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An Autumn Camp Mike held a whispered conversation with Robert and David and then in a louder tone told them to get our stoves lit so that supper could be got underway as soon as all the arrangements had been made. They disappeared towards the tents while Paul led everyone else off in the opposite direction, leaving us to meditate alone. When they returned, they were accompanied by Peter and Andrew but I was gratified to see that, like us, they were gagged and shirtless. Paul had bound their wrists and elbows tightly behind their backs. They had clearly had explained to them the terms of Paul's armistice and they put up no resistance as they were made to kneel facing us three and had their ankles tied. They were spared the indignity of the stave behind their necks but once their feet had been secured, Paul added a further cord tightly between wrists and ankles placing them in a "vertical hogtie". Both boys were forced to arch their backs as Paul worked the lashing so tight that their hands were touching their feet. With their elbows tightly bound this looked most uncomfortable. I was now worried as to what Mike's final surprise was. Were Peter and Andrew to share the same fate? We were certainly not going to learn the answer to that question yet as a boy stepped behind each of us and tightly blindfolded us. Mike now began speaking, "In a few moments we are going to retie you more comfortably until you have made your choice in accordance with Paul's suggestion. I expect you are chilly too, so we will give you your shirts back." I breathed a sigh of relief - during the day it had not been unpleasant and our activity had kept us warm. Now, dusk was falling and with it a chill had set in that was making me shiver. "Before we do that however we really need to clean you up a little. You really are filthy little villains and an absolute disgrace!" Before I had absorbed his words we were doused with cold water, not straight from a bucket but rubbed into our hair and chests with large natural sponges. The shock took my breath away but even as our tormentors stood and laughed at our distress we were surprised to have the treatment repeated, this time with hot water. We were systematically scrubbed clean - James and I certainly needed it - and after the initial cold shock it was actually quite pleasant. Then our blindfolds and gags were removed at last. Peter and Andrew had not shared in this last adventure but none of us made any protest as our captors towelled us dry. Finally, Mike said, "We just couldn't resist it! You really were filthy and I knew we couldn't trust you young heathens to wash properly. Are we forgiven?" We all three nodded our assent. Mike went on, "OK, you heard the deal. You have to remain prisoners while you decide with Paul who is to be held, but we are going to untie you now so you can put your sweatshirts on. Then all five of you will have your hands tied behind your backs until the hostages have been decided upon. After that, most of you will be liberated. The two remaining hostages will remain bound until supper." While he was speaking, I could see Roger telling Peter and Andrew the same. Moments later our arms and hands were being untied. As the stave was removed, I stretched my neck carefully but with intense pleasure. My arms ached, but compared with the pleasure of being able to stand upright again, this was as nothing. Our clothes were returned to us and without even waiting for our ankles to be freed, we eagerly pulled our jumpers on, even Paul! With our feet untied at last we all stood, stretching our aching limbs and enjoying the freedom, however transient. We were given a few minutes to relax and actually approached our erstwhile enemies (Peter and Andrew) to commiserate with one another. We giggled together over Paul's unusual resolution of the game, even though James, Stuart and I knew that for one of us the suffering wasn't over. Peter and Andrew at least had a fighting chance of persuading one of their mates to take their place! At last, Mike indicated that our time was up. We had been expecting it and, without a murmur of protest all five of us lined up and dutifully placed our hands behind our backs. Robert and David started from opposite ends of the line and, in a few moments we were all bound prisoners once more. They had shown no favours to anyone - we had all been securely tied and none of us would get loose without help. Paul now led the three of us away to our tents while Andrew and Peter were surrounded by the opposition. It certainly felt strange to be led away by our mate and I am sure that our two former adversaries felt much the same. We all crowded into one tent and sat down. Stuart turned to Paul and said, "I suppose we do have to stay trussed like this, do we?" Paul immediately replied, "I'm afraid so. The deal was you would all remain tied up until the hostages had been sorted out. Only then can most of you be set free. I am trusting Mike's team to do the same with Peter and Andrew so we must keep our side of the bargain." Stuart accepted his fate without more