The Power of Love
Chapter 3 – The Bear
Jack arrived at the main camp early next morning, looking shattered. Ennis was already sitting by the fire on the log, preparing breakfast, when he stumbled in and he didn't even do so much as look up at his long, stretched out yawn. Instead, he poked nonchalantly at the beans which were spitting on a grill over the fire and just nodded as Jack announced how tired he was.
'' Ah was up awl night watchin' those damn sheep...'' he moaned, flopping down near Ennis and running an agitated hand through his messy hair. '' Aguirre ain't got no right askin' me ta do that...''
'' Mmm...'' Ennis offered in reply and finally finished tending to the food, serving it in not the most eloquent way. Jack still ate it like a man starved though.
'' Ah cain't wait 'til ah get enough money and can get away from him!'' he continued to rant through mouthfuls. '' Wanna own mah own ranch one day but...tha's a long way off yet...''
Ennis nodded, still not meeting his gaze. ''...ah'm gettin' married to Alma once ah get down off this mountain...'' he muttered quietly, feeling he needed to engage in some conversation with Jack lest he came across as just plain rude. ''...a pretty lil' gal ah met a coupla years ago...''
Jack tilted his head slightly, wiping juice from his mouth. '' Where d'you meet her?'' he asked and Ennis heard something in his voice that he couldn't quite detect.
'' Mmm, well...y'know, through friends an'...yeah...''
Jack smiled a little, rubbing his swollen itching eyes. '' Ah haven't got no one at the moment...'' he replied, yawning again. Ennis nodded and rested the empty can on his lap, drawing his jacket around him. They had to go back up to the sheep that morning and although he wasn't tired, he still wasn't looking forward to it. The air felt heavy and moist around them and he was pretty sure that at some point in the day it was start to rain. Knowing his luck, it would probably be while they were still out there too. But he couldn't control the weather – he had to get to the sheep – after all, that was his job, rain or shine.
So, it turned out that, after the camp had been cleared up a little, they rode out back into the fields, heading towards the pastures where the sheep were. The sky was getting greyer and greyer what seemed like every minute and moisture was hanging heavily in the atmosphere around. By the time they reached the animals, a cold wind had started blowing through the trees, whispering and making the long grass dance. It felt damp as it reached Ennis's skin and immediately, he knew that a storm was brewing.
Luckily, it held off just enough for him to get back to camp after tending to the sheep but unfortunately, Jack had to stay out. Ennis tried not to feel too sorry for him (after all, they knew what could happen when they arrived here for the summer) yet as he glanced out of the shelter of his tent, a wooden carving of a horse in his hand (something he'd been making to pass the time), he saw the rain was coming down harder than ever and along with it, distant claps of thunder. Jack was going to be drenched when he arrived for supper and he knew he wouldn't be happy about that. From what he'd already learnt, he seemed to be quite the complaining type.
Fortunately, that night, it cleared up a good deal and the mountains were once again reduced to a calmer condition. The moon rose with its starry friends and darkness claimed the sky, telling Jack it was time to go back to the pup tent after his food with Ennis in the main camp. They said a quiet goodbye and then Ennis was alone, wrapped up once more in the sheets and bedroll.
***
A couple of days later, it was Friday. At noon, while Jack was out in the meadows as he always was at this time, Ennis took the horses down to the bridge, as Aguirre had ordered, and he met the man with the supplies. He told him they hadn't got the powdered milk and were out of spuds but he said he couldn't do anything about that at the moment. Ennis had sighed and handed over the list for the next week, causing the man to grin at the soup request.
'' I thought you didn't eat soup,'' he teased.
'' Yeah, well, ah'm sick of beans...'' Ennis replied gruffly, packing up the supplies and getting ready to set off back to camp. The other man snorted.
'' Too early in the summer to be sick of beans!'' he chirped but Ennis just ignored him and guided the two horses away from the river in the direction of the hill.
They rode through the trees in peace for about half an hour, knowing the route well by now, and passed by flowing streams and bubbling brooks on the way. Ennis brushed past dangling leaves and branches and in the end was getting quite frustrated by the amount of them hanging down. He batted them agitatedly with his spare hand yet carried on trekking, grateful as he heard the sound of a river. It meant he was still on the right track and hadn't somehow taken a wrong corner somewhere along the line.
Softly, he encouraged the weary horses onward and guided them down a slight slope in the path of the shallow water, gradually turning past a thick, dense bush of foliage. And there, suddenly, on a log in the middle of the stream was a brown bear, its eyes wide and mouth gaping as the other animals came into its vision. A deep growl escaped its throat and the horses whimpered and neighed loudly, bucking up onto their back legs. Ennis swore and was thrown to the ground, violently hitting the rough stones and dirt with a thud. Carelessly, the horses ran off and began to scatter food and other belongings everywhere in their haste, making Ennis yell angrily after them. Ignoring the roaring bear in the water, he scrambled quickly to his feet and followed them, insults and expletives pouring effortlessly and endlessly from his mouth.
