Foreword
The characters in this story were first introduced in the “Land Farmers and Sailor Boys†saga. The were developed in “Looking After Luke†and “Following the Gameâ€. If this story is confusing, readers might like to check them out first.
The usual rules* can be found in “Following the Gameâ€.
The Buzzards Come Home to Roost
The usual rules* would apply, more or less, and the players turned up at Henry’s Holt and pitched their tents. The older boys were starting to drop out of the wide games but it was always useful to have a couple to act as referees.
Once camp had been established, teams were chosen. This was the first game in which some of the Buzzard patrol were allowed to take part so Long Tom and Sam agreed on some slight variations in play to give them at least a fighting chance of not spending most of the game tied up. Let’s face it: any two little kids were very unlikely to be able to take down Jamie, Zac, Den or Alex so the referees decided to play the “reeds†rule.
Everyone went down to the pond and plaited bracelets from reeds. The bracelets, which were easily broken, would represent “lives†and anyone whose life was taken had to submit in the usual way. Sam and Long Tom collected a supply of reeds for the manufacture of replacements. Any prisoners would be bound and blindfolded as usual but would then be taken to the referees where they would be untied and then re-join the game having made another bracelet but without their t-shirts. The second life lost meant no re-joining the game and being kept prisoner in the normal way.
The youngest players willingly agreed to taking on the older ones. Oh, the foolhardiness of youth! The older ones were very determined not to be taken prisoner. Oh, the shame!
Here’s how the teams lined up:
• Commandos: Alex, Den, Jamie, Vic, Zac, Scott, George and Little Steve.
• Guerrillas: Big Steve, Joe, Budgie, Tarzan, Luke and three newbies: Phil, Russ and André.
Everyone went to their tents and dressed for action. As was customary, everyone had brought both uniforms with them, the spare could always act as a change of clothes for after the game. The older team formed up in their camo gear and the younger team in their olive greens. Even the Buzzards had remembered their boots. It might not seem fair that the newbies should play on ground they didn’t know but, in fact, they had all been to the site for other activities, just not for the wide games.
Sam took the Commandos to their starting point and Long Tom took the Guerrillas. On his whistle it was game on for the next two hours. During the walk out Sam had a word with the older team about making sure the youngsters enjoyed the game because they were the future of the games. What he really meant was, no cheating! In some ways Sam was the eternal thirteen year-old but in others the fact that he’d just celebrated his eighteenth showed. The older ones took the point but that was partly because they wouldn’t want Sam and Long Tom “having a word†with them afterwards.
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The game proceeded and members of both teams had to return and re-make their bracelets. Alex blushed even redder that his normal complexion as Phil and Russ were brought in by Den. They saw that he had been captured by André. The look said, “You two are dead if you ever tell.†But they probably didn’t read the signals. All three boys returned, bare-chested to the game.
The whistle went and everyone returned to the camp site. The refs contemplated their decisions.
The Guerrillas appeared with Phil, Russ, Joe and Big Steve bare-chested, having been killed once but they did have Scott with them who, having lost two lives, was bound and blindfolded. That came as no surprise to anyone, except that he would usually engineer it so that he had to appear in his undies, having tried to escape. Even he couldn’t bring himself to be subject to such treatment at the hands of the younger team.
The Commandos had George and Alex bare-chested but had, obviously, lost Scott. Den was dripping wet. Well, there was nothing in the rules that said he couldn’t go into the pond to escape!
Long Tom and Sam decided that, in order that the afternoon’s game would last long enough to accommodate all the players, any forfeits would have to be delayed but that they could be decided over lunch. Stoves were started and negotiations took place over the eating of what was mainly compo that T-Boy had previously “won†from his cadet unit.
Vic prepared lunch for himself and Scott so that Scott simply remained kneeling, blindfolded with Budgie’s necker and bound with his own. Tarzan was getting to be good at tying prisoners and there was no way Scott could free himself in under an hour even if he wanted to. Vic even went so far as to feed Scott using a spoon while he remained blindfolded with his wrists tied behind him. The inevitable ginger cake and squirty cream left quite a legacy round Scott’s mouth.
It was quickly decided that George and Alex should be “pardoned†in exchange for the Twins but that they should not be allowed to replace their t-shirts again until the start of the next game just to show that they had been captured. Let’s face it: with the number of Scott’s friends playing, there was no way they were going to plead for his release. That was bad news for the remaining t-shirtless Buzzards at least one of whom could otherwise have expected not to have paid a forfeit.
“OK, newbies, as no one will plead for Scott’s release, sorry but you two will have to be tied up after the next game.†Tom’s words didn’t come as a surprise to Phil and Russ, they knew the rules and they were prepared to accept their fate. André was feeling smug.
Lunch was over and the washing up was done in the usual fashion. That is to say that the dirty crockery and cutlery was just thrown into the porches of the tents and left wherever it fell. More important matters were to be decided: the teams for the afternoon’s game.
As referees, Sam and Long Tom decided that everyone should line up in order of age, without being allowed to speak, a good game in itself. Then everyone was numbered and was assigned to teams on the basis of being odd or even. Because they spoke, Den and Tarzan were sentenced to lie on the ground with their hands behind their heads and, keeping their legs straight, to raise their feet about a foot from the ground. The one who gave in first would have to pay a forfeit later. Den lost!
The refs announced that the normal rules would now apply in full and that the teams were as follows:
• Guerrillas: Budgie, Den, Jamie, Joe, Phil, Scott, Tarzan, Zac (Den had to be a Guerrilla due to his early bath in the morning’s game)
• Commandos: Alex, André, Big Steve, George, Little Steve, Luke, Russ, Vic
It was friend against friend; that was hard; it was brother against brother; that was OK.
