Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:56:04 +0000 (GMT)
From: Jonas Henley <jonas_henley@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: The Mackey Chronicles 01-b

Kids of Indian Spring -- The Mackey Chronicles
By Jonas Henley


Chapter 01-b
A Brief History of the Mackeys of Indian Spring in America
The New Century



The year that 15 year old Amos Mackey left for the Great War, the two
oldest of David Mackey's remaining children married. Cleveland married
Sarah Corbin, five years his junior, and Percival married Eleanor
Jenkins. Cleveland's first child, Seth, was born the afternoon of the same
morning that they had received word of his brother Amos' death. Two years
later, Eleanor died giving birth to Percival's daughter, Jane.

Percival did not long survive his wife. He succumbed to the Spanish
Influenza epidemic, as did two others in their community. His 15 year old
sister Beth Ann, always his favorite, did her best to nurse him back to
health, but was ultimately unable. In his last moments, he called her to
his bedside and placed within her hand a gold coin, a mint condition Double
Eagle marked with the date 1873.

"You know where the others are?"  He asked in a very weak voice.

"Yes. I remember."

"Take care of Jane."  They were his last words.

But Beth Ann was still a child in her own father's home, and not ready to
take care of a baby girl, and Abner was still away from home, having joined
the army two days after news of his older brother's death. Cleveland
refused to take in his niece, despite his wife's protests that she would be
more than happy to have Jane. It was probably because assuming recognition
of the child of Percival meant he would one day have to share his treasure
with it. Now that Percival was dead, the treasure belonged to him, and he
would use it to reward loyalty, not orphans. He forbade his wife to even
mention the matter again.

David asked his son Clarence and his new wife to take in Jane. At first all
went wonderfully, as the couple doted on the baby girl. But soon they began
to have their own children, and Jane grew up with the realization that she
was becoming more of the happenstance godchild. She was melancholy in her
early teen years and would often spend much time alone, dreaming of a
Prince Charming to come and take her away.

When she was 14 and on one of her walks alone through the Deep Woods, she
was set upon and raped by 13 year old Joshua Corbin. Joshua declared that
she had asked for it and that she only later lied about it. Cleveland
stated he believed Joshua, since the girl was obviously not normal. It was
these comments that put the nail in the coffin with Seth's relationship
with his father. Despite being firstborn, Seth did not enjoy the full
attention of his father in his early years. There was too much else going
on, and his father was more distracted by his hidden treasure, his place
among the community, and the need to dominate the direction of cohesiveness
and decorum for the Mackeys.

Seth instead spent much of his early time following around his Uncle Abner
when he returned from the military in 1919. Seth was adored by Abner's new
wife, Carol, who found the 4 year old boy delightful, and she told Abner
that she wanted half a dozen more just like him. People would often joke
that Seth was Abner's first son, not Cleveland's. This often made Cleveland
angry, and in his need to control and dominate, any attempts to regain his
son's loyalty usually backfired. Seth was ultimately NOT, in Cleveland's
mind, gold-worthy. By that point Seth had received more positive influence
at Uncle Abner's to more than counterbalance his father's negative
influence.

Their relationship became worse when Seth was 14 and his mother died in
childbirth, bringing forth his little brother, Jacob. The distance became
greater between father and son, and even when it came to taking care of
Jacob, his dad seemed lost and unsure of hoe to take charge
appropriately. Consequently, Beth Ann, now 27 and married herself, stepped
in to care for Jacob in the early years, putting her own family plans on
hold.

Having failed to exert his influence over Seth, Cleveland tried to extend
his influence over Able, four years younger than Seth, but he was never
quite satisfied. He had in his mind a more biblical direction in life. The
Firstborn should inherit the father's will, and Able would never be a
firstborn child; he was too much a little brother in the shadow of
Seth. Cleveland considered himself the Firstborn of David, since his older
brother Horace died before having children. In his mind, that nullified
Horace's right to be Firstborn. And with the slight snag of James III,
Cleveland saw himself in a long line of Firstborns; but Able could never
fully usurp Seth, and their dad was starting to become bitterly
disappointed in Seth.

For his part, Seth just wondered if Insanity ran in his family, or if it
was just a learned behavior that he hoped to avoid passing on to his own
kids. He and Able used to discuss it when they were young men, though Able
was always reluctant to weigh-in too heavily against his father. It was
Able who began some reconciliation between Seth and their father when they
got married and began having children of their own.

Against his better judgment, Seth agreed with Able to try to smooth things
over; and for a while had held hope that his father had abandoned his more
austere leanings. Unfortunately, he had just become better at hiding
them. Even Seth's other children could tell you at a young age that Grandpa
Cleveland only cared about two grandchildren: Elijah and Colton, the
firstborn sons of Seth and Able, respectively. Having failed with his
children, he set out to poison the firstborn of these same children with
his own views. Among other beliefs, this included the right of the strong
over the weak, the purpose of family being to form barriers against the
poisons of the world, the supremacy of the ruling patriarch in all matters,
the almost blind adherence to the traditions that were good enough for
their forefathers, exacting an eye for an eye, and a certain propensity
toward the idea that ordinary rules and laws of interaction are superceded
by the will of the
 family.

All of these things disturbed Seth greatly, and by the time he realized
that his son Elijah was as twisted in his thinking as his Grandfather, Seth
had lost all influence with him. The same could be said for Able and his
son Colton, though all of Able's sons showed the same reluctance as their
dad to fully turn their back on Cleveland Mackey's views of the Mackey
clan. The views were all the more pervasive when considering that many
other Mackey families held similar, if not as extreme, views.

Seth owed his more enlightened outlook to the influence of Abner, as well
as his time away from his father. After the rape of Jane by Joshua Corbin,
Seth did not speak to his father anymore than absolutely necessary for
nearly 15 years. Once his father remarried, and he knew he would not be
leaving his youngest brother Jacob alone with the man, Seth moved his own
young family out of the Very Deep and into Deep Mackey lands, followed
shortly afterward by his brother Able.








The Prohibition was good to the Mackeys, and many a family had hidden away
Ball Mason jars of gold that came from the production and running of
shine. Even when it became illegal to horde the precious metal, it was
still the storage medium of choice for the Mackey clan.

Cleveland's still that he and Percival had helped build in 1911 was one of
the most productive during this era. In the 20's, Clarence was the only one
of his brothers and sister willing to work with Cleveland; and his share of
the profits was substantial. He bought himself the first sports car in
Indian Spring after the War and later, in 1932, built a garage for it. His
kids used to love to whip around the dirt roads with their dad in the old
roadster. It wasn't practical for running shine, and several of his kin
looked upon the purchase with disfavor. But it was fun.

At the same time, he built apartments above and alongside the garage to
house Jane and her new daughter.  After Jane's rape, she was considered
even more of a pariah to the Mackeys at large. Once it was found out that
Jane was pregnant, Joshua's family disappeared with the boy, going further
north by several counties. Only Joshua's older brother Ben ever returned,
and he wasn't worth much more than Joshua. The whole event was hushed up,
and no one spoke of it after a few years.

Jane gave birth to a baby girl, and just as no one would put a name to what
had happened to her, she never named the girl. Eventually the girl came to
be called Hester, though no-one ever knew why, and she grew up wild, as
distanced from the rest of the family as her mom was. It was understandable
that Hester would never know the true meaning of love or attachment, as
every time her mom looked in her bold green eyes, she saw her own shame and
her despair.

Clarence was busy with his own family, and once Jane moved into the garage
apartments and began to care for herself and her daughter on her own, it
was just as easy to forget that they were there. The rest of the American
Depression passed largely without incident among the Mackey's. Most of
their capital was locked up in land holdings (particularly the future
Coolspring development, as well as a few lease properties to some county
utilities and some AT&T holdings), in their stills, and in their homes and
families. They had precious few loans; everyone owned their own homes, or
just owed their parents or a cousin. To be honest, hey hardly noticed the
Depression.

Abner and his wife had their last child, Theodore, in 1932, about a month
after Hester was born. They decided five boys was enough and settled back
to enjoy life without a ripple, until 1937, when they found out from their
second oldest boy, Dylan, that he had just been made a bottom. Abner was
not happy; he had had no idea that there was a Choosing in process. He
called in his oldest son Collin and was prepared to give the 14 year old
boy a thrashing for not watching out for his younger brother; but Collin
was just as surprised to hear it. It had been kept secret from him as well.

But, Dylan had an even bigger problem. Several, in fact. He was used to
hanging out with Collin and Collin's friends, both among the Mackey and
among some county kids; and he had been used to going to bed at night for
the last four months, jerking off into his cum rag, thinking about the day
he would get to see or experience one of these girls that Collin's friends
would brag about knowing or about getting to first or second base with. In
school he would stare dreamily at some of the more developed girls and get
hard as a rock just wondering what it would be like to see and feel their
titties.

He was smitten with girls at a young age, and he had never even really
thought about doing anything with a guy. He knew that most of his cousins
would sometimes get another boy to put his mouth on their dicks, and even
sometimes take their dicks up his ass, but he always found it to be
gross. He had never been to a Choosing, and wouldn't choose to go to
one. Collin had never used another boy either, even though some of his
friends did. If you wondered about that part of the spectrum where you were
totally comfortable being straight, Collin and Dylan, like their dad Abner,
would be there.

