Chapter Thirty-nine

It turned out that Buck was right about the feelings of the other hands. They didn't mind working with the two boys, but they didn't want to get in the bath water after them, or drink after them from the water dipper. Buck got the feeling that if it was possible, the others would have had the two of them sleeping out in the barn with "the other animals". He was glad that the job was only for a few weeks. It had only been three days, and he was already tired of the comments being made just loud enough to be heard as they passed by.

Buck was brought out of his thoughts by Ike's tugging on his sleeve. * Let's stop off at the stock pond. *

Buck shook his head. "We'll get in trouble," he said. "I don't want to give them a reason to have us leave early. We need to stay the whole two weeks to get paid."

*Why would we get in trouble? * Ike asked. * We've finished our work. We'll just say that we wanted to save everyone the trouble of worrying about bathing after us, and we wanted to get cleaned up before dinner instead of after. *

Buck thought it over for a few seconds before agreeing. "You're right," he said. "I'd love to actually be clean when I ate for a change."

They made their way past the bunkhouse to the stock pond. They quickly shed their clothing and after washing them out as best they could, jumped into the inviting wetness. After a few minutes of just enjoying the coolness of the water, Ike swam up behind Buck, grabbed his legs, and pulled him under the water. In an instant, Buck kicked out of Ike's hold, shot across the water to the bank, and clawed his way onto the shore. His breathing was shallow and rapid; his eyes were wild with fright.

Ike cautiously approached him * What's wrong? *

Buck just stared at him, eyes wide, the fear having frozen him.

Ike reached out and stroked Buck's cheek. This gentle touch broke the trance Buck was in.

* What's wrong? * Ike repeated.

Buck shook his head. "I don't like being pulled under the water. It's too much..." He stopped speaking and took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk about it. I..."

Ike moved slowly and crawled up next to him and slowly pulled Buck into an embrace. He carefully moved so his arms were wrapped around Buck, and his hands were where Buck could see them. * I didn't mean to frighten you; I was just playing. I'd never hurt you. *

Buck's breathing slowly returned to normal. "I know," he said. "I shouldn't have gotten so upset. It's just that I wasn't expecting to go under, and it reminded me of being in the village. Sometimes the others would hold me under just a little longer than was comfortable." He took a deep breath and relaxed into Ike's embrace.

Ike slowly moved his hands across Buck's chest and then let them make their way down his chest. They gently stroked Buck's torso before coming to rest between his legs. Before Ike could take this action any further, Buck turned to face him. "I think we should head back," he said. "I don't want the others to come looking for us."

When Ike dropped his gaze to the ground, Buck quickly continued, "I'm not angry, or offended. I would really like to continue this, but I am afraid of what will happen to us if the others find us. They already don't like having us around. Once this job is over..."

Ike looked up at Buck and smiled as he realized that he hadn't caused Buck to hate him by his actions. * I understand, * he said. * I wasn't thinking clearly; I just wanted to let you know how much I care about you. I wanted you to feel safe. *

Buck smiled as he stood and went to retrieve their clothing. "I'm glad you understand," he said. As they began to dress, he continued, "I've never felt as safe as I did when you were holding me. Thank you."

Ike simply smiled, and they were soon on their way back to the bunkhouse and the hostile comments of their fellow workers. If the other men noticed anything different about the way the two of them were acting, they didn't say anything. In fact, they seemed to appreciate the fact that the two had managed to find someplace to clean up that they didn't have to share.

The rest of the two weeks went by quickly. Ike and Buck would go to the stock pond to clean up each evening. They decided to wait to continue their explorations with each other until after they were well away from this place and the possibility of being discovered by the others.

The first evening they were away from the farm, Ike found a place near a small waterfall for them to camp. As Buck went in search of food, Ike set up their camp. He started a fire so the coals would be ready when Buck returned, and then set about arranging their sleeping area so that he could finally show Buck how much he cared for him.