Stories of Tie Up Games

Thanks, [mention]harveygasson[/mention] and [mention]OllieB2008[/mention], Your support is most welcome.

Things worked out differently for each of the little brothers as the night wore on and, as soon as Aiden could be sure Mo was asleep (he was never quiet even when he was sleeping), he thought he would have a little fun as well as giving poor little Sid some relief from his suffering. He warned Matt about behaving while he was away because he had something to do.

All was quiet, except for Mo’s snoring, as Aiden quietly left his tent. Looking carefully around, he went across to where Sid was lying and put a large hand over his mouth. Aiden spoke quietly. “Shh! If you don’t want to stay out here overnight, keep quiet, yes?” Sid nodded.

Aiden untied the rope that secured Sid’s feet and tied a non-slip knot in the doubled rope. He then bound the rope firmly in counter directions around where he judged the smaller boy’s ankles to be. With another warning about being very quiet, Aiden then untied Sid’s right wrist from the stake before threatening him with unthinkable torments should he fail to cooperate from thereon. Even with both wrists free, there was no way Sid could effect an escape so the threats were probably uncalled for even if they were memorably graphic.

Sid cooperated perfectly as Aiden cuffed his wrists just far enough apart so that he couldn’t touch the fingers of one hand with those of the other. Aiden unzipped the sleeping bag part way and forced Sid to sit up. He took the remaining rope and lopped it around the cuff by Sid’s left wrist, fed both free ends round behind the little scruff-bag and tied the ends round the cuff by Sid’s right wrist. Then he pulled tight so that Sid’s wrists were clamped to his waist. Sid was beginning to wonder whether it wouldn’t have been better if he had stayed staked out but Mo hadn’t given him any insect repellent and his arms were already suffering so he bore his new binding in silence.

“Not too uncomfortable?”

“I’m good.”

“Good man. Just a little bit more then I’ll take you inside.” Sid nodded and Aiden tied another non-slip knot in both ropes not far from Sid’s right elbow. One end of the rope went each side of Sid’s elbow and both ends went behind his back and were finally knotted round his left elbow holding his arms to his sides. “If this hurts too much later, you can ask nicely and I MIGHT do something about it. Mind you, you’ll have to suffer for it later.” Aiden gave Sid his best evil grin and Sid decided to take his word for it.

“Right now, if this little joke’s going to work, Mo mustn’t know where you are. Understand?” Sid nodded. “Or, if he does find you, I wonder what he’ll do to you then.” Sid’s surprisingly deep voice assured Aiden that he’d behave and Aiden zipped him into his sleeping bag once more rescuing the improvised pillow on the way. “Right, hold tight.”

Aiden easily shouldered the shrouded little lad and carried him across to the Icelandic where he dumped him rather unceremoniously alongside Matt. “Keep quiet you two unless you enjoy the taste of used football socks. Got it?” Both little brothers nodded their understanding. Aiden left for a last-minute pee up a tree before retiring.

Sid took the chance and said quietly, “’Right, Matt?”

“’Right, Sid.” Answered the blond easily recognising the voice.

By the time Aiden returned, stripped down to his white cotton boxers, threatened both Sid and Matt once more and climbed into his sleeping bag, all was peace and quiet. Except for Mo’s snoring.


As the night wore on and various big brothers had got out for a pee, no-one remarked upon the absence of Sid because Aiden had previously told Tatsu and Scott of his intentions. Well, no-one until Mo got out at about six o’clock that is.

Everyone knew when Mo had woken by the number of words that sounded as though they had something to do with wildfowling (Most of them rhymed with “duck” and “punt”.) ringing across the camp site. All that the other senior boys had to do now was to play the innocent and suppress their urgent desires to burst out laughing.

“Ooo dear, I wonder how that happened.”

“Should have checked up on him.”

“Too busy driving the pigs to market.”

“Serve you right for making him sleep outside.”

There’s nothing like enjoying the sympathy of your mates is there? Mo didn’t even notice that the ropes and the sleeping bag had also disappeared but that the carry mat was still in place. Mo, who, unlike the other boys, had slept in his clothes, quickly slipped on his trainers and headed off towards home in spite of doubting that he would able to head off his fugitive sibling before he arrived. Maurice knew he’d get no trouble from his parents for being unpleasant to Sid but he thought it would be a good idea to leave him in no doubt as to what would happen to him if he did. When he reached home, there was no one up and Maurice rushed into his brother’s bedroom.

Now he was worried. What should he do? Ask his parents? Tell them the truth? Nah! Get back to his mates.


As soon as the rest of the big brothers knew that Mo was out of range, they put their minds to the problem of what to do with Sid next. As Aiden picked his boxers out of his arse and rotated his shoulders, Scott scratched the front of his undies and Tatsu straightened his rather smart pyjamas (“Must keep up standards.”), a decision was soon made: a brew was called for.

“I’ll get my man on it.” Aiden returned to his tent and put it to Matt that, if he wanted his arms untying before the other little brothers, he could get breakfast started. Matt agreed and Aiden pulled him from his sleeping bag as Matt attempted to arrange himself inside his boxer briefs. He undid his ankles, dragged him over to the rowan tree and tethered him to it by his neck before untying his wrists and leaving him to unstick his blindfold. By the time Matt was ready, Tatsu had brought the stoves over to where he was sitting and Scott had presented him with the necessary supplies. Matt set to his task, grateful to have had his wrists and ankles unbound, and Aiden returned to his tent to find his trackie bottoms, socks and boots and to stow Matt’s sleeping bag away.

It must be said that, before starting his task, Matt enjoyed the freedom of movement provided by his tether to move as far away from the mountain ash as possible before enjoying an early morning piss. He didn’t wash his hands afterwards.