But at that moment, Abner did not know who was in more shock with less
knowledge of what to do next, Collin or Dylan. Collin kept asking his dad
what he was supposed to do. Could he refuse to let anybody touch Dylan? Did
he have to stay when they did? Cause he didn't want to see it, but at the
same time he didn't just want to abandon Dylan. And what if one of his
friends wanted to pork Dylan? He couldn't just let them. And how could he
just sit around and hang out with them if they did do Dylan?

Abner had to tell his oldest son to calm down several times. But it was a
real problem for Dylan, because all those boys were in the allowed age
range to screw him, and some of them did other boys, too; so he knew that
soon they would be wanting to do him, as well. And they would. And slowly,
one by one, every single one of Collin's Indian Spring friends spent some
time in Dylan's butt. Two months into it, every time he looked at Dylan he
found himself wondering whose sperm was inside his little brother. And when
he sat around his friends, all he could wonder was: `when was the last time
they fucked my little brother, and are they thinking about it now?'

Collin was a mess. He was taking this harder than any of them. And he had
another problem: guilt. Yes, he felt guilty that he hadn't known about the
Choosing so he could intercede. He himself never went through a Choosing --
not every 12 year old does. If you're the only 12 year old around, there's
a good chance you won't, especially if they got one or two the year before
(any more than five 12 year olds, and they would typically pick two). But
he also felt guilt in not stopping his friends, his own friends, from doing
things with Dylan; guilty for staying friends with them; and guilty for
leaving Dylan many times when he was asked to bend over and drop his pants
and underwear.

And finally he felt guilty because of the nights when one of Collin's
friends would spend the night; within two months, every single one of his
friends had gotten off in Dylan's ass at least twice during a
spendover. And the same could be said of Dylan's friends. But why guilty?
Because every time someone spent the night -- his friend or Dylan's -- they
would end up in Duncan's hole at some point. And apparently, Dylan tended
to be a very vocal bottom. Collin's bedroom was next door, and it got him
hard almost every single time; and it was becoming more and more difficult
to resist jerking off when his little brother was taking it up the ass. The
moans and groans drove him to the edge and kept poking him, willing him to
fall over it.

He wasn't the only one. Abner and his wife found themselves turned on more
than once. It drove them beyond reason and beyond caring about being
safe. They weren't trying to have any more kids, but after a few boys spent
the night with one or both of their two oldest sons, she was pregnant.

Dylan's biggest problem in all this -- biggest? Where did he start?? -- was
possibly the most troubling for him. While he still thought having a boy's
mouth on his penis would be gross, and had ZERO interest entering a boy's
ass and still couldn't keep his eyes off a pretty girl whenever she walked
by, he had a fundamental inability to reconcile himself to a
dilemma. Sexually, there was no ambiguity, but physically . . . . .well
. . . .he LOVED getting fucked. Having the right dick plow him was getting
to be better than jerking off. In fact, by the time he came to his dad
about it, he hadn't cum by his own hand in over a week. He was getting off
with just the boys that would stop him in various parts of Indian Spring
and bend him over anything convenient. He was at the point where he was
thinking about asking Collin to help him out at night.

His problems continued for the next year, though he and Collin never felt
comfortable enough to broach the topic with each other. Collin was only too
glad not to talk about it; he just felt guilty, again, that maybe he was
abandoning his little brother in his needs. The novelty interest in Dylan
eventually slowed after a while, and Dylan was able to identify which boys
were better able at doing him longer and more expertly so that he didn't
feel as addicted to it.

Dylan was able to resolve his identity crisis but just by inwardly
referring to himself as a bottom boy that only liked girls. It was a weird
way of thinking, but his dad reassured him that he would actually find a
level in which he would be comfortable with who he was and what he had to
endure to get there. Meanwhile, his parents had their own guilt to deal
with, knowing that they had gotten pregnant only because they were both
super horny after listening to sounds through the air vents, sounds of
their own son getting plugged. But the pregnancy went without a hitch, and
in January 1938 a beautiful boy was born. He was named Amos, in honor of
Abner's brother who died in the First Great War.

Dylan's sex life continued, only now he was more likely to invite boys to
spend the night so they specifically could fuck him. It still had the same
affect on his parents, and only 7 months after the birth of Amos, Carol
Mackey learned was pregnant again. They decided that this child, their
seventh, would absolutely be their last, but that was after tragedy
struck. At four months old, Amos was having bouts of crying and began
having bloody diarrhea. Seth was strolling outside with his girlfriend,
when he heard Abner's wife yell to him that Amos was sick. Seth ran to the
back and got their car, sent Collin out to the fields to find his dad, and
drove Amos and Carol to the hospital in the city.

Amos had a problem with his bowels, but went into shock before it could be
repaired. He died in the hospital. The effect on the family was
profound. Dylan wasn't pestered by any boy in Indian Spring for three
months, and then only barely had the energy to enjoy Fielding Mackey's dick
in his butt; despite the fact that he had sought Fie out, and not the other
way around. It was almost a month before anybody realized that Collin
wasn't talking, was avoiding his friends, and wearing himself out as much
as he could in the fields. Fortunately for all their boys, Abner was
nothing like James, Jr.; he wasn't going to let his family self destruct.

Abner called a family meeting, including Seth, and made it a point that
everyone was discussed. He kept the family sane, and slowly, and painfully,
the family came back from the edge. Dylan also, now 13, began returning to
normal. But what was normal now for him? What path did he have? What could
he make? Eventually Dylan decided that what was going to be normal for him
was to be the Mackey that Indian Spring expected him to be. So when the
opportunity came along to put himself back into the Bottom mill, he did,
and not just because it felt so nice once Fie started sliding his dick in
again at regular intervals.

It was because he was a Mackey. And that's all he had that he knew would
last. That and the fact that his best friend and cousin Dawson Mackey would
always be at his ass - damn kid was addicted, sometimes wanting it on a
daily basis and totally comfortable by this point just hanging out naked
afterward.

While the story of Dylan, including time with his neighbors, Wilson and
Harper, can be told later, suffice it to say that the family survived both
their tragedy and Dylan's sexual confusion, and they remained a stabilizing
influence on many in the community, including Seth and his youngest
brother, Jacob.

As the news of the world erupting in war became more frequent, the quiet
resistance to several of the Indian Spring traditions became louder in the
Indian Spring community. There were also the problems that arose with the
unforeseen wild popularity of Scotty Mackey's ass, and a few other concerns
with the Choosings. So, from1939 onward, the Choosing ceremonies ceased,
and the sexual promiscuity of youth began reverting back to what it should
-- hidden, secretive, and mostly mutual. The blue wristbands that became
popular after the arrival of cousins from the Lost Mackey tribes of the
West, ceased to be seen around the community.

In 1942, there were no more wristbands to be seen. There was a nostalgic
attempt to revive the tradition when a bunch of boys picked up 12 yo Jacob
Mackey, along with Garrett Mackey, Dylan's younger brother and only a week
away from 13, and attempted to take the boys out to Old Knot. They actually
made it to the old ceremony place and tied the two resisting boys to a
table. They had both boys greased up when they were interrupted by Jacob's
brother, 26 yo Seth (Able had joined up to fight Japan earlier in the
year), Garrett's older brothers, 19 yo Collin, 17 yo Dylan, 14 yo Michael,
and their neighbors, brothers 19 yo Wilson, 18 yo Harper and 14 yo
Joel. All the boys had been at a joint send-off party between Abner and
Samuel Mackey's houses. Collin, Wilson, and Harper were even already in
uniform, set to pack off for basic training that afternoon and then to join
the fight in the European theater.

Jacob and Garrett had left the party to go out into the backfield near the
creek and talk alone. The night before the two had graduated from oral
buddies to anal buddies and needed to just re-establish that their basic
friendship was still intact. Needless to say, after the Seth and the others
arrived at Old Knot, the younger boys were set free and some of the older
boys were taught a very painful lesson, as they were caught, also tied
down, and switched until their bare bums were just a mess of crisscrossed
welts. Then they were let go without the benefit of any of their
clothes. There would be no retribution either, as the parents of some of
the boys even added to their rear end decorations.

Dylan and Wilson hung back as the others left, though. They talked
awkwardly, neither having realized just how hard this separation was going
to be after Wilson left for the war. While Dylan had enjoyed his sexual
liaisons with Wilson, he had never felt the same emotions of intimacy that
Wilson craved. It had nothing to do with the fact they were both
Mackeys. They were only related by half-brother forefathers 5 generations
back. It was just that Dylan did not feel that way for boys. Though he
loved the physico-sexual stimulation, he felt awkward with emotions that he
could not return.

His mother had talked with both of them at the time that Dylan became
concerned, and convinced both that it was merely a crush, as Wilson had no
other outlets for his sexual energy, and became enamored of the sweet boy
two years his younger that had given him release. On Dylan's part, though,
he was still sometimes uncomfortable with the expressed love that Wilson
had for him; however, he still very much admired and liked the older and
much stronger boy. He also loved the feel of Wilson behind him, within him,
around him. It was confusing for both.

