TRAVELER
Chapter 276

by CARL DICKSON

Our hope is that every homosexual youth in this country can find a home and someone to love them as they are.
No one deserves to be discriminated against, no matter what their differences from society's norm
.

A tidy quote from chapter 137
"titles belong on books, not people" ©Carl Dickson—2007

Does your mother know you're reading this shit?

Warning: This story is PORNO. I have tried my hand at friction, now I'm trying fiction. This story contains vivid descriptions of sexual activity between men and teen boys.
It contains no truth, partial truth, or half truth. What it does contain is stroking material. If this kind of story turns you off, or offends you, please find something else.
The author does not encourage or condone sex between adults and underage children.

If you are underage, or if this is illegal where you are, then please go away. If you're under 18, Adios come back when it is legal for you to read this smut.
If you lied about your age in order to access this story, remember this is our story. Life doesn't always work out like a story.

A strongly worded suggestion has resulted in this statement.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either
are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitioiusly,
and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Thus said, this story is copyrighted, ©2005-2012. It is therefore illegal to copy or use any part of this story on any other web site without my written permission.


You may download the CHEROKEE TONT for free at this link. Dowload it, install it, then enjoy seeing tfe TSAIAGI names in this story. This font is included in the full version Send an e-mail for it .
Traveler Chapter 277
    Hiram stood on the road that leads from the school and dormitory area to the airstrip and watched as the four hundred and thirty seat 777-ER Travelaire Too© carrying the students of BAG Boys slowly disappeared in the eastern sky. Yuri first alerted me to the boy. I stopped the cart that I was driving and turned in my seat to look. At first I thought that he was having second thoughts about transferring to Tucson, he has grown up in Albany, New York and that is all that he has known until the court system placed in the school by the lake deep in the Adirondack mountains.
    I reached out my mind to his in an effort to figure what was on his mind and try to comfort him. Yuri was the first to start to giggle then I did the same. Hiram was saying goodbye to a life that he no longer wanted anything to do with. He had been a molester of very young teens since he was fifteen and he got caught. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison and required to register as a sex offender. The judge in his case showed mercy on the boy and suspended that sentence, but required that he attend a school full of perverts worse than he was until he graduates from the twelfth grade. At the present time he is sixteen years old and in the ninth for the second time. He missed so much school through the judicial process that he was held back in his classes.
    Hiram was dancing in his mind as he dreamed of all of the freedom that he would have at the camp riding horses and climbing the mountains everyday. I hated to burst his bubble, he was moving into town and he was going to live in the house where I could keep a close eye on him. His criminal records had been transferred to the Pima County Juvenile court system and a probation officer—PO—has been assigned to him. Of course the PO will not make himself known to Hiram as long as the boy is in my school and doing what he needs to be doing. The PO will only touch base with me when he needs to update his records, of course I will send him regular reports monthly, or more often if something changes.
    I turned my cart around and went back to the boy. I pulled up alongside of him and in my best lisp I said, "Hey there cute little boy, wanna ride in my fancy cart?" He laughed along with Yuri and sat on the back of the cart as I turned and headed over to the campus. Along the way I overheard Hiram and Yuri talking about riding horses, Hiram had wanted to ride up and into the mountains. I gave him a picture of the mountain lake, that made him look at me and ask if there was such a place.
Pix not seen in on-line version
    I pulled up to the back of Building A where a group of boys were sitting against the wall. I asked them what was on their minds, I was happy with their answer. It was the second of January, 2012, because of time constraints in France I had to send the students from there home before our normal January seventh departure time.
    I was able to lease two 737s from Andy to return the boys to Parga, Greece and to Sylhet, Bangladesh. Andy and I worked out a plan for the plane to Sylhet. The plane that he had available was a cargo plane with no seats in it, Andy had a cargo of electronic components to pick up in Singapore so I worked out a plan to fit the plane with seats for the boys to sit comfortably on the thirty hour flight. Korean Airlines was refitting a plane in Seoul, they needed seats. I had Boeing install seats in Andy's plane for delivery to Seoul. The plane filled with sad boys leaving their happy vacation and great times in fellowship with boys from other nations and cultures.
