Take Me Home, Country Roads

Existence can be likened to a river, time constantly flowing from one point to another, lives born aloft in its stream like leaves as it travels constantly. In some places the river is harsh rapids, in others it is calm and still. The lives do not move forever though; some catch in eddies and swirls, gathered together with others like itself. They may wash up on the banks of the river to dry out and die. Everything finds itself a place eventually, everything finds its niche, the hole in existence that it was made for.



Some however, aren't like everything else. Some keep floating, keep traveling, keep moving on the stream that is existence. They may stop, or pause to dance in the eddies with others for a short time, but something makes them move on, something does not allow them to rest. And so they travel the river as far as it takes them, always moving, never resting, unable to find their niche...



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The riverbed was dry. Like a copper gong nailed to the sky, the sun shone down from the cloudless vault of heaven, its oppressive heat laying thick over the landscape like a blanket, the only reprieve the occasional cool breeze that rippled the wheat. The wheat itself stretched out in all directions on the flat plains, so thick it was like a golden sea. If one stood up high on something, they might just see the occasional break in the wheat where a road or fence lay, or perhaps a barn or farmhouse standing tall like a rocky outcrop breaking the surface of the ocean of wheat. Far away to the north one could see the green-grey smudge that were the distant mountains, but apart from that, in all directions the fields stretched away endlessly, to each of the horizons. It was easy, standing out here, to imagine you were the only beast in the world, that no-one else even existed.



This was a place where the river slowed down, caught in an eddying whirlpool that folded in slowly on itself, where time seemed to stretch out towards eternity like the wheat towards the horizons. It was not a place where things ever happened, and it was not a place where things ever changed. Well, up until now, that is...



Jacob lay back on the corroded hood of the old Ute, paws shielding his eyes as he reclined in the hot sun. The occasional flicker of an eartip to dislodge an errant fly was the only movement from the Fox, his dusty red fur dull and rusty in the sunlight. The only noise was that of cicadas, buzzing in the heat, and that of the wind soughing through the wheat, making it rustle quietly. He sighed suddenly and sat up on the hot metal of the hood, leaning back on his paws as he looked down at the dry, dusty riverbed below.



Eyes hooded with bored indifference, the Fox yawned slowly as he stretched his back. He supposed he should probably be getting back to the farm; he had been gone a few hours now, and they were probably wondering where he was. He grimaced as he pulled himself to the front of the hood, perched on the edge and looking down on the riverbed. It was a hot summer, and the river had dried up to a stream, then a muddy trickle, and finally had just left the stony riverbed baking in the hot sun, a memory of where the water had once been. This happened every few seasons when the winter was a bit too dry and the summer was too hot, but this summer was even hotter than usual, baking the stones dry and making exposed metal red-hot.



Jacob slid resignedly off the old peeling paint of the hood and onto the rough shingles of the riverbank, absentmindedly buttoning the front of his frayed old work shirt as he climbed back into the Ute's cab. He should have been working, he thought with a slight twinge of guilt as he gunned the engine into life, but they probably wouldn't have missed him, right?



He couldn't even convince himself as he drove away from the dry river, dreading his return to the farm. His father certainly wasn't one to tolerate slacking and would probably give him a right ear-bending when he got home, he thought, an image of the grizzled old Fox flashing in his mind's eye as he pulled back onto the lonely dirt road away from the river. His father was a man of few words; hell, around here everyone was. There were only so many things you could say about wheat, about farming, about weather, before the conversation ran dry. You did your job and did it well, and there wasn't much more to say about it than that.



He leaned back in his seat and held the steering wheel between his knees, yawning again as he drove down the rutted dirt road. He needn't worry about meeting another car on this road - no-one came down here apart from those that had business with them. The inter-state was only a few miles over, but all the cars just went straight past them, leaving the farmers to their own devices. This dirt road knew few other tires than Jacob's, and in all truths, he knew few other roads than this; in his nineteen years alive, he had only been a few miles away from his farm. He didn't really see the point in going further - it was just wheat, in all directions, and farms, and tractors, all things he had at home. He was dimly aware there were cities out there, home to millions of beasts, but the thought of leaving home and going there had never really been one that had crossed his mind. He had never really given a thought to the future; he always supposed he'd just do what everyone else ended up doing, growing up on the farm, working on the farm, and one day taking over the farm.



After a few minutes he came alongside the number 8 wire fence that marked the boundary of his family's farm and the dirt road, the fence so familiar he could remember each detail of it without looking. Fence posts old and pitted by the elements, binders in place where it had split in the storm a few seasons back, weather-worn 'Help Wanted' sign, it's letters almost illegible, leaning against the old concrete gate by the entrance. They always needed an extra paw or two around the farm, and the sign-by-the-gate method had always worked in the past. Sooner or later someone would be walking by, who for some reason or another was keeping away from main roads and conventional work. They were put up with room and board, they did their work, and then went on their way, no questions asked. Jacob's father may have been a harsh task-master, but he was fair in his dealings.



Jacob finally grabbed the wheel with his paws to pull into the long road up to the farmstead between the wheat fields, doing a quick double take when he noticed something was different, or rather, that something was missing. Someone had removed the 'Help Wanted' sign from the front gate...he cocked an eyebrow as he looked back as he drove past. Huh...someone must have finally come by. It had been so long since they had had extra help around the farm he'd almost forgotten a time when that sign hadn't been out. He must have come while Jacob was at the river, he thought, grimacing. That'd probably make his father even angrier, that he had been off slacking when someone had finally come about the 'Help Wanted' sign.



Halfway up the long road to the farm Jacob spotted a lone figure walking in the dust at the side of the road, an old duffel bag over its shoulder and the 'Help Wanted' sign in his other paw. It was still a good walk to the farmstead, so he slowed to a halt beside the figure to offer him a ride.



"You here about the job?" He asked out the window, the figure stopping in his tracks to turn and look through the open window at Jacob. He was a tall, broad-shouldered Wolf with dark grey fur, dusty from the long walk on the dirt road.



"Saw the sign." He said simply, gesturing to the sign in his paw. "Thought I'd see if the offer still stands."



"It does." Jacob said, sizing up the Wolf discreetly. "Hop in, I'll give you a ride." The Wolf nodded and walked around to the other side of the cab, tossing his small and over-stuffed duffel bag in the back tray of the Ute. Like most of the beasts Jacob had known, the Wolf seemed to be one of few words, poker-faced and weather worn. Jacob watched him as he climbed into the cab, noting the scars on his arms and knuckles, and the rough paws of a working beast.



"I'm Kane." The Wolf said as Jacob started the engine again, proffering a paw.



"Jacob." The Fox replied, shaking paws with the big Wolf...his palms were coarse like scuffed leather, but his voice was odd...it wasn't a farmers voice, not a voice rough and gravelly like his exterior; it was deep and soft like dark chocolate, a voice that for some reason sent shivers down Jacob's spine. His handshake was strong and firm, but not over-bearing like some beasts were given to impart when they were trying to establish dominance through strength. It wasn't a handshake that threatened, it was simply one that stated, calmly but firmly, the strength that lay behind it.



"This your farm?" Kane asked, breaking Jacob's train of thought.



"Um..." The Fox replied, clearing his throat. "Na, my old man's." He said, and Kane nodded. Jacob could not help but feel small next to the Wolf, who was a good head taller than him even while sitting down, but he noted the slight bulging of muscle against fabric in Kane's shirt with a note of approval; he would be welcome on the farm if those muscles were for more than just show, and Jacob guessed they were from the work scars on the Wolf's paws and arms.



They liked big men on the farm; which of course put Jacob at a slight disadvantage, the Fox thought, rolling his eyes. He had been born rather the runt of the family, small and lean unlike the rest of the male stock of his kin. Even his older sister was broad-shouldered and thick-limbed, a fact that she seldom let him forget. The large Wolf would easily fit in with the large beasts of the farm, that was for sure. There were six of them permanently living on-site, with room for a few extra paws should they be needed at harvest or sowing time.



There was his sister Mary and her husband, a towering dark-maned Lion named Drew, both living in the farmstead to aid Jacob's father with the overseeing and running of the farm. Mary was a hard worker and fairly serious about the farm and its running, and despite her gentle teasing of her younger brother she held a rather soft spot for Jacob. Drew however was more like Jacob's father, a grim and rather stern beast who seemed to have inherited the old Fox's talent for always being on Jacob's tail about something or other. However, despite that, he did care a lot about the farm, and about Mary as well, and she seemed fairly happy with him, so Jacob grudgingly accepted Drew as another beast to boss him around. Then there were the two Clydesdale brothers Bryant and Jain, the main muscle around the place. The two of them were quiet and fairly simple, but in their two years working for his father they had taken quite a shining to Jacob. Finally, in the farm's workforce, there was Jacob and his father, although the amount of work Jacob actually did was questionable.



Jacob remembered a time when his father hadn't been so grim, so bitter and grizzly, when the old man had smiled more than once a day, when he had enjoyed life, but that was years ago, when Jacob had just been a cub. That had been before his mother had been taken from them, but since then he had lost all his appetite for life, treating every day as a burden. How he would react to Kane was anybody's guess, Jacob thought, giving the silent Wolf a sidelong glance as the Ute bounced its way down the dirt track.



He winced as they came into view of the farmstead, an old two-story wooden building in the middle of a clearing amidst the fields of wheat. He could see his father leaning against the railing on the front porch, a thunderous expression on his face at the sight of Jacob's Ute. It must have been later than Jacob had thought, because it looked like everyone had already come in from the fields for dinner and noticed his absence



"Damn it boy, where've you been slacking off to today?" He growled, crossing over to face his son as Jacob climbed sheepishly out of the cab, looking at his footpaws. The old Fox's fur was rough and grizzly, much like the beast himself. He was covered in dirt and dust from a long day in the fields, but his eyes were still sharp and piercing in his old face.



"Nowhere, Pa..." he mumbled, but his father cut across him, eyes narrowed as he stood a few feet away.



"I told you I wanted the number nine fence repaired today, didn't I? That wire ain't gonna lay itself out boy. You're lucky I don't clip you upside the godsdamn head..." He muttered darkly, looking up from his son to see Kane climbing out of the Ute behind him.

"And who's this?"



"I'm here about the job." Kane said, gesturing to the old sign still clutched in his paw. Jacob's father looked the Wolf over, his son forgotten for a moment, finally giving a gruff snort through his nostrils.



