Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 06:46:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: ErastesTouch@aol.com
Subject: A Throw Away Kid, chaptter 21

Throw Away Kid - by Erastes
Copyright 2012 by Erastes
Chapter 21 -- We're Back In the Saddle Again.

The next morning, Bryce and I joined Troy and his father for an old-
fashioned country breakfast, with ham slices, eggs and home-fried
potatoes, topped off with juice and coffee or milk. When I asked for
suggestions on where to go next, Troy was the first to respond.

"Aren't you going to the county fair?" he wanted to know.

"County fair?  When and where is that?" I asked him.

"It's going on now through Sunday and it's only about twenty miles
from here," Troy told me.  "We're going, aren't we, Pa?"

"Yeah, we're going Friday," his father answered.  "That's when the
horse competitions are."

"Really?" Bryce interrupted.  "What kind of competitions?"

"They're having the barrel racing and the calf roping then," the father
answered.

"Are you doing that?" Bryce wondered.

"Yeah, we're both going to compete," Jim replied.  "I'm in the senior
division and Troy is going to be entered in the junior division.  You
should come and watch us.  The preliminary runs are during the day
and the final competition is that night."

"Can we, Uncle Kyle?  Please?" Bryce teased.

I could tell from his antics that he really wanted to do this.

"Well, we have no set plans, and it does sound like fun, especially since
we'll know some of the participants," I agreed.

"Do you want to stay here and go with us?" Troy asked, hopefully.

"We appreciate your offer," I told him, "but I think we'll bike there and
get a motel room.  I'd hate to impose on you or take advantage of your
hospitality."

"It's no imposition and you wouldn't be taking advantage," Jim advised
me.  "Besides, unless you already have reservations, you probably won't
be able to get a room at this late date.  Some of the competitors come
here from quite a distance away, so the motels are probably all booked
up.  Why don't you just stay here and then you can join us when we go."

"What do you think, Bryce?" I asked.

"Can we?" Bryce asked, hopefully.

"Well, it sounds as if you want to, but only if I can contribute toward
the expenses," I said, looking at Troy's father.  "I won't take no for an
answer on that or we'll have to turn down your offer."

"Ok, but I don't like it," Jim reluctantly agreed.  "We're just happy to
have some company, aren't we, Troy?"

"Sure, Pa," Troy answered.  "It's been fun having them here."

After saying that, Troy smiled at Bryce and the way he did it gave me
the impression that something had gone on between the two of them.  At
this point, Bryce hadn't confided in me about their little tryst in the
barn yet, but I suspected they'd been up to something.  Even if I'd
known what they'd done, it wouldn't have bothered me anyway.  My
only hope was that Troy's big dick hadn't been rammed up Bryce's
butt, but since Bryce wasn't walking funny, I'd be willing to wager they
hadn't done that yet.

"Today is only Thursday," Troy pointed out, breaking my thoughts, "so
we'll have time to do a bunch of other things too."

"There is still work that needs to be done first," his father responded,
giving him a somewhat annoyed look.

"Tell you what," I offered, "Bryce and I will help with whatever work
you have to do, and then we'll all be able to have some fun together."

"We don't allow our guests to work!" Jim responded, emphatically.

"Then think of us as family," I suggested, "and we'd just be helping out.
It will be to our benefit too, because we certainly won't be having any
fun while the two of you are working."

Troy looked anxiously at his father, because he was unsure about how
his dad was going to respond to my offer, but after a short delay he got
his answer.

"Well, you sure are demanding and drive a hard bargain," Jim stated
with a grin.  "It's your choice, but I'd never force anyone to do my
chores for me."

"I'm glad to hear you're going to let us help," I confirmed, "and I'd
never force anyone to entertain me, so we're even."

He got my point, so seeing this was settled, we set about helping them do
whatever tasks they needed to get done.  I don't know how much time I
actually saved them, because they had to stop and explain to me how to
do everything, but Bryce seemed to know what was going on.  Anyway,
we had all their work completed by shortly after lunchtime.

"Not bad, for a couple of city boys, although Bryce seems to have
worked around horses before," Jim told us.  "Anytime you're looking
for work, you just let me know.  If I don't need help, then I have plenty
of friends who might."

I took this to be the ultimate compliment, because after I saw Troy's
reaction to his father's statement, I got the feeling that this man wasn't
usually so generous with his praise.

"Well, I appreciate your offer, but that kind of work is just too hard to
do on a regular basis," I confessed.

I laughed after saying this, to let him know it was only partially the
truth, but he understood and joined in chuckling at my little joke.

