Bucking Broncos

At about dawn, I formulated my plan. Hopefully, by tomorrow, Mr. Crouch would regret his animal cruelty.

I came up with a plan for getting what I wanted from the hunky vet, too. I showered and left the house right after dawn and it was full light when I pulled into his drive. I had butterflies in my stomach anticipating bad news but I carried on. When I got to the front door of the vet’s house, I could hear a shower running from the open window by the door. I waited a few moments after the shower turned off and then rang his doorbell. Inside, I heard a door open and the vet yelled, “Just a minute.”

When he opened the door he was clad in an old fashioned robe made of some soft, silky looking material like heavy rayon and curly hair carpeted the upper part of his chest visible through the v of the neckline. His hair was wet and he had a towel draped around his neck. He looked like hot gorilla sex just waiting to happen. I glanced down and the mound I’d seen the night before in his khakis was even more prominent in the thin robe…and looked even bigger.

He smiled when he saw me and said, “I figured you’d be here bright and early, come on in.” He held the door open but I couldn’t move.

“Just tell me, will she be alright?” I asked.

He smiled more broadly and said, “Come and see. I brought her into the house so that I could keep an eye on her.”

He turned to lead me into the house and I almost shot a load right then and there. The silky material of his robe, in combination with the moisture from his shower, clung to his superb ass. The rounded globes were sculpted by the cloth and the deep crevice between them was perfectly displayed. It was almost like he was nude.

He led me through to what looked to have once been a dining room. The table and chairs were pushed against one wall, leaving most of the floor free. Trixie was laying on a pillowed dog bed with her blanket, a white cast girdling her hips and reaching down her right rear leg. When she saw me, her ears stood up and she rolled over, and then pulled herself up onto all four feet. Awkwardly, she managed to walk over to where I stood, cast and all.

I knelt down and said, “Oh, Trixie, you look almost good as new.”

“It wasn’t as bad as I feared but it was still pretty bad for such a little dog. Someone really beat her. She had…”

I cut him off at that point, saying, “Don’t tell me. I haven’t slept all night, I haven’t eaten today and I just might vomit if I hear the details.”

He smiled again and said, “I have coffee made. Come and have a cup and I’ll tell you what to expect.” Trixie went and lay back down, obviously still exhausted from her ordeal.

He led me into the kitchen, his spectacular ass a foot in front of me. He took down two mugs from a cupboard and poured coffee into each.

“Black for me.” I said, watching him. He turned around to hand me the mug and I was conscious of something large and heavy swinging at his crotch with his motion. He leaned back against the counter and I leaned against the other part of the ell that the counter made. Leaning that way, one layer of the robe fell to the side and I could see the outline of a huge cock hanging beneath the fabric.

“She’s going to take a while to heal but I don’t foresee any difficulties other than that she might have small limp. She’s a feisty little thing; you saw that she’s already figured out how to get around. We can just keep her here to recover until we find her a home.”

“I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough, Doctor.” I said. Then I said, “Actually, I do know how I can show my appreciation.” I reached over to his waist, stuck my finger into his robe belt and pulled forward. The belt undid itself and his robe fell open.

If I said that he looked hot dressed, multiply that by about a hundred times and it will give some idea of how he looked nude. His chest, stomach and abdomen were covered with curly hair that bunched into little locks. The hair couldn’t hide the sculptured musculature, though. If the Greeks wanted a model older man for the sculpture of a god, he would be it. His pecs were hard and jutted out and his large pointed nipples stood out even further. His belly was flat and you could just see the muscles beneath the skin. Large bunches of muscles descended on each side of his abdomen from his waist, leading to his cock. And what a cock! It looked as big around as my wrist while perfectly soft and hung at least six inches down over his balls, smooth and flawlessly white like marble. His ball sack hung even lower, his left ball slightly larger and hanging lower than the other. His soft cock head was even larger than the bigger ball and it all was surrounded by a natural, untrimmed bush of curls.

“Wait a minute…” he said, moving to close his robe.

Even as he said that, I reached out and wrapped my hand around his impossibly heavy meat. I could feel the blood rushing into it and it instantly began to swell.

“You wait a minute.” I said. “I’m just getting started.” I sank to my knees in front of him and holding the stiffening dick out from his body, I began to softly lick his piss slit.

“I’ve never done anything like this before.” he said.

“Then, I guess you’re lucky that I have.” I replied.

Teasing his piss hole with my tongue had an immediate and dramatic effect. The shaft of meat that I could barely get my hand around soft swelled and hardened and as it did, my fingertips slowly spread away from my thumb. It grew in length, too, until it stood up against his body past his navel. Daddy and Uncle Cody had big dicks and the Sheriff was super hung but this cock looked to be even bigger than any of theirs.

The vet had braced himself back against the counter, involuntarily spreading his legs. With one hand wrapped around his shaft, I lifted his heavy balls with the other, filling my entire grip. I let go of them and they swung back and forth between his legs.

“These things look like they could each hold a gallon.” I said, grasping the heavy sack again.

“Nobody has touched me there for a long time, since even before my wife died.” he said in a shaky voice.

“That’s a criminal offense.” I replied. “And, I intend to do a lot more than touch you.”

He gasped out loud as I closed my lips around the enormous head and he gasped even louder as I played my tongue back and forth over the taut skin. I slid my lips down his shaft, taking as much cock into my mouth as I could fit. I don’t think even half of it was covered.

“Oh, god, I always wondered what that would feel like.” he gasped.

I bobbed my head up and down, forcing more of the post like cock down my throat each time. Through tearing eyes I could see his legs shaking and quivering. I could smell the soap he’d used earlier and I could also smell the musky scent that cock has, the male scent. And I could taste the sweet pre-cum that had started flowing out of his piss hole.

“Ah, I don’t think I can hold back.” he said. “I’m going to cum soon.”

I sped up, gliding the massive cock in and out of my throat while sliding my tongue over the hard surface. I grasped his hips, and then his firm ass cheeks in my hands, making him fuck my mouth. My fingers crept over his skin, into his deep ass crack until I could finger his tightly puckered hole. As I knew it would, it made him even more excited as I swirled my fingertip around the opening. By now, most of the long meat was engulfed in my throat with each thrust.

