Indian Day

by Dingbat

This story is a work of fiction, all characters and plot lines are fictional. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Indian Day remains the property of the author. The story or characters may not be reproduced or republished elsewhere without the expressed written consent of the author.

Outside in the back yard, Mark and Ronnie had set up five tents.

"How's that?" Ronnie asked his little brother.

"Neat!" Mark replied. "When Tommy, Bobby, Robbie, Terry, Steve, and Kevin get here tomorrow for cub scout Indian day, we'll have our own little Indian village."

Ronnie didn't mind helping out his little brother as long as his friends weren't watching. Ronnie and Mark put on quite a show, arguing and fighting with each other in the presence of others, but Mark knew, and the rest all suspected, that it was exactly that - a show, and if you were going to give Mark any static or crap, you were going to have to go through Ronnie.

Ronnie was also learning the fine art of weaselry, mostly from Doug, another boy in his scout troop, who had a reputation for being the troop's biggest weasel.

"The secret to being a successful weasel, is not to get caught being a weasel," Doug once told him. "If you get caught, you usually spend an hour or so being a practice dummy, where whoever you were trying to be a weasel to, practices tying you up. Sometimes, you can spend two or three hours, or even all day, depending if you were trying to be a weasel to just one person, or a whole bunch."

This day, Ronnie had his sights set on Charlie, his best friend. They were friends, but were also competitive, and prone to pulling pranks on each other, and, together, on their other friends. Now, Ronnie, who had promised his little brother that he'd be a "visiting brave from another tribe" for their back yard "Indian Day," was looking for Charlie to go with him.

"Hmmm, I can avoid being a weasel by just asking him, and he'll probably say 'yes,' or I can trick him in to it," Ronnie mused. Trickery was preferred, but time was short, and good schemes take time to plan. "I'd better try the direct approach first, and go from there," he said to himself.

Ronnie explained to Charlie what he wanted, and, as Ronnie had expected, Charlie was a bit put off.

"We're gonna get tied up, aren't we?" he asked, and Ronnie had to admit that there was a good chance of that happening.

But Charlie's cousins, Scott and Allen, jeered at the two boys. "They're a bunch of ten year olds who have trouble tying their shoes, much less a couple of 14 year olds," snickered Allen. Then came another voice, and it spoke the magic word - "chicken."

"How long you been standin' there, Doug?" Scott asked.

"Long enough to find out what's goin' on," the lanky teenager answered, and then looked over at Charlie who was still red faced and sputtering about being called a chicken. Doug just grinned, and Ronnie suddenly realized just how much of a weasel Doug was. It had taken him less than a minute to get Charlie to agree to go with Ronnie for the cub scout "Indian Day" back yard adventure, while Ronnie had been wondering how to do it for the last couple of hours.

But weaselry sometimes comes back to bite you in the butt. After recovering, Charlie scowled at the others, and said "If you guys think it's gonna be so d**n easy, then why don't you three come with me and Ronnie to this cub scout thing?"

Doug was taken aback by the turnabout, and suddenly knew he'd just been had. "For someone not really trying to be a weasel, he's sure doing a fantastic job of being one!" Doug thought. Allen and Scott knew they'd been had, too, and the choices were not appealing. They and Doug could go along with Charlie and Ronnie and spend the day with the ten year old cub scouts, or they could decline, in which case they would be accused of trying to "weasel out" of it, and/or endure a month or so of being called "chicken" by Charlie and Ronnie, plus a gaggle of ten year olds. And if it got back to Mike Hayworth and the other kids in their rival scout troop, they'd never hear the end of it.

This was more than Ronnie had hoped for. He just wanted Charlie, but was getting Doug, Scott, and Allen to boot. Mark would be thrilled, and so would his friends. Ronnie made some quick excuses, and once outside, took off on the dead run for home to tell Mark.

Charlie and Doug watched him run from the bedroom window.

"Something's wrong here," Charlie said. "If I was going to spend the better part of a day getting tied and gagged by a bunch of ten year olds, I don't think I'd be that anxious to get home."

"You're right!" Doug said. “Somethin's goin' on, almost as if Ronnie and Mark plotted out this whole thing."

"Ya think so?" Allen asked. "Ronnie and Mark usually are straight up, and aren't BIG SNEAKY WEASELS LIKE DOUG!!"