"Yeah, that's why my wife and I had Troy," he shot back,  "so he could
do most of the work."

"Oh, Pa, I thought you had me because you wanted a son to carry on
the family name," Troy challenged.

"Yep, that was part of it," his father agreed.  "You were to carry on the
name and anything else that needed lifting."

Troy gave his father a very disgusted look after hearing his reply, but
Bryce started laughing after catching on to the little joke.  Troy
immediately looked over at Bryce and tried to give him a dirty look, but
it didn't work exactly as he'd planned.  The only thing that happened
was that Troy ended up laughing along with Bryce, and the more they
looked at each other, the more the two of them giggled.  It was now
becoming more than a typical teen giggling spree or merely amusement
over what had been said, because their laughter was contagious.  Soon,
Troy's father and I were laughing too, both with and at the boys, so
before long we were all in tears and our sides were aching, as a result of
the nonstop laughter.  After several minutes of this uncontrollable
hilarity, we finally began to settle down, only to go through several more
giggling flare-ups before it finally died out.

Once we were past this little episode, Troy and Bryce suggested that we
should ride out to the pond and go swimming again.  Troy's father told
us we could go if we wanted, but he had other things to do to get ready
for the competitions.  After hearing this, I suggested that I would stay
behind and help him, but he told me there was nothing that I could do,
so he suggested I should just go along with the boys and let the water
drain the weariness from my overworked muscles.  I questioned him
again, to see if there wasn't something I could do to help, but he still
insisted that he had to do it all himself.  Since my offer had been
rejected, I decided to go with the boys and enjoy the watery retreat.

Bryce and Troy saddled up the three horses and we rode out to the
pond.  The boys eagerly leapt from their mounts and tethered them to
tree limbs, and then they began to hurriedly get out of their clothing.  I
took a more relaxed approach to this, so they were in the water for a
couple of minutes before I actually got in to join them.

I had taken time to watch the boys as they disrobed and raced toward
the pond, and I was still amazed at how big that fourteen-year old boy's
penis was.  I mean, how big would that thing get when he was full-
grown?  Now, the boys were busy splashing and trying to dunk each
other in the water, so I just walked in and began to swim about or tread
water.  When he was finally able to draw his attention away from Troy,
Bryce came over and attempted to drag me into their little game by
jumping on my back and trying to force my body below the surface.
Instead, I flipped him over my shoulder, which caused him to land
solidly on his back in the water, before he slipped beneath it.  After
seeing that, Troy decided to join in on the action and came over to assist
his new friend.

I tried to flip him over my shoulder too, but he was ready for that, so I
arched myself backward and flopped into the water, with him beneath
me.  When this happened, released his grip on me and scrambled to
reach the surface, so I rolled onto my side and reached out to grab him.
I caught hold of him just above the waist, but as he struggled to get
away from me he forced my hands and arms down enough so they were
currently wrapped around his family jewels.  This made him to squirm
even more, which caused my wrists and palms to rub over his boyhood.
It must have been the friction that began to get him excited, because his
trouser snake began to rear up and became completely hard, and this
only motivated him to wiggle even harder.  I thought he was trying to
get away, but I was to learn later that he was just trying to stimulate
himself even more by doing that, but it was also when Bryce came over
and saw what was happening.

"Uncle Kyle, you're going to have to help him take care of his boner
now," he suggested.

Troy looked up at Bryce, with confusion etched all over his face, as he
wondered what his new friend was doing to him.  Sure he was enjoying
my flesh rubbing over his cock, but now Bryce was telling me that I'd
have to jerk him off or do something else to alleviate his current state.
By this time we were standing in the shallow water and moving toward
the shore, so when Bryce saw Troy's confusion, he tired to put him at
ease.

"It's ok," he told Troy.  "Uncle Kyle and I sometimes help each other
out, like you and I did yesterday."

Now, not only was Troy shocked, but I was as well.  Bryce should know
that coming right out and saying something like this could get me locked
up for the rest of my life.  I wanted to chastise him, but I was speechless,
and obviously Troy was too.

"Go ahead," Bryce told us, "you two can go up on shore and Uncle Kyle
will help you with that.  I don't mind."

"Bryce!" I was finally able to get out.  "Uh, this isn't right and what
have I told you about our privacy?"

"It's ok, Uncle Kyle.  He's cool about this," Bryce assured me.  "We did
it twice yesterday and he won't say anything about it."

"That may be, but you're both boys and I'm an adult," I countered.
"I'm not supposed to do anything of that nature with boys."

