Summer 2006

Of the thirty boys who attended Ride ‘Em Cowboy Ranch Camp each week, the majority spent only one or two weeks at camp each summer.  This meant that the beginners riding group (Level One) was always the largest, with boys of all ages.  The intermediate group (Level Two) was somewhat smaller, and had mostly older boys.  There were generally only six or eight boys in the advanced group (Level Three) each week, almost all twelve-year-olds.  And it was almost unheard of for anyone to pass all of the Level Three tests and move on to Level Four, the final CHA level.

At other horse camps, which served riders from the ages of 8 to 18, having Level Four riders was not uncommon.  At Ride ‘Em Cowboy Ranch Camp, where the oldest riders were only 12, however, it was so unusual that they didn't even have a name for this level, or any classes to go with it.

By their final summer at camp, though, Kurt and Blaine had managed to do what no other boys had done in over ten years.  Their extended stays each summer, combined with hard work and a fair amount of natural ability, had enabled them both to pass all of the advanced tests at the end of the previous year.  This left them in the unique position of being registered to spend an entire summer at a camp for which they had tested out of all of the available classes.

Kurt had conveniently neglected to mention this fact to his father, and Blaine hadn't told his parents, either.  In their letters, they planned out how they would spend the summer, completely unsupervised and doing whatever they pleased.  

Of course, things didn't turn out quite like that.

The first morning at camp, as the other boys were heading off for their classes, Uncle Mike pulled Kurt and Blaine aside.  “It's great to have you back,” he told them warmly, throwing an arm around each boy's shoulders.  “Now, lets sit down together and figure out what you're going to do all summer.”  

Although slightly lacking in the freedom they'd fantasized about, the plan they came up with suited Kurt and Blaine quite well.  It was decided that they would still take part in the advanced riding classes and trail rides, to provide models for the other boys and to keep their own skills honed.  

During the rest of the day, Kurt and Blaine would be working with young horses.  Ride ‘Em Cowboy Ranch Camp bred most of their own horses, and generally had three or four new foals each year.  This meant that they also had three or four young horses of each age – yearlings, two-year-olds, and three-year-olds – who needed to be schooled.

When the beginners group had their lessons and trail rides, Kurt and Blaine would join them, riding the three-year-olds, who had learned to accept riders, but who had never been ridden in a class or on the trail.  At other times, they would help get the foals used to being handled, the yearlings used to standing tied to be groomed, and the two-year-olds used to being saddled, bridled, and led.

It seemed as though Uncle Mike had forgotten about the hour a day that each group spent on chores (known to the campers as “poop picking duty”) and Kurt had no intention of reminding him.  At the last minute, however, Uncle Mike said, “Since you won't be with a group for chore time, we'll need to find you your own chores to do.”

Kurt groaned.

“What do you think about helping with the round-up each morning?” Uncle Mike asked.

“Yes!” Kurt shouted, at the same time that Blaine burst out with, “That would be awesome!”

“Now, before you go getting too excited,” Uncle Mike cautioned, “this means that you'll have to get up extra early every morning except Sundays.”

“No problem,” Blaine replied quickly, and Kurt nodded his assent.

Although Kurt and Blaine did find it a little difficult to drag themselves out of bed that first morning, they quickly got used to their new routine.  Kurt soon decided that those early morning rides were his favorites.  The gentle light, the fresh morning air, and the quiet (punctuated only by birdsongs and the soft nickering of horses) made his heart feel like it was expanding to cover the whole ranch.

The three sets of “horse whisperers” (as the riding, horsemanship, and horse sense instructors were known, to distinguish them from the counselors, who were known as “kid whisperers”) took turns on round-up duty.  None of them bothered with saddles, choosing to spend those precious extra minutes in bed rather than tacking up their horses.  After the first week, Kurt and Blaine decided that it made more sense to go bareback as well.

Each morning, before breakfast, they would head out into the 600-acre pasture in search of the herd.  As soon as they spotted the horses, the four riders would circle around behind and to one side.  Then, at a pre-arranged signal, they would begin whooping and charging at the herd, driving the horses forward and toward the nearest fence line.  Once the herd reached the fence, it was easy to position two riders beside them to hold them together, and two riders behind to keep them moving.  By the time they reached the wide-open gates of the corral, the other horse whisperers would have tossed out enough evenly-spaced flakes of alfalfa to convince the horses that it was worth coming in for breakfast.