In his usual funny way Luke had enjoyed his night tied up but by now he could do with being able to give his arms a stretch and he’d already managed to dislodge the swimming costume from his head. Scott wasn’t too bothered about that as he slipped Luke from his sleeping bag and hitched his football shorts back up for him. Scott didn’t think Luke would try to escape but it wasn’t really worth taking a chance so, while his little brother bunny-hopped across to the tree that he’d indicated, he carefully selected a rope of a suitable length for the tie he had in mind.

Scott had picked a tree that Luke would not be able to reach all the way round with both arms and set about his masterpiece of tying with one of the longest ropes they had brought with them.

“Scott,” Luke thought he had to be careful about how he asked, “Please, just untie my hands; I need a piss.”

“Ask again and I’ll leave you to wet those footy shorts.” Luke could take a hint.

Scott located the middle of the rope and hung it over Luke’s neck with the ends hanging down in front of him. One end then went over each shoulder and Scott brought them together behind Luke’s neck where he tied the rope firmly but not tightly with a reef knot.

“OK, turn round.” Luke jumped to put his back to the tree and Scott passed the ends of the rope in opposite directions around the tree and passed them through the loops round Luke’s neck. There was still enough room in the collar for Luke to be able to breathe easily and even to swivel in it. The process of binding Luke with such a long rope was time-consuming but Scott thought it would be worth it because Luke would not be able to do a runner but, as long as he didn’t try to pull too far away from the tree, he would be safe from strangulation. He’d never do anything deliberately to hurt Luke seriously - - but it was often tempting.

While Luke stood quite some distance from the tree, Scott wound the remaining rope around the four strands between Luke and it pulling him towards it until he was only about 40 cm away connected by a fairly rigid tether Scott knotted off the rope again and finished off by tying the ends behind the tree well out of the way of Luke’s prying fingers.

“OK, Shit-head?” Luke nodded and received the increasingly annoying, “Good boy.” from his brother as he tousled his hair. Scott then knelt and untied his brother’s ankles. “Turn around.” Luke gave a puzzled look but did manage to turn to face the tree with very little abrasion to his neck. “That’s test number one,” announced Scott, pleased with his efforts so far and he then untied Luke’s wrists. Luke immediately started loosening his limbs when Scott announced, “And now, test number two. Move round the tree.”

“What?”

“If you can, you can go for a piss in some privacy and you won’t have to keep standing in it afterwards.” Luke got the point and started edging around the tree. “Watch it, though, once you’ve been, you get back where I can see you. Understand?” Luke understood and, although he probably wouldn’t be able to sit down, it was certainly not the most uncomfortable tie in which he’d ever been left.

Scott was a dedicated bare-chested camper and sports sandal wearer and, before he went to help with Aki, he stripped off his boxers and dressed himself in just his green swimming shorts.


By the time Tatsu had dragged Aki, complete with sleeping bag, from their tent, he’d dressed himself in a black track suit and trainers. After Tatsu had honoured him with a few words of wisdom after they had retired, Aki had tried his best not to annoy his big brother by any more than was absolutely unavoidable. After a while, he woke up and Tatsu thought that his brother had earned some privileges so he removed the extensive gag from Aki’s mouth. He was even true to his word and untied his elbows after another while.

If only they could speak Japanese, the other boys would have realised how insufferably smug the normally pleasant natured boy was being to his younger brother as he pointed out the advantages of doing what his elders and betters told him. Aki didn’t fall into the trap. He kept quiet; he already had a punishment coming for speaking Japanese himself the previous day.

Tatsu dragged Aki from his sleeping bag. There must have been mornings when Aki had looked better even after Tatsu had removed the briefs from his head. Not only was that explosion of black hair even more unruly than usual but the back of his shorts had been dragged down below his bum. Tatsu seemed to be in no hurry to remedy the situation and simply left the smallest of the little brothers to scrabble around on the ground trying to cover his embarrassment himself. Once all the other big brothers thought they had entertainment value enough out of Aki’s predicament, Tatsu helped him on the condition that Aki “asked nicely”. Poor Aki, he already knew the day wasn’t going to be his favourite ever.

By the time Aki was ready to be restrained further, Matt had made the hot drinks for the older boys so he could be chained in the normal “necklace”. Even once that had been done, Aiden didn’t see why his brother shouldn’t carry on with preparing his breakfast for him. Matt did so fairly uncomplainingly. At least Aiden couldn’t tie his wrists all the while he was using him as a slave.

Aki was carried over to the rowan tree and chained by the neck on the opposite side of the tree from Matt. He sat looking expectantly at Tatsu who didn’t seem to be taking the hint so, eventually he had to ask. Tatsu was quite disappointed that he was so polite about it and felt that he had to untie his ankles and wrists.



Scott and Tatsu set about preparing breakfast for themselves and, as long as they were prepared to beg, for their little brothers as well. As his breakfast was being prepared by Matt, Aiden went across to his tent to get Sid.

“’Right, Sid?”

“’Right, Aiden. - - - Thanks.”

Aiden grinned and went about unzipping Sid’s sleeping bag. “Now, I think you owe me a favour, don’t you?” Sid was grateful not to have been left to the insects overnight but he was worried about what Maurice would do to him when he returned. On balance he was forced to agree. “Well, in that case, open up.” The socks were obviously his, the ones that Maurice had stripped from his feet yesterday, and he wasn’t looking forward to what he assumed Aiden was going to do with them but he was small and Aiden had real muscles. Sid opened his mouth.

Aiden pushed one of the socks, that he had previously rolled, well behind Sid’s teeth. He used the other to pad out his cheeks. It’s a good job Sid’s socks were only small, shame about the cleanliness though, but there was still an excess of fabric poking out between Sid’s lips even after Aiden had made another attempt to stow it away.