"Alright. Food and board is free, I pay you when you see fit it's time for you to leave. I only pay workers, so don't think you can slack around all day like this and get away with it." He said, pointing at Jacob, who grinned awkwardly and waved to Kane.



"Agreed" Kane said, shaking the old Fox's paw, the two of them eyeing each other up silently. "My name's Kane."



"I'm Coll." Jacob's father replied, breaking the handshake, something like a note of approval in his voice. "Son, take Kane to the loft, then come clean up for dinner. And tomorrow I want that fence done." He growled as an afterthought, turning and leaving the two of them alone.



"Sorry about that..." Jacob said, slightly embarrassed he had been yelled at in front of the new help.



"That's alright. I used to have one just like that." Kane said, smiling for the first time. It was a smile that was warm and tired, a weary grin that captivated Jacob inexplicably, his eyes unable to look away from the Wolf's muzzle.



"Oh yeah?" He said vaguely, still lost in his own world, aware of a rushing sound in his ears.



"Yeah." He replied simply, head on one side as he looked at the look of dumb shock on the Fox's face. "He said something about a loft?" Kane asked after a few seconds, Jacob still staring at him.



"Yeah. Sorry...follow me" Jacob said, his cheeks hot in embarrassment from being caught staring. Why did he find the Wolf so interesting, he wondered as he showed Kane to his quarters. A few minutes from the farmhouse was the old barn, where all the tools and seeds were kept out of the weather. Years ago, Coll had converted the old loft into a couple of separate rooms for his wife's study, but after she was gone the rooms had fallen into disuse, occasionally being used for lodgings when they had a few extra paws around the farm.



Jacob led Kane up the ladder into the loft, standing in the doorway as the Wolf laid his minimal possessions on the ancient mattress.



"You don't have much stuff." He said, watching the Wolf begin to unpack.



"Nope. Don't need it." He replied simply, as if this was the last word on the subject.



"Where you come from?"



"All over the place boy." Kane replied, another small smile curling around his muzzle as he dug into his pack. "These scars are a map of where I've been and what I've done with my life."



"Yeah? You'll have to tell me about it sometime." Jacob said, genuinely interested in hearing about something other than crops for once.



"Ain't much of a story-teller boy." Kane said, straightening up to face Jacob. "Am I all alone up here?" He asked, the same easy manner present in his behavior as Jacob had seen since he was born.



"Yeah, the rest of us are all over at the farmhouse. There's a room next door I use sometimes, used to be my Ma's study..." Jacob begun, but Kane just nodded.



"Point taken. Don't worry, I don't piss on another man's tree. Room's off limits." The Wolf grunted, not unkindly, and Jacob laughed. He told him that dinner was almost ready and that they'd be waiting for him in the farmhouse, then left the Wolf alone. However, as he walked back to the farmhouse, he found he could not keep his mind off of him...his quiet strength, his manner, his history...the dark-furred wolf fascinated him. He was something interesting in this dreary place, anyway, he thought as he climbed the old steps to the weatherboard farmhouse.



Just inside the door he met Bryant, walking by, who chuckled slowly when he saw Jacob, his deep bass voice booming loudly in the dim interior of the house.



"Look's like Coll wants to see you Jacob." He said, his long mane sloping down over his eyes as he looked down at the Fox. "Something about you skiving off down at the river, again."



"You're a bit late." Jacob muttered as he started up the stairs. "He already found me. Gave me a right earful, too." He said, and the big beast chortled behind him. He went into the bathroom at the top of the stairs to toss some water through his fur, the ancient lead pipes creaking and groaning as the water coughed and spluttered through them. He cupped his paws together to form a basin and tossed water over his face, looking up into the old mirror at his dripping fur...dark, thick fur, barely concealing muscular arms and a strong, broad chest...



He shook himself, blinking once or twice in surprise. Again he was thinking about the newcomer, again he found his thoughts wandering unbidden to the Wolf. He dried his fur quickly with a rough towel, putting it out of his mind as he went downstairs for dinner. He caught a whiff of dinner and smiled eagerly; his sister had been in the kitchen again, preparing a meal for the hungry workers. As soon as he entered the cramped old kitchen, his sister Mary pushed two big dishes of vegetables into his paws, ignoring his protests.



"There ya go lazy." The Vixen said, grinning broadly. "Do some work for once in your life and take these to the table."



"Been talking to dad?" Jacob asked sourly.



"I don't need him to tell me you're a layabout, baby." She said, taking advantage of both her brother's arms being full to tweak his nose sharply. "I've known it since you were born." She said, turning him around and pushing him out of the kitchen. He laid the dishes on the table just as the others were sitting down, Coll already having taken his place at the head of the table, Drew to his right.



There was a polite knock at the front door, and Jacob went out to let Kane inside. He led the Wolf into the dining room, where all the others were now sitting around the table. Coll stood up and introduced the Wolf stiffly, his usual gruff manner in no way affected by the presence of company.



"Everyone, this is Kane." The old Fox said shortly. "He came about the job, so he's going to be lending us a hand around the place for a while." There was a round of introductions and handshakes around the table, although Jacob couldn't help but notice that Drew's greeting was given rather icily, even for him.



The Wolf seated himself at the big old oak table with the rest of them, looking expectantly at the dishes stacked with food in front of him, but no-one else made a move for the food, instead all looking to Coll. Drew cleared his throat, but the old Fox held up his paw to silence the Lion, looking instead to Kane.



"No, Drew, why don't we let Kane lead us in grace." He said, staring fixedly at the Wolf. His words had not contained threat, or malice, or spite, but merely just simply stated, with as little emotion as possible, that he wanted to hear the Wolf give grace.



"Unfortunately, sir, I'm not much of an expert on prayers and such, so I'm afraid I'll have to decline." Kane replied, with equal poker-face and deadpan voice. Coll returned the gaze for a few seconds, before nodding to Drew. The Lion, however, did have emotion in his tone, a sort of gloat at Kane's shortcomings. He cleared his throat again, all eyes looking, in some form of reverence at least, to the floor in prayer.



"Bless us oh Lord, for these the gifts we are about to receive, in the name of Christ the Lord, Amen." There was a gruff chorus of "Amen's" from around the table, and everyone began to serve themselves from the large dishes. Hot, baked potatoes, steaming whole corn on the cob, bread, still fresh from the oven, filling the air with that hunger-inducing aroma the way only fresh bread can, all stacked high on the table.



As he waited for Jain to finish with the potatoes, Jacob sneaked a look across at the Wolf opposite him. Some might think the way he was being treated was an effort to get rid of him, but it was quite the opposite; the young Fox had seen it many times in his life. Coll and the others prized rough, tough and gruff men to work in their fields, so whenever they had new workers on the farm they would treat them like this, to test if they had the right mettle to work alongside them. Kane had already made a good impression, Jacob could tell. He saw the vague flicker of a smile around his father's muzzle when he had turned down saying grace, and he had seen the look of approval in his eyes when he had shaken the Wolf's paw earlier. Now he just had to prove himself in the fields tomorrow, Jacob thought...



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By the time they had finished eating the sun was begin to settle low in the dusty west, the sky painted a dull red. Kate was in the kitchen with Jain and Bryant cleaning up after dinner, and Coll was out on the porch in his chair, quietly smoking his pipe like he did every night after dinner. Kane had excused himself from the house earlier, casting a long evening shadow as he walked alone back to the barn.



Jacob was up in his room, sitting on the window sill and looking out over the fields, his legs swinging free above the tin roof. The metal still held the warmth of the day, the heat radiating up and into his footpaws as he idly watched the shift and flow of the ocean of wheat that stretched out to the horizon. There wasn't much to do around here that wasn't work, so when the day ended there wasn't much choice but to watch the sun melt into the land and the night come on.



Down below he could hear the groan of his father shifting in his chair on the porch, and he could see him in his mind's eye, the bone mouthpiece of his pipe clutched between his teeth, looking out over the fields just as his son as. He remembered a time when the grizzled old Fox hadn't spent his nights silently puffing away on his pipe until the moon had climbed into the sky, when he would have sat chatting with his staff, with his family, but that was long ago now, back when Jacob's mother had been alive.



Now they all knew that he didn't want to be disturbed in his nightly vigil, that his time in the evening was his alone. He had never been a beast of many words, but after Jacob's mother had gone, he had seemed to harden, to grow colder, as though he wasn't alive anymore, as if every day was a chore he had to endure.



Jacob heard the creak of the mesh door open and someone step out onto the porch, and cocked an ear to below him, curious. Someone had obviously seen fit to disturb his father's silence, but whom?



"What do you think of the newcomer?" A deep bass voice growled, and Jacob recognized Drew's voice from below. There was a few moments silence, and Jacob could almost see his father blink once or twice stoically, his eyes still looking out over the fields, not even acknowledging he had been spoken to.



"He's an interesting one." Coll finally conceded, his voice not betraying any emotion whatsoever.



"You trust him?"



"I see no reason why not to."



"If you say so."



"And you do not?" Coll asked, voice still gruff and stiff.



"He's strange. Hasn't said one word about himself, where he's been, where he's going." Drew muttered.



"And that worries you?"



"It sounds to me like a beast who is running from something."



"We've had their like before. They show their true colors before long." Coll said, a certain finality in his tone suggesting that this was all he had to say on the subject. Drew recognized the familiar note in his voice and muttered goodnight, although he sounded like he had more to say on the subject.



Jacob heard the Lion step back into the house, leaving Coll to resume his solitary vigil. So Drew didn't trust Kane, huh? That was interesting...of course, the Lion was probably just looking out for the good of the farm, he wouldn't want anything bad to happen to it or any of the workers. There were always stories about drifters and wanderers robbing farms, so everyone was usually pretty careful ...but was that all? Coll sounded to have no opinion on the matter, just as he usually didn't, but Jacob had seen the look of approval in the old Fox's eyes when he'd greeted the Wolf.



Jacob blinked once or twice, realizing he was staring across the fields and looking at the light at the top of the barn that marked Kane's room. He blushed for a second, then wondered why he had, shaking his head. Strange...



He had to be up early the next morning, to repair that fence like his father had ordered him...oh well, he supposed, he had to do it sooner or later. The moon was just beginning to climb in the sky and the stars were beginning to wink into life and he yawned, rubbing his eyes. He should probably hit the sack, he thought...Tomorrow was another day...



