The Travellers - 10. Chapter 10 Spring Fever

In which everybody seems to be grabbed by spring fever, but Kyle and Jamie by far the most, Kyle has depressing moments but in which they also depart Inverness almost in unknown glory.

Spring showed its first signs of coming. It hadn’t really exploded yet into abundance but the first small indications could be noticed. The air was crisp and clear, the sun was a little stronger than it used to be and the first early bushes had started to bud carefully.

Collin became restless. Although their time in Inverness had been a good one, he felt an urge to move on. He had heard a rumor about a possible job somewhere near Inverclyde and he decided to find out about it. Not by taking their whole mobile home with them. It made no sense to travel eight to ten days to chase a rumor, especially with the risk, that in the end it would become clear that it was just that: a rumor. It would rob them of the steady income, that Kyle had at the MacKintosh stables and they knew, that there wasn’t a way back once they had left.

So Collin decided to travel in a modern way this time: he took the train. He left on a crisp Saturday morning. He would investigate what was true of the job story and if he had found something he would return. Only then they would cut their ties with Inverness and break up their camp.

Collin wasn’t the only one who became restless. The same was true for Jamie and Kyle, but in a somewhat different meaning.

They just had something to eat and sat opposite one another at the table. Outside darkness had fallen. It was still early in spring so the evenings were still on the chilly side. The lamp was lightened and the stove burned. Not much was said: it seemed as if their presence to one another was sufficient, eliminating the need for words.

Kyle rose and put the kettle on the stove. Jamie looked at him questioningly.

“Saturday night…bathing time!” Kyle smiled.

After the water had become warm enough the tub was put in the kitchen part.

“Who goes first?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t care”, was the reply.

They drew straws, making Kyle the first to go. He poured the hot water in the tub and undressed. It reminded Jamie of their first time being together, in that crofter’s cottage. The light reflected in almost identical ways on the perfectly shaped body of the boy as it did on that night. But Jamie reacted in another way.

He grabbed a piece of paper and his pencil and started drawing. Slowly the splendid body in front of his eyes became visible on the paper. It was as if each small flickering of light was visible in the drawing. While working he noticed that it became increasingly difficult to concentrate on it, overwhelmed as he became with totally other feelings and urges.

Despite that he was able to finish just in time. Kyle started to rub himself dry.

“Don’t dress yet!” Jamie begged.

Kyle looked at him with a meaningful look and casted his enchanting smile. Jamie rose and undressed as well.

“Well, my turn to bathe”.

“Yes…and I am going to bathe you, my sweet love. But first I will shave you!”

Jamie looked at him astonished, but Kyle didn’t seem to care. He went to the sleeping part and came back with a shaving-brush and a knife.

After soaping in the actual shaving began. Slowly and very carefully the lancet-sharp knife slithered over the phallus, balls and sack, eliminating pubic hair and showing more and more naked, smooth skin with every stroke. Jamie was so terrified that he didn’t dare to breathe out of fear of being cut. But the operation was ended successfully without any bloodshed.

“Was that necessary?” he asked.

“No, but it makes you more beautiful! I have very little hair and what I have is light-colored, so you hardly notice it. Yours is so…black!”

They stood naked besides the tub and tentative caressing commenced. Within a short time and rapidly growing courage the contours of their shadows melted together in the pale light of the lamp in a tender kissing and stroking. It took long, but they deformed into a single shadow in the semi-dark space in the wagon, enjoying each other’s scent and warmth. These preliminary skirmishes continued, but then Jamie looked deep into Kyle’s eyes and whispered:

“Do you remember that afternoon at Loch Garry?”

Kyle nodded enthusiastically. How could he forget about that afternoon?

Jamie put his lips against Kyle’s ear and barely audible he said:

“You said that you became mine then, my dear. This evening I want to become yours”.

Kyle was so deeply touched, that he felt a tear running over his cheek. In a way Jamie had perfectly sensed what he desired: the experience to be received instead of to receive, to give instead of take!

Oh yes, the craving was there, no doubt about that. But now came the question of ability. It was the first time he would do this. He pushed Jamie’s torso softly on the table, making the bottom point rear and slightly upward. What should have looked like a predator, ready to jump its quarry, appeared more like a young kitten, chasing his first mouse with awkward and clumsy movements. It took some effort to enter Jamie’s shrine. And when he finally managed to do so, his sword slipped out again and again, so he had to start all over again. But even these few seconds inside his friend gave him the first experience how it felt to be surrounded by this warm loving care and it pushed him to new attempts until, in an almost desperate effort, he could make it, carefully and insecure.

Slowly he got deeper…it was the kind of feeling he would never forget.

“Slowly, my love”, Jamie moaned, “Let me revel in it!”

Again, Jamie felt the short sharp pain but then he glided into a new dimension of longing and lust. It was that one step extra: it were not only their shadow contours that merged, but their bodies united into a single organism.