    The plane that Andy was sending to Parga had been sold to a business firm in Italy. I still paid for the fuel and expenses, plus the salaries of the crew for that flight, the same as I had done with the plane to Sylhet. Travelaire IV© was dispatched to Moscow with the boys from St. Petersburg moving over to a special train to take them on the final leg of their trip home. I would have liked to fly them all of the way home, but I wanted to get the flights over without having to make boys wait for a plane to return, be serviced, then turn around to take them home.
    The boys from Russia were glad to fly together and stay with friends that they had made from the other school for a little bit longer. There is a major sadness that all of us have when we separate to return to our homes, we make friends and want to stay with that friend forever. That is not realistic in most cases. The boys in Russia or France might be able to move to the other school in their country, but I can not move boys from one country to another without going through mountains of bureaucratic red tape.
    I sent the boys from BAD home aboard Travelaire© with the boys from merry old England getting a ride on Travelaire Three©. I am looking forward to the future delivery of Travelaire B©, that plane would have just fit the boys from BAB, but I have to wait until 2015 for it to be built and delivered.
    These thoughts were going through my mind as I tried my best not to break out in tears. I really do miss being with all of the boys from each of my schools. With more than three thousand current students and nearly seven hundred alumni coming together as often as we can arrange it I can surround myself with more feel goodies than words can ever hope to describe. I am not only talking about hot and cold, naked boys running in every direction, I am talking about the interactions that we share. I spend a few minutes with each and every boy, young or old. I listen to him as I learn about what is happening in his life. I hear the students as they put into words those things that they like. I now have the ability to listen to their hidden thoughts and learn of their fears. Those fears are what I set about helping each boy conquer. If a man is going to lead he must be able to conquer whatever fear he has in his life. It may be as simple as the fear of an ant crawling across the ground to a fear of heights. Fear of other people is not easy to deal with without the other person being close enough to the fearful boy so that I can help those involved work through their problems.
    The biggest fear that I encounter from boys is the fear of those that have antagonized or bullied them in the past. Finding the former bully is often difficult and sometimes near impossible. I have learned that many grownup men relate someone in their current life, such as a co-worker, to their former antagonism. A few minutes with each boy is not enough time to actually repair that past damage, but with my planting positive thoughts of that past pain inside of their minds I hope to help each boy to heal.
    I felt arms go around my neck and hot tears on my shoulder. I snapped out of my thoughts and found Yuri hugging me, "Don't be sad daddy, we all miss them, but we know that we can see them whenever we get together again. I really miss my friends from Russia and I don't get to see them no more." That statement caught me off guard. I picked Yuri up and ran with him on my shoulders to the house to find Cullen, I wanted to arrange a visit to Munedavia to visit with each of those boys and their new families. Of course Yuri would be with me at every home and I would see to it that he had time to be alone with each of the adopted boys so that they could catch up on what was happening in their new lives.
    Cullen agreed to take Yuri and I to each family for a visit if… Cullen looked at me with the puppy dog eyes that only he can produce. "Uncy, you and I have never gone fishing. I want to go fishing with you all by ourselves. We can go up to the lake here at the camp and fish all day long. If we catch a fish I would like for Roddy to cook it the way that he tells us that he likes to cook fish." I grabbed my nephew and gave him a hug, a fishing trip was just what I needed. The two of us could go up late in the afternoon and camp out in a tent. We could arise early and fish all day long as the other students from BAW made their way up the mountain with RD and Cory leading the way.
    I heard hushed talking as the back door opened and closed several times. I tried to reach the minds of those going in and out, but found myself blocked by the women of my household. Roddy's mind came through, "Daddy, keep talking to Culley, we got this.".
