Jennifer : 13 - New Horizon (Both Genders)

[Soraka]

Jennifer's stories
13 - New Horizon
Story index at the bottom

By Jennifer

Alright everyone, I thought about jumping between my younger and older stories again, but I realized that I need to cover two series of events to help get the background into it. This will be the first of those two since it happened before the other one. While my initial tie up game skills came from my family and that is where most of my games took place early in my life. When I got a little older I broadened my horizons and played more games with my friends. I belonged to a couple of clubs growing up on and off, but most of them didn't have too many tie up experiences. However, there was one that both sharpened my skills significantly on the subject and turned into an outlet for a whole bunch of new experiences. More so than any other. This is going to sound a little strange, but the groups was the Scouts, more specifically the Boy Scouts of all things. I was never really a girl scout as a kid, but I had quite a bit of experience with my brother's troop growing up.

I am sure some of you are sitting there trying to sort all of this out. I joined up as a venture scout with my two older brothers when I was 14. It is a coed programs that the Boy Scouts run with a higher focus on high adventure and learning about life for the older kids. It runs all the way to age 21. However, my experiences with the boy scouts began when I was much younger, namely during the summer that I was nine. It is a complex explanation, but as this next set of stories offers, you will all be able to understand it fully. I really never was a 'Scout' until I turned 14, more of just a little sister who got to tag along sometimes. Still, I always felt like one of the group and the other boys in the troop made me feel comfortable with the whole idea. Nothing even remotely inappropriate happened during my time with it. However, my brother's troop was very good with rope work. I was a quick learner from them and a skilled participant on more than one occasion. Well, I could sort this out all day, but the story does a better job so without further interruption, here we go.

It was a warm and bright Monday evening in early July the Summer that I was nine. My mother and Mary were out at the moment running a few errands. My father had come home from work and made us dinner for the evening early that night around 5 o’clock as he always did on a Monday. My mother and older sister were long overdo as I sat in the living room watching the clock turn slowly towards the time that I dreaded approaching. Sean was sitting at the kitchen table with Scott going through their books and making sure everything was ready for the meeting that night. Every Monday evening, my brother had a Scout meeting with a local troop they had joined. Sean had been with them for several years and Scott had been a cub scout for the last two with the pack that was directly connected to the troop. My younger older brother had crossed over to join Sean in the boy scout towards the end of the last spring when the groups both rechartered. It had been a fancy ceremony and everything. Personally, I found both of the clubs dreadfully dull to attend at all since they were a boys organization and I was girl. Luckily I didn't get dragged along too often to these affairs unless it was a special occasion.

Both the pack and the troop met at a local church that was about a 15 minute drive from our home. The boys scouts met on Mondays and the cubs met on Wednesdays. Either way I usually was able to dodge having to go most of the time. With both Mary and Sean old enough to baby-sit, and the meetings taking place after my parents usually got home, I usually got to stay home with someone else. However, Sean couldn't watch me since he was going and the two other adults in my family weren't home yet. The plan was that they would get back in time to stay home with me, but it was looking more and more like that was not going to happen. It was already 6:20 on the clock in the living room and they were still absent. My dad came in and looked down at where I was sitting. "Sorry Jen, it looks like your mom and sister just are not home yet and we need to leave in a few minutes. Your too young to leave home alone, so you will have to come along with us for a while. I'll leave a note for your sister to come and pick you up when she gets home, but you should get ready to go now or we'll be late."

I didn't reply at all, I had this conversation with my father before and I knew that every argument that I could launch would just lead to a dead end. I hopped down off of the couch and headed over towards the door to retrieve some sandals to wear. I found a set and strapped them on overtop of my bare feet after I shed my house slippers leaving them by the door. I was wearing a short sleeved pink sundress with a floral print that fell just below my knees and a set of ribbons set back a little ways into my hair. My dad looked over at me with a wide smile. He was probably glad that I gave up without a fight. He really didn't need the stress right now as he had a lot on his mind. My mother was pregnant with Mary and he was leaving with my brothers on a camping trip this weekend. They were going canoeing with their boy scout troop.

Dad called me to join him and my brothers in the car and the four of us headed out and off to the meeting. I just looked out the window towards the pretty sunset. I had a book with me, but it wouldn't prove much of an interest. More of a distraction until my mother or sister came to get me. I didn't have time to fetch my game boy, but it would do in a pinch. The meeting was long during the summer. It ran from 7 to 9 pm and would probably run latter that evening because my brothers' patrol was having a canoe trip that weekend. I was glad that I wouldn't have to stay for the whole thing, but never the less I was along for at least the first part of it. My older brother Sean was a Patrol leader and he had allowed Scott to join his patrol along with some of the new boys. A patrol is a smaller groups of 6 to 10 scouts in a troop meant to be a combined unit. They would camp and compete as a group at campouts and other events. The troop kept a mix of the older and younger boys together in each group so the more experienced one could teach the newer ones. It also balanced the strengths for team competitions between patrols.

My father was an Assistant Scout master in the troop along with several of the other dads. He was the more active parent in the organization. My mother helped out and provided a ride from time to time, but mostly it was my father who went camping and oversaw the boys in the activities. The car pulled into the church parking lot and my dad turned off the engine. After a few moments of fiddling with my harness, I was loose and the four of us headed inside the building to attend the meeting. The troop was comprised of about 40 boys of varying ages between 10 and 16 mostly. They were divided into five patrols each of a mixed age group. Aside from the main scoutmaster and my father. There were roughly another dozen or so adult leaders in the troop. Usually, at least 7 or 8 of them made it to each of the meetings. I followed my father and brother's inside the hall of the church where the meetings took place. There were 6 rows of chairs set up for the boys and a large table in front of the group where the scout master and one of the older boys sat.

My dad took me to a folding chair towards the rear of the room and told me I could wait their until my sister or mother showed up to pick me up. I sat and began reading from my book and a few minutes later the meeting started. Two boys walked in carrying flags in front of them. One had an American flag and the other carried another flag with the scouting emblem and the troops number on it. They paraded in and set the two flags into stands on either side of the table. The scout master rose and asked everyone to rise for the pledge of allegiance. (The scoutmaster is the head leader for the adults supervising the activities.) I stood up and recited the pledge with everyone else. My father had taught me the importance of this part of the ceremony as an American citizen and I soon learned that I was required to take part at least in the that capacity. The scout leader excused the rest of us. which consisted of myself and two mothers staying for their son’s meetings to sit down. Then, the boys and adult leaders recited a few other oaths about walking the straight and narrow. Then, everyone sat down.

After the opening was done, the senior patrol leader, (kind of like the president of most other clubs) stood up and began to conduct the meeting. He started out talking about some things that were coming up on the calendar including the coming up campout for my brothers' patrol and a few other boys who would be joining them. Then he went into what each part of the group would be doing for the rest of the meeting. The younger scouts were going to learn a few skills towards advancement, and the older ones going on the campout were going out the storage shed near the church to pack up the gear for the weekend. There were some other things too, but I was trying to read my book so I didn't pay much attention to the happenings of the meeting. After about 15 minutes or so, all the scouts went their separate ways and began working on the activities of the evening. I just sat and read my book for a few more minutes at least. Mary or my mother would be along soon enough to collect me and I could go home from the meeting. However, another 15 minutes went by and there was no sign of either of them. I had stopped reading 5 minutes earlier bored with the story. Mostly because it was a book I had to read for school over the summer. My eyes darted around the room looking out of boredom. Then, something caught my eye.

Off in one corner of the room Scott and a group of the 5 youngest scouts were gathered around in a semicircle with one of the older boys. They each had a piece of rope about 5 feet in there hands and they were busy tying the ends of the them together over and over again. Anything that involved ropes and tying always peeked my interest as a kid. Bored as I was with plenty of time on my hands I decided to go over and investigate what was happening. I rose from the chair and walked over casually staring at the older boy as he demonstrated how to tie a knot for the younger boys. I watched as the group continued for work for another two or three minutes. The older scout was showing the younger ones a couple of the basic knots that they needed for a rank advancement in the troop. I watched from a distances fascinated by their movements. Then, the older boy teaching caught sight of me and stopped to address my presence to the group.

