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Disclaimer: I do not own Brokeback Mountain or it's wonderful characters, they are sole property of Annie Proulx and Focus Features and are used for entertainment purposes only.
I dreamed a dream
Chapter 14
"Jack? Where you at, rodeo?" Ennis' voice echoed in the empty barn.
Jack had jumped out of the pick-up, yelling for Ennis to come after him. Ennis had turned off the car, unable to keep himself from smiling at the way Jack looked, running into the barn like a little kid. No matter how much time passed, how old they were or what rough times Jack went through, he always had that youthful capacity for happiness, for laughter, for hope… Ennis shuddered to remember how all that had almost been lost in silence, bitterness and fear.
So here he was, playing hide and seek in a barn. Damn fool rodeo.
"Jack?"
"Come on, Ennis! Try an' find me…" a voice answered to his right.
"Jack, come out now! I ain't gonna be lookin' for you all day long, you hear?"
"Aw, Ennis, c'me on! Try!"
So Ennis started his quest again, going deeper into the barn and making his way around some haystacks.
"Hmm… Jack fuckin' Twist… playin' like a five year old… I'm a forty year old man… honestly… damn fool rodeo…"
Ennis grousing was cut short when a pair of hands covered his eyes.
"I'm right here, cowboy." Jack's whisper close to his ear made Ennis shiver. "Come and get me?" the soft, teasing words were enough to make Ennis' heart start racing and to bring his dick to full attention. He took Jack's hands in his own, slowly lowered them and turned around to face him.
Lusty cobalt eyes met gold-flecked brown ones and before any words were spoken, Ennis covered Jack's lips with his own, hands caressing his face, making their way along his body.
He leaned back from the kiss, making Jack whimper slightly at the loss, and in one fluid motion he threw him on top of the nearest haystack, straddling him with his thighs.
"Got you." he declared.
Jack smiled and grabbed the collar of Ennis' shirt to bring him down for a kiss.
Before long, they were both moaning and desperate for closer contact, ridding themselves of boots, jeans and shirts.
"Ennis… Ennis, need you inside me, cowboy."
Ennis pushed into Jack, feeling the incredible pleasure and warmth, knowing nothing could ever feel so good, so right.
"Oh, Jack…"
Pushing in, out, strong, loud, tight, warm… and then release.
Ennis collapsed on top of Jack, slowly disengaging himself.
Jack breathed in deep, feeling dizzy with pleasure, lost in the afterglow.
"We should play hide and seek more often."
Their laughter resonated in the barn.
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Mrs. Twist was in the kitchen, quietly listening to Jack talking with the man who had come to look at the property.
He seemed like a good enough type, around his fifties, graying brown hair and a bushy brown beard. And from what she could hear, he seemed very interested in owning the ranch.
"Well, it sure is a good piece o' land… bit run down, but that can be taken care of."
"What would you use it for?" Jack asked.
He and Ennis had been walking around the property with the man, a Mr. Christopher. The real-estate office had apparently gotten plenty of interest and Jack had arranged for a few people to come up and discuss things with him. Mr. Christopher was the man Jack had overheard talking about the ranch not very long ago, so he had high hopes for selling the place for a good price.
"Reckon the fields would be good for a hay farm, some cattle, some horses. Not so much for plantin'…" Mr. Christopher trailed off and considered Jack carefully. "Listen, I know you're probably worried about leavin' this ranch in good hands and such… so I took the liberty of writing down a few references, you can call and make sure."
Ennis' eyebrows shot up. Damn, this man sure wants the ranch…
"Thank you, Mr. Christopher, it was very thoughtful of you."
"No problem. And here, this is what I'm prepared to offer for the ranch." he handed Jack a small white card. Jack kept his expression carefully neutral.
"Well, I'll look everything over and I'll call you as soon as I make a decision, Mr. Christopher. Thank you very much for coming."
"No, thank you. Have a nice day. Ma'm." shaking both Jack's and Ennis' hands and nodding to Mrs. Twist, he stepped outside and took off.
