Written by Sarge AKA Aldric <pietar_the_fearless@yahoo.com>
(C) 2019
This story is based on the story "Kids of Indian Spring" (KOIS) by Jonas Henley. It is still available at the Nifty Archive, in the `Young Friends' section, and creates an imaginary community in semi-rural America. What Jonas Henley created was a culturally rich world populated by realistic teen and preteen boys that lead stimulating and attention-grabbing lives. Unfortunately, the series was never completed. Charles Well took on the task to add to the story and tried to continue it under the original name, but Nifty would not allow him to do that, so his title is based on the name of the main character in his story, Sandy Jacobs (SJ).
KOIS can be found at: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/kids-of-indian-spring/
SJ can be found at: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/sandy-jacobs/
List of Characters added in this Chapter
Jory England (13 years, 5 months) and Cliff Frazier (12 years, 5 months). These boys are well known for picking on kids in the area. They enjoy humiliating kids they can dominate. Both are minor characters in this story.
Sue Ann Mackey (12 years, 3 months). Daughter of Jacob, she is at home in Deep Mackey territory. She is a first cousin of Cooper Mackey and has a brother named Bennett. She is a minor character in this story.
Cooper Mackey (13 years, 2 months). Son of Frankie. Deep Mackey clan. His siblings are: Spencer (15) and Tanner (13). Cooper had been on the Mackey Choosing List the previous July, but was not picked. He is a minor character in this story.
Author's Note: An error was made in Chapter 4 where Duncan Cormack's age was given as 15. He is only 13, and I regret the error. But from Ian's point of view, he is still 'huge' and Ashton still won't use him 'that way' to get protection.
Kelly looked up just in time to see a younger boy, one Ian's age, running from the sauna with bathing suits in his hand. Inside, until the door slammed shut, he could see Nate and Jason sitting naked on the bench with horrified looks on their faces.
Yelling to Casey to get the kid with the suits, he got out of the water as fast as he could, but he was not the only one to have witnessed the event. Two other boys and a couple of girls were running towards the sauna as well. He grabbed two towels from off the rack and ran to the sauna.
The other kids had gotten there first and the door was now wide open and Jory England and Cliff Frazier were trying to pull Jason out. The poor boy couldn't decide whether to use his arms to prevent them from getting him out or to use them to cover his privates, and therefore was managing a poor job at both tasks.
"Let him go," Tucker said when he arrived. He and Cliff were the same age and Jory almost a year older, but Kelly was well known in the Lower Spring area as someone not to mess with. Besides, they didn't want to get kicked out of the water park. They had managed to get McCoy to the door, where a dozen kids got a good look at him, and that would be good enough. They let him go and took off rather than risk a fight and the trouble that would bring.
Kelly had to push his way past three girls who didn't mind at all getting a look at two naked teen boys. "Here," he said when he got close enough. He handed the two towels he'd grabbed to Jason and Nate.
"Why were you guys naked?" one of the girls asked.
Nate, who found the whole thing more funny than embarrassing, answered.
"It's a sauna. You are supposed to enjoy them naked. But the lock on the door doesn't work."
As Jason wrapped the towel around his middle, Nate, and the two girls, saw that he was erect. He wanted in the worse way to tell them "Too bad, he likes me," but he knew that would not be the right thing to say.
"Got em," Casey said as he tossed the bathing suits in. "The kid dumped them in the girl's locker room, but Kathy got them out for me."
He got the attention of the three girls. "You've seen enough of them. Leave them be. There are two kids here today that will soon be coming to our school - Kathy and Kurt Noble. Wanna meet Kathy? She's right over there. I'll introduce you."
The three girls took a last look at Jason, but he was now covered by the towel. They knew Nate was gay, but hoped that the cute boy with him was not. They followed Casey over to meet the new girl.
"The latch isn't a lock," Kelly said. He demonstrated by sliding the latch back and closing and opening the door from the outside. "I'll guard the door so you can get dressed." He closed the door and stood in front of it, hoping Nate and his boyfriend were smart enough to use the time to dress and not fool around.
"Is this something I should expect if I hang out with you?" Jason asked his friend as he tried to pull his suit over his boner.
"Naw," Nate said. "I think it happened because they don't think you're with me. I think they thought letting the girls see you would be embarrassing. That, and Jory England is generally just a prick anyway."
"It was embarrassing," Jason explained as he tried various ways to position his dick so it wasn't obvious that he was erect. "Just because I like you doesn't mean I don't care about girls seeing me naked!"