"And who are you? I am trying to teach a lesson here is there something that you need help with?" The older boy asked looking at me. My brother came to my aid and broke the ice introducing me to the rest of the circle. "That's just my sister Jennifer. She came along tonight since my mother didn't get home from shopping yet." Scott finished. The other boys took a moment and introduced themselves to me one at a time. "So, what do you want?" The oldest boy asked again rephrasing his previous question trying to get the point of the interruption. "I was just curious what you were doing with the ropes over here, that is all. I know how to tie a few knots, but I haven't seen too many of those before." The older boy dropped his gaze of annoyment with me and changed his expression to a more pleasant one. "Well then, why didn't you just say so. You can pull up a chair and join us if you want to." I took the boy up on his offer and drew one of the near by empty chairs onto the outside of the semi circle.

Once I was seated, the boy teaching the lesson handed me a piece of rope and picked up where he left off. He slowly worked his way through a basic knot showing each step in it's construction. I followed along and quickly realized that I had seen this one before. It was a common knot that Sean sometimes used to finish off a tie on me. It usually proved troublesome to untie, but after a few minutes I began to understand why it would. The particular knot he was showing us double back on itself to prevent slipping unlike the usual square knot that I like knew how to tie. It took me a few tries at working the rope, but I soon figured out the pattern of tucks and loops to produce the knot. Most of the younger boys weren't doing much better.

Tying knots. as most people who are involved with our type of lifestyle know, can be a really tricky business if your not well trained in it. Even some of the simple ones can be pretty confusing to a novice on the subject. After a minute or two of work, my efforts were rewarded and I managed to tie the knot successfully. Afterwards I undid it and retied it a couple of more time committing it deep into my memory for future use. Rope work would be one of the more practical applications that I would gain from my experiences here. Upon seeing my success and their failures, several of the boys turned their eyes towards me to see if they could siphon the secret of the matter from my example. One of the boys even introduced himself. "Sheesh your pretty good at this for a girl. Your doing a lot better than I am with this." The boy continued with another compliment and introduced himself a little more formally to me as Brandon. He asked if I could show him how it was done and I was only to happy to prove that my side of the gender could do this just as well as them.

Brandon was a small boy, probably the same age as Scott at the time. He kept his dark brown hair cut very short. He was wearing a light green t-shirt with the troops number and the scouting symbol on it. He had a brown eyes and a quiet reserved mannerism to his personality. I took a few moments and went over the knot with him in the way it made sense to me. A couple of the other boys in the group watched and Brandon and another one picked it up from my lead. Two of the other boys didn't succeed as well as Brandon and the other boy did. Out of frustration, one of the other boys spoke up a little angry at my success. "Who cares? So the little girl can tie an knot and we cannot. After all, there really isn't any thing that this is used for in the real world is there? Why do I have to know this?" His tone was deep and frustrated for his younger age. The older boy teaching the lesson began to explain that simpler knots were part of more complex structures and we need to learn the basics before he we learned the advanced ones. However, the other member of my family present in the group had a much more convenient use for the knot he had just learned. Scott was more than happy to share his idea with the group.

"You guys should know that this knot and many other knots have a great deal of uses. For example, this knot is perfect if you want to tie up your annoying little sister. Especially when she won't keep her big mouth shut." Scott looked down and me and suddenly all the arguing ceased. I had become the focus of everyone's attention. "How about a demonstration?" One of the other scouts suggested looking and Scott. My brother was only too happy to oblige. I wasn't sure how to react at first, but when my brother circled around me and began taking hold of my hands, I just did what I usually did. I cooperated and allowed him to pull my arms around behind my back. Scott wasted no time in putting my wrists parallel to each other. He took a length of rope maybe 6 or 7 feet in length and began to form horizontal coils around my wrist pulling them together. After a good 7 or 8 turns of the rope, he cinched the center of the tie off between my hands to tighten it down. Finally, he tied the tie off with the knot we had just learned. But, he wasn't quite finished yet. He still had about a foot of rope trailing from the end of the tie. He pulled it downwards behind the chair and tied it off to one of the support bars that ran between the two rear legs of the chair.

The boys looked on not quite sure how to react. I gave the ropes a few hard tugs and pulled my wrists against each other. The tie was pretty effective and held my hands solid. Getting out would take some time at least. However, Scott still wasn't done yet. My brother helped himself to a second piece of rope and circled around to the front of my chair. "Now, if your tying up your annoying little sister, you need to make sure that you also tie up her feet or she might escape." With that, he repeated the tie in the same style as my hands and tied the tail off to the cross bar on the front of the chair. Once he finished, my brother stepped back to admire his handy work and take credit for keeping his little sister in line. He smiled down at me and I looked back up at him. I was the center of attention of the small group in it's entirety now. I decided to put on a demonstration of my brother's skills for them. I began to struggle against my ropes and see if I could free myself.

What followed were a series of hard tugs and pulling trying to free myself. Despite all my jerks and squirming, the ropes stayed secure and I couldn't free myself directly. My brother stood back and sucked up the credit for his fine work. After a few minutes of struggling I allowed myself a moment to rest and admitted that I couldn't get free on my own. There were quite a few smiles in the group about the success and I suppose a few questions had been answered. Suddenly, the scout master stood up and announced that it was time to move onto the next section of the meeting. Sadly, our little group had to disperse, but that left them with the question of my perdicament. Brandon was the first to voice in favor of my aid. "I guess we have to untie her now don't we guys?" There were looks of mixed expressions and uncertainty. I really didn't care either way. This was the most fun that I had ever had at one of these meetings and I really didn't want it to end so soon. On the other hand, I didn't want to get my brother or the other boys in trouble. Still, Scott provided the best answer. "Nah, leave her alone for a little while longer. Maybe she will learn not to be so annoying. We'll come back and untie my sis in a little while he said giving me a quick wink."

I pretended to be a little annoyed with the suggestion and told them that I didn't need their sympathy and that I would escape on my own. The rest of the group just shrugged and went to their separate patrols for the patrol meeting segment of the evening. They left me alone tied to the folding chair in the middle of the church hall. Once I was left to my own devices, I struggled a little bit more on and off just to test the feeling of the ropes. After a little better study of the situation, I figured that I could engineer an escape if I wanted to. However, I opted not to. I was having fun with the whole situation and it was more interesting than sitting around reading a book anyway I looked at it. Besides Scott was getting a boon out of it and I didn't see any harm in that. A few of the adults had seem me by now, but since I was showing any signs of distress none of them took action to really help me. It was a good lesson about the indifference of the troop to things like this. So, I just sat there and enjoyed my perdicament until I was interrupted.

I was probably tied up for about 15 minutes when a familiar voice startled me as it filtered down over my shoulder. "Well little sister, I see you are making new friends here." I looked up to see Sean standing behind me. After recovering from the shock I looked up and asked him what he wanted. "I know your having fun, but Mary is outside waiting for you. Dad sent me in to get you and Scott we need to talk about something now." The normal joking tone from his voice was absent and I could tell this was serious. I nodded and Sean untied me from the chair over the course of the next few minutes. Once I was free he led the way out of the church out to the parking lot where some of the boys from his patrol were sorting through the gear. Mary and my father were with them and they had a difficult look on their face. I followed silently behind my brother as we came to meet up with the two of them. Scott was in close proximity as well. Sean must have dispatched him first.

My father started the conversation. "Guys, I have some bad news that I thought I would share with all of you. I won't be going camping with you this weekend after all." Sean and Scott both looked at my father with a combination of disappointment and shock. "I am sorry, but I am going to have to stay home with Jennifer this weekend. You two can still go on the trip, but your going to have to do it without me. I am needed here." The conversation continued and my father apologized to both of my brothers. They had been looking forward to this for some time. The outing was the yearly canoe trip and he wanted to go with them. Mary took the floor of the conversation and began explaining why. I am going to save so dialogue that I cannot remember and just give the short explanation. My sister was in college at the time of this incident, and they were having trouble with her financial aid. She had a few scholar ships and took out several loans student loans to cover the rest of it. It turned out that my mother and her needed to go down to the college to sort it all out so that she would be able to attend in the following fall.

