Chapter 11

Two Weeks

   Two weeks seemed interminably long to all four young men. Brian and Justin wanted to get home yesterday, Gus wanted to marry Randal, and Randal just wanted to see the back of forest life once and for all. Two more weeks in this woodsy wasteland seemed unbearable.

   Finally, after a lot of depressed moaning all round, Justin managed to pull himself together and suggested to all that they just take everything moment by moment. First thing to do was get Brian some new pants and to see if they had sufficient leather on hand for such a project.

   So that's what they did. Gus and Randal and Hunter stayed at home and Hunter went to inspect the workshop and Gus went to inspect Arrow and make sure he was OK.

   Meantime, Brian and Justin went shopping and Ben went with them to inform the town there was no threat.

   They strode down Main Street and Ben bellowed. "You can all come out now! The horse was friendly! We have guests! We have guests and heroes who brought back my son! Please come out!"

   Eventually, windows and doors started to crack open and finally one officious, spherically fat man with a monocle, top hat, and a cane came out of a particularly large, stone building.

   Oy! Oy! What's that? The demon's gone!?" Are you sure Benny?"

   "Hello Mayor! Yes, everything's fine! It's fine! There was no demon! It was just these good men here!"

   "No demon! Of course there was a demon! Why do you think we all ran inside? Wait...what men?"

   "These men! This is Brian and Justin! And that was their horse! It was a flying horse! But it's OK now and the horse is back to normal!"

   "There's nothing normal about that flea-bag!" growled Brian.

   Justin smiled a sunshine smile and dazzled the mayor. He gave Brian a not-so gentle elbow to the ribs and stepped forward.

   "Hello Mayor. I'm Justin. We've come from many miles to the east just to see your wonderful little town. Isn't that wonderful?" He smiled again and the mayor beamed back at the words, ‘wonderful town'."

   "We rode in on a very courageous horse. We're sorry that he scared everyone. But he wouldn't hurt a fly."

   "Tell my pants that," growled Brian.

   "Not...helping!!" Justin sang.

   "But the wings....and the fire...and the scary...."

   "He won't breathe any more fire and the wings are a part of his charm! I could take you for a ride! Have you ever been flying, Mayor?"

   "Can't say I've ever had the, uh...pleasure," the Mayor said looking a little green around the gills.

   "Ohhhh, you'll looooovvve it!" raved Justin, still shamelessly shmoozing the mayor. It was working though. Justin now was walking slowly down the street with his arm around the mayor's shoulder like they had been best buddies their entire lives.

   "I'll bring you by to meet Arrow a little later. Right now, I'm afraid my partner had a...little mishap involving his pants. Can you recommend a shop where we could buy a pair? Maybe...persuade them to....open up?" Justin batted his baby blues benevolently.

   "Mishap, my ass..." growled Brian.

   Justin chose to ignore this completely. He smiled again dazzlingly bright and the mayor was caught in its spell. "Yes...it was an accident though...just an accident...while we were bringing Hunter Bruckner home. He was trapped in a time loop, you know."

   "Trapped? I thought you said he ran away, Ben?"

   "I thought he did. I was so sad. But now he's been rescued by these gentlemen here. He's home at last!" Ben said.

   "Rescued!! Why...then you folks are heroes! Even if you do have a scary horse! Hey, everybody! Come out! Come out! Come out and meet the handsome heroes who fell from the sky and rescued Hunter Bruckner from enchantment!" the mayor yelled, and slowly, more and more doors began to open, people began to emerge and began to gawk at Brian and Justin as if they were...well, heroes. And one by one the stores began to open again at last.

   The mayor himself escorted them to a shop called StoryBrooks Brothers and once they had opened up, he paid for not only a new pair of pants but an entire new suit of clothes for each of them. Justin made sure that the suits they chose had button up shirts that could easily be taken off even if one was wearing a hat....

   When they emerged, the street was full. The gossip hounds had been at work full force and everyone had come out to see the newcomers. The mayor made a little speech and introduced them and the villagers cheered and raved and music broke out and suddenly they all found themselves in the middle of a street party.

   Eventually, Gus, Randal, and Hunter began to wonder why they didn't come home and then heard the music and fuss and came to investigate. Of course, this led to Hunter being discovered and cheered for and screamed at and raved over and surrounded by beautiful women almost instantly. Of course, this led to Hunter being in seventh heaven; he was straight, after all.  The party intensified and went on, late into the night.

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   The next two weeks was harder than they thought on all of them.

   Despite Ben's objections, they could all feel the cramp of the living setup. One small apartment above a shop was not enough space for 6 people. The bathroom was always engaged. Brian and Justin were pretty sure the lot of them were eating Ben out of house and home, although Ben always objected otherwise. However, when Justin watched him go to the market twice in one day and yet only eat a quarter of what they were all eating, he began to smell a rat.