Suddenly he stopped stock still. His hands were grasping the sides of my head softly but firmly and then I felt his giant cock stiffen and lengthen even more. Hot fluid gushed into my throat, almost choking me, and I backed my head away until the spewing head was in my mouth. His cum was delicious, warm and salty and spicy. As I sucked the swollen head to draw more fluid out of his balls he groaned out loud.

“Jesus Fucking Christ, I had no idea it could feel that good.” he sighed. I kept the head of his dick in my mouth, wanting every drop of his cum.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked.

I stood up beside him, still grasping the half hard monster of a dick and said, “Even if you had, it would have been worth it just to suck you off.”

“You swallowed my cum.” he said.

“And it was even more delicious than I expected.”

“You had almost all of my cock down your throat. I never thought anybody could do that.”

His cock, which had just shot an enormous load, was already coming back to life in my hand, swelling and lengthening.

“I can see where you got the name Dr. Johnson.” I said, the expanding cock heavy in my hand. He grinned, almost bashfully.

“I can take the entire length up my ass.” I said, stroking the enormous cock as it grew. “Where’s the bedroom?”

“I don’t know…” he started.

“Well, I do.” I said. “I intend to get royally fucked by this thing before I leave.” I pushed the robe off of his shoulders so that it fell to the floor and he stood in front of me entirely naked. I stroked his hairy chest and stomach and brushed my thumbs over his hard nipples, making him groan again.

“I’ve never seen a man as gorgeous as you are.” I said, still stroking his pointed nipples. “I don’t care if it’s in the bedroom, on the floor or on top of the dining room table. You’re going to fuck me.”

He smiled at me and said, “Yes, sir. I’ve got to admit, I’ve wondered about that, too.”

He turned to a short hall I hadn’t noticed when I came in and pulled me toward it by the hand. For the first time, I had an unobstructed view of his magnificent ass. I needed more. I steered him to the wall so that he was facing it, then once more got onto my knees. The beautiful full globes of flesh, lightly dusted with hair, were inches from my face. I kissed one of the meaty cheeks, then the other. I ran my nose and chin along the hairy crack and he involuntarily pressed his ass against my face. I parted the meaty cheeks and saw the tiny furl of flesh in the center.

When my tongue grazed his hole, he jumped as if he’d been electric shocked. As I began to lick his hole, he relaxed, thrusting his ass out to my tongue. I lapped at the tight pucker, swirled my tongue around it and then speared the tip into it. With each thrust of my tongue, he let out a grunt and backed his ass tighter into my face. I reached up between his legs and felt his cock; it was even bigger and harder than before. Knowing that my tongue was buried in a virgin hole made my own cock so stiff that it ached and I could feel pre-cum drenching my jeans.

I finally pulled my face from between those perfect buns and asked, “Are you ready to fuck me now?”

“Nobody but my doctor has ever even touched me there.” he said. “Your tongue-I could have shot a load without even touching myself.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. I have other plans for that load.”

I stood up behind him and caressed his ass cheeks, then said, “Bed. Fuck. Now.”

He turned and led me the rest of the way down the hall. Inside the bedroom, as I began taking my clothes off I said, “I hope you’ve got some lube. Much as I want it, you might have a hard time getting that big thing inside of me without it.”

He went into the bathroom and when he came back out with a jar of Vaseline in his hand, I was already naked on the bed with my legs up. He stood at the end of the bed looking at me and said, “Looks like I’m not the only one in town with a big dick.” I was fully hard and leaking just thinking about getting fucked.

“Not by a long shot but we’ll talk about that later. I want your cock inside of me.”

He climbed onto the bed between my legs, his giant cock curling up from his crotch and sat on his haunches and studied my ass hole.

“Is this thing going to fit up there? I mean, it looks awfully little. What should I do?”

“Give me some of the lube and then coat your cock with it.” I said. He watched as I greased up my hole, inside and out, stroking his greasy cock.

“Okay, now just slide your dick into me. Go slow, though, I’m going to need to stretch to take that fucker.”

He moved up between my legs and I soon felt the broad head of his dick against my ass hole. I willed myself to relax as he pushed and a moment later I felt the enormous head pop through the tight muscle ring.

He stopped, looking down at his cock head buried in my ass and he said, “It feels so hot, and so tight. It feels so good.”

“Just imagine how the rest of it is going to feel when it’s inside me.” I said. “Slide it in.”

He pressed his cock forward and inch by sweet inch it sank up my ass. It stretched my hole, it stretched my fuck chute. It felt fantastic. Before we knew it, his pubes were resting against my taint.

“My God, you’re so tight.” he said. “And I’m all the way in you. My wife would never let me put it all in, she hated it because it was too big and it hurt her.”

“Women don’t know how to enjoy a dick.” I said. “Men will be begging you to fuck them. Just like me. Please fuck me.”

He began by moving his cock around inside of me. The massive meat brushed against the side walls of my ass and sent shivers through my body. Then, he slowly began to fuck my ass.

He was in no hurry, he’d almost fucked in slow motion, long slow thrusts in and long strokes back out. It may have been his first time but he surely knew how to heat an ass up so that it wanted more and more.

“My cock feels so good inside of you I never want to take it out.” he said.

“I don’t want it out. Just keep doing what you’re doing for as long as you can.” I said. He was on top of me and when he wrapped his arms around me and started to kiss me, I was the one surprised. His tongue filled my mouth the way his cock filled my ass, both of them slowly stroking in and out. In a minute more, I felt like I had sparks shooting out of my toes, I was so turned on. And it just got better and better. I wrapped my legs around his body so that he couldn’t get away.

I don’t know how long he fucked me. As his cock slowly slid back and forth he’d whisper things to me like, “Your ass is the best fuck I’ve ever had.” and “I love the way my cock feels inside of you.” and “You like how I fuck you, don’t you?”. I shot a load twice, just from the narration and the slow, steady pounding my ass was getting. Each time that I shot, he laughed and kissed me harder.

After a long while he asked, “Can I cum inside you?”

“Only as much and as often as you like.” I replied.