"So you'll be the subject of talk for the first week of school and then someone else will become a topic and this will be forgotten. It barely shows," he said, pointing at Jason's suit. "Kelly won't stand out there all day, let's go to the pool." He slid the latch back and opened the door. Several kids looked his way, but Kelly was there keeping anyone from getting close.
Upon arriving at the Cormack house, the boys looked for Duncan but were told they'd just missed him. He'd gone to the Lanham's house with his father and his other brothers to help rebuild an old shed.
"You didn't smell it?" David asked Ashton.
"She smelled different," Ashton said. "Kind of evil, but I couldn't stop myself from going to her. But she didn't smell like the monster until the very end."
"Now what?" Ian asked.
"I want to go and see Grandma Corbin again," Ashton said. "You guys come too."
"I'm not too sure she'd want to see me." Jack had heard stories, but as far as he knew, no Lanham had visited her. "I don't live here like you guys, I'm not a Mackey or even a Cormack."
"She might not want to see me either," said David. "Why would she want me there? From what I've heard, she knows everything about everybody. So she probably knows I torched Old Knot."
"Look guys, I want you to come, but I'm going whether you follow or not," Ashton said.
"Do you know how to get there?" Ian asked. "I heard it isn't easy to find."
"I was there yesterday," he said. Only now that it had been mentioned, he knew he hadn't paid any attention to the route; he simply followed Kelly and Seth. But to himself he thought, "How hard can it be?"
The other three boys reluctantly agreed to go with him, rather than let him travel to Deep Mackey land by himself. But an hour later, they were lost and confused as to where they were, and had been wandering around, hoping David could find a human trail instead of the game trails leading them nowhere.
It was through that process that they stumbled upon first cousins Sue Ann and Cooper Mackey. Actually, the cousins had seen the boys pass and followed quietly behind until they realized the boys were lost.
"Are you guys sure you belong here?" Cooper asked. He enjoyed seeing the four boys jump and twist around in fear to hear a voice from directly behind them.
"Be nice to them," Sue Ann said. "Hi David."
David blushed. He knew the girl had a crush on him, and, well, he kind of liked her too, but didn't want that fact known to his friends. Unfortunately, his embarrassment was immediately recognized by Jack and Ian, who began singing in his head, "David and Sue, sitting in a tree ..."
Unaware of any of that, Ashton responded.
"We're kind of lost. We're trying to find Grandma Corbin's cabin. I was there yesterday, but I can't find my way back and I need to see her."
"Why?" asked Cooper, who was just beginning to see that his cousin liked David, a boy he considered to be odd and potentially dangerous. After all, he'd heard the kid had been sent to California for some kind of mental problems.
"We just gotta tell her about something that happened," Ashton said.
"You can tell me, and if it's important enough I can tell her." Cooper wasn't happy that a kid who didn't belong here was safe only because his brother was Kelly Tucker. And worse yet, he was here with other kids who really had no business being in this part of Indian Spring.
"Oh, stop it Cooper," Sue Ann said. "It's not far, I'll take you there. His father is there now, that's why we're here." She gently grabbed David's arm and he allowed her to grasp his hand in hers. It felt good, and even the singing in his head didn't distract him from how she looked and smelled.
It took about fifteen minutes for them to reach the cabin. David realized that he'd been leading them in the wrong direction.
Ashton went to the door and knocked, and it was opened immediately by Grandma Corbin.
"Ashton, what a pleasant surprise. I was hoping to talk to you soon. Come inside."
"My friends too," Ashton said. He tried to sound strong and sure, but his knees were knocking. "That kid doesn't like us being here and I think there will be trouble." He pointed at Cooper.
"There won't be any trouble at all, will there Cooper," a strong voice said from behind Grandma Corbin.
"No sir," Cooper said. "No trouble. We'll be right out here."
"Can Jack or Ian come in too?" Ashton asked. He had two reasons. One, now that he was here, he didn't want to face the stern woman by himself. And second, he knew that either of them could keep the others informed of what went on inside.
Grandma Corbin looked at Jack. "You're one of Seamus and Katherine's boys, aren't you? You can come in too." Both Jack and Ashton were surprised, and more than a little unnerved, that the woman knew Jack and who his parents were. They entered the house.
"This is Mr. Mackey, Cooper's father and Sue Ann's uncle," she said by way of introduction. She told him who Jack was, but didn't introduce Ashton, knowing he already knew the boy. "I may have some more information about what you smelled, but first, tell us why you are here."
"We went to see if it was still there," Ashton began, but was immediately interrupted.
"You went to Duncan first as I directed, didn't you?" Grandma Corbin asked.
"Uh, no ma'am," Ashton began, but when her eyes shrunk to laser spots, he remembered not to use the name he'd been taught. "I mean, Grandma Corbin." He was relieved to see her nod. "He's, uh, too big for that. I mean ..."
