Chapter 12

The newsof the brumbies was talk around the dinner table. Apparently wild brumbies weren’t uncommon in the high country. Over the years, horses got turned out or escaped, and they now ran free in sizeable herds through the mountains.

Albie said his father had spoken of them often, of the damage they did to crops and fences, and how they disrupted cattle and sheep, and other horses, of course.

Not all of Albie’s land was fenced. It was too big, too many cliffs, mountains, and rocky outcrops to bother. So where the horses were seen was on the bottom flats, all open, and for now, Albie wasn’t concerned.

“The mob will move on,” he’d said. “They probably drink at the river, but it’s not likely they’re coming up the sheer mountainside anytime soon.”

“I remember you mentioning the river before,” Percy mused.

Albie nodded. “Echo Creek. This property was named after it. But it’s more a river now though it dries up a bit without rain. They must have named it in a dry spell,” he said with a wry smile. “It runs through the southwestern part of the property. There are sheer mountain cliffs that cut this place in half. Not much good for farming and probably the reason my father got it for the price he paid. McAllister’s land flattens out some, so he can get better crops down, farm more cattle. We’ve got cliffs with a sheer three-hundred-yard drop, and the access to the flats down below is rugged.”

Percy had nodded, not thinking much more of it.

He helped Albie with reading after dinner was cleared away, and they waited until Elsie had bid them goodnight before they turned in.

Percy wasn’t so nervous this night. Nerves still tingled along his bones but there was a good dose of anticipation and excitement too.

He had a better idea of what to expect, and he knew now how good it could feel.

And how sleeping in Albie’s bed, in his arms, was his favourite part.

Well, almost his favourite.

What Albie did to him was clearly his favourite everything in all the world, ever. He’d made good on his promise to do it better this time, to save them soiling their underwear.

Albie had Percy on his back, kissing him slowly and touching his chest, his stomach, before slipping his hand inside his pants and gripping him.

Percy thought he might die right then.

But then Albie began to stroke him, and he made the shortest work of unravelling Percy. Percy’s climax hit him hard and fast. He almost made too much noise, but Albie kissed him, drinking in the sound.

He didn’t know if Elsie and Clara heard, nor in that moment did he care.

Albie’s touch was heaven.

When his senses returned, when he could finally think again, he offered to do the same for Albie.

So Albie lay on his back, legs spread, and pulled down his pants.

Percy got to see him so clearly, even in the darkened room. He could see the magnificence, the completely arousing sight of another man’s manhood. Hard and inviting.

The smell of him was intoxicating, and Percy wrapped his hand around him and began to stroke. Albie gripped the bedding, his hips flexing as he fought for control.

The power Percy held over him in that moment was heady. The way Percy controlled him and watched every flinch of muscle, heard every gasp and groan.

He couldn’t begin to say what made him do it. What on earth had possessed him, but Percy leaned in and licked the tip, salt bursting on his tongue.

Albie fisted the bedding, his back arched, and he groaned as he spilled his seed over his belly and down Percy’s hand.

Percy had never seen anything like it.

He’d never experienced anything so hedonistic, so absolutely beautiful.

I made him do that. I made him climax like that.

Albie slumped back down, breathing hard, his eyes heavy-lidded, smiling. “Ohhh,” he whispered. “What did you do to me?”

Percy wasn’t sure what to say. He thought it’d been obvious. “Well, I... I don’t know why I did that.”

Albie laughed, and he sounded drunk. “I think we’ll be doing more of that.”

Rather happy with himself, Percy cleaned himself up, then Albie, and Albie quickly pulled him into the bed. His arms tight around him, their bodies entwined. Wearing nothing but their long underwear.

Albie’s naked chest was so warm against his, and Percy sank down into the mattress, into Albie’s embrace. Albie kissed the side of Percy’s head. “Goodnight, my love,” he murmured.

Percy’s heart thumped hard in his chest, and he smiled against Percy’s warm skin.

My love.

Albie had called him his love.

Percy’s heart felt as if it might burst. He couldn’t bring himself to say it back. He could barely speak at all.

“Goodnight.”

* * *

The next fewdays passed much the same way. Work during the day, reading and ledgers of an evening, and exploring each other’s bodies in bed long after the last lantern had been blown out.

Albie had returned the favour the following night, licking and tasting Percy’s length, and he understood why Albie had reacted the way he had.

The second night they licked a little more, sucking a little, and making each other lose their minds in record time.

