Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2018 10:28:44 +0000
From: Jonah
Subject: Letter from America,  Chapter 4

A Letter from America

The usual disclaimers apply. No character in this story is a real person,
so if you think you spot any resemblance to anybody living or dead, you are
in error, however several characters deliberately resemble characters
created by another author.  All my characters live in England, but, if you
want to know more about their American visitors, you can visit the story A
Neglected Boy, by Jacob Lion, currently serialised by Nifty on the"Gay
Adult/Youth" site , or visit https://jacoblion.weebly.com/     If you wish
to send feedback to me, you can email me at lfa4321jonah@outlook.com

Please consider donating to Nifty - keep this site
going. http.//donate.nifty.org/donate.html


Chapter four: A Nautical Adventure.

As I expected Jake and I didn't lay back to back all night.  No there
wasn't any of that kind of thing, just some cuddling really, but that was
pleasant.  It was a cold night and some shared warmth didn't go amiss,
apart from which I wasn't unhappy with the arrangement.  Let me tell you he
is one hot guy in more ways than one.  I'm glad I had a bed large enough
for two, but we still found ourselves a little constricted.  Wait a minute.
Why are there six people in this bed?  It is only five o'clock in the
morning but in trying to turn over I find myself almost pinned to Jake by a
hot, warm body.  The street lamp outside gives me enough light to see that
two small boys are the other side of Jake.  They are peacefully sleeping so
they might have been there awhile.  I struggle against the constricting
flesh to turn over and find myself face to face, or rather face to feet
with ......?  Well two of the feet look like Simon's so presumably the
others must be Kori's.  Now did they decide to top/tail because of the
limited space, or did Simon tell Kori something he shouldn't have?  I
decided I didn't really care, threw one arm over both pairs of legs and
snuggled up against the warm soles.

It was daylight when I awoke and there was more room now. There were only
four in the bed.  More to the point there were noises coming from
downstairs. I climbed out of bed and sauntered to the bathroom.  Ablutions
performed quickly, I donned a pair of boxer shorts and padded downstairs to
the kitchen.  There were knives and forks on the table, there were plates
warming on top of the eye-level grill,there were two frying pans on the
stove.

"Morning Jonah", said the new boy I didn't recognise, "glad you're up.  I
was just going to come andfetch you.  Breakfast in ten minutes".

"Er .... thanks .....er .......Simon?"

Well it looked like Simon, at least he had the same facial features, but
without the usual bored expression.

"Can you get the others up for us" said the new boy.

"Er....sure... Simon,... Kori.... is this your idea?"

"Only doing what we always do", said Kori.

The other boy had gone back to breaking eggs.

I padded back up the stairs and saw Jake, Liam and Peter still doing their
horizontal conga, just as I had left them.  Jake opened one eye.

"Breakfast in ten", I told him.

"Right, he said, sitting up, "I wondered where Kori had gone. I should have
guessed".  He swung himself out of bed and stood in all his glory.  I tried
not to look as if I was staring but he seemed oblivious to it anyway.  If
he stayed in the bathroom long enough I could use his morning erection to
hang towels on.  I moved to wake the boys ,but Jake held me back.

"Can you just give me a moment to freshen up in there before you wake
them?" he said."If this little one knows I'm in there he'll be in like a
shot but we'll be there all morning".

I must have looked surprised because he continued quickly,

"Oh, nothing like that, he's just an innocent kid,but he's been through a
bad patch and he's a little bit clingy"

"I noticed yesterday.  He's sensitive but he's a big guy for such a little
fellow"

"I do believe you're starting to love him too".

  "Oh, I did that the moment I met him, but does that surprise you, given
how you love him"

"Nope! It only suprises me that anyone could NOT love a great kid like
that, but his Mom and Pop sure had a good try".

I had to turnaway.  How was that possible?  How could such things happen?
When I turned back Jake was gone.  He obviously thought the best way to
deal with the tears he saw suddenly spring was not to see them.  I wiped my
eyes and headed downstairs.

"Just about to serve up",said the new Simon.