"We'll discuss that later. Get back to why you are here." Her voice expressed displeasure that her instructions had not been followed.
"We thought we could sneak in from a different direction. David's good at tracking, and of course, I would be able to smell it, if we got close. But we came upon a woman in a green dress washing clothes in a stream. At least, that's what I saw, but ..."
Again, he was interrupted, this time by Frankie Mackey.
"Don't tell me you helped her."
"Well, I felt like I should. David tried to stop me, but I pulled away from him. It seemed like, I don't know, like she ..."
"Like she was drawing you to her," Frankie said, stopping Ashton's narrative again. He looked at Grandma Corbin.
"Uncle Angus once told me there's people that died and there's people that died but ain't dead yet. It was always hard to understand what he meant. But on that side of the Deep there was something old, really old, and bad. I think it weren't Elijah and Cleveland that made the area dangerous, it was the area that made Elijah mean and Cleveland crazy."
Ashton had a strong urge to correct Mr. Mackey's use of the word "Ain't," as Kelly always did when he used the word, but suppressed it.
"But Ian Cormack lives near there," Jack said.
"Yeah, there's talk of that family having their own Banshee that protects them." Mr. Mackey said. "That's why no sane Mackey would ever harm a Cormack on that side of the Spring."
"A Bansh...what?" Jack asked.
"Ask your dad or mom. It's a spirit-like thing that moans and cries when someone's gonna die. I heard all this from older Cormacks. Irish banshees are attached to certain families, and they only wail for that family. That's all they do. But there are Scottish banshees that are unattached. Some is vengeful. If she got it in her head that you was infringing on her rights or tried to harm her, she wouldn't take too kindly to that."
"What about the woman washing clothes," Ashton asked, bringing the conversation back to the reason they were here.
"Did ya wring out the clothes?" Frankie asked. Ashton nodded. "The same direction that she did?"
"Yeah, she told me to do it that way."
"She was a ghost," Jack said. "Well, not exactly a ghost, but something like one."
"She's a spirit. Angus said she's old. Older than us Mackeys. Older than all the Indians that used to live here. And she lives in Tucker Wood."
"What's the significance of wringing out the clothes?" Grandma Corbin asked.
"It means the boy is marked by her. She can call him to her whenever she wants. Ain't no Cormack gonna be able to protect him from her now."
Dennis Brewer arrived just as Jason followed Nate out of the sauna.
"Nice show," Dennis said. "I didn't see much, but I liked what I saw. If you want to get rid of that," he pointed to Jason's crotch, "Then let's go up to the room Ethan and I are sharing."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" said Kelly, flabbergasted that the kid would so blatantly abandon Ethan and take off with another boy.
"What?" Dennis responded. "Ethan can join us if he wants. And if Nate comes, we can make it a four-some."
"Hey!" Nate said with a rare burst of anger. "You're supposed to be Ethan's friend, yet here you are hitting on mine. And right in front of me. Ethan needs to know what a skank you are."
"Ethan doesn't care who I see on the side," Dennis declared. "I save my best for him."
But none of them had seen Kelly's brother come up from the side.
"I do very much care," he said softly. "You're here because I asked Malcolm to invite you. You can leave on your own, or I'll ask him to have security throw you out."
"Oh, come on Ethan. I didn't mean it like it sounded. How about if you and I go up to the room and you can do what you did this morning."
"And what about me?" Ethan asked. "Why am I always doing you? When is it my turn?"
"Okay, okay, keep it down before other kids hear you. I'm sorry. Let's go now and it will be your turn."
Kelly was about to butt in, but he felt his brother's hand on his back and knew it was a signal for him to standby.
"Go now, or I go find Malcolm," Ethan said. "I mean it. We're done."
"I'll go with you and help you pack your things," Kelly said.
"Fuck you guys, you can't kick me out of here," Dennis said. "Besides, I don't have a way home. My parents both work."
"Unless you want me to start telling a bunch of kids here about the fun times you and I have had together, you'll find a way to get home," Nate said.
"What? You and I have never done anything together!"
"Most of the kids here already know I'm gay. How many know about you? And who do you think they will believe? Ethan's a very good friend of mine, and you're a cheat. However you manage to get home, leaving right now is your best option."
Kelly followed Dennis to the room, where the boy was able to have his dad come and pick him up. He waited until Brewer finished packing, took the key, and when they left the room he went looking for his brother.
Kelly felt bad for Ethan. His brother was a good kid; headstrong about sex without being careful, but he didn't deserve what had happened. He found him in the lobby pretending to read a newspaper.