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Jacob rubbed the sweat from his eyes with his forearm, the thick protective gloves on his paws weighing his arms down. The fur on his bare shoulders was hot from the glare of the burning sun high above, his shirt lying across the front seat of his battered Ute. It was far too hot to wear it; hell, he thought darkly, it was too hot to be working at all, but if he didn't get this fence done Coll would have his hide.



He struggled as he hefted the thick coil of number 8 fencing wire, rolling out a length of the wire onto the ground. It had taken him nearly an hour to detach the broken section from the fence; it was a section that had broken a few times before. The fasteners were shot and rusted through, and took a fair bit of yanking before they came loose. He was the one who had fixed it last time; he'd fastened it too tight at the time and probably caused it to break himself in his haste to get the job done.



He felt around behind him to find his wire cutters, and swore loudly. His questing paws found nothing but air, and he straightened up, breathing heavily. He checked his Ute half-heartedly, but swore again. He remembered now, leaving them with the rest of his tools in the barn the other day, just before he'd driven out to the river...



He growled, angry with himself as he climbed into the Ute. Now he'd have to drive all the way back to the barn before he could get any work done...he hoped no-one was around when he got back, he could just imagine the grins on their muzzles. There was little danger of that though; Bryant and Jain were out with Coll plowing one of the empty fields to be sown with nutrient fixers, and Drew and Kate were trying to repair one of the busted lines in the irrigation system.



A few minutes later he pulled up outside the barn, leaving the engine ticking over as he climbed out. The wide doors were open, and Jacob could smell smoke from the forge out back; someone must be working out there. He could hear the regular thumping of someone pounding out a piece of metal, but ignored it as he crept by, rooting around on the wide workbench against one side of the barn for his tools, but he couldn't find them anywhere.



As much as he hated to do it, he'd have to ask whoever was out back in the forge if they'd seen his tools. He went out back, his eyes watering as they filled with smoke. There was a loud hiss and steam filled the room as something hot was dunked in the water barrel, leaving Jacob blind in the thick billowing clouds. He saw a dark figure moving about in the steam and leant on the doorframe idly, waiting for the steam to clear out the windows and chimneys to get their attention. The heat from the glowing forge was oppressive and thick, like someone had laid hot velvet over his fur.



He froze as the steam dissipated enough for him to see who it was at the forge; Kane, his fur dripping with sweat and condensation from the steam, stood shirtless by the water barrel, examining a length of metal he clutched with a pair of tongs. Jacob found he couldn't take his eyes off the broad shoulders and muscular chest of the dark-furred Wolf, his heart fluttering oddly as he watched him. A strange feeling twisted in the pit of his stomach, his mind blank and frozen, even as he watched the Wolf look up at him, head cocked to one side in silent question.



"You want something?" Kane asked finally, speaking loudly over the sound of the spitting coals.



"Huh?" Jacob asked, shaken from his reverie.



"There something you need?" He asked again, and Jacob blushed, feeling like a fool for being caught staring.





"Yeah...I don't suppose you've seen my tools lying around, have you?" Jacob asked.

"In an old leather case?"



"Yeah, I saw them under the tool bench out in the barn. You didn't see them?" Kane asked, and Jacob just mouthed, feeling even more stupid than before.



"Uh...no, I guess I missed them..." He said lamely. "Sorry for bothering you..." He mumbled, turning to leave.



"Wait up!" The Wolf called from behind him. "Your dad wanted me to fix the halter crosspiece for the plow," He said, gesturing with the fresh piece of metal he held in the tongs. "He's waiting for me over south of the farm. You can give me a ride out there while you're here."



Jacob waited as Kane wrapped up the metal in some old cloth, still too hot to touch, then the two of them walked out into the barn. Just as Kane had said, Jacob's tools were indeed under the tool bench, lying where he had dumped them the other day and forgotten about them. Jacob bit his tongue, feeling like an idiot for not spotting them before, but Kane made no comment.



The two of them climbed into Jacob's old Ute, the Fox feeling slightly strange as he glanced sidelong at the shirtless Wolf, his breath short and his heart hammering like he had just been running. Again he shook his head and tried to ignore the feeling, even though he wasn't quite sure what it was.



The sun was burning up high in the sky overhead as they pulled up on the edge of the field where Coll was waiting for them. The brothers Jain and Bryant sat hunkered in the shade of an old oak grew close to the farm's boundaries, sharing a quiet cigarette. The field was half-plowed, the fresh earth split in furrows right up to where the plow stood now crippled, where Jacob's father stood waiting.



Coll gave a whistle to the Clydesdales as he saw Kane and Jacob climb out of the Ute, the two great beasts getting to their paws and lumbering over to the plow. Kane tossed the metal to the old Fox as he got close, Coll inspecting it critically.



"It'll do." He grumbled, but Jacob thought he saw a hint of approval in his father's eyes as he looked at Kane's handiwork. He spent a few minutes fastening it into place on the plow, pulling this and tightening that until he stood back, apparently satisfied. "Alright lads." He said, nodding to the two big Horses.



Jain and Bryant crouched down and picked up the front crosspiece of the plow, a length of shaped wood that they clutched lengthways across their broad, muscular shoulders. Coll held tight onto the handles at the back of the plow to guide it and off they went, Jain and Bryant's eyes narrowed and set fixedly ahead of them as they dragged the heavy implement behind them. The earth split into a furrow before the sharp blade of the plough, Kane's replacement part holding fast as the Clydesdales dragged the plow across the field. Jacob looked up and saw the Wolf smiling to himself, his eyes sparkling.



"I tell you," He said suddenly, still watching as the plow finished its row and turned around back to face them. "No matter how many times you see it, it's always pretty amazing."



"Yeah..." Jacob said weakly, unable to pull his eyes away from the Wolf's face, suddenly feeling very hollow inside. "It's something alright..." He murmured.



"You, Wolf!" Jacob heard Coll bark, shaking him from his trance, looking around guiltily. The old Fox had drawn up alongside them, still guiding the plow. He let go as he was level with them, nodding to Kane. "Let's see if you plow as good as you forge." Kane rushed over and grabbed the plow's handles as it began to topple, Bryant and Jain not even pausing for a second as they hauled their load.



Jacob watched the Wolf as he went, his throat dry and mind blank...



"That fence better be done, boy, if you have time to stand around here staring all day." Jacob's father growled, sending him scurrying back to his Ute as Kane hauled on the plow behind him





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Jacob sat silently on the windowsill, leaning against the upright and staring out over the fields as the sun began to sink in the sky. He was in his mother's old study in the barn, one of her books held closed in his paws. He often came here to think or to be alone, finding some comfort in his mother's old belongings. She had a lot of books and papers he tried to read sometimes, but it was still comforting just to hold one of them. It was if it was a piece of her in his paws, not a thing of paper and card, as if she was still there to guide him.



He wasn't sure where Kane was now; he hadn't seen him for the rest of the day, but his thoughts had been on him. Even while repairing the fence his mind had wandered and a taut length of wire had uncoiled suddenly when he hadn't been paying attention, nearly costing him one of his eyes. He couldn't keep his thoughts off the Wolf, but he wasn't sure why...



Earlier, when he watched him plowing, he had felt that strange, gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach, that feeling like someone was squeezing his heart, but he didn't know why he felt like that. He had never felt anything like it before, and it was troubling him now. He couldn't talk to anyone about it, hell, he doubted anyone would even listen to him. All he could do was sit and wonder, clutching at his mother's old books like they might hold some answer as to why he felt like he did.



He froze as he heard a shifting in the room next door, like someone was shuffling towards the window. His mouth felt dry as he heard the window in the next room open, unsure of what to do...so Kane had been there all along? Maybe he could ask him...he seemed pretty friendly, insofar as the word could be used around this place...no, he was being stupid, he couldn't ask him a question like that!



He heard a soft sigh from the window next door, so close to his head he believed he could nearly feel the breath disturb his fur. There was a few seconds silence, a sort of pause that sounded like an indrawn breath, and then the raspy chords of a harmonica pealed forth. The tune was soft, and mournful, but at the same time exciting and hot, a tune that both set his nerves on fire and broke his heart, all at the same time. It didn't drown out the crickets, or grate against the setting sun, but seemed to mix with them, seemed to be as much a part of Jacob's home as the wheat was. It seemed natural, perfect, an organic sound that had grown out of the ground itself.



Jacob sat there in awe of the music, his jaw open, soaking in every second of the elegant, soulful tune. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the music ended. The silence rolled back in as if it had never been interrupted, the crickets still rasping in the dusk air.



"That was beautiful." Jacob said aloud before he could stop himself. There was nothing to indicate surprise, no sound of alarm, just a pause a few seconds longer than normal.



"Thanks." Kane said unseen, as if he had known Jacob had been there the whole time and had played the tune just for him. Maybe he had...



"What was that?"



"A tune called 'the half-tail blues'. I have learnt it a couple of years ago...hell, when I was about your age, from an old blind guy at another farm I ended up in." Kane murmured, sounding nostalgic. "Seems like ages ago now..."



"You were drifting back when you were my age?" Jacob asked, surprised. He thought most like Kane only wandered for a year or so before they found somewhere to settle down...



"Oh yeah, I've been wandering for most of my life."



"Why?"



"Never found a reason to stop yet."



"I can't imagine life like that." Jacob said, still staring out over the fields. The two of them hadn't even seen each other, yet were locked in conversation.



"Doesn't surprise me." Kane said quietly.



"What does that mean?" The Fox asked, curious.



"What do you see when you look out over those fields, boy?"



"Wheat." Jacob replied simply.



"Nothing else?"



"There is nothing else. Wheat, all the way to the horizon, in every direction." Jacob grunted, not sure where Kane was going with this.



"I don't see it like that, Fox." Kane murmured.



"Oh no?"



"No, I see more than that. My horizons ain't just wheat. They change all the time, always different, always new. I never had a life like this, constantly the same, every day my horizons identical. So I never stopped wandering. And after you don't need me no more, I'll keep wandering." Kane said. Jacob looked down at the book in his paws thoughtfully, lips pursed.



"So you're gonna leave?" he asked finally.



"Sooner or later."



"Do me a favor?"



"What's that?"



"Take me with you." He whispered, and Kane chuckled.



"Come on boy, I think I heard your sister calling for tea." He said, and Jacob heard him walk away from the window, leaving him feeling cold and hollow, still clutching his mother's book.



"I wasn't joking." He said to himself quietly, sighing as he got to his footpaws and followed Kane out to dinner.



