Sentinel Mountain

Chapter Fifty-one
Surprises—Good and Bad

When he hung up, Josh called Mr. VanWinkle. After he had made a report on Alex's progress, told him the situation with Kelly and Rep. Boles. "I wonder if James Davis is behind this?" Mr. VanWinkle asked. "He's a tricky one, but ethical. I suspect this is sailing, if not outside, then barely inside the ethics code and he would have nothing to do with it. I'll get Bull on both right away."

"Mr. VanWinkle, do you think VanWinkle, VanWinkle, VanWinkle and Adams would take me on personally in this matter? Blankenship has lawyers on retainers for the company, but I feel some responsibility for this since at least part of it is Kelly being vindictive."

"Sure we will."

"Take retainers out of my account…"

"I wouldn't want to do that, Josh. There's clearly a conflict of interest there. Send a check for a couple thousand. I'll take Bull's bill out of the account. I'll contact James Davis since this suit is definitely not in his client's interest. In the meantime, stop the transfer to Kelly's account and put the money in an escrow account pending the outcome of a suit challenging the contract. That should put some pressure on Kelly. When will you be back in town?"

"Sometime next week. I'll be in contact. By the way, you and Bull still need to come to the Mountain. We'll talk about that while I'm in town."

With the Blankenship business out of the way, Josh called Gertrude. He gave her a report on Alex and told her they would be back sometime next week. Alex would probably stay a month, but he would have to get back to the Mountain within a week, although he might also have to go to San Francisco. "I need to call Mavis now," he said.

"You're in luck. She's right here. Mavis."

"Mavis, you wouldn't believe what's going on here." He then told her about the horses and his plans to teach riding to all the boys at Boys' Camp and trick riding to those who were interested. "I need you to come here and tell us how to construct the ideal place for that. Think you and Gertrude could get away for a couple weeks?"

"I don't see why not. By the way, Senhor D'Cruz is in the hospital. When one of my students went over to care for the horses two days ago, she found him in the stable with Meu Rei, struggling to stand. She called nine one one and he was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with a relatively mild, but serious heart attack. He seems to be responding to the medicine, but will be incapacitated for sometime. I went to see him yesterday and he gave me a bill of sale for the horses made out to you. I say you're getting a bargain. He is very concerned that you get the horses as soon as possible so he will know they are cared for. He also asked if I'd take Meu Rei should he not be able to ride again. I think he knows his days are very numbered. After all, he is ninety."

"Ninety! That's hard to believe, but I will make arrangements to get the horses immediately. "Please tell Senhor D'Cruz that and that I will see him sometime next week. How many horses are there? I recall six mares and a stallion. I don't think the stallion I saw was Meu Rei."

"No, he is kept pretty much in a pasture by himself. He and the other stallion did not get along at all. There are actually the seven and a colt, I think a year, year and a half. I'm sure he will be happy knowing they are soon to be under your care."

Josh and Mavis talked a bit more about what he planned for Boys' Camp and she was thrilled with the idea of having a good group of boys learn trick riding. "Will it still be Boys' Camp?" she asked as they were concluding their conversation.

"You're the second person who asked me that today. Luc thinks the name should honor Elijah."

"I agree."

"I'll talk to everyone when we get together Friday night—that's become family night for the Mountain's extended family."

He called the company who had transported the horses from Wellsburg and insisted on talking to the owner. He told him he had seven horses and a colt a year to a year and a half old he needed transporting from Boulder. "I want absolute assurances what happened before will not happen again," he said. He got the assurances he wanted and scheduled a pick up on Friday which was a soon as the transporter could manage it. He called Mavis and told her and that he hoped Sally and Brenda would be coming to accompany the horses to Sentinel Mountain. "Please tell Senhor D'Cruz."

He needed to call Rob and see if the second horse pasture was ready. He knew the stables for the Mangalarga Marchadors were ready as they were under the same roof as those for the Mustangs. It was probably not necessary to keep the two breeds completely separate, but he thought it best, so the stables were divided, each having its own corral and opening on its own pasture. Rob said the pasture was ready, but he'd like to mow it before the horses arrived. Josh asked if it could be done the next day and Rob said he could do the mowing and it could be raked and baled the next day if the weather held. "I'm sorry, Rob, I'm simply not thinking straight. The horses won't be loaded until Friday and won't be here until Monday. And, Rob, don't mow the holding pasture. Sally talked to a vet and there is less chance of grass foundering on mature grass. Of course, the horses coming from Colorado have been in better pasture than those that came from Utah, but not the equal of the pastures you have here. "

"I'll get Bob on the mowing tomorrow and it can have until Saturday before it's raked and baled. That will be better. Bob will be glad to get out of working on the house anyway. I think he'd never go in a house if he had his drathers."