"Why, thank you, Allen.” Doug smiled. "But there's always a first time for everything. Maybe they've been taking weasel lessons."

"Yeah, from you!" Charlie growled.

"Look who's talking about being a weasel!" Doug said. "Ya could'a left me and Scott and Allen out of it, but nooooo, you had to go and open your big mouth, and now we're stuck with Mark and that bunch of ten year olds tomorrow. We ought'a hogtie your butt right here and now!"

"Bring friends!" Charlie sneered. But it was a comment that would have been better if left unsaid. Immediately, Doug dropped, grabbed Charlie around the knees, and pulled. Charlie went down on his butt, and was set upon by his cousins. Allen pulled one of Charlie's arms behind him in a hammerlock, and Charlie yelled, "OK, OK, I give!"

Allen released his hold while Scott dug out a bag of rope, bandages, bandanas, and neckerchiefs from the closet. "

On the bed face down with your hands behind you!" Doug ordered, and Charlie meekly complied.

Doug might have been fairly good at escaping, but knots were not his thing. He managed to get Charlie's hands, feet, arms, and legs tied, to gag him with a knotted blue bandana, and to tie his hands and feet together in a hogtie, but Charlie, even though not known for his escape prowess, was able to free himself in about 12 minutes.

"Your turn!" he told Doug.

Allen said, "Not so fast! Me and Scott got hog ties comin', too.”

Twice more, Charlie was hogtied. He managed to get loose from Scott's knots, but had to be untied from Allen's.

 When it was over, he picked up some rope, looked at Doug, and again said, "Your turn!"

Doug grinned and said, "I don't mind. I can always use the escape practice, so tie me up good, Charlie!"

Charlie quickly had Doug hogtied, and gagged with a red knotted bandana. The budding escape artist just lay there on his stomach, and made a few soft "Mmmppfff's" through his gag, then went to work. Charlie was the best of the four of them at tying up captives, but was no match for Doug. Six minutes later, Doug was free, and handed the rope and bandana back to Charlie. "Wanna try again?" he laughed.

Charlie scowled at Doug, but then turned his attention to Scott. "Get your little butt over here and put your hands behind your back!" he ordered.

"No appreciation for the break we gave him, Allen," Scott said

"Yeah, he sure is an ungrateful weasel, isn't he?" Allen replied.

"What break?" Charlie demanded.

"We could'a held off on hogtying you until later," Allen told him. "You know, like later tonight, after we changed into our pajamas."

"OK, so you cut me some slack," Charlie said. "But I've done the same for you, so Scott, get your little butt on the bed face down, and cross your hands behind your back!"

Scott went along and allowed his older cousin to hogtie and gag him. Scott wasn't as good as Doug or Allen at getting loose, but still earned some respectability by freeing himself in seven and a half minutes.

"Don't even think about it!" Allen smiled. "When I tied you up, you had to ask to be untied."

"And he pushed out his gag with his tongue, and he talked!" Scott added. "That should be two more on him for each of us!"

Charlie had hoped his "infraction" would go unnoticed, but obviously, it had not. And, from the grins on the faces of his two cousins and Doug, he knew that they were going to all defer their "penalties" until after the four of them had gotten ready for bed, and had changed into pajamas.

Doug grinned at his friend, and said "Why don't you call up Ronnie and have him come back over? If he's half the friend you think he is, he'll volunteer to take half your penalties for you."

"Yeah!" Allen said. "And if he doesn't, we'll take all of them on you, and on him too, just 'cause he's here, and is your best friend, and because we think he's a weasel."

"You guys can't tie us up 'cause you THINK we're weasels!" Charlie protested.

"Oh, yeah? We do it to Doug all the time. Even you've done it."

"But Doug asks for it," Charlie again protested.

"Hey, Charlie!" Doug smiled. "Here's the deal. You're gonna get tied up by us at least twice each, that's a given, right?" Charlie nodded. "So, do you want to share that fun and adventure with your best friend, Ronnie, or do you want to hog it all for yourself?"

Charlie was stunned. No matter what answer he gave, he was fried. "This kid is a top grade, A-1, first class, top of the heap, genuine prince of weasels!" he thought. "Twelve years from now, he'll be in Congress!"