He laughed, and then began to fuck me harder and faster. I cupped his meaty ass cheeks in my hands, feeling the muscles move under the skin with each thrust into me. My ass was fully opened from his slow fuck, as he started to thrust harder I could feel his cock head pounding against the back wall of my ass. And then it got even better. He started slam fucking that massive meat into me, intent on emptying his balls. My ass hole was singing, my fuck chute was spasming around his stiff meat and I could only gasp and hold on for dear life while his tongue and cock almost seemed to meet inside of me. He started making a groaning noise, slamming my ass with his hips even harder, forcing his cock into me as deeply as possible. He gave a louder groan, stopped with his cock up me to his balls and then I felt his cock head swell as hot juice splashed into my guts. He held perfectly still, propped above me and watched my face as he drained his balls inside of me.

When his cum stopped gushing, he collapsed on top of me.

“Holy Fuck, where have you been all of my life?” I said.

He propped himself back up until he could see my face and smiling he asked, “You liked that, huh?”

“It’s going to be hard ever to top that one.” I said. Then I said, “But you’re more than welcome to try, anytime you feel like it.”

“That’s not an invitation I’ll take lightly.” he replied. “I think I just discovered what’s been missing in my life.”

I lay there for a few minutes, feeling the big dick softening and shrinking inside of me.

“When my brother Tony gets his hands on you, you’re going to need to gulp Gatorade and vitamins for a week after he let’s go of you.”

“When?” he asked. “Not if?”

“In my family, we share. So, when.”

“How does your father feel about that?” he asked.

“He loves it. He and Uncle Cody share, too.”

“You mean…?” he started. I could see him thinking about what I’d just said. “You’re daddy and uncle are two really fine looking men.”

“And I bet the feeling is mutual. Maybe I’ll arrange for you to find out.”

He smiled shyly and looked away as he said, “I’m just an old man.”

“Who looks like a movie star, has a body like a Greek statue and a cock like King Kong AND fucks like an absolute expert. Give me a fucking break.”

“Why, thank you, I think.” he said with a laugh. “Let’s just see what happens.”

His cock had softened and he slipped it out of my ass, leaving me feeling empty and wanting more. I made a vow to myself that I’d get more, and on a regular basis.

When we were dressed and back in the kitchen he said, “It’s going to take a lot of coffee to get me through the day after the night and morning that I’ve had.”

“Get used to it.” I replied. “I have a feeling that you’re going to be the new belle of the ball and one of the most popular guys in town, among a certain social set.”

“I could live with that.” he replied.

* * * * * *

By the time I got home it was only 10:30 in the morning. I fixed lunch for the fellows and then sat and thought of possible ways to finish my Crouch plan.

When daddy came in, the first thing he said was, “I saw the wagon in the barn so I knew you weren’t over with the horses. Where did you get off to so early?”

“Fuck, I actually forgot to feed them.”

“It’s good not to give them too much at first, they’re not used to it. Take them each an apple later, and then wait until night time for feeding. Now, where did you say you were?”

I thought about the morning’s event and, smiling, I said, “I made a new friend, one you already know. But, I’ll make sure you get a proper introduction.”

He gave me a mystified look but didn’t say anything else.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. I phoned the vet at about 4pm to check in on Trixie and received word that she was up and around, investigating her surroundings and devouring anything put in front of her.

“About this morning…” the vet said.

“What about it?”

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry if I took advantage of you. We can act like it never happened.”

“Do you want me to come over there right now and suck your cock again to show you how much I regret it? If you’re having second thoughts, just tell me, but I intend to drain your balls every chance I get from here on in.”

The Dr. laughed and said, “No, no regrets, no second thoughts. We’ll just have to make sure you get plenty of chances, if that’s how you feel.”

“You’re damned right.” I replied.

After my call, I went to my bedroom and opened the wall safe. The bottle of Jack Daniels that I’d taken from the reverend’s house months before was right where I left it and I lifted it out.

I grabbed 3 apples from the kitchen and took the path to the horse corral. I gave each horse an apple, and then crept through the overgrowth until I was near to Mr. Crouch’s house. I could hear a radio inside playing old hits from the 60‘s and 70‘s..

I crept silently up to the porch and placed the bottle of liquor on the flat post at the top of the steps, then hurried away. Back in the brush, I lobbed a rock onto the porch where it hit something metal and made a loud noise. Almost immediately, the screen door flew open and Crouch stepped outside. He looked around for intruders, and then spied the liquor bottle. He glanced around again, grabbed the bottle and disappeared back inside. His actions reminded me of a cuckoo clock.

It felt like a long evening, even though it was only a matter of a few hours. Everyone was finally ready to retire except me and daddy just said, “Be careful.” as he went in to bed. I went outside, loaded a hay bale into the wagon, made sure that I had my flashlight and took off.

My plan wasn’t really completely formulated; I just knew that Mr. Crouch was going to pay. While feeding the horses I could hear the insane racket of the log splitter running in the barn and Mr. Crouch’s voice, though I couldn’t hear what he was saying. When the wagon was empty, I slowly crept up to the barn.

Through a crack in the door I could see Crouch standing with his back to me in front of his machine, feeding small logs onto the belt. He was swaying with drunkenness and even as I watched he picked up the Jack Daniels body and took another healthy gulp. He began tunelessly singing “Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree…”, never getting past that first line, just repeating it. The barn door didn’t even squeak as I slowly pushed it open.

* * * * * *

Afterward, I walked to Crouch’s house and climbed the porch steps. No lights were lit but my flashlight shed enough illumination for me to see. I stepped into the kitchen.

The place reeked, not just of garbage and decaying food but of a sweetish, cloying dirty body odor. It almost made my eyes water. I quickly moved through the small house. To compare it to a pigsty would be an insult to pigs. There was so much clutter and filth I began to worry about catching something. The bathroom, when I pushed the door open, shared much in character with the Black Hole of Calcutta, I’d say. And there were more flies than in our barn.

Reeling from the experience of the bathroom, I finally located Crouch’s bedroom. A greedy old bastard like him was bound to have money hidden away and I intended to find it.