Josh had just hung up the phone when Alex came out to join him. He sat in Josh's lap and starting kissing him passionately. Josh loved it. The two were completely wrapped up in each other, tongues locked and sporting serious erections when Sally and Brenda came out. "Don't let us stop you," Sally said. "I hate to tell you, but I know you're trying to breed, but it won't work. Brenda and I have the same problem."

"Maybe we should swap partners," Brenda said.

"I can tell you that won't work either," Alex said.

"I agree with that," Sally said.

"Well, I guess you're right, but we could all make pretty babies," Brenda laughed.

"Sally, on a serious note, have you checked on how things are going at the ranch?"

"I have and all is well. It's not as large as Sentinel Mountain, but one thing they have in common is employees that are like a large family and treat the ranch as home."

"Think you and Brenda could be away a few more days?"

"I see no reason why not, what's up?"

"I seem to have acquired six mares, a colt and a stallion."

"Senhor D'Cruz's Mangalarga Marchadors?"

"Right. He's had a mild heart attack, which is pretty serious since he is ninety. He is very worried about the horses. He gave Mavis a bill of sale for them and would like to have them placed as soon as possible. I have made arrangements—with the firm understanding that what happened before better not happen again—for them to be picked up Friday morning. They should be here Monday. I'll fly you to Boulder Thursday so you can be there to make sure the loading is done right and we'll make the trip to Wellsburg next Wednesday. I'll see if Walt can find a co-pilot to fly back here from Boulder and I'll pick up the small plane. Since Walt won't have to be flying out, we can take the small plane. I can fly you to Logan that way."

"We can do that. Are you planning on making any Mangalarga Marchador-Mustang crosses?"

"I sure am. I think it would be great if the better qualities of the two could be combined, but you never know. I'm not sure how much of the Spanish blood is left in ours, but there is at least some and the Mangalarga Marchador has much more. I think Mustangs are probably hardier, but they do not have that wonderful gait of the Mangalarga Marchador which make pleasure riding superb. Anyway, yes."

"Since you have a stallion, maybe I could get some sperm?"

"You want me to fuck a fake woman like horses do fake mares? Not sure I'm for that," Alex laughed.

"Or you could jerk off in a cup; a very, very small cup," Brenda laughed.

"Sure," Josh said. "I'll see that you get all the sperm you want from my stallion."

Suddenly the front door flew open and two small explosions hit the porch followed by Winston and Susan. The two boys headed for Josh and Alex and it was clear Alex was expected to find his own chair so Alexander could climb in his lap. When they were settled, Winston said, "Josh, it's going to take me a couple, maybe three weeks to check out and service all the vehicles and equipment here. It's all had basic maintenance done, but nothing more."

"Well, it hasn't been done before, so there's no rush. I do want you to get settled in the garage and soon you need to advertise to let people know there's a garage in the area now. If what Rob tells me is any indication, you'll be snowed under."

"Susan will take care of customers, I'll take care of the vehicles. I'm planning on calling the garage Mason and Taylor Motor Service. I thought about garage and about Auto Repair, but I guess if its burning gasoline or diesel and has more than one cylinder, I'll work on it."

"Winston, it's your business, you name it what you please and you make the rules—and you let Susan enforce them."

"The way she enforces her rules on me."

"Like you pay attention," Susan laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yeah," Winston laughed.

While they were all sitting on the porch, Louise drove past headed toward Boys' Camp. Josh smiled. He thought she had found a winner in Shawn and he was happy that Shawn had waited for Louise who was definitely worth a wait, even a long one.

He thought that he might enjoy a nice glass of red and remembered there was a wine cellar which he has never explored. "Anyone up to a little exploring?" he asked. He got a nod from everyone, including the boys. "I've been told there is a wine cellar which I have never seen. Want to take a look?" Again, nods. They went inside and found Janie in the kitchen. "Janie, Rob told me there was a wine cellar here. You know anything about it?"

"Not really. When Elijah was alive, he took care of that. I don't think anyone's been there since his death."

"But you do know where it is?"

"Sure. It's kept locked. The key's here," she opened the pantry door to reveal a rack of neatly labeled keys, took one and handed it to Josh. "It opens off the cellar and is actually dug back into the mountain. It's supposed to remain at a constant temperature. I think of fifty-something. Anyway, at the bottom of the stairs, go to your left. There's a door in the wall."