    I couldn't find out what this was, but I trust my little man and did as he said. "Cullen, what you have suggested is the perfect idea to wrap up our final week at camp. The boys are not ready to return to school yet and a trip to the lake is just the thing for them. The weather is warm and is expected to remain so for the rest of the week, it will be a great time and the boys love to be around you.
    But what about Jimmy, don't you want him to go with us?".
    "Uncy, you know how much Jimmy and I love one another, but I have never gone anywhere with you by myself. I want to be alone with you for as long as we can manage." He was right. We get off somewhere alone, but we had always had others in the next room. We had never been completely alone without someone within a hundred feet of us. Edmund broke my thoughts when he told us that lunch was ready. I had been smelling something Mexican that he was preparing for us to eat and getting very hungry.
    Ugitsiha came to me and passed me my glucometer. Roddy quickly pulled out a test strip and inserted in the meter's slot while Yuri wiped the end of my finger with an alcohol wipe. Roddy had the Soft Touch pen cocked and he passed it to me. My sons know that I do not like for others to prick my fingers, I like to know when it is coming. I stuck my finger with the pen and touched the test strip. Yuri had the alcohol wipe ready and he quickly wiped my finger clean of the blood. I looked at Roddy, he finally turned the meter toward me as Ugitsiha sat a glass of Mango-Peach juice in front of me. The glucometer showed a seventy two on its display, not bad, but a little lower than it should be. I thanked my family for their loving care as Yuri took a plate from Edmund and sat it before me.
    I had felt a bit hungry, but when I saw the repast that had been prepared for my family's noon meal I was suddenly ravenous. I took my fork and cut a bit of the cheese enchilada, the corn tortilla that it was wrapped in almost separated on its own. I placed the bite sized piece of food on my fork and lifted it high above the plate as the hot melted cheese strung out from it. I used a corn tortilla chip to catch the cheese and twirled it about in my fingers, wrapping the cheese round and round it. When I had the cheese under control I placed the first bite into my mouth and quickly followed it with the cheesy chip with a scoop of the refried beans piled high on it. My mouth was in heaven. "Shredded lettuce, sir?" I looked at Edmund, he had a bowl with finely shredded lettuce in it, I sat back and let him cover my plate with the green, leafy vegetable then I stirred that that had landed on the refried beans in. I reached for the bowl full of extra hot picante sauce and covered my entrée under spoonfuls of the of the spicy condiment. I made sure that my beans were covered as well then I scooped up a large spoonful of shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese and sprinkled it over the entire plate.
    I began to eat my meal as I looked at my two sons and saw them going through the same motions that I had just done. They like their Tex Mex enchiladas personalized in the same way that I do. I looked at my two baby boys and saw that they each had a bowl filled with refried beans before them with bits of cut up enchiladas mixed in. Of course Dougy was in his crib having already enjoyed his lunch of warm mother's milk. The food was like a magnet as the rest of the family came in and took a plate from Edmund then sat down to pig out. Beulah kept a steady supply of hot, steamed corn tortillas on the table. I love hot corn tortillas with melted butter and a spoonful of hot picante sauce on it then I roll the round disk up and use it as a pusher for my food. Of course I take a few fried tortilla chips along the way, but I try to avoid the grease and salt in those store bought snacks.

    When lunch was finished Roddy informed me that Golden Boy was ready. He had a horse saddled for Cullen and a pack horse to carry our supplies to the lake. I told Cory to make certain that Hiram got up to the lake, I told him that I wanted to fish a spell with that boy as I check him out for any residual signs of his asthma. I trust in the healing power of my Lord, but Asthma has a way of hiding itself and can occur later in life; I wanted to be sure that I had done all that I could have done at Aqua Caliente.
    I kissed my wife and sons farewell then I shook hands with Cory, I had a twinge in my pants as the thought crossed my mind that I wanted him to go along. Cory, Cullen, and I have shared some hot times in bed together, but that night was just for Cullen. I stepped out of the front door and saw Jimmy in a hot embrace with Cullen, both boys had tears in their eyes. "Don't fret so much my little Jimmy cakes, you will be at the lake tomorrow afternoon and we will be together then. I have not been completely alone with my sweet uncy pie in all of my life, please don't spoil my trip with your tears.".