It would be an all day event and my mother believed that my absence would make it go easier. So, she asked Mary to inform my father that he need to watch me this weekend. There were quite a few apologies especially from Mary and my father. It was the last thing that any of us wanted to have happen that weekend. I felt like quite bad that I would be taking my father away from my brothers that weekend. But, everything in life has its order of importance and there was no question about where the priority lied in this matter. I asked my dad if there was someone I could stay with either Shelly or Amber. However, he didn't want to burden either of their families on such short notice. It was a difficult situation any way that you sliced it. My father made his mind that he was just going to skip the camping trip and stay home with me. It was the easiest course of action and made the most sense. Mary offered to take me home and I took her up on her offer.

The ride home was a sad one for me. I didn't like having to put my brothers in this situation. Mary spent most of the time riding home explaining the situation to me in less complicated terms. It wasn't her idea of a good time either, but she if she wanted to finish college she really didn't have a choice in the matter. We arrived home in the same amount of time that it took us to make the original trip. Mary parked the car and I unstrapped myself and followed her inside the house. The two of us walked into the kitchen where my mother was sitting at the table. It was getting late and my mother suggested that I get ready for bed. My bed time was later during the summer than it was during the rest of the year. But, I had a routine of winding down for the night. Plus, I could tell from the mannerism that my mother mad the suggestion by that she wanted to talk with Mary in my absence. I departed from the kitchen and set about getting ready for bed.

I began with a warm bath. It felt good to sit in the warm water and relax a little bit after such an ordeal. I took my time and let my thoughts wander about what was going on. After a while I began to get wrinkly from soaking in the water for so long, I got out and started getting ready for bed, I slipped into a long light blue night gown with long sleeves that went down to my ankles. I added my character slippers over my bare feet and set about the rest of my routine. They were the padded animal kind that covered the whole foot. My slippers had large heads of Tweety from the Bugs Bunny cast on the fronts with the little sock tops around the ankles. I brushed my teeth and arranged my hair the way that I liked it. After about 40 minutes or so total I exited the bathroom in by night wear. I padded my way down the hallway to my room and entered for the evening.

I still had about an hour before my bedtime, but I was tired and I still needed to get situated for the evening. My parents trusted me to put myself to bed as I usually went a normal time. My bed time was just a relative factor they used as a polite reminder. I was usually asleep before then anyway. I was always close with my siblings, and it bothered me when they were unhappy. Sean and Scott had been looking forward to going camping with dad for a while now. He had taken the weekend off from work especially so he could go. Originally, I was going to stay home with my mother and Mary which, was fine with me. But that had all changed now. I unrolled my covers and laid them at the bottom of my bed. I headed over to the chest of drawers and retrieved two short lengths of rope. I was upset at the moment and I had trouble falling asleep when I was. There was something about being tied up that normally calmed me down. So, I decied to add a few ropes to my night time routine. I hopped up into the bed and began to uncoil the first group of rope.

I sat back towards the top of my bed and drew my knees up against my chest comfortably. I then proceeded to bind my ankles together overtop of my slippers. My outfit was probably a little warm for summer to most people. However, I never really slept barefoot as a kid and I preferred longer pajamas all year round. Once my feet were tied I slipped my legs over the side of the bed and took a few short hops across the room. I shut the door quietly and flipped off the light switch. There was still enough daylight coming through the single window in the room from the setting sun. At least enough to guide me safety back across the room. I climbed back into bed and lifted my bound legs off the floor. I pulled the covers back up to my waist. Then I picked up the second coil of rope. With the aid of my teeth, I tied my own hands together in front of me with a few wraps and a cinches. It wasn't the best job I had ever experienced, but it was sufficient. I wasn't about to bug Mary over tying my hands and my brother weren't back yet. Sometimes they ran late the night before a campout. I pulled the covers up and laid down working everything into it's final position. Then, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I was a little startled when I next awoke to the whisper in my ear. "Hey Jen, you need to wake up little sister." At the same time I felt a hand gently prodding me in the shoulder. My eyes opened slowly as I looked up at Sean who was standing over me looking down next to the bed. I let out a silent yawn and returned my brother's gaze with partially open eyes. "I know it's late, but Mom and Dad need to talk you for a moment about this weekend. Think you can wake up for a few minutes." I nodded and started to sit up. Sean backed away to give me some room. I shifted the covers off of myself and swung my feet onto the floor. Then, I stood upright and steadied myself a little bit. That’s, when I made the biggest mistake of the day and tried to take a step forward. I forgot about the ropes around my ankles completely and fell directly forward. Luckily Sean took a step forward and kept me from going all the way down. He gave me a quick laugh and said I should be more careful. I smiled back and asked him to help me up.

Instead of bringing me upright, Sean wrapped his right around my back to support my weight. Then, he took his other arm and lifted me up underneath my knees. With a simple amount of strength he lifted me off of the floor and held me crooked in his arms. With that the two of us exited the room and headed down the hallway towards the kitchen. When we arrived, the rest of the family was assembled. Scott moved ahead of me to pull a chair out. Sean deposited me gently into the chair and set me down. My hands and feet were still bound the way I had arranged them before I went to bed. For most normal families, this would be a weird sight I am sure. But nobody who was present gave it a second thought. In fact, a little while after we finished talking, Sean just scooped me back up and took me back into my room. There he sat me on the edge of the bed and retied my hands so they would be a little more secure. Then my older brother tucked me in and wished me good night. This was just a normal part of my bedtime routine when I chose it to be.

Well, back to the present part of the story. I sat bound hand and foot at the head of the table. My father looked down and began to address me. He began the conversation reiterating the fact that Mary and my mother were going out the college on Saturday. They didn't have much choice in the matter, which didn't leave him a whole lot of choice about staying home to watch me. Or at least that was the original plan. There are a lot of times that I cannot remember exactly what was said in a story, but I will never forget the next sentence that came out of my father's mouth. "Jennifer, how would you feel about going camping with the boy scouts this weekend?" . . . . . .

Well, I will leave the story there for now. There really isn't much to tell. I guess it's one of my classic leave it hanging endings, but my opening probably gives always my answer. There really isn't much to tell. After Sean put me back in bed I went to sleep and the next relevant part of the story didn't take place until the weekend of the trip. However, it was a weekend that I would never remember.

Jennifer

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Jennifer's stories

• 01 - My First Time (f/mf)
• 02 - Trying New Things: Breakfast with Mom (Fm/f)
• 03 - A Walk in the Park (mm/f)
• 04 - The Pole and the Dungeon (m/f)
• 05 - A long camping trip (mmf/f)
• 06 - One Rainy Day at Home (m/f)
• 07 - Winter Vacation at Grams (both genders)
• 08 - A Long Weekend tied up (F/f)
• 09 - Shopping with Mom (F/f)
• 10 - My New Friend (m/f)
• 11 - The Bike Trip (m/f)
• 12 - Sharing With Friends (Ffff/fff)
• 13 - New Horizon (Both Genders)
• 14 - A Trip to My Aunts (mFF/f)
• 15 - A Second Christmas Story (mmff/mmf)
• 16 - Mary's Weekend (F/F)
• 17 - The Next Chapter (*/self, f/f)
• 18 - Ropes and Skates (Good Combination?) (MFmf/fff)
• 19 - Hanging With Mary (F/f)
• 20 - College (FFF/FF)
• 21 - College Days : Stephanie's Captive (F/F)
• 22 - College Days : A New Chapter, Ashley Gets Involved (*/self, F/F)
• 23 - College Days : A New Chapter, Ashley Comes Back (F/F)
• 24 - College Days : A New Chapter, Normal is Good (F/F)
• 25 - College Days: Theodore Roosevelt (FF/F)
• 26 - College Days: Summer Job at the Farm (F/F, M/F)
• 27 - Holiday Trip to Grandma's (f/f, f/m, m/fmm)
• 28 - A Long Trip to Alaska (self/f, F/fmm)
• 29 - The Pioneering Experience (mmmm/f)

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Index of all stories in the "Archive for Everyone" section

[Soraka]

The Trip Begins

I hadn't expected to receive the invitation to go with my brothers and father. However, the circumstances left him with little choice in the matter. With Mary and my mother gone that left no one at home to watch me. I was still much too young to be left home alone for a whole weekend on my own. That meant either I was going with them or Sean or my father would have to stay behind to watch me. My father would never keep Sean back from a trip like this just to watch his little sister, so that left him with only himself. The boys were looking forward to the trip with my dad and in the end he caved in. Now the three of us stood waiting the parking lot of our local church where the troop met for their meetings.