They all trooped down the steps to the cellar, turned left and soon faced a wall with a large door. There was a light switch beside the door which Josh flipped, then opened the door. Instead of a room, the door opened onto a tunnel several yards long and ending at another door, this one with a rubber seal around it. It was not locked and when opened, revealed a rather large room filled with racks of wine, hundreds and hundreds, perhaps thousands of bottles of wine. A thermometer near the door read fifty-three degrees. The cellar was not overly humid and the labels appeared to be in good shape. Not surprising was the fact that the wines were predominately French and Italian. Elijah had died in 1979 and probably had not purchased wine since the cellar was completed. Later, when Josh read Elijah's journals he discovered that the French government had made him a gift of almost two thousand bottles of wine including some very rare ones, and hundreds of bottles of brandy. There were a few hundred bottles of a variety of sherries and Madeira, gifts from Spain and Portugal. Italy had contributed fifteen hundred bottles.

The racks were all neatly labeled and there was also a catalog of the cellar's contents on a small table near the door. Alongside each entry was a comment and a 'drink by' date. Also on the table was a basket for carrying six bottles. Josh knew very little about European wines and decided he'd have to learn since it was foolishness to purchase wine when he had a cellar full. He selected a sherry and a couple bottles each of two different reds which were cataloged as 'nice for a casual glass' and they all explored a bit before heading back upstairs. "There's enough wine here to float a battleship," Nelson commented. "Guess I'll just have to learn to drink wine."

"Not legal until you're twenty-one," Alex said.

"Yeah, and your mom would die if wine touched your innocent lips," Josh laughed.

Nelson grinned. "No, she'd just have another thing to nag about and add it to the list of no temple garment, boxer briefs, living among Gentiles and nine hundred ninety more bitches. So far that hasn't included cheerleaders."

"Cheerleaders?" Sally asked.

"You don't want to know," Josh said. Nelson blushed.

"Oh, I think I do already," she laughed.

Upstairs, Josh found a cabinet of wine glasses, asked who wanted wine and poured glasses for everyone except Janie. "Nelson, You are eighteen, right?" Nelson nodded. "I happen to think that learning to drink responsibly should begin in the family and eighteen is not too early. Not legal, but if you like, you can have half a glass. Alex also only took half a glass as his medications intensified the effects of alcohol. They enjoyed the fine old wine and took their glasses to the table with them where Janie was serving a flank steak she had marinated and grilled outside.

After dinner, Josh and Alex went to their room. Instead of starting to make out at once, Alex said, "I had a good talk with Shawn. After all my reports since I have been here, he and Henry wanted to know if I thought I could cut back on my meds. I thought about it and I guess if you are willing to take the risk, I am, or maybe we need to wait until we get back to Boulder. I told him we had advanced pretty well with our lovemaking without any serious problems. He wanted to know exactly what 'advanced pretty well with our lovemaking' meant and I told him. He was obviously surprised and asked if I was sure you have not given me a shot and I told him you hadn't. I did tell him about the nightmares." There had been several almost as bad as the one he had when bound by the sheet. Sometimes what had triggered one was obvious, but most of the time it wasn't. "Shawn said one of the medications sometimes opened the door for nightmares and said he would talk with Henry about eliminating it or changing it. Since it is basically for depression, I told him I certainly don't feel depressed; far from it. Anyway, he will talk to Henry and Henry will call tomorrow. What do you think? Think it's worth the risk?"

"Barefoot Boy, who does have cheeks of tan—a few more sessions like this afternoon and all your cheeks will be tan—it's finally up to you. I think I am prepared to handle any situation if it's no worse than the major one in Boulder and none since have come close. You're surrounded by people here, so help should be a short time in coming if needed. Basically, I think there is little more risk here than in Boulder, but you're the one who has to suffer through any reaction."

"I'll wait until I speak to Henry, of course, but if he gives the go ahead, I'll reduce the meds. I want off them as soon as possible. He did want me to speak to Helen after I told him we had engaged in fellatio and he asked if I had cum in your mouth and I said I had. He said I should have known better and we should have used a condom. Anyway, Helen was available and she joined us in a conference-type call. Shawn asked that I tell her what we had done and when I did, she said, 'Well, Alex, I told you no unsafe sex until after your check at the end of the year and I stand by that. However, we know you are STD free except for the rather remote possibility of HIV. It's not something I would worry too much about, but I wouldn't do it again without a condom. Precum can contain the HIV virus and any break in the mouth, even from brushing your teeth, can provide an entry point. You don't want spermicidal lubricated condoms and, in fact, regular ones don't have a very romantic taste. Flavored ones are available.'

