Chapter Two
Sheep, Branding Irons, and Bears
Jack moaned slightly as Ennis dug his hands into his shoulders. Jack's hands ached from tying knots all day, and his back ached from dragging sheep to and from the branding iron. Aguirre was not one to soften the workload on anyone that under his employ, and as such Ennis and Jack received no breaks the entire day. Also, the job took longer than expected and left Jack and Ennis no time to guide the sheep up the mountain.
In an unusually courteous manner, Aguirre arranged for Jack and Ennis to stay the night at the Signal Motor Inn. Although it was a small, rat-infested hole of a hotel, it did arrange for Jack and Ennis to spend some quality time together without watching their backs for the bulk of the time. As far as quality time was concerned, Jack was happy with his backrub.
"My hands ain't gonna last for long," Ennis broke the silence in the room, "so don't go getting spoiled."
Had Jack really went from being so angry at Ennis that he could have pushed his head through his truck's windshield to so pleased with the state of their relationship that he could sit in silence with him all night with no complaints? It had to be possible because that was exactly how Jack was feeling. Not on fire with passion. Not alive with emotions. He was merely content with a feeling of safety for his relationship with Ennis.
"You still alive in there?" Ennis questioned, he had never known Jack to be silent, unless he was extremely pissed, like he was earlier that day.
Jack removed Ennis' hands from his bare shoulders. Although the shoulder and back rub was nice, he had more important matters to discuss.
"I was just thinking," he said as he pushed Ennis back on the bed, "why did we end up fighting the day we left the mountain?"
Ennis shrugged as Jack rested his head on his chest, "I don't know. I guess my temper just got the best of me. You know, I was feeling a lot that day."
"It's funny," Jack said as he ran his hand up and down Ennis' torso, "I know you feel just as much as me, but you never talk about it."
Ennis grinned, "I guess I don't need to anymore, I'm pretty sure you can read me good."
Jack nodded and exhaled heavily, "I'm so tired. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. At least we'll be truly alone up there."
Ennis shrugged, "Another summer for the two of us."
Jack did not reply to Ennis' words. Instead, he allowed himself to drift off to a shallow slumber. Ennis, on the other hand, was wide awake. And no matter how odd it was, he was happy just to watch his twenty-year old lover sleep.
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Ennis cracked open his eyes, and then proceeded to snap them shut when the light from the open doorway and the open window interrupted his sleep. He first saw Aguirre, and immediately panicked when he realized he and Jack had slept in the same bed last night. He jumped up, his heart skipping a beat for fear that Aguirre may have caught the two boys. Luckily, Jack was already up and dressed. He slapped Ennis on the chest, which earned an "Ow, dammit!" reply from him, as he handed Aguirre a cup of coffee.
"Get up you lazy bastard," Jack winked at him with his back turned to Aguirre, "we've got sheep to herd."
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The day passed swiftly, leaving echoes of loud sheep and barking dogs ringing in the back of Jack and Ennis' heads. By the time that they had herded the sheep up the mountain, retrieved their food from Aguirre's carriers, and set up camp, the two were just at tired as they were the night before.
"Mmm, mm, mmm, mmm, mm," Jack mumbled in a sing-song rhythm as he warmed a can of beans, "I can't believe that we've been here for a few hours and already get to eat beans."
Ennis grunted as he loaded his bolt-action rifle, "I do believe I'd rather drink whisky tonight."
Jack grinned as he stirred the beans in the can, "Are you already going to start the drinking games?"
Ennis slammed the lever on his rifle down to secure his bullet in his gun's chamber. He then propped it up on a nearby tree and walked up behind Jack. Before speaking, he placed two hands securely on Jack's butt and squeezed, hard enough to make Jack yelp in surprise.
"Yes," Ennis said, "the drinking games are on."
Jack rubbed his butt, "That kind of hurt."
Ennis laughed, "Well, once we get done eating those beans you've slaved over, you can head on up the mountain to tend to the sheep. I'll stay here tonight because I want to get drunk. I'll take over tomorrow."
"We're playing shifts this summer?"
"I suppose so," Ennis retrieved a pint of whisky from a supply bag strung up between two trees.
Jack nodded, "I don't know how I'm gonna survive a night without you."
Ennis was about to take a swig of his whisky, but stopped once Jack spoke. Jack's words were genuine, as they usually were in concern with the two of them. The truth that Jack could never express to Ennis was that his single sentence confessions of love took a lot of courage on his part to say. Why? Because Ennis rarely spoke a word, in any situation, especially those with any concern with emotion. Ennis was the classic strong and silent type, and that made him intimidating.
