff when they first moved to the area. Everyone went to the coffee shop in town to get Mable's famous apple pie. And if there was one thing Ennis loved is apple pie. The coffee shop was a meet and greet place. So that was where Ennis and Jack got to meet some of their neighbors and the local law enforcement. At first Ennis was uncomfortable but once he realized these people weren't giving him any 'looks' he seemed to start enjoying stopping off for a cup of coffee whenever he was in town.
"Hey Sheriff. Do you know who owns this ranch?"
"Ryan Stone, his wife took off with the kids when she found out he was a cheating son of a bitch. He started drinking and I think he just couldn't stand being out here all alone anymore and took up and left."
"So he took off and left all the animals to die?" Ennis clenched his hands into fists. "What is going to happen to the ranch, is the bank going to take it?" He wanted to know if the bank would try to claim the horse and puppy as part of the property if they wanted to resell it.
"He inherited the ranch from his family, they're all gone now. "
"I'm taking the horse back home with me." Ennis didn't ask the sheriff if it was okay he just told him.
"Well now I think that is a great idea, Ennis. With Ryan being gone anything on the property is fair game I think. I know you'll give Barney a good home."
"And don't forget the puppy," Jack mentioned. "We found a dead dog and a litter of puppies with her. One pup managed to survive so I took him home.
"It makes me mad to see folks neglect animals. Most of the people in these parts care about their livestock and pets. But every once in a while you see someone like Ryan Stone. I've arrested some of them, but they don't get the punishment they deserve. " Sheriff Taylor told them. "Let me give you a hand with Barney."
Ennis opened the back of the trailer and made sure there was a bedding of straw for the horse to stand on.
He opened up the corral fence and softly spoke to Barney. "Easy Barney, easy boy. We're gonna take real good care of you." Ennis rubbed Barney's face and the horse weakly pushed his nose into Ennis' hand. They were afraid to give him food or water until the vet checked him.
Once they got him in the trailer they said their goodbyes to the sheriff and drove back to their ranch.
"I'll kill him." Ennis said through clenched teeth.
"Ennis," Jack put his hand on Ennis' arm trying to calm him.
"I'll kill that pissant for walkin out on his animals, who the hell does that?" Ennis was beyond livid.
"I know, cowboy, makes me sick too. But we gotta let the law handle it. I'm sure Sheriff Taylor is going to do what he can to catch that bastard."
They drove the rest of the way in silence and Jack prepared an empty stall for Barney while Ennis tended to the horse.
Jack called the vet and he said he'd be right over. In the meantime he checked on the pup. The black and white puppy looked up from where he'd been sleeping. Jack brought the puppy chow in and filled up one of the bowls he'd brought in with food and the other with water.
He petted his head and put the food down in front of him. The pup ate a little of the food.
He heard a truck pull up and went outside to meet up with the vet.
Dr. Wilbur Post took one look at the horse and his mouth dropped open. "What is this horse's story, Ennis?"
Ennis filled him in on everything, including finding all the dead animals.
"I found this puppy, in the barn, only one to survive from his litter." Jack told him. He held out the squirming black and white pup to the vet. "Easy boy, Dr. Post is just gonna look you over and see if you're okay."
The vet took him to the deck and checked the puppy out. Except for being a little underweight he seemed to be okay otherwise. "I'd say you got to this pup before any real harm could happen to him. " He passed the puppy back to Jack and went over to examine the horse.
"We gotta put some meat on this animal. I've brought a special blend of Alfalfa and corn oil that I've used on cases like this and it really helped bring them back."
The doc gave them some food and vitamins for both animals. " I'll be back at the end of the week to check on them."
It took some time but with food, water and TLC Ennis and Jack got both animals healthy.
"Have you decided on a name for the pup yet, Jack?" Ennis asked him one evening as they sat in the living room watching TV.
"I think I'll call him Willie. He just looks like a Willie to me, right boy?" Jack had the puppy sitting on his lap.
"Sounds like a real good name, darlin." Ennis put his arm around Jack and they snuggled up together, the puppy had fallen asleep on Jack's lap.
The two men were exhausted from a hard day working the ranch and they soon followed the pup in dreamland.
Sometime in the middle of the night they woke up and Jack put the puppy in a special training cage he bought for Willie. The vet said it would make him feel more secure and help in housebreaking him. Then he joined Ennis in their bed and they wrapped their arms around each other.
The next morning Jack noticed the space next to him in the bed was empty. He knew where his man was likely to be found. He took Willie outside so he could do his business and walked over to the stable.
"Mornin, cowboy. Did you sleep okay?"
"Yup, sure did. I wanted to see how Barney was doing." Ennis led the big red horse out of his stall and began brushing him down. Jack couldn't believe how much the horse had changed. Gone were the sunken areas on his body, you couldn't see the ribs anymore. Here was a healthy, strong horse that you'd never know had been abused.
"Ennis, I don't know how you do it," Jack mentioned as he watched his partner feed the horse some carrots. "You just have the knack for knowing what an animal needs."
"You don't do so bad yourself, Jack." He gave Jack some carrots and Barney came over to take some from his hand. Barney playfully nipped Jack's arm.
"Hey!" Jack laughed and pet the horse's neck affectionately.
"How about taking him out for a ride today? I can saddle up Abe and we can go riding up to the South pasture."
"Well I don't know, Jack. We'll have to take it easy on Barney. I haven't even seen if he takes to a saddle."
"Well we can try, if he starts to buck we'll stop."
Ennis took one of his favorite saddles; one he knew would be comfortable for the horse as well as the rider.
He could tell that Barney had been ridden before and wasn't afraid of the saddle. He didn't balk at the bit either. "Good boy, I'm gonna get on yer back now, nice and easy like." Ennis said low and slow to him. Barney seemed eager to get out on the range and after Jack got Abe saddled up they took off for the South pasture.
They found a nice quiet spot to dismount and let the horses graze, they had some sweet grass and were going to start growing some alfalfa in this area.
They sad under a big oak tree and held each other. "I'm glad Barney is going to be okay, I never saw a horse in that condition before. Got me scared he wasn't going to make it." Jack whispered in Ennis' ear.
"It was touch and go there for a while but this horse has heart, wouldn't give up. I could see it in him, that he was a fighter. Real good horse."
"I think you're a fighter, too, Ennis."
"Huh?"
"Well fighting for what we got, I thought I almost lost you too after we had that fight about Pine Creek. Glad you decided you wanted this, what we got here."
Ennis didn't say anything, just pulled Jack closer to him and kissed him. "Real happy I did."
They gave each other the familiar look that spoke volumes. And in no time they had discarded their clothes and the sounds of moans and groans could be heard echoing in the mountain.
The only witnesses to their afternoon loving were Barney, Abe, Wilie and the fauna that happened upon the scene.
"Love you so much, Darlin." Ennis whispered through the kisses he planted on Jack. They basked in the afterglow.
"Love you too, cowboy."
Jack slowly got back on the saddle; he probably would be a bit sore. But he wouldn't have it any other way. Ennis got on Barney and, together, they made their way back home.
End