"You got me broke 'n' brokenhearted 

You took me and you shook me cold..."

        To say that Jackson was shocked to see a half "horse teeth" scurrying around his ranch is an understatement. He was absolutely surprised, so much so that he lost his balance and almost fell off Jake. 

        Jackson would not have recognized him had he not given his dazzling smile and called him pup. The boy had changed, drastically. The chubby cheeks were gone, only a slight trace of what was there remained on his face. His eyes looked sharp and when he took off the hat, his fierce red hair finally bushed out and for a second, Jackson had to hold his breath to take the whole of  the other guy. He wanted to keep on staring at that face but he spoke and told Jackson to go finish the race. And Jackson did. He reached the ground, the designated end of the race. He finished first and people who had bet on him crowded around him to cheer. The girl wearing tight shorts (who Jackson had clearly eyed earlier that evening) blew him kisses but Jackson failed to catch it. He was too busy to to search for the recently familiar mop of red hair. 

        He looked around but couldn't find him. He even rode to the lake in the hope of seeing him, but he didn't. Finally he gave up after having failed to spot the guy. Jackson did not exactly know why he wanted to see him though. He was not even sure about what he'd say to him once they met. But it was like he was feeling thirsty, his throat was going all dry, but the water and the beer he was drinking was not helping at all. Only the sight of the other could quench it. And when his thirst couldn't be quenched, when he couldn't find his horse teeth, he felt like he had been abandoned all over again. 

        When he was riding back home, he noticed someone running here and there in his ranch. Taking it to be some burglar, Jackson stealthily approached the figure, who he noticed had no shirt on. When he reached nearer, he saw horse teeth running around, counting and checking on the sheep. As he moved forward to confront the guy, he almost choked on the oxygen he was breathing. He felt like his heart would explode if he would go anymore near so he halted. He changed his path and rode to the stable instead, which was in the opposite direction. He was an idiot, really. Just a while ago, he had been earnestly looking for this person all over his locality and when he finally saw him around his own home, he couldn't collect the courage to talk to him. 

        After he kept Jake in his place, he entered his home. He met his parents on the dining table. He sat and blurted out quite suddenly, "Pops, do you know that there is a half man running around our ranch?" "Oh! You've not met him right? I had asked him to check the herd once before going to sleep. That's Mark by the way, the fellow I hired do do the ranching business. You see, this man is getting old now. I need some rest. He is going to manage the herd. You'll help him." 

      Jackson softly repeated the name "Mark" and it felt funny in his tongue. But it excited him. It was like years of his fascination finally had a name and a face. His reverie was disturbed by his father's sharp voice, "The bloke's going to stay in the basement. Meet him tomorrow morning and explain his task to him." Jackson stood up and left for his room with a soft 'okay'. He closed his door and peeked from his window to find Mark walking towards the house with a shirt in hand. He quickly left his spot with a fear of being caught and fell on his bed. He crawled to rest his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. "Mark" he whispered to himself  and only after a while did he realise that he was smiling like a fool.

      And if that night, Jackson dreamt of green fields under blue sky with neighing horses, it was Mark's fault, not his.

       Jackson felt unnecessarily nervous the next morning. He had not been this nervous in his entire life. Not when he was performing for the first time in the church choir. Not when he had broken the window pane and he was sure to get a beating from his father. Not when he had failed maths and had to show the report card to his mother. Never. But the thought of meeting Mark as an employer made his heart beat faster than the normal rate in an exceptional way. 

       Mark was sipping tea when Jackson entered the kitchen. He looked up from his cup as Jackson walked towards the table and sat beside his father. "Mark. This is my boy Jackson. Teach him some rowdiness of a cowboy, yeah?" Jackson's father said patting his shoulder. Mark finally placed his cup down on the table and replied, "Sure Mr.Wang. I see your boy's got great potential. He's gonna be a tough one." 