**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****



A few weeks later, Jacob was again sitting in his mother's study, his back against the wall as he read one of his mother's books idly. It was Sunday, so there was no work to be done, as his father always observed the Sabbath, even though he was the only farmer in the county that did so. Coll, Drew and Kate had gone off to town for the day, and Bryant and Jain were out back of the farmhouse, stretched out in the sun, dozing lazily.



Jacob had taken advantage of his free day to read one of his mother's old books; he had resolved to do so after his talk with Kane. He had realized suddenly, and with a certain amount of cold shock, that there were worlds beyond what he knew, that there was something beyond the horizon that wasn't just wheat. It was like the Wolf had opened a whole new world up to him, like he had opened up his head and blown on a raw nerve on his brain.



He couldn't focus on his work all week as he dreamed about the world out there, beyond the fields, a world where people didn't know anything about crops or plants, where food just arrived on the table in front of them all ready to be eaten. It was an exciting, dangerous thought, that set his body on fire like the tune from Kane's harmonica. It made him realize just how dull his life had been so far, how dull it still was, till the point he could barely stand it.



His problem with Kane hadn't dissipated in the wake of this, however; instead he found himself more and more inexplicably drawn to the Wolf, his whole form set aquiver whenever he was around him. It was just something he couldn't explain...



Kane wasn't around right now, though, so he was choosing to lose himself in one of his mother's old books instead. He wasn't a great reader, but these books had opened a new love of the written word in him in the last week. He had found old, battered copies of Shakespeare in his mother's bookcase, with words he could barely understand but which set his soul alight nonetheless. The words of Milton, Hemingway, and countless others waited to be read, each new volume like a rebirth for him. There was something beyond what he knew, a world where something existed that wasn't just wheat...



He was currently reading a slim, dusty old book he had found at the bottom of the bookcase, by Christopher Marlowe. It was called 'the Tragedy of Doctor Faust', and was a story about a guy who sold his soul to the devil to gain happiness on earth. Jacob knew how he felt; he would have gladly sold his soul to be out of here, away from this farm. Kane had told him what he had always known but never dared believe, that there was a world out there, and he could go if he really wanted to.



The midday sun was filtering through the open window, warming his fur as he read, engrossed by every word. Jacob was just reading about Mephistopheles appearing to the doctor when a voice broke his train of thought, and he looked up to see Kane standing in the doorway, looking down at him with an interested look on his muzzle.



"What you reading?" He asked simply.



"Um...just an old book...one of my Ma's..." Jacob said, once again feeling tongue-tied and stupid around the Wolf as he gestured vaguely with the slim volume.



"Faust, huh?" Kane said, looking appraisingly at the books faded cover. "Nice. I'm more of a Keats man, myself."



"You know about this sort of thing?" Jacob asked, genuinely surprised. None of the others had ever shown even the slightest interest in literature that he'd ever seen, and to meet someone that did, who was so much like them, was a shock



"Of course. I'm not just a pretty face, you know." Kane replied, winking to the Fox, who just blushed and mouthed, unsure of how to reply. "But reading isn't for days as nice as this. Come on, come outside and do something!"



"You're out in the fields all week, and you want to spend your day off out there too?" Jacob asked weakly. "Besides, there's nothing to do"



"Oh come on, there must be something you do for fun." Kane snorted, and Jacob hesitated.



"Well...there's always...since Coll isn't around...we could take the Ute out bashing." Jacob said, shrugging, and Kane grinned.



"Sounds good. Nothing like a bit of paddock bashing to get the blood pumping on a day as slow as this! Come on, while your old man isn't around." Kane said, pulling Jacob to his feet.



Paddock bashing meant taking an old farm vehicle out to an empty field and thrashing the hell out of it, driving as recklessly as possible, tearing up turf and making the engine roar until it smoked. It was how Jacob had learnt to drive; ever since he was long enough to reach the steering wheel and the pedals at the same time, he had been ripping around the place without care for life or limb. His father hated it, said it was unsafe, and a waste of petrol, so Jacob could never do it while Coll was around, but now he was gone for the day it was a good chance to burn some rubber.



They took the Ute up to the northern boundary of the farm, where there was an empty field waiting to be plowed closer to next planting. As soon as they got onto the turf Jacob revved the engine as hard as he dared, the Ute tearing across field, bouncing and shaking across the uneven surface. Clods of earth flew as Jacob pulled the Ute around in a tight turn, the Ute shuddering as it came to a halt, facing the way it had come.



"Shee-ut!" Kane laughed, slapping the dashboard. "I didn't think this old girl had it in her, but damn can this thing fly!" Jacob just grinned and pressed down hard on the accelerator, the wheels spinning and engine groaning before they shot into another charge. It may not have looked like much, but he knew how to get the very best from the old truck. Tight turns, donuts, the Ute rocking and straining on its springs, the two of them bouncing around the cab and laughing like mad beasts, they pelted across the field, tearing long strips of earth up under their tires as they went.



"Damn, where the hell did you learn to drive like this?" The Wolf roared over the engine, muzzle split in a wide grin as they tore towards the boundary.



"Right here." Jacob yelled back, slapping the Ute's steering wheel. "Since I was a pup I've been destroying these fields in this baby!"



"It's a beauty." Kane replied.



"It is..." Jacob replied quietly, his voice barely audible over the roar of the engine. Again he found his eyes locked on the Wolf, taking in his piercingly blue eyes, the hard curve of his jaw, the grin on his muzzle...and this time, he could have sworn Kane was looking back at him...The Wolf broke the gaze suddenly though, looking out the front of the Ute and swearing.



"Shit, fence!" He barked in fear, and Jacob tore his eyes from the Wolf to see the fence on the northern boundary approaching fast. He hauled on the wheel to bring her around, the Ute rocking on its wheels dangerously, the springs screaming their protest, the engine revving wildly. He tried to ease off the gas as he over-corrected, but the Ute's momentum tore it onwards, the over-correction sending it tilting too far to one side, too far, the weight bringing it up onto only two wheels...



"Cr-" Was all Jacob managed as he saw the Ute was going to tip, the sudden smash deafening him and knocking the air from his lungs. The ground reared up through the open widow in his side door, then he was smashed against the ground, Kane slammed on top of him. The Ute ground forward several feet on its own momentum, tearing up a wide swathe of earth before it finally came to a halt, its wheels still spinning.



"-ap" Jacob grunted, his muzzle pressed hard into the fresh earth. Kane's weight pressed him hard into the ground, his snout full of earth and his ears still ringing from the crash.



"Ooh..." Kane moaned. "You alright?"



"Ask me when you're not lying on top of me." Jacob grunted, and Kane snorted with laughter. He shifted around until he could pull himself out the open window of his own side-door, proffering a paw to pull Jacob out after him. Stiff and aching, but without any other injury insofar as he could tell, Jacob winced as he jumped down onto the ground beside Kane, looking at the damage they'd done.



A patch of fresh soil like a knife-wound in the turf led up to the Ute, which was up on its side, the two of them facing its undercarriage, which, aside from being in the wrong position, appeared fine. The two of them exchanged a glance as they stood staring at the wreckage, and burst into sudden peals of uncontrollable laughter. Kane threw a paw around Jacob's shoulder as the two of them shook with snorting, bursting laughter, mocking their own stupidity. They sank down together against the Ute's undercarriage, in the shade of the vehicle, still laughing.



"Oh wow. That'll hurt in the morning..." Kane muttered when the laughter subsided. "Nice driving, by the way." He muttered, and Jacob laughed again



"Hey, you were the one asking where I learnt to drive like that!" The Fox said in mock indignation, and Kane snorted.



"Yeah, like this. Sideways." He said, gesturing vaguely at the massive swathe of earth they'd cut up.



"Oh shut up." Jacob laughed.



"What were you doing not watching where you were going?" Kane asked, still grinning.



"Watching you..."Jacob replied before he could stop himself. Kane looked down at him, looking slightly puzzled. He couldn't help but notice the cute way the Wolf's forehead wrinkled when he was confused, even now, when his head seemed to be stuffed with cotton wool and his heart felt like a trip hammer. And slowly, for some reason he couldn't quite fathom, he leaned in and kissed the Wolf, softly, just once, on his lips.



Jacob didn't know how long the kiss went on, how long he was locked at the lips with Kane, but it seemed to stretch on forever. Finally, they broke apart. Jacob realized what he had done and blushed furiously, mouth open in horror, shame painted across his face. Kane's expression hadn't changed, it still bore the same, slightly confused look, but now there was something else in his eyes.



"Whoops..." Jacob murmured, burning up with humiliation.



**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****



Jacob winced as he shifted his weight, his stiff joints aching from the earlier crash. After he had...after he had...by the gods, he'd kissed him, hadn't he? Why had he done that? Jacob ran a paw through his headfur, blank fear on his face. That question had plagued him all day...anyway, after they had...done that, Jacob had apologized profusely, feeling like a fool. He and Kane had tipped the Ute back up the right way in silence, the Fox avoiding Kane's gaze the whole time.



They had driven back to the farm in awkward silence, the pain of the crash forgotten entirely. Once they were back Jacob mumbled some lame excuse and made a quick getaway, leaving the Wolf standing there with his mouth open as if he was about to say something.



He needed to be alone, but he couldn't go his mother's study anymore, not while Kane was there. He jumped the fence to one of the fields and just started running, the stalks whipping around his bare shins as he ran blindly onwards, his ragged breath in chorus with the sibilant hiss of the shifting wheat.



He didn't know what he was running from, or where he was running to, but he kept running, climbing fences when he came to them, going past the boundary of his family's farm, onto some other beast's land, muscles burning and fur drenched in sweat as he kept running, mind blank apart from one feeling: the burning shame and horror that came from when he had locked lips with the Wolf that seemingly stalked his every thought since he had arrived.



The wheat fields grew more and more ragged, giving way to scraggly bushes and trees as he passed over another boundary, until his paws were sliding on the loose shingle of the riverbed and he finally stopped, chest heaving as he looked down onto the dry, cracked mud where the water had once flowed freely.



He realized with a sudden leaden weight just how exhausted he was, flopping down on his back as he struggled for air. His muscles burnt and his lungs were ragged, but the thing that caused him the most pain was the tight grip that seemed to be around his heart, squeezing it ever tighter the moment he'd let his thoughts wander back to Kane.



What he done? That... that sort of thing wasn't natural, he knew that much at least. Men were not supposed to kiss other men, they were not supposed to have...those sorts of feelings about them. It just wasn't right...