"I don't mind," Troy finally added.  "In fact, I think I'd kind of like to
see what it's like for a grown-up to do something with me too."

Troy quickly moved closer and thrust his hips toward me, as if he were
offering me his partially erect member.

"It's ok, Uncle Kyle.  He won't tell anybody," Bryce reiterated, to
relieve my concerns.

"No, I promise I won't," Troy quickly added.

"But I could go to jail for this," I explained, "and what would your
father say, if he found out?"

"Probably nothing," Troy replied.  "He's not like that.  If he knew I
asked you to do it, he'd just say ok."

"But..." I started, but I didn't get any further.

"No, it's ok.  Please?" Troy begged.

He gave me this look, which was a mixture of necessity and desire, and
Bryce kept up his verbal urging too.  Finally I gave in.

"All right, I'll do you both, but not a word about this to anyone, and you
even have to be careful when talking to each other," I warned.  "You're
not to speak of this unless you're totally alone, with no possibility that
anyone will be able overhear what you're saying."

Both boys agreed, so we all went over and lay down on the grass, but
Troy wanted to go first.  Slowly, I began to stroke his impressive piece
of meat and it began to respond immediately to my touch.  I watched it
as it continued to grow, while slowly massaging both it and his testicles.
When it rose to its full length, I wrapped my hand around it and began
to pump it.  Troy relaxed completely beneath me and I could tell that he
was enjoying what I was doing to him, but Bryce had other ideas.

"Uncle Kyle, suck him off," he suggested.

I stopped what I was doing and just stared at Bryce, slightly annoyed
that he was pushing my limits, when Troy ended my distraction.

"Oh, would you?  I've always wondered what that would be like.
Please?" he pleaded.

We discussed this for a few minutes more, before I finally agreed, so
now I took him into my mouth.  There was no way I could take it all,
but I worked what I could with my lips and tongue, while stroking the
rest of it with my hand.  The fact that this was a new experience for him
only added to the dual stimulation from my mouth and hand, and it was
enough to bring him to the edge quickly.  I'm glad he wasn't going to
last very long, because my jaw was beginning to ache from having to
open my mouth so far.  I also discovered what Bryce had meant about
Troy being loud, because he wasn't holding anything back with his
groaning, moaning and grunts.  He wasn't screaming or anything, but if
anyone was close by, then I'm certain they'd be coming over to
investigate what was going on.

Before long, I felt Troy shaft begin to swell even more in my mouth, just
before the first blast of his warm liquid strands hit the back of my
throat.  I continued sucking on him until I'd finished him off and
siphoned him dry, and then Bryce and I let him lie there and recuperate
from what he had just done.  I knew this would be something he would
probably always remember; although I hoped it was also something he
would never talk about.

After I finished doing Troy, I moved over to take care of Bryce.  I could
see that he was quite aroused as well, from watching me take care of his
friend, so now I clamped on to his smaller muscle and sucked on it hard
enough to drawn a VW Beetle through it.   Bryce was really moaning
from the very start, while his pelvis bucked off the ground like a
Mexican jumping bean during a heat wave.  I knew having watching me
do Troy had him so stimulated that he wouldn't take very long to blow
and I was right.  After just a short time, he jammed his teen rod into my
throat, as it vomited its sex juice into my gullet, and then he gave a few
more thrusts, before he finished.  Once he had emptied his entire load,
he relaxed and let his butt hit the ground again, and I looked up in time
to see Troy grinning at the two of us.

"Man, that was awesome.  You two are really something," he observed.

"Well, I don't want that to get out as public information," I let him
know.

"It won't, but damn, that was just so unbelievable," he observed.  "I
always knew that shooting your load felt good, but what you did to me
with your mouth was freaking incredible.  I really want to thank you for
doing that for me."

"Well, you don't have to thank me," I told him, "but I'm not sure there
will ever be a repeat performance."

"Why not?  I loved it and I won't say anything.  Please?" Troy whined.
"I will be staying with you when my pa has to go away, remember.  We
can do it again then."

"We'll talk about this later," I suggested, "but I'll have to think about it
some more first."

"Ok, but you know how I feel about it and I really would like to do it
more often," Troy confirmed.  "Can I do that for you now?"

"Uh, I don't think that would be such a good idea," I responded.

"Why not?  I want to try it too," Troy confessed, "and I'm the one who
asked."

"Still, it's one thing if I do it to you, but if you do it to me, then the law
could make it look like I forced you into doing it," I observed.  "I mean,
what I did to you would look bad enough, but to have a kid do it to me
too, well... well, they'd take even a grimmer view on that."

