This story is (C)Copyright 2006, by TM. All World Wide Rights Reserved. This story may not be sold or made part of any collection without prior written permission.
North Country Chapter Two
About an hour of hiking and my feet were feeling the effects of the new boots. I noticed some old tree stumps up ahead and trudged onward; stopping once I'd gotten to the old stumps. I quickly took off the boots and noticed that I'd already started getting small blisters on the heels of my feet. I dug through my pack and got out another pair of socks, which I was told by somebody would help considerably. I should have worn the two pair from the start, but I must not have been thinking.
It was still a beautiful day and the trees seemed as thick as bees on honey. That's about all I could see from my position, other than the hiking trail and the road. The road wasn't anything to write home about, let me tell ya. These folk up here must navigate pot holes as big and as deep as a bathtub.
Come to think of it, I hadn't seen a vehicle the entire time, since I last saw the vintage town. No difference really, as I was here for the solitude.
Hitting the trail again, I came across two hikers, heading in the opposite direction. We all chatted for a few minutes, and it was nice to know that I wasn't the only person hiking in what some might call "God's country". The trail seemed to do a lot of winding as it went up and down the hills, but that gave me a good chance to work my legs more. Nobody ever said that hiking was always done in a straight line, right?
The air finally began to warm up just enough where it was really comfortable to be outdoors. From the top of the hill I was standing on, my eyes easily followed the trail downward and I knew that it would intersect with the road somewhere not to far ahead. It seemed strange at first, walking on a trail; surrounded by high massive hardwood trees, yet being able to see the trail ahead without much of a problem. I'm guessing that during the tourist season that these trails are full of tourists and nature lovers.
Down the hill I went and sure enough the road was once again in sight. I stopped and listened; and my sense of hearing was right, there was indeed a vehicle coming my way. I stood along side the road and looked in the direction from which the sound was coming from.
Here comes, the two rusty pickup trucks from town. I was amazed that the men even slowed down as they seemed not to notice me; or did they? For a moment I
thought they were going to stop. I instantly recognized the men in the first
truck as being in the supply store this morning. In the second truck, as well the men were recognizable; and sure enough the kid was still in the back, huddled up, but wasn't under the blanket. I could have sworn that he was bare butt naked. The one thing I did notice, for sure, was the fact that the kid had a streak of dried blood on his face, along with a huge shiner of a black eye. I felt sympathy for him nonetheless as they motored passed me; with all of their eyes fixed on my still figure. I spotted a great place to stop for lunch. It was clearing with lots of sunshine, a small brook and it looked like many others had stopped here before me. After shucking my backpack I immediately took off the boots and my feet were forever thankful. I ate a can of tuna with some crackers for lunch and a bottle of not so cold soda. I really liked this spot, just for the beauty surrounding it, but knew that I had to press on. But, before starting my trek, I took the opportunity to dip my feet into the icy cold water of the brook. I think up here they call it a stream, but it's still a brook.
After pushing myself to get motivated, I started to put my socks back on when a fellow hiker appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "Hey there," he said, ever so jovial. "Names Carl, and you are?"
"Bill, Bill Bennett," I replied courteously.
We talked for a while, and I was glad that we did. This guy, Carl, is an experienced hiker and camper. He'd been hiking for over two months, following the ridge line. Besides, today at least, my feet were thankful for the extra time NOT spent inside the boots.
Carl seemed to be a nice man, not that I'm an expert on 'nice'. He had always
been an avid outdoors man and could think of nothing in the world better than being out doors. He was headed in the same direction as I was, and offered to hike with me; at least until we came to the northwest trail that I wanted to hike on. He was planning on remaining on the trail which would eventually take him to the Canadian border. Sure seems more ambitious than me, that much I knew.
Needless to say, Carl and I hit it off pretty good, or at least I thought so. I was more intent on listening to him, as he wove a story of his hiking and of all the different hikers he'd come in contact with. I guess my story, paled in comparison to his.
Over the next several hours, we only came across four or five hikers, all of whom were 'locals'. It was nice talking with them also, as everybody seemed to have at least one tidbit of a helpful suggestion for me.
When it came time to stop for the day, Carl was a big help. I think that I would have done okay by myself, but it sure was nice getting one on one lessons from a 'pro'.
We got a small but workable fire going for the night, as well as getting things ready to cook a hot meal. The first thing made was a small pot of 'campers' coffee', which oddly enough tasted fantastic. I sat on my sleeping bag and watched as Carl went about cooking up a dinner of beans and canned franks and
tomatoes.
