THE SWEET LIFE

CHAPTER FOUR

One week later …

"Jack, if we're gonna do this, we gotta be smart about it. You can live off the land if you know what you're doin."

"Ennis, we looked at at least twenty places this week and there ain't none of them that suits you?" Jack was becoming a little impatient.

"There is one that I'm thinkin seriously about."

"Which one? I know; the smallest one with that little run down house and the tiny barn. Is that the one?"

"Nope. I been thinkin about the biggest one; the most expensive one."

"You're kiddin me; right?" Jack's eyes lit up as this was the one he liked best of all but it was huge, twelve hundred acres, and had a fine big house on it. Even he had doubted they could manage that one.

"Not the whole place. Just the two hundred acres that's south of the road. Real Estate lady said the owner was anxious to sell the place and in a real bind financially. Maybe they'd be willin to part with just that piece of it; what do you think?"

"That was some real prime land, with lots of trees and it did have the creek and all, but if you remember, Ennis, it didn't have a house. Where'd we live?"

"That's just it, Jack. What I was talkin about. We gotta be smart. While you was lookin at the houses on these places, I was lookin at the land; the soil. That property had the best soil we seen."

"Then why couldn't they make a go of it? Why'd they have to sell out after only ownin it a coupla years?"

"Cause they wasted their money on all that fancy stuff. That house with all its fancy froo froos and the patio for entertainin and all that fancy landscapin they put in. That fancy fence they put in all around the place musta cost a small fortune."

"Thought you said fencin was important."

"It is, Jack, but they coulda got one just as good at half the price. All that fancy stuff costs a bundle."

"You think that's why it failed; cause they made it fancy?"

"No. It failed because they didn't know what they was doin. They figured you just buy cows, put them out in a pasture, then sell them a year later at twice the profit. It don't happen that way. You gotta have the good grass, you gotta know how to pick your herd and you gotta know when and where to take them to market. The cost of runnin that place alone was twice what they coulda made in cattle now a days. Unless they had some other income, it was foolish of them to sink all of that money in a fancy house."

"You think they had the wrong grass?"

"Uh huh. And what we saw of that herd was pretty pitiful. I think someone saw a sucker and unloaded that herd on them cheap. They figured to make some money buying cheap but when it come time to sell; I doubt they broke even."

"How you know that?"

"Cause you always keep the best and sell off the rest. Did you get a look at those bulls? They got to pushin 15 or 20 years old; couldn't see them all that good. Even scrub cattle will pick up some with the right grass but there again, they went with the cheapest they could find. You ain't gonna do nothin but run your place into the ground like that."

"You think with the right grass and right herd we could make a go of that place? Why not go for the whole spread then?"

"Nope. That place ain't gonna be nothin but a financial anchor 'round the neck of whoever buys it. But I do like the land and I like the layout of that little piece of it across the road. If they would sell us that at a reasonable price we might could do somethin with it."

"And live where; in town?"

"Oh hell no, Jack. I was thinkin of a tent. We could set up back there in the woods by the stream maybe and work the place from there. It's April. We'd have six or seven months before first snow. That would give us plenty of time to get the ground worked and get some good grass in and maybe fix up some shelter for the horses."

"You thinkin on havin us a place built?"

"Not right off. Figured maybe we might look into gettin a trailer to live in for a few years."

"Ennis, I told you I got money. We could have someone come in and build us a place. We wouldn't go nothin fancy like that big house."

"We gotta be smart about this, Jack. Yes, you got a nice bunch of cash; but we're gonna have to come up with a bunch to buy the place. We won't have to worry about parameter fencin, for sure, but we will need some cross fencing. We need to see about gettin us a good bull, some young cows with calves and you agreed we should breed horses too, so that will mean a stallion and a coupla mares. We're gonna need shelters for the horses, and then there's the equipment we'll be needin. And we'll have to see about gettin someone out and drillin for a well and gettin electricity to the place; all that takes money, Jack. If we're gonna do this smart, then we need to spend the money where it'll do the most good."

"OK, OK. I see where you're comin from. I agree. I guess a few months livin in a tent won't hurt us. Why don't we go lookin for a trailer right off instead of waiting for snow?"

"Cause, if we get the place, we need to concentrate on findin the other stuff first. Tractor, mower, baler and we'll need a bunch of tools."

"All right. It all makes sense, I guess."

"It sure enough does, Jack. Let's go see that Real Estate lady and see if she's willin to make an offer to those folks and see if they'll part with just that little piece."


The Real Estate lady was taken aback by their proposition; hoping to convince them to make an offer on the big place, but agreed to make their offer and get back to them. They headed off to Denny's for lunch.