       "Okay boys. Now go take that mothering herd to graze somewhere. They've started to get into my nerves with their incessant bleating." Mr.Wang said getting up from the table, walking towards the living room to watch T.V. Mark too stood up and motioned Jackson to follow, "Let's go pup." After they reached the stable, Mark immediately went in to choose a horse for himself, out of four, excluding Jake. He waited outside for Jackson, who appeared some time later with Jake. He stood in front of Mark and said, "Meet my mate, Jake. Jake, this is horse teeth." 

         "When will you stop calling me that?" Mark said chuckling. "Let's see... How about when you stop calling me pup. Or how about... never?" Jackson replied with a mocking face. 

      "Okay, okay. Jackson. Let's have a truce. Let's go for one formal introduction yeah?" Mark said while extending his hand for a shake. "I'm Mark. Mark Tuan. I was living in Texas and managing someone's ranch there. But my father wanted me to stay in my hometown. So I came here." Jackson reached out to his hand and shook it with a straight face, "Jackson Wang." He felt Mark's hand, callousness dripping from them, result of hard work and labour. His hand was hard, and the grip he hand on Jackson's nearly frightened him of the other's strength. 

        The two made their way to the nearby hill with the herd. After reaching the place, they let the sheep do what they want and they themselves sat in the shade of a tree. 

The day was bright with blue sky. There were some scattered clouds though. Mark was busy carving something on the bark of the tree while Jackson was resting his head on the tree trunk and aimlessly staring at the clouds, which looked like careless painting on a wide blue canvas. Jackson could make out a rabbit in a speck of cloud. "Hey! See there's a rabbit!" Jackson excitedly said. But by the time Mark finished giving a last touch to his art and followed Jackson's gaze, the rabbit had disappeared. "I see nothing." He deadpanned. It disappointed Jackson. It disappointed him like eight years ago. And just like that he asked out of the blue, "Mark, I waited for you by the lake. But you didn't come." 

      Mark's eyes widened in visible shock. It took a while for Mark to understand what the other was talking about and when he did, he pressed his lips together. He then said with a slight stutter, "As far as I remember, you were the one who didn't show up." Jackson sat upright from his leaning position to look at Mark. "But the next day was Sunday and I had to go to church. But I did come on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday too. But..." It was Mark's turn to lean on the tree trunk as he replied looking at the sky, "I had to leave with my father on Monday. We had to leave for Canada. And I forgot about the incident once I reached the new place. It was only yesterday I remembered you again, after I saw your childhood picures on the living room wall, when I went to see your father." 

          Jackson felt...thwarted. The two words "I forgot" rung in his ears like the Sunday mass bell and he felt like someone had just kicked him in the gut. Jackson knew it was inappropriate for him to feel so. But he felt like he had been betrayed by Mark.He didn't think about Mark often.But the thoughts of the strong boy sometimes crossed his mind. He used to wonder if they would ever meet again. Mark to him was like heaven was for believers. He knew the other was somewhere out there in some part of the earth, but he also knew there was no solid possibility of him seeing the boy again. And this feeling at some point had converted into a feeling of yearning and whenever Jackson thought of Mark, he wanted to see him. But Mark on the other hand was completely oblivious of how Jackson felt. He kept him waiting like a fool and easily forgot about him. 

         It wasn't Mark's fault either that Jackson felt that way. But somehow Jackson did. Somehow the fifteen year old Mark had made a huge impression on a twelve year old Jackson and it stayed. It stayed all along the years Mark's little lost pup grew up into a strong wolf and yet, it was not his fault. 

       But seeing Mark after many years, with his rugged nature and tough character, Jackson could only feel like being cheated when the other told him he'd forgotten about him. 

       Jackson didn't know how it felt to be heartbroken. But he sure knew what he was feeling right now was a peek into it. 

Author's Note: Hello people. Finally chapter two. I'm sorry for the foul language but I guess this goes with the rowdy cowboy tradition. I have planning to make slow progression of the plot but I don't know if I'llsucceed :D

Hope you like the chapter.