    "I am sorry, my sweet lamb chop. We have to be apart until I finish my education, it is hard to be away from you for a few hours now. When we get a chance to be together I want to spend every moment in your presence. Is that wrong?".
    "No, of course not. I cherish our time together as much as you do. I am sorry for asking this of you. Maybe you should go along…".
    "No! You and dad go, I had dad all to myself in Alabama when he first found me at that truck stop. I will have you tomorrow night then I will make dad happy after you return to your throne." The boys began to laugh. The porcelain throne that the boys set in place for Cullen still sits in the spot of honor in the house that Charley built.
    I cleared my throat as I moved to take the reins of Golden Boy from the hitching rail that sits by the front porch. The boys snapped too and wiped their faces then Cullen came over to the horses. Roddy helped him to mount his horse then he handed me the reins for the pack mule. I turned Golden Boy's nose toward the path that leads up the mountain and moved on. Cullen is a very good rider and he stayed right beside me as I led him up the trail to the hot spring fed pool that Nolan showed me when I brought Phil, Paul, and Luke with me the first time that I visited the ranch. I told Cullen that we had time if he wanted to swim in the crystal clear waters of the large pool there. When I winked at him he quickly turned his horse off of the trail and dismounted. I led the three animals to a grassy area and secured their reins, I don't worry about Golden Boy leaving me, but I didn't know the other two animals and I didn't want to have to spend the rest of the afternoon searching the forest for them.
    Cullen had his shirt and boots off and the pants legs of his jeans were rolled up as he waded through the reeds in the shallows of the water. "Can't we swim at the upper lake, uncy?" he asked in his childlike voice.
    "If we want our balls to suck up into our chests we can. That water is very cold at this time of the year, the air is crisp at that altitude and the only warmth that we will have is sitting by the fireside or cuddling close to one another in our sleeping bags." I winked at him and he readjusted his crotch. "Another reason for stopping here is sex. Anal sex in a tent can tend to get a bit smelly, especially if we have no water to clean ourselves out with first; and let's not forget the wash up afterwards. I thought that if you want to do it that way that we could stop here for awhile. We are completely alone here and we have plenty of hot water.".
    "Won't the rest of the boys come up for a swim?" he looked around the area. I told him that the students had already gone back to the campus for their lunch and wouldn't return until after two o'clock or so. He said that we should get down and get nasty then.
    I took a bedroll from the pack mule that Roddy had prepared just for this time. I spread a large plastic ground cloth out and then inflated a queen sized air mattress with a CO2 vial. On top of the mattress a naked Cullen and I spread out a sleeping bag. I quickly removed my clothes and met my nephew on the bed. He had been to the lake's edge and used an enema bulb to clear himself of any smelly residue. He spread his legs and grinned up at me. I know that grin, very well. I wasted no time, we had no time to waste. I used a small packet of KY jelly to lubricate us then I slowly entered into his favorite place. Cullen has a cock hungry butt and I fear that that fact may be discovered by his enemies. He tries to be careful, but one can't always avoid every prying eye.
    The boy King and I made wild passionate love in the outdoors near the edge of the hot spring fed small lake five hundred feet above the main campus area of Camp Christopher. Afterwards we washed ourselves in one of the small streams that run on down the mountain from the pool before we turned and dived into the warm water for a swim. Before we were ready to move on the students from BAW that wanted to swim had returned. I was glad that Cullen and I had packed away the bedding from our interlude. We swam with the boys for about a half an hour before we had to move on to the lake. I told the boys that we would see them the following day, but Cullen and I were going on up to the lake to make sure that there was no damage from our winter visitors that would ruin their time together. That seemed as good of an excuse as any for reason that the King and I were going up a day early.