All things considered, if he was going to get tied, Charlie figured that he might as well have some company, so went ahead and called Ronnie. Ronnie always liked spending the night with Scott, Allen, and Charlie, and quickly accepted the offer. Kevin was coming over, and he and Mark could have the bedroom to themselves. It would give them all night to plot and scheme against the five teenagers that would be in their "Indian Days" thing in the back yard.

"You guys are 'sposed to be Indians from another tribe," Mark said. "So wear the buckskins that Kevin gave you." Mark said, and Ronnie nodded, then went to the closet, got the buckskin pants and coat, and put them in his overnight bag.

What he missed, was that Mark was practicing his own brand of weaselry. While Ronnie was in the bathroom, preening himself like a peacock, Mark had swiped his pajamas out of the bag. He'd have to borrow a pair from Charlie, and get tied up wearing them by Charlie, Allen, Scott, and, if Doug was there like he usually was, him too.

"I wish we could be there to see his face when he finds out he ain't got his PJ's in his bag, and Charlie and them are on him like white on rice," Mark snickered.

Kevin laughed, and said that there must be some sort of contest going on as to who was the biggest weasel.

 "I think Doug's got that one locked up, but it's an open field for second place," he said.

Ronnie arrived at Allen's, Scott's, and Charlie's house, and told his friends about wearing buckskins tomorrow.

"That makes sense," Doug said. "I'd better go home and get mine." With that, he was down the stairs and out the door. "Be back in ten minutes!" he yelled as the front door slammed behind him.

Ronnie opened his overnight bag and found his buckskins, but discovered his pajamas were missing.

"That little worm!" he exploded. "He's been in my bag and he stole my pajamas!"

Charlie left, and held out a pair of powder blue pajama pants, and a matching pullover coat.

"Here, Ronnie, you can wear these." With a scowl on his face and a snarl on his lips, Ronnie took the pajamas and changed. By the time Doug got back with his buckskins, Charlie, Allen, and Scott had also changed, and Ronnie was sitting on the edge of Charlie's bed with his hands tied behind him, and his ankles and arms tied. He'd been gagged with a red scout neckerchief with yellow trim. Charlie, Allen, and Scott were standing around, giggling like a trio of idiots.

Before they could challenge him for being the only one not wearing pajamas, Doug quickly changed, then asked what happened.

"Ronnie forgot his pajamas, and had to borrow a pair of mine," Charlie told him.

Ronnie made several loud "Mmmppfff's" and shook his head.

 "Looks like he's calling you a liar, Charlie," Doug said, as he approached Ronnie and pulled his gag down.

"I didn't forget nothin'!" Ronnie growled. "My worm of a little brother took 'em out of my bag, and I didn't notice."

"You should look more carefully next time," Charlie chided with a laugh.

"Up yours!" Ronnie snarled, just before Doug replaced his gag.

Doug grinned at Charlie, and opined that when you are tied up, saying "up yours" to the guy who tied you, is not an especially wise thing to do.

"I'll remember that for later," Charlie said. "But it's also not especially wise to rub someone's face in it, or kick him when he's down. You can get away with just so much, but it you try to overdo it, it will come right back and bite you."

There was no arguing with that logic, and there was no arguing with Scott, Allen, and Doug, when it came to Charlie getting his penalties left over from earlier in the day. The one good thing from Charlie's standpoint, was that while he was getting tied, Ronnie was getting tied with him, and the two of them could help each other escape.

Allen tied the two boys for their final penalties, and laughed as he tied a long white bandage over Ronnie's mouth.

"Danger and adventure is always more fun if you share it with a friend," he said, then gave Charlie a push that toppled him on his side on the bed.

The boys called it a day after Charlie and Ronnie escaped, even though Doug volunteered to let Charlie and Ronnie "give him the opportunity to show off his escape skills." The boys were tired, there was a big day tomorrow, and no one was looking forward to it. Doug did think about saying or doing something obnoxious, that would get him tied up, and thus, another chance to show off, but thought the better of it, and let it pass.

The next morning, the scouts did as requested, and dressed in the buckskins given them by Little Kevin. With the fringed jackets, they sort of looked like Indians, but if they took the jackets off and wore the light blue chambray shirts, Scott and Allen, with their light blond hair, looked more like a pair of teenaged Israel Boones.