   The living room always had at least 3 people in it and at night, all of them were there, huddled in their separate corners. They even tried sectioning off the room with sheets for contrived privacy. But this only worked to a degree. Of course, there was no opportunity to fuck. And this, of course, was the straw that broke Brian's back.  And so, after only a few days, Brian and Justin began to make enquiries around town.

   For a few days there was nothing. The townsfolk were grateful but there was only so far people were willing to go with gratitude. However, they all promised to keep their eye out and spread the word around.

   And every night, they would come home defeated but Ben remained optimistic and said, "Don't worry. Just give it a few more days and let the word spread. Gossip is like water in this town. People drink it up like they need it and it flows stronger in certain channels. Be sure to tell....this person.....this person....this person.....and.....oh this one." He consulted a special paper in a drawer. "Be sure to make out like it's no big deal or even like it's a secret. It'll be all over the village by the next day."

   They saw that they had only talked to one of the people on the list and so, the next day, they followed Ben's instructions and told the others.

   It was true there was no inn in the village but there was a tavern/diner. And the very next day, the pleasingly plump, waitress with frizzy, red hair was waiting for them at the door when they ventured out on their rounds.

   "I hear ‘yer looking for a room to rent," she whispered conspiratorially after she had frantically waved them over, to the point where a dozen other people thought she was waving to them or having some sort of seizure.

   "Uh...yes, that's right," Justin confirmed.

   "My name's Deb. I can't talk long....oh hold your horses Hardy!....But I might be able to help you out. I'll talk to the owner of this hash slinger and...

   "Hey!!" yelled a voice in the back.

   "Oh shut it Hardy...you know it is!" screamed Deb into the back so fearsomely that a pyramid of glasses shook. "And you! I don't wanna hear a word! Just grab a lemon bar and hold on...I'm coming!"

   "Anyway, Sunshine!" she turned back to Justin, switching moods faster than a drag queen does outfits during showtime. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and squeezed tightly, instinctively going into mother hen mode. "I might be able to help you out. I'll talk to the owner...of this joint...(Here she rolled her eyes)...and talk to him about the room in back. It's a storeroom usually but it's not harvest time yet so it's dead empty and useless. Come see."

   She really didn't give them a chance to say no as she dragged Justin till his arm was practically coming out of the socket. Brian smirked and sauntered along behind like he'd been forgotten. He didn't mind though. One look at his sky blue eyes, corn yellow, silky blond hair and gay flower crown and people turned their attention to him like a sunflower does to the sun.

   The room indeed was completely empty. There was a door leading out the back, and a small window. Other than that it was simply four walls and a roof but it was clean and it was shelter enough for two after the cots had been brought in.

   "What do you think?" Justin asked Brian.

   "It's clean enough. And four is better than six. We could move here and Gus and Randal could have Hunter's room until we get outta here. And Hunter could continue with the couch. So...what's the catch?" he asked Deb.

   "Quite right. If it were up to me, I'd let you have it....but Hardy....well, as I said, I'll talk to him but you'll have to offer something in return. And he'll most assuredly take it out in trade. I'm afraid that will probably mean one of you helping me out in the diner every day."

   "I'll do it," said Justin without hesitation.

   "Sunshine...are you sure?" asked Brian.

   "Yes. It'll give me something to do, you can continue to help Hunter with anything that I'm too squeamish to deal with and then we'll have our own little pad."

   Brian knew better than to argue with that tone, so he simply shrugged; they let Deb go talk to Hardy and within a few minutes Sunshine was happily conscripted into servitude. He kissed his Sunshine goodbye and went to tell the rest of them that Justin had a job.

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A week later:

   The suit, that is, a full tunic, pants, and gloves for Brian was coming along well. They figured on Brian because they were most assuredly going to confront Craig in daylight and after he had showed them the cure, Brian was chomping at the bit to separate his head from his shoulders.

    At no extra cost, Hunter was making the gloves supple and skintight on the hands and long enough to be elbow high gauntlets. He also was making sturdy knee high boots that could be folded down to thigh high. Both Brian and Justin tried to talk him out of the extra work but it was no use. After his long imprisonment, Hunter reveled in the work and besides, he said he would do it as his own personal "fuck you" to the especially evil entity that had wrought this crushing, craptactular, contemptible, crummy conundrum of a curse.

   Justin was doing well. He looked adorable in the green shirt and white full apron they gave him as a uniform. He wore a gauzy hairnet over the flowers. He was efficient, brought food at the right time and didn't sass back to Deb or Hardy. He gave the customers a bit of sass, but they loved it and tipped him more. His ass was constantly grabbed by both men and women. He would never let it go farther than that, however, and it became rather tiresome but he endured it. It was only for a week and a half after all.