    My nephew and I rode up the steep path up the mountain to the level of the large hydro powered turbines that Cory installed to generate the electricity for the camp and the Apache village to the north. Cullen looked down at the roaring waters as they cascaded over the cliff from the top of the mountain next to the upper camp. "I've never been this close to a waterfall, uncy, it's kind of scary.".
    We turned onto a seldom used path that led away from the upper camp and back to the east. About fifteen minutes later we were on the path that leads on up to the lake. We arrived at the lake about an hour and a half before sunset, the sun sets early in the shadows of the eastside of a tall mountain. We quickly set about getting our campsite in order for our night on the mountain alone. The tent was one of those pop-up six man contraptions that allowed us to take our food and gear inside with us. There have been many incidents of hungry black bear encounters with campers all over the state and I wanted to make sure that our stuff was safe. I took the mess box out to a nearby tree and tossed a rope over a branch that was about twelve feet above the ground then I tied the mess box to the rope and hoisted it above the reach of a large black bear.
    The area was fairly well picked over for firewood so we had to go far afield to gather in enough sticks to prepare our evening meal and build a fire to cuddle next to before bedtime. Once everything was set up and in order I set about preparing a meal for the two of us to eat. Roddy had used an old recipe from my days as a Boy Scout. Yeah, I was a Boy Scout in the days before everyone grew fearful of gays in the program, I managed to acquire my Life Scout Badge, of which I am very proud of to this day. I can remember the look on my father's face when that badge was placed on my sash at an awards ceremony at the city's old convention center.
    I showed Cullen the two large foil wrapped packages as I scooped the larger wood and coals away from the center of the fire. I placed the two packages directly on a bed of coal and then moved the coals that I had moved away back to cover our meals. I told Cullen that dinner would be ready in about a half an hour. I set about cleaning the greens, herbs, and wild onions that I had gathered when we went in search of firewood and tore the leaves into a large paper bowl that we had packed in. I opened the plastic bags filled with spices that were in our mess box and located a tomato that was in there as well.
    In minutes I had a salad of wild greens and herbs mixed with the package of salad mix that we had brought up with us. I dished up two bowls of the salad and passed one to my nephew. He dug in hungrily as he smiled at me, "I am really hungry. I hope that food in the fire doesn't burn." I told him that we would find out in five more minutes as I poured a cuppa from the boiling percolator on the edge of the fire pit. I spit coffee grounds out and glared at the coffee pot, but it was all that I had at the moment. I sat my cup down and mumbled something off color which caused Cullen to go into an hysterical laugh. I used a heavy stick to carefully remove the coals from the top of the foil wrapped dinner packages then I used that same stick to balance the meals as I scooped each one up with the spatula that we had in our mess box. I carefully laid each meal onto a flat rock to cool for a moment then I grabbed two double thick paper plates. Onto those I placed a meal on one set of plates and passed it to Cullen then I took the other meal and placed it on the remaining pair of plates for myself.
    I showed Cullen how to open his meal without getting himself burned. I very carefully tore the top of the hot foil away allowing the steam to vent without burning my fingers. In minutes we had the foil pulled back exposing a layer of onion slices on top of carrots sliced lengthwise. The carrots and onions were stacked on top of sliced potatoes and all of that was on top of a thick ground meat patty, I wasn't sure at that point if we had beef or venison patties to eat. I turned the contents of the foil out onto my plate letting the grease coat the hot vegetables. I moved the patty to one side and then I cut the potatoes, onions, and carrots into bite sized pieces. I could see that whomever had packed the meals had added garlic powder, salt, and pepper to them, but I placed the condiment shakers within reach just the same.
    I took a bite of the meat and found out that it was beef mixed with venison for a leaner patty. I reached into the box and pulled out a loaf of bread and took a slice for myself. Cullen and I ate in silence and when we were through he sat back and looked at me, "Uncy, I have eaten at the table of Kings, Queens, and rulers around the world. Even my own chefs have never placed a meal such as this one before me. You are hired, peasant.".