“Close your lips.” Sid couldn’t even laugh about the stupidity of that instruction but concern for his own well-being ensured that he did his best to comply. Aiden reached for the packing tape. A few minutes later and all of Sid’s face below his nose had disappeared. A shiny cocoon of brown tape had completely obscured the protruding fabric, Sid’s lips, his chin and the back of his neck. Sid was beginning to wonder whether braving the mozzies all night might not have been a better choice after all.

“Shout at me.”

“Mmmmm.”

“No, SHOUT at me.”

“Mmmph!”

“Oh sorry, you were shouting. Well, that seems OK.”

Aiden untied the rope round the sleeping bag and Sid’s ankles and shouldered him, sleeping bag and all, across to where Maurice had left him the previous evening. After another ten minutes during which Aiden untied Sid’s wrists and elbows, zipped up his sleeping bag and tethered his wrists and ankles to the stakes once more, other than for than the shiny expanse of Sid’s gag, you’d have thought that he was just as Maurice had left him before retiring.

Sid was glad to have his arms released; even being staked out loosely as he was gave him a change of position and the opportunity to deal with his developing cramps.

By the time he’d returned, breathless and sweaty to site, Maurice noticed all the rest of the boys except Sid nonchalantly tucking into their breakfasts.

“What the . . ?”

“He’s been there all night.”

“Yes, he was gagged somehow.”

“He must have been so quiet that you didn’t notice him.”

“That’s right, isn’t it, Sid?”

Sid nodded.

“You bastards, do you realise how far I’ve just had to run?”

“Yup. About six miles in all, wasn’t it?”

“’Bout time you got some exercise.”

“Not a bad time, really: 50 minutes.”

“OK, OK, my time will come. What’s for breakfast?”

Depends what you cook. Sid’s probably hungry by now.”

“Yeah, lying there like that all night, he’s probably built up quite an appetite.”

Maurice might have been annoying at times but he was a popular kid and, once he’d re-discovered his sense of humour, he couldn’t help admiring the way he’d been conned. The fact that someone had already prepared breakfast for both him and Sid helped.

Everyone soon mucked in and Sid was safely consigned to the “necklace” along with Luke and untied before being fed. There was then some time for relaxation and for Aki and Sid to wonder when they’d get a chance to take a pee in some privacy.

Aiden and Scott completed whatever tidying up and washing up was considered necessary while, once they had been safely secured, Aki and Sid were escorted somewhere private for a few minutes before being returned to the rowan tree. Now back to his normal self Maurice announced that it was time for the next event in the Little Brothers Contest.

“And now, gentlemen, please prepare your entries for the ‘Exemption Sprog Show’. There will be classes in agility and obedience. There will also be a ‘Working Sprogs’ class. There will be no ‘Best in Breed’ class due to a lack of quality in the entries.” Although the little brothers could not be entirely sure what was about to happen to them, they did get the distinct impression that they had just been insulted. “The overall winner will be crowned ‘Best in Show’ and will immediately be released. The losers in each category, and possibly their owners, might not fare so well. Gentlemen, prepare your sprogs and good luck.”

It finally dawned on Luke what all the ,”Gò-o-ód bò-o-óy.” and hair ruffling had been about. He thought it would serve Scott right if he bit him.

Every big brother tied his little brother ready for the first event, the ‘Obedience Class’. It had already been decided that, if anyone’s sprog managed to get loose, he would immediately be disqualified and his owner would be tied up and have to participate in the rest of ‘Scruff’s Sprog Show’ as a sprog in his own right.

Matt had decided that he wasn’t going to cooperate until Aiden pointed out that the winner of the ‘Obedience Class’ would get a pass into the ‘Working Sprogs’ event without having to participate in the ‘Agility Class’ and, in any case, being an exemption show, there were no rules banning cruelty to sprogs. Matt saw two immediate advantages to trying his best. Aiden didn't offer him the chance to change but Matt knew that, even though they weren't doing what they were designed to do quite so efficiently any more, his Aussiebums weren't going to be much less efficient at preserving his modesty than his skimpy posing briefs had been.


The big brothers had taken into account the possible reluctance on the part of the sprogs to take part in the event and were ostentatiously preparing piles of small pebbles and similar items that might provide encouragement when used in conjunction with their fishing catapults. As Maurice pointed out to Sid with considerable glee, "And it's all done by kindness. - Not!" Seeing Matt being left in just his underpants made Sid decide not to remind Mo of his implied promise of yesterday. He'd rather have some clothing than none at all and he knew Maurice would be quite prepared to be merciless in that respect.

It was quite handy having the chain reliably to keep the little brothers where they could most easily be found. Everybody trying to prepare his sprog at once, however, wasn't really easy because it wouldn't be safe to remove them from the chain until after they had been blindfolded and their hands bound. The big brothers kept a very careful eye on one another to make sure that their competitors bound their own sprogs in the previously agreed way.

To achieve this, each sprog was made to stand and face the tree so that, following further threats, offers, minor tweakings of the hair on their temples and other inducements to behave, they determined to do what they were told - at least until they could be free from that completely inescapable chain.

The tie had been agreed and even practiced on one another by the big brothers prior to the event under Tatsu's careful instruction. Put simply, the rope was passed across the littlies' backs, under their armpits and across the opposite shoulders so that the ends hung down behind the victims. The free ends of the ropes were then wrapped around the nearest biceps once and the sprogs' arms were drawn together. To Matt's relief that wasn't done too strictly and, as the free ends were knotted behind him, he knew that Aiden still had plenty of rope left. Tatsu had even more; he was enjoying himself. Aki wasn't.