After breakfast, the five boys trooped over to Ronnie's house, where Mark, Tommy, Bobby, Steve, Terry, and Robbie were all gathered around Kevin, who, being the oldest, was the "chief." Seeing this, Doug had an idea about exposing Kevin as an 11-year-old, and a "spy," but that was shot down when Mark said, "White Fox be-um chief. We make-um honorary ten-year-old. Tie-um up in cub scout uniform last night. Three times."

Doug, taking the cue from Mark, started talking like an Indian. "I guess that be-um OK," he said, of Kevin's installation as an honorary ten-year-old.

Charlie noticed that the cub scouts were not wearing buckskins, but instead, were wearing their blue cub scout pants. They were also wearing bandanas around their foreheads, and were not wearing shirts. "Why you Injuns no wear-um buckskin?" Charlie asked.

"No have-um buckskins for all in den, so we wear-um cub pants and bandanas, and no wear-um shirts." Kevin said. "Many Injun wear-um blue pants or blue shirt, so we do, too.”

"Why you want-um us to come here?" Ronnie asked.

"We have-um contest. We betch-um you no get-um loose if we tie-um up," Kevin answered. He knew full well that Doug, Allen, and Scott would undoubtedly get loose, but told Ronnie that Tommy, Bobby, Terry, Steve, and Robbie would all get to tie up an older kid for the first time, and they were really eager.

Ronnie also asked if it was really necessary to use "Indian talk."

 "I went to the white man's school for eight years. I might be an Indian, but I learned English pretty good." Kevin and Mark huddled with the others, and agreed to dump the "requirement" to talk like Indians - or at least, how they heard Indians talk on TV.

Kevin and Mark watched as Steve, Terry, Bobby, Tommy, and Robbie selected a "subject," and began "learning the ropes." As expected, none of them were very good, and, in fact, were somewhat less than good. Even Ronnie, the worst of the five at getting loose, found escape quite easy, and even beat Doug at getting loose from ties by Robbie and Steve. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time that Doug had "dogged it."

The boys got in a couple of games of "hide and go seek," and as a concession to the younger kids, let three of them be "it" at a time. Kevin also suggested that the older boys pretend they couldn't get loose, but that idea was flatly turned down.

 "They're having a lot of fun tying up us older kids," Doug told Kevin. "The more we get loose, the more they get to catch us and tie us up again."

"Yeah, but they ain't gettin' tied up by you guys - just by each other," Kevin groused.

Doug grinned, and said that there would be time enough for that later. "Four years from now, they'll be where we are, and me and Scott'll be taking the MacKenzie twins to the senior prom."

Kevin laughed. "Doug, you and Scott chasin' women is like a dog chasin' a car. If you ever caught one, you wouldn't know what to do with it."

Doug looked at his young friend, and said that it was a good thing all the rope was back at the base. "If I had any here, I'd d**n sure use it on you for that crack!" he growled.

"Promises, promises," Kevin teased, then took off. Doug tried to follow, but was stopped by a small voice yelling "Gotcha!" It was Steve, and he proudly held aloft, the bandana he had just yanked out of the back pocket of Doug's jeans. Doug smiled, and congratulated the youngster, and went with him back to the base, where Steve tied his hands and feet, then gagged him with his own neckerchief.

Doug didn't mind. Steve was worse than Mark or Big Chris at tying, and it might as well have been, "Just sit there with your hands behind your back, and as soon as I'm gone, you're free."

The sun was dropping into the west, and all the kids were tired, but still excited. The temperature had dropped about ten degrees, and the shirtless ten year olds were quick to pull off the bandanas from their foreheads, and put on their cub shirts. Charlie looked over the seven boys in blue, and said, "Hey, guys, let's tie 'em up like Rusty on TV!"

The ten-year-olds thought getting tied like Rusty might be something neat, as he and the other TV kids, most older than they were, were something of heroes to them, and it didn't hurt that their cub uniforms were similar to Rusty's uniform.

Charlie and Ronnie broke out several bandages from Mark's and Kevin's rope bag, and used them to tie and gag the seven ten year olds. But unlike Rusty's predicament, the seven were able to get themselves free, right after Charlie, Ronnie, Doug, Scott, and Allen took off for home.