    "I'll show you how this present honors his king, but first…" I moved the coals aside and removed two more small foil packets. I placed one on each of our plates then took out two paper bowls from the box. Next I removed a container of milk from the ice chest that we had with us.
    Cullen had his new packet open and his eyes were round with surprise, "I didn't see you put these in the fire, uncy.".
    "I put them in there while you were trying not to burn your fingers." I dumped my hot cherry cobbler into my bowl and poured milk over it. I passed the container of milk to Cullen and he poured some over his desert.
    "Do you want to do some night fishing?" He wanted to know if it was safe then he looked at me and apologized. We covered our fire with a steel wire grate from our mess box as Cullen grabbed our fishing gear from a stack of gear by the tent then we headed for the water's edge. I guided us up the bank a bit to a clump of bushes in a small water inlet of water from the mountain. I stepped into the water and reached under the bushes and pulled out a metal row boat. I pulled the boat onto the shore then bent over to retrieve the oars from under the seat. Cullen tossed our rods and gear into the boat as I returned to the bushes and reached under them to withdraw a can of earthworms. Cullen looked at the boat, then the worms, then at me, "Roddy was here with Yuri. They came up while we were swimming in the pool down the mountain.".
    From under the bushes I produced a gasoline fired lantern and checked to see that it was fully pumped up. Yuri had worked his little arms off, but it was ready to go. I set the lantern into its holder on the small front seat of the boat and pulled out a wooden match from my shotgun shell match box. Cullen looked at the shell and started to say something. "A twelve gage shotgun shell holds about six wooden matches, a second shell slipped down over the top of the other makes a water tight container that can be carried in your pocket." He shook his head at me.
    "I should have been a scout instead of trying to learn how to be a king when I was a kid." I assured him that he wouldn't have gotten the training that I got from my woodland raised instructor. I told him that I also had a very smart Indian son that teaches me something everyday.
    I rowed us out until we were about one hundred feet off shore, in the dark I wanted to stay close for my boy's safety. He had finally managed to get a worm onto his hook and when we stopped moving he had his line in the water before I could pick up my seven foot, fiberglass spinning rod with my Garcia open face spinning reel on it. I grabbed the worms and ruined the idea of my spinning tackle. I almost had the worm impaled its full length when Cullen pulled in his first fish. He had caught himself a nice lake trout of about ten inches in length. I tossed him the stringer as I dropped my line into the water. Cullen put another worm on his hook and dropped his line into the water, he caught a second fish almost at once; I was still barren of fish.
    I turned the boat toward the shore and rowed us in. I told Cullen that he had five fish to clean as I gathered our gear and headed back to the tent. Cullen began to protest, "You caught them, you gut them." I smiled at him as I moved away, with the lantern.
    I helped Cullen with the fish cleaning when he told me that he was still a little hungry and would like some fried fish. I told him that I was not Roddy, but that I would give it a try, if he promised to eat my mistakes. I took the heavy cast iron skillet out and placed a quarter of a stick of butter in it. I rolled the fish in flour then in cornmeal and carefully placed each piece into the hot skillet. Surprisingly we had some very good fish, I am sure that it was the ambience that made everything seem perfect.
    I banked the fire and prepared the campsite for the nighttime. As I moved toward the tent I caught a glimpse of a barn owl flying into a nearby tree. I reached out my mind, but came up blank. My senses told me that I was surrounded by my brothers, but I could not feel their minds. I knew that we would be safe overnight, but I didn't want Cullen to know that we had a contingent of bodyguards sitting in the trees around the camp. I dropped to my knees and crawled into the tent then turned around to zip the outer shell up then I zipped the insect screen. I pushed the vent at the top of the tent upwards to draw the air through and out of the confined space then I began to remove my heavy boots and clothing. That was a job that Cullen wanted to help me with.