After dinner I took the aluminum cookware and plates down to the brook and washed them really good. By the time I had returned Carl was getting his things
that he needed to wash up and brush his teeth for the night. He wasn't shy about disrobing in front of a total stranger either. He got buck naked and began using some of the hot water to wash his face, then his armpits and after squatting down like a duck, he washed his private parts. That's when a dose of reality set in.
Carl began using his wash cloth to stroke his penis. Not that I was staring or nothing but I could see that the soap had foamed up nicely and the combination of the two seemed to have some euphoric effect on Carl.
"You gay or something?" Carl quickly asked, noticing that I was watching him.
"No, of course not," I replied
"You don't have a problem with me jacking my turkey neck do ya?" He asked while glaring down at his own rock hard penis. "Don't need to be all proper and stuff out here in the woods. If you feel like jerking off, don't let me stop ya."
I wasn't repulse by Carl's activity but he could have at the very least gone behind a tree or down by the brook. However, the sight of him masturbating got me into the mood; but I'd just have to wait until I was alone. It isn't like me and my brothers all hold up in the bathroom having a community circle jerk when we were hitting puberty.
A few minutes later and Carl erupted and sent his sperm flying through the air, landing in the dirt. He quickly got into his sleeping bag, naked, and seemed to be watching me now.
"You getting your clothes off ain't ya? Guys don't sleep good out here with clothes on. Just make sure you keep your jeans handy in case we get woke up by a critter during the night. Wouldn't want to see a dude running through the woods naked would we?"
He did have a valid point, as I'd never slept in my clothes. I quickly got undressed; piling my clothes up next to the sleeping bag.
"You must be one of them yuppie kind of guys," Carl commented. "You don't wear those fancy shorts, I see. I like to go without any underwear, but I guess guys like you love to wear them colored banana hammocks. Those things used to always give me a rash between my legs, that's why I don't wear nothing."
We chatted a bit more, watching the flames of the fire flicker and Carl told another one of his hiking experiences; which put me a little on edge. He told a story, that he'd heard come from a couple other hikers about guys who hiked up here in Maine and were never seen again. The way he spun the story it was as if the hikers had be either eaten by Maine Black Bears or were held captive by 'Bigfoot'. Either way, the guys were never seen or heard from again. Such a great story to hear on my first night of camping out, but I was so tired that the thought of some animal dragging me off didn't keep me from falling into a hard sleep.
My normal erection was evident when I woke up. Carl was already hard at work.
The fire was blazing and the coffee smelt divine. "Don't mind me," Carl said
laughingly. "Every guy has the same problem, last I remembered."
I crawled out of the sleeping bag, with my erection tenting my pale blue skivvies. I didn't even try to cover up, but did manage to turn away and found a tree which I watered. I don't even think my own brothers had even seen me with a morning hard-on.
I slipped my jeans on and joined Carl for the first coffee of the day, and a beautiful day it was; so far. Breakfast consisted of a simple small box of cereal with powdered milk; to which a camper only has to add water. All things considered it really tasted pretty good, and I probably could have opened another one; as my stomach was calling out for more.
After eating, Carl and I grabbed our little quasi-military shovels and headed
off into the bushes. I knew this day was coming, but once I realized I had to actually squat over a hole and do my business, right out under the sky, it all seemed so primitive. I guess that is just part of camping and hiking that I'd get used to if I wanted to have a great vacation. At least I had enough sense to bring along a roll of tissue, where Carl had to resort to using leaves. Yuck!
Carl even showed me how to better utilize the space inside my back pack. It really made a lot of sense and would be of great value for the remainder of my
hike. I'd never have even thought to tuck my wallet into a sock and keep it in the bottom of the back pack. At least now, I didn't have to worry about it
falling out in the woods some place. The other nice thing that I, we, did was to use my cellphone to call my brother and let him know I was okay. Ryan was glad that I had called and said that everyone was concerned when I hadn't called last night. I'd forgotten that I promised to call every night and give a progress report. I gave Ryan the number for Carl's parents and he was to call them and relay the message that Carl was fine and in good health.
Carl suggested that I keep the cellphone off, unless I wanted to use it; thus
saving the battery life. He told me to keep in mind that if I ever came across someone in a vehicle to ask them to allow the charging of the phone. Now that was something that I hadn't even considered; charging the battery in my phone. Carl might just turn out to be a hero afterall.
As we started off, we had enough coffee left in the pot to allow each of us to keep our tin cup in hand as we walked, thus able to keep just a bit warmer until the sun was heating up the earth. Another great idea from Carl, which proved invaluable.