Dylan was still wearing the old grey braided bracelet that Wilson had made
for him years before (as Wilson had said, it was because Dylan's
relationship to Wilson was not as a blue wristband, but it was also
something not really black or white -- hence a Grey bracelet), but he
wanted to give something to Wilson who was headed so far from home. The two
had been sitting side by side on one of the picnic tables when Dylan got up
and stood before Wilson, moving his knees apart and stepping between them,
grabbed the back of the now-soldier's head and brought him in for a
kiss. It was what Wilson had always wanted, for four long years, but what
Dylan had never been able to give.

It was a good kiss. And Wilson knew, and could feel, that there was a
tremendous amount of love in that kiss. It was a love strong enough to
survive all enemy bombardment that Wilson was looking to face. But it also
had no passion. Wilson pulled back. He had an answer, and he was happy. It
was a pyrrhic happiness, but still there. Wilson knew that he could never
have what he had long desired, but that he had always had what he had
wanted.

He pulled Dylan in for a hug, feeling the warmth of the boy, absorbing the
feel of the body he had loved holding all these years, and letting the
energy of life and love flow into him. They embraced for a good many
minutes, and all feelings of love flowed through the embrace -- friend,
brother, unrequited lover. At the end, as Dylan sensed Wilson about to let
go, he whispered to the boy to move his hand down lower. Wilson's strong
right hand moved down and grasped the boy's buttcheeks, massaging and
squeezing each in turn, thinking now of all the times he had enjoyed this
most wondrous part of Creation.

The effect had him pulling that part of Dylan in for closer contact and the
two boys could each feel the other grow hard. Then Dylan whispered in his
ear again.

"One more time, Wilson."

The boys found the jar of Vaseline that was used in prior Choosing
ceremonies. The lid was rusted, but the Vaseline was still good, and so was
the fuck. It was one of the best they had ever had, each knowing that it
could be the last. After it was over, neither wanted the other to leave,
but it was nearing time for Wilson's departure. Dylan cleaned his man up
with the T-shirt of one of the boys they had chased out; he tucked in and
buttoned-up the fly of Wilson's uniform himself, never once feeling awkward
with the intimacy, only a melancholy feel of impending loss.

That was the last time Dylan ever had sex with any man or boy ever
again. After Wilson's last drive in his hole, he never wanted anything to
replace that memory, and he never again hungered for it, at least not from
anyone else. He realized only much later just how much he had loved Wilson
Mackey.

Wilson and his brother Harper fought alongside Collin in the Italian
theater. In 1943, Harper was reassigned, and then in 1944 he participated
in the invasion of Normandy. Thereafter, he had a great many experiences,
especially in the Whorehouses of Paris, where he put the new wonder drug
Penicillin to the test multiple times. Wilson and Collin both rose quickly
through the ranks to command other men. Wilson in particular was
well-admired as a strong, quiet commander. His operations were effective
and efficient, and he was given a command at Monte Cassino over several
platoons. It was his last command, and through personal sacrifice of his
life, he managed to save half his men. Collin survived the war as an
amputee, and though Harper came back whole, it was several years before he
could settle back in to the slow life of Indian Spring.

Dylan signed up just months after Wilson left, after a very reluctant Abner
gave him permission. He and his best friend Dawson joined together and left
after basic training for the Pacific. The boys' first operation was an
ambush. Dawson was shot dead on the beachhead, and Dylan was taken
prisoner. He spent three years as a POW under harsh conditions, enduring
slave labour, random beatings, and torture. Into the second year of his
capture, a Japanese guard cut off his grey braided bracelet and burned
it. He had no information about the companies in which his brother and
Wilson were serving except the misinformation the Japanese fed them to
reduce morale.

As he watched the bracelet he had worn for years go up in smoke, feeling
the loss of his of his self, his best friend, his brother, and the closest
thing he had ever had to a lover, the last bit of Dawson that could be
described as soft was burned away. In the one sense, he became a stronger
leader among the POW's, giving them hope through his strength, though never
once caring to give any inspirational speeches. He was close to no man,
shared no feelings, displayed no emotion, had room for neither despair nor
hope. His life before seemed like a fancy dream that allowed him to ignore
the reality outside. But that bubble had burst. Even after rescue, he
simply said thank you to the commanding officer and asked if he might take
a shower -- by himself. No other sense of delivery did he feel.

Meanwhile, Todd Mackey, Scotty's older cousin, was killed in North Africa
when he fell on a grenade to save the life of several others in his
company, including a scared 17 year old who had lied about his age and
signed up with his older brother. The brother was killed on the first day
of battle leaving the boy alone and lost. On top of that, the boy was gay,
was just coming to terms with it, and felt even more isolated. Todd had
taken the boy under his wing, given him peace that nothing was wrong with
him, and promised the boy that he would see to it he made it home
alive. The boy made it; Todd didn't.

Beth Ann's oldest boy became a marine and returned with honor and several
medals. Jeremiah's youngest son was aboard a torpedoed submarine and died
with all on board. Scotty survived and even managed to have fun with more
than one seaman on the seas, and more than several local women when in
port. Seth's brother Able also returned unharmed and married. His wife had
been in the secretarial pool at general headquarters during his last
station in Germany. They immediately started on a family on their return.

Harper was the only resident to stay on in the armed forces after the war,
while Dylan was one the last to return. On his return to Indian Spring, he
found that many families had lost and suffered and much had changed. The
community was stronger during the war, but began to fall apart afterward,
unable to deal with its losses.

Cleveland Mackey had actually remarried. He was 53 and Martha was 23. It
was quite the scandal, but she was just a simple country girl who had
cousins that lived in the Near portion of Indian Spring. She was in awe of
the rumor of wealth and power held by the mysterious Mackey clan of Indian
Spring. She gave him his first daughter, Ruth, in 1945 and another son,
Solomon, in 1946; but by this point, Cleveland was already far more
interested in his grandsons, Seth's first son, Elijah, born in 1944, and
Able's first son, Colton, born in 1946, within two months of Solomon.

Both Elijah and Colton grew up under the influence of their Grandfather,
and both knew that they were set to inherit the secret stash of
Reconstruction Gold -- no one else was worthy. Cleveland kept his new wife
happy by digging up and presenting her with two Bell Mason jars, for each
child, of gold from the Prohibition heyday, money made off the magnificent
still that was ironically located only meters from the shed under which the
truly big treasure was hidden. Since it was still illegal to own gold
bullion and coin at this time, the best Martha could do was rebury it for
her children to have later.

In 1944, when Theo, another of Dylan's younger brothers, turned 12, he
didn't have any fear of having to undergo a choosing, but he still got
introduced to sex. He was skinny dipping one day with his brother Garrett,
who was almost 15 at this point, and Seth's brother Jacob, who was 14 as
well. The boys were fooling around off a rope swing they had just made in a
bend in the creek near the juncture of what was considered Near and Deep
Indian Spring. It seemed to be the perfect swimming spot.

They had all been out the week before to visit Seth and to see Jacob's new
nephew, Elijah, when they went exploring and happened upon the spot. They
would find out later from their distant cousin John Corbin (4 years younger
than Theo at the time, and who was also Joshua Corbin's nephew and Ben's
child by his first wife) that it was a favorite place of some of the Near
Springers, only that no one had ever thought of putting a rope swing there
before.

On the day in question they had been playing quite a while and had even
been joined for a time by the kids of a couple of families that were
building homes nearby. Tommy Radcliffe was Theo's age and just as hairless,
however unlike Theo, was only showing rudimentary beginnings of puberty,
not too much different than his own 10 yo brother, Keith.  Isaac Wood was
similar to Theo, though 11 months older. When Theo got out of the water
after his first go on the swing, he was sporting a chubby 3 ½ inch
erection, hairless, but definitely moving along on his way to
puberty. While he had free hanging nuts normally, the cool of the water had
them drawn up into a plump sac with some moderate crinkling of the skin
evident. His nutsack was already a half shade darker than his body.

There were three older boys that joined them for 15 minutes before they had
to go back to help on their dad on their house. Their last name was
Benson. The final boy was 13 year old Kyle O'Shaunessy whose mother,
Hannah, was rumored to be a witch, because she `knew things', except that
all the boys also said she was very nice. Kyle seemed pretty nice, as well,
and he had a small amount of loose brownish hairs at the base of his dick;
but even soft it was big as the two older boys, Jacob and Garrett. And both
of them knew just how big Kyle got when he was hard because last year each
boy spent a couple sessions watching while Kyle plugged the other's
ass. They had thought it was a hoot for each to see his buddy turned over
get bottomed by hairless boy a year and a half younger but who could
penetrate their rectums as deep as they could.

And it wasn't even Kyle's first time to top another boy. He was in the boy
scouts and related to the two boys that his troop, and a couple other
troops he knew, had kids that would play around, though recently it became
more about kids that would always top and some would always bottom.

"How do you know which kids will take it up their butts?"  Jacob asked.

"I don't know. You ask around."

