“Alright, you’ve shown us you’re a man; you’ve put up with being staked out by the fire all night and didn’t beg for release even when you wet yourself. You haven’t betrayed your mates. But you still haven’t told us what we need to know! Now we’re in a bit of a hurry if we’re going to catch the other culprits this weekend. So no more Mr. Nice Guys! Understand?†So saying, Jamie took his foot off Tarzan’s cheek and allowed him to look up again.
By now, he really should have known better: if you’re a Sea Scout, you don’t piss off the “Land Farmers†and then walk home from school alone. Tarzan just didn’t think as he left school that Friday night and made for his friend’s place. He’d been in detention (nothing unusual there), a long one (nothing unusual there either!) and was due to spend Friday night with his friend, Budgie, and then go on to Troop activities for the rest of the weekend.
It was a warm evening and, before he left school, Tarzan removed his polo shirt and stuffed it into his rucksack followed by his school trousers which he replaced with the running shorts he’d used earlier in the day. Once he’d removed his black school shoes and socks and put on his lightweight boots and grey Bridgedales, he was ready for the walk. He had to walk because he couldn’t find his bus pass and, in any case, by the time he’d been released, it was too late for it to count and his parents thought that having to walk would serve him right.
As they caught up with him, Tarzan was completely unaware of their presence until Long Tom bent down to speak quietly in his ear. “Don’t try to run. Don’t make a noise. It’s not just Jamie and me; there’s a few more of our Troop very near and they’d all like a little word with you.â€
Tom spoke into his right ear just as Jamie hammer locked his left arm up his back. There was no one around and resistance would have been futile. Tarzan was a muscular little kid but, in the presence of Long Tom his stature was dwarfed and Jamie, although no giant, was also larger than he and also had muscles in his spit.
“Submit?â€
Tarzan nodded, he knew it was a fair cop, and, more to the point, that he had no chance against these two let alone any others who might be around. Tom un-buckled his rucksack and pulled it off his right shoulder prior to hammering his right arm uncomfortably up his back. Once it was removed completely and Jamie had “re-positioned†his left arm, Long Tom took a short length of rope and tied the middle of it firmly just above Tarzan’s right elbow after having wound it about three times round. Jamie lowered his left arm and Tom bound it in a similar way having brought his elbows to within about fifteen centimetres of each other. That can’t have been comfortable because Tarzan, as his Sea Scout name implies was not built on slim and supple lines. A few more turns around both ropes just inside his left elbow pulled his elbows even closer together as did the final loops above his right elbow and round both ropes again.
“Right, now we’re taking you to your weekend cottage.†explained Jamie meaning that Tarzan was going to be marched to the Scouts’ Cottage where he could be more conveniently interrogated. “Most people won’t even notice that you’re tied up and, if anyone asks, we’ll tell them it’s a game. If they ask you, you’ll tell them it’s a game. You could refuse to co-operate and get yourself freed. The grown-ups will only make sure we let you go and won’t do anything else. It’s your choice: get this over with now or keep watching your back when we have longer than a weekend to get our revenge.â€
This made sense to Tarzan who must have known that retribution was inevitable. He just regretted being negligent enough to allow himself to be taken on the way to Budgie’s place on that evening. But at least he was the only one who’d been caught (or so he hoped).
The Scouts had arrived for their weekly Tuesday evening meeting to find that the Cottage had been visited and “decoratedâ€. The visitors weren’t vandals, the Sea Scouts just wished to make a point. Breaking and entry is illegal in English law but, if entry can be gained without damage, that’s a different matter. Since this incident the hasp on the generator shed has been fastened far more sensibly and the cottage keys stored somewhere else.