A couple of hours later, a freshly scrubbed pair arrived. Kevin and Mark had escaped, freed the others, then Kevin said he had decided to spend the night at Allen's, Scott's, and Charlie's house along with Ronnie and Doug.

Mark went along with his best friend, but did ask, "Why don't you say 'Let's go over to Charlie's house and get tied up' 'cause that's what usually happens."

"Yeah, it's a pain in the butt," Kevin said, but the upside, is that we almost always get payback.

Mark nodded, smiled, and said that it might be a good idea to go over and ask to spend the night. "We should, at least, thank them for coming over and being our captives."

Several minutes later, Mark and Kevin arrived at Scott's, Allen's, and Charlie's house with the appropriate permissions. "Hey, guys, I really appreciate you coming over for ‘Indian Days’ today. The den had a blast, and wants to do it again," Mark said. "They even thought it was 'cool' getting tied up and gagged with the bandages in their cub uniforms like Rusty, but that it was even more fun teaming up with each other, getting back to back, and getting loose."

"Did you tell 'em that sometimes - a lot of times - they might have some problems getting loose?” Allen asked.

"Yeah, I did," Mark said. "But they're like me when I just turned ten. I had to experience it for myself."

"And they still want to do it?" Allen questioned.

"They're almost as bad as Doug," Mark answered. "They're asking to get tied up some more."

"Well, if that's what they want, why don't you two get 'em set up?" Ronnie said. “Show 'em a rope bag and what's in it, and tell 'em the rules. They already know how we pay 'hide and seek,' so teach 'em to play "team chase," and Doug's "race to town" game. You two be to them, what we were to you."

"We can do that!" said Kevin. "Now, I ain't tied up a pajama Indian since last night. Which one of you teenaged turkeys wants to be my victim tonight?"

"Yer ass!" Doug smiled. "I got one comin' on you from earlier today, when you made that wisecrack about women and dogs chasin' cars, and for distracting me while that little munchkin, Steve, pulled my flag and tied me up."

"You don't get any penalty for that!" Kevin grumbled.

"You're right, Kevin, I don't." Doug replied. "But I'm gonna take one anyway, just 'cause I'm bigger, older, and stronger than you, and I can do it, so you can do it the easy way or the hard way."

Not wanting to get into a wrestling match with Doug that he's most assuredly lose, Kevin grudgingly said, "OK, I'll do it the easy way."

Doug smiled and nodded, and said, "Since you like to tie pajama Indians so much, I think you can be the pajama Indian that gets tied. I'll wait until you get ready for bed, then take it."

"I guess I deserve that," Kevin said. But there was a smile on his face. It was already turning dark outside, and Kevin knew that if he was wearing pajamas, so would everybody else, and he'd get his chances to tie them up. "Life is good," he thought. "Even if Mark and I do have to put up with the teenagers' crap.

About that time, Kevin suddenly felt like banging his head into the wall. "Damn!" he thought. "The last five times me and Doug wrestled, he gave up, and I got to tie him. I must be dumber than a box of rocks! He always gives up!"

Kevin turned to Doug, and called his name. Doug saw the mixed expression on his young friend's face, and before Kevin could get another word out, Doug said, "I can tell by your face what you're thinkin'!"

Then, pulling Kevin out of earshot of the others, he whispered, "We could'a wrestled, but I'd'a beat you anyway. The last few times we did it, it was just you and me, but I couldn't lose in front of Scott, Allen, Charlie, Ronnie, and Mark. I'd never hear the end of it, and I'd wind up tied and gagged from now, to the middle of next month."

"But you like getting tied up," Kevin protested.

"No, I like escaping, and getting tied up is a necessary part of escaping," Doug corrected his friend. "Besides, even if I did like it, I wouldn't like it THAT much." Kevin sort of grinned, and nodded.

"Hey, you two, get over here!" Charlie called. Kevin and Doug rejoined the rest of them, and saw Mark struggling in Allen's grip.

"What's going on?" Doug demanded.

"We decided we're gonna play 'capture the cub scout,' and get a little payback for this afternoon," Allen said, over Mark's struggles and protests.

"Yeah, and for the morning, too!" Scott added.

Charlie already had some rope, and had it looped around Mark's ankles, and once his feet stopped flailing around, it was easy to pin his hands behind him and tie them together. Mark's protests were semi-silenced by a dark blue bandana, but he was still making his displeasure known. Doug grabbed one of the big, red square neckerchiefs he'd gotten from his uncle, and rolled it up.

