THE LAND FARMERS AND THE SAILOR BOYS
A Sort of Explanation
It should be understood that most of the boys involved in this story were the best of friends at school. An insult to one would be considered an ill-deed to all. However, the rivalry between the two Troops took precedence over that at weekends and holidays! Even Sam’s own brother, Vic, was a “Land Farmer“.
This rivalry was their reason for being, their entertainment and their excuse for tying one another up at any opportunity.
Both Troops were lucky:
• The Scouts (“Farmer Boys”) had a legacy of what was previously a Forest “cottage” surrounded by about a hectare of land. All that was left of the original cottage, which had burnt down, was the chimney. This had been built into the current training room. Further developments included a shower and toilet block and a small hostel.
• The Sea Scouts (“Sailor Boys”) had the legacy of a real Forest “hovel” or cottage, known as the Log Cabin. It had very few modern conveniences but had the advantage of being quite a distance from any public footpaths. It had an over-size wood burning grate and a traditional sleeping loft rather than a first floor. It also had a small galley. There was a large shed for storage purposes and a small plot of land, no more than a tenth of a hectare, for camping and other activities.
The Forest is an area of “open access” land in the South of England. Some of it is wooded (the Inclosures and Ancient Woodlands) but most of it is heathland and deep sphagnum bogs. The two HQ’s are about 5 km apart connected by a network of paths of various standards. The area between the Cottage and the Log Cabin is well wooded making it an ideal venue for the boys’ wide games.
The Negotiations
At the Cottage Vic’s phone gave two short pips. Looking at his phone he saw that he had a text message. Opening the message, which he noticed was from his brother, Sam, he read, “we got sumink u need. px on the way”. A little while later Sam had sent two pictures of a very uncomfortable and pissed-off looking Jamie. He was wearing only his underpants and was “sitting on the parrot perch”, almost totally immobilised with his head drawn down towards his raised knees denying him even the ability to look up. The final indignity was the way he had been gagged with one of his own football socks into which a rubber ball had been stuffed. The next text read, “u wanna trade? ring me”.
Vic immediately rang his brother who said that all he wanted was the return of their flag and the culprits “suitably packaged” and ready for punishment. Then they could have Jamie back that evening.
The Scouts needed to come to a decision. Fast!
The Buzzards needed Jamie if their weekend event was to go ahead. There was a problem: the Twins, who had stolen the Sea Scouts’ flag, had been grounded for the weekend by their parents and wouldn’t be around until Monday. Vic explained the situation on his mobile but Sam answered that that was tough and that they’d just have to keep Jamie as their “guest” until the culprits could be handed over on Monday.
Vic asked for time to make a deal. Sam told him he had until Monday!
Zac suggested that the Sailor Boys might be prepared to accept someone in place of Jamie as a hostage. A sort of “ng ng ng” noise came from Scott, who was hanging, gagged and in chains from a rail with his feet barely touching the floor. Wearing just his square-leg briefs, it was only too obvious that he was excited by the possibility of his being the hostage and wanted the others to know it.
“OK, OK, we get the idea, just turn around to face away from us; we don’t want to look at you in that state”, was George’s response. He was Scott’s best friend and well understood that Scott would do almost anything to experience different bondage situations. Scott tiptoed, with some difficulty, to face the other way.
“That’s all very well but who’ll deliver him and free Jamie?” asked Zac, a tall, blond 13 year old who, although he carried a fair bit of excess weight, was a good man in a fight. He knew that the “Postman” would be in danger of becoming a hostage himself.
Vic, a short, dark-haired boy with astonishing eyes that made all the girls’ knees go like jelly when they saw him, was always somewhat irresponsible but, although he often did risky things, he was not unintelligent. He said that he would take the hostage on the final stage because, if his brother had wanted him as a hostage, he would have got a couple of the Sailor Boys to help secure him at home earlier.
The Scouts thought that their offer was worth putting to the Sea Scouts so Vic went back on the phone. Sam put it to his Troop.
Before long the Sea Scouts sent their answer: “No Way!”
They argued that there were two culprits to be delivered so there should be two hostages. Besides, knowing him of old, they knew that Scott would enjoy being a hostage and that the Scouts would not need to bother rescuing him. Sam suggested that, if the Scouts could come up with a second hostage as well, then a deal might be possible.
The Final Arrangement
It was obvious that none of the Buzzards could be the extra hostage because it was their expedition that the Scouts were trying to save. As “Postman” Vic was out of the running. The only remaining candidates were Little Steve, George & Zac. The three boys were used to being tied up during games between the Troops but Little Steve was relatively new to the set-up. They decided to cut cards to decide who should be sacrificed. It would be a matter of honour to abide by the decision.
They decided upon aces high with the lowest cut being the loser. Little Steve (Big Steve is one of the Twins) shuffled the cards, George said when he should stop and Zac got first cut. He drew the eight of hearts and was feeling fairly confident. Steve drew the five of diamonds and hoped that George would be out of luck. George was relieved to draw the nine of spades. Steve accepted that he was to be the sacrificial victim. He had not been involved in this sort of game for as long as the others and, although he had enjoyed himself so far, he felt a certain sense of apprehension about this particular situation.