The more nights that passed, they tried again and ventured a little deeper in unknown territory. Using hands, mouths, writhing bodies, always kissing, always clinging tight to the other as they fell asleep.

And so the week went on.

Clara was feeling much better, looking much better, and happy to be productive. She was even smiling and chatty now, though it was clear she was most comfortable in Elsie’s company.

Something Des and Robert didn’t need explanation of, apparently. They gave her a polite nod and smile but kept a distance, giving her space as she needed it, and by the end of the week, she was smiling with them too.

Percy knew Albie worried that taking in Elsie and Clara might be an overstep in the ability to feed and pay everyone, but having them both was a blessing.

Clara took over most of the cooking, while Elsie tended the house, the gardens, chickens, pigs. She’d carry water or hay—no job a man could do that she couldn’t, Percy was sure.

But they brought something else with them too. Order and structure and an easiness Percy hadn’t expected. Instead of Albie and Percy stopping work and then scrambling to get meals done, they got more work done which made Robert and Des’s lives easier too.

And the cooking was so much better. Though Percy’s damper and Cocky’s Joy had been welcome, even he could admit it paled in comparison to Clara’s cooking.

Albie was happy, which made Percy happy, and life at Echo Creek was good. There was no bickering, only laughter, no power struggles, just everyone doing their jobs the best they could.

Though Percy did notice one thing.

When he was helping Albie with his reading—his reading was improving just fine. He was so much better already—but the ledgers...

Albie’s father’s records of income and taxes, and what Albie could add to that in the weeks since his father’s passing were lean. Too lean, probably.

They needed money.

Self-sufficiency would only get them so far. If Albie wanted his farm to be successful, if he wanted to prove to those naysayers that he was capable, that he was man enough, something needed to change.

“It doesn’t look good, does it?” Albie asked.

He was looking at the same numbers Percy was studying, and he was no fool.

“We’ll do better at the next sale,” Percy said.

Not wanting to think about how Mr Bailey at the saleyards had duped Albie last time, swindling him out of a fair deal.

Clearly that was where Albie’s mind had gone too. “Hmm. Doubtful when the likes of John Bailey is in McAllister’s purse.”

Percy hated that he was right.

“What about the horses?” Percy hedged. “The wild horses Des and Robert saw.”

Albie’s gaze shot to his. “The brumbies?”

He nodded. “We could round them up. Take them to the sales. They’d have to be worth a few decent pounds. Keep some for breeding, even.”

Albie’s eyes danced, first with possibilities, then hardened with reality. “We’d never get them up the mountain.”

“So we don’t bring them back this way. We can take them around and back into town. Or further south to a saleyard in the next town, and not in Alpine Falls,” Percy said, liking the idea of it more and more. “McAllister can’t have his hand in pockets in every town, surely.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Albie mumbled. He frowned at the books for a few long seconds, then his eyes met Percy’s. “It’s not a bad idea. We should think on it and ask Des and Robert.” Then he frowned. “Well, I think I know what Des will say. There’ll be some name-calling, I’d reckon.”

Percy couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’d reckon you’re right. But there’s one thing he’ll never be able to call you, Albie, and that’s a quitter.”

“He might question the size of my brain. And my sanity.”

Percy laughed and gave Albie’s knee a squeeze. “He’ll come around.”

Albie smiled but it soon faded. He was serious then, his brow knitted. “You know, I reckon I’d get more for them if they were broken in. I could make good stock horses out of some of them, I’m certain of it.” Then he made a face and sighed. “But that’d mean getting them back up the mountains.”

Percy closed the books. “We can think on it. It’s time for bed.”

Albie was quick to stand up. “My favourite part of the day,” he whispered.

Percy gave him a playful shove. “Mind your manners.”

“I’d rather mind yours,” he murmured with a wicked gleam to his eye. “If you know what I mean.”

Percy pointed his finger up at him, aiming for stern but unable to stop from smiling. “I know exactly what you mean,” he whispered.

Albie grinned at him, part devil. Percy was sure of it. He picked up the lantern from the table. “To bed with you, my love.”

Percy gasped. “Shh or someone will hear.”

Albie simply laughed, took Percy’s hand and led him to their room.

* * *

Percy woke early,his body urging him awake.

As if he didn’t have enough last night, with Albie’s hands and his mouth. But now he found himself on his side, with Albie pressed in close behind him, his arms around him... and his arousal pressed against Percy’s behind.