The thrusting started: it was resolute and urgent, but at the same time it felt infinitely sweet and compassionate. Both panted and moaned and after some time Kyle injected his hot fluids for the first time deep inside.

Jamie looked at him with a broad smile:

“I still have to take this bath, you know?”

After he had washed himself, observed by Kyle while doing so, they both felt no inclination whatsoever to dress again. They looked at each other with sultry glances.

“Shall we continue this in bed?” Kyle whispered.

Jamie didn’t answer. His eyes gave it for him with the most semen-hungry glance he could put on.

Collin returned on Tuesday. He entered the wagon grinning and said:

“The job is there…and even better: we got the job!”

“Great! Then we can finally leave!” Jamie exclaimed excitedly.

Kyle kept suspiciously silent. Collin looked at him, asking himself what was going on.

“Aren’t ye happy, Kyle?” he asked with feigned light-heartedness.

“Aye”, the boy answered dutifully, but his sad face showed something completely different.

No, Kyle was not happy at all! He felt that his longest time with the horses had passed and that they would leave on short notice, this time in the direction of Renfrewshire. There was no other way than to come along and hope for the best for a job in a stable in that town. He rose and went out.

“I have to take a look at Rover”, he spoke gloomy.

Collin watched him going out and looked at Jamie with a questioning glance.

The boy just shrugged and said:

“I haven’t got the faintest idea what is going on!”

The day after, Kyle went to Mr. Forbes to quit his job. The man reacted terribly disappointed and said:

“Darned, lad, I had hoped ye would stay here. And not only me: the stable master at the distillery has an equally high opinion of ye. To be honest: ye were even mentioned in our weekly meetings with Mr. MacKintosh. And I can assure ye: that is an exception! Is there something we can work out to keep ye here? Lodging or something like that?”

Kyle shook his head:

“No, Mr. Forbes, very kind of ye but we have to move on to the next job. And I must go with them…well, must is not the correct word, but…”

The man looked at him questioningly. Kyle was trapped, not knowing how to say it. He knew what he couldn’t say: that he couldn’t leave his great love. Then he had an inspiration, that sounded logical and explainable:

“Ye know, sir…since me parents died, Collin and Jamie have become more or less me family. So I really feel I should go with them”.

The man nodded as if he had understood.

“But can ye work out this week, lad?”

“Aye sir, I think I can organize that!”

That Friday came, Kyle’s last working day in the MacKintosh stables. He had the feeling that Mr. Forbes gave him the opportunity to do what he felt he had to do: say his farewells to all his friends. He spent a lot of time with all forty-two horses. Each was whispered in the ear in what could have been a message or a farewell, a couple of pats on the flank. Some of them, to which he felt really attached, got a kiss on the neck or on the snout. Halfway the afternoon he had made his rounds and was just about to say his goodbyes to Mr. Forbes and his colleagues. But Mr. Forbes was already coming towards him.

“Kyle, the boss wants to see ye!”

The boy looked at him, not comprehending what was said. Mr. Forbes was the boss here, wasn’t he?

The man smiled:

“I mean the big boss, Mr. MacKintosh. Ye are expected so off ye go! He’s not used to waiting”.

Kyle looked worried for a moment. To be ordered to the big boss sounded real menacing, even at this moment.

Mr. Forbes shook his head slowly:

“Don’t ye worry, lad, nothing terrible is about to happen!”

And so Kyle went to the mansion with a lot of apprehension. A maid opened and told him to wait in the hall. His parents had taught him to be polite, so he took his cap off and held it clumsily in his hands.

He was whisked into the working room after a short time. He entered it and looked around with large eyes, totally impressed and amazed. It was a large room, beautifully decorated. It had a wooden floor of precisely laid wooden blocks, heavy curtains hung on each side of the large windows. Paintings decorated the walls and the furniture was of a splendor that Kyle couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams. On top of the fireplace was a splendidly carved and decorated clock, of a gold color in its entity. Collin would have loved the thing! And behind an immensely large desk was Mr. MacKintosh.

Perplexed and genuinely impressed by the surroundings, Kyle just stood there, in front of the desk. He had never seen his boss before. Instinctively he liked the man. He was tall and distinguished. He was dressed in an expensive-looking suit, but the thing that caught Kyle’s attention was his open eyes in his kind and handsome face, which was dominated by a red moustache. The similarities in emanation made it perfectly clear to Kyle whose daughter Miss Virginia was.

The man raised and walked towards him with extended hand:

“So you are Kyle! It is nice to meet you at last, although I have been told you are going to leave us again”

Kyle just nodded, uncertain of what he could or was allowed to say.

“It’s a pity, Mr. Forbes and the distillery stable master spoke very highly of you”.