The referees walked the teams to their starting points and Long Tom sounded the whistle. In three hours’ time his whistle would announce the end of the game. Sam and Tom made their way back to the camp-site, made bets on the outcome and decided upon Den’s forfeit.
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The game went well. At least no one needed to report to the refs for fist aid. Long Tom’s whistle sounded and the teams returned to site.
It just wasn’t Den’s day. In spite of being the largest and strongest of the players, Alex and Big Steve had managed to ambush him near the beginning of the game. He’d been tied up and guarded for nearly two hours and was now being frog marched to neutral ground. He wasn’t happy. Budgie had obviously made an ill-advised escape attempt and had been stripped to his characteristic black Speedos before being paraded before the free players. Unusually, Scott seemed to have been taking things seriously and appeared fully dressed at the meeting. (Or just didn’t he feel like having to pay two penalties?) Phil had managed to avoid capture during his second game until about half an hour before the end when Luke and Russ took him down and, in line with the rules, tied his wrists with his own neckerchief and blindfolded him with his own t-shirt.
The Commandos had also taken casualties. In spite of his early success, Big Steve had been captured. Being captured by Jamie would have been no disgrace but the fact that Jamie was accompanied by Joe, his own twin, was embarrassing. André was easier game this time; his mate, Phil, used prior experience and surprised him early on in proceedings. Unfortunately, he couldn’t parade his prisoner with pride though, having been captured himself later on. Scott and Zac had no compunction about waylaying their good friend, George, and quickly had him bound and blindfolded. He should have known better. Once he had rubbed the t-shirt off his eyes and tried to escape, he was taken down again and stripped to those appalling blue boxers with the purple stars and his wrists were cross-lashed and uncomfortably hitched up towards his neck with a halter rope. Zac didn’t think there was any time for niceties.
So the scores seemed to be even but, by this time, Tom and Sam had had a few and decided that, if all prisoners were exchanged, there would be no one left tied up. That didn’t seem to be a very entertaining prospect to them and, to be fair, not to the others either. So . . . . A contest was proposed.
While each group of prisoners was being tied together by their necks in the traditional coffle and made to kneel, Sam and Long Tom outlined the plan for the forthcoming entertainments. Den and George were to be matched, as were Budgie and Big Steve with Russ and André as the last pair. George and Budgie didn’t reckon much of their matches but honour demanded . . . And then there were the forfeits from the first game!
The prisoners were ignored, other than being guarded, while the camp-fire was organised and stories of bravery in the face of the enemy were related in suitably exaggerated terms. Following his soaking earlier and now his capture, Den was excepted from being ignored and was the but of a considerable amount of rough humour. Even blindfolded, he could guess which of his “mates†might need a little talking to later.
Once the fire had been started and everyone (except the prisoners, of course) had settled to a drink and obscene quantities of chocolate and Haribo, Sam outlined the rules.
Each pairing would take part in leg-wrestling, arm wrestling and, if they were tied after that, the best of three falls or submissions. There was some discussion as to whether the prisoners would be allowed to watch or whether they should remain blindfolded. A vote was taken and it was decided that George and Budgie, who had been caught trying to escape, should stay blindfolded but that the others should be allowed to watch.
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Blindfolds were removed and the prisoners were offered water by their mates and the first bout was announced. André and Phil were to arm-wrestle but the new kids hadn’t met the “local rules†before. This was to be bound arm-wrestling. André had a mass of mid-brown hair and he was laid face down on the ground, still bare-chested following his capture, and his boots and socks were removed. Jamie cross-lashed his ankles, leaving his knees apart, freed his wrists and tied his left arm into the same rope leaving him in a partial hog-tie. Alex dealt with Phil, an intelligent, bright eyed boy in spite of the fact that he was being treated in a very similar way. The two contestants were then placed right elbow to right elbow. Tom held their joined hands. “Take the strain. Go!â€
Tied as they were it was very difficult for the wrestlers to apply much leverage but, after about a minute, André won the first point. By now with the warmth of the evening and the recent drought both boys were covered in sweat-adhered dust and snorting quite a lot of it from their noses. Point two went to Phil. By now both boys were getting used to the situation and the third point went on for a good two minutes. André was now in the lead, two to one.
Just as André felt his left wrist freed and was about to celebrate, he found his right arm tied again leaving his left arm free. Phil was also re-tied and the two youngsters were helped into position to arm-wrestle with their left arms. Phil was better with his left arm than André was with his and he won two-one. Honours even. The two combatants were then untied completely and allowed a brief rest and a drinks break before the next event: the leg wrestling. Both boys lay on their backs, right hips touching and arms linked. Right hands were rested on opponents’ right shoulders and the count started, “One, two, three†and their right legs were raised to the vertical on each count. On “three†Phil tipped André over forcing him almost to do a summersault. Phil was used to this game; his older brother used to make him take him on. Experience counted and Phil was declared the winner after he had also won the second point.
André knew that he’d now be tied up until the others decided that he should be released. Phil, as winner, was allowed to do the tying but there was no shortage of advice from the older boys on both sides. He ended on his knees with his back against a small fir tree near the camp fire. His arms had been pulled above his head and his wrists fastened behind the trunk of the tree. They couldn’t touch so a short rope cuff had to be fashioned. By the time Phil had hitched the rope up round a handy branch, André was stretched quite tight and his ankles were cuffed behind the tree. There followed some discussion concerning whether André should also be gagged and whether his feet should be raised leaving just his knees in contact with the ground. Sam vetoed the gag on the grounds that he’d have to eat soon and Tom suggested that, as it was his first game and because he was so young, it would be too much to extend his torture too far.
Phil dressed and apologised to his friend for treating him like he had but pointed out that all’s fair in tugs and war. He also know that André would have done exactly the same to him had their roles been reversed.
TBC