Atop the crest of a hill Ennis surveyed the land that fell before him. Over years of dwindling revenue the outer reaches of the Twist family ranch fell into disuse, relinquishing it almost instantly to a dense and twisted underbrush. The Twists weren't the only local family to have faced hard times, and much of this part of the countryside lay abandoned.

The land below was empty of any road or structure. The big trees were cleared in more prosperous times for farming and cattle. But now the cattle and wheat files had long since died, and the old pines and hardwoods no longer desired to reclaim their lands, instead surrendering them to a short thick tree with thorns andnearly black purple berries that smelled like rotting wood when they fell in the fall.All vegetationin the area seemed to have been cast up by mother nature to defend against another human incursion.

"Shit," was Ennis's brief but accurate assessment of the current condition of the land. He stood with his hands on his hips still looking down into the valley. "Jack… this land can't have been tended in the last 20 years…"

"Closer to 30." Jack wrapped his hands around Ennis waist and followed his eyes to the valley below. Ennis was grateful for the embrace that drove back the melancholy that the lonely land inspired. "I told ya it was a lot of work." Jacks grabbed one of Ennis's hands and pulled him along. He eyes sparkled with excitement. "I got a surprise or you." Ennis shot a glance skyward, bracing himself for anything. " I know it's not the swanky accommodations you're use to, but…" Jack extended his arms in dramatic presentation, "…but it's ours."

Before them was an old stone farmhouse partially hidden behind a line of old hardwood trees. It's stones were of uneven size and of various colors. The shape of the house suggested it was part house, part keep, part barn all in miniature. Ennis had though it was the foundation remains of an old barn when they first drove up andhadn't looked at it twice. As they got closer he saw it's tiled roof was sagging , but the walls looked solid and straight. Despite it's condition, the house stood proudly overlooking it's unkempt domain.

"It Halloween already?"

"Funny. It was my Mom's father's house. When he died, his will split it apart from the rest of the ranch, it's only about 10 acres but I loved it up here as a kid, and he left it to me."

Ennis' voice carried a tone of respectful incredulity that only Ennis seemed able to pull off. "It's looks like it was real nice place Jack… but do you think it's still safe?"

"It's been standing for about 150 years." Jack's eyes showed a pride in a lineage married to land. "My granddad moved up here after his kids were all married and his wife died. It's small, just enough for a couple of people. When I called my folks and told 'em we were coming, they didn't think that we'd have time to build a new place before the winter hit. So I forwarded some money to my Mom, she had people come out and replace the septic and fix the well." He looked doubtfully at the house. "I ain't been here in 15 years… Didn't realize how bad the house had got to." Surveying it further…. "I guess it's good I didn't have them turn the electric on.."

"This place got electric?" Ennis was honestly surprised.

"Use to."

"uhm… Jack…Your granddad… he didn't die in there did he…"

"Sure did."

Ennis looked carefully at the sagging roof and boarded windows. "He's not still in there, right?"

"Fuck you, Ennis."


The house proved to be in better condition then the exterior led them to believe. The roof was going to need repairing before the winter and replacing by the winter following, but there was very little water damage on the "second floor", which was more a large loft, and the majority of the wood inside still seemed solid. The walls were more than a foot thick and when the boards were removed from the deep set windows the whole house was flooded with a soft sunlight, tinted slightly green from the trees' canopy above.

The duct work was set though the house so it could be heated either by the oil furnace in the basement, which looked to be in working order, or the woodstoves located strategically throughout the house. Though there was no electricity currently, Ennis could see how it was run thought out the house hidden partially by a decorative base molding.

"This is a pretty nice place. Why hasn't anyone lived here for so long?"

"The road we came up on is new. Use to be the only way to get out here was a 3 mile dirt road."

The men sat exhausted on the porch on the ancient remains of a unsafe but comfortable swing, passing a bottle of bourbon and watching the stars above. The outlands (a term that had been adopted at some pointduring the day's laborsfor everything more then 50 feet away from the house,) was alive with activity in the evening. Unlike the day when the terrain seemed to taunt the would be ranchers, in the evening Ennis felt he was on the edge of a untouched wild, the edge of an Eden that was at once divine and terrifying . A smile spread over his lips as Jack put an arm around him, and gently kneaded his shoulder.

Ennis tried to remember when Jack's touch went from flooding him with blinding passion to filling him with a softly aching need just to feel his body close. Was it there their first night together... spent and scared, feeling his heartbeat and warm breath on his neck and shoulder. He turned his head to Jack and kissed him. He held a hand to Jack's cheek taking in every feature. Jack smiled eyes half closed in expectant supplication. That damn smile… Ennis felt the aching in his chest intensify. He kissed him again, harder and slid a hand around his waist.

"The camp bed is losing air… we're probably going to be on hard boards in the morning."

Ennis wanted to spend eternity in those arms, looking into those eyes. "I… can't think of anyplace I'd rather be."

"Me either."

"Time for bed?"

Jack stood up and pulled him Ennis up with him. He placed and arm around Ennis's neck pulling his head down into a violent kiss. Their bodies pressed hard against one another and both men could taste bourbon, smell the sweat of the day's long labor and feel a shared and quickening heartbeat.

" Time for bed." Jack said.