"Try this on him!" he told Scott.

Scott pulled away Mark's bandana, and replaced it with the thick neckerchief. Mark's protests were still audible, but not nearly as loud.

 "Your turn, Kevin!" Charlie ordered. "Get him!" Immediately, Ronnie, Scott, and Allen set upon Kevin, while Doug got some rope to tie him.

"But I ain't no cub scout!" Kevin protested, while fighting Ronnie's grip on his arms.

"Well, you sure did a d**n good impression of one this afternoon!" Charlie laughed. “Didn't they say they had made you an honorary ten-year-old, and didn't you wear a cub scout uniform or part of one for the day?"

Mark nodded vigorously, hoping that his confirmation of Charlie's question would make them tie up Kevin faster.

"Doug was right," he thought. "Danger and adventure is always more fun when shared with a friend, and it's REALLY more fun when me and Kevin share it."

"Too bad they didn't bring their cub uniforms with them," Ronnie said. "Remember how they told us they thought it was neat, being tied up and gagged with bandages while wearing their uniforms?"

"At least they brought their pajamas." Doug said. "All of us have been Kevin's pajama Indian prisoners at one time or another, and later on, I'm gonna get some serious payback."

Kevin just shuddered. "I just KNOW that weasel is gonna hogtie me," he thought. "But if he thinks he's gonna get serious payback on me, just wait 'til the next time I get him. I'll truss him up like a Christmas turkey, and feed him to the cub scouts on a hamburger bun!"

Scott, Allen, Charlie, Ronnie, and Doug all decided it was time for a snack, and left Mark and Kevin alone while they raided the refrigerator. As soon as they were gone, Mark softly "mmmppfff'd" through the thick red square neckerchief that gagged him, and Kevin realized that Mark was trying to tell him to get back to back.

Once they did get back to back, it was fairly easy for them to untie each other's hands, and get themselves free of their ropes and gags.

 "Now we get to tie them!" Kevin excitedly said.

"True, but I think they gave it to us," Mark said.

"Wha'da'ya mean?" Kevin asked.

"I think Charlie wanted to let us tie him up again, but he couldn't just walk up to us and say 'Please tie me up', now, could he?” Mark replied.

"Yeah, OK," said Kevin. "Then what?"

"We had to 'earn' it," Mark said. "They make an excuse to tie us up, then do it. They all leave for snacks and drinks, we get loose, and by doing so, earn the right to tie them up. Simple."

"And how did you figure that out?" Kevin asked.

Mark grinned at his best friend. "You got two choices," Mark said. "I'm either 'The Amazing Mentalist, Mark the Magnificent,' or I overheard Charlie and Doug talking about it."

"No duh!" Kevin laughed. "Let's go collect our 'rewards.' But I have just one thought. It ain't no fun when we get given a freebie. I'd rather really and honestly earn it."

"Hey, bonehead, did we get loose on our own?" Mark asked.

"Yeah," Kevin replied.

"Were we tied up as well as those guys can tie?" Mark questioned.

"I guess so," Kevin mumbled

"Other than ourselves, did we have any help getting loose?" Mark inquired.

"No," came the answer.

"Did we break any rules that we all made up and agreed on?" Mark asked.

"No," Kevin said.

"Then we d**n well earned the right to have a little game of 'tie up the teenager!' " Mark exclaimed.

"Well, when you put it that way... “ Kevin was cut off by Mark, who said they should join the others for drinks and snacks. There was no argument from Kevin.

As sort of an afterthought, Mark told his friend that since they had earned free ties on the older kids, he could do his favorite thing.

"Huh?" Kevin said.

"Gawd, you are thick today," Mark said. "You can tie them up in their pajamas - or even each other's pajamas."

That bit of information perked Kevin right up. Maybe he could trick one or more of them like he had done to Big Chris, and tie them up, not only at night or early morning, but make them change to PJ's in the middle of the afternoon.

"That would be a sight," he thought. "And fun, too!"

"And they'd hate it," said Doug.

"Hate it? Hate what?" Kevin asked, surprised by Doug's sudden appearance.

"Whatever it is you're plotting," Doug answered. "I know that look. I've seen it too many times. You're up to something."