"But no one will ever know about it," he clarified.  "I won't tell, Bryce
won't tell and I know you won't tell.  So I'm going to try it."

Saying that, he bent down, put his mouth next to my dick and began to
lick it like a lollipop.  I wanted to stop him, and I actually started to, but
when my hand touched his shoulder and I started to push him away, he
looked up flashed me a very sad and hurt expression.  Seeing that made
me quit trying to stop him.  Besides, I was enjoying what he was doing,
so I let him continue and I had to give him 'an A' for effort.

By now, Bryce had also come down from his orgasmic high, so he
moved closer and began to give Troy some advice on how to do it
correctly.  Troy was an eager student and a quick study, so he followed
Bryce's instructions without question, and I was the recipient of his
budding expertise. After watching this for a while, Bryce was getting
horny again and didn't want to be left out, so he joined in.  He kissed me
and then began licking and sucking on my nipples, so I was now in
absolute ecstasy.

I think every boy-lover fantasizes about having two boys working on
him at the same time, and here I was in that very position.  I had two
willing boys trying to bring me as much pleasure as they possibly could
and I was fast approaching a mind-blowing orgasm.  My consciousness
was filled with splotches of light and bright colors, as every nerve in my
body began to tingle, just before my muscles began to tighten and I
prepared to fill Troy's mouth with my creamy seed.  I wanted to warn
him, but my mouth just wouldn't cooperate, so all I got out was a few
grunts before it happened.

Troy took my load without complaint and without any adverse reaction,
and he drank down as much of it as he could.  I guess that seeing I had
done it for him, and then he saw me do it for Bryce too, he must have
assumed it was the correct thing to do.  As the last spurts of liquid left
my dick, Troy continued to suck on it until I reached out and placed my
hand on his head, to let him know he should stop.  As he pulled off, he
looked up at me and grinned, with traces of cum showing from the
corners of his lips and extending down to his chin, but he didn't seem
aware of that and only sought reassurance about what he had done.

"Did I do all right?  Did you enjoy it?" he asked, eagerly seeking
confirmation.

I merely grinned and nodded my head, because I still couldn't speak,
but I heard Bryce answer for me.

"I would say you did just fine or else he wouldn't be grinning like that,"
he pointed out.

This seemed to be enough of an answer and reward for Troy, because he
began to beam with pride.

"Super!  I just hope that we can do this whenever we're alone from now
on," he suggested, hopefully.

Neither of us responded to his comment and Troy understood why, so
we left it at that and just lay on the ground until I regained my strength.
Once the three of us had calmed down from our 'sexploits,' we went
back into the water and played around for a little longer, until Troy's
father rode up, took off his clothes and joined us.  I was certainly glad
he hadn't shown up a few minutes earlier.

"Well, I'm done with my work too and this is a better way to wash up
than by taking a bath or a shower," he explained.

At that point, he produced a bar of Ivory soap and began to clean
himself up.  He brought that particular brand of soap with him, because
it's the only bar that floats and wouldn't end up at the bottom of the
pond.  The rest of us thought this was a great idea too, so we borrowed
the soap so we could do the same thing and now all four of us were busy
cleaning up after our hard day's work.

It was actually quite a unique experience, bathing in the open, and I
learned why it was so important that the Ivory soap could float.  Many
times one of us either lost our grip on the soap or it would hit the water
when we tossed between two of us, so if it didn't float, then we'd have
been constantly diving to retrieve it.  We continued until we all squeaky
clean and then we got out of the pond, dried off and began to discuss
what we were going to do next.

"All the work is done for today, which means our night is free," Troy's
father began, "so is there anything special you two would like to do?"

Bryce and I looked at each other, but I could see he didn't have
anything in mind either, so I made a suggestion.

"How about this?" I began.  "What if I pay for dinner at a place of your
choice and then we can take the boys over to the fair.  It will give them
time to go on the rides and do whatever else they want tonight, because
the two of you will be busy tomorrow with the riding competition.  With
everything that will be going on then, the boys won't have time to really
enjoy themselves, so this way they can get it out of their systems tonight
and it will be my treat."

"You don't have to pay our way," Jim answered, "but I do think it's a
good idea."

"Nope, I insist on picking up the tab for tonight, in return for our many
nights' lodgings.  That would only be fair," I offered.

"I don't see it like that, but I won't fight you, if that's what you want to
do," Jim half-heartedly conceded.