I had spent the last day and a half packing for the trip. My mother had gone to the trouble to make sure that every detail had been covered. Even though I had quite a bit of experience camping so far in my life she didn't trust me to only my own judgment on things. I had two large duffle bags packed with probably twice the number of clothes that I needed. Rain gear, but spray, sunscreen 3 hats and an assortment of other things to cover everything I might encounter. I even had a winter hat and waterproof mittens. Even if I was little, my mother was a little over concerned for the middle of July. I was going to be staying in a large family tent with my father and possibly one or both of my brothers. It was a huge one we used sometimes when we went camping without the family camper and it could easily sleep 8 people. Most of the other boys in the troop were going to be sharing tents in pairs with each other as the troop had provided them. My dad had packed my sleeping bag along with a pillow and a couple of blankets for me to use.

I had packed a few other things that would be necessary for the trip as well. Originally I wanted to bring my game boy but I soon learned that wasn't allowed. The only battery powered thing I was allowed was my flashlight. I had also packed my life jacket as we were going canoeing. My dad was still a little unsure about letting me on the water, but I was hoping he would give the matter some consideration. Of course I had smuggled a few pieces of rope along in case I got bored. Most of these guys including my brothers were pretty good with knots. My recent experience had taught me that much. Any way you sliced it, the whole weekend looked promising and I was very excited to be part of it. I always missed my brothers when they went camping on these trips, and I was finally getting to go. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

It was a beautiful July morning as we exited the car and stepped onto the warm pavement. It was a very warm day outside, but a pleasant one none the less. A perfect day for camping. I was well dressed for the day as I exited our minivan and headed around to the rear. I was wearing a pink t-shirt and a set of cotton shorts to match it. I also had on a set of those clear plastic sandals, the fisherman stile with the little t-bar and a back strap. Finally, I was wearing a light blue baseball hat and a more than healthy dose of sunscreen. I had chosen the outfit purposefully for the trip down and the canoeing. I had gone with shorts and over a dress because both my car harness and my life jacket contained a strap between the legs and my mother didn't want any complications with the matter. My father popped the back door of the van and began to had each of my brothers a few bags to haul over to the vehicle we would be taking down for the trip. I approached him and asked if I could help.

My father just smiled and handed me one of his duffle bags and told me to follow my brothers. Surprisingly, his was much lighter than my own which, he shifted onto his own shoulders. With the first load of gear secured, he and I followed in suit as we hiked across the parking lot to where the old school bus sat. I guess to say that the bus really wasn't all that old. It was a couple of years old, but nothing on it suggested it to be an antique or anything. The troop had purchased it a year or two earlier when our school retired it from the fleet for newer buses. Still, it was in good repair and running shape. The four of us circled around to the back of the bus where several of the other boys were loading gear into the back of the bus. The back 4 seats in each row had been removed and the empty space was being packed with gear from floor to ceiling. The troop used it to transport their gear and the whole group going camping when they went on smaller trips like this. Anyway, this was going to be exciting, this was the first time I would be riding a bus and not going to school.

I got in line behind the other boys and waited for our turn to load the gear. As the line moved and I reached the rear of the bus, I was surprised to see Brandon from the meeting waiting at the back door to take our gear. "Well, look whose here. I am glad that you could make it." He offered with a smile as he looked down from the back of the bus at me. I said nothing and just smiled back as I passed the bag I was carrying up to him. My brothers, father and I made a couple of more trips back to the van before we emptied it completely into the back of the bus. The whole loading process took quite a while to conduct. It was still pretty early in the morning as the canoe sit was a good three hours away from here on a place called the Mohican river I believe. It's a tourist attraction in southern Ohio and offers a fun canoeing experience at a modest level of skill and price. Our group consisted of a dozen boys, Scott's patrol as well as a few other boys who were coming along for the trip. Sean was included in that tally as well. There were also 3 adults going with us besides my father for a total of 4. All of us except my dad were taking the bus down. He would be following us down in his van incase we needed a second vehicle for anything.

With the gear packed, I followed my father and Sean back to the van. We were getting ready to depart soon and I as going to be riding down with my father. When we arrived, my father looked over at Sean and nodded then he looked down and addressed me. "You know Jen, I have been thinking about it all the way down here and you can go with your brothers on the bus if you want to. Or, you can come ride down with me as we originally planned either one is fine." I looked up at him with quite a bit of surprise originally he and my mother had forbidden the idea when I first inquired about it. He smiled, "I know you want to go with the rest of the group and I am okay with that. You have to wear your vest and mind your older brother though. Also, don't tell your mom she would probably have my head if she found out about it." My father finished as he winked towards me. I winked back sealing our deal about the secret and went to gather my vest harness and it's mount from the car. I was really excited about the whole idea and with Sean's help we were heading back towards the bus in a few minutes later.

My dad was always less protective of me than my mother, but he still cared for my well being. Sean and I arrived at the bus door that had been left open. I had my harness vest all scooped up in my arms with the seat mount as the two of us boarded the bus. One of the dads greeted us as the two of us boarded. The boys had finished loading the gear and they were waiting to get the go ahead to load themselves up. Sean explained that the adults wanted to give him a chance to get me settled before everyone else got on and the trip got under way. I followed my brother down the isle towards the rear of the bus. He was carrying a huge wad of seatbelts with him as well. When we reached the last two seats that were still in tact, Sean turned and dumped his load on the seat on the right side of the bus. Then he reached down and took my seat mount from me and set himself to work on the matter.

He began by sliding the front of the seat forward and wrapped the seat mount for my vest harness around the back of the seat. It took him a minute or two, but afterwards he set the mount into place and started to adjust it to the proper height for me. He had quite a bit of experience installing these between all our family vehicles’ and on the school bus he rode to school himself. After he finished settling my seat mount into place next to the window seat, my brother started attaching a second one to the seat next to me. There were still plenty of empty seats on the bus that each of the adults ridding could have their own seat and only a few of the boys would have to sit two to a seat. Sean had already decided that I wouldn't be sitting alone and he was installing the second seat mount for Scott to use his vest next to me. Once the second seat mount was in place, Sean pushed the bottom of the seat back into place and checked the back to make sure everything was tight. He had chosen the last seat because the seat behind us would have to be empty because the bus had no seat belts on it. The seat mounts had a buckle on the back of the seat that secured them and we didn't want anybody flying into them if something did happen on the way down.

Once the two seat mounts were in place, Sean helped me into the vest part of my harness. It had a belt that went around my waist, two shoulder straps and another belt that went around under my armpits. Everything came together in the back and closed securely with a zipper. Once the vest was on, the shoulder straps could be adjusted for a snug fit and it attached to 4 clips on the seat mount with D-rings on the hips and on the tops of the shoulders. (There are several other stories on my site that describe it better and there are even a couple of pictures available if anyone wants to see what one of these look like.) Finally, there was a fatex buckle that threaded between my legs and attached to the front and back of the harness making a crotch strap to tighten it down. Once I was secured, Sean deposited the other two vests on the seat next to me an began installing another mount across the way from me. It was for him. My parents had bought him a vest when they got one for me and Scott the year before. He worked the mount into place and they set about getting on his own harness vest.

Sean's vest was the same as mine except it was obviously larger in size and was a different color than mine. It also lacked the between the leg strap that my model had. However, it was still pretty secure and would keep him safe and snug for the ride down. The camping gear and luggage had finished loading and the other boys were starting to get on the old school bus through the front door. We would be leaving in a few minutes, and I could hardly wait. This was going to be an exciting weekend. I loved camping, and I finally got to go along on one of the trips with my brothers' scout troop. Which up to this point had been pretty much an off limits topic. However, under the circumstances my dad didn't have a whole lot of choice if he wanted to come along also with no one to watch me. Here, the other members of the group were just finishing up and Sean and I were already strapped in and ready to go. My mother made me wear the vest harness on the school bus, not that I minded. She had spent a lot of money on it and the school was more than happy to let me use it. So, I was pretty used to wearing it on the way to school.