He looked at the boy with a smile and added:

“Actually, they had you credited with supernatural talents with horses!”

Kyle looked at him questioning. That was something that went beyond his comprehension.

“Well, we will have to learn to live without you, I’m afraid”, the man changed subject to spare the boy embarrassment, “That means: is there any way I can convince you to stay? Pay raise? Lodging? We can arrange it all, lad.”

“Thank ye, Sir”, Kyle stammered, who really started to feel himself blushing, “But ye know: I consider Collin and Jamie as family since me parents passed away. And if the family moves on, I think I should be with them”.

It was an excuse which had worked with Mr. Forbes, so why not use it again?

Mr. MacKintosh nodded his understanding.

“Aye,” he said with a smile, “Then I am afraid we will have to accept that. But before we say our goodbyes, I want to make one thing very clear to you. If you reconsider your decision and think about finding some way in working with horses again, you are always welcome here! The door will always be open for you!”

“Thank ye, Sir”, the timid reply came.

The man took two envelopes from the desk.

“Very well, lad…before you go, let’s finish this. This is a letter of recommendation for you which can be used for any job, but especially for a job with horses. And this…”

He stuck the second envelop forward…

“…are your wages. You can count it if you want, but I can assure you it is correct up to the last pence”

“Thank ye, Sir”

Again, there was the extended hand.

“Farewell, Kyle! I hope you will find what you are looking for. Please do not forget my offer. You can always come back!”

“Thank ye, Sir. I wish ye all the best for the future as well, Sir”.

Kyle felt that the conversation was over. There was nothing more to be said. He left the working room carefully, in an almost sneaking way.

Mr. MacKintosh sat back in his chair and stared through the window over the fresh green pastures.

“What a waist, this boy”, he thought, “So many talents and so little chances to use them”.

A vague plan began forming up in his head. Its outcome however was uncertain. The first thing required to make the plan successful was, that the boy reconsidered and decided to return to the MacKintosh stables in his own best interest. And that was an element, which was beyond the control of even the powerful Mr. MacKintosh.

After Kyle had said his goodbyes to Mr. Forbes and the other eight stable boys he walked back to camp in a depressed mood. Collin saw him coming. The only thing he could do was to ask with a worried look on his face:

“Everything okay, laddie?”

Kyle shook his head.

“I’m with Rover for a while”, he whispered, “I need to think”

Collin nodded, but kept silent. There was nothing sensible to be said. The boy just wanted to be alone for some time.

Kyle went to the horse and whispered something in the ears like he always did. Then something unusual happened: he buried his face in the horse’s manes and started to cry. The animal just stood there, as if it understood what went on in the boy’s heart and mind.

Feeling a little better after his cry he dried his tears. He gave Rover some soft pats on the flank and said:

“Thanks, Rover, ye knew what I needed”.

He took a deep breath and went back inside the wagon. There he took the envelope with his wages and tore it open. It wasn’t distrust, just habit: he recounted the money. And found out that Mr. MacKintosh had not been telling the truth after all: the amount was wrong…there was hundred pounds too much in the envelope.

Surprised he looked at Collin. The man just shrugged and said matter-of-factly:

“It appears to me that they were extremely happy and content with ye!”

The next morning, Saturday, was an absolutely lovely spring morning, the first they had this year. All trees and bushes showed young, fresh leaves in the kind of green that gave the typical atmosphere of a new birth, that was part of spring.

After they had a breakfast in the sun, they started to break up camp. Standing on one spot for a whole winter made it a lot of work, but when everything was packed and stowed, Rover was hitched in. Just before they wanted to leave Collin said:

“Give me the reigns for a while, Kyle. Go and get yer pipes!”

Kyle looked at him in utter surprise. Why should he take them in the first place?

“Hurry!” Collin insisted, “now is the perfect time for it!”

Kyle did as was told and came back in a short span of time, carrying his father’s bagpipes. He looked at Collin with eyes that seemed to say:

“And what do you want me to do now?”

“Play the song that belongs to this moment, laddie”, Collin smiled, “Play “Yellow on the broom””.

Now Kyle got what Collin wanted. He started playing. Collin clacked his tongue and Rover started pulling.

With Kyle playing the pipes and Collin singing along enthusiastically they passed through Inverness. The people in the streets looked at them and some waived. The pub owner, who had his new counter, ran out on the street at the noise and waived enthusiastic. When they passed the MacKintosh distillery the stable master and some of his boys stood at the gate with two Clydesdales, waving their farewells.

It moved Collin deeply. In all his years of wandering he had been through it all: rejection, insult, ignorance. But a kind waving? No, he had never experienced that!

And Kyle? Seeing the Clydesdales, he fought with his tears and lost, but nevertheless played on like a proud Scotsman as his father had taught him.

Slowly they left the town, moving southwest, towards Renfrewshire.