He obviously wanted to let me know, in his own way, that he wasn't
expecting payment for putting us up for a few nights.  Since I knew he
was a proud man, I tried to make sure that I didn't tread upon that
pride, so I phrased it this way intentionally.  I suspected he'd be more
likely to accept repayment for a debt, even if he hadn't requested it,
rather than thinking of this as being charity.

We all went to the house and changed first, and then we hopped into
their truck and headed out to eat, before going over to the fair.  Jim and
I rode in the cab, while the boys sat in the back, and we talked a little
more along the way.  Jim took us to a diner that he said was reasonable
and, as he stated, he knew would give us enough food to fill two growing
boys, and I laughed at his observation.  I'm glad the boys were in the
back and hadn't heard his comment, because I think they would have
been insulted that he had hinted that they were hogs or gluttons.

We sat in a booth and Troy sat next to me, while Bryce sat next to
Troy's father.  I think they had talked this over on the way there and
felt this would be the fairest seating arrangement, since Jim was bigger
than me.  This way Troy wouldn't be as crowded, as if he sat next to his
father, and both Jim and I enjoyed having someone new for company
during this brief time.

Jim had been correct.  The food was good and there was more than
enough to feed our two bottomless pits.  I was really in awe over how
much Troy packed away, but seeing how hard he worked I could
understand him being so hungry.  Even Bryce ate more than usual,
probably because of all of the work he'd done too, so I was glad we had
come here.

After I settled the bill and left the tip, we got back in the truck and
headed over to the fairgrounds.  When we arrived there, I paid the
admission and parking fees, and then we took a quick walk around the
area to see what was there.  Once we had made a tour around the entire
midway, we let the boys choose if they wanted to try their hands at some
of the games first or go on the rides.  They chose the games, so we
walked with them to see how they'd do.  Even though Troy's father and
I knew these contests were for suckers, because the odds of winning
were poor, we also realized it was a good experience so both boys could
learn this for themselves.

The first place they stopped was the hoop-toss booth.  This was a game
where you had to toss a small hoop over a bottle with the prize you
wanted.  There were blocks with a prize or a picture of the prize, for the
larger items, attached to bottles and if the hoop managed to go over
both the bottle and the prize, then you won.  The trick was, the hoop
had to go completely over both and the blocks with the prizes attached
to it got larger as the value of the prize increased.  Therefore, by having
the requirement that the hoop had to go completely over both made it
more difficult to win the prize.

The participants were given three hoops for the fee, so I handed both of
the boys a twenty-dollar bill and told them they could use it to play
whatever games they wanted.  Troy looked at me as if I were daft for
doing this, but Bryce told him it was ok and I could afford it, so they
took the money and set off to play the games.  They quickly paid for
their first attempt each and put the change in their pockets, but neither
boy did very well on their first try.  When they made their next attempt,
Troy won a small, inexpensive prize, but that was all they got there,
since their final attempts both missed.

After they were done there, we walked along and looked for the next
game of chance they wanted to try, and this time it was a basketball
game.  The ball was the normal size, but the hoop was much smaller
than normal, and your prize depended on how many shots you made.
They both gave it a try, although we could tell right away this wasn't
their forte, so they gave up on that game quite quickly, after missing all
of their shots.

>From there, the boys discovered a baseball game next, where they had
to throw a baseball and knock weighted, wooden bottles off of a barrel.
They were much better at this, although it still wasn't an easy game to
win, because the bottles couldn't stay on the barrel, even if you'd
knocked it over.  They did win some minor prizes doing this, which
Troy's father and I ended up carrying for them, but they tired of doing
this after a while and we moved on.

The boys seemed to be having a really good time and kept teasing each
other about how they did at the various booths, but I was enjoying just
watching them have so much fun together.  They tried a few of the other
games as well, like the water pistol that you used to get a toy horse to
move on a track while competing against others, a dart game where you
broke balloons and the boys also shot at targets with an air rifle.  They
won a few more prizes at those games and Jim was a good sport about
giving them time to do all of this and for carrying the things his son
won.  If you asked me, I think he was having fun watching Troy acting
like a kid for a while.

When the boys finally decided they'd played enough games and were
ready to try some of the rides, we took the prizes they'd won and placed
them in the truck.  We didn't want to be holding them when we went on
the rides, so we felt it was better to walk back to the parking lot and put
everything inside the truck, so we could return empty-handed.  It
proved to be a wise decision, so now we let the boys decide which ride
they wanted to go on first.

