| Chapter 14 |
| Chris closed the hood of the truck with a soft slam, rubbing his hands together to get them warm. The rain was coming down hard, but he refused to let that stop him. He and Joey had to go into town and search for some work, or else they were all in big trouble. Britney was away for a few days visiting an old friend, which left Lance alone to take care of the house and horses. Chris got in the car, with Joey all ready buckled up in the passenger's side. Lance shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. "If it stops raining, we should be back later this evening," said Chris. "If it continues like this, we might have to stay the night. You've got the key to the house, and you know where everything is for the horses, right?" "Yep," said Lance. "Don't worry Chris, I've got it all under control." Chris smiled. "I know that. Hopefully, we'll be able to find some work in town." Lance sighed, the doubt still creeping up on him even despite Chris's reassuring words. "What," he began, "what if you can't find any work?" Chris sighed. "I don't know," he admitted, "but I'm not closing the show. I guarantee that." Joey grinned beside him. "Yeah, I won't let him." Chris glared at Joey, and started up the car. Lance waved to them as they drove away, hoping more than anything that there would be a job for them in town. ~*~ Lance grabbed the bucket of hay, walking by the stable doors and looking in on the horses. A large black and white horse greeted him, and he smiled, rubbing the animal's large nose and feeding him a handful of hay. "Hey there Thunder," he said. He scratched behind the bronco's ear before moving on. Stopping in front of Toby's stable, Lance peeked his head in and frowned. Toby was neighing softly, almost whimpering, as he stumbled around in the hay. Finally, his legs gave out on him, and he rolled onto his side. Lance dropped his bucket, opening the door and dropping down beside Toby. "What's wrong boy?" he asked worriedly, rubbing the horse's head soothingly. "Huh? Are you sick?" Obviously, Toby couldn't answer him. Lance sighed, grabbing a blanket from the hook in the stable and wrapping it around him and Toby as he hugged the horse. "It's okay Toby," he whispered. "I'll stay with you." ~*~ Josh took off his hat, shaking the excess water from his face and dropping his duffel bag down outside the stables. The rain was starting to die down, but not much. He had all ready been to the house, but nobody was there. Looking around, he saw that one of the doors to the stable was wide open. Going over there, he peeked his head inside, smiling softly. Lance was curled up against Toby's back, fast asleep with a blanket thrown carelessly around them. Josh tiptoed inside, squatting down beside the sleeping boy and shaking his shoulder softly. He saw Lance stir, and stood up. Lance blinked tiredly, stretching his body and looking up towards the door with a small yawn. His eyes widened slightly. "Josh," he whispered. He stood up slowly, walking over to Josh and reaching out a tentative hand. Josh smiled, letting Lance's hand run over his face. He covered Lance's hand with his larger one and leaned forward, finally bringing their lips together. Lance was still in shock, but not so much that he forgot to kiss Josh back. The kisses were soft and loving, and their tongues moved slowly over each other. Josh pulled back slowly, running his thumb over Lance's lips and smiling. Lance smiled softly, resting his head on Josh's shoulder. They held each for a few minutes, slowly rocking back and forth. Josh looked over at Toby, who was sprawled out on the ground, and frowned. "What's wrong with Toby?" he asked, looking down at Lance. Lance shrugged, the worry coming back into his eyes. "I don't know," he said, dropping down beside his horse. "I think he's sick." Josh furrowed his brow, shrugging off his coat and squatting down by a pile of hay. He grabbed a handful of it, turning to Lance. "Did Thunder eat any of this hay?" he asked. Lance shook his head. "It's moldy!" "Well, what do we do?" asked Lance. "We need to get water and oil into him and get him on his feet," said Josh. "Where's the tank?" "Outside," said Lance. Josh returned shortly with a metal tank with a pump on top and a small rubber hose attached to it. He hand the hose to Lance, his hands stilled on the pump. "Put that just in his mouth," instructed Josh. Lance did as he was told, and Josh started pumping slowly, transferring the water and oil from the tank and into Toby. He pulled the hose away and set the tank aside. Grabbing Toby's reigns, he hooked them into the straps over the horse's face. He hand them to Lance, and went to sit behind Toby. "Now, when I say pull Lance, you pull as hard as you can, okay?" Lance nodded. "Okay. One, two, three, pull!" Lance tugged on the reigns, pulling with all of his might as Josh pushed. "Come on Toby," grunted Josh. "You can do it boy." After a second, Toby flopped back onto his stomach, standing up and shaking the hay off of him. Lance grinned happily, hugging Toby and patting his back. "Good boy Toby," he cooed. "Good boy." Lance and Josh made eye contact over Toby's back, and they smiled at each other. "Come on," said Josh. "We've got to get him moving." ~*~ Lance and Josh were walking Toby around the stables, chatting quietly when a truck pulled up in front of them. Chris and Josh made eye contact, both of their faces blank and void of any emotion. Chris and Joey got out of the car, Joey leaning against the car and Chris walking up to Lance and Josh. When the two brothers just stared at each other, Lance sighed. "Would somebody please say something?" he begged with a chuckle. Josh smiled slightly at him, and then looked back up at Chris. "I, uh," he said, "I thought you could use another hand with the show." Chris scratched his goatee, shaking his head slowly. "Ain't no show," he whispered, walking past Josh and Lance and into the house. |