Sean and Scott followed this pattern of behavior as well. Sean was old enough that he had a free choice in the matter, Scott didn't. The remainder of the scouts and leaders climbed aboard and started finding their seats. Sean had been kind enough to give me the window seat so I could watch the scenery on the way down. I had brought a book, but I still wasn't all that avid of a reader at my age and I would soon get bored with it. As the boys boarded the bus, I began to worry that I would have to give up my seat. Normally, on the bus ride to school, I rode towards the very front of the bus and the older kids rode towards the back of the bus. However, this time no one really said anything about it. The Scouts each found a seat in turn and the other two adults that the driver occupied the front two seats. Sean was probably the second or third oldest scout on the trip anyway and there wasn't a big demand for the seat. As the group filed onto the bus my brother Scott and the boy who introduced himself as Brandon at the meeting came together one after the other.

The two of them came to the back of the bus without much hesitation. "Hey Sean, is there anywhere open where we can sit together? Brandon just got a new video game that we want to discuss." (don't remember which one) My older brother looked at Scott and just shook his head. "There is an open seat right there, for Brandon, but I want you to sit next to Jennifer. I saved you a seat and set up the mount for you and everything. I want both of you where I can keep an eye on you for the ride down." Scott took a few steps forward followed by his new friend and both of them looked down in the seat where I was sitting. The look on Scott's face changed drastically. Originally he looked pretty happy with the way the day was going. Some how I don't he had being harnessed next to his sister on the scout bus figured very well into his plans. Scott looked across the isle at Sean and addressed him in a rude tone. "Oh come on, it's bad enough I have to wear that stupid thing on the school bus and at home. Do I really have to use a harness here too. I thought Scouting and these trips were supposed to be fun. . . . "

Scott laid into my older brother without much hesitation and rattled off a few more statements. Sean was in no mood for the argument and soon the two of them started exchanging thoughts on the matter. Neither of them really raised their voice above speaking, but I could tell by their tone that neither of them wanted to compromise. Scott was picking this battle carefully, if Sean got one of the adults involved he would probably win. My younger older brother didn't share the same enthusiasm that Sean and I did for being harnessed, but he put up with it because it was a loosing battle. Sean gave him the argument that he had gone to all the trouble to set the seat up for him and he was just following Dad's orders. However, the argument ended in a rather unexpected way. "You know Scott, if you don't want to use your seat belt, do you think that I could?" My brothers stopped their bickering and looked over at Brandon whose interlude was unexpected.

"It's just, that you don't seem to want to use it and I am a little nervous about riding without seatbelts on a bus like this. I didn't want to say anything since it was yours, but if you don't want to use it I thought maybe I could." Sean and Scott turned away from Brandon and looked at each other and then back at the other young scout. "I could sit next to your little sister and you could sit next to your brother across the isle from me and we could talk that way." Scott nodded and looked back at Sean for a final approval on the decision. My eldest brother just rolled his eyes and finally said fine to the whole idea. He was tired of arguing and it put the matter to bed. Scott walked over to the seat where I was sitting and looked down at me. "Is that okay with you Jennifer? I know you just met Brandon the other night, but we are good friends. I just want to make sure that you are comfortable sitting next to him. Sean and I will be right across the isle if you need anything."

I replied that was fine with me and the Scott set to work. He began setting the vest part of the harness around Brandon. They were roughly the same age and build, so only a few minor adjustments were needed for a secure fit. With that in place, Brandon took a seat next to me on the bus and Scott showed him how to secure the vest to the seat mount. Finally once everything was secured Scott crossed the isle and sat down next to Sean. The adults began to take roll call a few minutes later making sure that they had everyone on the bus and that we were ready to go. Everyone yelled here or present as their names were called out. With everyone and everything accounted for, the driver turned the key and the rickety old bus began to pull away from the church towards our destination. It would be close to a 3 hour long ride to get down to where we were supposed to go camping, but it was going to seem a lot longer to me especially.

The trip started out pretty casual. Most of the boys were talking, and Brandon and my brother were no exception. Scott had opened the windows to let some breeze in on such a hot day. Between all the noise and the wind, it was a little loud to read on the way down. However, I made an effort at it anyway and we watched as the day moved forward. Scott and Brandon talked about video games for a good 20 or 30 minutes while we rolled through traffic. I gave up reading after about 10 minutes and just shifted my gaze out of the window at the passing view. This was going to be the longest bus ride I had ever been on and I was looking forward to it. All of the sudden, my attention was distracted by Brandon who was looking over at me from where he was sitting. "Sorry, I didn’t' t mean to disturb you." He offered as a quaint apology for the interruption. I looked over. Sean was looking out the second window and Scott was reading a magazine he had brought for the ride down. I looked at Brandon who was a little bored at the moment. At least I had the window to look out. I decided to be polite and return his conversation.

I offered a greeting and told him that it was no bother if he wanted to talk a little bit. He responded in a quiet tone again. "I am sorry, I was just curious what those little loops around your arms on the harness are. Mine doesn't have one and I was wondering what they were for." I looked down at the two loops of seat belt that circled my upper arms a few inches above the elbow. They were part of my harness when I wore it at home and I had put them on without thinking twice about them. I thought about how to respond for a moment and decided just to go with the straight forward truth of the matter. "They're upper arm restraints. My mother got them for my harness a couple of months ago. They are meant to make it harder to move my arms when I am riding in the car." I explained. Brandon asked a question. "Why would you want to have those on you?" "Oh, these are nothing, I have a set of straps that can completely tie my hands to my sides and even a set of things for my feet kind of like seat belt hand cuffs. My mom got them for me when I she got me the harness, these just make it a little more secure."

The conversation headed forward and Brandon offered a few guesses as to why I would have something like that. He thought maybe it was to make me behave in the back seat of the car or something, but of course he was dead wrong. I decided to go into my family's little history and explained about the games that I played with my brothers at home. How being tied up was just a fun little activity that I liked. The car restraints were just an extension of that, and it also gave my mother a more peaceful driving experience by avoiding sibling rivalries. Brandon listened to my explanation and took it in almost as a fairy tale. He looked over at Scott who looked up for a moment and confirmed what I already said. Sean reaffirmed the matter further and that let Brandon looking back at me with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief on his face. He really didn't know how to respond to the whole matter it was a little far out for him. Finally, something came to him that he could use to probe the situation. "No wonder you didn't put up much of a fight when they tried to tie you up at the meeting. You must really like being tied up."

I averted his stared and looked shyly down at my feet. I was wearing a smile but I was a little embarrassed. After another moment I looked up and nodded not being able form the words. "Hey, it's ok. I know it's a little weird, but it really isn't a big deal or anything. I have wondered quite a bit what it would be like to be tied up or tie somebody up. But, I never had anyone to do it to me. Well, not anyone I would have the courage to ask." With the ice on the subject broken and now melting away, I decied to pick up the conversation a little more. "I have been all tied up quite a few times. It is a lot of fun and it is kind of relaxing. It is going to be a long ride down to the canoeing trip, I could tie you up if you want to for the way down." I looked over at Scott and the hip pouch he always wore when he went camping. "Hey brother do you have any rope with you?" Scott nodded and opened his fanny pack removing two coils of white rope from it. He handed them across the isle into Brandon’s waiting hands. The boy took them, but his face returned to a look of concern. "I don't know, I am still don't know about this." Brandon offered. His voice was long drawn and nervous. "Well, if you don't want to be tied up, then you could tie me up if you want to. Besides you could use the practice with your knots." I offered closing my eyes with a warm smile.

Brandon sat on the edge of the seat holding onto the coil of rope preparing to put it to use. I nodded and turned my back to the young scout. At least to the point that the harness would allow me to move my upper body. It kept me held in place rather rigidly, but it was still comfortable for riding in and allowed me a little bit of movement. After another moment or two of hesitation, Brandon finally worked up the courage to get started with the process of binding my hands.