They chose the Ferris wheel, but then quickly announced that they
wanted to ride with us, instead of with each other.  Jim and I agreed,
since this seemed important to them, so I rode with Bryce and Troy
went on with his father.  After we reached the top, we discovered it gave
us a really good view of both the fairgrounds and the surrounding area,
at least until the daylight began to fade.  Up until that time and from
that height, we could see quite a ways and it gave Bryce and me a good
feel for the area.  I found this to be a nice relaxing ride, but it also gave
me a chance to be alone with Bryce for a while, so we could talk.  Bryce
immediately thanked me for doing all of this and for being so nice to
Troy too.  It was important to him that I treated Troy the same way I
treated him and I was more than happy to accommodate him in this
regard.

After the Ferris wheel, we went for a ride on a device called the 'Whip'
next.  This was a ride where you sat in a circular car that was set up on
an oval track.  The car would be pulled around on a conveyor system
and would whip you around at both ends of the oval, since the turn was
narrow and happened very quickly.  This would send the people in the
car crashing into the others riding behind them.  The person on the
backside would get the worst of this every time, so if an adult rode with
any kids, then that would be the position he would want to take or he'd
be straining not to crush the children.

This time, Troy wanted to ride with me, so Bryce rode with Troy's
father, and Troy thought it was hilarious every time he slid across the
seat and crashed into my side.  Of course I knew how this ride worked
in advance, so I'd taken the back position, so I didn't crush him.  In
fact, I got a kick out of watching Troy slide as far away from me as he
could on the straight-aways, just so he'd have farther to slide and would
build up more force when our bodies collided.  I actually thought he
might have been getting aroused from this activity, judging from the
bulge in his jeans, but I didn't say anything about that.  When the ride
ended, we walked to the next area, where the boys chose to go on a
revolving swing ride.

On this one, the rider would sit on a swing, suspended from long chains,
and the swings were arranged in rows, three across.  When the ride
started moving, it would spin the riders around in a large circle, with
the swings getting pulled outward by centrifugal force, so the riders
would actually be dangling nearly sideways over the passing crowd.
Every time they passed over us, we could hear the boys laughing and
hooting, which told us that they were enjoying what they were doing.
Jim and I were both pleased to see the boys getting along so well and
having such a great time, plus he told me he was glad I had suggested
doing this.  We both knew that each of the boys needed more interaction
with others in their own age group and to have some fun, so this allowed
them do a little of both of those things now.

They went on a bunch of other rides too.  Some just spun them around
in circles, lifted them in the air or did both at the same time, plus they
also talked us in walking through the 'Haunted House' with them too.
They were having a great time, so Jim and I weren't eager to see it come
to an end, as we followed them around and made sure they had enough
money to do whatever they wanted.

The rest of the evening went much the same, with the boys moving back
and forth from the games to the rides and then back again, but they
were having a blast, no matter what they were doing.  We allowed them
to continue choosing what they wanted to do next, until it was time for
the fair to close down for the evening, and then we rode back to their
house.  We had the boys ride in the cab with us this time, with Troy
sitting between his father and me and I held Bryce on my lap.  We had
insisted on doing it this way, because it had cooled down a lot while we
were at the fair and I was worried that one or both might catch a good
cold riding in the open truck bed in the late night air, while doing sixty
miles an hour.

When we got back to their place, we all went directly to bed and soon I
could hear different levels of snoring coming from the other rooms.  It
was actually sort of a gentle hum coming from the boys' room and it
helped put me to sleep.  As I drifted off, I was mentally picturing the
good time Troy and Bryce had tonight at the fair and the visual image
of them laughing and joking around also helped to relax me.  Even
though I knew we'd be going back to the fairgrounds again, the next
tine would be mainly to watch our new friends compete in the horse
races, so I was glad the boys had a chance to just be kids for a night.  I
would have been willing to spend much more money than I had given
them, just for the pleasure of seeing this happen.

The next morning, we started out with a large breakfast and then the
rest of the time was a flurry of activity, as Troy and his father prepared
for their big day.  They packed up the things they'd need to take with
them, before they loaded their horses into the horse trailer, which would
be pulled behind the truck.  We could see that they both looked pretty
nervous about the upcoming competitions, so Bryce and I attempted to
calm them down and distract them.  We brought up a bunch of other
topics, such as the previous evening, what we would do the following
day or what types of things we could do when Troy stayed with us, but
that never seemed to distract them for very long.  Each time we did this,
they would seem to return from these brief mental forays even more
uptight than they were before, so we decided to abandon our efforts.