The older brothers then took both free ends and wrapped them round their younger brothers' raised forearms, which in Aki's case was done well above his wrists, about four times before tying off once more. The bindings were then tightened by using a couple of frapping turns between the forearms and tying off again. Any "spare" rope was hitched into the strands passing across the sprogs' backs and round their forearms once more before being wrapped around the resultant vertical roping until it was all used up, and then knotted off once more. The final tie lifted most forearms beyond the horizontal.

Aiden then put it that any sprog that didn't want to get on his knees and beg would be blindfolded with more of "that nice shiny packing tape" but that anyone who was prepared to beg would have something to protect their hair applied first. Aki and Sid took the easy way out and knelt almost before Aiden had finished talking. Matt said that he couldn't bring himself to beg to which Aiden smiled and replied, "Yet!" and Luke, predictably, announced that he "could take it". In some ways Luke and his brother were very much alike.

Mo produced a couple of pop-socks that his sister had discarded and which were quickly slipped over the heads of the kneeling boys. In no more than another two minutes, all four sprogs had the shiny, brown tape wrapped generously around their heads. No matter how they turned their heads or flexed their eyebrows, there was no way any of them could see anything useful. Now they could safely be detached from the tree.





Mo announced that the first class in Scruffs Exemption Sprog Show was to be the Obedience Class and reminded the sprogs that the winner would get an exemption from the up-coming Agility Class. Even as newcomers both Tatsu and he appreciated the implications for them of their entries coming fourth and all four Owners provided last minute incentives to their entries to try to ensure that they would do their best. Some even tried bribery.

The sprogs would only participate one at a time so that the other Owners could watch. Being able to see how previous sprogs had solved the challenges that lay ahead of them and being able to see how well they had succeeded would obviously be an advantage for subsequent contestants so they could look forward to staying blindfolded until it was their turn.

Fairness had, of course, to be ensured so the sprogs were paired up to decide the running order. The traditional "Scissors, Stone and Paper" game had been decided upon as was explained to the sprogs along with the promise that, if anyone refused to play, he would be handicapped during the event. To cut things short, in the first round, Sid beat Aki and Matt beat Luke; the sprogs were then re-paired and Sid beat Matt while Aki beat Luke. That gave the running order: Sid, Matt, Aki, Luke.

Even though the sprogs were bound and blindfolded, the Owners were taking no chances and only Sid was removed from the chain. Mo consulted his script before reminding Sid that he was participating in a sprog show but that, even though it was modelled on a real dog show, the participants would be enjoying the privilege of clothing. He followed that up with the promise that, if any sprog of his caused him to suffer as a result of a lack of effort, he might reconsider that kindness in future classes. Sid could think of only one sprog that fitted that description and he thought he might like to retain his briefs.

"Going to be good?" Sid assured his owner that he was.

"OK, sit." Sid did just that. "Good boy." Mo patted Sid's head. "Lie down." Sid's head moved as though he was trying to see round his blindfold.

"What?"

"Sorry, Mo, that's a five-point penalty; sprogs don't talk."

"Bad boy! Lie down! Wait." Sid decided to do as he'd been told. The other sprogs took note: no talking! Mo went to collect something and returned, unseen by Sid, with his brother's swim boxers. "Sid, stand." Sid struggled to his feet. "And open."

"Please Mo, I'm sorry. Promise, I'll keep quiet! Honest!" Mo pinched the little guy's button nose and pulled his head back prior to stuffing the used swimmers into his mouth.

"OK Sid, now, hold them in until I tell you to let them go and perhaps you won't have to stay like that until mid day." Poor Sid, he couldn't know that Mo was bluffing; he was too used to being "encouraged to be quiet" by his big brother. Sid thought that, perhaps, a plough would do more damage than a disc harrow.

"Sid, sit." Sid sat on the ground and crossed his legs. "Good boy. Lie down!" Sid did so. "Now roll over." Sid straightened his legs and managed to roll over, nearly losing his gag in the process. "Sid, kneel." Sid struggled to his knees. "Speak." Sid didn't know what to do: he was damned if he did and stuffed if he didn't.

"Sorry Mo, another five- point penalty." Aiden was enjoying piling on the penalties even though he knew he could expect the same treatment when it was Matt's turn. It was just a gamble on how badly he would want to avoid the Agility Class. He thought he knew his younger brother.

"Sid, speak: bark." No, perhaps the disc harrow would stretch out the pain when Mo was run over with it repeatedly.

"Mnfff!"

"Louder." Mo didn't think that Scott's instruction was fair, he'd figured out that, if Sid dropped the swimmers, there would be another penalty imposed upon him and, by extension, possibly upon himself as well. Mo was beginning to question whether his involvement with this evil crew was such a good idea after all.

"MNFF!" Sid managed to retain at least some of the fabric in his mouth. He bit down on it with some determination leaving most of the garment dangling embarrassingly from his jaws.

"Ahh look Mo, he's trying to give you a present."

Mo snatched the soggy garment from Sid's mouth. He then explained that, for the next event, Sid would have his blindfold removed. Sid dared to hope . . . Unfortunately, Mo's next instruction to, "Lie down - on your face - feet up, ankles crossed." dashed those hopes almost immediately.

Mo gently eased his brother's knees apart prior to getting to work with the brown packing tape and he soon had Sid's ankles secured in a way that he assured him shouldn't be too uncomfortable as long as he didn't try to bring his knees together. Even Mo wasn't harsh enough to make Sid try to get to his knees without assistance or at least that's what he said before he grabbed Sid's protective pop-sock and adjusted him into the required posture. "Say, 'Thank you'". Sid decided not to.

