Written for this prompt at
buckleup_meme and I'm not done yet, so I figured I'd start posting here early so that I can get longer updates and ultimately to the end of the fill faster. I need to start doing this for everything lol.
The ride started 3 days later, and Len made it a point to get to know everyone on the ride, especially their cook and nurse, since she was in charge of their health and welfare. She was the wife of one of the hands, Spock, so she was perfectly safe, because no one would dare mess with the tall Slavic man, who could probably break any of them in half with a thought.
Christine was taking over his usual role of physician on this ride, since he was needed for the strays; even with Kirk on the job, it was too much for one man. They'd only been on the trail for 2 days before he saw just how good Kirk was. The horse itself was a thing of grace and beauty, side nearly touching the ground as it pivoted and galloped after the escaping cow, seeming to fly across the ground. He was entranced, at least until one got away on his side, and he had to go after it. He completely missed the appraising looks from the hands as everyone, including Kirk, stopped to watch.
He did, however, notice the new note of respect at supper that night, and guessed correctly what had caused it. Everyone knew he was a doctor, a 'saw-bones' as it were, but they hadn't realized he could hold his own on a ranch, too. He snorted; none of them even realized he owned and ran his own plantation, so he needed to know how to sit a horse. Plus, he and Joe were best friends, besides being cousins, so he spent a lot of time on his uncle's ranch when he was younger.
The only one who didn't treat him any different was Kirk, who'd taken to calling him Bones, which he found amusing and almost insulting. Kirk had always treated him with respect; he suspected Elmira had been telling tales but didn't want to confirm his suspicions. The meal that night was a little less tense as the men (and woman) realized he wasn't just a dandy sent to make sure they did their jobs.
And the admiring looks coming from Kirk didn't hurt either.
The days grew monotonous as they moved further north, only the weather marking their passage. The cows stopped running as much, especially as they got used to the pace, so Len and Kirk had less to do, and they ended up riding side by side, talking about anything they could think of that wasn't horribly personal.
Slowly, though, Len got Jim to open up, tell him about Iowa, though the information was spotty and very glossed over. He had a feeling he'd have done better reading from a book. He resisted asking, because he knew how painful the past could be. He resisted talking about Red Leaf beyond the abstract for the very same reason; it was too much pain.
The days got colder the farther they got, and huddling at night became a necessity, as the temperature dropped below freezing. Spock and Christine were fine, as was Christine's nephew Pavel, who was with them after an accident back home. The three shared the wagon, and that meant that the rest of them were stuck sleeping under it, or around the fire. More often than not, Len ended up backed up against Kirk on one side, with the fire at his front, and someone would cover both of them with a sheepskin sometime in the night. Every time, he would wake up curled into Kirk, huddled into a ball against the other man, who was always half-sprawled - apparently the cold didn't bother him as much.
He was glad that he was always the first one up on those days, because he would surely get laughed at for the flaming blush that lit his face whenever he realized his position. He was always a bit gruffer on those days, trying to make up in some way for being clingy during the night, which got him strange looks, but he was used to strange looks. Just not the kind of strange that Kirk threw out.
The first spot of trouble came when they hit hostile territory - the Redskins were very pissed about them running cattle through their buffalo-runs, and decided to make that very, very clear. That was when Len found out that besides being the only one in the outfit that could rope worth a damn, Kirk was also a crack shot with both a rifle and a pistol. Len himself was more partial to a rifle, and knives for close-up work; they felt the most natural in his hands.
The others helped, too, Spock's nephew proving to be a damned-good sharpshooter from the back of the wagon. Once they'd driven the Indians off, Len and Kirk set about catching all of the cattle that had tried to scatter at the gunshots. It took them two hours to get all of the strays, and at the end of it all both of them jumped into the nearest river to wash off the sweat and dirt.
Once Len got over the near-freezing temperature of the water, he laid out, looking up at the sky, which was the only part of where they were that could connect him to home. It was that bright blue that made you want to reach out and touch it, with lazy puffs of clouds reflecting the sunlight and making everything just that little bit brighter. He was startled from his musings by bright laughter and a splash of water; Kirk had climbed out and jumped back in, creating a wave.
"What the-?" he squawked, spluttering as he fought for equilibrium.
"Calm down, Bones!" Kirk crowed, swimming over swiftly. "One would think you didn't like swimming!" he continued before Len went under, water filling his lungs until he managed to surface.
"This means war, you realize," he said slowly, delighting in the fear awakening in the younger man's eyes. A water fight like nothing he'd ever fought ensued, and by the time Christine yelled at them to 'get the hell out of the water you pair of crazy assholes,' both of them were breathing heavily, and both insisted that they had won.
That changed things between them, made them closer, better friends, and in the days and nights that followed, the attacks and rebuffs of the locals, and the bitter cold as they got closer to Nebraska, things began to change, little by little.