The bedroom was as bad as the rest of the house, reeking. The bed linens looked as if they hadn’t been changed in months, you could see the outline of his sweaty body on the sheet and pillow. There were dirty clothes scattered everywhere and in one corner was a pile a yard tall of filthy clothes which seemed to be made up entirely of stained dirty underwear. It was almost as if the crustiest, most skid marked briefs had been arranged to cover the other clothes. I backed away from the pile but then I had a thought. In a house this small, where would someone like him hide valuables?

I found a dusty broom back in the kitchen and I used the handle to tip over the pile of smelly underwear, gagging even while holding my sleeve across my face. But, I’d been right. Beneath the pile there was a metal strongbox.

There was a folded towel on the dresser and I used it to pick up the box and open the lid. The inside was stuffed with bills. I folded the towel around it, went outside and put it in my wagon. Trixie’s medical bills were now covered. From the corral I could still hear the sound of the engine in the barn.

* * * * * *

I slept like a log that night. It was just starting to get light outside when I awoke. I jumped up and ran to the barn where I loaded hay in my wagon, then hurried to the horse pen. I was afraid the horses might be really hungry since I was a little late.

They came snuffling to the fence, knowing that I was there to feed them and I took my time about it. The sound of the electric motor still came from the barn, light still showed through cracks in the walls.

I rushed home and prepared a big breakfast for everyone. The smell of pancakes and coffee roused everyone from bed and soon they were around the table waiting to be fed.

As I set daddy’s plate in front of him I said, “Didn’t you tell me that ole Crouch doesn’t waste his electricity?”

“He’d rather blunder around in the dark than spend the cost of a light bulb burning.” Daddy replied.

“That’s weird because last night when I was over there feeding the horses, I could hear a machine running in the barn and there was a light on inside. This morning, it was still running and the light was still on.”

“That does sound strange.” Daddy said. “Did you knock on his door or check it out.”

“Not me. The last time he saw me over there he threatened to shoot me. I’m not taking a chance.”

“I’ll walk over there after breakfast.” he said. “The old bastard could have had a heart attack or hurt himself.”

I was glad that I’d made so much food; I was suddenly ravenously hungry and made a pig of myself. Steve sat across the table watching me eat and when I’d glance over at him he’d puff out his cheeks to make his face look fat. I ignored him.

When daddy was finished he got up from the table.

“I’ll come with you.” I told him. “If you get shot, I can at least call for help.”

We walked the path to the horse corral without needing to talk, just enjoying the morning. At the pen daddy stopped and petted and stroked the three skinny horses, then we headed to the barn.

When we got there, daddy said, “You wait here. If the old fucker is in there, I can handle him best alone.” He walked the rest of the way to the barn and went inside.

It was only a minute or so later that the door flew open, daddy came running out and stood in front. He bent over at the waist and his entire breakfast came up and out, splattering over the ground in front of him. I felt truly sorry for him.

“Daddy, are you alright? What’s in there?”

I started toward the door and daddy gasped, “Don’t go in there. Get on your phone and call the sheriff and tell him we need him here right now.”

I did as I was told. The sheriff sounded like he’d just gotten up but when I relayed daddy’s message he said he’d be there ASAP. I went to daddy and, holding his arm, I helped him over to sit on a woodpile across from the barn.

“What did you see?” I asked.

“Never mind. Don’t talk about it, I’ll throw up again.”

The sheriff, good as his word, arrived a few minutes later. When he got out of his car daddy told him, “In the barn. It’s really bad, so be prepared.”

The sheriff got a cold look on his face; turned and stepped into the doorway that daddy had run out of. He was in there for several minutes before we heard the motor cut off and then he stepped back out. He looked pale but calm.

“Can somebody tell me what you two are seeing in there?” I asked.

“It looks like Crouch had a little accident with his log splitter.” the sheriff said. “I called the coroner from inside.”

“Can I look?” I asked.

“No, you can’t, it would give you nightmares. He must have fallen or got dragged into the machine while drunk. There’s a Jack bottle in there on the floor with just a few slugs left. The man looks like he was sliced and diced. I’ve had ground chuck that wasn’t chopped that fine, it’s hard to tell it’s even a man.”

Daddy made a gurgling noise and jumped up. He ran several feet from us and again bent over, making retching noises. We watched in silence until he stood back up and came back beside us.

“Maybe somebody pushed him.” I said.

“Don’t even say that. I’d have to interrogate every person over the age 16 in the whole county, there’d be so many suspects. I’ll tell you one thing; somebody is going to have a hellacious mess to clean up.”

“Coca-cola. That will take away blood stains.” I said before I thought. I could have kicked myself.

The sheriff looked at me somewhat askance and asked, “Just how do you know that?”

“I must have read it in some mystery book.” I answered. I couldn’t tell if he believed me or not.

How did you find him?” the sheriff asked.

“That was my fault.” I said. “I’ve been sneaking over here a couple times a day to feed those horses. When I was here late last night, the engine was running in the barn. Then, when I came back earlier this morning, it was still running and the light was still on. I told daddy at breakfast and we came over to see if everything was alright.”

“Feeding other people’s horses? I’ll have to check the statute book and see if that’s illegal. Sounds criminal.” the sheriff said, smiling.

The coroner’s car pulled into the drive right then. The sheriff left us and led the elderly coroner into the barn.

When they came back out, I heard the coroner tell the sheriff, “I don’t know how we’re going to transport him. We’ll need to use a shovel to scoop him up. Fortunately the hands and some of the feet fell off to the sides so we can at least get fingerprints.”

I heard daddy gulping beside me, then he turned and went back to where he’d thrown up before. While he was busy doing that, the sheriff walked over to me.

“I’m glad I ran into you today. The other night I was at home, resting from a long day when I got a call from that gas station out on the highway. You know anything about that?”

“Why would I know anything?” I asked.

“It was the damnedest thing. There was this great big old guy out there, claimed he’d been assaulted by a homicidal midget.”

“You think I’m a midget?”

“I’m just repeating what he said. He said some little guy assaulted him and then threatened to burn him alive. It sounds like something you might know about.”

“I can’t help you, sheriff.” I said. “What did the clerk say?”

“He was a smart ass little high school kid. He just kept laughing and saying he hadn’t seen a thing.”