Mo borrowed Aiden's pocket knife and released Sid from his blindfold. Sid looked around to see if there were any clues as to what humiliations he was about to face. The sight of his big brother chomping his way through a pack of chocolate buttons was not much help. He wondered why Scott demanded that Mo moved and stood with his foot against a tent peg that he had driven into the ground and he wondered even more why Tatsu and Aiden took hold of him and dragged him over to where a stave of some sort had been pegged to the ground. That left the two brothers facing one another and about two metres apart. Sid was given the choice: either he kept behind the stave or he could take the chance on out-running Aiden's catapult. Bound as he was, Sid had very little real choice.

"Sidney wan' a choc-drop?" Even when it was not delivered in that condescending style, Sid hated being called Sidney, but the awful truth soon dawned on him. "Here catch, boy." Mo prepared himself and Sid knew that, if he failed to 'catch', he could look forward to suffering in some way, the unknown nature of which made the anticipation of it even worse. Mo flicked the chocolate button and Sid caught it in his mouth.

"You spoil that kid."

"What do you mean?"

"Those are Cadbury's. What's wrong with 'Good Boys'?". Luke and especially Matt didn't like the sound of that from Aiden. The big brothers laughed.

"Never mind, Sidney, you ignore the nasty boys. Here, catch." Sid more or less chinned the thing to the ground. "Bad boy!" Mo explained that, if Sid wasn't a 'good sprog' from now on, he'd be eating his food from a dog bowl. Just to make the point, he left his mark and retrieved a far from pristine example of the said plastic item which he left in front of his sprog before returning to his peg.

Sid managed to catch and swallow the next three buttons and was 'rewarded' with a "Go-o-od bo-o-y" and a hair ruffling form his Owner. Tatsu recorded a score of four buttons and noted that Sid had managed not to speak. There was good money riding on the bet that Luke would not be able to stay silent when it was his turn.

As the owner of the currently active sprog, Mo couldn't really assume his customary role as compère so Scott announced that the last challenge in the Obedience Class (Sid liked the sound of that) was going to be "Fetch the Stick". Sid was no longer so sure. Tatsu formally gave Mo the "Official Stick", bowed, just slightly, and retired. This manky item was about sixty centimetres long and tapered from about two centimetres to one centimetre thick along its convoluted length. Aiden had spent some time stripping the bark from it and smoothing some of the spikier twigs from its surface.

Mo took aim. He knew that he'd have to throw it far enough to satisfy the other Owners but, even though he'd have liked to have done so, he knew that, if he threw it too far, Sid wouldn't stand a good chance of a high score.

"Please, Mo. Nooo." Sid sounded desperate.

"Five penalty points."

"Bad sprog! Nooow - - - fetch!" Mo buzzed the stick about eight metres and Tatsu handed Mo his catapult. Sid could take a hint.

The little kid tried shuffling forward on his knees but the effort made more demands on him than the resultant progress warranted so he pushed himself down onto his belly and proceeded to try to push himself forwards like that. It was a good job the ground was soft but it wasn't completely free from abrasive elements. Sid got to within about two metres of the stick and had to take a breather. He decided to roll the rest of the way; not the easiest task when he was unable comfortably to bring his knees too near each other but it was his fastest method of locomotion so far and it also avoided the abrasions.

Sid scrabbled himself around and grabbed the stick in his mouth (He guessed correctly what would be expected of him) and started to make his way back. It was then that he realised the potential problem with rolling: he did not want to keep having to pick up an increasingly dirty stick. He decided that, even so, it would be better to keep his head well clear of the ground and just get on with it. It took him less time than the outward journey had to come within reaching distance of a grinning Mo and to struggle to his knees on demand. "OK boy, give." Sid delivered the stick and was "rewarded" with a further hair-ruffling and an even more than usually condescending, "Good boy".

Aiden announced the time that Sid had taken to complete his tasks and Tatsu recorded it.

Mo objected. "What? you counted all of that?"

"Yup."

"What, even when I went for his gag?"

"Yup."

"And when I went for his doggie bowl?"

"Yup."

"And while I was taping his ankles?"

Scott confirmed that, "Life's a bitch" and Mo looked rueful as Aiden confirmed that he had indeed included that time as well.

"That's it; pick on the new kid." It didn't sound like too resentful a protest.

Tatsu checked his records and announced the total time and that fifteen penalty points had been reduced to eleven because of the number of chocolate buttons caught. There was some argument about whether a further five penalty points should have been added for the time when Sid begged not to be gagged but it was decided that it had simply added to his time already. After all, they wouldn't want to be to be considered to be too harsh, would they?

"Is he allowed to watch the others?" Mo wondered what to do with Sid while the other sprogs competed in the Obedience Class. It was decided that it would be fairer if he was blindfolded again. After all, they wouldn't want to be considered to be too soft, would they? Being consistent was not high up on the list of the Owners' priorities.

Scott handed Mo the, now somewhat less than perfect, pop-sock that he had stripped of the previous packing tape and held onto the roll while Mo jammed it over Sid's shock of hair. Once blindfolded, Sid felt his ankles being cut free before he was hauled to his feet and led over to the tree to be sat down and chained by the neck once more.

Even blindfolded, Matt had managed to work out more of what would be expected of him than Sid knew at the start of the event and he was very determined to get a pass into the Working Sprogs Class. He knew he'd be humiliated but at least he could avoid one further level of torment. He just had to keep reminding himself that he needed to prevent Aiden ruining his life for the foreseeable future.

Matt set up a mantra that he repeated silently to himself: "Rugby Tour to France". He tried to keep it up as he was led away from the tree.

"OK, Go!!" Mo was back on compèring duties.

"Matty, sit" -[ rugby tour to France ]- "Lie down!" -[ snort - rugby tour to France ]- "Roll over, boy." -[ France, France . . .]- Matt hadn't broken yet, he was even coming to believe that he could last until the end of the Obedience Class. He just had to swallow it, keep silent and do what Aiden said as quickly as possible. "Matty, kneel" -[ rugby tour - rugby tour ]- "Speak, boy."