My feet felt so much better this morning, as Carl had applied some salve to each foot before I put my socks on. Just another thing to remember next time, if there was a next time; salve for feet.
We talked every step of the way, about anything and everything; which included Carl apologizing for masturbating in front of me last night. I told him that there was no need to apologize.
At lunch, we just made it simple; eating crackers, sardines and a couple chunks of cheese. I knew that it was time to say goodbye to Carl as well. We'd reached the point where Carl would hike on and up, and I'd be taking the trails which led towards Brownsville and the western most edges of the lake. I wanted to spend many nights at or at least close by the lake. Cold water or not, I'd muster up enough willpower to get in and bath off the dust and grime one way or another.
Carl gave me his name and address and I in turn gave him mine. He said that exchanging names is a great way to hook up later and perhaps arrange to hike together. I really did want to see him again, as he was so honest and open about himself and his outlook on life, that it was refreshing to associate with
someone of his background and caliber.
He took one last look at my map, made some 'experienced' observations and suggestions and it was back to being by myself again. With the forest becoming thicker and thicker, it was less than three minutes and Carl was out of sight. I felt sad in some ways, as his friendship in just the one day had brightened my perspective about so many things in life.
This one the first time that I could ever remember that I didn't have a set time schedule to keep; and it was starting to feel even more relaxing. I hiked up until half past four and decided; that since I want to take one more day to break in the new boots, stopping now or soon would be a good thing. Mind you, regardless of the month; it starts to get dark early up here. I heard the sounds of a brook, or so I thought and left the trail to investigate. I was
amazed that I had come across more than a brook. It was as if the forest had
opened up and left me standing next to a rapidly flowing, narrow river of sorts. I quickly looked at the map, and didn't even see the river indicated. Regardless, I decided right then and there that this was the place for the night.
After several minutes of soaking in the beauty and serenity of the land, I got to work clearing out the area I was going to use for my camp fire. It wasn't difficult finding dried limbs and stuff for the fire either; and in no time I had a raging fire, maybe even to large for my intended purpose. I got some water in my small saucepan and set it next to the fire to warm.
For some strange reason, perhaps thinking of what Carl had said the day before, I stripped naked for all of the creatures to witness. The sun still felt good on my bare skin, but the heat of the day was waning fast. I gingerly walked to the waters edge and began soaking my tired, aching feet. I drifted off, briefly, as the rushing water acted like a massage on my feet.
I returned to my camp and opened up the backpack and dug out one of those ready to eat meals. Not that I can't cook for myself; but I just wanted to enjoy
myself without the hassles. I did remember to fill the little coffee pot and get it started as well.
I sat on my sleeping bag, thinking that I was forgetting something; but I really hadn't. But, then I realized that the initial pan of water was for washing up. I must say, that after nearly two days without a decent washing was making my pits a tad randy. I even had enough water left over to be able to diligently retract my foreskin and clean up just as good as if I was back home. Heck, this camping idea was going to turn out pretty darn good.
Just before turning in for the night, I added several larger pieces of fuel on the fire, which hopefully would allow me to fall asleep while the air surrounding me was still warmer than the ambient temperature outside of my campsite. At least that's one thing I learned from Carl.
I made sure my back pack was closed up good for the night and then went to arrange my clothes, as Carl suggested that I do. I had already pulled out the last two pair of clean socks and stuffed them into my boots, had my shirt laying on top of the boots, jeans on top of the shirt. I went to put my blue undies on top of the jeans, but they weren't there. I looked everywhere for them but they were gone. I even opened my backpack thinking that I may have inadvertently stuffed them away. Nope, they were gone! The only time that I wasn't around the camp was when I was soaking my feet. Surely, some animal didn't come along and steal my dirty undies? Those light blue ones are my favorite.
I sluffed it off, deciding I'd look around more in the morning. I lay there in my sleeping bag, one eye open; thinking the critter would probably come back and try and steal more of my clothes. I didn't even consider masturbating.
I did, eventually fall asleep; and slept really well I might add. I had already established a morning routine, so it was quick and easy to get started. I
never found my light blue briefs so I had to put on a clean pair; my second favorite ones, which used to be bright red, but had faded with washings to a rather girly shade of pink.
I got back on the trail, and never came across another camp or hiker all morning long. I'd hiked hard early on, as my renewed energy and desire to see all I could see was driving me to do so. Heck, I'd even hiked up the biggest hill yet, and it was another breath taking view and I looked down, and forward to the decent. I knew, according to the map that I would, at sometime, come to the same pot holed road; which I had to cross in order to stay on the same trail.
