Author's note: Hey, you found this story in the Nifty gay archive site, so you ought to know that it contains graphic adult male-male sex. Hopefully, it also has a story you will like. If you aren't supposed to read this stuff, please don't. Otherwise, Enjoy. Fantasies don't need protection, real life does. Play it safe. Mikey
Come Home:
The grizzled old man leaned against the side of the fence and watched as his grandson patiently trimmed the tiny tree. Kelly hummed softly as he clipped the dead twigs away. Delicate red hands brushed his tanned wrists and arms as the light breeze shifted the leaves. He gathered the discarded clippings and spread a new layer of mulch beneath the little tree.
He stood and stretched his lithe muscular body, admiring his work. The miniature Japanese maple grew halfway beneath a towering oak. One side was almost bare; the other stretched a frothy blanket of red leaves over a small mound. Tiny wild violets clustered beneath it, blue and white flowers peeking out from the green leaves, sheltered from the harsh sun. Kelly carefully brushed the mulch from the base of the small white stone at the head of the mound. The leaves of the tree flowed like a cloak of long hair around the side.
Pappy watched as the young man carefully closed the gate and headed towards the garden shed with a wave. The boy was all he had left. He had been so proud, and so lonely, when Kelly had left for college. Pappy was secretly afraid that the kid would want to move out to the city. However, a few years later, Kelly had reappeared just as quietly as he left and took up like he had never been away. He just said that he hadn't liked the crowds and had only stayed long enough to get the vet assistant degree he wanted.
"Granny, I wish you could see Beauty's latest foal. He's a proud little fellow with her white snip and socks and Bugler's bay coat. I think we're gonna have more fruit than we have for a long time, if the weather holds good. I promised Miz Jenkins that the boy'd take her to the fair next week. She's hoverin' over those blueberries of hers again. The kid and I pulled a couple of briskets out and started smoking 'em. I'll be grilling and he'll be in the barn, just like always.
"Doc Martin's after him to come work full time, instead of just on call, but he don't seem to want to. I told him that I'd been working the farm for the past sixty years, and didn't need no wet-nosed pup underfoot, getting in the way, but he just hugged me and grinned. He knows I don't mean it.
"I'm starting to get old now, Granny. He's the last of our kinder. The other night, I asked him what he was gonna do when I joined back up with you."
The old man gave a rusty chuckle. "That boy. He grinned and said he was gonna plant a briar over my grave. One with lots of thorns on the outside, and tiny little flowers inside. Sounds good to me. He says he's gonna stay, but he's young yet. Might meet someone and change his mind 'bout living way out here all by his lonesome; might not. Be nice to hear the sound of pups running around again."
A triangle rang softly in the evening air. The old man straightened. "Gotta go, love. Boy's not gonna be happy if I let his dinner get cold, any more than you ever were."
He turned and headed back to the solid old farmhouse. The lights in the windows beckoned invitingly. He knew his grandson waited inside with a hot filling meal. He didn't glance back as he strode across the yard. Granny would wait for him. She'd been waiting for the past five years. A few more wouldn't matter, and he wasn't ready to leave the boy on his own yet. Time to settle him down first.
"Pappy, hey listen. I need you to get that big dog of yours and meet me at the Ranger cabin in Foothills Park. We got a couple of kids that wandered off on a hike and haven't come back yet." The sheriff's voice was as deep and calm as it always was.
"Sure, Butch. We'll be there."
Pappy hung up and looked at Kelly. "You hear that? Butch needs me 'n Wolf to go find some lost kids. Get him, I'll get my pack." At his grandson's obedient nod, he put away the remains of their supper. Kelly gulped the last of his milk and headed back to his room.
Pappy started the truck. He whistled one short blast and a huge form launched itself from the late afternoon shadows at him. He chuckled as the big canine gamboled happily around him. "Okay, boy. Jump in."
He patted the animal as it sat on the seat and stuck its head out the window. Pappy fastened the modified seat belt. Wolf wiggled a little, but the harness held. Once, when he was still a young pup, he had gotten a little too enthusiastic about a rabbit and had fallen out of the truck. Luckily, Pappy had been going slowly. Granny had scolded the crestfallen, but uninjured, pup all the way home. The next day, Pappy had rigged up a harness. Now Wolf was used to it.
At the Ranger's cabin, Pappy snapped a leash on Wolf's collar. The big animal looked disgusted. "You know you have to wear one off the farm, boy. I'll let you run when we're on the trail. Now be good."
He got his hand licked and ruffled the furry head. The rabies tag clinked. He grinned a little as he remembered the fuss the pup had made about getting the shots, sulking for a day after Pappy had insisted.