-[ France - France ]- "Woof" - there, he managed it. Having at least some idea of the humiliations he was likely to face made it easier for Matt to steel himself to do so.

"Good boy." -[ think of France - France ]- Aiden ruffled his sprog's hair in the approved manner. Matt knew his ordeal was still far from over. Aiden wasted no time, "On your face, cross your ankles." neither did Matt; he pushed himself over sideways, rolled onto his stomach and crossed his ankles in the expected fashion. Aiden soon had enough packing tape wrapped around his brother's ankles to satisfy the other owners and he used the vertical rope holding Matt's wrists high as a handle to pull him to his knees. Still Matt managed to maintain a determined silence.

Aiden explained that Matt had better brace himself because he didn't have time to waste when removing the packing tape from round his eyes. His trusty knife came into play and Aiden forced his fingers between the tape and the back of his brother's head and forced them downwards. "Ready?" Matt nodded. Aiden quickly pushed his fingers downwards freeing the cut ends of the tape which he then grabbed and pulled apart. In a spirit of generosity, the owners decided that the resultant noise didn't count as talking.

Aiden reached for his sweets as he made his way to his mark and Tatsu and Scott lifted Matt across to the oche stave. "OK Matty, catch." At least Aiden was throwing polo mints so Matt's fears that he would be fed doggy chocolates was soon alleviated. Matt caught all the polos and was rewarded with an even more than usually demeaning, "Go-o-od bo-o-y!" Aiden was more relieved than he dared show in front of his friends that Matt had decided to do his best to win.

Without wasting time, Tatsu made the formal presentation of the official stick to Aiden whilst Mo announced the "Fetch the Stick" event. Aiden judged his throw finely; it was judged to be far enough by the other Owners and to be not too far by him. "OK, Matty Boy, Fetch. And remember: no hands." Matt had a good idea where that stick had been not too long ago but thoughts of detentions, a prolonged grounding and the fact that Big Tim would be only too prepared to take his place on the rugby tour helped him to set his resolve.

The active sprog threw himself on the ground and used his increasingly powerful thighs to force his knees much closer together before starting to roll towards the stick. Just before reaching it, he realised that he was going to miss and had to shuffle to adjust his angle of attack. He made short work of picking up the stick, which had actually been wiped down since Sid had fetched it, and hurried (as best he could) back to his brother.

The well-built and, by now, thoroughly mucky sprog struggled to his knees and, on his owner's command, presented the increasingly well-chewed stick into his open hand. This time, Scott announced the time taken and Tatsu announced that there were no penalties and that "Matty" had caught five polos before recording his final result.

Aiden was pleased with Matt's result and spared him the demeaning, "Good boy" and ritual hair-scruffing. "Mo, have you got any more of those pop socks?”

"'Course, why?"

"I reckon that Matty here has earned it."

"OK, you old softie." Mo threw the rolled garment to his friend.

"Thanks, mate." Aiden shoved the nylon sock over Matt's head and blindfolded him in the accepted manner before checking his bindings, cutting his ankles free and consigning him to the rowan tree.





It was Aki's turn to demonstrate his obedience and the other three big brothers thought that it was only fair if Tatsu was allowed to instruct his "sprog-a" in Japanese. Once more the others would have been right if they interpreted what was taking place as an argument. It moderated slightly when Tatsu explained that, every time a sprog spoke, he would lose points. The English kids obviously couldn't understand the more creative statements that Tatsu had employed to persuade Aki that it would be in his best interests not to lose the competition but whatever he said seemed to have been most persuasive.

Aki was released from the "necklace" and put through his paces. He obeyed the instructions promptly and, once he could see again, caught all of the jelly babies that his brother threw for him. His Owner was pleased and said something congratulatory that only Aki could understand as he ruffled his already unruly black mop. Aki didn't look too pleased with his owner's "praise" but he did manage to keep quiet. Tatsu managed to position him without help ready to fetch the stick and lobbed the timber a suitable distance. "A-fetch it, boy".

Aki was quite lythe and athletic as he flexed his somewhat restricted body and scrabbled across the ground to where Tatsu had thrown the stick. Having not been able to see what the other little brothers had done, he laid down and reached behind in an attempt to grab the stick.

"あなたの手を使用しないでください"

"何"

"あなたの口を使用してください。犬のように。"

"Five point penalty, sprogs can't speak."

"You must not argue. Do it like a dog."

Aki looked daggers at his brother and at Mo, who had called the penalty. He earned himself another five-point penalty before turning over, gripping the stick in his mouth and scrambling back to his brother's feet.

Tatsuhiko formally accepted the stick and Aiden announced the time. Once adjustments had been made for penalties and jelly babies, Aki had beaten Sid easily but had come nowhere near the determined Matt's result.





Aki was blindfolded and swapped for Luke. "Don't say I never do anything for you," said Scott.

"Whaaa'?"

"All that practice I've given you at home." Indeed, Luke was used to such indignities. He didn't mind being tied up but he didn't always appreciate the other entertainment that his big brother made him provide whenever he annoyed him.

Things went well for "Lukey": catching sweets in his mouth was among his most polished accomplishments. He avoided attracting penalties and was eventually placed second in the Obedience Class.





Four sprogs were sitting, blindfolded and with their arms bound, and linked together round the rowan tree by the chain round their necks. It was time for the official announcement of the result and to decide what penalty the losing sprog and his owner should suffer.

Obviously, Maurice could not adopt his usual role as compère so Scott took the honours. "After all times and penalties have been calculated, the easy winner is Matty, who gets a pass straight into the Working Sprogs Event. Aiden, you may untie your sprog."