   It became even easier when Gus and Randal would spell him either for a few hours or even an entire shift and give him the day off. Gus and Randal didn't want to sit there at Ben's all day doing nothing, and Hardy didn't care who did it as long as Justin's shift got done. Granted, Gus and Randal weren't as good as Justin who seemed to take to serving like a duck to water but they did a good enough job.

   Brian came every day, twice a day. He also came to sit in the diner!

   He came once in the late morning for what he claimed was a coffee and for the lemon bars. Then he would sit at the counter and shamelessly ogle Justin as he worked. After about an hour or two of this, Justin would give him his tips he had gotten so far to take to Ben, pat his exquisite ass and sent him on his way. The second time was always just before sunset; no one could really figure out why. He always enquired how much longer and Justin would always say: ‘Just one more hour, my love.' Brian would leave and exactly an hour later. Justin would learn to be ready or almost ready because at exactly the appointed hour, Brian would grab him by the belt loops and drag him out the door, sometimes with his heels dragging on the floor.

   They would go to Ben's for a big group dinner, and afterwards kiss everyone goodbye, (on the cheek, honestly!!) well, most of the time!...and then headed to their room, locked themselves in and spent the rest of the night fucking before falling asleep to do it all again.

   The flower wreath continued to be as supple and bendy and fresh as the first day they made it. It became a worry for a while that the wreath's magic would wear out while they were still guests at the village. But 3 days passed and then another 3 days and then another 3 after that. Eventually they stopped worrying about it. Incredibly, the wreath lasted the entire 2 weeks they were there. Perhaps one of the Fairies or even a few of them were keeping watch over them, they never figured it out. They just thanked their lucky stars for every day they had together.

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   A few days into their stay, Justin carried out his threa - uh...I mean, promise and brought the mayor around to meet Arrow. The green around the mayor's gills turned ashen gray as he was confronted with the coal-black gargantuan horse.

   "Good grief! Are you sure it's safe?" The roly-poly man kept asking, keeping Justin in the front of him.

   "Of course!" Justin replied and, of course Arrow took that opportunity to sneeze out a flash of fire and conversely, let out a loud long fart that smelled like strawberries.

   "Maybe this isn't such a good idea!" gasped out the mayor who was scared shitless as it was. He turned and tried to make a getaway.

   Justin grabbed onto his arm. "Oh, it's all right! He's as gentle as a kitten! He's just trying to scare you!"

   "He's doing a damn fine job of it!" returned the mayor, his knees quaking.

   "Oh pshaw! Hmmmmm...and yet....Did you bring an apple like I told you?"

   "Yes. Why?" asked the mayor, taking it out of his pocket.

   "Oh....you know....safety first." Justin replied vaguely.

   The mayor gulped.

   However, with hand shaking, the mayor managed to feed the apple to Arrow, which seemed to mollify him. Somewhat.

   "Arrow, this is the mayor of this good town. He‘s a very important person and has been very anxious to meet you."

   Arrow looked at the fat, quaking man and looked down his nose at Justin. "Really??" it asked Justin. "Like...seriously...?"

   "Of course, silly! Now, I know you do an awful lot for us and we're all really, really grateful but we were wondering if you could go outside your comfort zone a little once more and give the mayor a ride, once or twice around the village. Just to show that you mean no-one here any harm."

   Another look. "Are you seriously....fucking...shitting me?"

   "Pleeeeaaaasssse," Justin shamelessly wheedled.

   "Seriously....are you....fucking....shitting with me?"

   "Arrow! Come on! We're guests in this nice town. We all have to pull together. Besides, if everyone's afraid of you, it's going to make it awfully hard to exercise you. Wouldn't you rather be out flying around than standing around the back of the shop all day?"

   Arrow thought about that for a bit, rolled his eyes and blew out a huuuuuugge, long suffering breath out his mouth. "The things I do for you....humans," it said. Then he bent down and knelt on his front legs to let the mayor mount.

   The mayor struggled a bit and Justin gave the spherical man a supporting shove. Somehow, the mayor ended up in the saddle that somehow fitted him exactly. He grabbed onto the reins for dear life.

   "Just twice around the village should do it. I'll meet you in the main street. Nice and gentle now."

   Arrow winked. He reared up on his back legs, whinnied like a creature from Hell and then ran and jumped and took off. The mayor's face had gone from gray to chalk white.

   "Arrow! Gentle now! PLEASE!" yelled Justin, but let's face it. It was out of his hands now.

   Arrow jumped and flew and smoothed out and eventually the mayor stopped feeling like he needed a pacemaker so much. Uhhhh...you know, like one of those magical ones. Arrow dutifully galloped through the air, and gave a few fire shots to attract attention and generally made a spectacle out of himself. He galloped two times around the village, looped around and landed on Main Street just like the first time.