"Jesus Christ! What the hell is that?" a voice exclaimed.
Sheriff Maxwell looked up and grinned. "Hey Pappy! Come on over, I'll brief you up." He held out a hand. "Hi Wolf. How're you doing, boy?"
Wolf walked obediently over to the group of men and women clustered around a map. The wolf solemnly sat and held up a huge paw to the sheriff. The man shook it equally solemnly.
"Hey Max, come here and meet the best tracker in the mountains. Pappy, my nephew, Max; Max, this is Pappy and his Wolf."
"I can see that!" The young deputy's eyes widened, but he swallowed and held out the back of his hand to the huge animal after he shook Pappy's hand. Wolf sniffed, then politely wagged his tail once. His golden eyes never left the deputy's face.
"I've never seen one this big before. He looks almost pure black," Max said in awe.
Pappy chuckled. "You probably won't again. He's a Black Mountain wolf from the high country. He's chocolate brown in the winter, but his summer coat is black. Now, where're we gonna start?"
Wolf moved out from underfoot. He had no interest in the table the men gathered around. There was no food on it, just paper. He curled up in the corner and listened for his name.
The mother of the two boys sobbed quietly, explaining that the teenagers had gone for a hike yesterday and hadn't come back in the morning, as they planned. The sheriff calmed her and got good descriptions of the boys.
Wolf lifted his head as a small pair of feet stopped in front of him. He looked up as a little girl squatted down.
"I heard the big man say you'll find my brothers." She studied him for a moment, then smiled, a tooth missing. "I really want them back. Bobby promised to take me swimming, so I know he didn't mean to get lost. He always keeps his promises. So you be a good doggie and find them for me." His tail wagged at the word 'good'. Wolf liked that word.
She held out half a cookie trustingly to the big wolf. His ears pricked up happily. He loved chocolate chip. Daintily, he lifted it from her hand, then gulped it down. He knew he wasn't allowed to eat chocolate, just like he couldn't eat the chickens or their eggs. But she gave it to him, so it must be okay.
She giggled and offered him another, then sat between his big paws while he energetically washed the crumbs from her face. A shriek split the air. The huge head whipped around to see the child's mother pointing at him and screeching, "He's eating my baby! The monster's attacking my baby!"
Wolf's ears flattened and his head dropped to the child's lap. She hugged his thick neck protectively. "Mommy! Don't! You're scaring him." The little girl turned to the big animal and petted him consolingly on the nose. "Poor doggie. Mommy won't hurt you. I'll protect you." He wagged his tail, still suspiciously watching the gasping mother.
Max bit back his urge to laugh at the idea of the tiny child protecting a wolf more than six times her size. He could have sworn the animal was smirking as he nuzzled the child. He had seen the cookies and had worried that the wolf would snatch them like a dog and bite the child. The careful way the big animal took them reassured him.
Pappy just snorted. "Lady, Wolf won't hurt the baby. Now, I need something the boys wore recently, that ain't been washed yet, so he can get their scent."
Wolf stood as Pappy headed outside, the child hanging on his collar. His head and hers were almost at the same height. She tugged at him and frowned as he walked too quickly. He stopped and looked at her.
Pappy looked back and grinned. "Hey kid. You want to ride him?" She squealed happily as he lifted her to the big animal's shoulders and twisted her tiny hands in the thick ruff. "Hold on tight."
Wolf walked carefully to the truck with the child on his back. The sheriff chuckled at the look on his nephew's face. "Hey Max. What's the matter? Never seen a kid going for a pony ride?"
Max muttered, "Never saw a pony with fangs that long."
The sheriff guffawed and clapped him hard on the back. "You ride up to the dam with Pappy. That's the last place they were seen. The rest of us will start on the lower trails. You got your radio. Signal if you find anything. You're most likely to find them. Pappy and Wolf have never let me down yet."
Max grunted as he swung his pack into the back of the truck. Wolf jumped in and nosed at it interestedly. Pappy joined him in the pickup, handing him a bag with two wrinkled t-shirts, and they headed to the dam. They would leave the truck there, and move out on foot from that point.
At the trailhead, Pappy unsnapped the leash and wound it around his waist. Wolf sniffed at the old man, delighting in his beloved scent, then at the younger man with the intriguing smell. Max looked questioningly at the older man as the huge animal nudged him enthusiastically in the nuts with his nose.
Pappy just shouldered his pack and explained tersely, "He needs to be able to find us as well."
