Fire Down the Valley Ch. 05

On the fourth day, Savage visited Cal in the small, locked room Cal was being held in and informed him that he hadn't been brought to the ranch for Savage's exclusive use.

"I'm tired of the men having to go into Hayden to get their entertainment," he said. "I've already brought Faye out and she's in her own cabin for the use of the men who want that. I've put the men who don't want what she has in a bunkhouse all their own because they are too disruptive when mixed with the other men at night. You're going into that bunkhouse, and your job will be to keep them happy. I'll send for you when I want you."

"You can't keep me here," Cal said in a weak voice. It was just an act of desperation, and he knew it.

"I can do whatever I want with you. You're lucky. If you'd stayed in the valley, you'd probably be dead this time next week. Being here, you should last longer. No guarantees on that, of course."

"Within a week?" Cal asked with a shudder. Savage didn't answer. He just turned and motioned to a couple of the men who were standing in the hallway, turned, and left.

The men carried Cal, only barely able to walk yet, slung between them, out of the ranch house and across a dusty yard surrounded by several other log houses. Out beyond these to the south were some sheds and a horse barn.

Four other ranch hands, all burly and licking their chops, were waiting in the bunkhouse Cal was dragged to. Those that weren't naked got naked quickly, and Cal was gang fucked by the six of them on one of the bunks.

"Great idea Mr. Savage had," one of the men growled. "Said we don't even have to pay for it; we've just got to keep our work up to his satisfaction."

"Just part of the herd now, sweetie," one of the other men said, slapping Cal on the bare rump. Cal was lying on his belly on the narrow bunk, with his arms dangling down each side and a glassy look on his face.

"Just like one of the cows," a third man said. "Just another Double O animal meant for breedin'."

"Hey that gives me an idea," another of the men chimed in. The men who were speaking were gathered around watching the sixth man take his second turn. He was straddling Cal's hips and fucking down into him. Cal was well past the groaning stage.

"What's that?" A man asked.

"He's Double O property now. What do we do with Double O cattle to make sure they come back if they just wander off?"

"You mean we could—?"

"Sure," the guy with the idea said. "When Dan's done with him, we'll take him out to the branding shed."

This did make Cal moan and protest, but if any of the ranch hands heard him, they didn't make like they had.

"But won't Mr. Savage—?"

"He'll think it's funny. He'll probably also think it's a good idea. We took him off a sheep ranch. It's not like we'll be keeping him long."

"A sheep ranch?" Cal said, with a groan. "You know that I—?"

"Everybody knows you came from a sheep ranch," the man answered before turning and spitting derisively into a bucket. "Your life ain't worth a plug nickel around here. As soon as we wear your ass out, you're for wastin'."

They'd done it, Cal thought miserably. This wasn't one of the men who had come to take him away from Heaven. They'd told everyone on the ranch—probably Warren Savage too—where Cal had come from. He knew then that it was just a matter of time. They didn't value his life any more than they did a single steer on their range.

They hustled Cal across the yard and over to the branding shed. The iron was being heated up and Cal was stretched out over a branding frame and struggling weakly and objecting in a low, exhausted voice, when Frank appeared around the corner. He was carrying a rifle, trained in the direction of the clump of men, none of whom had come away from the bunkhouse with firearms or much in the way of clothing, for that matter. Most even were barefoot.

"First man who moves that iron anywhere close to that young man's ass is gonna get plugged," Frank said. "And it won't be somewhere that you're gonna recover from in this lifetime."

"Ah, Frank, we're just having—"

"Mr. Savage sent me down from the big house to tell you that if any of you does any more harm to this man, he'll flay you alive. He's just lending him to you. He's to be in good condition with Mr. Savage needs him. A festering brand on his rump isn't good condition."

"Sorry, Frank, we—"

"Leave him there. Mr. Savage is in the smoking shed. He wants to see you all there. Now."

Sheepishly the six men moved ahead of Frank, still holding his rifle, even further to the north of the ranch compound and over a hillock to where the smoking shed was. It was a strong-walled, well-insulated log building to serve its purpose. It also had only one door and no windows, and the door was a strong one, with a heavy bar on the outside. When the six men were inside and trying to pick Warren Savage out in the darkness, Frank put them in total darkness, pushing the door shut and lowering the bar.

He hurried back to the branding shed.

"Do you think you can walk on your own?" he whispered to Cal.

"I don't think I can do anything on my own for some time to come. What are you doing, Frank?"

Frank stood there, as if in indecision for several minutes. Finally, he said, showing some regret, "Well, fuck, I guess I couldn't explain you escaping this way anyway. Come with me. Your mule's in the stable, whatever you brought, clothes and such, is still in the saddle bags out there. I guess I knew this was the way it was going to be. I've got my saddle bags loaded too. Come on, I'll help you there. We're leaving."

"You're going with me?"

"Not like you might think, but like I said, it wouldn't be too healthy for me to stay. We can get a head start if none of the other hands see us ridin' out of the stable or what direction we went in. The guys in the smoke house will be settled for a while."

"But my mule. It won't move fast."

"You came with the mule; it's yours. My horse is mine. If we take another horse, they can shoot you on sight as a horse thief—not that they'd have to worry much about shooting you on sight anyway. But we'll go back north and lay low for a while. Maybe in the lean-to we were meeting in. I can take the rides into Hayden and stable them there and walk back to the lean-to. Once they get a party rustled up, they'll assume we're headed for the valley or Hahn's Peak."

"You told them I'd used a trail on Hahn's Peak. And about me living at the Heaven ranch?"

"I couldn't help it. Savage beat it out of me. He'd been told that I'd been with you."

"So, he knew even then that I was with the sheepmen."

"Yes, I think he's always known. Yost probably would have been too scared not to tell him as soon as Savage revealed that he was partial to you. And Savage must be partial to you, or you wouldn't have lived this long."

It was only then that Cal noticed the bruising on Frank's face and that he wasn't moving real steady himself as they hobbled to the stables.

After four days hiding in the lean-to and eating cold hard tack and coffee because they couldn't chance a fire, Frank decided it would be safe for him to retrieve the horse and mule from Hayden and to ride to the start of the trail Cal knew on the northern slopes of Hahn's Peak.

At the trailhead, Frank held up.

"You're coming with me, ain't you?" Cal asked.

"No, at least not now," Frank answered. "I know the cattlemen are about to make a move on the valley, and I'd best try to find out more about that. It just ain't right what they're fixin' to do. But even then, maybe it's best that I just head west, where there's less of all of this."

"Including less of me, I suppose," Cal said in a small voice. They had not fucked in the four days they were huddled together in the lean-to. Cal would have been willing, but Frank held back. And both of them were beat up enough that it would have been pretty painful.

"Yeah, I guess that's right. You be sure not to linger in that valley. You said you had something to get from there before you could leave, but then you leave, you hear?"

"You could stay here and we could meet up when I came back out," Cal said. He was just fooling himself. He knew he wouldn't walk off and leave Henry if there was going to be an assault and burning in the valley. But his wants were somewhere else. "We could both go west."

"Yeah, maybe. I'll think about it."

But it didn't seem to Cal to be something that Frank really was going to think about. "Well, good-bye then. And thanks for saving me back there." He turned the head of the mule toward where only he could tell that a path up into the mountains started.

"Cal," Frank said in a strangled voice. Cal turned back and Frank grabbed his head between his hands and brought their faces together in a deep kiss. And then, with a sob, he released Cal, turned his horse south, and galloped off.