"You should figure out a signal or something so that everybody that does
stuff will know, but guys that don't, won't know. That way you won't have
to ask."

"Like what?"

Garrett thought about Scotty Mackey and the blue bracelet he was made to
wear until he was almost 16. Garrett, in fact, had been one of the last
boys to bust a nut in Scotty's ass. It had happened just a month after he
gave his own ass up in mutual exploration with Jacob. That was about 2 ½
years ago.

"How about a blue bracelet, or even just having to wear something
blue. That could be for the guys that are expected to bottom."

"Maybe," Kyle was thinking. Might not be a bad idea.  "But what about the
boys that might bottom but nobody should expect them to have to. Maybe
they'll top. What about those guys?"

"Grey."  Jacob threw out.  "Grey bracelets . . .or . . . something
else. Because it's not just black or white what they like or will do. Like
Dylan's grey bracelet."

"How do you know about that?"  Garrett asked. He, himself, only knew
because his other brother Michael had figured it out one day and told him.

"Dylan told me," Jacob said, surprising Garrett a little.

"I'll have to talk to some of my friends in the County troops and see what
they think," Kyle said.

But Garrett was still wondering how Jacob knew about Dylan's bracelet. The
reason, though, was simple. Because Seth had put so much in store with
Abner's family, Jacob also made himself an adopted son, of sorts. And
whenever Garrett wasn't around, and sometimes when he was, he would try and
follow Collin and Dylan around. Collin let him, though pretty much ignored
him (in a kind, couldn't care less if the kid was there or not way), but
Dylan slowly warmed up to him, treating him just like a little brother,
except he told Jacob something that he never told his little brothers.

Dylan and Wilson were careless one day and were seen by Jacob; so Dylan
afterward found the slightly freaked out kid and explained a few things,
asking him not to talk about it with Michael and Garrett, even though they
may already know. Jacob agreed, but on several more occasions wanted to
talk some more about it. At first Dylan was extremely embarrassed by the
kid's questions, but after a while, being able to talk about it like it was
not a big deal, eased some of the inner conflict within Dylan. Eventually
he was able to discuss things casually with a kid five years younger that
he couldn't bring up with anybody else.

Later, after he returned from the war and could share nothing with anyone,
having no emotions, no softening to the hard edge of war, just the work he
took on as a mechanic under the training of his neighbor Samuel, Wilson's
dad, it was Jacob that eventually broke what Dylan realized was a hardened
shell and not a hardened center. It just took the same thing of hanging out
and following the once-boy-now-man for years as he slowly began to talk
again about things that hurt and things that felt good.

But as the boys swam on that warm day in 1944, Dylan was still presumed
dead, missing in action by an enemy known to commit atrocious horrors in
the battle field.  They almost hoped he was dead, like Dawson was reported
to be, instead of suffering somewhere and lost. The boys however were free
from those thoughts as they plunged into the cool creek water off the new
rope swing.

Eventually they all left, though the Radcliffe boys said they were coming
back after they checked in with their parents. Jacob and Garrett got out
and got dressed, saying they were going over to Kyle's house to hang out a
bit. They didn't invite Theo but asked him if he wanted to just go on back
to Seth's and they would meet up with him there in a little while.

"Nah, I think I'll just wait for Tommy and Keith to come back."

But Tommy and Keith did not come back for awhile that afternoon; someone
else showed up instead, and it was shortly after his brother left him alone
that Theo had his virginity taken from him.

"See ya, Theo" the three boys waved after they had dressed and started back
up the path to the Near side of Indian Spring. Even before they had got out
of the creek, Theo had noticed that toward the end, the boys had a few
conspiratorial whispers. He also saw that there was a rise in Kyle's 13 yo
dick, and Theo noticed that even not fully hard, the cock was quite
substantial.

Something in the back of his mind had Theo wondering about what the boys
were going to do. At 12 years old, even without the Choosings putting fear
in him and his age mates and dragging them into the world of sexuality and
sexual release, he knew what went on among the boys, and sometimes among
the boys and girls, of Indian Spring. He was aware of the general mechanics
of boy-boy sex, and he was sure it would get him hard to see it or even
play around with a boy. But he was sure as hell glad he didn't have to bend
over for any boy. He couldn't imagine taking a dick in his butt.

Theo clambered back up the bank to the rope swing and went off it again,
woohooing all the way through the air and into the water. It wasn't hard
for any young boy to have exuberant fun on his own. Theo didn't bother
getting redressed, as most boys in Indian Spring his age were fairly use to
skinny dipping. In fact some didn't ever wear suits, even if some girls
were around, though that usually changed by age 13.

After his fourth time off the rope swing, Theo climbed out of the creek and
sat on one of the rocks to rest up in the warm air and dry off, waiting for
the Radcliffe boys to return. He absently played with himself while warming
on the rock, and it didn't take very long before he was hard, his chub
straight up pointing at the sky, and he marveling at his thick root coming
out of his round crinkled scrotum, plump and looking enticing even to him.

At that point he heard the underbrush rustle and looked up brightly
thinking the new boys had come back. Theo jumped up and ran partially up
the trail.  "Hey guys! What took so long?"

The underbrush cleared and Theo's eyes went wide in surprise, as he backed
down the trail toward the creekside.

"You?"

"Hi Theo. I saw you were alone. I think you look nice, too."

"Uhh . . ."  This was about the best that The could get out, feeling more
than quite awkward and covering his naked privates with his hands. He
couldn't believe he just let himself be seen hard like that. But he was
even more surprised when the visitor started stripping down.

"I want to swing, too."

Girls never went skinny dipping in Indian Creek, but Hester never really
followed the rules either. There were rumors that she talked Clarence's 13
yo son Randall and Robert, Jr.'s 13 yo grandson Francis into letting her
pull their dicks. Supposedly Randall got whupped bad by his dad for doing
that, but Hester remained wild and outside the punitive jurisdiction of
Clarence. Her mom still did not take a great interest in corrective or
preventive influence.

And so Theo stood there amazed at his first look at a girl's naked body. He
had no sisters, and he had never had an opportunity at a spend-the-night
with friends who had sisters. Actually, Theo was pretty old for a kid in
Indian Spring never to have at least seen a girl. Games of doctor still
abounded, even though the interaction was heavily discouraged. The teen
pregnancy rate for Indian Spring was still considerably lower than other
communities in the county. It was almost Nil.

But the girl's interest in having fun naked versus having naked fun
appealed to the little kid still in Theo, and he was soon swinging naked
off the rope, without a care for her seeing his body. At several points
they even did tandem swings. Hester, he was finding out, was actually a lot
of fun, and not quite the wild savage that everybody portrayed her to
be. She knew about all the plants and trees growing around them and could
name them; she knew about the families and politics of Indian Spring as
only an inside observer could, one who was basically ignored but saw
everything; and she understood basic weather, knew about the human body,
and other things.

Not all of this came out in that first day of play, but Theo was
recognizing that there was more to Hester, maybe something worthwhile in
getting to know her, becoming her friend. But as Theo splashed down in the
water and thought about the possibility of playing with Hester again,
Hester had a more grown-up interest at heart.

She swam over to Theo, who was still laughing and smiling from the splash
down. His smile diminished somewhat as he watched her smile broadened and
she got closer . . . . and closer . . . . . and closer.  At first he
thought she was going to try and dunk him, so he kept a guarded smile, half
expecting more fun; but something didn't seem right. Something was up with
her smile and the way she was moving toward him.

When she got close enough, Theo felt his heart racing, and unfortunately,
he felt something else stirring, too, but he couldn't look down, not just
because only his shoulders were above water, but also because he couldn't
break away from his entrancement. Hester slid forward in the water, keeping
her eyes on those of the innocent boy; when she got to him, she reached her
arms up and encircled his neck, bringing her body to his in close
contact. It was close enough that whole front of both warm bodies was now
in full contact, and she leaned in to bring their lips in contact, as well,
and set off a kiss that took Theo out of reality.

The boy slid his arms around her and ran his hands along her back and down
toward just above where her bottom began. At first he just felt the
warmness of her skin, but then pulled her into him and returned the
embrace. It was his first kiss, and he didn't want to know about Hester's
experience. He just wanted to accelerate along this learning curve and
enjoy the hot, wet oral sensations. He was too turned on to even feel
embarrassed as he felt his hard, hot member press into her lower belly.

Hester felt it, though, and was turned on even more; she felt something
stirring more than the curiosity that had driven her prior
explorations. She tried to wrap one and then both of her legs around
Theo. The boy leaned back against a rock to support Hester's weight against
his body, and moved his hands down under her legs for additional support,
as well.

Hester's urges were becoming focused between her legs. She reached to the
rocks behind Theo with her feet to get a foothold and lift herself up. She
then reach down with a hand, while all the more passionately tongue
wrestling the boy, and grabbed his impossibly hard dick and adjusted it and
focused it right where she wanted it to go. She then slid down, allowing
the boy to fully enter her.

Hester moaned into the boy's mouth feeling a wealth of emotion and
stimulation that far exceeded her prior musings on what the moment would
ultimately show itself to be. This was so much better, so much richer. She
didn't want the boy now as a toy to try this out on; she now wanted the
boy.