“I’ll ask around for you but I can’t guarantee anything. What happened to the guy who called you?”

“He was an out of stater. Said he wanted to get as far from here as he could, that crazy people lived around here. I looked up his stats the next day, he just got out of prison about a week ago, and I guess he was headed home. He had a pretty fancy record.”

“I guess he just tangled with the wrong midget.” I said.

“I guess he did.” the sheriff replied.

Daddy returned to where we were talking and I turned to him.

“What about the horses?” I asked. “Who’s going to take care of them now?”

The sheriff said, “I could call the animal people. They’re so sickly they’ll probably be put down.”

I looked at daddy but before I could speak he said, “There’s no need of that. We’ll keep them at our place until we find out what’s what. I have to confess, I’ve been aching to get my hands on those horses to groom them and fatten them up.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do. Crouch didn’t have any living relatives that I ever heard of; I guess the bank will take the place over. Until then, they’ll be one less thing for me to worry about.”

Daddy looked at me and smiled and said, “Andy, will you take them home and pasture them?”

“I’ll find some bridles.” the sheriff said.

“There’s no need. Just watch.” daddy told him.

I walked over to the gate and let myself into the corral. The three mares crowded in front of me, their soft noses inches from my face.

“It’s going to be alright now, girls.” I told them. “No one will ever mistreat you again. You’re coming home with me.”

They were clustered in front, smelling my breath and I turned around to lead them out. One put her head over my shoulder so that her face was against mine so I spread my arms and cupped the other two under their chins as we walked out. I led them down the drive to the road. As I passed daddy and the sheriff, I heard the sheriff say, “Well I’ll be damned. Aren’t you afraid they’ll bolt?”

“They won’t do anything that Andy doesn’t do. It’s been like that since he was a little child, horses just naturally love him.”

Luckily there was no traffic all the way back to our house. I brought the horse in and led them into the pasture where our horses were that day. They stood staring at each other in two groups until Marcy, our oldest mare, approached the newcomers. She sniffed all three of them in turn and then found something interesting to eat in the grass. I had just assumed that their scent would be recognized from the winds that blew from their corral to ours. The other horses, seeing them accepted, ambled over to check them out themselves.

* * * * * *

Daddy excused himself as soon as he got back and said that he felt like he might lie down for a spell. He said not to call him for lunch.

At lunch time, everyone wanted to hear the morning’s events. I filled them in as they ate and no one seemed as queasy as daddy about Mr. Crouch’s fate. Tony wished that he’d been there, too.

When lunch ended, I pulled Steve aside.

“The sheriff said that Crouch doesn’t have any relatives, that the bank would probably take possession of his place.”

I didn’t have to say anything else.

“So it will probably go up for sale and it adjoins our property. We could use that pasture land.” Steve said.

“We’re thinking alike. Shall we walk over this afternoon and take a look around?”

“Hell, daddy won’t know. Let’s go now.” Steve replied.

Once again, I found myself walking the well worn path between houses. When we got to the corral Steve said, “That comes down. It was built half assed and it’s still half assed.”

Everyone had deserted the scene so we went to the barn first. Inside it smelled like a slaughterhouse and there was a huge bloodstain radiating out from the log splitter on the concrete floor. The blood had hardened and almost turned black and there were flies all over it. We avoided the area.

Steve looked the barn over from top to bottom and then said, “It would be a shame to tear this down, I’d bet its well over a hundred years old. The joints are all tenoned, done by hand. You could probably even turn this into a living space, it’s so well built.”

We left the barn and approached the house. Remembering the place from last night, I let Steve lead the way. The door was still unlocked and when Steve pushed it open a wave of stench rolled out around us.

“Jesus Christ, are you sure the corpse wasn’t in here?”

“Should we go in?” I asked.

“Yeah, but let’s be quick. I don’t know how much I can stand.”

We held handkerchiefs over our moths and noses while Steve checked the place out. After a quick survey of every room, we hurried outside and Steve pulled the door shut behind him.

“Thank god for fresh air.” he said, his eyes watering. “No wonder that old son of a bitch always stunk.”

He walked around the outside of the house, me close behind and after seeing all he wanted to see he said, “This place looks a lot worse than it is. Providing we can get the stink out, we could put up new walls, sand the floor and spruce it up and it would be good for rental.”

“Are you going to try to buy it?”

He looked at me and then said, “Can we afford to?”

“I’ll worry about that part if you want it.”

“Then hell, yeah. Let’s do it.”

* * * * * *

As soon as we got back to our place Steve said, “I don’t care if it is ghoulish, I’m going into town to talk to the bank. Might as well let them know we’re interested and expect first refusal.” He was in the truck and gone before I could even reply.

When I got inside, Tony was waiting in the kitchen.

“Where’s Trixie?” he asked. “It seems like I haven’t seen her in a couple of days.”

“She had an accident, I took her to Dr. Johnson, the vet and she’s still there.”

At the mention of Dr. Johnson, Tony subtly smiled and I had an idea.

“I haven’t been over to check on her since yesterday, why don’t you make a trip there?”

Tony smiled even more broadly at that idea.

“And just so you know, he told me he’s a widower with no girlfriend and he feels kind of lonely sometime.”

Tony by now was beaming.

“I bet he’d welcome some company. Just tell him you’re my brother Tony. And be nice to him.”

That was that, Tony jumped up and went down the hall to prepare for his visit and I went in to check on daddy. I lay down on the bed next to him and asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Like everything I ate for the last 5 years came back up today and like I may never eat again.”

“I guess that means no hamburger for awhile.” I said.

He shaded a green color for a moment and then he said, “You evil little bastard. Did you know you’re adopted? I’m sending you back to your birth family.”

“I bet you’d miss me if you did.” I replied as I snuggled in his arms.

* * * * * *

Early the next morning, Steve and I had just stepped out onto the porch when, driven by Tony, our truck pulled into the yard.

Steve had arranged for a meeting at Crouch’s place at 9am with the bank manager, it turned out that the bank was just as eager to get rid of the mortgaged property as we were to buy it.

Tony stepped out of the truck and almost wafted up onto the porch.

“Are you just now getting home from last night?” Steve asked him.