The trip to the fair was very quiet, because no one spoke during the last
half of the ride.  Troy and his father were concentrating on what they
were going to be doing and Bryce and I were willing to give them their
space.  We did help them gather up their things and carry them over to
the show-grounds, where the competitions were going to be held, but
once they had everything in order, Bryce and I went to find the best
seats we could in the grandstands.  We wanted to be able to watch them
compete and cheer them on, even though we knew they probably
wouldn't hear us, but we wanted to do it anyway.  Besides, these would
be the first events of this type that we had ever seen in person, let alone
that we would know two of the competitors.

The first event was the barrel race and each contestant was timed as he
weaved his way in and out of a prescribed arrangement of barrels.  This
event had a great deal to do with the connection between the horse and
the rider, but it was also fun to watch.  Both Troy and his father did
well enough to make it through the preliminary rounds and finished
high enough to compete this evening for the prizes.  Once the finalists
were announced, Bryce and I walked down to congratulate them and
they were both bursting with pride when we caught up to them.

We had some time to kill between events, so we went to grab a bite to
eat and get some cold drinks, and I could hear Bryce telling Troy what
an awesome job he had done.  Seeing Bryce had ridden before, he was
more familiar with what it took to compete like that, so he was stroking
Troy's ego as best he could.  Troy loved every minute of it and eagerly
absorbed the compliments, as soon as they were offered, so I was proud
of how Bryce was going out of his way to meet the needs of his friend,
while I did the same with Jim.

When it was time for the next competition, Troy and his dad headed
over to get their horses, while Bryce and I went back to our seats to
watch the calf roping.  If you're unfamiliar with this event, the rider has
to lasso the calf and then flip it onto the ground, so he can tie its feet,
and this is a timed event as well.  I'm sure it wasn't as easy as some of
the competitors made it seem, because we saw some of the other guys
miss roping the calf, while others had trouble getting the calf on the
ground, and still others had their rope come undone almost as soon as
they'd tied the calf's feet, which disqualified them.

Troy and his father both did well at this too and once again advanced to
the finals.  Bryce and I were screaming and hollering for them while
they competed and I think the people around us thought we were more
than a little crazy.  When the early rounds ended, they both came over
and told us they could hear us above the crowd, so I think they were
trying to tell us that we both had really big mouths.  Anyway, they said
we helped spur them on and they thanked us for the support.

Now, we had a couple of hours to kill before the evening finals, so I gave
the boys another twenty each and we let them go back to play the games
and take another turn on the rides.  They wanted Jim and me to come
with them on the rides, but Troy's father said he couldn't do that and
then compete later, so he said he was going to sit this one out.  Since he
didn't want to go, both boys were now after me to join them, but I
didn't want to leave Jim alone.  However, after the boys teased me to
join them, Jim told me to go ahead, because he had things to do in order
to get ready for the evening competition.  Since he was ok with this, I
followed the boys over to the other area.

Troy and Bryce took me over to the swings first, and since the swings
were three across, the boys wanted me to ride on the middle swing.
They did this so they could taunt me the entire time we were going
around and around, because they hoped I'd get dizzy or maybe even
puke.  When I didn't do either of those things, they were only slightly
disappointed, but then they dragged me off, so they could torture me on
the next ride.

>From there, we went back to ride on the whip, and of course I was
placed in the outside position, with Troy next to me and Bryce on the
inside.  They must have discussed this beforehand, because each time
the car straightened out, they would slide away from me, so they could
slam into me again as we were whipped around the next corner.  They
thought this was the funniest thing going, so I would let out a big 'oof'
every time our bodies collided, which made them want to do it even
more.  They were a little sad when the ride came to an end and even
wanted to go again, but I said I would only do that if I could be on the
inside this time.  Since neither of them wanted me slamming into them,
they decided to try something else, so we went from there to the Ferris
wheel next.

The boys wanted me in the middle this time, so they could both sit next
to me, and once the bar was locked into place, I put my arms around
their shoulders and prepared to enjoy the ride.  As soon as we were
halfway to the top, the boys began rocking our seat back and forth, in
an attempt to scare me.  The only thing they accomplished, however,
was to get chewed out by the guy operating the Ferris wheel, once we
got back to ground level.  I laughed at them when this happened,
because they were a bit embarrassed by the scolding, so they both gave
me an evil glare.