For his part, Theo nearly bit her tongue when he felt himself slide into
the tight glove of the warmest, most sensuous place on earth that he could
ever hope to be or to have, and he felt that very same pressure and
liveliness along every square millimeter of his dick. He didn't feel like
his dick was going to explode; he felt like he was going to explode. And
when he did, he began rocking into her with the same amount of force that
she was bearing down on him.

Neither could realize that the other was panting into each other's mouths
as their orgasms detonated together, each sucking in for dire need of
oxygen, each trying to expel their sensations in vociferous moans. Neither
able to do both but driven to try, just the same. Eventually their bodies'
needs took over control from the primal lust, and they broke oral contact
to gasp and pant as if they were about to die from a well-run race. Still
the need drove them on, and with what little energies that they could
muster as they caught their breath, the rocking continued. The need for
another orgasm continued.

During the second fuck, the kisses were more short term, interspersed with
more moans, more exclamations of need, of lust, of verification that all
was either perfect or could be done harder by their partner. With all this,
despite having just cum, the experience was too great to provide a long
slow fuck, and the frantic need for second release was soon realized as
once again the two bodies ground into each other with simultaneous
capitulation to nature's limits. They both very loudly yelled out their
vocal signal to what each body already knew from its own and its partner's
feedback.

The second time afterward, they only held each other briefly before
separating. It took a long time, resting side by side, naked in the water,
before either had the energy to pull up onto the rock and out of the
water. Even then they lay exhausted together, dozing out for a few minutes.

Eventually they awoke to the youthful sounds of some amazed boys. The
Radcliffe boys had returned and were shocked to see a naked girl at the
creek, much less one laying naked next to their new friend Theo. Even
better for them was that the way she was laying, which allowed them the
opportunity to see right up between her legs. She had a small amount of
pubic hair, and it was the first vagina that either boy had ever seen.

Hester awoke with a start and shouted out, covered herself up and ran into
the woods. The shout awoke Theo, who, once he was more fully awake, crossed
the creek to get their clothes and then crossed back to follow her. He
caught up with her, and the two dressed slowly, each shyly but with a
subdued eagerness, watching the other.

Hester smiled at Theo. She had dressed much more quickly than he and leaned
in to kiss him.

"Bye."

"Wait! Where are you going?  There's no trails that way!!"

"I know some!!"  she yelled, and then she was gone. Theo almost followed
her, but this really wasn't his element. He needed to explore more up
through here. Then he remembered stories Collin had told him about how when
was growing up, no-one knew the trails or the woods better than Jane. Like
mother, like daughter.

Theo's exploration with Jane continued for two more years. The boy quickly
outgrew any interest in the Radcliffe brothers. He still went up to the
creek to swim and still made some friendships among the growing number of
non-Mackey in the Near woods, but whenever Hester came upon him on the
trail, or found him at the Mackey sections of the creek, or when he turned
the corner around his house and there she was, then at those times all
other kids and obligations were immaterial. He would follow her anywhere to
do anything.

When both kids turned 14, she became pregnant. And the trysts stopped.

This freaked out poor Theo on many levels. One, he was only 14 and not
ready to be a father. Also his parents were quite upset and unhappy, as
were Clarence and his wife. His aunt Beth Ann was certainly none too happy,
and some others in the community were more than willing to look upon Theo
as the problem in this matter. There was also the matter that Hester's
mother Jane had also gotten pregnant at 14, and the rape by Joshua Corbin
that precipitated that pregnancy was still too sore a subject for anyone to
broach, even within their own minds. It was just a bad situation all
around.

Then, a month after the news came, there was a miscarriage. Theo dodged a
bullet and was more than happy, for the meanwhile, to abide by the two
month long grounding that his parents had placed on him. He ran into Hester
a couple more times after that and mumbled excuses and fled without being
able to look her in the eyes. Hester was hurt deeply. She had found someone
caring for her for the first time in her life. She had been loved, only to
find even that thing she lacked would lead to rejection.

She also sensed that she was even less welcome or wanted around the home of
Clarence, and what little attention she had received from her mother was
now marked with an added layer of disappointment. After a year of this
Hester began to find solace very deep in the woods at an old abandoned
hunting lodge that had once belonged to Robert, Jr. She slowly converted it
into a home for herself, becoming somewhat a hermit from the rest of the
Mackeys.

Even more rumors spread after she left at the age of 16 to live full time
in the midst of the woods. She still knew the woods and the paths and
traveled them freely, but managed to avoid interaction with others. She had
a greenhouse in a nearby field, an old beaver clearing, that she
constructed from pilfered or traded materials, and slowly developed a
reputation as an herbalist -- as well as witch and whore. It was rumored
that any virgin boy that dared venture within and brought a reasonable
trade could lose his virginity under the most intense erotic spell.

Truth is, quite a few boys, Mackey and County, made to venture out there,
and many she had relieved of their burden of wealth, only for them to
either run scared back into the woods, or wake up groggy in a totally
different section of the woods with no memory of what had happened. Either
way, when said boys returned to their homes and friends, they had to save
face and add to the existing legends. Quite a few also ended up with rock
salt fired into their asses by a Mackey patrolling his lands or returning
late from working at a still. Eventually, it became a rumor that few wanted
to test.

Another rumor pertained to women who were with child that did not wish for
their pregnancies to continue. These women would find their way to Hester's
cabin and be relieved of their anxiety, and their burden of child. However
some women who did want to keep their child also found Hester. She had
knowledge of herbs and concoctions that relieved severe morning sickness,
cramps, headaches, and other ills associated with pregnancy. She didn't
suffer any men to come and see her, save one. Randall Mackey often went out
to visit her, but not for sex or ill, solely to check on her and see that
she was well.

When he grew and was married and about to start a family of his own, his
visits were less often, but he would still come around, often with some
dish that his wife had taken great care to prepare for Hester. When
Randall's first child was born, Hester gave him a bag of herbs to hang
above the crib. His wife, Patricia, sent a thank you back and assured
Hester that the bag was indeed hung, although many friends and relations
warned her not too. There was surely evil and witchcraft in the makings of
it. But Randall's wife believed otherwise, that it was nothing more than
the gift of an herbalist, the only thing she could give.

After a while all fears were allayed as nothing happened to the little
girl, just as Patricia had known. The herbs had a sweet, light smell, like
a potpourri, and were tied up in a cloth bag well out of reach of baby
Cecilia. In fact, nothing ill befell the child; she never even got
sick. Never once as a baby did she fall ill, or fussy, or sick. Not one
single time.

But it was back in 1946 when Theo had his scare that caused him to abandon
the heartbroken Hester. That year was a rough year for many Mackeys. The
communal bonds of wartime that had held them together as they awaited word
on the many sons and few daughters that they had sent in to battle or
service now fell away as the children of battle returned home. Some
traditions had been bypassed completely, and now the new economies of the
nation were providing an invasive wedge into the community.

By 1948, Dylan was starting to open up to Jacob, Seth and Able had taken
steps to reopen a relationship with their father, allowing Cleveland
greater access to his grandchildren, and several boys in the community
began re-establishing the committee of older boys that had in the past
weighed-in on, or partially ruled over, disputes, traditions, and the
general expectations and decorum of the Mackey youth of Indian Spring. By
1949, they held the first Choosing since the abortive attempts seven years
earlier with Jacob and Garrett, but there were more rules this time around
to protect the bottoms. There was also, for the first time, some attempts
to set forward the rights of the various kinsets to rotate control of
access to the bottom chosen for that year, or at least sponsor the
Choosing.

That same year Jacob began courting, and soon became betrothed to, a girl
from the county that was the older sister of one of the scouts in Kyle
O'Shaunessy's troop, a scout who was well-acquainted with Kyle's ability to
open up and exercise an asshole. There was some increased influence in the
Near Spring, as well, with the Mackey Council and the traditions and rules
starting to hold more sway over all of Indian Spring. It was about this
time, also, that a young Calvin Tucker began to campaign for the inclusion
of more land in the conservation area of Indian Spring, including behind
what would soon become Coolspring, and much farther up the Crazy Indian,
including former timberlands on either side. The action would eventually
provide a buffer area to Mackey lands without actually costing them much in
terms of usage privileges.

Jacob Mackey married the following year and wasted no time in fathering a
child by late spring. Jacob, however, still had no means of his own, by
which he could afford a family. Though he had picked-up much in terms of
mechanical experience, just from hanging around Dylan, he wanted more
security and began to think that perhaps now was a good time to have a
career in the military. With the rebuilding of Europe, there were many more
peaceful roles for military presence than the war time associations of
prior years. He signed up in May of that year, just two weeks after he got
his young wife pregnant, though he had no way of knowing that part, at the
time.

Dylan, who had just started coming out of his shell and was even starting
to date a woman in the city, was quite upset with Jacob and his
decision. Jacob assured him that all would be well and that they were
unlikely to have another conflict like the last Great War. Dylan did not
believe it, but before Jacob left gave him a watch that had been worn by
Wilson Mackey during the Second World War. In many ways, for Dylan it had
taken the place of the Grey band that Wilson had first made for him so many
years ago. Dylan had worn ever it every day since his return, when Wilson's
mother privately and wordlessly slipped it onto his wrist. The transfer now
was Dylan's way of sending his protection and love with Jacob.