It shouldn’t feel so good.

Should it?

Why did he feel the urge to rock back, to feel more, to roll his hips? Why did he want Albie to grind against him, to slide his erection against his bottom? Percy had never imagined such a thing, but now... to feel him so close, so hard...

Why did he want to feel Albie inside him?

He ached with the need for it. He burned, desire deep in his core, his balls drew down, his erection filled.

He wriggled back a little, not meaning to. His body moved on its own, desperate.

And he felt the moment Albie woke. He froze, his hand going to Percy’s hip, holding him still.

“Morning,” Albie said, his voice rough.

“Mm.” Percy hummed. “Morning.”

“Been awake long?”

Percy, desperate and shameless, took Albie’s hand from his hip and brought it down to his crotch. “This long.”

Albie groaned out a laugh, but he rolled his hips, grinding against Percy’s buttocks as he stroked Percy’s length. “You seduce me,” he murmured, his lips now at the back of Percy’s ear.

Percy backed up, rubbing his behind against Albie’s arousal as Albie fisted Percy’s. “Albie, I need...” He wasn’t sure what he needed. He just needed more.

Albie’s hand was slick with Percy’s arousal, his slide over his erection now wet, and it felt so, so good. And when Albie’s thrust against his bottom got harder and faster, with a kiss to the back of Percy’s neck, fireworks exploded behind Percy’s eyelids, his body rigid as his pleasure spilled out of him.

Albie’s hand was on his hip then, holding him still while he ground his erection, hard and hot against the cleft of Percy’s buttocks, and then he stilled, groaning as hot seed spilled onto his back.

Percy had never been so aroused.

He’d never known desire so consuming, so blinding.

They lay there breathless, the silence far too loud.

“You can wake me like that any day,” Albie murmured. “Wowzers.”

But as reality dawned and light filled the room with the sunrise, Percy was filled with something he didn’t like. It took him a moment to put a name to it, but once he realised what it was, there was no going back.

Shame.

He tried to move forward, needing some space.

Albie pulled away first. “Let me get you cleaned up. Stay there.”

Percy wasn’t sure he could move anyway. He felt leaden with the weight of what they’d just done.

What he’d instigated.

What he’d begged for.

Albie came back with the rag and wiped Percy’s back clean, then his front. Then he took a clean cloth, and wetting it in the basin in their room, he wiped him down.

Albie studied Percy’s face for a moment before putting his finger to his chin and raising his face. Percy pulled away, unable to meet his eyes.

Albie went to his knees in front of him, in nothing but his long johns, hands on Percy’s legs, looking up into his face. “What is it? Did I hurt you?”

Percy shook his head. “No.”

“Then what? Please tell me. I thought you wanted that. I thought?—”

“I did want that,” Percy said. “Exactly that, and at the same time, not even that. I wanted more. I wanted such things that... dirty things, wrong things. I wanted...” He trailed off with a shake of his head. “Albie, I’m sorry.”

Albie put his hand to Percy’s cheek. “Don’t ever apologise. You’ve nothing to be sorry for. This is new to both of us, and we’re finding our way. If we do something you don’t like, we don’t do it again.”

“But I did like it. Too much. I wanted you to...”

He couldn’t even bring himself to say it out loud.

Albie held Percy’s face and brought him in for an embrace, holding him. “Whatever troubles you, my love, you can tell me.”

My love.

Oh, how Albie called him that warmed him through, every time. And perhaps hiding his face in Albie’s neck made it easier to admit.

“I wanted you to have me as you would a woman,” he whispered, his eyes squinted shut. Albie froze, and when he tried to pull back, Percy clung to him tighter. “Please don’t look at me.”

So Albie rubbed his back instead and let out a shaky breath. “I’m no expert in the anatomy of the female body,” he said. “But I don’t...” He froze again. “Oh.”

Now it was Percy who tried to pull away and it was Albie who refused to let go. “See?” Percy said. “I told you it was wrong.”

Then Albie gripped his shoulders, pulled him back, and met his gaze. Percy had expected to see disgust or blame in Albie’s eyes, but no. What he saw was anger.

“Percy Collins, you listen to me,” he said sternly. “Nothing we do is wrong. Not one thing. You cannot sit there and tell me, after all that we’ve shared, after all that we’ve found in each other, that any part of us is wrong.”

Percy blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected such words or the honesty in which he’d said them. “I wanted you to sodomise me,” he whispered. “Albie, I wanted it so much I burned with the need of it. How is that right?”