Vic was on the phone to his brother again. Sam agreed to accept the two hostages as long as Vic sent him pictures of both of them trussed up and gagged in a manner acceptable to the Sea Scouts before they delivered them. The Land Farmers would have to take their hostages through the Forest and deliver them to the Log Cabin. Other than the hostages only Vic would be allowed on to the property and he would have to untie Jamie having secured the hostages outside the Log Cabin.
Preparation
The Land Farmers were reluctant to deliver their ball gag and handcuffs to the Sailor Boys so Scott obviously had to be let out of the “wardrobe” and tied anew. He thought things were getting better and better!
George got the key and undid the padlock that fastened his friend into the chain that kept his heels from the floor and the ball gag fastened tightly into his mouth. Scott lost his balance and collapsed to the floor when he was released, his hands still cuffed behind him. By now he had hung there for well over an hour and needed release, not that he would ever have admitted it. George unlocked the handcuffs and gave Scott’s wrists a massage. Scott waggled his jaw and took a much needed drink of water from Zac. Zac gave him his lightweight boots to put on. There was no way two bound & gagged boys could have been taken through the Forest barefoot in a reasonable time and without injury.
Vic got two long, soft white ropes from stores. Once Scott had had a few minutes to visit the toilet and finish massaging his aching jaw and painful wrists, he submitted to the rope.
George tied a large, fixed loop in the middle of one of the ropes which only just fitted over Scott’s head. The two ends hung down behind his back. George knew that he didn’t need to be too gentle with his friend but he was thinking that he’d better be kinder to Steve when it was his turn. He tied both free ends together using a figure of eight knot at about the level where Scott’s elbows would be once they were pulled together behind his back. Zac then forced the victim’s elbows so close that they touched. He knew that to be possible due to Scott’s renowned suppleness. After applying several turns around Scott’s arms just above the elbows, George knotted the rope and moved down his forearms knotting it six more times ending at his wrists. The two loose ends were then threaded back up Scott’s forearms, pulling the previous ties tight, and knotted off well out of the reach of his fingers. This left Scott with his hands palm to palm and his forearms tied closely along their length. Scott was rather hoping that his thumbs would also be fastened with cable ties but it didn’t seem appropriate to ask so no one bothered.
Little Steve was watching the procedure with mixed emotions. He was hoping that, when it was his turn, it would not be too painful but he was strangely keen to experience the sensations caused by such restrictive bindings.
Little Steve was a ‘fly swimmer. Although one of the youngest and smallest members of the Troop, he was already developing the triangular body shape typical of such athletes. His broad shoulders made the spindly little legs that poked out from under any shorts that he was wearing look quite out of scale. As well as being a swimmer in training, Steve could climb like Spider Man. He had already stripped down to his knee length black & gold swimming shorts and his walking shoes.
“Sorry, Steve,” said George, even managing to make it sound like he meant it, “Your turn now.” He decided that both boys ought to be bound in the same manner but was worried about being as rough with Steve as he had been with Scott. He need not have worried. In spite of his broad shoulders Steve’s elbows still met behind him when Zac held them in place. Perhaps George didn’t quite tie the little guy as firmly along the forearms as he had Scott but he made sure that Steve was not going to escape from the knots that fastened his elbows and wrists. Steve wriggled to see if there was any relief to be found from the ropes but not with any real intention to escape.
The Scouts had put off gagging the hostages until the last minute. That minute had now come.
Zac found a large reel of grey gaffer tape in the stores and instructed Scott, “Lick your lips.” He then wound several layers of tape tightly round the hostage’s mouth and lower face in general and ripped the tape, pressing the loose end into place. A few more strips were fastened under Scott’s chin and a few more around his head to keep them in place. Scott was going to regret the long hair at the back of his neck later!
Steve saw what had happened to Scott and made a request. In spite of being one of the youngest members of the Troop, his blondeness concealed an incipient but certainly present moustache. He knew that, when a gag like the one that had just been applied to Scott was ripped from his face, it hurt!
Zac considered for a minute then came up with an idea. He put it to Steve who accepted it even though Zac pointed out that it would be more “uncomfortable” than simply being muzzled with Gaffer tape. Zac cut a straight stick from one of the nearby hazel trees. It was about 2.5 cms thick and he cut it to about 30 cm long. He stripped the bark from it and bound gaffer tape around the middle to form an oval pad. Steve submitted to having the resultant gag placed in his mouth. Zac then took some whip-cord and used it to pull the stick hard back into Steve’s mouth before tying it off round a padded neckerchief to try to avoid some of the pain of having thin cord digging into his victim’s neck. Steve was quite embarrassed about the muffled squeal that escaped as the cord was pulled tight. “You OK, Steve”, enquired Zac who wondered whether he had gone too far. An apologetic looking Steve looked up to him and nodded his head reassuringly.