He sat there, staring blankly at the gorse that huddled around the opposite bank, mind frozen with numb terror, for what seemed like hours. He didn't know how long he did sit there, but he slowly became aware that the sun had began to sink into the sky behind him and his shadow was beginning to lengthen in front of him. He heard the familiar splutter of his Ute's engine coming down the road long before he could see it, its grumble the only sound to be heard in the still dusk air.



He didn't move, didn't look back, just staring blankly ahead as he heard the tires shifting over the loose shingle, heard the engine cut out and someone exit the cab, walking slowly over behind him.



"You missed dinner." Kane said matter-of-factly, as though he had not given second thought to that which had been plaguing Jacob with guilt and shame. Jacob gave no reply, still staring mutely ahead. "Your sister said I might find you down here. You left the keys in the cab when you ran away today, so I drove down to look for you." Kane said when Jacob made no reply. "I was a bit worried, you know."



"About before..." Jacob said suddenly, his voice creaky and stiff from having been silent so long. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me..." He said quickly, and he heard Kane sigh behind him. The big Wolf came and sat down next to him, reaching into his pocket and pulling forth a packet of cigarettes.



"You want one?" He asked after he had perched one between his lips, offering the packet to Jacob.



"Aren't they supposed to be bad for you?" Jacob asked, and Kane chuckled.



"I suppose so. But who wants to live forever, aye?" He said, winking at the Fox when he turned to look at him. Jacob blushed profusely and looked down at the shingle bed again. He heard the scrape and spark as Kane lit his cigarette, and smelt the lazy bite of the smoke as it curled around his muzzle. The silence went on for a while longer, the wind shifting through the trees on the opposite bank of the dry river, the sun exerting the last of its heat as it began to inch below the horizon.



"What's wrong with me?" Jacob asked, breaking the silence, and he heard Kane stiffen beside him.



"Nothing's wrong with you, kid." The Wolf said, rubbing his forehead with the paw that clutched his cigarette, his jaw on edge. "Believe me. It might seem weird to you, but all you've ever known is this place. Out there, in the real world," He said, waving a paw expansively, "Out there, it's not weird. You really need to get out of here." He muttered.



"You think?" Jacob asked, and Kane nodded.



"Yes." The Wolf replied, nodding. "You're not weird kid, I think you're just gay." Jacob felt his heart freeze at that word, his eyes bulging and his teeth biting down on his tongue. He looked down at his paws in his lap, his ears ringing loudly. He had thought he might be...after he'd been so fascinated with Kane, after he'd found him in his every thought, but he was afraid to let that thought enter his mind. But now Kane said it...he supposed it was true...what would he tell his father?



"I'm gay..." Jacob murmured, and he heard Kane smirk.



"Hey, don't sound so disappointed. There's plenty like us out in the big city, you know?"



"Like us?" Jacob asked, taken aback.



"Yeah, like us." Kane said, nodding happily.



"You...you're gay too?"



"Why do you think I didn't say no to that kiss?" Kane asked, making Jacob blush.



"But you're...you're..." He stuttered, lost for words. Kane flicked away his cigarette butt and stood up, slapping the Fox on the back heartily.



"Come on, we'd best get home. There's a storm brewing." He said, looking at the horizon, which was packed with dark thunderheads.



"So...so I'm not a freak?" Jacob asked, looking up at the towering Wolf.



"Not unless the rest of us are freaks too." Kane said, flashing the Fox a toothy grin that looked quite out-of-place on the Wolf's usually somber muzzle.



"And you're not angry?" Jacob ventured.



"Ask me first next time." Kane said, still smiling as he hauled the Fox to his feet. Feeling suddenly a lot lighter, his heart free of burden, Jacob found himself smiling as he climbed into the cab of the Ute, his lips curled into a grin that lasted the whole way back to the farm.



**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****



True to Kane's prediction, the storm clouds crowded in the sky before the night was old, blocking the twilight sky from view, the air thick with promise and threat as thunder rumbled deep within the clouds, rain not far away from falling. Jacob stood at his window, looking up at the clouds, biting his lower lip as he thought.



When they had arrived back at the farm Coll had greeted them with no more than a tiny grunt, as if he hadn't even missed them. He scowled slightly at his son as he passed him by, but he was heading for the porch for his nightly meditations so his mind was occupied, the scowl only a little, distracted one.



Drew had growled at Jacob as he entered the kitchen looking for food, telling him that dinner had been served hours ago and he wouldn't find anything to eat around the place now. As Jacob rolled his eyes, his sister shooed her husband out of the kitchen, telling him she'd finish up the washing herself. Drew paused to shoot Kane a dark look, just like the ones he'd been giving the Wolf since he'd arrived. Kate waited until her husband was gone before she pulled a plate of food out of the oven, winking to her brother.



"I saved you some of this. Can't let you starve to death, you thin baby." She had said, and he'd poked his tongue out at her as he'd snuck the food upstairs past Drew. He'd eaten in his room, watching Kane cross the fields to the barn as he ate. The Wolf had gone inside the Barn at least an hour ago now, but Jacob was still staring out the window at the tall wooden building, his plate now empty and cold at his side.



He was vaguely aware of the sound of Jain's deep throaty rumble as he hummed a tune as he showered in the next room, the ancient pipes groaning and squeaking under the water pressure, the big Clydesdale emptying the hot water cylinder before his brother could get to it; they were bound to have another punch-up over this, but the brothers always seemed to come back together pretty quickly.



He found he couldn't take his eyes off the barn, his mind fixed solely on the lit window that marked Kane's presence. He had told him what his problem was...although he assured him it wasn't a problem, and he had let him know there was a world outside of this, that there was more than just the fields of wheat he looked out over every day. He had to find out more...he wanted to know everything, wanted to hear every story and fact Kane knew, just so he could make himself more than a farmer's son.



He had to see him, too...even now the Wolf's strong, somber face flashed relentlessly in his mind, the knowledge that he was so close making his heart pound and his palms sweat. He heard Jain switch off the shower's pump in the bathroom next door, heard his hooves clomp out of the bathroom, and then he was alone...



He had to see him...



Biting his lip as he thought, Jacob made a snap decision...as long as no-one knew he was gone, he could go and see the Wolf without arousing any suspicion. He didn't need his father asking questions like why was he visiting another man in his room at night to put ideas into his head about him being gay...he'd just have to keep quiet. He opened the window and climbed out onto the rusted corrugated iron, taking a moment to still his heart.



It was dark now, and the others were probably not far off of bed...Coll might still be on the porch though. Jacob inched down to the edge of the roof, sneaking a look below onto the porch, but he could see the old Fox's seat was empty. He risked a further glance and saw silhouettes moving behind the thin curtains inside, and knew it was safe to go now. He could run to the barn, see Kane, and then climb up the porch to the roof and back into his room later...and none would be the wiser, right?



His legs folded beneath him as he hit the ground off to one side of the farmstead, and he rolled into the long grass that he was supposed to have mowed the other week, freezing and looking back at the silhouettes in the windows in case they'd heard him jump, but they did not appear to. He let out a breath of relief as he began to creep across to the barn his bare paws padding softly on the packed earth.



About halfway to the barn the skies decided to pack in and let loose their promised rain, the fat drops falling thick and fast, flattening Jacob's pelt to his body in a few seconds. By the time he reached the barn's open door he was completely soaked, shaking himself as he ran, dripping into the barn. Thunder rolled outside and lightning speared in the sky, Jacob shuddering suddenly as the cold rain soaked him to his skin. He panted a few seconds as he looked up to the loft, the soft light of an old light bulb lighting Kane's room.



As the thunder continued its loud pealing overhead, Jacob climbed the ladder to the loft slowly, his heart pounding loudly, gripping each rung of the ladder with a death-grip of fear and anxiety. He was shivering in both excitement and cold as he climbed onto the loft's floor, the sound of the rain overhead near-deafening. He stepped across to Kane's room, for the first time ignoring his mother's study, heart in his throat as he approached the entrance to the Wolf's room.



Kane looked up in surprise as he saw the wet, bedraggled and wide-eyed Fox at his door. He got to his feet suddenly, his shock clear in the look on his face.



"Jacob?" He asked incredulously. "What in the hells are you doing out in a piss-storm like this?"



"I...I had to see you..." Jacob said as he walked into the room, realizing how stupid that sounded. He stood before Kane, the rain and his heart pounding loudly in his ears, the look on the Wolf's face unreadable. Suddenly he felt like a fool, and he made to leave. "I'm sorry, I should g-" He began, but he was cut off by Kane locking lips with him firmly, pulling the dripping Fox close to himself. Jacob heard a rumble, but he wasn't sure if it was thunder in the sky or his brain exploding in shock at the firm, tender kiss from the one beast he'd never expected it from. They finally broke the kiss, Kane breathing out slowly as he looked into Jacob's eyes.



"You didn't ask..." Jacob murmured, still stupefied, and Kane laughed.



"I'm sorry. Why are you here?" He asked.



"I...I want to know more...I want you to teach me..." Jacob stuttered.



"About what?"



"About everything." Jacob said quickly, desperately. "About all the things I've missed out on, about all the things that have been changing while I've been farming wheat for my entire life!" He barked, breathing heavily. "About...about having feelings for someone you can't explain, and you don't know what they mean, but they won't go away..." He whispered, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm, which was beginning to gather full strength outside. Kane cocked his head as he looked at the Fox, his eyes softening slowly, his lips moving into a warm, weary smile.



"We need to get you out of those clothes." Kane murmured, making Jacob cough in surprise.



"What?"



"Before you get hypothermia. You're soaked." He muttered, still smiling. Jacob blushed and grinned, pulling off his loose shirt as Kane turned to grab an old towel from where it hung over the back of an old chair. The Wolf began to rub him down roughly, making sure he got all the water out of his fur. He felt a stirring in his gut as Kane began to rub down his back and shoulders, moving around to stand behind him as he did so.



Kane got down to Jacob's waist, the Fox's fur messy and frizzed out, his heart pounding even more now he could feel the Wolf's strong paws on his body. He couldn't believe this was happening, he thought guiltily as he looked out the window at the farmhouse, but put the thought out of his mind and basked in the glow of the moment.



"You'll probably want to do the rest..."Kane muttered as he got down to Jacob's sodden pants.