"Ask nicely." Matt had no dignity left to lose and, after all, it was only a form of words. His request included the word "please" and that was good enough as far as Aiden was concerned. "OK, good boy, Matty." At that point Matt nearly said something that would have been likely to get his brother to recant. "Wait until the end of the results." Matt settled in his unsighted discomfort.

Scott continued the official announcement, not that there was much doubt about the outcome. "Lukey came in a good second place and Aki was well behind him leaving Sidney in a very poor last place."

There was a quiet, "Hard luck, mate," from Luke, and Sid just sighed despairingly. He decided that he could do without making things any worse for himself.





"OK, Mo, on your knees, mate. Next to your sprog." Even though he was new to the type of event, Mo had a more than shrewd idea of what would be expected of him, after all, he had recently witnessed Scott and Luke serve their "Community Service" sentence. The Hanging Jury re-convened.

First order of service was to deal with the winner's reward. Following a certain amount of discussion, it was agreed that, "much as they would have liked to", they couldn't untie Matt because he would otherwise have been able to untie the sprogs that were about to compete in the Agility Class but, on appeal, it was agreed that he should be allowed to watch the next event. The boys were all heart. Aiden pulled the pop sock complete with its encompassing tape unceremoniously from Matt's head leaving his forehead very reddened.

The judicial system then moved on to the consideration of what should happen to Sid and Mo. The first decision was that Mo's penalty should wait until after the entire Sprog Show had been completed. Mo wasn't happy about that but he did make to stand up again.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said you could stand up?"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Get back down, mate." The Owners’ reactions were immediate and easily comprehensible in spite of their simultaneity. Mo knelt down again. Sid wished he could see this.

Scott took over, "The losing Owner needs to be easily identifiable." Mo listened carefully. "OK, Mo, it's about time to get a look at those famous spunk-proof boxers." Mo caught the implication and started spluttering. "OK, mate, get 'em off." (You'd almost think the others had planned what they were going to do to the newbie at the first opportunity, wouldn't you?)

Mo saw no point in delaying the inevitable. "You do know that you lot are no fun, don't you?" The others confirmed that they did and Mo removed all his clothing except his loose cotton boxers, the blue checked ones, and knelt once more.

"There, now we won't forget that you owe a forfeit, you might as well stand up now." Mo thought he could have thought up a less pathetic excuse for reducing someone to their underwear - if he had the time and inclination. He guessed that his mates would be sure to find a way of "welcoming the new kid" when he agreed to take part in the Little Brothers Contest in the first place. For someone who was used to taking the stage, Mo felt much more vulnerable parading his slenderness in front of his mates than he did sitting behind his drums.

Since agreeing to "host" the event on his granddad's estate, Maurice had taken on the task of "equipping" the site and, because he knew what was available, he had also taken on the organisation of the forthcoming Agility Class. He had decided to use the redundant stable yard. It had two small, somewhat dilapidated stable blocks facing one another. Each of them had an overhanging roof supported by a line of very substantial vertical timbers that were embedded in concrete. The stalls were also jammed full of old rubbish. You know, the sort of things that Mo's and Sid's granddad thought "might come in useful some time". As, indeed, some of it had!

The Owners decided that moving the sprogs shouldn't be too much trouble as long as they were chained together; one of them was even able to see and he would be the one nearest one end of the chain once it had been unlocked. What a good job they no longer had one of the little brothers right on one end of the chain.

Aiden put it to Matt that he could either lead the coffle or lead the coffle. The only difference was that he could do it as he was or he could be blindfolded again and led by the piece of the chain that was currently dangling from his neck. Matt opted to lead the coffle.

Aiden separated the ends of the chain and ordered the little brothers to their feet. Mo announced that he needed a few seconds to replace his shoes. The others announced that he did not. A barefoot Mo replied in his customary fashion, but he was still grinning ruefully.

Aiden allowed Matt to lead the string of sprogs without pulling him along, although the chain hanging down in front of him did cause him a certain amount of inconvenience and embarrassment as it swung around much to the delight of his brother, and the other Owners took hold of their siblings' arms to help them in their blind game of "follow-my-leader". After a short trek, the stable yard gate was closed and four sprogs were seated on the ground with the ends of their connecting chain padlocked round a pair of the vertical roof supports leaving the contestants in a line facing the other four stalls. The chain wasn't very tight but none of the sprogs could approach his neighbour closely enough to be able to untie him. Matt even had a support for his back even though he was incapable of moving any distance from it.

There were five supports on each of the stable blocks and Maurice had decided that one set of them could contribute to a slalom course - as long as he added a couple more obstacles. He even adapted his plans when he saw where Scott and Luke had left the substantial old bench.

The Owners had to take certain calculated risks during the event because they certainly couldn't lead their sprogs round the course that Maurice had devised, they just had to make sure that they were within easy reach of any contestant who made an ill-advised escape attempt. The formal risk assessments went something like this:
Matt - not competing - chained - safe.
Luke - unlikely to try to escape, especially once he was told that Sid would be tortured if he did - safe(ish).
Aki - quite likely to try to escape - Tatsu reminded him about certain things of which Aki had previously assumed he was in ignorance - safe - very safe! (And Tatsu didn't even have to promise to "forget" about any of them - Aki was slipping.)
Sid - almost certain to try to escape - he was on "home ground" - stable yard gate shut - there were four Owners who would be sporting enough to stand by for any escape attempt - probably couldn't get over the gate or through the surrounding fence before one of the big brothers could apprehend him - safe enough for the competition to proceed.


Mo announced that he would demonstrate the course to the participants so he removed Sid's blindfold and positioned himself by the tap from which Luke and Scott had collected the water earlier. Luke was soon blinking in the daylight once more and Mo was ready to explain his masterpiece.