   Everyone came out to look. They were scared at first but then they saw the mayor was on the horse. At first, a few die hards thought the mayor had been kidnapped but upon closer inspection it was pretty hard to believe that, when the mayor was waving his top hat around and yelling: "YAAA-HOOOO!!!! YIPPPEEE! WAAAA-HOOOOO!!! YIPPEEE AI! AI! AI! YAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!

   After he had landed, Arrow was an instant town hero and mascot. Everybody wanted a ride; everybody wanted to pet him. However, at this, Arrow backed away in a panic and hid behind Justin. When that didn't work, he gave a fearsome snort of flame and jumped and flew away into the forest and didn't return until dinner time.

   Justin motioned for attention and then told the crowd. "You have to treat him gently...and with respect folks! He is friendly but he is not an ordinary horse! He understands. He is a creature born of magic! He may give rides....and he may not. You can ask him. You might want to try bringing him an offering of food. But you mustn't press him. You mustn't try to force him. He isn't a tame horse, after all."

   Both kids and adults would try to entice Arrow for rides, with treats and gifts. They brought him sheaves of oats and wheat and barley and rye and apples and carrots. Arrow would accept everything; he ate...well, he ate like a horse. But as Justin said it was no guarantee. Sometimes, he'd give a ride and sometimes he wouldn't. And sometimes he'd only take you home and sometimes he'd fly you for 15 minutes; sometimes an hour. You never knew. It was very true. He wasn't a tame horse.

   After a while, the townspeople for the most part, left Arrow alone. It became common to see Arrow, winging around the town, to the nearest lake and back, giving someone a ride, or just going into the fields and orchards. At first, it became a concern that he would eat all their food, but it was soon discovered that wherever he did eat, the next day, that area was growing twice as much of whatever he ate. Eventually he became a symbol of hope, of prosperity, of protection and good luck. If you saw him flying around and he looked at you, it was considered very good luck and if you saw him snort fire and made a wish, it was certain to come true.

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   Of course, it wasn't always fun and games at the diner for Gus and Randal and Justin ogling for Brian. They did their best to help out at the leather shop during the day and eventually there came a day about a week and a half in when Hunter came to them and informed them he only had a few scraps of leather left that would not be enough to use to finish the suit.

   "And I can't kill anything, so it's up to you lot to bring me a deer." He gave Brian his crossbow, and Gus and Randal a set of bow and arrows each. He gave them a compass. Then, upon reflection, he gave them each a blade as well, a fine two foot long rapier, each one in its own custom made leather belt and sheath.

   "These are for defense. It's dangerous out there. Otherwise, keep them sheathed. They're not toys. Stay on the paths as much as possible. Stay together! Do NOT split up, whatever happens Protect one another against traps and predators. Now get going and for God's sake, come back alive!"

   "How else would we come back? As zombies?" whispered Brian as they exited the shop.

   Hunter stuck his head out the window. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Watch out for zombies! Remember, only a head shot will kill them!"

   They gulped.

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   And so, several hours later and deep in the forest on a skinny forest trail, they still hadn't found a deer. And without warning, disaster struck.

   Gus was in front and walked into a springy surface. The entire forest in front of them rippled like a pond and revealed a kind of...wall in front of them that extended at least 30 feet to the left and the right of them.

   Gus was on instant alert and pulled back to get away. He managed everything except his hand, which was stuck up to his wrist. With a disgusting, sucking noise, his arm was being pulled in. It was like vertical quicksand.

   "Help! I can't get out!" he yelled.

   Brian grabbed him and pulled. But he found that not only was he just delaying the inevitable, he now couldn't let go of Gus' hand and was being pulled in as well. "Shit! What the hell IS this?"

   Randal grabbed onto Brian hand and couldn't let go. "Oh crap! I think I know what this is! Didn't count on the stuck on you part though! Walter used to brag about these portal traps that sounded like this. This'll take us to another time, another place in the forest, maybe another forest altogether!"

   "How do we get loose!?" yelled Brian. Gus' whole arm was through and the suction had increased. He had to pull with all his might just to stay put.

   "I don't think we can! Just try to remember where you came in from! Then go back! Just...go...back!"

   "Back from where?" Gus cried. He was almost consumed.

   "Screw that!" Brian dug in extra hard and gathered his strength to for an extra hard yank. However, this meant he had to release his pulling a little first and at the same time he slipped on some gravel. This caused Randal to slip and bump against him and....

   "YAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

   All three men were pulled and fell ass over teakettle and fell through the portal with a loud BLOOOP!...noise. The portal rippled, smoothed out and vanished.

TBC