(On to Part 3)
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The ride started 3 days later, and Len made it a point to get to know everyone on the ride, especially their cook and nurse, since she was in charge of their health and welfare. She was the wife of one of the hands, Spock, so she was perfectly safe, because no one would dare mess with the tall Slavic man, who could probably break any of them in half with a thought.
Christine was taking over his usual role of physician on this ride, since he was needed for the strays; even with Kirk on the job, it was too much for one man. They'd only been on the trail for 2 days before he saw just how good Kirk was. The horse itself was a thing of grace and beauty, side nearly touching the ground as it pivoted and galloped after the escaping cow, seeming to fly across the ground. He was entranced, at least until one got away on his side, and he had to go after it. He completely missed the appraising looks from the hands as everyone, including Kirk, stopped to watch.
He did, however, notice the new note of respect at supper that night, and guessed correctly what had caused it. Everyone knew he was a doctor, a 'saw-bones' as it were, but they hadn't realized he could hold his own on a ranch, too. He snorted; none of them even realized he owned and ran his own plantation, so he needed to know how to sit a horse. Plus, he and Joe were best friends, besides being cousins, so he spent a lot of time on his uncle's ranch when he was younger.
The only one who didn't treat him any different was Kirk, who'd taken to calling him Bones, which he found amusing and almost insulting. Kirk had always treated him with respect; he suspected Elmira had been telling tales but didn't want to confirm his suspicions. The meal that night was a little less tense as the men (and woman) realized he wasn't just a dandy sent to make sure they did their jobs.
And the admiring looks coming from Kirk didn't hurt either.
The days grew monotonous as they moved further north, only the weather marking their passage. The cows stopped running as much, especially as they got used to the pace, so Len and Kirk had less to do, and they ended up riding side by side, talking about anything they could think of that wasn't horribly personal.
Slowly, though, Len got Jim to open up, tell him about Iowa, though the information was spotty and very glossed over. He had a feeling he'd have done better reading from a book. He resisted asking, because he knew how painful the past could be. He resisted talking about Red Leaf beyond the abstract for the very same reason; it was too much pain.
The days got colder the farther they got, and huddling at night became a necessity, as the temperature dropped below freezing. Spock and Christine were fine, as was Christine's nephew Pavel, who was with them after an accident back home. The three shared the wagon, and that meant that the rest of them were stuck sleeping under it, or around the fire. More often than not, Len ended up backed up against Kirk on one side, with the fire at his front, and someone would cover both of them with a sheepskin sometime in the night. Every time, he would wake up curled into Kirk, huddled into a ball against the other man, who was always half-sprawled - apparently the cold didn't bother him as much.
He was glad that he was always the first one up on those days, because he would surely get laughed at for the flaming blush that lit his face whenever he realized his position. He was always a bit gruffer on those days, trying to make up in some way for being clingy during the night, which got him strange looks, but he was used to strange looks. Just not the kind of strange that Kirk threw out.
The first spot of trouble came when they hit hostile territory - the Redskins were very pissed about them running cattle through their buffalo-runs, and decided to make that very, very clear. That was when Len found out that besides being the only one in the outfit that could rope worth a damn, Kirk was also a crack shot with both a rifle and a pistol. Len himself was more partial to a rifle, and knives for close-up work; they felt the most natural in his hands.
The others helped, too, Spock's nephew proving to be a damned-good sharpshooter from the back of the wagon. Once they'd driven the Indians off, Len and Kirk set about catching all of the cattle that had tried to scatter at the gunshots. It took them two hours to get all of the strays, and at the end of it all both of them jumped into the nearest river to wash off the sweat and dirt.
Once Len got over the near-freezing temperature of the water, he laid out, looking up at the sky, which was the only part of where they were that could connect him to home. It was that bright blue that made you want to reach out and touch it, with lazy puffs of clouds reflecting the sunlight and making everything just that little bit brighter. He was startled from his musings by bright laughter and a splash of water; Kirk had climbed out and jumped back in, creating a wave.
"What the-?" he squawked, spluttering as he fought for equilibrium.
"Calm down, Bones!" Kirk crowed, swimming over swiftly. "One would think you didn't like swimming!" he continued before Len went under, water filling his lungs until he managed to surface.
"This means war, you realize," he said slowly, delighting in the fear awakening in the younger man's eyes. A water fight like nothing he'd ever fought ensued, and by the time Christine yelled at them to 'get the hell out of the water you pair of crazy assholes,' both of them were breathing heavily, and both insisted that they had won.
That changed things between them, made them closer, better friends, and in the days and nights that followed, the attacks and rebuffs of the locals, and the bitter cold as they got closer to Nebraska, things began to change, little by little.
(On to Part 3)
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