"No...keep going." Jacob breathed nervously, undoing the buckle and letting his sodden clothing fall to the floorboards, unsure what the Wolf would do as he stood there in only his underwear. The hairs along his spine stood rigid as he waited for Kane to make a move, to do something, and just as he thought the Wolf would do nothing, he felt his paws rubbing down his rump and legs, lingering as they rubbed up his inner thighs towards him crotch. Jacob drew breath and shifted nervously as he felt his sheath begin to swell, suddenly feeling very vulnerable under the big beast's paws.



Finally Kane stopped and stood in front of Jacob, towering over the nearly naked Fox, a hungry look glinting in his eyes as he looked his body slowly up and down.



"Should I take these off too?" Jacob asked, smiling as he hooked his thumbs into the elastic of his underpants. "You know, just to save me from hypothermia..."



"Jacob, you don't have to..." Kane began, but he cut him off.



"Please...I want to. I want to learn more, I want to do things no-one on this farm has done before...you're my way out, Kane." Jacob said, looking up intently into the Wolf's eyes. "Teach me life outside what I know." Kane made no move at first, his face unreadable, but then his muzzle split into a warm grin.



"Alright." He said simply, pulling Jacob close and locking lips with him tightly. It was not like the kiss before; this was an explosion of passion in the Fox's head, his senses reeling as he nestled in the folds of the big beast's arms, his feet feeling as though they weren't even touching the floor anymore.



He reveled in the scent of the big Wolf, the feel of his muscles beneath his rough shirt. His scent was that of a working man; sweat, the earthy smell of the fields, the hint of smoke beneath the thick, musky smell of his fur. He felt his paws, rough and broad, holding his back, holding him as if he weighed nothing at all.



Jacob whimpered a little in surprise as he felt the Wolf's tongue entering his mouth, replying in kind with his own, heart hammering away like crazy. The kiss became more passionate, each of them hungrily tasting each other, Jacob feeling the swelling in his underpants become more pronounced as he ground his hips unconsciously against Kane's. The Wolf broke the kiss suddenly, looking down and grinning broadly.



"You can take them off now..." he said, and Jacob blushed, slipping out of his underpants and standing naked before the Wolf. Kane gave a little murr of hunger as he looked him up and down, pacing around the Fox like he was sizing him up for a meal. Jacob shivered in anticipation as the Wolf continued to walk around him, and he could feel his face grow hot in embarrassment as his sheath continued to swell, his red cock easing out to glisten in the light.



Kane grabbed him again suddenly, kissing him passionately again, hungrily tasting the Fox as his free paw snaked down the Fox's chest, massaging his cock as it began to stand to full attention. Jacob let out a gasp of surprise, eyes closing in bliss as he felt Kane's big, rough paw working his shaft...it was the first time anybeast but himself had touched him like that, and it was amazing...what had he been missing?



Kane began to jerk him off slowly and steadily as he kissed him still, one paw holding him up and the other slowly sliding up and down his cock. If it hadn't been for that one paw holding him up, Jacob thought he probably would have collapsed right then and there from pleasure. He arched his back and whimpered a little as he felt his balls tighten, and he stopped Kane's paw with one of his own. He didn't want to come then and ruin everything, did he? It was his first, after all...



"Don't I get to do anything to you?" Jacob asked, slightly breathless. Kane looked at him oddly for a second, and Jacob looked down, seeing the obvious bulge in the Wolf's pants before him. Jacob got to his knees slowly, licking his suddenly dry lips, looking up at Kane as he crouched, naked, facing his crotch.



"Have you ever...?" Kane asked, and Jacob shook his head. Kane unzipped the front of his pants slowly, Jacob's breath catching in his throat as the Wolf produced his cock for him. It was more than he had imagined...it was thicker and longer than his own, but he supposed that was to do with species...but no matter its size, Jacob couldn't help but feel hunger for it, and found his mouth opening of it's own accord as he reached out for it...



He took the base of the shaft in his paws as it stiffened, nervously licking its length, grinning as he felt it respond under his tongue. Kane let out a low grunt as Jacob licked it up and down, covering its length in saliva, his soft tongue caressing its length gently. Jacob blushed again as he heard Kane let out a groan as he tenderly brushed the tip of his cock with his soft pink tongue.



He saw it was lubed up enough and took the shaft into his mouth, slowly at first, working its length back into his throat, savoring the musky taste of precum on his tongue as Kane let out just a little. He used both paws to hold the shaft steady as he worked it slowly into his jaws, smiling a little as he heard Kane's appreciative growl. He began to shift his head back and forth, sliding the fat cock in and out of his mouth with a slow, steady motion.



He felt Kane's paw resting on top of his head and he grinned around the fat meat in his mouth, fighting the gag reflex as he struggled to get more of the Wolf's cock in his throat. His wet nose rested in the grey fur at the base of Kane's cock for a few seconds as he caught his breath, before he started again, his tongue wrapping around Kane's cock as he worked it in and out of his maw.



He heard Kane give another little grunt and felt him buck his hips suddenly, forcing his cock deeper into Jacob's mouth with another little spurt of precum. The Fox grinned and redoubled his efforts; he had to be doing something right...



He worked himself up to a smooth, steady motion, his nostrils thick of the Wolf's scent as he felt his shaft give another little quiver in his mouth...he must be close, he thought eagerly. He blushed a little as he realized what he was doing, and how his family were so close, and yet oblivious...it gave him a guilty little rush, and he found himself bucking his own hips, fucking the air in arousal, moving into an even quicker pace on Kane as the blood rushed to his head.



It must have had an effect on Kane, too, because Jacob found the Wolf was beginning to thrust his shaft into Jacob's mouth, muzzle-fucking him as he neared the point of no return. His eyes widened a little in surprise as it began, but he tried his best to go with it, eagerly wanting to taste Kane's seed as he heard him snort through his nostrils above him.



As Kane's pace quickened, thrusting harder and faster into Jacob's muzzle, the Fox met his pace, sucking harder and quicker, lungs ragged and eyes wide as he pushed himself to pleasure the Wolf. His efforts paid off, though, for he suddenly heard Kane let out a grunt, then a gasp, pushing himself up onto the balls of his footpaws and gripping the Fox's head tight as he thrust hard back into Jacob's throat.



Jacob felt a jolt of surprise and shock as he felt the fiery seed splash into his mouth, the fat shaft going rigid in his jaws, quivering as it spewed cum into his mouth, but he swallowed it down hungrily, doing his best to get all of it. Finally he could swallow no more and tore his muzzle away from Kane's cock, head spinning as he felt the still-quivering cock in his paw spray a few thick, milky strands across his muzzle.



The both of them stayed like that for a few minutes, leaning on each other as they fought for breath, Jacob occasionally licking away the cum that still dripped down his face. After a while he felt Kane's paw curl under his chin and pull his gaze upwards, the big Wolf's eyes shining as he looked down at the Fox. Without a word he pulled him to his feet and kissed him tenderly, holding his naked fur to himself.



Jacob could not help but grin stupidly as he felt Kane's soft caress, felt his caring tongue cleaning the semen from his fur in between tender kisses. After a while Kane stopped and pulled back, smiling softly.



"So how was lesson one?" He asked, and Jacob chuckled.





"Good. Did I pass?" The Fox replied.



"With honors." Kane murmured, nodding.



"Well, I do have a great teacher..." Jacob replied, and Kane rolled his eyes, ruffling his head fur playfully.



"Yeah yeah...anyway, before anyone makes any horrible jokes about 'oral exams' or anything similar, what about you?" He asked, glancing down to where Jacob's cock still glistened at full mast. "Ready for lesson two?" He asked, and Jacob nodded, eyes still hungry and tongue lolling in excitement.



As the rain pounded loudly on the shingle roof outside and thunder rolled, Kane grabbed Jacob suddenly and lowered him onto the small bed, it's springs groaning loudly as the naked Fox sprawled there. Kane took off his shirt and jeans, Jacob watching in hungry awe the muscular, broad-shouldered physique of the Wolf, again feeling dwarfed next to him.



Jacob could not help but quiver in excitement as he watched the Wolf approach the bed, suddenly very aware of just how big the Wolf was in comparison to him...and he was not just thinking about his physique, he thought as he eyed Kane's thick meat, which was already beginning to thicken again.



"Rule one." Kane said, a smile playing about his lips as he crouched down at the end of the bed, Jacob's cock quivering beside his face. "Always lubricate." Jacob opened his mouth to ask what he meant, but was stopped as a wave of pleasure cut through him like a knife, temporarily robbing him of his senses.



When his head stopped spinning wildly, he saw Kane was licking his member tenderly, applying a thick coating of saliva all over it, the feeling of the Wolf's thick, soft tongue on his shaft like nothing he'd ever felt before. He watched, breathless and almost in tears of pleasure, as Kane let his tongue run from the very base of his cock to the tip, a spurt of precum greeting him at the top, the squirt of fluid staining his muzzle.



Kane crouched back and grinned as he watched Jacob shiver and grunt, so excited he couldn't keep still. He stood up naked and left Jacob on the bed, crossing to his duffel bag and rooting around in the bottom of it. He came back to the bed with a tube of lubricant, grinning as he saw the look on Jacob's face.



"You never know who you'll meet when you're a wanderer. I found that this usually comes in handy." He said, waving the tube in his paw. Jacob watched in silent wonder as the Wolf bent over in front of him, revealing his tight little tailhole nestled in among his fur. He applied a liberal amount of the lube to himself, effortlessly slipping one, then two of his fingers into himself with a little grunt to ensure good spread of lube. He pulled them out and turned around to face Jacob, head on one side. "You ready?"



"Wait..."Jacob murmured, realization dawning. "I'm...I'm doing you?"



"Well yeah...I thought it might just be easier for you...your first time and all. Plus, I already had an amazing orgasm thanks to you, so now it's your turn." He said, and Jacob blushed. The big Wolf lowered himself down onto the bed beside him, again making the Fox feel dwarfed in his shadow.



"Thanks..." Jacob murmured, but Brian just laughed, linking his arms around his shoulders.



"Hey, I should be thanking you. I haven't had a blowjob that good in ages, and that's pretty amazing considering it's your first." Kane replied, and Jacob blushed again, leaning in to kiss the Wolf tenderly. The kiss was only tender for so long, though; the painful throb of passion from his crotch reminded him suddenly of his need for release. As they pulled each other closer Jacob felt his own shaft rub against Kane's, the sensation sending a shiver down Jacob's spine.