    There was not a place on my body that Cullen had not covered in wet kisses before we fell into a hot sixty nine. The boy has grown into a man; something that I was sad and glad about. I will always think of him as the little boy that was dragged into my house by his mother and an armed escort. I have enjoyed watching the young boy mature into a man and a world leader, but I would not be sad if he could remain a boy in my house forever.
    Each of us had a cum thirst that we satisfied throughout the night. Our sleep was disturbed about one thirty when I heard the nearby roar of a very large bear and the unmistakable sounds of a wolfpack. My brothers were out there protecting us, I pulled Cullen close and went back to sleep.
    As quickly as the sun sets on the eastside of a mountain it rises the next morning. The sun is still slow in its crawl over the horizon, but when its first rays hit the side of a tent the temperature inside goes up quickly. It was just a little past six when I stepped out of the tent and ran to a very dry tree nearby that was desperate for water. I stood there doing my best to alleviate the tree's dilemma when Cullen stepped up beside me to help in the effort. I was drained so I turned away and headed back to the tent and the fire. I cleared the ashes from the night before and found no warm spots, I had to start a fire from scratch again.
    I selected my kindling then I stacked a few tender young sticks in a tepee shape over it. I struck one of my matches and watched as the flames began to consume the tender. I carefully placed larger sticks onto the flames and waited until they were aflame. Cullen came up and dropped an large armload of two inch pieces of dry firewood next to me. I looked at the wood as Cullen and I both spoke in unison, "Roddy." Cullen pointed to a chromed container in the box with the skillets, I removed it and poured each of us a hot cuppa as I sent a mental thanks to my son.
    I pulled a half a dozen paper towels from the roll and wiped the inside of the cast iron skillet that had held the frying fish the night before. I set the skillet on the fire to heat and sterilize it as I pulled out a package of sliced bacon. When the skillet began to smoke I placed six rashers of bacon into it and then I pulled out the eggs. I found a container with a tomato that the stem end had already been removed. I took the fruit from it's container and sliced it on a double thick paper plate. I removed the microwave pre-cooked potatoes from a plastic bag and spread them out into another skillet. To that skillet I added bacon grease that I carefully poured from the cooking meat, I wanted to be cautious so as not to get grease into the fire and cause a flame up. I turned the bacon then I turned the potatoes and added salt and pepper then placed the cast iron griddle on top to serve as a lid. To the griddle I swizzled a bit of the bacon grease and dipped four slices of bread into the grease. I turned the bread over and wiped all of the grease from the surface then sat back and waited for our breakfast to cook.
    I folded four paper towels and placed them on a plate. Next I took the bacon from the skillet and placed the crispy strips on them. I lifted the griddle and set it on the grill over the fire as I stirred the potatoes. To the potatoes I added some slivers of finely chopped onion, and a little more salt and pepper. I poured more of the bacon grease over them and set the griddle back on top. I turned the bread and found that the side down was neatly toasted and I was pleased with my efforts. I mentally thought that Roddy should eat his heart out, "You wish, I can still cook better than you over and open fire. That fish last night was just lame, daddy." I kept my mind guarded after that.
    I moved the bacon skillet to one side and poured the excess grease into a small depression that I had scooped out of the dirt. I set the skillet back onto the hottest part of the fire and began to break a half a dozen eggs into it. I stirred the eggs then I added a small bit of finely shredded onions and finely grated extra sharp cheddar cheese to them. I kept stirring until the eggs began to thicken. A breeze moved across the area stirring the fire and blowing ashes onto my breakfast, I smiled and thanked my Lord for seasoning my food. I quickly moved the griddle with the bread on it to the edge of the fire then I finished with the eggs. I removed the eggs from the fire and then I removed the toasted bread. I set the potatoes onto the center of the fire and scrapped the pan as I turned the vegetable over. I put a scoop of the makeshift omelet onto a plate for each of us then quickly turned the potatoes again. When the potatoes turned a darker brown and began to crisp a bit I scooped them onto the plates next to the eggs.