"I said, 'I guess our cock sucking days are over until we can get some good tasting condoms.'

"'Sounds wise to me,' Helen said, 'but I am definitely not worried. From what both you and Josh told me, It would be hard for an HIV positive person to have gotten into New Beginnings Clinic, and sucking cock is hardly the only way to make love.'"

Alex told Josh he objected to the 'no cock sucking edict' and said there was no reason he couldn't suck Josh's cock.

"Look, if I can't suck your cock, then you shouldn't suck mine."

"Don't punish me, Beloved Boy. You insisted on getting tested when I did and you had been tested for HIV after Kelly, so we know you are disease free. Why would you deny me the pleasure of making love to that beautiful cock of yours?"

"Well, there are other ways of making love," Josh argued.

"Show me!" Alex laughed and pulled Josh to his feet.

They undressed each other and crawled into bed. After exchanging hot kisses for several minutes, Alex kissed Josh's hard cock and took it into his mouth. "So much for arguing against your going down on me! Damn that feels good, Lover Boy." Josh had his hands in Alex's hair, holding him, stroking his hair, pulling it gently as his lover made love to him with his mouth.

Alex sensed Josh was approaching the point of no return and took his mouth from his lover's cock, then slipped up and over Josh's body until he could cover his mouth with his. When he broke the kiss, he whispered, "Josh, I want you inside me, please."

"I'm not sure, my beautiful Alex. That's not a step, that's a leap. You have been doing so well and I don't want a setback."

"Please, Beloved, I want you joined to me so bad." He kissed Josh deeply and said again, "Please."

Josh opened the bedside table where he had put a jar of Abolene, but also condoms and lube in anticipation of a far off day when Alex would be inside him, not even daring to think it would be Alex who took his lover's cock into himself. After Josh opened the drawer, Alex reached in and took a condom and lube. He rolled off Josh, placed the rolled condom on the nightstand, gave the lube to Josh and lay, resting on his chest and knees, his ass in the air, his rosebud exposed. Josh worked lube into his lover with first one finger, then two. When he was thoroughly lubed, Josh slapped him on the butt and he turned over, reached for the condom, rolled it onto Josh's precum-slick cock and lubed it well. He grinned at his lover and said, "You're saddled up and I am ready to ride!" He squatted over Josh who guided his cock to Alex's hole, cupped Alex's ass cheeks in his hand and guided him as he slowly impaled himself on the condom-covered man's tool.

When his ass was resting on Josh's pubes, Alex leaned forward and started kissing Josh, sucking his tongue into his mouth, drinking in the taste of Josh. "Babe, I have wanted this for so long. I dreamed of it when dreaming of ever seeing you again seemed foolish, chasing something that could never be. I am so happy, so very, very happy." He started sliding up and down on Josh's pole and in minutes Josh grabbed him and held him still to keep from cumming. With Alex still inside him, Josh grasped his lover's cock and stroked him, slowly at first and gradually increasing until Alex cried. "Hold! I'm not ready to cum!"

Josh stopped, reached up and wrapped his arms around Alex and rolled over, taking Alex with him, his cock still hard and in his lover. He leaned over and kissed Alex, then opened the nightstand, took out the Abolene and applied a generous amount to Alex's cock. He then leaned forward and moved up and down, his cock sliding in and out of Alex, with Alex's cock being massaged between them. Suddenly he felt Alex's ass muscles tighten around his cock as he shot between their bellies. That was enough to push him over the edge and he started shooting inside Alex.

Still inside his lover and still hard, Josh didn't resist when Alex pulled him down and started kissing him passionately. Josh again started sliding up and down Alex's cum and Abolene slick stomach, his sensitive cock moving in and out of his beautiful lover. Although both had just experienced intense orgasms, they remained joined, changing positions, moving fast and slow, Josh stroking Alex, sliding over him, or holding on to his hips as he moved in and out of him doggie style while Alex stroked himself. Finally while Alex rode him cowboy style, Josh stroked him to his second climax and he exploded inside Alex again. They lay, wrapped in each other's arms and legs until Josh's now limp cock slipped out of Alex. Josh pulled the spent condom from his lover's ass and carried it and Alex to the bathroom where he tossed the condom and carried Alex into the shower. After they had showered and dried each other, they changed their sheets—their sex had been a bit messy—and crawled into bed. Wrapped in each other's arms and legs, and gazing into each other's eyes, they drifted off to sleep. Alex slept peacefully, with no nightmares.

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