Jacob was rolled onto his back suddenly, the Wolf looking down on him from above, that strong, confident smile broad on his muzzle as he reached down without looking and grasped Jacob's cock in one paw, shifting his weight as he positioned himself.



"You ready?" He asked, and Jacob nodded gingerly, unsure of what to expect. In one smooth movement, Kane shifted his weight and let the Fox's shaft slip into him, the lubed-up shaft sliding right up to the knot. Kane flexed his muscles and squeezed Jacob's cock, making him cry out in surprise, burying his muzzle in Kane's neck as wave after wave of pleasure washed through him.



"Ah...ah..." Jacob grunted, his voice muffled in Kane's thick fur.



"You okay?" Kane murmured, and Jake nodded.



"Yeah...just...just wasn't expecting it to feel so...good..." Jacob mumbled, and he felt Kane chuckle.



"Just let me take care of it." The Wolf muttered close to his ear, and he leant back sliding himself slowly up and down on Jacob's cock, taking the shaft right up to the knot, Jacob lying back and breathing heavily, his eyes clenched shut tight as waves of ecstasy rocked his form.



He reached out blindly and found Kane's thick shaft hanging just above his chest and he grasped it like a drowning man grasps at a life preserver, using both paws to explore and stroke the fat member. He finally took hold of it and began to rub his paws up and down, rewarded with a little grunt of surprise from Kane.



"Ha...you're a naughty little Fox, you know that?" He said, flexing his muscles as he worked himself up and down on the Fox's cock, gripping it tight and releasing it alternately and making him squirm in pleasure.



Jacob quickened his pace on Kane's cock, looking at it longingly as he opened his eyes, its fat tip filling his vision, beginning to buck his hips and fuck Kane back. He gave a little shiver of pleasure as he watched the expression on the Wolf's face as he worked himself up and down on his cock, felt his own tongue lolling hungrily in arousal as he smelt the odors of sweat and musk and semen fill his nostrils.



He let go of Kane's cock and grasped his hips, beginning to fuck now hard, grunting as he felt his shaft stretch the Wolf's innards. Kane laughed and went with it, beginning to pant loudly, his cock throbbing bright red, seeming to fill Jacob's vision as he drove into Kane. He felt his balls give a little quiver and knew he wasn't far from coming and began to move into faster and harder strokes, driving deep into him with each thrust, feeling his knot press against the Wolf's anus as he did so.



"You ever tied before?" Kane asked hungrily, and Jacob shook his head, confused. "Let me show you." He said, and he slid right down to the knot of muscle at the base of his cock, letting out a little cry as he stretched himself over the knot, the swelling popping into him after a few seconds push. An explosion of pleasure shook Jacob's form, and he nearly lost himself then and there; he had never felt the likes of it in his life!



He began to fuck frantically now, thrusting into Kane as if his life depended on it, the knot in the Wolf making each stroke like heaven to the poor fox. Kane looked down on him and grinned, leaning in close to him, whispering in his ear as he fucked him.



"Y...you close?" Kane breathed, grinning



"Y...yuh..." Jacob managed, feeling the arousal take hold of him, losing himself in the feeling.



"Let me finish you then." He said, and bent down to his neck sinking his teeth into his fur and biting down, softly but firmly. The bit penetrated right down to the skin beneath Jacob's fur, the Fox letting out a yelp of pleasure as he was driven over the edge.



His back arched up into the Wolf as his member grew rigid and thick, his head tossed back as he let out a wild cry, the Wolf still biting firmly onto his neck. His cock spewed deep into Kane, the orgasm making the Fox shake and shudder, his teeth clenched and his paws grabbing up bunches of sheets as he came. His teeth still in Jacob's neck, Kane growled as his own member spilled a second time, the seed spraying up between the two of them, covering their chest fur and their jaws with the hot semen.



They finally subsided and sank down together into a heaving, gasping, shuddering heap on the bed, stupid grins plastered across their faces as they held each other close, the knot tying them together. Panting and fighting for breath, they stared into each other's eyes wordlessly as they recovered, they rain beating still outside the room.



**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****



The two of them lay close together in the narrow bed, each listening to the other breathe as the rain continued to pound outside, the occasional deep roll of the thunder adding a bass line to the percussion symphony of the storm. Jacob rested his head on Kane's strong chest, his own head rising and falling with each breath the Wolf took, feeling safe with his strong arms linked around his still naked fur.



Neither of them said anything, basking in the moment, each feeling the warmth of the other's lifeblood, the brush of fur against fur, the feeling of companionship and company they found in each other, two lonely souls together at long last. Jacob knew he should be worried, knew he should regret what he had just done, but an unexplainable fire was burning now in his heart, one that Kane had lit; it burned away his doubt, his uncertainty, until all that he knew was that here and now, he was happy.



"Tell me about the cities out there, beyond the fields." Jacob said suddenly. Snuggling in closer to the Wolf until he could feel his heartbeat.



"Why do you want to know about them?" Kane murmured over the pounding of the rain.



"I said I wanted you to teach me about life beyond this place, didn't I?" Jacob asked.



"What for?" Kane asked, and Jacob could hear the playful smile on his face.



"For when I go there."



"So you're going to leave then?" Kane asked.



"Of course. When you take me with you." Jacob replied, and Kane chuckled, ruffling his headfur playfully, the Wolf's deep bass voice resonating in his chest and into the Fox's body.



"The cities...they are amazing. There are beasts, of all shapes and kinds, their numbers more than the wheat in the fields, always moving, always traveling. The city never sleeps; it's always awake. Not like here, where the endless fields slumber all the time, never quite asleep, never quite awake. The city lives; it's full and vibrant, all the time. It's not always pretty, or nice, but there is something to it that makes it more than just concrete and steel and glass. People like us are welcome out there, you know, not like here. There's barely room to move in the cities, but there's always room for the likes of us. Not like out here, in the wide open spaces. There's all this free room, but none for us. We belong there, you know." Kane said, Jacob silent in wonder as he pictured the place in his head. The Wolf spoke of towering pillars that filled up the sky, of roads filled with cars, of horizons that were filled with something more than just wheat.



"It sounds amazing." Jacob breathed eventually, barely audible over the rain that still fell outside.



"It is. But it can be lonely if you are by yourself." The Wolf muttered, sounding oddly sad.



"Don't worry, you'll have me to keep you company this time." Jacob said, grinning as he squeezed the Wolf playfully.



"Oh goody." Kane muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes.



"Aw, what's wrong, did I hurt the big bad Wolf?" Jacob asked, grinning as he pulled himself up on top of the Wolf, pinning his shoulders with his arms.



"You? Hurt me?" Kane chuckled, brushing Jacob off him with only the slightest of effort, leaning up on his elbows to look back into the Fox's face. "Careful, or you might find out why they call us big and bad." He growled playfully.



"Oh, I can't wait to find out..." Jacob said, leaning in close to the Wolf for a kiss. At that moment though, the door burst open with an almighty crash, both of them sitting bolt upright in bed. Jacob felt his blood freeze as he saw Coll standing in the doorway, a look of disgusted disbelief on his face. Drew hovered by his shoulder, a smug smile on his muzzle.



"What the hell is this?" Coll snarled, his muzzle suffused with rage.



"Father, I..." Jacob began, but the old fox cut him off.



"Don't you 'father' me." He barked, eyes not leaving Kane's face as he spoke to Jacob. "Get over here."



"I..." Jacob mouthed, the feeling of security from a moment ago gone now, replaced with the chill of cold fear down his spine.



"You heard your father. Get over here." Drew repeated from behind Coll.



"Shut up Drew, this is none of your business." Kane snarled suddenly.



"Quiet freak, before I silence you once and for all." Drew replied, and Jacob could see his large fists bunching behind Coll.



"He's not a freak!" Jacob yelped, tears welling in his eyes as he got to his footpaws, feeling small and vulnerable in only his underwear.



"Still your tongue boy!" Coll snarled, reaching out and grabbing Jacob roughly by the nape of his neck. "Get your sick body back to the house."



"But..."



"Now!" Coll snarled, finally turning his eyes, burning with disgust and hate, onto his son, tossing him heavily to the rough floorboards.



"Father..." Jacob cried, but this time it was Drew who snapped at him



"Get out of here right now!" The Lion snarled. "So we can deal to this sinner."



"Just try it." Kane replied angrily, still sitting in the bed, his muscles tense under his fur.



"No." Coll said coolly, regaining some of his composure. "I am nothing if I am not a beast of my word. You worked well for me, despite this betrayal." He said, spitting the word like a curse. "You will be paid for your work, and you will leave here tonight. You will never return and you will never talk to my son again. I never want to see you again. Agreed?" He asked.



"But Coll..." Drew hissed into his ear, teeth bared ferociously.



"No. There will be no violence, as long as he leaves, and never comes back. Agreed?"



"Agreed." Kane muttered, avoiding Jacob's gaze from the floorboards.



"Kane..." Jacob said, confused, but the Wolf ignored him.



"And you'll never talk to my son again?" Coll asked. This time Kane's eyes flickered to Jacob's face for just a moment, and Jacob saw the tormented look in them.



"Agreed." Kane said, eyes fixed straight ahead so he wouldn't have to look at the Fox on the floorboards that was searching his face for some answer, some reason for what he had just done.



"Kane, I thought..." Jacob begun, but Kane cut him off.



"It's better for you like this, kid." Kane muttered gruffly, sounding emotional.



"Go back to the house now, boy! Heed me or you'll feel the flat of my paw!" Coll snarled, and Jacob struggled to his feet, tears welling in his eyes as he looked at Kane. The wolf was not meeting his gaze, staring fixedly at the floorboards, defeated. Jacob shook his head and turned tears spilling down his cheeks as he climbed down the ladder and into the barn. Tears blurred his vision as he fled out into the storm, the rain washing his tears away as he gasped for breath.



He paused for a moment, a sob wracking his lungs as he raised his eyes to the square of light above him that was the window to Kane's room. He shook his head again, brain blank and body numb as the rain soaked him to the bone. He didn't know what to do, so he ran; he picked a low spot in the fence and ran towards it, vaulting over the fence and running through the fields, the wet wheat slapping at him face and body as he ran.



He ran and ran, not stopping for anything, bare footpaws slipping in the mud, tears stinging his eyes, lungs ragged with sobs and gasping breaths. And as he vaulted another fence, running blindly, to flee what he could not escape, the rain fell heavier.