Albie was surprised, clearly, but it was quickly replaced with that stubborn determination Percy had grown to love. “Percy, listen to me. I’m not a religious man, and neither was my father. He swore that any god that would take his wife and unborn daughter was no god worth praying to. And here I am now, saying to you that any god who would tell us our love is wrong is no god I believe in.”

Oh, how Percy wished he could believe that.

“Now, I don’t know if”—Albie continued, his cheeks now pink—“me taking you as I would a woman is something we’ll even do. To be frank, Percy, I hadn’t given it a thought. Everything we’ve done so far is more than I ever dared dream I’d have. If it’s all we ever do, I’ll die a happy man.”

“Die?”

“Fifty years from now,” Albie said with a smile. “Old and grey, here in this very house, with you.”

Percy could have cried at that. He almost did. His eyes watered and his nose burned. He could barely nod.

Albie cupped his face and searched his eyes. “All I want is you. And if you do want me to take you that way, I will.”

Percy gasped. “Albie!”

“What? You mentioned it, and now I’m not entirely sure I can think about anything else.”

Percy buried his face in his hands, mortified. But still grateful that Albie could make light of it. “I’m so embarrassed.”

Albie laughed and got to his feet. “You’ll be a whole lot more embarrassed should Elsie come in here looking for us. Come on, let’s get dressed.” He picked up his trousers and tossed Percy’s to him. “As much as I like the view of you in your underpants,” he said with a smirk. “I don’t think the others would agree.”

Percy was embarrassed, yes. But as he dressed, he reassessed how he was feeling now and realised he no longer felt shame.

Albie had comforted him, and reassured him, and now even made him feel better by offering a joke.

As Percy fixed his shirt and buttoned his suspenders onto his waistband, Albie slid the strap over his shoulder, and it was such a caring, such an intimate thing to do.

Percy looked up in Albie’s face, seeing Albie’s eyes so soft for him it made his heart flutter. “I don’t know how I ever got so lucky,” Percy admitted in a whisper. “To find you.”

Albie smirked and tapped his finger lightly to Percy’s chin. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

With a sweet kiss, Albie went out first, and as Percy pulled his woollen cap on, he heard Albie laugh with Elsie and Clara in the kitchen. He didn’t feel facing them was appropriate—as if they knew all too well what he and Albie had done this morning to make them this late—Percy snuck out the front door, taking his coat with him as he went.

He went straight to the barn to tend to the horses, giving them fresh feed and water. Ox nipped at his knitted cap, pulling it off his head and tossing it, neighing with delight.

“Oh, you devil,” Percy said, scampering to go pick it up, just as Des laughed from the doorway.

“He’s a cheeky one,” Des said, walking in.

Percy picked up the cap, dusting the hay off it, grateful it had only landed in hay. “I think he was aiming for the dung pile.”

Des laughed even more, but then he nodded to the way he’d come. “I think the sow’s about ready to birth any day. We should get working on the new pen.”

“Excellent,” Percy said. Then he figured now was a good time to bring this up. “So, I was thinking...”

Des cut him a look. “No sentence ever ends well when it begins with that.”

Percy chuckled. “About those wild brumbies.”

“What about them?” he asked, roughly the same time he assumed the answer. “No. No, don’t even go thinking it. And don’t go putting crazy ideas into Albie’s head.”

“Too late.”

Des groaned. “It’s too risky. Too dangerous.”

“We need the money.”

“Then we work harder. Chasing brumbies through these mountains will get you nothing but killed.”

“I suggested we take ’em further south, out of the mountains and away from McAllister’s grubby hands at the saleyards,” Percy tried. “But then Albie thought maybe if we brought them back here, we could break ’em in and get more for them. Good money.”

Des cast his gaze out across the misty morning, at the clouds clinging to the mountains like a winter cloak, and sighed. “I promised his dad I’d look after him,” he said quietly. There was a sadness in his eyes as he recalled a memory only he could see, until he shook it away and refocused on Percy. “If we need more money, we work harder.”

Percy wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t even sure he could speak around the lump in his throat, the ache in his chest.

Des loved Albie like a son; Percy could see that now.

He wished he hadn’t brought it up, not with Des right now, and not with Albie last night.

He gave a nod and let it go.

* * *

They did work harder.Not that Des made any mention of it, he just pushed the men for more. He squeezed out every minute of daylight he could, and Percy did everything he could do to help.