For the first couple of weeks, the instructors split Kurt and Blaine up, each adult pairing up with one of the boys to make sure they knew what to do and how to do it safely.  Pretty soon, though, Kurt and Blaine were able to convince them that they were ready to tackle the job of pushing the horses from behind (the easier task, since the horses were more likely to try to make a break for it by swerving sideways rather than by turning completely around) on their own.

Everything went smoothly until one fateful morning late in August.  Kurt and Blaine were cantering along behind the herd when Blaine's horse suddenly stepped into a nest of ground-dwelling wasps.  The yellow jackets came swarming out, stinging Blaine's horse, who began bucking furiously.  Bareback, with nothing to hang on to, Blaine was quickly thrown over his horse's head, landing on the ground with a hard thud.

As his horse raced off after the herd, pursued by the wasps, Blaine lay unmoving on the ground.  Kurt immediately leapt off of his own horse, pulling the reins over her head in one swift motion and flinging the ends on the ground with a firm command to “Stand.”

Kurt dashed over to Blaine, noting with horror that he appeared to be unconscious.  “Blaine!” he cried, kneeling down beside his friend, “Can you hear me?”

When there was no response, Kurt frantically tried to remember what he'd learned about First Aid and CPR in his sixth-grade health class.  Placing his fingers against Blaine's neck, he was relieved to feel a steady pulse.  However, Blaine did not seem to be breathing.

Kurt couldn't remember the exact steps for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but he knew he had to get air into Blaine's lungs.  Bending his head over Blaine's, Kurt was just about to bring their lips together when Blaine gasped and opened his eyes.

“Blaine!” Kurt cried, throwing his arms around his friend.  “Are you okay?”

Blaine groaned, then nodded.  “I think so,” he said. Then he gave Kurt an unreadable look.  “Were you going to kiss me?”

Kurt blushed.  “You weren't breathing,” he explained.  “We learned about rescue breathing in health class, and I thought you needed it.”

Several emotions that Kurt couldn't identify seemed to pass quickly over Blaine's face.  “I'm okay,” he said finally.  “I just had the wind knocked out of me.”

“Do you think you can get up?” Kurt asked. 

Blaine nodded, and Kurt helped him to his feet. 

Looking around, Kurt was surprised to discover that, aside from his horse (who, thank heaven, was good about ground-tying, and hadn't budged from where he'd left her) the boys were alone.  Blaine's horse, fleeing the wasps, had effectively kept the herd moving.  David and Ryan, their riding instructors, wouldn't notice anything was wrong until they reached the corral.

Kurt walked back to his horse, praising her effusively for standing still while the other horses disappeared.

“Do you think you can ride?” he asked Blaine.

“Yeah, if you help me get on.”

Kurt laced his fingers together to make a step for Blaine.  Then Blaine helped to pull Kurt up behind him.

Together, the boys rode slowly back toward camp.  They had never ridden double before, and Kurt wasn't sure how he felt about doing so now.  His brain was filled with worries (did Blaine have any broken bones? should Kurt not have moved him?) while his body was reacting in unexpected ways to the feeling of Blaine's body pressed flush against his, shifting with each movement of their horse.

Kurt was saved from what he was sure was about to be certain death from spontaneous combustion by the arrival of David and Ryan, both of whom looked relieved to see the boys.  Sliding down from his horse with a mixture of relief and regret, Kurt walked over to explain the situation.

While Ryan rode back to camp with Blaine, David asked Kurt to show him the location of the wasp's nest, so that he could come back to take care of it later.  Riding double behind David, Kurt couldn't help but notice how different it felt than riding double with Blaine.  Sitting behind Blaine had felt so much better, and at the same time, so much more disturbing.  Was it normal to feel this way about your best friend?

Although the thought had never crossed his mind before, Blaine's question – “Were you going to kiss me?” – kept running through Kurt's head.

The remainder of that week – their final week of camp for the summer – their final week of camp forever – was torture for Kurt.  His feelings about Blaine were so confusing.  Kurt felt like a frayed rope in the midst of a three-way tug-of-war between his heart and his head and his body. 

It was almost with relief, therefore, that Kurt finally said goodbye to Blaine, not knowing if he'd ever see his best friend again.