For the rest of the ride, the boys settled in and enjoyed the view, but
they were also trying their best to talk me into doing something with
both of them again tomorrow.  I told them I wasn't sure that was a good
idea, since Troy's father could have easily caught us today, if he had
shown up a few minutes earlier at the pond.  Troy said his pa wouldn't
have said anything if he did catch us, as long as Troy told him it was his
idea, so they weren't about to give up trying to get me to agree.  They
were still pestering me when the ride ended, so I told them we'd discuss
this later, as we headed to the other end of the midway, where the games
were located.  That seemed to work for now and they didn't say
anything more about it, so I watched them play a few of the games
before we headed back to meet up with Troy's father again.

By the time we got back to the show grounds, Jim was nearly frantic,
because the junior finals were about ready to start and Troy wasn't
back yet.  I guess we hadn't realized how much time had passed while
we were having fun, so Jim rushed Troy over to the officials and let
them know that Troy was there.  Then, Troy had to rush back to the
staging area and mount up, because he was scheduled to make his run
in the barrel race next, after the current participant finished.

I was a little surprised when Troy began his run, because his timing
wasn't there, like it had been before, and he just wasn't clicking as well
as he was earlier in the day.  I realized that I was probably responsible
for his poor showing, because I hadn't paid attention to the time and
failed to get him back sooner, so I felt badly.  Troy made his second run
and did slightly better, but it was obvious at this point that he wasn't
going to win any prizes in this competition.

When Troy rejoined us, I apologized and told him his poor showing was
my fault, because I didn't get him back as early as I should have, but he
told me that was nonsense.  He said he should have been watching the
time too and it was as much his fault as anyone else's.  He said it was no
big deal and shook it off, so he could mentally prepare himself for the
calf roping.

We tried to keep Troy's dad company before it was his turn to ride, but
he was the type of person that liked to be left alone, so he could
concentrate and visualize what was going to happen during each event.
Realizing this, we made our way back to the grandstand, and Troy came
with us this time.  We took our seats and waited for the senior barrel
race to get underway and for Jim to take his turn.

His first run was absolutely brilliant, because Jim and the horse literally
moved and reacted as one.  His second run was even better and this time
the pair moved like the wind.  It was a sight to behold and something
we'll always remember.  Not only did he win that event, but he also set a
new fair record time while doing so.  Troy had been whooping and
hollering like he was imitating the rebel battle cry during the race, and
now he repeated it when it was announced that his father had won.  It
was really neat to see him this excited and I'm certain his father
appreciated every note he uttered.

While they were taking the barrels out and getting ready for the calf
roping, Troy went back to mount up.  We were all holding our breath
when he came out the first time, but he was on fire.  It might have been
due to the fact that he was so psyched about how his father had done or
because he was trying to make up for his earlier disappointment.  No
matter the reason, Troy roped the calf, had it down and tied up very
quickly, so we were all pretty sure he'd have one of the best times.  His
second run wasn't quite as good, although it still wasn't bad, but he
finished as runner-up for the junior division in calf roping.

His father gave him a big hug when it was over, just to let him know
he'd done well, and the only one to beat him was a boy three years older
than himself and in his last year in the junior division.  Bryce and I
congratulated him too, with Bruce patting him on the back and I shook
his hand so vigorously that he told me his arm was beginning to get
sore.  Once I let him go, Troy said he was thrilled he had done well in at
least one of his events, but soon it would be his father's turn to shine.

We thought now Troy's father would be even more cranked up for the
calf roping, because of how Troy had done, along with his triumph in
the barrel race, but maybe he was a little too pumped up.  He came out
and tossed his lasso at the calf's head, but part of it hung up on the
calf's snout and stayed there, so the calf was able to shake it off before it
could be taken down.  That was a major mistake, one he would not be
able to overcome, although his second run was nearly perfect.  He didn't
let it get him down though, because he was still soaring high from the
barrel race win, and he and his son each had something to be proud of.

Once all of the events were over, we loaded the horses into the trailer,
threw their gear in the back of the truck and then headed back to their
house.  It was a fun ride and we joked around the entire way.  We really
hammed it up when we teased them about the mistakes they had made
during their runs, in an effort to turn their disasters into comedy
routines, and we all had some good laughs over it.  It was also great to
see they didn't take themselves too seriously and could actually see the
humor in what had happened.

I think the boys must have planned to mess around a little in their room
that night before they went to sleep, even though neither did or said
anything that would have confirmed this.  Possibly it was just my
suspicious mind that made me think something was going to happen,
although there would have been nothing wrong if they did that, but they
were both just a little too happy and excited when they went off to
Troy's room that evening.  I figured they'd probably need a little action
to help them calm down after everything that had happened earlier or
else they might not be able to sleep.  Whatever they did, it must have
worked, because both of them were sound asleep when I peeked in on
them around midnight.