Tony just turned to me, his eyes glazed and wearing a big grin as he said, “Trixie is good. Really, really good. I bet Trixie has never felt better.”

“Good for Trixie.” I replied. “Daddy is already out grooming those new horses. He doesn’t know you were away. Try not to look so suspicious around him.”

“Who’s Trixie?” Steve asked and I just tugged his sleeve and pulled him to the truck.

It only took us a few minutes to get to the Crouch place. The bank manager was already there, waiting in his car. We all greeted each other and then he said, “Well, let’s take a look around and see what the place might be worth. It doesn’t look like much.”

We walked toward the barn and the manager said, “I assume this is where the accident was.”

Just as he was saying that, he pushed open the barn door and a swarm of flies buzzed out, engulfing all three of us. They hit the bank manager head on and I heard him gasping and coughing as he spit out flies that had flown into his mouth. The place smelled worse than before and the blood stain was now entirely black. There were maggots writhing on the stain.

The bank manager took one look and spun around and went back outside.

“I suppose that barn will have to be leveled, just to get rid of the smell and associations.” he said. He looked queasy and kept wiping his mouth and face with his handkerchief as we walked to the house.

The house had been sealed overnight so that when he opened the door, the pungent stench inside rolled out even stronger than usual. He actually gagged.

“Are you sure there’s not something dead inside there, too.” he asked, holding the handkerchief over his face.

“Oh, no, the sheriff checked the interior. I think it just naturally smells that way.” I said.

“Well, I don’t need to go inside. I’ve seen enough.” he replied. Turning to Steve he said, “Bring me a copy of the death certificate tomorrow. I know for a fact there are no heirs and the sooner these buildings are gone, the better for everyone. I’ll give you the place for what remains of the mortgage.”

“I don’t know…” Steve started to say but I finished for him, “what time it will be but that sounds wonderful. Steve will be there as soon as he gets his document. I assume a check will do?”

“You want to pay it off outright? In that case, I can probably do a little better on the amount.”

“We would really appreciate that.” I said. Steve glared at me the whole time we again shook hands and saw the bank manager off.

“Why’d you cut me off like that?” he asked. “I probably could have bargained him down, he hates this place.”

“And he’ll have all night to think about that, and the stench, and the blood. You can bargain with him tomorrow if you want when you see what the amount is. For now, let him think over what he has on his hands.”

Steve brightened a bit and said, “Maybe you’re not as dumb as you look.”

“I know for a fact that you are.” I replied, wrapping my arm around his waist.

* * * * * *

That might have been the end of this story. However…

The sale of Crouch’s property went through without a hitch. The bank manager knew a judge who expedited the whole probate process and a week later we owned the farm. It took all of my cash on hand but Steve was able to purchase the property outright, free and clear. The bank manager threw in the horses and all of Crouch’s filth for free.

The first thing Steve did was go over to the house and while wearing a respirator, open all of the doors and windows in the house and barn. He said that anyone stupid enough to walk off with something was more than welcome to it; it would save having to haul it out to burn. He left the buildings stand open for 3 days before even attempting a clean up.

Trixie, meanwhile, was recovering nicely. Tony had been making regular visits to both her and Dr. Johnson and seemed to enjoy both. After a week, the Dr. allowed Tony to bring her home.

That evening, Tony and Trixie were both sitting on the sofa watching the news when daddy and Uncle Cody came in from working.

“Do we have a dog now?” Cody asked.

“Yes, we do.” Tony replied. “Her name is Trixie. If you have any objections, you can both start sleeping in the barn. Trixie would probably like her own room, anyway.”

Daddy and Cody look at each other and never said a word.

The wind finally blew most of the stench out of Crouch’s house and Steve and I began the process of emptying it in preparation of a renovation. We carried every piece of furniture out into the yard for Tony to review. It all looked like junk to me but Tony had a way of finding the gems under the dirt and selling them. He’d done remarkable things with the junk left behind in the building where his shop was.

It took us most of the morning but finally the house was empty of furniture. Filth and trash was another thing, we both had brought respirators and industrial strength trash bags and began filling them with everything loose. I told Steve to hold aside anything that looked like personal papers, I was curious to find out what I could about the Crouch family.

By late afternoon the building was empty and swept clean. We decided to wait until the next day until even tackling the barn.

Steve and I did a walk through and he explained to me what he planned to do inside. He’d decided to strip the place down to the bare studs and put up new drywall in every room. We were in the old bedroom and he was showing me something about the windows which I couldn’t concentrate on, I was just too tired. As he droned on, I stood surveying the room.

Across from me, high up on the wall was a crack in the drywall about a foot long from side to side. The rest of the wall was reasonably clean but for some reason, there were greasy marks around the crack. It made me wonder if there might be some sort of pests living in the walls.

Interrupting Steve’s monologue I asked him, “What kind of bugs or animals live inside of walls?”

He paused and then he said, “All kinds. Snakes, roaches, lizards, spiders, bees and wasps, even scorpions. Did you hear something?”

“No, I just notice that crack over there. It’s dirty like something has been going in and out of it.”

Steve walked across the room to look at the crack. It was low enough from the ceiling so that he could reach it with his hand and he held his hand in front of it.

“No air coming out.” he said. “But the wall is sticky, like greasy dirt.”

He backed away and looked at the crack, then around the room at the baseboards. Next he went out into the next room and looked at that wall, then came back into the bedroom.

“That wall, its built out.” he said. “There’s no way into the space on the other side and you can see where the baseboard is missing. Maybe there are pipes and vents back there.”

He pulled a stool that we’d kept in from the kitchen and stood on it, then hit the wall where the crack was with his hammer. The drywall crumbled and there was a dark hole in the wall.

“Hand up that flashlight.” he told me.

When I did, he shone the light into the wall and just stood there looking inside until he said, “Jesus Fucking Christ.” He turned to me, his face pale and his eyes wide.

“What is it?” I asked. “Is it something nasty? It’s not dead bodies, is it? I don’t want to see any old dried up dead bodies.”

Steve gripped the edge of the wall board and pulled it toward himself and a piece about a foot long broke away. When it did, money spilled out of the hole. There were bills of every denomination littering the floor.