"Well before you do,would you and Kori nip upstairs and put some underpants
on"

"Nah, Kori says Jake's cool with it".

"Simon,it wasn't Jake that just asked you to put on some underwear, and,
while Jake might be OK with it generally, I doubt he'd be cool with you
splashing hot fat on your privates.  I doubt you'd enjoy it either".

 Simon shrugged.

"Yeah you're right, sorry man", as he headed upstairs followed by Kori.

WHAT?  Who was this child? and what had he done with the real Simon?

At breakfast I learned some more American cuisine.  Kori called it a full
English, but it bore no resemblance to what they had given him in the
restaurant yesterday.  There must have been half a pig in there.  I have
eaten mixed grills with less meat in them, and WHAT meat.  Where on God's
Earth did Kori learn to cook like that?  If Jake wants to take this boy
home on boxing day he is going to have to fight for him, either that or
find a way of sending cooked breakfasts air mail. Breakfast was eaten and
cleared away, and remember what I said about not letting the Americans wash
up - well you'd have to truss them up to STOP them from washing up; then it
was Winter coats on, and off to Rayner's Lane tube.  Then it was
Metropolitan line to Wembley Park and Jubilee tube to Westminster.
 
The Americans were excited to see the Houses of Parliament with the famous
clock tower stretching high above them. Inside the clock tower are the
clock's chimes, including the famous bell, Big Ben.  We crossed over the
road to the Victoria Embankment and then to Westminster Pier. The waterboat
was already there and had started loading as we bought our tickets.  We
took seats on the upper deck,from where we could get the best view.  Ahead,
we could see the Embankment stretching along the left bank.  Westminster
Bridge was behind us and across the river, next to County Hall,was the
giant wheel of the London Eye. Right on the next bend we could see
Hungerford Railway Bridge with its trains going in and out of Charing Cross
Station.  As we pulled out into the river a launch of the Thames River
Police passed us on the starboard side. As a small craft it was allowed to
move much faster than we were. The police had their own anchorage, a
floating police station, just ahead and we cut our engines to allow him to
perform a wide sweep across our bows and come alongside it.  The policeman
at the helm gave a cheery wave of thanks and our skipper answered with two
hoots of his horn. We swept past the offices of Whitehall on our left and
the Jubilee Gardens on our right and under Hungerford Bridge, passing the
old Humber Paddle Steamer "Tattershall Castle" on our left.  Waterloo
Bridge came into view.  Waterloo Station was out of sight on our right
hidden behind the South Bank centre, and the Royal Festival Hall. On the
left now, behind the Victoria Embankment Gardens were the Adelphi and the
Savoy.

Passing under Waterloo Bridge we found, on our left a World War 2
destroyer.  The "HQS Wellington" is the only remaining Grimsby class
warship. https://www.culture24.org.uk/am76933 She had been built at
Devonport and spent her war escorting Atlantic convoys. Since 1948 she has
been the livery hall of the Honorable Company of Master Mariners, a London
Livery Company.

While all that we passed through was Greater London, the actual City of
London is a fairly small place.  It consists of only one square mile on the
North bank of the Thames. If anything its twin city of Westminster is
marginally bigger.  What is on the South bank just there is Lambeth and
Southwark.  We pass beneath Blackfriars Bridge and then, almost
immediately, Blackfriars Railway Bridge, the new, extended platforms of
Blackfriars Station now reaching far out onto the bridge. Once clear of
these two bridges the North Bank is dominated by the huge, domed bulk of
St.Paul's Cathedral. https://www.365tickets.com/st-pauls-cathedral There
has been a cathedral here since mediaeval times, but this one dates back to
the 1660s, its predecessor having been destroyed in 1666 by the Great Fire
of London.  On the South bank at this point the huge Tate Modern art
gallery (formerly a power station) dwarfs Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - a
modern replica of the wooden ampitheatre where Shakespeare produced many of
his plays. The original burnt down.  The slender Millenium Footbridge spans
the river at this point closely followed by Southwark Bridge then Cannon
Street Railway Bridge, flanked, on the North bank, by the two tall towers
that are the only reminders of the high station roof that was destroyed by
the Luftwaffe during the 1940 Blitz.