First, he began by pulling my wrists together behind my back and put them parallel to each other. Next, he took one end of the rope and tied a single loop knot around my left wrist to secure the end of the rope. Then he began to make several horizontal turns around both of my wrists trying to secure them together. It took him a few minutes because he wanted to make sure that he was doing it right. Scott watched from across the isle and offered some advice to my captor. Still, Brandon was doing okay on his own.

Once he finished the first few loops around my wrists, he began to wrap the rope vertically in between them. This was to cinches the tie down securely and make sure I couldn't escape. This wasn't his idea all on his own, Scott gave him some coaching and he was doing a pretty good job of making sure that my hands were secured snuggly behind my back. Finally, Brandon finished the cinches behind my back and knotted the rope off with a square knot to secure the lashing. "There we go, that should do it." Brandon commented as he sat back and admired his handiwork as I tried to fathom an escape attempt.

I began to struggle and attempt to free myself from the ropes. A tugged my arms against each other and attempted to leverage my way free. However, the ropes held pretty good, especially for a first timer like Brandon. I pulled against the ropes and tried to free myself, but it quickly proved a futile effort. However, I continued to struggle allowing my captor and chance to examine the tie in action. After a few more minutes of struggling, I leached forward as far as I could and brought my bound hands to the middle of my back and then scootched back against the seat.

Brandon looked over at me with a broad grin and a look of complete satisfaction on his face he could easily tell that his tie was secure and that I couldn't free myself easily. I just sat back and enjoyed the situation. I was on a bus with my brother's going both camping and canoeing with a group that normally didn't cater to my gender. To make things even better, I was sitting here tied up and strapped in completely helpless and I was enjoying every minute of it. Things couldn’t have been much going any better for me at the movement and I was having a great time. I spent the next hour or so looking out the window at the passing scenery. There really wasn't much else to do under the current circumstances. Brandon and Scott picked up with their conversation where it left off and pretty much left me to my own devices. It gave me some time to relax and thing on the matter.

"Hey, how long do you want to stay tied up anyway?" I looked over at the boy riding next to me at decided to address his question. I watched Brandon for a minute before I gave him an answer. He was tugging a little bit on his harness and trying to readjust it for a more comfortable fit. I guess he wasn't as used to using one as me and my brother were. I was more at ease with the situation even with my hands tied behind my back.

Normally, I would have been content to stay tied up for the whole ride down. However, I made the decision to let the tie up go early. I didn't want to let on just how into this kind of stuff that I was, at least not yet. I offered that I had been tied up enough and was ready to be let go if Brandon was willing to untie me. The young scout nodded and began working the knots that secured my hands free. It was a slower process than it would have been for one of my brothers, but after a few minutes I was finally free. I took a moment and worked some circulation back into my hands before thanking Brandon for my freedom. He nodded and told me that I would have to tie him up the next time. I responded that turn about is fair play and that I would take him up on his offer before the weekend was over.

I believe that I am going to conclude this portion of the story here. We finished the bus ride and got to where we went canoeing . I got to ride in a boat with my dad and my brother Sean. However, there wasn't another tie up experience for the rest of the day and that is a lot of ground to cover. There were a couple of other incidents that I want to report on. I only got tied up one more time that weekend, but I wasn't the only designated victim as it was. Brandon and a few of the other boys got to share in my little games, but that is another story. Sorry for taking so long to get this posted. I have been rather busy as of late. My life is coming back together and I am finding myself without much time to write my stories out at the moment. It may be some time before the next post. I just need a couple of weeks to get everything back in order and then I should be back in action. Anyway I hope everyone liked the story and I will start on the next part when I get around to it. Take care, Jennifer.

[Soraka]

The Scouting Code

Well, sorry about the long wait everybody. I finally got around to writing this up. As busy as I have been lately I am surprised that I got it out as fast as I did. Anyway here we go.

Saturday afternoon was warm and quite overly so given the state of the weather. I guess I should take a few lines and bring the rest of you up to speed of what happened. Friday after we got to the livery, I rode in the middle of the canoe that my father and Sean were paddling. The trip was about 3 hours in duration and we had a fun time. Next, we proceeded to the campsite. It was at a local campground along the river's edge. I ended up sharing a large tent with my father while the scouts set off into pair. We ate dinner and spent a night around the camp fire along with a few other activities throughout the day. I was usually welcome to watch, but there were quite a few things that I wasn't allowed to participate in. With camp set up and everything settled, I went to bed about midnight and got up at 7 the next morning with the rest of the troop.

We had an early breakfast, followed by more activities for the boys around several different skills. The older boys demonstrated how to use the tools to cut fire wood and gave a rather lengthy lesson in first aid. I got to fill in as the person who got pretended to get hurt, Mostly because I was the lightest to carry around. But all in all it was a fun morning. The group ate lunch and the boys had the afternoon off to do pretty much whatever they wanted to do. A couple of them were going on a hike and another group was going to ride inner tubes down the river back and fourth to the camp site. I was old enough to go with either group and my dad let me choose. Sean was going tubing and Scott was going on the hike. Both of the ideas sounded fun, but I decided that as warm as it was that I would rather ride down the river on an inner tubes than walk through the woods. So, the scouts divided into two groups. Five of them were going on the hike and the rest of us were going to go down the river on inner tubes.

Scott, four other boys and two of the adult leaders bid the rest of us ado and departed for their hike. Meanwhile, the rest of us went to change for the inner tubes experience. The river was in it's low part for the season and it was only about 3 or 4 foot deep at the greatest point anywhere along the campground with a slower moving current. I headed into my tent and got changed for the ride down myself. I put on a one piece green bathing suit with a U shape in the back and slid my a white t-shirt on overtop of it to offer some protection from the sun that hanged heavily overhead. I left my plastic fisherman style sandals on over my bare feet. Then, I slid my life jacket back on top of the T-shirt and buckled it up. It wasn't anything all that fancy. It was just a normal you life jacket with a yellow color foam and blue straps. The jacket wrapped around me and had closed arm holes underneath the shoulders. It closed in the front with three plastic fatex buckles that secure it snuggly around me. It also had a fourth strap that came up between my legs to keep it from being pulled off me in the water. Once I had changed I stepped back out of the tent and waited for the group to assemble.

Two of the other boys came out first and Sean followed. Then the remainder of them came out and the group came together. I had learned most of the other boys names besides just Brandon and my brothers over the last day and a half. Some of the boys had on T-shirts and a few of them were bare chested against the warm sun with only swim trunks on. All of them were wearing either water shoes or sandals of some type. It was dangerous to walk barefoot in the river and it was about half a mile up to where the tubes were kept. My brother being the oldest left of the scouts took a head count and told the adults that everyone was going. My father and the other leaders no going on the hike were staying at the campsite. With that, the rest of us formed up and headed down the main road towards the checking area where the inner tubes were piled up for the trip.

I stayed close to my brother as my father had instructed me to and followed closely at his heels. The other boys followed in close rank behind us as we began the short journey. The sun was warm around us and my life jacket kept some of my upper body head close to me as we walked. Scott and I were the only two of the entire camping group that had brought life jackets with us from home. The rest of the group had worn them on the river the day before, but they had borrowed them from the people who rented out the canoes. They were similar in style to the ones that I was wearing minus the crotch strap. The one I had on my mother had bought for me and it was a pretty good fit so she had me pack it. In truth I had been wearing since I had gotten up this morning. My father made it clear once the camp site was set up that if I was within 10 feet of the river that I had to have it on. I had crossed the boundary several times without it and gotten scolded for it. Plus, I was tired of taking it on and off. So, I just put it on when I got up and forgot about it.