“Let me see!” I said and he stepped down and helped me up onto the stool. Behind the drywall was a cavity that had once been a closet from the look of it. And it was filled with bills, of a depth higher than my head while standing on the floor.

“No fucking way.” I said to Steve. “Do you think it’s really full?

He steeped back up on the stool and reached into the hole and stirred the bills around.

“I can’t even reach the back wall and when I force my hand down into the pile I can sink in to my elbow without feeling anything but more bills.”

As he felt around inside he asked, “Do you think we should notify the IRS or somebody?”

Steve was my brother and I had come to care for him a great deal since moving back home. On the other hand, no one was going to stand between me and that much cash. I was still holding a crowbar that I’d been using earlier and my grip tightened around its shaft.

“What do you think?” I asked. I’d really miss him, if it came to that.

“Fuck no.” he replied. “We’re the only ones who know about it and I say we keep our mouths shut. We deserve it, I think.”

I was so happy to hear him say that that I stepped over and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Get off of me, you little weirdo.” he said. “You’re going to make me fall and break something.”

He jumped off of the stool, unaware of how close he’d been to tragedy. He took the crowbar from my hand and said, “Run out to the truck and get more bags while I clear away the rest of this wall board.”

I did as told and when I returned he’d pulled the covering away from the closet door. Cash had spilled out of the opening all the way halfway across the floor and there was at least a yard high mound still inside, packed down by its own weight.

“How much do you think is here?” he asked, excited.

“There are bills of all amounts, there’s no way to even guess until we separate it and count it.” I told him, starting to stuff cash into one of the bags. “We’ll get Tony to help us, he’s great with cash.”

Steve paused and said, “Do you think that’s a good idea. Getting Tony involved. He’s such an airhead.”

“There’s a lot more to Tony than you know. And I’d trust him with any secret of mine; he’s been keeping secrets all of his life.”

Steve just looked at me funny for a moment, and then went back to stuffing cash into his bag. He stopped when he came to an envelope and peeked inside. He pulled out paperwork and examined it and then said, “It’s a deed. For a building downtown.”

He ruffled through more of the cash and found another manila envelope. Inside were more papers.

“Anything not cash, put to one side.” he told me. “It looks like we found Crouch’s safety deposit box.”

Over the next half hour we stuffed trash bags full of cash. When we had finished and every bill had been packed, there were 11 trash bags filled with cash sitting in the room and a pile of paperwork at least 6 inches tall.

“What are we going to do with all of this?” Steve asked. “We need to hide it. I never thought I’d see the day that we had so much money that we didn’t know what to do with it.”

“We’ll put it in the truck and take it to our house. We’ll stuff as much as we can under your bed and my bed and put any leftovers under Tony’s bed. If that’s not enough, we’ll hide some in Tony’s closet.”

We loaded the bags up and I sat on top of them in the truck bed for the short trip home. When we walked inside, each lugging a bag, Tony was in the front room grooming Trixie.

“I gave Trixie her bath.” he said. Looking at us he asked, “What’s in the bags?”

Without replying I took the tie off of the bag and held it open. His demeanor immediately changed, his eyes cleared and he stood up straighter.

“I don’t want to know what the two of you did.” he said in a new voice. “Just tell me when and we’ll figure out an alibi story. If they have photos of you, it might not work, but we can come up with something plausible. We just need to get our story straight.”

“We won’t need an alibi.” I said. I then told him the events of the last few hours while he listened wide eyed.

“Both bags are full of money?” he asked, incredulous.

“And 9 more in the truck.” Steve said. “Every kind of bill, there’s no way to even estimate how much it’s worth.”

Tony took charge.

“Put them all in my room.” he said. “I’ll start separating the denominations right away. No one ever goes into my room and we can tell daddy that I’m not feeling well. I’ll stay up all night if I have to.”

The three of us carried the bags into the house and stacked them in Tony’s small bedroom where they almost filled the space.

“If daddy or Cody sees anything, the story is that I’m collecting old clothes to take to the church for their rummage sale. Got it?” Tony asked. “Now, get out and let me get to work.”

In the hallway I said to Steve, “And you get to work and figure out what all of those envelopes contain.”

* * * * * *

The next morning Steve drew me outdoors.

“The envelopes that we found are a mixture of stocks, bonds and property deeds. All of them are in the name of ‘Star Co.’ so I’m not sure what we can do with them.”

“Leave that to me, I’ve already got an idea.” I told him.

Daddy came out as we were talking and he asked, “Why are the 3 of you acting so mysterious?” As he asked that, Cody also came outdoors. Steve glanced at me and walked away.

“We’ve been talking about a friend of yours.” I said. “Dr. Johnson, the vet.”

“Ed Johnson is a good man.” daddy said.

“And damned fine looking, too.” Cody added.

“Well, that’s what we’ve been all talking about. When I took Trixie to him, I sort of wound up in his bed.”

“Do tell.” daddy said smiling.

“And I had to tell Tony, so when he went over to check up on Trixie, he sort of wound up having sex with him, too.”

“So Dr. Johnson is in the club?” Cody said. “I’ve always wanted to give him a tumble.”

“Not only that, he’s fantastic in bed, he’s got a great body and a big porn god dick.”

Daddy smiled at Cody, who smiled back.

“We never did have those new horses checked out to make sure they’re healthy.” Daddy said to Cody.

“I believe I’ll call Dr. Johnson and ask him if he’s free to look them over later this afternoon.” Cody replied.

Steve was awaiting me in the truck and as we drove the short distance to the old Crouch place I said to him, “Our first order of business is to go through all of the furniture we carried out, empty every drawer. I didn’t even bother to look in that old desk; I figured anything in it would be worthless. But, I want every scrap of paper we can find that belonged to Crouch. No matter what it is, we save it.”

And so we did. We had a bulging trash bag full of papers when we’d finished which I stored inside the truck before we got to work.

The blood stain in the barn wasn’t as difficult to deal with as it looked. As I’d said to the sheriff, Coca-Cola is the perfect cleaner. The combination of ascorbic acid and sugar eats away at the blood so that there isn’t so much as a stain. It wasn’t the first time I’d used it.