Jacob headed off to boot camp, giving assurance he would return soon to
collect his bride and move her to wherever he would be stationed. Even
before his basic training had ended, the United States had become involved
in a `police action' in the Koreas, and Jacob was sent in for combat
duty. He wasn't around when his son Jacob, Jr. was born, when he sat up, or
when he started walking. He had hoped to go home soon after that; the
horrors of war and the separation from his family were draining him. He did
not know why he was fighting this civil war so far from home.

Jacob was killed by a mortar attack that also wounded his fellow soldier
and the first friend he had made in boot camp Pfc Adam Hollister. He had
often written home to his young wife about Hollister, and he looked forward
to being back home and having the man over to dinner to meet Jacob,
Jr. After she received news of his death, the young mother had difficulty
looking at her son and uttering the name Jacob, or even just Junior.

Within a month a young man, recently discharged after being wounded in
battle -- shrapnel having torn up parts of his left leg - came by the house
and introduced himself as Adam Hollister, and he had brought her Jacob's
watch. He had taken it off Jacob's wrist himself, in fear that it wouldn't
make it home. He related how every time Jacob looked at it he could see the
ones he loved. She took the watch, but something else as well. She told the
young man how she couldn't even call her own child by name anymore without
breaking down in tears,

"Hollis is a nice name," she said, "Do you mind if I call him Hollis? It
makes it easier to think some part of his father is alive and with him,
than dead overseas."

From that point on, the boy was only known as Hollis. Very few ever found
out that he had another name, for he, like his mother, had difficulty using
the name without trying to picture the father he lost and was never able to
know.

The year Hollis was born, 1951, was also the year that Angus, Abner's
seventh and final son, turned 12. Dylan was in no mood to see any repeat in
the troubles that seemed to befall his family at the age of 12, and at the
time of the Choosing kept Angus near to him in the garage in the city for
that summer. Angus learned all about automotive and engine repair, though
it did not really interest him. The only thing that kept his interest up
enough not to complain was that he could compare some aspects of automotive
mechanics to that of the functioning human body, something that did
interest him more. That and the fact that Dylan paid him as an `assistant'
and would tell him stories about his brothers growing up. As the summer
wore on, Dylan became less concerned with censoring any of the stories.

Dylan needn't had worried, however, about any of the boys trying to enlist
Angus into a Choosing. Angus was the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and all
the boys had been advised by their parents in one way or another to give
the boy a wide berth in all matters that could prove to be injurious or
unappreciated. Even still, the boys didn't really need their parents
telling them that. Many were already acquainted with the fact that Angus
said unusual things out of the blue, sometimes, especially lately as he
approached puberty.

For instance, when Dylan was talking to him about the watch that Wilson use
to wear, as a way of actually avoiding talking about Wilson after he left
for the war, he mentioned that he gave it to Jacob as a way for him to have
family near.

"He just better bring it back," Dylan joked, meaning of course, that he
wanted Jacob coming back.

"Don't worry, his friend will bring it back."  Angus said.

"What?"

"The watch. It'll come back. His friend will bring it home, the one with
the hurt leg."

"No, Jacob will bring it home, Angus, do you understand me? Jacob will
bring it home."

"OK."  That's not how it happened next year, but the boy said no more.

On another day when Dylan was being quiet and working under a foreign car,
Angus was sitting quietly by, just handing his older brother tools as he
asked for them.

"The girl at the bank's real pretty."  Angus said, which seemed very odd to
Dylan as he had only met Magda last week and had not mentioned her to
anybody. In fact, he had only seen her twice now at the bank, though they
were going on a date tomorrow night.

"Well, thanks . . . . Angus."  He was just going to let that one go.

"Hey, Angus, I need a -- " Dylan slid back out from underneath the car to
ask for a crescent wrench, but Angus was already holding one out for
him. Dylan took the 11 mm crescent and then handed it back.

"Great guess, buddy, except I need a 13 mm wrench."

Angus shrugged his shoulders and reached in the toolbox and retrieved the
13mm wrench. Dylan rolled back under the car and swore to himself. Dammit
if the wrench wasn't too big. When he rolled back out, Angus was still
holding the 11mm wrench out for him. He gave his brother a queer look, but
took the wrench without saying anything and rolled back under the car. The
wrench was a perfect fit.

Toward the end of summer, Angus went with Dylan over to Seth's house to see
how Mira was doing in her pregnancy. She was eight months now and having
bouts of dizziness.

"Oooh, he's kicking again. Sure is an active little bug," she said sitting
down.  "Do you want to feel, Angus?"

The boy walked over and put his hand uncertainly on the bloated belly and
felt the kicks. He smiled and felt the baby's movement.

"He's happy!"

"Oh, yes, Angus, he's definitely very happy, or very angry."

"I like it." Angus said, smiling very big.

"So do I sometimes, but sometimes I just wish he would settle down." Mira
didn't say anything to anyone, but she was feeling even more dizzy, this
time with another headache coming on, worse than before.

"No, I mean I like the name."

"Well," Seth started after exchanging questioning looks with his wife, "I
don't think we told anybody the name, yet."

"Sorry, Seth, Mira," Dylan offered, "Angus is in this . . . . . strange
. . . .place . . . .right now."

"Well, if anyone was going to like the name, it would be Angus; but we
wanted to talk to Uncle Abner and Aunt Carol first."

"What did you want to name him?"  Dylan asked.

"We want to name him Amos, after my Uncle Amos that died the year I was
born, and after your little brother. I still wish I had been there sooner
and that we could have gotten him to the hospital faster."

"It wasn't your fault, Seth, you helped give him the only chance he
had. Mom and dad will be overjoyed that you are using the name."

"Well, we aren't superstitious, and we believe Amos needs another chance at
life."  Mira said.

"I've always missed my older brother," Angus mused, "Now I get to have him
as a younger brother."

"That's right, Angus. You, Elijah, and Jeb will be great older brothers."

"Yeah, me and Jeb are going to look after you Amos," he said directly to
the belly.

The fact that he had left out Elijah's name bothered Mira, but for the
moment she was distracted by something else, though she couldn't quite tell
what it was.

"Do you feel better, now?"  Angus asked.

"Mira, are you OK?"  Seth suddenly looking concerned.

"I . . . . yes . . . I mean . . .  .I was felling very dizzy, and I was
getting a severe headache, but they're gone, now. I feel better. No, I feel
. . . I feel great, actually."

"It'll all be over tomorrow," Angus said cryptically.

"Well, that's sweet of you, Angus, but I have another month left before
Amos is ready to come out."

Angus said nothing, just smiled and shook his head no and continued to feel
the baby's kicks.

"Next year you're gonna have a girl."

Mira couldn't help but laugh. Even Seth smiled.  "We aren't having any more
kids after Amos is born. Three is more than enough. I don't have the
strength Abner has."

"Well, I think it's time we go, Angus."  Dylan didn't know what to say as
they drove deeper into the Spring back to their house, but he told Angus
that he might want to start thinking about what he says before he blurted
things out.  "If it's not going to make much sense to anybody, then you
should probably just keep it to yourself."

But the next day, Dylan was up at the hospital with Seth, Abner and Carol,
and even Seth's brother Able. A healthy baby boy was born, and the doctors
said it was a good thing he had come out early. Mira's blood work did not
look good, and it was doubtful that either would have survived a longer
pregnancy. Mom and baby stayed for about a week before being discharged
home. The doctors wanted to wait a month or so before scheduling the
surgery to tie her tubes -- give her ample time to recuperate. About 14
months later, everyone was back in the same waiting room as Seth and Mira's
baby girl Esther was born.

A year after that, Angus was 14, with a growing interest in herbology and
in biology, in general. He couldn't explain why; he just felt a need to
know more; and he knew who could teach him, and he had many days that
summer to spend learning. He also knew about Hester's history with his
older brother Theo, but that was seven years ago. Still, he didn't know how
she would react to his seeking instruction on herbs and their medicinal
values.

She was, at first, very skeptical, as she was of any man, save Randall, or
any person seeking more than a single petition of help. Here was the
younger brother of the one who broke her heart, seeking to spend much time
with her, even asking her for help; didn't he understand why she live way
out in the woods?

"You know the rumors of what I do with young boys who seek me out in the
midst of the night? How do I know you haven't come for the same special
treatment?"

"I don't believe rumors," the boy said. He had grown into a strapping,
handsome young adolescent.  "I didn't come out here for . . . . sex
. . . .and besides, it's not even night. I really did come here just to
learn about plants and medicines."

She gave him a deeper appraisal and told him to come inside.

"What do you have for payment?"  She asked.

"I don't . . . . I don't have no money."

"I don't need money."  She said. And she didn't. Hester had seen Cleveland
bury several of his Bell Mason jars of moonshiner gold and took the liberty
of freeing a few of them from their internment.

"What do you want?"  The boy asked nervously, uncharacteristic for Angus.

She shoved the boy so that he fell back on the cot, grabbed his crotch and
said, "This."