Jack turned to look at Ennis. Slowly, a grin spread through his face.
"Good offer, rodeo?"
"Oh, Ennis… unbelievable. The man is desperate for this place."
Jack turned to look at his mother, still silently looking on from the kitchen.
"Momma, what do you think? Did you like Mr. Christopher?"
Mrs. Twist smiled softly. She knew how much her judgment mattered to Jack, she understood that if she didn't approve Jack wouldn't be able to sell the ranch.
"Yes, son. He seemed like a fine man, polite… and I'm sure he'll take good care of the ranch."
Jack smiled in relief. But he had to ask one last thing…
"Momma… do you think… do you think my dad would've approved?" he asked in a small voice.
Mrs. Twist took Jack's hand in her own, smiling softly.
"Yes, son. I think he would have."
So it was that a few days later, Jack decided to make the call. Ennis stood next to him while he talked on the phone with Mr. Christopher, arranging a time for contracts to be signed and money to be deposited. When he hung up, he went outside with Ennis, taking a long look at the plains before him, at the old barn, at the recently mended fences.
That was it. He was free of this place at last.
"Ennis… let's go on a fishing trip."
Ennis looked at him for a while, and with a small grin gracing his face, he nodded.
"Alright rodeo. Let's go on a fishing trip."
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They were towards the Bighorn Mountains, both feeling they needed to visit Brokeback Mountain once again, knowing that it was the place to put many demons to rest and to somehow inaugurate their new lives, together.
Mrs. Twist was settled in Gillette, not having many possessions she had simply taken the bare essentials and had been gladly received by her brother and her sister in law. Uncle Harold and Aunt Muriel had made a fuss out of Jack, 'so grown up now, isn't he handsome' which had made Jack feel like a four year old instead of a man almost forty, and if they had guessed on the nature of his relationship with Ennis, they did not comment on it.
And so it was, that after having left Mrs. Twist in good hands, they headed to Interstate 25, going south to reach the Bighorns.
"Remember the first time we were in a pick-up together?" Jack asked.
Ennis, who was driving, smirked slightly at the memory.
"Sure enough… we had to sleep in that damn hunk o' metal a yours."
"Hey, it was either sleeping in my hunk of metal or out in the cold…" Jack chuckled "Ah, that cunt truck sure gave me a hard time…"
"You wouldn't stop your jabberin'… that night I knew I was going to have sore ears for two months."
"Yeah, and you barely spoke a word! I wasn't exactly too excited about having to talk to the damn sheep for those two months…" Jack shot back. "But even then Ennis, I felt something was different… like you was a person I had to get to know, like you was someone who was going to change my life in some way."
They were quiet for a moment, both remembering those first days up on the mountain, when they were but nineteen and on top of the world… with a thousand sheep and each other for company.
"You would always look at me with those big, blue eyes a yours… always smilin', bitchin' bout everything… playing that darned harmonica… I felt something different too, Jack." he took a small breath, and quietly said "I felt that for the first time in my life, someone really cared who I was."
Jack smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder for a moment. Then, he turned the radio higher and started singing along off-key
"Yeah he was a friend o mine…"
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"Ennis… Ennis…" Jack tried to shake him awake while keeping a hand on the wheel and an eye on the dark road.
"Hmm?"
"Let's stop, it's gettin' late… I just saw a sign for a town called Mayoworth, off the Interstate… Reckon we should head there, try an' find a motel."
"Sure enough…" he paused for a moment. "Mayoworth? What the hell kinda name is that?"
"It's the name o the place where we're sleeping, so shut up."
And so Jack took the small road off Interstate 25 towards the town of Mayoworth, a strange feeling of anticipation in his chest.
The lights of the small town were ahead, the light of the full moon on the road… and beside him Ennis.
Jack smiled.
TBC
Author's note: a fairly transitional chapter, hope you like it : ). Also, for the purposes of my story I decided to set Brokeback Mountain near the Bighorn Mountains.
Thanks so much for the feedback!