Tarzan and some of his fellow Sea Scouts had paid the Cottage a visit. A well produced sign by the gate asked “PLEASE LEAVE YER TRAACTURR’S IN THE CARR PARRKâ€; good rendition of dialect, piss poor punctuation. A further laminated sign stapled to the door reminded the “Farmer Boys†that “ALL PET PIGS MUST BE LEFT AT THE DOORR.†As if that wasn’t bad enough, once they’d entered the training room, they noticed the white-board. “FARMER BOYS CAN’T SAIL FOR F***†had been very carefully written and elaborately decorated. That wasn’t really fair as any self-respecting scouts, either male or female, in that area could sail and/or kayak as if born to it which, given the coastal locality, I suppose they were. It’s just that the Sea Scouts had won a recent regatta hands down. The final insult was the jar of corn stalks on the table labelled “HELP YOURSELF BUT PLEASE DON’T SPIT THE STUBS ONTO THE FLOORâ€.
The “Sailor Boys†admired their work, locked the door, replaced the keys and re-fastened the hasp onto the generator shed. Tarzan didn’t notice that, when he got his screwdriver out of his pocket, his bus pass fell to the ground.
The Sea Scouts got on their bikes and made good their get-away.
The walk to the Cottage took quite some time and any potential problems were diffused by a cheery, “Good evening†from Jamie or Long Tom or even, under existing duress, from Tarzan. At least Jamie had taken his rucksack for him.
As they entered the Inclosure that surrounds the Cottage, the three boys were joined by Zac and Vic. Vic had a pioneering spar and some rope with him and explained that it was time to re-tie Tarzan ready for later.
“What if anyone sees us?†It was a desperate attempt on Tarzan’s behalf but the answer was obvious. Same as before: it’s a game and, in any case, we’re taking the narrow tracks from now on, the ones that aren’t on the grockles’(1) or dog-walkers’ routes.
Tarzan still knew there was no point in resisting, even as a matter of honour, when he was so heavily outnumbered. Zac took two ropes arranged them side by side and located the middles. Tarzan was forced to kneel and cross his ankles before his elbows were freed. He was then allowed a few minutes to massage his elbows and flex his shoulders.
“Ready, kid?â€
“Yea, just get on with it.â€
Once Vic had pushed the spar up against the back of Tarzan’s neck, Zac positioned the ropes round his throat. Having passed the ends of one rope above the spar and the ends of the other below the spar and above the prisoner’s shoulders, Zac wound the ropes in counter directions around the spar and tied them together near the right of Tarzan’s neck. He then repeated the procedure on the other side trapping the spar behind Tarzan’s neck firmly but not tightly enough to impede his breathing. Tarzan could guess what was coming and spread his arms along the spar. Sure enough, Zac and Vic took an arm each. After all the years of feuding, taking prisoners and playing “Tied Games†this was a well rehearsed procedure. The ropes were knotted together above Tarzan’s armpits and then wrapped around them three times before being tied off again.
“Oh, come on, boys, you don’t need to do this you know. There’s no way I can escape from all of you.â€
“It’s not a question of need. It’s a question of justice.â€
Tarzan tried to keep his muscles tensed as the ropes were knotted off and tied round his arms repeatedly as Vic and Zac worked their way towards his wrists. Once his wrists had been fastened, leaving lots of spare rope, Tarzan relaxed his muscles. No use, there was not enough potential slack to enable him to move his wrists towards his body.
Just to be unpleasant, Jamie pulled Tarzan’s polo shirt out of his rucksack and blindfolded him with it.
The poor kid had been effectively crucified and, as the party moved through the narrow passages of the Inclosure, he was often forced to move sideways. Being blindfolded didn’t make his progress easy or comfortable and was the source of considerable trepidation. OK, the Scouts wanted their revenge, but they would make sure that their prisoner never came to any real harm. Eventually the party arrived at the Cottage. Tarzan was exhausted.
Not having got out of school ‘til about five and having taken at least two hours getting to the Cottage, Tarzan was now thirsty, hungry and absolutely knackered. His captors just left him face down on the ground, after having tied his ankles to a second spar keeping his legs uncomfortably spread, and went into the Cottage for refreshments.