Sure enough, just before noon I came to the road. I was thrilled that I had been able to follow the simple map, even though it wasn't as detailed as the one Carl had. I was just about to cross the road when I heard the sound of vehicles coming. I stood alongside of the road, and sure enough heading away from town came the two pickup trucks again. They slowed down so much that I was sure they'd stop; but they didn't. As the second truck passed me, there was the same kid in back, still with a black eye and now I was absolutely positive that he was naked.
Just as the truck passed me, the man sitting in the passenger seat stuck his arm out the window and began waving something. I looked at him and the object he was waving and it finally registered in my head that he was waving my pale blue briefs. It was un-nerving to say the least. Certainly who ever these men were, didn't just happen across an animal with my briefs hanging out of its mouth.
The picture of the men, the naked kid and my briefs stuck in my head the entire day.
I made a good lunch for myself, and in the evening I had to resolve myself to
the fact that there wasn't any brook, river or lake anywhere around. I suppose I shouldn't 'plan' on having such a 'wilderness luxury' every night.
I slept good, due to the fatigue factor plus not thinking about the men from earlier. When I woke up and got the fire started, I went to put my clothes on
and instantly saw that my jeans were missing. This crap had to be stopped. I'm out here alone, not bothering a single soul, and for whatever reason people are stealing my clothes. I hadn't seen anybody all day long, let alone heard anyone come into my camp site.
I hastily dug out my cellphone and called my brother and told him about the creepy things happening. He told me, straight out, to hike back to town and come home. He said to me that, he didn't like the way this trip was turning out and he was afraid something would fall upon me.
I made sure my camp fire was extinguished and headed out. I wasn't going to let a bunch of wacko's ruin my vacation. At least they didn't steal my boots. And further more, when I did return to town, I'd report them to the authorities; because I'd already been informed that unless it was a matter of life and death that the three man police department couldn't come all this way for 'trivial stuff'.
I had a little trepidation about seeing those men again today. I didn't know how I would react if I had a chance to confront them; but rest assured I would do it. Their little jokes had gone on for two nights and enough was enough.
Lunch and dinner were great, just because I had really begun to hike harder and faster; burning up countless calories, and I really feasted.
Thinking I'd outsmart anybody who tried to sneak into my new camp and steal even more clothes; I put them all inside my backpack and kept my boots and socks hidden beneath it.
When the morning arrived, to my astonishment; everything was gone. Not even my boots were left behind. All I had was my sleeping bag and the few cooking items left beside the camp fire. I was able to huff and puff on a couple of hot embers to re-ignite the camp fire; taking the morning chill off along with reheating the left over coffee from last night.
I didn't even have my cellphone, to call for help or at least to call my brother Ryan. I went from rage to depression, as I stood around the camp fire in
my birthday suit. The only thing I could hope and pray for is that some hikers might see the smoke from my fire and come to investigate. Fifty miles from no where and I was naked, cold and now hungry. This vacation was turning out to be a real disaster.
It finally dawned on me that these men, or who ever was playing these pranks on me, just might come back and reveal themselves; returning all of my things. That's it! I just knew this whole thing was a joke. For sure, Carl didn't have anything to do with this, or did he?
I decided that for now the best thing to do was to 'sit tight' and play out this little game of theirs. I was really getting hungry and there wasn't anything that I knew of in the woods, other than wild animals to eat. Not to mention the fact that I had to evacuate my bowels, without the toilet tissue. Let me just say that a guy has gotta do what a guys gotta do. Leaves of a Maple tree seemed to work as a decent replacement for my Charmin.
I gathered up enough wood for the fire before nightfall, just in case the perpetrators waited until dark to return. I snuggled into my sleeping bag, but didn't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning.
I hadn't even gotten my eyes wide open, but the shadows of five people standing all around me was the first thing I noticed.
"These girly things belong to you?" asked one of the men. I turned my head, as my eyes came into focus and the man was holding on to my pink briefs.
I didn't even have time to think of how to politely respond to the man; and two other men had hauled me into a vertical position; still zipped inside my sleeping bag.
One of the men had re-kindled the camp fire, as the two men holding me up began unzipping my sleeping bag. I still hadn't answered the man, but he continued waving my briefs on the end of his middle finger.
"Well, look what we got!" exclaimed one of the men. "Looks like we got us another one of those 'city slickers'. Hell his skin is almost white as fucking snow, pure as a virgin too. I'm betting his is a real virgin if you're asking me. I'll bet he ain't had no stank, ever."