Steve insisted on saving all of the old metal in the barn to sell to a scrap dealer so that by the time the barn had been emptied, the entire place looked like a cyclone had come through. Steve said that was good, too, that it would discourage interest by outsiders.

Tony showed up later that day carrying Trixie. He looked pale and tired but he was beaming.

“I was up past 4 this morning sorting out the bills.” he told us. “But, it’s all done. All we have to do is count it.”

“And with any luck, daddy and Cody will be entirely occupied all night.” I said.

Tony placed Trixie in the cab of the truck because he ’didn’t want her to relive any bad memories’ and then began checking out the furniture from the house. His assessments were rapid; he knew exactly what could be salvaged and what was to be burned. As he Okayed an item, Steve or I carried it into the newly cleaned barn for storage.

When he’d worked his way through everything he asked, “Does this include whatever might be in the basement?”

Steve and I looked at each other, thinking the same thought.

“We didn’t even look in the basement, we forgot all about it.” I said.

Tony smirked at us and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll come over tomorrow and empty it.” Then he said, “It’s time to fix dinner. I’ll drive the truck but you two are sitting in the back, you both stink like Crouch and I don’t want Trixie upset. “

So, we were relegated to the truck bed while Trixie rode home in style.

After showering I began supper. Hearing a car, I glanced out the window in time to see Dr. Johnson arrive and exit his car. As he stood talking to daddy and Uncle Cody, I couldn’t help admiring what a totally gorgeous threesome they made.

Supper was almost completed when they came hurriedly in the back door, Dr. Johnson between the two of them. Even if he hadn’t been so hugely hung, it would have been difficult for the vet to hide the massive erection ballooning out his khakis. Daddy and Cody were in a comparable state.

“We’re skipping supper tonight.” Daddy said. “And we’re going to be busy so don’t disturb us.”

Nothing else was said as they herded the vet down the hall to their bedroom and slammed the door.

After supper, Tony and Will watched TV while Steve and I went through the mounds of salvaged papers at the kitchen table. What we pieced together was that Crouch had been doing business on the side under the name “Star Co.” for at least the past 15 years. “Star Co.” itself was actually a postal box in the next town, nothing else. Also, after I did an internet search, it became obvious that there were no records of a company by that name ever actually existing. It was an invented shell. I now knew what to do.

We organized the files and Steve added the deeds, stocks and bonds that he’d salvaged. There were deeds for 7 rental properties and others for vacant land adjoining our plots. We had the entire paperwork history of Crouch’s subterfuge in our possession and none of it bore his name. I got the rubber stamp that daddy used on paid receipts and had Steve stamp each of the papers with it. While he did that, I used another old piece of paper to rub over the surface of the new stamp. It automatically ages ink, rubbing it that way, making it look like it had been on the paper for a while.

We’d also found a signed, dated blank will and a couple of power of attorneys that had never been completed. I guess that Crouch hadn’t had anyone he wanted to name as heir; they were dated 10 years before. I wasn’t sure what I could do with those but they were good to have.

“I’m going into town first thing in the morning.” I told Steve. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone but I’ll help you and Tony when I get back.”

There was a loud thump and then another from daddy’s room down the hall and then the sound of three men laughing.

* * * * * *

The next morning I was up before dawn. I was in the kitchen making breakfast when I heard laughter down the hall and someone creeping out of daddy’s room in bare feet. When Dr. Johnson, shoes in his hand, came into the kitchen and found me there he was plainly embarrassed.

“Sit down.” I said as I poured him a mug of coffee.

I set it in front of him as he looked down at the tabletop, seemingly afraid to meet my eyes.

“I made you some pancakes and sausage.” I said. “You missed your supper last night and I’m not about to let you weaken or lose weight on us. We need you healthy.”

He looked up at me smiling and I said, “I think I’ll add some eggs to that order, too. You look a little tired out.”

He ate enough for two before heading out the door.

Everything that day went so smoothly I was almost ashamed of myself. I went to our lawyer’s office with my files and gave him a story that daddy had been the one doing business as “Star Co.” these past years and that I’d only recently discovered the fact. I wanted to protect daddy’s assets, I told him, and as I had expected he advised me to incorporate as “Star Co., Inc.” with all of the family businesses under one umbrella. I took all of the paperwork he needed signed and headed to the bank.

I gave much the same story to the bank manager; how daddy had secretly been running a business enterprise all of these years unbeknownst even to his brother. I even pointed out to him that ‘star’ translated to Steve, Tony and Andy Russell in initials. He swallowed it whole hog and allowed me to open a business account for our future corporation. He even complimented me, saying how lucky my daddy was to have me looking out for his interests.

My last stop was the post office where I rented a postal box and then filled out change of address forwarding cards for the P. O. Box that Crouch had used in the next town.

When I got back home, I typed a form letter informing the renters of the company name change and new address and referring them to Steve, our new property manager, with any concerns about the properties. I printed out enough copies and sealed them in envelopes to be mailed.

Then I walked over to the Crouch place, now the Russell place. There was a new mound of debris in the yard outside of the wide flung cellar doors. Just as I arrived, my brother Tony, the blond angel with porcelain skin, climbed the cellar steps.

“You just about missed all of the fun.” he told me. From head to foot he was covered in grime, his hair so dirty that it stood out from his head, his clothes covered with years of accumulated basement filth. “I found some really good things, wait till you see.” He was so excited about the treasures he’d found that he wasn’t even aware of how grimy he was.

Steve came up the stairs, just as filthy.

“This little fucker things he’s a slave master or something.” Steve said. “He wouldn’t even let me take a break, if I took a drink of water he griped at me.”

“It was worth it.” Tony said. “The cellar is empty and I found such good stuff.”

“Did you get your chores done?” Steve asked.

“As soon as we all sign off and the lawyer files the papers, we are officially known as ‘Star, Inc.”. With multiple property holdings that you are going to have to manage.”

“Does daddy know that we’re going to be incorporated?” Tony asked.

“Daddy and Cody will sign what I give them and then I’ll tell them afterward. I was thinking, though, that the three of us should celebrate our new status tonight.”

“What did you have in mind?” Steve asked.

“I think we should spend our evening counting all of that money.”

Steve and Tony both broke into huge smiles.