Three days later, they had the new pig pen built. Post and rails, hand-sawed, holes dug, and a shelter with a scrap-tin roof. Another calf was born early and abandoned by the cow, so it was now in the stables with the dairy cow, and there were two new chicks in the coop, and some of Elsie’s seedlings near ready to sprout in pots of soil in the mudroom.

Life was busy.

Percy never mentioned the brumbies again, though he did still help Albie with his reading and with the sums in the ledger. Albie was getting so good at it, Percy doubted he’d need his help much longer but he was reluctant to say that.

He enjoyed their time at the table, knees and shoulders pressed together over the books.

Percy had been reluctant the last few nights in bed too. Too afraid to start something that might end up with what he’d wished for. So he’d opted for cuddling and falling asleep in Albie’s strong arms instead.

Well, he hadn’t been so reluctant when Albie had an erection problem that morning when he’d woken up. He sat on the edge of the bed, as if he didn’t want to trouble Percy, and Percy was all too happy to kneel between his feet and take his problem into his mouth.

And for the first time, he hadn’t pulled back when Albie spilled his seed.

Percy drank it instead.

Hot and salty, but oh-so rewarding.

Albie had fallen back onto the bed, groaning out a laugh. But given it was already sunup, he made the promise to return the favour that night.

Percy had to sit through breakfast with tented trousers as he couldn’t seem to think of anything else. It didn’t help that Albie was smiling as he ate his porridge, and he swore he caught Des looking between them.

When they’d barely finished their cups of tea, the dogs began to bark and Robert got to the door first. He opened it to show two men riding toward the house at a gallop.

Something was wrong.

The four men rushed outside to greet them. Elsie stayed inside by the door, hidden from view, and Clara was nowhere to be found. Percy didn’t blame her.

Because the two men who rode up to the veranda, not even getting off their horses, were Williams and McAllister’s foreman, Bill Kelly. They pulled hard on their horses, turning in a tight circle.

It was Kelly who spoke, his Irish accent strong. “McAllister’s youngest, little Christopher, is missing. Was not in his bed this morning. We searched the barn, the stables, the pens. He’s nowhere. Don’t know how long he’s been gone. Early morning, we suspect.”

Albie pointed to the stables. “Robert, saddle the horses.” In a flash, Robert turned and raced to toward the stables.

“He’s a wild one,” Kelly added. “Three years old, not an ounce of fear in him.”

“Did you check the well?” Des asked.

The two men stared at him, Percy felt ill at the thought, and it was Williams who nodded. “Yes. Thank the Lord above, it was covered. But we checked it all the same.”

Albie was already pulling on his coat. “We’ll head adjacent to your boundary.”

Kelly gave a tip of his hat. “Much obliged.”

“Fire a shot in the air if you find him,” Williams said.

Now, Percy had no time for Williams, and he knew no one here missed him now he was gone. He was also responsible for trying to force himself upon Clara, so Percy could only imagine the restraint it took Elsie not to come outside swinging for his head.

But there was a child missing.

McAllister’s child, no less. And no one here was overly fond of McAllister either. But in times such as these, differences were put aside and people banded together to help.

Percy, Albie, Robert, and Des rode out, southward, as Albie had said they would. It was likely that the kid walked out the back of his house and kept on walking, so that was the direction they went.

Albie and Percy went left, closer to McAllister’s property line, while Robert and Des veered slightly right.

“Christopher!” Albie called out, top of his lungs.

Then Percy did too, and after a few seconds, they heard Robert, some distance away, yell the same.

“How far can a three-year-old walk?” Percy wondered out loud. “In this scrub, no less.”

It was rough terrain. Granite boulders, trees and shrubs, small valleys, tall grasses.

“I spent days on end in these parts,” Albie said. “As a small child, not much older than three. Sunup till sundown. I could play and hide all day. I could get some distance. Some days I was lucky my horse knew which way was home.”

Percy gave a bit of a nod. “We lived on flatter, low ground. But my days were mostly spent at school. On weekends I helped out on the farm, never really venturing too far.” Then he shrugged. “Until I ventured here.”

Albie gave him a smile. “I’m grateful for that.”

Percy felt himself blush, but he blamed it on the bitter cold. He pulled his collar up against the bite of wind and sleet... until he remembered there was a small child out in this weather. No doubt ill-dressed for it.

And with a sense of urgency, he pushed Bandit a little harder and called out the boy’s name.