As the men pulled the sleeping bag away from my body, I felt so exposed, that if there was a hole big enough, I'd crawl into it. I extended my arm to retrieve my briefs, but the man instantly flung them into the camp fire, setting them ablaze. My hands quickly covered up my penis and testicles, out of embarrassment more than anything else. The shudder to realization came when all I could think of at that one moment was that I was about to die.
Thankfully a time passed, while each of the men talked about me, or to me, without really expecting me to answer their questions. I was quick to comprehend, beyond their scruffy appearance and stench, that these men weren't exactly what I would consider stupid, dumb or ignorant. For the most part, they spoke intelligent, comprehensible sentences which led me to believe these guys weren't from the hills of 'Deliverance'.
The fifth man came up to me and tied a rope around my neck. The other end of the rope was used to bind my two wrist together, behind my back and subsequently my wrists were pushed upward and bound firmly, almost, between my shoulder blades. Now helpless, I became even more aware of my predicament.
They all laughed at my exposed body, and one of them commented something to the effect that "we haven't had one this nice looking in years."
They began pissing on the campfire, one by one, until the fire was reduces to
only a couple of smoldering coals. I was pushed over to the edge of the camp
fire and before I knew it, one of them was holding my penis in his hand saying, "PISS!" There wasn't time to feel emotional, as from the moment I woke up I had to piss anyway. The man made a comment about having to retract my foreskin, which apparently these men were not all that exposed to, but I managed to drain my bladder as the man moved my penis around; splashing the embers, extinguishing
them forever.
They picked up the sleeping bag and the one guy tossed it over his shoulder and they began pushing me back along the trail. Without my boots, every little piece of earth seemed ever so sensitive. We hadn't gone too far, before we all left the trail and made our way through a dense part of the forest. None of the men were speaking to me, or each other. Their steps in the forest were silent, almost non-existent to the human ear.
All I could do was to look down, monitoring each and every footstep I made. The bottoms of my feet were quickly becoming sore, not to mention gathering a fair share of tiny cuts and scrapes. I don't know how far we hiked through the woods, but I knew it was quite a distance, before we came into a small clearing. In the clearing was an already ablaze campfire, with two other men standing around it.
The smell of food cooking was at least some benefit, knowing that my stomach had been growling for the last few hours. But, what caught my attention the most was what lay just beyond the clearing. The forest seemed to have been carved out in two parallel lines, running north and south. There between the two lines of trees, were railroad tracks. I could only think of one thing. "Don't cross over the tracks."
My wrists were untied, but the rope remained around my neck. I was led over to the campfire and was told to sit down. One of the men had a firm grip on the rope, so I knew that any attempt at running off was futile. I could try and
fight my way out of this mess but that to, might just be one of my more stupid ideas.
The men ate first and then I was given a metal plate loaded down with food. I
ate the meal with the ravenous fury of a snake. It was an exceptionally good
meal, considering the circumstances and location. Even the mug of coffee seemed to exude the flavor and texture of a well blend of bean. Just another example that these men weren't 'hill creatures'.
Now the seven men and I trudged on. Our destination still unknown to me, as was the reason for all of this tomfoolery. It was quite easy to ascertain that the majority of the afternoon hike was all uphill. Very few chances to look
anywhere but down at my feet, precluded me from trying to get a clue as to our location.
After maybe, two hours of torturous hiking, my feet were suffering more than my neck and wrists. The muffled noises of humans became evident as we moved up the mountainside. Louder and more distinct, the voices seemed almost directly ahead of us; yet I couldn't see from where they came.
Like in a movie, the forest opened up and there, standing around several camp
fires where three or four men. They all stopped talking when they noticed us
appear out of the forest, their eyes fixed on me as if I was some sort of prize.
The setting of the clearing led me to believe that this, at one time, used to be an old logging camp. The weather beaten cabins with their faded tin roofs, the quaint little porches on each of them; were imagines which would stay with me till the end of time.
The rope was removed from my body and I spent countless, nervous, minutes rubbing my wrists and neck; as the group of men remained silent, but not still. They all, to a man, came over to me and walked around me as if they were stalking me or something. Then one of the men said, "I'll go and let the 'mayor' know that you're back. I watched, as he strode over to, and into the middle cabin; knocking first before entering.
Moments later the 'mayor' appeared on the porch, with the familiar figure of the naked, beaten teenager kneeling on his hands and knees.
if you would like to read more of this story and other stories by the SanibelBoys go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SanibelBoys Just be sure that your profile shows your 'adult' age ,no exceptions, thanks, marcus, trey and billy