"I wanted to make sure he left," Ethan said as Kelly sat down next to him. "He hung around until his dad showed up. Now he's gone, and I'm alone again."
"I know you probably don't see it this way, but I think you're better off alone than with him. And besides, you are not alone. I'm here."
But now that his boyfriend was gone, Ethan wanted to go home too. Kelly was unable to talk him into staying. They returned to the room. He called home and told his mom what happened. Then he helped his brother pack while their mom was on the way to get him. Ethan decided to wait in the room until their mom was there, but told his brother to go have fun.
Grandma Corbin looked away from Ashton. Frankie Mackey had all but passed a death sentence on the child, and she had no idea what to do next.
"I, uh, saw something," Jack said. All eyes went to him. "She blocked my, uh, ability, but I could almost read her thoughts sometimes. I saw people dressed in old clothing. And Indians too. I think they were people she killed. And I saw a pile of rocks, all tossed around in the woods someplace."
"That's important," Frankie said. "Banshee's live in their own world. But they can be killed, and if they have been, and their bodies are covered with rocks, then they are dead. Until someone moves the rocks. Then they come back, meaner than before."
"How do you kill one?" Ashton asked.
"I never thought to ask Uncle Angus that question. I don't know. But that doesn't matter if this one has already been killed. All that is necessary now is to find the grave and pile the stones atop it. That will hold it in the ground until the next idiot moves the rocks again."
"Then you boys need to find that place," Grandma Corbin said.
"Why us?" Ashton asked, not wanting to ever go into the woods again.
"Because, it has seen all of you. It seeks you, Ashton, and it won't leave you alone for long. I know this is frightening for you, but if what Frankie said is true than it will call for you."
"Are you going to yell at me for not using Duncan like you told me to?" Ashton asked.
"Chastising you now won't serve any purpose," she said. "Each of you, David, and Ian and you two, are joined together in this. You each have a purpose. You each are scared, or will be once you tell your friends what we talked about in here. You must not let fear rule you. This creature may not be satisfied with just tormenting one of you. It may reach out to all of you. You must act now."
"They – Ian and David, already know what we've discussed," Jack said.
Grandma Corbin looked sharply at him, and then turned her attention to Mr. Mackey.
"Frankie, thank you for coming. You have been most helpful. Please ask the other two boys to come in."
"Yes, Grandma Corbin," he said as he rose. He went to the door and called to the two boys.
"You two are requested to come in. Sue Ann, it is time for you to go home. Grandma Corbin will see you some other time. Cooper, wait here and make sure the boys get home safely." He left the door open and David closed it as he and Ian entered.
"I've learned that there are many, particularly here in Indian Spring, who have different senses," Grandma Corbin began once all four boys were seated. "How that is used shapes you. You are changed by the very use of your abilities. The more it is used, the greater it will affect you. That is the philosophy of Karma. What you do, the way you treat others, it all comes back to you eventually."
Ian suddenly remembered hearing almost those exact same words from his older brother James. He recalled his brother's final words from that day. "Embrace your Karma, Ian, as much as controlling it. You remember that. Embrace your Karma." He'd told James that he got it, and he did understand the message. The problem was, he had allowed his desires to override his sense of right and wrong. And it had almost killed him and Jack.
Grandma Corbin was still talking.
"You each are aware of what the others bring. I've heard much from you, and from others. David," she looked right at the boy and saw him flinch.
"You think you are a good woodsman and tracker, and from all accounts you are. Did you learn this, was it taught to you, or is it just something you had in you all along?"
She paused, allowing him to reflect on that. She didn't need an answer, and continued.
"Perhaps all humans have abilities, but most don't know they have them. They don't exercise them, or they use them improperly. I don't know the answer to that. But for those who become aware of what they can do, they need to control it. To keep it secret from others. With sharing comes some benefits, but also danger. You four seem to have survived knowledge of what you know how to do without bad consequences. You must work together, trust one another, and see this through."
She nodded at the door, and the boys correctly assumed it meant they were dismissed.
"Tell Cooper I will speak with him for a minute, and then he will guide you down the correct paths to get you home."
Once Cooper was inside, David asked, "Did you understand what she was trying to tell us? Something about consequences for using our powers."
"James told me once," Ian responded. "I think he explained it by saying suppose I was at dinner and wanted dessert but my mom said I had to have a vegetable. But I took the dessert anyway. He said it would be wrong, because I disobeyed my mom. But it wouldn't be evil. He said I, and now that means we, need to first avoid doing evil, then avoid doing wrong, and then try to choose what would be good for us."
"I'm still not sure I get it, but choosing good over evil is easy to understand," David said.