Tarzan was beginning to wonder whether he’d been forgotten. He could hear comings and goings and the sounds of other boys arriving – the casual verbal abuse as they passed him told him as much. He could also hear the inevitable sound of pine logs crackling as the camp fire got underway. He’d started to get spooked and the Scouts’ plan was starting to work but Tarzan, although one of the youngest of the Sea Scouts, was made of sterner stuff. Mentally, he held in there. He couldn’t help thinking, however, about the Land Farmers’ infamous practice of “hanging their guests in the wardrobe†(2). He wasn’t looking forward to that and only hoped that he would be able to hold out for the sake of his fellow “decorators and sign writersâ€.
There is a stand of stunted Scots pines on the site, only just beyond the camp fire circle, and the Scouts started preparing for the night. They had decided that it was much too fine a night to go for indoor camping and collected various tarps and hammocks from stores. The Twins used a large tarp to form a ground sheet and reflector near the fire and arranged their sleeping bags on it. Everyone else slung their bashas over either hammocks or multimats to make themselves comfortable. This was the kind of camping they loved. There were no adults and there was probably not going to be a lot of sleeping done either. There was even a prisoner to torment.
Once camp was pitched and supper cooked (They weren’t that purist, they used the kitchen’s facilities there) and eaten, they turned their attentions to their guest. He’d now been left on his belly and spread-eagled for an uncomfortable length of time.
Tarzan was forced to his feet and supported on both sides by the Twins. I suppose it was only customary when Jamie asked him who was with him when he visited their HQ because he didn’t really expect an answer, not from this kid.
“OK, suit yourself. Stake him out.†The Twins, Zac and Vic took hold of the ends of the staves stretching the unfortunate Sea Scout tight and carried him, face up to a space between the fire and the improvised camp. Four substantial stakes had already been hammered into the ground ready to receive the visitor. The spare rope ends from Tarzan’s wrists were tied to two of the stakes. Tarzan was hoping that he’d be freed from the stave but no such luck; The Farmer Boys obviously meant business. Loose ends from the ropes tying the spacer spar to his feet were looped round the other stakes and pulled tight, instantly undoing any progress that Tarzan had made in drawing his legs together. Long Tom checked his blindfold and told him that, as soon as he told them who else was responsible for the raid in which he’d lost his bus pass, he’d have his arms released from the spar and allowed some exercise.
“Want to tell me?â€
The reply translated roughly as, “Make love elsewhere.â€
“OK, last chance for a drink.†offered Jamie, making it seem that the offer was compassionate but, desperate as he was, Tarzan had already been involved in enough TUGs to understand the idea behind the offer. He declined. With that, Tom lodged a knotted piece of fabric into Tarzan’s mouth and tied it tightly round his head.
“As soon as you want to talk, make the effort, push the gag out and talk. If you push it out and don’t tell us what we want to know, Big Steve and Little Joe here (Joe shot Long Tom one of his poisonous looks) will wrap so much gorilla tape round your head that you’ll be picking glue out of what’s left of your hair for a week.â€
The Scouts then returned to their sleeping bags and made themselves comfortable but there was obviously no settling down until the early hours. Once everyone agreed it was time to settle, the Twins agreed to keep an eye on Tarzan every so often while Joe wondered how he ought to pay Long Tom back for the “Little Joe†reference.
A peaceful night passed for everyone – except, of course, for Tarzan. He’d been offered no food and his arms had been kept straight for hours. He ached. Even the refusal of the drink that was offered hadn’t worked and he had been forced to wet himself before any of the Sea Scouts was awake. He was a tough little kid and was still determined not to dob-in his accomplices.
1) “Grockles†Local term for tourists. Usually considered to be the short form of “damned grocklesâ€.
2) “Hanging in the wardrobe†See my story “The Land Farmers and the Sailor Boysâ€.