The trip down to the main office was only about 10 minutes and it passed pretty quickly with the talk of everything that had happened that day. Sean was in the lead and the other boys were following close behind us. I stayed close to my brother's side. It wasn't that I was scared or anything, I just liked spending time with him and this was new experience for me. The remainder of our group consisted of 4 other boys that Sean and myself. There were a set of blond haired twin boys named Todd and Alex that were only a couple of years older than me. Michael who was a year younger than Sean and Brandon, the boy that I had met on the bus. The six of us walked in a close rank as we traversed the trail towards our final destination. Sean was dressed in his bathing suit with a short sleeved t-shirt on his upper body. He also had his life jacket draped around his shoulders with his arms threaded through the holes although the straps on his were still undone. Todd and Alex were shirtless in the afternoon sun while Brandon and the other boy were both wearing tank tops. Looking back I was probably the odd ball of this group, but I was accepted and that was all that mattered to me.

After the short hike was finished, we arrived at the main office where campers would check into the campground. My brother and Michael told the rest of us to wait outside while the talked to the campground's owner and got permission to use the tubes. It was a short wait while my brother and his friend said our peace and got permission to proceed with the activity. The door reopened and my brother gave all of us a nod to allow us to go ahead and get started. "Okay listen up everybody. The rules are pretty simple. We're allowed to tube down the river, but we need to exit a little past our campsite down stream It's not hard to miss as there are a point down there to deposited the tubes when we're done. If we want to go more than once we need to carry the tubes back up here for another launch. Life vests are mandatory and I don't want anyone wandering off alone. Find a buddy and stick with them. Any questions?" Sean finished his lengthy explanation of the situation and waited for any responses. Alex asked two of them, but I don't remember what they were.

With everything explained, the remainder of the boys went to retrieve life jackets from the small shack next to the edge of the river while Sean buckled his up the front. Once everyone was set we moved on to selecting tubes for the ride down. The camp site had two different kinds that we could use. They had ones for a single rider or ones that you could get two people on, one in the front and one in the back. The twins got a double tube and Sean insisted that I share one with him as well. Our other two friends each got a single tube. Before we knew it the six of us were heading down stream at a comfortable pace. My brother allowed me to sit up front while he steered us from the back. It was a fun ride and a good way to spend a warm afternoon. After about 15 minutes of floating or so, we drifted by the campsite and I gave a hello wave to my father. A couple of minutes later and the gentle current brought us to our final destination where Sean guided us out of the water. We had a good time on the trip down and discussed the possibility of a second.

The vote was cast and it was unanimous that a second run would be in order. The six of us made the return trip upstream on foot carrying the inner tubes with us. My brother carried ours and the twins each took up and end on theirs. The conversation was light and bounced back and fourth between the events of the morning and the canoeing trip that we had taken the day before. When we arrived at the launch point again, Sean asked if anyone else was willing to go with me down the river so that he could make the trip on his own. Brandon offered to make the trade and the six of us set off down the river again in the same way that we had before. However, this time the ride talk during the drift down river took a direction that it had for the previous part of the afternoon. We were only about 20 feet down stream when Brandon, who was sitting behind me, opened his mouth.

"Umm, So Jennifer are you having a good time?" The question was a little misdirected and out of the blue. I just turned back and acknowledged that I was and returned my concentration to the river ahead of us. "Well, I have had quite a while to think out here, and I keep thinking about the bus ride down here and how I tied you up on the way down. I was wondering if you still want a chance to get even with me for keeping your hands tied on the bus?" I lost my focus on the world around me from the question and turned my gaze backwards to meet his eyes openly. The question had caught me completely off guard. I saw the look on Brandon's face and I could tell that he was a little embarrassed by the whole idea. I swallowed and gave him the first response that came to mind. "Sure why not. I could tie you up if you want me to. But, only if you want to try it not because I am mad about the bus." I looked back at Brandon. The fear melted away from his face as we continued to drift down stream. However, our conversation wasn't as private as Brandon had intended it to be.

Alex, let out a loud laugh in our direction from the other double inner tube that was sailing down the river. "That's pretty good Brandon. You want to be tied up by Sean's little sister? Why would you want to do that? I bet your still scared and you figure that you can escape from her pretty easy if you change your mind." The conversation continued down this road for another minute or two and Todd jumped in and added a similar comment. I got a few laughs from the other boys and I saw as Brandon's expression sank back where it had been a few minutes ago. It seemed to be a big joke to half of the group. Still my brother and Brandon weren't laughing at the situation. In fact, like he always does it was Sean who came to my rescue adding his two cents to the conversation.

"You know Alex, you shouldn't joke about things like that. If Jennifer tied you two up I doubt that you would be able to escape." Sean was speaking from personal experience. He had shown me quite a few knots and techniques that he perfected over the years and I had managed to keep my older brother helpless on more than one occasion. Alex resounded his boast that no girl could keep him tied up for more than a few minutes. This time, Michael responded differently after listening to my brother's comment. "Well Alex, that sounds like a challenge to me. Maybe we should have Jennifer tie you up and see just how long it takes you to escape from it. I'd be willing to bet you doing the dinner dishes tonight that it would take you more than five minutes to escape." One of the duties involved with camping was the preparation of meals and having to clean up afterwards. Most of the boys hated doing dishes and Alex was stuck with dinner which, was going to be one of the worst. He took the bet almost without any hesitation on the matter against having to fill the buckets of water around the tents to protect against a fire.

"Well then, that's settled for now. Does anybody have any rope that we could use to put this matter to a close?" None of us had anything on us. Sean told us that he had a generous stash back at camp and that we could go there after this run to work this matter out. With the bet in place, we continued to drift down past the campsite and we followed the river to its conclusion before exiting and beginning the hike back to camp. It wasn't a long hike hardly at all and before we knew it the six of us trudged back into camp and deposited the tubes at the edge of the camp site. Sean departed our company and headed over to the tent where he was staying to retrieve some rope for the challenge. "I thought you all were going to spend the afternoon inner tubing. What are you doing back here so soon?" One of the adult leaders asked us. Alex repeated his boast to my father and the other adult and Michael explained that we were here to settle the matter. The other adult just shrugged and my father gave us a smile and told us to "have fun". He was pretty used to me and my brother's escapades by now so this wasn't much of a surprise for him. He just sat down and went back to reading the newspaper he had brought with him earlier from the morning.

It wasn't long before Sean returned holding an arm load of rope wrapped up into several small coils. He passed a few of them around and asked each of use to untangle one of them. The rope was just cotton clothesline about a quarter inches thick burned on the ends to keep them from fraying. Sean had half a dozen pieces of rope or so. The ranged in length between 7 and 10 feet. We laid out the coils of ropes parallel to each other across the ground sizing up the lengths. Alex looked down at the rope and then over at me confident that he would prevail. "Okay Mike, for this to be a fair bet she has to tie me up by herself. Your not allowed to help or give her any advice or the bet is off. Also if she is going to use all that rope I might need more than five minutes to escape." Michael was about to offer a protest to the second stipulation, but I put the matter to rest quite easily. "I am only going to need two pieces to keep you from escaping. One for your hands and one for your feet. But you have to cooperate with me until I have you tied up all the way." I explained. Alex nodded and the original time interval was renewed in terms of the original bet.

With everything set, I leaned down towards the ground and picked up one of the piece of rope that was sitting there. I gathered it up and righted myself as I approached Alex. "Turn around and put your hands together behind your back." I instructed him. Alex just let out a short snort and turned his back to face me. Then he brought his arms around behind him and pushed his wrists together. I began by looping the rope around his right hand and knotting off a loop securing it snuggly to his wrist. Then, I took hold of his left wrist and drew his arms together parallel behind his back. Once his wrist were touching, I began to encircle the rope around them forming several snug coils. I made a good 6 or 7 passes then I used the rest of the rope to cinches his hands off in the middle and knotted the ends together on top of his hands. Then I stepped back for a moment.

Alex strained his hands against the ropes for a moment and they held pretty well. The other boys just watched from where they were standing as he pulled for a moment or two. Brandon watched for a moment and then he approached me from the left. "Hey Jennifer, do you think that you could tie my hands up also before you use up all the rope on Alex?" Brandon asked with a little bit of anxiety in his voice. I replied that I could if he wanted me to and I leaned down and picked up a second piece of cord from the ground. Brandon was compliment with the instructions that I had given Alex a moment ago and turned his back to me so that I could bind his hands behind him. I repeated the tie in the same mannerism that I had tied Alex's hands. Finally I knotted it off securing my second captive. I leaned down to collect a second piece of rope to tie up Alex's feet, but I soon found myself with a third volunteer.