The broad concrete arches of London Bridge come next, erected during the
1960s, its many arched predecessor having been re-erected in the Arizona
Desert.  At the South end we can just catch a glimpse of the tower of
Southwark Cathedral - Britain's oldest Cathedral.  Beyond London Bridge we
are into Londons Dockland.  Billingsgate fish market is on our left and we
just caught a glimpse of the golden fireball at the top of Wren's Fire of
London Monument.  We pass another Second World War warship, HMS Belfast, a
heavy cruiser now open to tourists.  On our left now is the Traitors' Gate,
the water entrance to the Tower of
London. https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/#gs.aQyj5hQ The Romans first
built a fortress here and it has been added to over the years. Its curtain
wall is interrupted by various towers and the circular Wakefield Tower with
its square companion, the Bloody Tower,are clearly visible.  The Bloody
Tower is reputed to be the place where two young princes were murdered in
the 1480s, by their uncle King Richard III, according to the Tudors, though
his successor, King Henry VII is a much more likely culprit. Beyond the
curtain wall is the huge, four-turretted White Tower, the keep of the Tower
of London.

  Under the famous Tower Bridge, with its lifting section we enter into a
world of office blocks and dockside wharfs.  Much of what was here was
bombed into oblivion by the Luftwaffe, so new buildings abound.  Odd little
creeks and basins break up the foreshore and occasional moored vessels.
Here was once the busiest commercial dock in the world, though you'd be
hard put to tell. Between the shores of Rotherhythe and Wapping we glided,
down Limehouse Reach, past the site of theSurrey Docks (where the first
bombing raid on London took place) and the Millwall Docks, still there but
with barely a ship in sight.  We moored at Greenwich Pier and disembarked.
Four boys who had chattered excitedly all the way here, were now chattering
excitedly about the spectacular towering masts of the SV Cutty Sark.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/cutty-sark

"Wow!",said Kori, "I've seen sailing ships before but never anything that
big.  She must be the biggest in the world"

"I doubt it," I told him, "She was probably the fastest in the world in her
day, but she's not all that big. She's just fast-rigged, so her masts and
rigging are big. When we go on board you'll see pictures of her under full
sail.She was really beautiful then. She had to carry a lot of canvas so
that she could move quickly".

  "Why'd she have to do that"

"The tea trade was very competitive, so the company who got their tea into
harbour first would be able to sell it, while the others would be unable
to.  For a long time tea was one of the most precious commodities on the
seas.  You come from Massachusetts, surely you've heard of the Boston Tea
Party"

He frowned.

"No, can't say I have.  What was that all about?"

For a moment I contemplated quoting Mr. Banks' version of the story from
"Mary Poppins", but I thought that would be too rude, so I just said,

"Ask Jake to tell you about it sometime".

The look on Jake's face at that moment was priceless, but it was time to go
aboard.

Below decks, in the vessel's cargo hold are countless pictures of fast tea
clippers in full sail.  Liam wanted to know why they didn't hoist canvas on
her now, since she would look even more beautiful.

"Not for long she wouldn't," I told him, "If you were to put sails on her
while she is in dry dock the first big wind would dismast her, quite apart
from the fire risk."

Kori was everywhere.  There was no corner of the vessel that he didn't want
to see, and he could always be found in animated conversation with the
ship's crew.  At one point Jake felt constrained to apologise since Kori
was making a nuisance of himself, but there is nothing the crew like better
than somebody taking an intelligent interest.  They loved him.  When he
told one of them that he had his own model of a sailing ship the man
immediately said,

"well we'd better make you a member of the crew then.  Stay there."

He disappeared but returned moments later with a wide-brimmed straw hat
bearing a "Cutty Sark" tally.  He instantly put it on Kori's head saying,

"There you are, you're a member of the crew now, but don't wear it on the
riverboat back to town.  If the boat crew know they've got a proper sailor
aboard they'll have you swabbing the deck"