Max flushed. He'd never thought of that. He tentatively reached out to touch Wolf. The big head tilted and his hand slid behind the furry ears. He scratched lightly. The wolf leaned into his touch with a slight whine.
Pappy grinned. "Made yourself a friend. Come on, boys; let's go find us some kids. Mama's waiting."
He held out the shirts to Wolf. "Find 'em, boy." Wolf inhaled the two t-shirts, then sniffed the ground carefully. After a while, he started trotting up a path. The two men followed.
Hours later, Max was impressed. They were still following the big black wolf. The boys had apparently left the trail and headed out to play in the rocks and gullies. Pappy stopped. Wolf had bounded ahead, but circled back as he had been doing all afternoon. It was too dark for the men to see, and they heard no answers to their calls.
Max drank from his canteen and poured some water into a collapsible bowl for the wolf who lapped thirstily. Pappy pushed back his hat.
"It's getting too dark for us to do anything more. Butch says they've had no luck on the lower trails yet. We'll camp here, and come first light, head out again. Thankfully, it should be warm enough tonight."
Max nodded. He had hoped to find the boys tonight, but stumbling around trying to follow a black wolf with a flashlight had almost put him into a gully a time or two. Pappy seemed to have almost as good night vision as Wolf, but even he had stumbled a time or two.
The old man pulled out a small piece of equipment and slid out the antenna. He grunted and set it back in his belt loop. They ate a quick dinner of some stew and trailbread, then silently rolled out their sleeping bags. Wolf had gulped his share of stew, and then dashed off again.
"What about Wolf?" Max asked tiredly, staring at the stars.
"Wolves like the night. He'll keep on looking. I checked his ear tag; microchip's transmitting. We'll find him in the morning, or he'll be back for breakfast. He doesn't miss too many meals."
Wolf trotted along the scent. The smell of the two boys grew stronger. When they climbed rocks too steep for the wolf to manage, he just circled and cast about until he found their scent at the top again. He was too canny and experienced a hunter to be thrown off the trail that easily. He smelled woodsmoke and saw where someone had tied a brightly colored t-shirt to the top of a tree. He half jumped, half slid into a steep gully, and came face to face with the two boys he was looking for.
He was delighted. They were terrified. The smaller of the two saw him first. The glowing eyes reflecting the moon, the lolling tongue as he panted slightly, the very long sharp teeth loomed out of the darkness. The young teen squeaked slightly and edged back until he could shake his brother.
"Boobbbiee," he quavered. "Bobby, wake up."
The older boy sat up and followed his finger. His eyes opened wide, all sleep chased out. He was also scared, but his jaw set and he sat up with a wince of pain, reaching for a stick.
"Go away!" he shouted, and flung the stick.
Wolf ducked, and darted off. The boys started to sigh in relief, then the big animal came back -- with the stick in his mouth. He crouched with his chest touching the ground and his rear up in the air and wagged his tail wildly. He darted in and dropped the stick by the boy, then dashed out again, still wagging his tail. He knew this game.
The boy looked at him, then reached for the stick again. This time, he flung it off to the side. There was a scramble of claws and the big wolf sat down in front of him with the stick. Wolf held up a paw to shake hands with the boy. Bobby was very brave, but he was tired, frightened, and in a great deal of pain. He started to cry softly.
The boy was surprised when the wolf whined and a rough tongue started licking his face. He tentatively wrapped his arms around the warm neck and felt the thick collar. He pulled back slightly and read the rabies tag in the moonlight. "Wolf? Is that your name? It's okay, Jeremy. He's wearing a collar. He's someone's pet."
The big animal wagged and licked him again. Bobby moved and groaned. Instantly, the wolf started to sniff him. There was no blood, but the boy had a thick bandage wrapped around his lower leg. At Bobby's urging, he lay down between the boys and they snuggled into his warm fur.
At first dawn, he rose and licked Bobby's face until the boy stirred. Bobby rummaged in his bag and found a spare sock. Writing 'HELP, injured, gully' on it, the resourceful boy tied it into a tight knot around the collar and told the animal firmly, "Go HOME. Good boy, go Home, Wolf." The wolf licked the sleeping Jeremy once and dashed off.
He was a good hour away, even at a full run. By the time he reached the men's camp, they had already risen and were finishing up their coffee.
"Hey boy! What you got on your collar?" Pappy's sharp eyes spotted the white against the wolf's black pelt immediately. Wolf sat in front of him and he untied the sock. Max fed the animal a handful of trailbread that he gulped down eagerly.