A minute or two later I was finishing off the last of the cinches on Todd’s hands behind his back as well. He had suggested that maybe I should tie him up too and that he and his brother could have a race to see who could get out first. I am trying to save a little dialogue here that I don't remember the exacts of anyway. This little game was turning into a regular competition between the three boys. However, I was running out of rope and out of volunteers. Thankfully neither Michael or Sean wanted to join in the fun as a participant because that would have probably used up too much of the rope. Sean played quite a bit a home and Michael seemed only too happy to watch as the younger scouts in the group got tied up. I picked up a fourth piece of rope off the ground and instructed Alex to sit down and put his legs together. Once he was in position I wrapped them several times and cinched them off in the middle before knotting them. I repeated the process with Todd once Alex was secured. I offered to do Brandon as well, but he just stood back and said that having his hands tied was enough for him.

Once I had the boys all thrust up, Michael came over and took his watch off his wrist and pushed one of the buttons on it several times. Then he knelt down and showed the stop watch display on it to Alex. "Alright, 5 minutes go." Michael commented as he hit the button and the stop watched beeped. What followed for the next 5 minutes was a very entertaining display from the twin brothers as they both made a bid for their freedom against the ropes. It was quite a show as Alex and Todd rolled around on the ground and struggled every which way. The rest of us just stood and watched from the distance as they moved back and fourth looking for enough slack to escape. Brandon twisted his arms against his own ropes for a little while as well, but he didn't put up near the struggle that the other two did.

After what probably seemed like an eternity to the captives, Michael yelled that time was up and showed the stop watch to the helpless Alex on the ground. Alex worked himself back into a sitting position and just hung his head down in defeat. His was still sitting there at the end of the time limit in his swimsuit, flip-flops, lifejacket, and of course ropes. Todd had faired now better. Both of them were tired and dusty from rolling around on the ground trying to escape, but neither of them had come close to succeeding. Sean gave Alex a smile. "See I told you that nobody can get free from one of my sister's ties. Especially in five minutes, I hope you have fun doing the dishes tonight." Alex was helpless and there wasn't anything that he could say in response. He just sat back and ate crow. I turned around slowly to see my brother standing behind me with the last piece of rope that he had brought with him. "Well Jennifer, you did a pretty good job tying the rest of them up, would you like to join them for a little while. Michael and I would like to make a run or two down the river without all of you along and it seems that your the only one who is still going to complicate that." I knew how this was going to end one way or the other. So, I decided not to put up much of a fight.

I turned around and put my hands together behind my back. Sean crossed my wrists and lashed them together with the last piece of rope being careful to put the final knot on top of the tie outside of the reach of my hands. I gave them a few tugs, and they were pretty secure. Once Sean finished tying my hands, he reached around the front of my life jacket and made one final adjustment to keep me tied up for a while. He unbuckled the strap on my life jacket that went between my legs and connected with a buckle in the front. Once he released it, my brother pulled it back through my legs and lifted it up. Then, he looped it over my tied hands bad threaded it back through to the front of my jacket and buckled it back into place. It was surprising move, but it did the job. I gave the ropes a few good tugs and realized all at once that the strap prevented me from being able to move my hands to the front and get out of this on my own.

I gave the ropes a few more struggles to demonstrate that I was secure to my older brother. He looked down at me and nodded with approval. "Well, now that should keep all of you busy for a little while. Michael and I are going to make a run down the river with just the two of us. If you get out by the time that we get back you can join us for the next run. But I don't think that any of you are going to escape this one. Have fun." Sean offered with a quick smirk on his face. The older boys asked the adults to keep an eye on us while they went off to peruse their fun. One of the leaders said that he would make sure that we kept out of trouble. With that handled my brother and his companion set off in the direction that we had come from earlier. This was turning into a fine mess and there really wasn't much that any of us could do about it. Well at least that the boys could do about it.

I spent the next 20 minutes or so just watching as the scene unfolded in front of me. Sean was usually pretty good with rope work and without getting my hands to the front or someone to undo them struggling was pretty useless. I watched as the scouts squirmed around in the ropes that I had applied to them earlier. They weren't faring any better than I was on their own. Todd and Alex were at a greater disadvantage because they were tied both hands and feet, not that Brandon was capitalizing on his mobility. My third captive had seated himself cross legged on the ground and set about struggling with his friends. None of them seemed to possess either the flexibility or ingenuity to try and bring their hands to the front like I would have. The leg strap on my life jacket prevented much chance of that happening. As I watched the Houdini wantabes I caught my brother Sean waving to us as he floated past on the river. My hands were tied good and there wasn't a whole lot that I could do about it under the circumstances.

Sean and Michael came past the camp site a second time. They gave us a second wave and a taunt as they passed and wished all of us luck on getting free. I was starting to get a little mad at the situation. It was fun being tied up, but I hated that the my brother and Michael were having fun while leaving the rest of us to sit bound in the hot sun. I needed to expedite the situation and get out of this before their next return trip. Once they had marched down the trail and out of sight I worked myself back into a standing position and hiked over to where Brandon was sitting. He looked up at me as I approached. "Well, Jennifer I think we have to admit that you did a pretty good job. I don't think any of us are going to get out of this. It looks like your brother is pretty good at this also." I just shook my head and looked down at him. "Brandon, do you think that you could undo the strap on the front of my life jacket? The one that goes between my legs?" I asked.

He just looked up at me puzzled as to why I would ask him to do that. I guess under the circumstances that his response was appropriate. I turned my back to him and gave my hands a little tug so that he could see that they were pinned underneath the strap on my life jacket. Brandon just shrugged his shoulders and worked his way back to a standing position. It wasn't all that difficult for him since his legs were free, but it still took him a minute or two pull it off. He turned around and looked down as I tried to guide the clip towards his bound hands. After a little effort our work was rewarded with a gentle click and the strap fell free. I wasted no time in giving away my little escape secret. I untangled my bound hands from the strap and began the process of threading my legs through my hands to get them to my front. After that it just took me a minute or two to pick the knot free with my teeth. With a few tugs and a fair amount of struggling, I finally pulled my hands free of the ropes. I walked around Brandon and reached down to undo the ropes that bound his hands behind his back. However, he pulled away when I began to reach for the knot.

"Not just yet, I want to see if I can get out on my own first. Hey Jennifer, since that ropes is not being used on your hands any more do you think you could use it to tie my feet up too?" I nodded and began untangling the rope. I told Brandon to sit down and put his feet together in front of him. My newest friend complied with my request and put his leg parallel to each other in front of him. I wound the rope around his ankles just above his flip flops and cinched it off in the middle similar to how I had tied the other two boys. Then I stepped back to watch the fun continue. Alex and Todd looked pretty tired and had given up trying to get loose. They just sat there and looked over at me. It wasn't long before my brother and his friend came up the trail again to check on our progress. Sean was a little surprised to find me free, until I told him how I accomplished it. He congratulated me and invited me to join him on the next ride. I took the older boys up on their offer and we left the rest of the prisoners to their own devices.

The three of us made one ride down the river before returning to camp. This time we untied the other three captives all the way. Well, almost Michael made Alex march to the tube launch point with his hands still tied behind him. But, once we got there we let him go. They had been tied up for about an hour and it was too hot out to be for much longer. Once everyone was free, our group tubed down the river another 4 or 5 times before we had to come back and prepared dinner. By the time that it was all done, most of the matter had been forgotten and all of us pitched in to help with the meal rather than dumping it on Alex and Todd. They weren't too sore about the whole experience. It had been fun for both of them and myself and we had a good laugh about it.

I finally managed to prove that a girl was just as good as a boy at tying knots. No one in the troop debated that after that little experience. If you look up the background on the boy scouts of America, you'll find that they are rooted in good values and citizenship. However, what you won't find is the hidden motto of most boys around the age of 10 to 12. It goes that, ' Turn about is fair play, and don't get mad get even.' That is exactly what they did, but that will be my next story. Until next time,

Jennifer