***
Jack arrived at the main camp early that evening, tired from the day's work and sore from being constantly on his horse. He hadn't seen Ennis all day, not even out in the fields, so when he saw that there was nobody at the camp, he began to get even more curious. Ennis was usually there with the supper already prepared but now he wasn't. Jack wondered where he had got to. It wasn't like him to stay out with the sheep longer than he needed to, after all.
So he must have been somewhere else. Yet quite where, Jack didn't have a clue. What he did know though was that he was starving and hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, having been too busy to grab anything in the afternoon. Gently, he slipped off the horse and walked over to the pre-fire stones and twigs, noticing two unopened cans of beans resting there. He hated beans with a passion, especially ever since he had come up to Brokeback, but when there was really nothing else to eat but cold soup, they seemed at least a little favourable. Finding the can opener, he cracked one can open, spilling the juice over his fingers a bit, and then finally got a fire going, shoving them onto the grill over it.
He ate in silence, watching the sky darken around him and constantly listening for any movement from the trees behind him to hint of Ennis's presence. For a good few hours, there was nothing but then, suddenly, in the middle of the night, when blackness had fully claimed the heavens and not even the moon was doing very well in penetrating the dim, there was a rustle of leaves and Jack jerked awake from his doze, his eyes snapping open. Turning around, he saw Ennis sliding off his horse and striding into the camp, barely even seeming to acknowledge his companion.
'' Ennis?'' he asked darkly, his anger starting to seep through. '' Ennis, where the hell have you been? Ah came down here hungry as hell an' all ah find is beans!''
But Ennis, in his true style, didn't reply, just flopped down on the log by the warm burning fire and stared into it, fury in his sparkling eyes. Jack sighed frustratedly and turned to him, about to launch into a question fuelled rant about what he'd been doing and where he'd been and so on. But, just as he was on the tip of it, he noticed something different about Ennis. On the side of his forehead, red and glistening, was a deep cut, looking extremely painful. The anger in Jack immediately soothed as he saw it and he gasped a little, unable to avert his eyes.
'' Ennis? What the hell happened?'' he asked.
Ennis groaned and looked down at his feet. '' A bear happened, tha's what,'' he replied sharply. '' Jus' comin' back from gettin' those supplies and there he was right in the middle o' the river...Horses got spooked an' scattered an' ah have ta race after 'em ta try an' collect ev'ry'thin' they drop.''
Jack winced, couldn't help it, and then sat back down on the log next to Ennis, taking the material from around his neck and dousing it the hot water he had boiling over the fire. Ennis flinched as he brought it to the wound but let him dab at it momentarily, before grabbing the cloth from him and doing it himself.
'' You got anythin' ta drink?'' he asked gruffly, trying to ignore the pain searing through him. He didn't like to look vulnerable at all. Jack nodded and picked up the whiskey bottle, handing it over. Ennis took a long swig of it, the sharp taste giving him something else to concentrate, and cursed the horses.
'' We only got beans left,'' he continued heavily, his eyes narrowed. '' The horses dropped ev'rythin' else and ah couldn't carry awl that much...''
Jack didn't know what to say to that. He was sick to his stomach of beans but he didn't want to complain in front of Ennis. He'd just been thrown off a horse, after all, and it wasn't his fault their food had been left behind. It had been bad luck that bear had appeared and he couldn't have controlled that. So, trying to ignore his frustration (he decided to instead direct it at Aguirre for giving them such an awful supply of food in the first place), he nodded slowly and turned back to the flickering campfire.
'' Well, we gotta do somethin' about that then...'' he said carefully. '' Ah know it's not yer fault but...Ah dunno...Maybe we should shoot a sheep or somethin'....''
'' Ta eat? We're mean'a be herdin' the sheep not eatin' 'em...And Aguirre would prob'ly kill us if he found out...''
'' What's the matter with you? They're a thousand of 'em...'' Jack replied simply. '' He'd never find out.''
'' Yeah, well....Ah still think ah'll stick to beans...''
Jack sighed. '' Ah had to put up with 'em awl through last summer...'' he groaned. ''...ah s'pose ah could this year too...But ah guess last year was easier...'' Jack suddenly paused, realising he'd been speaking his thoughts. He quickly shook his head to forget the memory and then got up from the log, looking up at the night sky. Ennis followed his gaze.
'' Well...'' he began, stretching slightly. ''...ah s'pose ah better get back to those damn sheep. Knowin' mah luck, coyotes'll be out t'night.''
'' Mmm...'' Ennis offered in reply, turning back to the fire. His wound was really beginning to sting by now, blood staining his fingers. Much to his despair, he could also feel his eyes starting to get a little hot.
'' Ya'll be alright, won't cha Ennis?'' Jack asked, looking down at him again. '' Ah'd stay but...'' He realised that sentence would be too hard to complete. Luckily, Ennis butted in.
'' Jack, ah'll be fine,'' he snapped. '' Ah'm not some lil' kid fallen over in the playground. Ah'm alright.''
Jack nodded, his eyes betraying a slight hint of disappointment and hurt. Ennis didn't glance up to catch it. '' Well, okay then...See you t'morrow mornin'.''
'' Mmm.''
And then Jack turned and walked out of the camp, leaving Ennis alone. With a strange feeling stirring inside of him, he realised that that was the most they'd talked ever since they arrived on the mountain.
TBC