"Good boy! He's got a sock. Smart kid wrote on it and tied it to him. You call in and let Butch know we've found someone, they're injured, and to get the helo ready. Find them, boy."
Wolf trotted out. It took them several hours, but finally, the two men found the tired, but now safe, boys.
Max examined Bobby's leg, while Jeremy played with Wolf. Bobby told them how they had been climbing up the side of the gully when he stepped in a burrow and his leg gave out from under him.
"Well boy, I think it's broken. It's a good thing you didn't try to walk on it. You wouldn't have gotten too far. You did the right thing to mark your spot and stay put. Good job," he praised the boy.
Bobby flushed with gratitude. "I thought we were dead when that big guy showed up. I threw a stick at him and he just brought it back until I realized he thought I was playing. Then I saw the collar. I was hoping he didn't live too far away. He kept us warm last night, then left this morning."
"Yeah, he's pretty amazing. Your mother thought he was eating your little sister when she was sneaking him cookies. Pappy put her on his back and she rode him like a pony."
"Cool," the boy laughed weakly. Exhaustion and pain were starting to get to him. Luckily, it wasn't too much longer before the helicopter arrived and Butch and a paramedic piled out of it.
"Great job!" he said as he lifted the boy from Max's arms, setting him in a stretcher and covering him with a blanket. Pappy buckled Jeremy into his seat. They waved as the helo left. Now they had to hike back.
It took two days; they were not in a rush. Along the way, Max's respect for Pappy grew, and he made friends with Wolf. The big animal happily slept sprawled out on his sleeping bag during the night and wrestled with him in the morning. Pappy brought an old football. To Wolf's open delight, Max cheerfully threw it for him.
"He'd make a great receiver."
Pappy just chuckled.
Back at the farmhouse, Wolf jumped out of the truck and dashed in as soon as Pappy unlocked the door. Pappy brought in his pack and started to clean his gear. Kelly appeared naked in the doorway and silently gathered up the dirty clothing to wash. Pappy heard the machine start, then Kelly came back in and plopped down at the table, anxiously watching the coffee pot.
Pappy chuckled. "Boy, go get some clothes on. It won't cook any faster while you stare at it."
Kelly flushed and stood, running his hands through his hair. "I think I'll get a shower, Pappy."
"Good idea, boy. You smell like a dog. I'll leave you the grounds." Pappy laughed as he caught the hand towel his grandson flung good-naturedly at him as the younger man headed for the shower.
A damp clean Kelly ambled back into the kitchen in his usual overalls and cotton shirt a while later. He sat down and started inhaling his cold dinner.
"Slow down, and eat like a human, boy," his grandfather growled. Kelly flushed, but slowed.
"Sorry sir. I forget sometimes."
"I know. Just watch your manners. Now what you planning on doing this week?"
"Help Doc at the fair. Need a new pump for the pond."
"Sounds good to me. Now, let's do the rounds, then go to bed. These old bones are tired after trying to keep up with those two young pups for the last four days."
Kelly grinned, "You love it. You walk me into the ground and never notice 'til you want some coffee, then suddenly, you're old again."
He ducked the heavy hand that swung slowly at him. "Get out of here, you insolent pup," his grandfather growled affectionately.
Pappy paused by the fence and looked out at the little tree waving its branches in the soft breeze.
"You'd have been proud of our pup, Granny. He found those kids, safe and sound. Even got them to throw a stick for him a time or two.
"Kelly's working for Doc Martin pretty regular now. We don't really need the money, but the extra's pretty nice sometimes. The trout in the pond will like the new pump. We've been pulling out some big cats, but the water's been a bit still. Those lilies you loved are still bloomin' all over the dockside. Gonna have to thin them again next year.
"Don't rightly know how the boy's gonna find a mate, livin' out here alone. Maybe he'll meet someone at the fair. We'll see. Wish you was here to tell me how to raise him right, love. I just do the best I can and hope it's good enough."
The old man looked silently at the stone beneath the tree where his love slept. He stared for a moment at the bright stars, then headed in to the warmth of the house.
Enjoy,
Mike.
If you like it, write me. If you don't, tell me why not.
My email address is: mikey@maileditor.com My author page where my stories usually live is: http://www.eroticstories.com/unreg/g/author.php?id=237 Or if you have an ES login: http://www.eroticstories.com/my/author.php?id=237
Other stories by Mikey:
Nifty:
Jordan's Story, Beginnings
(Jordan's Story and Because) Danny, Authoritarian Come Home, Beginnings
Eroticstories.com:
Jordan's Story, Gay Danny, Gay Baby, Bisexual Because, Gay Come Home, Gay