ado, wriggling to make himself comfortable with his bound hands. He seemed a little embarrassed by James and my seemingly fatalistic acceptance of our situation, but in fairness to our friend it does have to be said that we were so used to being tied up for long periods it made little difference to either of us. A short debate followed during which Paul offered to take our places. I vehemently opposed this suggestion reminding him of what his brother might be capable of. Clearly Matthew wouldn't be volunteering in the same way! Next I offered the same sacrifice but this was shouted down by all three of my companions who reminded me I had collected quite enough battle scars to last a lifetime. I had had the opportunity to view my bruised wrists during our brief moment of freedom (actually no different from Paul's) and ruefully accepted the majority view. Finally, Stuart broke the silence and said it had better be him. Before anyone could interrupt him he pointed out that he had spent less time than any of us tied up that afternoon and had escaped all but a few minutes of torture. "All in all, I think I owe it to all of you!" he grinned. "Good heavens, you are becoming as big a perve as Richard," James laughed. Stuart bowed his head to try to hide his blushes and insisted he would just as soon not be tied up at all but he was adamant that it should be him and so it was decided. Paul helped each of us to our feet and we rejoined the larger group. Peter and Andrew were seated in their midst and I was gratified to see their hands were still tied behind their backs too. We announced that Stuart would pay the penalty on our behalf and Mike announced their chosen one - Matthew! The latter smiled shyly at his younger brother and said, "I thought you might try to sacrifice yourself for your mates and didn't want you to be able to accuse me of treating you any worse than I might have done someone else. I think perhaps you have suffered enough today and I'm sorry for the way I treated you." "That's alright Matthew," Paul replied. "I did volunteer but the others turned me down because they were afraid of what you might do to me! Don't worry about earlier - I deserved everything that happened to me but I think it was a little tough on Richard who got it too!" It was the work of moments to decide to truss the hostages as Paul and I had been much earlier when first captured. On the edge of the clearing that constituted our campsite were two saplings ideal for our purposes and the two victims were led to these and made to kneel with their backs to the thin, straight trunks. Crossing their ankles behind the trees, they were quickly lashed together. Gags were added - we didn't want our hostages moaning about aching arms and legs - and then their arms were freed from behind their backs. Both boys were made to remove their sweatshirts - they were not going to be subjected to any torture but we all agreed they could endure the discomfort of the cold for the hour or so they were likely to be tied up. Finally, their wrists were pulled above their heads and back behind the tree trunk, crossed and tightly bound. As their bonds were completed, both boys relaxed as far as they were able, but this method of securing them left them no freedom of movement with their backs arched and their arms drawn upwards and backwards. Finally, our friends turned to us four who remained standing with our hands tied behind our backs. At last, we were set free and were able to massage some feeling back into our arms. Even as Stuart and Matthew were being tied up some of the boys had begun to prepare supper. The stoves had already been lit to warm the water Mike had used to clean us up with earlier so an hour later we were ready to eat. The two remaining prisoners were set free and amidst much hilarity we were all eating hot stew. The cleaning up finished, everyone was ready for bed. For awhile we talked and laughed about our experiences, hearing for the first time how Paul had surprised Peter and Andrew with well aimed pistol shots and then forced the latter to tie his pal's hands and ankles before being trussed by Paul himself. When he called his truce, he had left the two boys hogtied, their hands and elbows tied behind them, and of course securely gagged. They had no chance of escape. At last we were exhausted by our yarns and one by one fell into a contented, dreamless sleep. No one suffered an unexpected attack that night. In the morning, breakfast complete, we began the task of clearing our campsite. Every boy worked diligently and by late morning tents were cleared and bags were packed ready for collection by our helpful parents. I said good-bye to Paul - we all agreed he qualified as a full member of our select band of lunatics - and set out on the walk home with the mates I had arrived with. We all had school tasks to complete during the remainder of the short holiday and this would be the last of our battles until the weather began to improve in the Spring, but already we were plotting what we would do (and who we would do it to!) next time...
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