"I just got a feelin about this, Jack. I think we're gonna get this place." Ennis said around a mouth full of ham sandwich.

"I know you're probably right about that little piece of land. I was just hopin we could find something with at least some kind of house on it."

"I know but land goes for a lot higher price per acre when it's 'improved acreage' than 'unimproved' land goes for."

"I know."

"And taxes are a lot higher too. With that little piece, taxes can't be that much for the first coupla years. By then we should be able to afford them easy enough just selling off calves. We get us a good enough mower and I can hire out and mow for people this summer. There's always someone willin to pay to get their place mowed and baled and that's cash money we could put toward the taxes or a trailer."

"How'd you get so smart about money when you claim you ain't never had none to speak of?" Jack sipped his tea.

"When you ain't got any, you always know how you'd spend it if you had some. I been in ranchin all my life, Jack. I know what it takes to make a go of a place. First and foremost; you need good soil. You need water, you need fencin and you need to know how to stretch a buck to make it do the most good. This place we're lookin at has the soil, the fencin, and the water. The paperwork says that creek in the back runs year round and ain't never gone dry. If they accept our offer, we can stick to our budget, and still pay half down on the place and only have to worry about taxes for the first five years before the note payments kick in. With what you got left, we could make those five years of taxes, and get a small herd started, some equipment, and a runnin start on the place."

"And if they don't accept the offer?"

"Then we keep lookin. But I'd really like livin that close to Sheridan. The town is big enough that I could probably find some kind of work if we need the extra cash and it's got lots of stores. I saw an Army Surplus store over on Main Street. I figured we'd go take a look over there and see if maybe we could find an old tent and maybe some campin gear.
What do you think?"

"Yeah, I do like Sheridan. It's a hell of a lot nicer than either Riverton or Lightning Flat."

"It's real close to the Big Horns too. We can head out and do us some huntin this fall."
Ennis said with a smile; remembering past hunting trips.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Jack agreed remembering those trips too.

"C'mon. It's been near two hours. Let's go check in and see if that Real Estate lady has heard back from the owner." Ennis tossed his napkin on his plate and stood up.

Jack wiped his mouth and followed.


An hour later they were sitting in the bank and signing the papers. Jack transferred the money and the place was theirs. They walked outside and climbed into Jack's truck and each lit up a cigarette.

"We did it, Ennis. The place is ours!" Jack blew smoke out with a satisfied puff.

"Yep." Ennis just grinned over at him. "We sure enough did. Now it's nothin but back-breakin work for the next several years. You ready for that?"

"Well, I am as long as we can squeeze in a little love-makin along the way." Jack wet his lips with his tongue.

"Now you cut that out; we got work to do! Time enough for all that foolishness later. We got to get over to that place and see about gettin them out to sink a well for us. We gotta see about a tent then get on over to the place and pick out a spot and get set up. We don't need to be wastin no more money on that motel."

"OK. Let's see about the tent first. If that place don't have any, we can keep the motel until we find one." Jack offered.

"Sounds like a plan." Ennis agreed as Jack pulled out into traffic and headed over to the Army Surplus store. He was halfway hoping they couldn't find one so they could look for a trailer instead but they found some right off.

The dealer had set several of them up out back of the store hoping to sell them for some summer camping. They looked at each of them with great interest. One was huge and had been used as a mess hall; way too big for them. A couple more were about the right size but were in pretty bad shape. It came down to two they couldn't decide on. Both were 12 X 12 which they liked. One was a lot newer than the other but had a huge tear on one side that had been sewn shut with glue slopped around the stitching to keep it from leaking; the second one was a lot older and more worn looking. Ennis made the decision and bought both of them.

"Why both of them?" Jack asked as they proceeded to take them down. "That one with the patch job don't look like it's goin to hold up to the weather."

"I was thinkin we could put them up right next to each other. Open that side up where the patch is and make a doorway into the next. That way we'd have two rooms; twice the space. What do you think?"

"Oh, I like that idea." Jack smiled. "I thought maybe you was thinkin you'd be sleepin in one and me the other."

"No fucking way, Jack Twist! I didn't agree to this livin together to sleep alone!" He smiled as he hauled one rolled up tent over his shoulder and headed out towards the truck.

Jack followed him out carrying the other tent and started thinking that maybe this tent living wouldn't be all that bad after all. Once they got the tents loaded up they went back inside the store and started looking for some camping gear. An hour later they came out with a small single burner camp stove, some metal cookware and dishes and a couple of canteens. They were heading out to the place when Ennis called for Jack to pull down a side road.

"What? What did you see?"

"That whole block back there is having garage sales. Let's see what we can find."