**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****



Kane sat on the edge of his bed, looking at his paws as he thought, or, at least, tried not to think. Coll and Drew had left him after Jacob had fled into the night, saying they'd send payment and to be sure he was gone by the time the sun rose tomorrow. His bag sat packed at his side, and he had tidied up the room to the way he'd found it. It would be as if he'd never even been there.



It was better for the kid this way, he told himself. He shouldn't have gotten in so deep with him. He would have just ended up tearing him away from his family, and then he would have just become another drifter like himself. But what would have been so bad about that, another part of his brain asked. You saw how they treated him; he doesn't belong here. Besides, the road can get very lonely...



No. He told himself firmly, this was for the best. Jacob would forget about him in time, and it would be like he'd never even been to the farm, never shared that night with him. He would regain his normal life, turn back into the beast he was; he would keep growing with his family, where he belonged. It was for the best...but he had seen the way Jacob had looked at him, that gaze like he had torn out his heart with that one word.



He felt a twinge of regret himself and shifted uncomfortably. He knew how that felt...what had he become, that he would do that so callously to such a young, tender beast? But it was for the best, he told himself...wasn't it?



He looked up as a paper bag landed beside his duffel with a muffed 'thud', to see Jacob's sister Kate standing in the doorway, her face emotionless and calm.



"Coll sent me to give this to you." She said softly. "It's your payment."



"Thank you." Kane replied simply, picking up the bag and packing it away with his things.



"Aren't you going to count it?" Kate asked.



"No. Despite everything, I trust Coll is a man of his word." He replied, and Kate smiled vaguely, taking a few steps into the room.



"Drew told me what happened." She said quietly, not accusingly or with any judgment in her voice, just simply stating facts.



"Oh." Kane replied simply, unsure of what to say, his cheeks starting to burn.



"So you are just going to leave are you?" Kate asked.



"It was the agreement I had with Coll. Leave, never come back, never talk to Jacob again." He said, for some reason feeling like scum as he said the Fox's name aloud. "It's for the best." He added, although the phrase sounded a lot less convincing outside of his head.



"Oh, is it?" Kate asked. "Are you sure?"



"What makes you say that?" Kane replied.



"You must have meant something to him. He was supposedly pretty torn up about it. He's taken off again."



"What?" Kane asked, getting to his feet so quickly his head spun



"He ran off into the storm when he left the barn, we think. Nearly naked; he could be in trouble." Kate said, biting her lower lip.



"Shit...I have to find him!" Kane said suddenly, his eyes wide.



"Thought you might say that." Kate said, smiling weakly as she tossed a set of keys to the Wolf. "They're the keys to his Ute. Thought you might know where he is."



"Did Coll put you up to this?" Kane asked, grasping the keys so tight in his paw they almost drew blood.



"No, I did." She replied. "Find him, please, before he hurts himself." Kane nodded, rushing past her, pausing at the door frame.



"You're the only person on this farm who seems to care about him. Why?" He asked, turning back to the Vixen, who just shrugged.



"He's my little brother. I have to care for him, even if he's a weakling, no matter what he is, or who he does." She replied. "I have to make sure he's happy, and if that means he is with you, then so be it."



"Thank you." Kane said earnestly to her, before turning and rushing down the ladder, taking the rungs two at a time. Kate turned and looked out the window, streaked with rain, into the heart of the storm, her face twisted with worry. And outside, the rain fell ever harder.



**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****



Kane bounced around the Ute's cab as it made it's way down the rough dirt track that had rapidly turned into mud in the downpour, peering out through the windscreen into the path illuminated by the weak headlights. Water washed in sheets down the windscreen, obscuring his vision, the ancient wipers struggling to push back the water.



The river was just ahead, he thought desperately, and there would be Jacob...he hoped. He had been a fool to think like he had. Now he only hoped he would find him before he did anything stupid...his heart pounded painfully in his chest as he rounded the bend, the headlights sweeping the riverbank to find nothing...nothing...nothing...there!



A red flash of sodden fur in the light, right beside the river, a nearly naked figure staring into the dry riverbed...he had found him! Except the dry riverbed wasn't dry anymore, the downpour having turned the river into a surging torrent, a rolling, roaring flood that tore past the riverbanks at terrifying speed. Kane pulled the Ute to a halt a few meters from Jacob, the wheels slipping and shifting on the wet shingle. He jumped out of the cab desperately, yelling on top of his lungs.



"Jacob!" He cried, and the Fox turned, looking into the headlights blearily. His face was blank and his eyes red-rimmed and haunted, his fur sodden and plastered to his skinny form.



"Who's that?" He asked, barely audible over the roar of the river.



"It's me, Kane! It's alright!"



"Kane? I don't want to go back, Kane, I don't want to go back to the farm..." He said, shaking his head.



"You don't have to!" Kane said, stepping out in front of the cab, arms outstretched, trying to get the Fox to come to him, noticing how dangerously close to the edge of the river he was.



"I don't?" Jacob asked, sounding suspicious.



"You don't. You can do what you want, you don't have to stay here anymore." Kane yelled, and saw Jacob smile in the headlights.



"Thank you" He mouthed, his voice lost in the roar of the storm. He took a step forward, and Kane saw the water surge suddenly, shifting the loose shingle under the Fox's paws. The stones he stood on shifted and he lost his footing, and Kane could see the look of surprise on his face as he fell backwards into the river. He disappeared into the roiling, surging water without a trace. Kane heard himself yell out in horror, searching the water's surface desperately for any trace of Jacob, but he could find none.



Ignoring all the alarm bells and warnings in his head, he bolted for the river, leaping in without a second thought...hesitate and all is lost, he thought as he approached the surface of the river. Time seemed to slow to trickle, and he fancied he could see every ripple and dip in the surface of the river as he inched toward it, like a landscape brought in sharp relief by the light cast from the headlights behind him.



Then he hit the water's surface and time returned to normal, the strong current slamming into him, knocking the air from his lungs and sending him ears over tail in the water. Ears ringing as he spun under the water, he felt the cold make his limbs begin to freeze up already, and he struggled to get to the surface of the water.



The sound of the rapids exploded in his ears as he broke the surface, gasping for air and casting around wildly for any sign of the Fox as he fought to stay afloat. The heavy rain pelted his head while he gasped for breath, the droplets splashing in his face and blinding him as the current carried him ever on. He felt something, a branch, perhaps, strike him on the head from behind and he went under again, having just enough presence of mind to close his mouth and nostrils as he went under, spinning again, trying to right himself.



He found a direction he though was up and kicked out, but his head ground heavily instead into the riverbed, plowing up a furrow of mud as he swam accidentally into the bottom of the river. He let out a yelp of pain and swallowed muddy water, kicking this time to the surface, coughing and spluttering when he reached air again.



He wiped water away from his smarting eyes as he cast about for Jacob...maybe he had swum past him already? Maybe he was lost to the current...maybe he had gone down already, and he had lost him? All these thoughts and more crowded his brain, but he shut them out, looking desperately around for the Fox as the rushing water buffeted and pushed his body.



He heard splashing louder than normal and looked around to see a flash of red fur downstream, and saw Jacob struggling in the water, fighting to stay afloat. Kane swam towards him, battling the strong currents as he caught up with the Fox. He caught gazes with the Fox, saw the fear in his eyes, and the light of hope when he saw Kane, but he was swept into an eddy and Kane sped past him, their outstretched paws just touching as he went by.



He stared back upriver helplessly as the current carried him on, watching the look of fear on Jacob's face grow again. Kane fought the current for a few moments, but it was not good, the water pushing him easily onwards. He span to face the direction of the current and saw, just up ahead, an old willow whose roots had burst their dry bank and were hanging into the river, thick and strong.



He only had one chance, but as he passed them by he was able to grasp them, looping his arms around them and pulling himself slightly above the surface of the water, gasping for breath as the current pushed him ineffectually. He turned back and saw Jacob spinning out of the eddy, caught again in the strong current, rushing towards him.



Gathering the last ounce of his strength, Kane readied himself as the Fox approached, watching his outstretched paw fixedly, readying himself...Jacob came close, close, closer, until he was in reach! Kane lashed out with his paw desperately, seeking with every fiber in his body, willing himself to feel Jacob's paw in his own...and he missed!



Jacob spun by, carried by the current but Kane acted quickly, letting go of the root and grabbing another with his free paw, reaching out to Jacob with his other paw, and just catching him by the scruff of his neck. He held him tight, calling reserves of strength he didn't even know he had as he pulled the Fox to himself, grunting in pain as his muscles screamed and his hand cramped, but he knew he couldn't let go.



Finally he had the Fox up close to himself, and they pulled themselves into a small eddy beneath the willow roots where the current was not so harsh. Kane linked an arm around a root and held tight, his other arm around Jacob, who was clutching him like a frightened child, his face on Kane's chest. The bank was too high too climb, and they didn't have the energy to do so even if it wasn't, so they just held each other close and hoped.



"Almost missed you there." Kane grunted when he had finally caught his breath.



"I'd hoped you'd come." Jacob replied weakly, shivering.



"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Kane murmured, his heart growing lighter as he saw the Fox smile weakly. "I'm sorry."



"I know. I think you've proved to me you didn't mean it though." Jacob said, laughing, the sound turning into a cough. He held the Wolf tighter, the water still surging around the two of them, sharing their ebbing warmth as the storm rolled on.



**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****



The storm was breaking hours later when they were finally found. Jacob was pale beneath his fur and his lips were blue, and he wouldn't stop shaking. His eyes had grown dim and Kane was beginning to fear for him when he saw the spotlight sweep the bank above him. He had called out with what remained of his strength and the spotlight had shined painfully bright into his eyes.



A rope was lowered down and he tied it around Jacob with numb fingers, pulling twice when he was secure, and watched as the Fox was pulled out of the water and over the bank above. The rope was lowered again and he held tight as he felt himself being hauled from the water, his whole body numb and aching.



As he was pulled over the riverbank he saw it was Jain and Bryant hauling on the ropes, wide-brimmed oilskin hats protecting their eyes from the rain. Drew was wrapping the still shivering Jacob up with blankets and Coll was standing over Kane as he crouched on the flat earth, feeling dizzy and cold.



"You saved him." Coll said simply as he handed the Wolf a warm blanket.



"Will he be alright?" Kane mumbled, still shivering as he pulled the blanket around himself.



"He'll be fine. Thanks to you." Coll muttered. "Much longer and he'd have drowned."



"Glad to be of service." Kane muttered, blowing on his numb paws