So, Ennis stuck his pint of whisky in his jacket pocket and walked up behind Jack once more. He wrapped his arms around the cowboy's waist and pulled him close. He then hummed an all too familiar tune in Jack's ear, one that took him back all the way to last summer.
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-Brokeback Mountain-
-Summer, 1963-
The sun had been hiding behind thick gray clouds all day. As the day rounded out into early evening, the woods were unusually dark and slightly damp from rain the night before. Jack was standing in front of a dying fire, his hands tucked in his tight jean pockets, with his head cocked down. He was drifting off to sleep while standing.
He drifted back into consciousness, only slightly, when Ennis wrapped his arms around him from behind.
"You're sleeping while standing up, just like a horse," Ennis spoke lightly in Jack's ear, "that's what my mamma used to say."
Jack grinned slightly, but still could not force himself to completely wake up. He leaned back in Ennis' arms as his lover began to hum a calming tune into his ear. An odd feeling came over Jack as Ennis lightly hummed. It did not tingle like goosebumps, but was more of an inner-body shiver. It was a sensation that he had not felt before.
Ennis patted Jack on the chest and kissed his neck, "I got to go, I'll see you in the morning."
Jack opened his eyes just enough to watch Ennis as he saddled up on his horse and began to head off down a well-beaten trail. It was not until Ennis had disappeared that Jack realized what it was he was feeling.
Jack was falling in love with Ennis.
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-Brokeback Mountain-
-Summer, 1964-
The days and nights began to pass as Jack and Ennis grew accustomed to their systematic job. The days brought about a reunion for the two lovers, usually spent eating a bit of food, taking a few sips of liquor, and then having sex before one or the other headed back up the mountain to tend to the sheep. Then the nights would reunite them once more, where they'd eat again, drink a lot more, and nap together in the tent before one woke up to go back up the mountain.
A predictable schedule, a few cans of beans, plenty of whisky, and a bit of free time is what Aguirre's herding assignment had given them. After the first month, Jack and Ennis had forged a bond much stronger than what they had before. From playful wrestling matches early in the morning, most of which were egged on by one forcing the other to wake up before he wanted to, to drunken conversations that led no where but to kissing and sex, to passing away dull hours apart, the two were beginning to fall even more for each other than they would have originally guessed.
What surprised both of them the most is that they had not fought once during their stay on Brokeback Mountain. They had killed over twelve coyotes, and lost only two sheep, which was another point to be happy about. For a while Jack had thought that their surreal experience would see no end. He assumed that nothing would happen to interrupt the ease of their summer lifestyle.
One morning early in the month of June, Ennis returned from herding sheep the night before to eat breakfast with Jack. In usual custom, the two ate, talked, shared a shot of whisky, and Jack rose up to take his turn to heard sheep.
"Do I need to teach you how to tie a saddle on a horse again?" Ennis eyed Jack as he threw a saddle on his horse.
"I know what I'm doing," Jack said, "I've rode more saddles than—" he then caught a grin on Ennis' face and realized how his words could have been interpreted. "You know what I mean, smart ass."
Ennis nodded, "Alright, but when you bust your ass on the trail when the saddle slides off, remember to think of me."
Jack walked up to Ennis, "I never need to remember to think of you, I do that enough already." He planted a kiss on Ennis' lips before he turned and hopped on the horse, "I'll see you tonight."
Ennis nodded and watched Jack disappear down the trail; he then turned around and began to take down their tent.
Down the trail, Jack playfully rode the horse, attempting to entertain himself on the ride up. He charged around a corner up to where a creek intersected their route up the mountain. Usually the horse would step through the foot deep creek without a problem, but this day was different. This day there was a large grizzly bear snacking on fish and blocking their path.
"Holy shit!" Jack exclaimed as he attempted to halt the horse. But this only scared the horse more than it had been. In a startling move, the horse kicked back hard enough to throw the un-tied saddle off of its back, along with Jack. The horse then turned and charged off down the trail, Jack's wrist hung in the horse's straps.
"STOP!" Jack hollered as the horse drug him through thick woods. Unfortunately, the horse did not stop, but did manage to drag Jack head first into a tree truck, popping his wrist out of the straps, and out of place, and knocking him into an unwanted state of unconsciousness. Jack had blacked out and was dead to the world, and dead to the fact that the aggressive grizzly was walking slowly up to him.
Back at camp, Ennis was aroused by the echo of Jack's yells. He was then thrown into a state of shock as his horse charged out through the woods over a five-foot cleft that sent it careening out of balance and down to the ground.
Ennis dropped what he was doing at the time and yanked his gun away from the tree it was propped on, "JACK!"
Author's Note: Thanks for all of reviews and feedback!