Jack made a U-turn and headed back. It was more than just that one block, it was an entire development and there were blocks and blocks of stuff sitting out on driveways for sale. It was coming on dinner time before they finished up. They had completely filled the back of their pickup with purchases they had made for pennies on the dollar.

They found among other things, a card table with two chairs, blankets, towels, more cooking supplies, a coffee pot, a bar-b-cue, and the very last house they visited had two things they needed desperately, tools and a ton of candles. They made a quick stop at the grocery store and headed out for their place.

They found a nice flat area not too far from the stream and set up just the one tent for the night before making a fire in their bar-b-cue and heating up some hot dogs and beans for supper.

It was full dark by the time they finished eating. They hauled all their purchases into the one tent and laid out blankets for their bed.

"We did good, Jack. We spent next to nothin and got almost a full set up here."

"Sure am gonna miss that nice king-sized bed back at the motel though." Jack said wistfully.

"We'll go back into town first thing tomorrow and see about getting us somethin to sleep on. That's kinda what I was thinkin of for that extra tent. Figured we could use the second one and set us up a real bed in there. How 'bout that?"

Jack sat up, beaming; "You mean that? A real bed?"

"Sure. Why not. With the extra tent, we'll have the room. Figured we'd get a frame, mattress, and box springs and pillows and sheets. Think you might like that?" Ennis lay with one arm up behind his head the other resting on whatever part of Jack he could reach.

"Oh man! I figured we was gonna be sleepin on the ground for months!"

"Nah. That's OK for once in a while, like when we're out huntin and stuff but I figured we need a good bed. After all, ain't that the reason you wanted us livin together? So's we could sleep together?"

"It wasn't the only reason; but it's a pretty damn good reason." Jack smiled and laid back down in Ennis's arms. "You figure to find a used one somewhere?"

"Nope. We saved a lot of money gettin all this stuff cheap as we did. We ain't spendin money on motels no more. Let's just go to Sears and get us a new one. One nobody's ever slept nor done nothin else on."

"Oh boy! I like the way you think!"

"C'mere, then," Ennis said and they proceeded to christen their new home.


The next morning they got an early start and decided to head into town and get some breakfast. Over their scrambled eggs they made a list of what else they needed.
The rest of the morning was spent talking with the water well people first and making arrangements for them to come out the next day; then making their way through the several small used furniture stores in town and headed back the twenty miles out to their place.

They had found a wash-tub stand that held two large tubs; a couple of ice chests, half a dozed five gallon plastic water jugs, more tools, a kerosene lamp and some plastic snap-together shelving. They stopped at the grocery store and stocked up; Jack moaning because they couldn't buy any meat and Ennis giving in and agreeing to just a few packages of meat that they could keep in their ice chest. Mostly they bought canned and packaged goods. Their truck totally full, they headed home.

Taking a good walk around in the full day-light, they decided they liked the spot they were in. They had rakes now and smoothed out the area and set the second tent up beside the first. Ennis took his knife and opened a door way on the torn side of the first tent so that it opened up into the door way of the second tent. He took out his tent repair kit and sewed the two together then dabbed it with the goo that was supposed to keep the stitch holes from leaking. Next trip into town he'd get another kit and do the inside.

Jack was busy putting the shelving unit together and stacking their groceries and dishes and putting their clothes and personal stuff in the second tent.

"We shoulda looked for a chest of drawers, Jack. I'm sorry, I didn't even think of that."
Ennis apologized as Jack tried to make some order of their stuff.

"We can look when we go back in for our bed. Don't know if it will fit in the truck all at once though." Jack ended up just making two piles; his stuff in one corner and Ennis's in another.

"Bed's most important. We'll get that first. If we have any room left in the truck we can see about a chest. Or we can always make another trip." Ennis said as he dug around in their supplies and opened a couple cans of soup for lunch.

"We need to see about gettin some kerosene for the lamp and maybe another wick and some matches and some propane for the little stove." Jack sat himself down at the table and reached for his soup as Ennis handed it to him and sat down with his.

"I asked that old man at the used furniture place about a tractor and he said there's a place over west of town that's gonna have an auction come Saturday. They're sellin off everythin they got. We should check it out. Could be nothin but junk or it could be some fair stuff. He said it was the Miller place out on 331 about ten miles other side of 90. We should go see if we can get a look at the stuff, see if it's worth biddin on."

"Don't you think we should get new equipment? I mean, I still got some connections and could probably get it for dealer cost."

"New stuff always costs twice what its worth, Jack. Let's see first if we can find it used. The less money we spend right now, the more we'll have later on down the road when we need it."

