|
An Autumn Camp I have said earlier that Mike had planned a short hike that morning. He led us all out of the woods along a track leading along the coast for about 2 miles. We were mystified as to Mike's intentions, but he quickly silenced speculation by explaining that he was taking us to the starting point for the "smugglers" (me and my three foolhardy companions). He had insisted we bring with us sandwiches and drinks for lunch so we were all carrying small packs. The country proved to be ideal for our activities. Essentially deserted, it consisted of a mixture of rocky scrub with large patches of dense shrubbery interspersed with open woodland similar to the olive groves near our home. Some of the land was more open but here, there were rocky gullies and fissures, which would provide excellent cover for our activities. A road ran parallel to our course and about 400 yards from the coast (we were all familiar with this - it ran straight past our own woods). Mike set the road as a boundary for our game - the sea provided a natural boundary on the other side. Altogether, it seemed perfect for our game and Mike was heartily congratulated - we were all amazed that this strip of land had been ignored for so long and no one had considered extending our area of operations before. We arrived at our destination - a small, secluded cove with a strip of sand, well hidden from view by a small cliff maybe 15 feet high which was easily negotiated. The foreshore sloped gently and the water was consequently shallow and therefore still remarkably warm and we all regretted not being equipped to swim. We gathered around Mike while he set out the rules for today's engagement, formulated the previous evening. The four "smugglers" would attempt to carry their contraband - he solemnly passed each of us four small packages, simply matchboxes wrapped in parcel paper - to their base. This would be one of our three patrol huts, which was situated on the further side of our "home woods". The other boys would attempt to "arrest" them and confiscate their contraband. To be honest, winning one of these games was never a prime objective in itself - let’s face it, we were all there with the intention of capturing a few of our friends before being made prisoner ourselves. For most of us, that was the great attraction so the scenario was merely "window dressing". Nevertheless, we always endeavoured to make it apparently possible for either team to be the victor, despite there frequently being a deliberate imbalance in teams, either numerically or physically. Today was no exception. Mike told his audience that "customs" would win if they succeeded in holding 50% of the smugglers prisoner at the time limit of 7.00pm. They would also have to recover 75% of the contraband. For our part, we would be deemed victorious if we could capture more than half of the "customs". Since there were twice as many of them we would probably have our work cut out. As Mike finished his briefing, Matthew reminded everyone menacingly, "Naturally, if you are taken prisoner, we may use any means at our disposal to extract information regarding the whereabouts of your confederates. Don't expect any mercy!" As he uttered these words I saw him give his brother a malevolent glare, and I realised that Paul's presence was likely to cause us untold suffering! Mike now turned to the four of us and said, "We are going to leave you here to have your lunch. We need to get back, have our own meal and deploy our forces. We will carry your packs back so you don't have anything to carry when you begin your assault." They began to gather their own equipment and move out when James suddenly exclaimed, "We have forgotten to bring any weapons or supplies with us!" We all looked glum but Mike turned round and said, "I nearly forgot!" He and Roger opened their own packs and handed us four water pistols (our usual weapons) and a large bundle of rope and cloth. "I doubt you'll need any of that but we can't have the opposition saying they were handicapped. Anyway, when we catch you we won't need to use up our own supplies! You should give us until 1.30pm before commencing your attack." With that he turned and led the other boys back on the trek home. We now had about an hour and a half to relax, discuss the game in general and make our plans. Without more ado, we got down to the serious matter of eating our sandwiches, and when our initial hunger had been satisfied, I said to Paul ruefully, "You really shouldn't have done this! Just being with us is bad news, but did you see the look your brother gave you before he left?" He shook his head - it appeared I was the only one to notice. "If Matthew catches you, you are for it big time. By association, I guess we will catch it too, but we are used to it. There's still time to change your mind you know!" Paul shook his head vigorously and exclaimed, "No way! Even if I wanted to back out, how do you think it would look to the others? Matthew is always stepping in to protect me. I'll not say I relish the prospect of being ‘tortured’ unmercifully by that gang but I'd rather have that than be treated like a baby." He looked at me pointedly and added, "You are here, despite what happened to you at school, and as for the rest of you, you needn't think you can step into Matthews shoes!" I really had no answer. Matthew was really a kind and gentle boy who undoubtedly felt a big responsibility towards his brother. My own brother, Chris, usually behaved in much the same way towards me but this didn't stop him from launching attacks on me from time to time the ferocity of which would be appalling to outsiders. I feared Paul was heading for a debacle of his own making. Stuart grinned and said, "Don't worry Paul. We are all in this together. We always accept what is handed out to us without complaining so we will expect you to do the same! One more thing - the three of us have been in lots of scrapes together and we look out for one another. Despite our comments last night, you are one of us. If you decide by this evening that you would rather not be a party to our particular form of lunacy anymore we won't hold it against you, but you are part of our team today!" Paul looked a little embarrassed, but his grin told us he was really pleased to have been accepted by this crazy gang. Now we got down to the serious business of considering our tactics. James was quick to point out two things that I had certainly missed. First, that there was no constraint on the way we operated either individually, or as one or more small groups. Second, we had each been given a small package - the contraband. These were very small and easily concealed. However, James's point was that at no time had Mike said we each had to carry one. If they were carried by one (or two) boys then, providing these individuals weren't captured, the odds in our favour were dramatically improved. We looked at James admiringly - the boy was a genius! Furthermore, James suggested that if the contraband was to be carried to an agreed spot and then deposited, it would give an opportunity for reconnaissance without the risk of losing our precious goods. Since traditionally the losers would remain prisoners until bedtime, just keeping our packages out of the hands of the opposition could make all the difference. If any of us were captured while not in possession of the contraband, provided we could engineer our escape, we could recover the stash leaving the original carriers free to cover everyone's tracks. In reality, not much of a gameplan, you may rightly say, but to a bunch of twelve-year-olds it smacked of brilliance! James and Stuart both felt that we would fare better individually and I was inclined to agree. Paul however looked crestfallen and I immediately found myself saying I would team up with him. Against my better judgement - I found myself thinking, "You have just agreed to share the same fate as him, unnecessarily!" James and Stuart would carry the packages as far as the woods, secreting them in the hideout we had established earlier in the year. They would then carry out a sweep and endeavour to link up with Paul and me for the final thrust. Neither boy said it, but it was quite clear both of them thought they would need to rescue us. We felt certain that Mike's team would keep a couple of boys back to cover the approach to our destination, but they would still have at least six players in the field, looking for us. For much of the way there was plenty of cover in the form of trees and shrubs and in the more open territory we had noted several shallow gullies. Since there was much more country to cover it was likely they would operate singly, so we might have a reasonable chance of making some captures of our own!
|