"Who, me?" said Kevin, trying to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, you!" Doug shot back. "Don't give me any of that sweet, innocent 'who me' crap. I know better. You're about as innocent as... as..."

"As you?" Kevin completed. "With all your plots and schemes?"

Doug grinned at his 11-year-old friend. "We know each other well," he said. "How'd you like to spend next weekend at my place. We can plot and scheme together, and I can give you weasel lessons."

"Way cool!" Kevin excitedly said. "I'll ask my mom when I get home tomorrow."

"Done!" Doug said. "But just 'cause I'm gonna teach you to be a bigger weasel, doesn't mean I'm gonna let you weasel out of that penalty I got comin'. As soon as you're in your pajamas - which should be in about less than five minutes, you're mine."

"And don't think I'm gonna forget I got one on you!" Kevin shot back. "But I think I'll save that one for later. Maybe me and Mark'll make YOU an honorary ten-year-old, and tie you up in a cub scout uniform." Doug smiled, but didn't laugh. He knew Kevin would do it because he'd tied Doug in a cub uniform three times before. And Scott with him twice.

Kevin took his penalty without complaint, not even saying anything when Doug got a second red square neckerchief, rolled it up, knotted it in the middle, and gagged him with it. Doug thought he saw the hint of a smile on Kevin's face just before he pulled the gag tight over Kevin's mouth and tied it off.

Kevin looked like he'd been well tied, but Doug had given him some hidden slack. It also didn't hurt that Doug wasn't especially good at tying captives, or that, in addition to teaching him to tie, Kevin's cousins had also given him some escape hints. Still, even with the help and knowledge, Kevin took nearly a dozen minutes to slip free of Doug's knots.

Kevin was annoyed at himself for wasting valuable time that he could have spent with Mark, tying up Allen, Scott, Charlie, Ronnie, and Doug.

Mark was a little miffed, too, and said to Kevin, "I dunno if I should be pissed at Doug for tying you so good that it took you so long to get loose, or at you for just takin' so long."

"Be pissed at Doug," Kevin told him. "Whether you know it or not, when you're pissed, you tie your captives better."

Mark cocked his head and gave Kevin a funny look. "How'd you get to be so full of crap in only 11 years?" he asked. Kevin ignored the insult, and finished tying Charlie's hands behind his back. But he did have to put a hand up to his face to cover his grin and giggle. Charlie, wearing a set of dark blue regular flannel pajamas, was well gagged with a blue and white scout neckerchief.

Ronnie also sported a scout neckerchief for a gag, but his was red and yellow. He was still in Charlie's powder blue pajamas, and was tied up with Doug, also in light blue pajamas, but with a gag fashioned from a long bandage, and applied by Mark.

Scott made the third to select light blue pajamas, but his were flannel, and his gag was a blue bandana. Allen, wearing a pair of light blue pajamas with the button up coat, also was gagged with a blue bandana.

Kevin and Mark, both wearing standard pajama pants, were quite pleased with themselves, and traded high fives before stepping into the hall, and out of hearing range of their five prisoners.

"You know they're gonna get loose, and that sooner or later, we're gonna have to pay," Kevin said.

"Bummer," replied Mark, "but I can't think of anyone I rather be tied up with. You're a neat best friend."

"You, too," Kevin said.

Ninety minutes later, all penalties had been taken, save for the one Kevin had on Doug, and the boys were growing weary. Charlie had struggled a lot, but out of three times, escaped only once. Ronnie didn't fare much better, but Doug, Scott, and Allen got loose every time. Charlie and Ronnie were somewhat fortunate, in that they got untied by one of the other three, and thus, did not have to pay any additional penalties at a later time, which made them happy. Mark and Kevin were also happy because they got to tie and gag Ronnie, Charlie, Allen, Scott, and Doug.

Allen and Scott weren't exactly bubbling over with glee, but they didn't mind getting tied up by Mark and Kevin, even if it was in their pajamas. To them, it was important to build up Mark, and bolster his confidence, and besides, if he didn't know anything else, he did know how to gag a captive. As for Kevin, he was always a good challenge, especially since his Indian cousins taught him how to tie.

And Doug was Doug. He was happy any time he could show off, and tonight, he was going to get to show off a lot.

END

© Copyright Dingbat 2008

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