    Cullen had silently sat by waiting until I told him to dig in. I used the spatula to get him a slice of toast then put a slice onto my plate. I took a few slices of tomato and added salt and pepper to them then to my eggs. My potatoes needed a bit more salt as well. Cullen dug into the ice chest and held up a jar filled with Prickly Pear Jelly from the ladies of our Apache tribe north of the camp. Both of us took a spoonful and spread it over our last slice of toast. We ate everything in sight before we cleaned up the remnants of our morning repast then placed the paper goods under the grill and let them burn. When the fire returned to glowing embers I moved any unburned, larger material away. I made sure that the larger pieces were out then I scattered the coals. I covered the glowing embers with dirt and made sure that everything was cool to the touch. Arizona has had a large amount of forest fires in recent years and a few of those fires have been caused by campfires that were thought to be out. Large fines and even jail time have been meted out to those that were judged to be responsible for the fires.
    Cullen and I rowed out onto the lake in the rowboat and fished until the sun was high overhead in the sky. Cullen had remarked about the large number of hawks that were flying overhead. The hawks disappeared as Swallows and Darters took over the sky watch. I had to laugh about our being alone, that is impossible with my family. Both of us caught some nice fish. I had been able to use my spinning tackle to it best as I sent my live bait far from the boat and slowly dragged it back in. My total catch for the day was a six pound catfish, five one pound lake trout, and five large mouth bass; I didn't count the perch, and sunfish that I cast into a shoal of.
    Cullen's catch totaled eight large mouth bass of about three quarters of a pound each, and six ten to twelve inch long lake trout. I turned the bow of the boat toward our camp and began to pull on the oars. "Uncy, I thought that you put the fire out before we left." I turned on my seat and looked to the camp to see smoke spiraling upwards.
    I sent out a mind search and heard the laughter of my two sons. "Lunch is ready, daddy." I told Cullen that Roddy was cooking fish. We had help beaching the boat as two naked boys ran out to greet us. Roddy took the fish and moved to the edge of the water to clean them. Cullen and I headed for the tent and the fresh water bottle, we were both in need of a drink as we had run out of water about a quarter of an hour earlier. Roddy sent me a message to turn the baker over. I looked at the fire and saw our shallow cast iron pan with the screw on lid tightly in place. My mouth watered as I anticipated Roddy's skillet corn bread. I picked up the heavy oven mitt then took the pan by its handle and turned it over. I was happy that the lid stayed in place and that nothing leaked out. I moved the griddle from the skillet with the potatoes and saw that Roddy had seasoned the spuds with wild herbs as well as onions and he had salted them with course sea salt. I placed the spatula under the cooking mass and turned it over as I made sure to scrape the pan for the browned slices.
    Yuri ran up and told me that he was supposed to be watching the fish. He asked me for the spatula and carefully turned four large fish fillets with not a crumb falling away. He grinned at me as he turned the potatoes and brought the crispy brown slices to the surface, my mouth was like a river of drool. Cullen had a pan filled with water for me to wash my face and hands in. I scrubbed myself with soap and the warm water that my sons had prepared for us. I took the towel from Cullen and wiped my face dry then died my hands. I placed the towel next to the pan of water and pulled Cullen to me. "Are you okay.".
    "Uncy, I am better than I have been in a few years. I miss being around you everyday, but we both have our lives that must be lived out. I would like that our lives weren't so public so that we could live like we really are." He had said a mouthful. Roddy called us to gather for a prayer before we had a mouthful of his fish.
    Roddy's powers amaze me sometimes. He had examined each piece of fish and removed every tiny bone from each one. He told me that he didn't want his little brother to choke on a bone, but we knew that he felt the same way for each of us. As soon as he served us a piece of his cooked fish he added more to the skillet so that we could have more when we wanted it. The four of us ate and enjoyed the company of the others. I was happy to have spent the night hours with Cullen, but I am always happy to spend time with my sons around me.

So there you have it. Is your friction enhanced by my fiction?
Tell me about it at fisherman@iname.com
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