"Um . . . I'm gonna be wantin' to keep those!"

"Don't worry, little one, I only want to borrow them."

In short time, the lad was bucknaked and staring up at the first woman he
had ever seen naked. At 21, Hester had quite a beautiful form, but no one
else ever got to see it. She straddled the unnerved youth and eased herself
down his hard, young cock. It felt exhilarating once again to be riding
manhood after so many years of hating them. For this one, this boy, maybe
she could make an exception. She wasn't going to make the same mistake and
fall in love again. She rode him rough, not that he would have noticed. His
mind was blown from the facts of what was happening alone. Throw in the
incredible feelings around his cock that were finding their way in and up
through his body, the amazing sight of his very own boyhood disappearing
into real pussy, and the knowledge that his own older brother's old
girlfriend was taking his cherry. Well it was way too much.

And Angus hadn't even seen this coming.

But there was no mistake about was soon to be coming, and before much
longer he was. Shouting it out to the cabin itself, he shot deep within the
woman, waves of pleasure and joy passed up into her, or so it felt to him,
and then spread out through the center of his being. He was lifting his
hips against her as she ground down into him, slamming him back into the
mattress.

As he came down from his high, he crashed into depletion, though it was a
calming sense of finality. However, even at 14 his dick didn't seem
finished. Usually even he needed at least a half hour to recharge after
cumming; but then he wasn't ordinarily looking down his muscular body, past
the nest of black curly hairs, to see the root of his cock buried in the
lips of a woman's vagina.

He couldn't believe the sensations already building up and raring to go as
she rocked back and forth on his rapidly re-hardening cock.

"Oh, that was just the admission fee, little boy. We aren't done yet."

The second time lasted longer. It was like his body was screaming to be
tortured and teased with a second orgasm that incredibly was demanding even
more energy and resources than the first.

When Abner awoke later, he was still naked, though he had a sheet draped
over the midsection of his body. He sat up on one elbow and watched the
young woman move about her cabin in a sheer gown. She was undeniably
beautiful. She smiled at him and continued her work around the cabin.

"Are you hungry?" she asked as he sat up, keeping his midsection
covered. He didn't feel comfortable being the only one nude in here, even
though he was shyly admiring her form through the gossamer.

He nodded yes that he was hungry, and she cracked some eggs and fired up a
wood stove, adding an ingredient here and there until it smelled absolutely
wonderful. Angus looked around for his clothes and then took a risk and
stepped away from the comfort of the bedsheet to get dressed. He was aware
the whole time that she would look over at him and admire his youthful body
before turning her attention back to the stove. By the time he was dressed
she served him his eggs and some rich tea and watched him eat. She liked
the way he blushed when he looked at her, trying to look at her body
beneath the sheer gown and yet not look at it, the same way he had since
awaking. He was hard. She saw it when he dropped the sheet to put on his
underwear. She could see it in his eyes now.

She liked the way he smiled as he dug into the food, and the gusto with
which he enjoyed her cooking. As he finished eating, it was her turn to get
dressed, and though he also took peeks, his were much more reticent. His
peeks were quick and tinged with guilt. She smiled at this too. The gift he
gave her was a worthy price for all her knowledge. He may have thought that
the sexual act was the price, but it was not. It was his innocence, for
that was priceless.

"Come."  She said sweetly, and walked out the door. He followed her down a
trail that he hadn't noticed until they were actually on it, and she would
stop every so often and point out certain trees, there names, what the bark
and leaves were like, some plants for teas, some for poison, some for
food. After a couple hours, they arrived back at the cabin. She said
goodbye and went back inside.

After a few days, he returned and the process was repeated. By the third
time, Hester awaited him in a robe and let it all fall to the floor before
him; she then pulled him to her and taught him the beginnings of how to
make love to a woman. By the end of the summer Angus had a substantial
knowledge of the local flora, and more than a few transplanted species in
Hester's `garden' trail. He knew how to brew teas and make some basic
poultices, as well as flavor a very good soup. He had also become a
consummate lover.

During the fall and winter, Angus still made trips out to see Hester, but
he also checked out books from the city library on various herbs and plants
and medicines. He wrote different companies for seed samples, and he
learned about Greenhouse design. He still went out to see Hester once or
twice a week to make love and walk through the woods afterward, but he also
helped enlarge and repair the greenhouse, brought in new plants and herbs,
and enjoyed many hours working side by side with the woman preparing her
gardens for the next spring.

The years passed, and the two never spoke of love, because Hester would not
allow it. His family had become used to Angus being `different' and never
pressed the matter as to where he would go for hours at a time, once,
twice, to three times a week. He discovered that Hester also worked as a
midwife in the county, and women who needed her would send a daughter or
sister to fetch her. Angus accompanied her on some of these trips. He
learned how to take care of wounds and even to set bones. He soon was much
more proficient than even Hester.

In later years, Angus was quite well known as a bonesetter, and had better
results with fewer complications than the trained doctors, when it was a
simple break not requiring surgical repair. And his traditional remedies
were often sought, as well, with many in the county and among the Mackeys
swearing by their efficacy. His advice was well-heeded, also; though it
often sounded cryptic and had sometimes had a spooky prophetic quality.

In 1958, Angus was 19 and five years into his quirky yet wholly satisfying
relationship with the otherwise reclusive Hester. Seth, meanwhile, was
realizing that his oldest son, Elijah, was poisoned by his grandfather's
thinking and that he wasn't the son he had tried to raise. The bitterness
and arrogance within the boy seemed to form a divide through which neither
father or son could come together.

Elijah was 14 that year and had been influenced by his grandfather to
believe that only he and his first cousin, Colton, Able's oldest son, were
worthy of inheriting the family name, honor and fortune. Elijah was
something of an alpha dog, or at least an alpha dog wannabe, and always
bitter and angry that his little brothers rejected his position as the
older brother and instead turned to Theo and Angus as their older
brothers. Elijah had no problems with either petty revenge or with exerting
his will over 12 year old Colton.

Elijah argued that just as the others were not firstborn and were not
worthy of the treasure or their grandfather's attention, so also there
could only be one between himself and Colton that would succeed their
grandfather as head of the family.

"Since I am oldest, and therefore the truly firstborn, I will take that
position, and you must show that you are willing to give that up to me, or
I will inform Grandfather that you are no better than the others."

"No, don't do that. I know you're older; I don't ever do anything against
you."

"That's not enough. We have a duty, as well, to the community, to show them
that we believe in and abide by the traditions."

"I know. So? I can do that."

"Good, then get ready. We will have a Choosing this year. I'll see to
it. And I'll be on the Council next year, and then we can change things
proper."

"Wait . . . you don't mean . . not me, I'm not . . . . I shouldn't have to
be in the Choosing."

"Are you better than the traditions? You know what Grandfather thinks about
that!"

"No, it's just . . . I don't want to do that. You didn't have to."

"There wasn't a Choosing when I was 12."

It was true, there wasn't. Colton was casting about in his mind for a way
out.  "Please, Elijah, I believe in the traditions, it's just . . .
. there must be another way."

"Well," Elijah pretended to be thinking about this, "I would rather see
Jebediah's miserable ass bent over being stuffed."

"Yeah! That would be so much neater gettin' to see every guy in Indian
Spring fucking Jebediah's butt, and nothing he could do about it but cry."

Elijah smiled at the cruelty within Colton. He enjoyed that. It made
domination of him even more fun.

"There is one way . . . " Elijah began.

"Yeah, anything, Elijah."

"Come with me."  Elijah took his younger cousin out into the woods to a
clearing with a boulder. On top of the boulder was a tin of
Vaseline. Colton knew what it was for.

"If you believe in Indian Spring and my place in this family, then bend
over the rock and ask me to go inside you."

"What? No!"  Colton was nervous. His choices seemed horrible.

"You don't want to submit to the traditions of Indian Spring; you won't
submit to me! You're just as pathetic as the others."  Elijah walked up to
the boulder and snatched off the jar of Vaseline and started to stomp off.
"I'll make sure Grandfather knows of this!!"

"No wait! Please!!  . . . OK . . . just . . .I don't want anybody to know."

"If you submit properly, I'll keep you off the list, and no-one will know
what goes on between the two of us. Ask me to take my rightful place."

Colton was dejected, but he submitted. He walked over with heavy steps to
the boulder that was barely waist high and took a deep breath before
undoing the buttons to his pants.

"Take off your shirt."

He did as he was told, and then pushed his pants and underwear down in back
to just at the point below his ample cheeks and bent over, offering the
spread to his cousin.

"I don't hear you."

Colton blushed hard, out of shame more than embarrassment. He croaked out
the words, trying not to cry.  "Please, Elijah, would you fuck me?"

Elijah stepped up and grasped a hold of one of the cheeks he would soon
possess fully. He grabbed it like a conquistador, letting Colton know full
well that this was about power and control, not fun. The way his ass was
now being held denoted nothing but ownership, His hole was no longer his
own. It was about to be fucked, and he was helpless to stop it.