"All right. We'll do it your way. You been doin real good for us so far. I ain't complainin." Jack carried his bowl out front where he had set up the wash tubs and had one half full of water. He swished his bowl and his coffee cup and then did the same with Ennis's and set them aside to dry.

The next trip into town, they went first to the hardware store and got another tent repair kit, kerosene, wicks and matches for the lamp, propane for their camp stove, a rasp for sharpening their tools and then headed for Sears. The bed was a lot more than Ennis thought it would be but Jack had been so willing to compromise on everything else he didn't have the heart to tell Jack no. So with their $800 bed in the back of the truck, they spent just a little more time in the linen department and picked up a mattress pad, two sets of sheets, a couple wool blankets and some pillows.

A thousand dollars spent just for their sleeping comfort and Ennis's head was spinning. Jack was smiling and in seventh heaven so Ennis had to go along with it all. Once they got back to their campsite and got the bed inside and put together; Ennis had to admit it was one luxury that they were surely going to enjoy. He just shook his head with affection as he dabbed the goo on the rest of the stitch holes and watched Jack make up the bed.

Ennis was washing up his hands when Jack called to him to come and take a look. Ennis walked back inside wiping his hands on his jeans and found Jack lying in the middle of the bed, naked.

"Now that's what I call a bed!" Ennis said as he tossed off his clothes and joined him.

An hour later, with their new bed christened, they headed back into town to the used furniture store. They found a small four drawer chest for $20 and talked him down to $15 and happily loaded it into the back of their truck. They decided they had time so they drove over to the Miller place and took a look around. There were big signs up every where that an auction was to be held on Saturday and that everyone was welcome to come in and take a look at what would be up for bid. They made their way through pickup trucks and other visitors and out to the barn where all the equipment was on display.

"Shit, Jack. This stuff don't look but a few years old; maybe four or five at the most. It's almost like new. Probably go pretty high."

"Maybe so; but wouldn't it still be cheaper than new?" Jack allowed.

"You're right about that, sure enough; but it may still be out of our range. I saw a coupla old tractors out behind that farm equipment dealer in town. Let's go see what they're askin for them. And we should get us a paper too. There might be something in the ads."

"All right. Sounds good. There's a paper rack over at Denny's."

"You hungry again already, Jack?"

"I'm always hungry, Ennis, for somethin or other." He grinned as they climbed back into their pickup.

"I can see that feedin you is gonna be a major part of our budget." Ennis grinned, not the least annoyed. "Let's go look at those old tractors and see what they're askin for 'em."

Jack turned the truck around and headed back into town.


"Shit, Ennis. This stuff looks like crap." Jack gave his considered opinion as they made their way around the old tractors.

"You got that right, Jack. That one over there is so old I bet it's ain't turned dirt in twenty years and look at this here; it's been so messed with by someone who didn't know what he was doin. Just look at all those extra wires there; I wouldn't start this thing up on a dare!"

They waved the salesman off and headed back to their truck. "Maybe biddin on that Miller stuff won't go too high." Ennis said hopefully as they pulled back out onto the road and headed for Denny's, supper and a newspaper.

"We gotta stop eatin here, Jack. I know the food is great and all but we got food back at camp."

"OK; we can start eatin there. We just needed to come here anyway to get a paper and it smelled so damn invitin."

"It does for sure but no more for now." Ennis said as they opened the paper and scanned the farm equipment ads.

They struck out. Nothing that they needed was for sale. They finished their meal and headed out. They had barely gotten inside before the rain started. They busied themselves with cleaning up the chest of drawers and deciding which corner in their 'bedroom' it should go in. Once decided, they wrestled over who was getting the top drawer, who was going to put their stuff in the drawers first; each hipping the other out of the way. Underwear flew across the room and rolled up socks became projectiles. They ended up wound tightly in each other's arms, halfway under the table.

"We just paid near a thousand dollars for that bed in there and here we are doin it on the floor!" Ennis pressed a kiss into the unruly brown mop of hair tickling his nose.
"Beds are mostly for sleepin. Sex is for anywhere and everywhere." Jack smiled up at him.

"I'll drink to that. Least I would have if we hadn't forgotten to hit the liquor store."

"Well we couldn't remember everything. We remembered the bed and the food. That's what was most important." Jack said and snuggled in closer.

"Yeah; you're right about that. We can get some next time we go to town. What do you say, we give that bed a tryout? See if it's any good for sleepin."

"Mmmmm I'm pretty comfortable right here."

"That's cause you're on top. I got a rock or somethin under my ass that's gonna leave a permanent mark if we don't get up pretty soon."

"Oh, why didn't you say so. C'mon. Let's go to bed." Jack got up, pulled Ennis to his feet and the two of them made their way into bed.