After it was over, Elijah made him stay that way and told him he would want
another go before they were done. He talked about how good it was now that
Colton carried his sperm inside his bottom and how he had freely given in;
it would make them stronger as family members, closer, and better than the
others. Colton was so twisted at this point, his subconscious even stored
the speech away in another part of his mind so that he could buy in to it
later.

Several weeks later, and a month before the choosing, Elijah pushed Colton
to his knees, and let the boy know he expected more than just anal pleasure
from his new catamite. Colton was horrified as he went to his knees and
watched his 14 year old cousin pull out his hefty dick, and point it
straight at his face. He had never had his mouth on another boy's penis
before. He had never thought about having to do it, either. The whole idea
was gross; it was sick and wrong. It was for other boys, not him. But when
he felt Elijah's hand at the back of his head pulling him forward, he knew
he was lost.

Colton opened his mouth but squinched down his eyes in dismay and distaste
at first the initial rubbery flavor of dick with the slight saltiness of
the precum, and it only got worse as the head of the dick came in and
opened his mouth obscenely, and then as he felt it slide in to his mouth
further. The worse part, after Elijah rocked an inch and a half of dick in
and out of his mouth for several minutes, was feeling the hot slimy load
flow over his tongue, having to taste it, only to be forced to swallow and
let it flow down the back of his throat. Then just came another load, right
behind his first swallow, And another, and another.

Colton didn't know whether to cry or vomit as he swallowed the last of
another boy's sperm into his stomach and the dick was pulled out. Elijah
only made it worse by congratulating him for a doing good job. Eventually,
Colton got used to being used by Elijah, in a way, though maybe it was only
a cover for his deeper injury. He became even more twisted. Holding his
bitterness within, he was unable to blame Elijah for what was happening to
him, instead he felt loyalty. His subconscious finally bought into it and
began looking for someone else to blame.

Elijah's brothers Jebediah and Amos were good sources for blame. Elijah
targeted his little brother Jebediah as consideration for a bottom for the
Choosing and was pressing hard to have him be the one selected. Elijah
would like to see the boy impaled on a few dicks, then maybe he would
sample it himself. Yes, he would like that very much.

When it came time, Elijah went out to Old Knot to look for the Choosing. He
had already negotiated the removal of Colton from the list, though he had
to inform everyone on the council that he had already claimed the boy's ass
as his own, and a few demanded he demonstrate his ownership after the
Choosing. But after Elijah arrived, he saw only three boys bent over with
their asses on view; there should be four. When he walked to the front of
the line of boys, he saw that Jebediah was not one of them.

"Hey, where's my brother? He's supposed to be here!"

"Spout off another complaint, Elijah, and you can take the place of any boy
that you feel is missing."

Elijah looked up at the Council boy that had said this and knew that he was
quite serious. They weren't completely happy with Elijah broadcasting any
deals or acquiescence that led to a boy not being selected. Besides
agreeing to allow Elijah to keep Colton as his own personal playtoy, they
had also been visited by Angus, who strangely knew exactly what Elijah was
up to.

"You can bend over Jeb over my dead body," Angus told them.  "I have seen
my own death, and it will not be any time soon."

That phrase alone was weird and creepy enough that no boy cared to mess
with Jeb. Unfortunately, Angus had not realized that Seth's youngest
brother, or half brother in this case, born the same year as Jeb, was to be
bent over and eventually chosen. It was unfortunate for Solomon, because
from a young age he had known he liked boys, and he had been looking
forward to exploring with boys, playing or maybe even finding something
more permanent. Now, those decisions would be made for him, and it was like
someone was stealing all the fun out of growing up, learning, and exploring
his sexuality. He couldn't make those decisions, and he felt that of all
boys in the Spring, he lost out the most on this deal.

Elijah was pissed. He took it out Colton the next time that they fucked,
but Colton was now wholly into the abusive relationship, finding excuses
and rationalizations for Elijah's behaviour. Two years later, Elijah went
after Paul to get his ass on the chopping block. It made Colton very
uncomfortable, but he didn't feel he could go to his dad or the Council,
especially since he blamed them for Elijah's actions. If everyone just did
what they were supposed to, none of this would be happening. It was because
of the people abandoning the Mackey way of life that things were out of
hand. The boy's anger grew within him.

Elijah was warned off from Paul by the Council, that if he wanted to join
up that year, then he better lay off on his spree of trying to turn his
brothers and cousins. Elijah backed off and Paul was not chosen; a Sanders
boy was. However, something far worse happened that summer in 1960.

Colton was 14 at the time and Elijah was finally on the council. After
being named to the Council, he made more of an assertive effort to extend
the Mackey rules to all kids in Indian Spring, not just the Mackeys, if
they were to be recognized as belonging in the Spring. If they got enough
kids on board, then everyone would follow at the risk of `other
measures'. This attracted more of the unscrupulous of the clan to Elijah's
sphere of interest.

 17 yo Jeremy Mackey, descended from Andrew, and 16 yo Titus Corbin (the
youngest of Ben Corbin's kids and, as well, Joshua Corbin's nephew) showed
up at the still that Elijah and Colton now worked for their
grandfather. They sat around drinking some of the shine, making Colton
somewhat nervous, especially when 16 yo Ethan Sanders showed up.

Ethan was one of the Sanders (descendant of Joanne Mackey) that had left
Indian Spring for the surrounding county years ago. Ethan's family lived
just outside the Conservation area and had devolved into what may be
classified as rednecks or trailer trash. He was a troublemaker like his
brothers, two of whom were sent out of Indian Spring in the past on told
not to come back. Ethan wasn't wanted here either, except that he often
rode in on Jeremy Mackey's coattails, though he, also, wasn't a gem in the
Mackey community.

The boys were beginning to talk abut sex, and about finding girls to
fuck. The talk became animated with the alcohol and some wild ideas were
thrown out. Eventually one of the boys mentioned that they knew Elijah was
porking Colton, and the boys started giving Colton a hard time, asking him
how much he liked it, how often he got it, etc. Then one of the boys made
the demand that Colton let them all have a taste of his ass.

"You even like girls, Colton?"

"Shut up, Ethan, I like girls fine."

"Oh ho, so you say. What if we introduced you to a girl? Think you could do
the deed?"

"I can do it fine. What makes you think I haven't before?"

Elijah wasn't liking any of this. It made him nervous, as well; and it was
poor form and very bad manners to come over uninvited to anybody's
still. And especially atrocious to start drinking the shine. Elijah just
wanted them gone.

"Well if you guys wanna go fuck, just go on and do whatever you guys wanna
do, but everybody needs to leave."

"We'll go when we're damn ready, Elijah."  Ethan said flatly. He was the
outsider here and seemed to be running the show for the other two, which
made things all the more disturbing.

"So, Colton, we heard that bitch out in that cabin in the woods likes to
give a guy his first ride. How about we go see her and then see if you're
up to it?"

Colton felt stuck. He didn't want to go with these guys, but he didn't to
be labeled a pussy, or worse a fag. He looked over at Elijah for advice,
but Elijah just wanted to work on the still, and he wanted the other boys
to go. He wouldn't look at Colton but told the boy to just go ahead and go.

The older boys took some jars of shine with them (without asking) and
headed out with Colton to find Hester's cabin out in the woods. The boys,
already obnoxious and dangerous in their disregard of others, were loaded
with alcohol, making them even more dangerous. It was early evening when
they got out to Hester's cabin. They weren't welcome, and they knew
it. They didn't care. They wanted what they came for. And they took it.

The actions of the boys were too horrible to go into here. Titus Corbin,
Ethan Sanders, Jeremy Mackey, and Colton Mackey sauntered in and destroyed
a life that had finally found some peace and happiness. Suffice it to say,
each boy had his turn, with two of the boys going twice. Hester was beaten
and battered.

The next day, 21 year old Angus went out to see Hester. He had never
foreseen that this could happen, and he had as yet had no idea what had
happened. She wouldn't see him; she stayed in her cabin and sent him
away. The same thing happened the next three days. On the way back home the
fourth time, Angus ran into Elijah, who just smirked and asked if he was
having a fight with his girlfriend.

Angus ignored him and kept on walking, but suddenly stopped, with his hands
at his temples like he had a headache.

"Freak!"  Elijah said as Angus paused.

Angus paused and looked at Elijah. Why did he see what he saw? Elijah must
know something about what happened to Hester.

"What did you do?"  He accused the boy.

Elijah lost his smirk and took a step back. He went on the defensive. "I
don't know what happened to that . . . ."

"Careful."

"That . . . woman. She aint one of us. She deserves anything she gets."

Angus took a step closer to the boy.

"You don't want to mess with me, Angus. I sit on the council --"

"I don't care."

"But you're new little brother, Amos, turns 12 in a few years. I could have
fun with him."

Amos put his finger on Elijah's chest. He almost told Elijah to back off
and never threaten Amos, except he knew that Amos was going to be OK. He
tapped the chest and took another pause. He then said just something
cryptic instead.

"The mark of shame steals even the radiance of gold from the heart."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Angus walked away, saying only. "Many things I guess, such as a fool and
his gold are soon parted, Elijah. Your biblically obsessed Grandfather can
help you figure it out. And also, for the Sinnerman, there is nowhere to
hide."