"Won't be a minute, Lads. Tatsu,"

"Yes?"

Maurice was pointing at Aki. "He needs to be able to see."

"Has anyone told-a you that-a you are no fun?" Mo was beginning to regret his catchphrase. His jeering friends were not.

Aki was soon able to see once more and all four sprogs were sitting facing the range of stalls where Mo had prepared the agility course. As he got into his stride, the fact that he was attired in only his boxers had faded into insignificance. "Mighty Mo shall now demonstrate what the sprogs have to do to demonstrate their agility. Just to be fair, he shall keep his hands behind him as he does so." The customary compêre declined Scott's kind offer to bind his arms so that he could give a proper demonstration.

To cut a long story short, the competitors had to start touching the tap, climb over the bench and return underneath it before turning to face the stables. The slalom course then wound round the vertical supports and an old sofa that Mo had manoeuvred between two of them and over another longer one that he had positioned lengthwise between the last pair of posts before rounding the last post and re-tracing the course to the tap.

Mo was as good as his word and kept his fingers linked behind him the whole time he was jogging round the course. Being a drummer, he was well coordinated and his slender figure probably facilitated his negotiation of some elements of the course. Matt, being the largest, bulkiest and least supple of the little brothers, was glad he had a pass into the next class.

The big brothers thought that, for someone whom they thought was new to such activities, Mo was a real asset to the tormentors. The Owners were expressing their appreciation as Mo approached the tap again. He by-passed the bench but he did have the breath to tell them to wait a minute while he completed the course. He ducked under the bottom rail of the fence, round a fence post and back into the yard between the two horizontal rails, round the post again and out between the rails before returning once more under the bottom rail. Miraculously, Mo managed to keep his fingers entwined throughout before returning over the bench, back underneath it and finally seating himself on it. He earned that round of applause. The unfortunate thing was that he had been so busy concentrating on the job in hand that he didn't notice that Aiden had been talking quietly to his little brother throughout.





The Owners thought they understood the course and they could always shout at their sprogs or grab hold of them if they went astray. It was obvious that the fence needed careful monitoring but the others thought that was mainly down to Mo. The bindings on the contestants' arms were checked and Aiden released Matt's arms telling him to loosen up because he would be preparing lunch after the event.

To save time it was decided that the sprogs would go in reverse order to the position in which they finished the Obedience Class so Maurice undid Sid's neck and took a firm grasp on his right arm. He did wonder why his sprog didn't seem to be resisting but, nevertheless, he did ask Aiden to be ready with his catapult in case Sid was reluctant to start.

Scott called, "Take your marks - - - Go!" and Mo released his sprog. Sidney took off like a greyhound leaving his Owner open-mouthed and shocked into an unaccustomed silence; he thought that he would make at least a token break for the fence. No, he just flew towards the bench, vaulted it with two steps, rolled back underneath it and wove his compact form rapidly between the obstacles. He hardly even broke his stride when he launched himself off the arm of the second old sofa, onto its somewhat unstable seat and over the other arm without touching it. Mo was still somewhat mystified but had come to the conclusion that his sprog was probably trying to lull him into a false sense of security ready for when he came to the fence. Mo hoped that his mates really would help him to ensure that his brother didn't make a successful escape attempt there.

Sid started his return run. The little kid was really flying, once more he hardly faltered as he negotiated the unstable sofa and passed by the other obstacles so closely that he was nearly in contact with them. Maurice and Aiden positioned themselves outside the fence. Sid slid underneath it, (Mud is a good lubricant.) returned and exited again as expected (there were advantages to being not too big at that stage), vaulted the bench once more but crawled back underneath it that time. He stood and launched himself onto the bench.

The watch was stopped and Sid looked expectantly at Aiden who slyly put his finger to his lips. Because he was looking disbelievingly at his sprog, Mo didn't notice the surreptitious communication.
He went over to him and scruffed his hair in the conventional manner. "Go-o-o-d boy, Sidney, Goood boy." Once more Sid comforted himself by thinking about that tractor "accident".

Tatsu recorded the time and, while Mo returned Sid to the chain, he prepared the little Japanese contestant for the Agility Class. No one really noticed Matt saying, "Sid, just trust him."


Tatsu released Aki from the chain ready for his attempt. With all the threats hanging over him, the little Japanese guy was determined to do his best; he certainly couldn't afford to escape - well, he could, I suppose, if he wanted to be grounded for even longer than his big brother had been and, even worse, no longer be seen as the more dutiful, industrious son by his parents. He stood with his hip touching the tap, his little, baggy shorts now being far from white. They were not the sort of garment that the western boys would choose to wear for school athletics because there wasn't much of them but, let's face it, there wasn't much of Aki either but they did tend to display the integral support that kept him decent rather more than they were probably intended to do.

The signal to go came and Aki made a good start. He scrambled over the bench, returning under it with little care for the security of his shorts or the abrasion of his shoulder blades, and made for the slalom course. All went well until the second sofa. Aki bounded over the nearer arm and was unprepared for the lack of stability as he encountered the battered, but still springy, old cushion. It's a good job that, when he fell, it was to land on his front with his face safely cradled by the third cushion. With his arms bound uselessly behind him, getting up again wasn't easy for Aki so he had to get off the sofa and, at the insistence of the assembled Owners, was forced to go back and mount the sofa again. He was much more circumspect the second time. Negotiating the old cushions, even slowly, was far from easy without being able to use his arms for balance but the sprog did manage to launch himself off the arm of the sofa in some style before rounding the last post in line and returning to fight the battle of the soft furnishings once more. A further very careful traversal preceded a hell-for leather dash round the rest of the course interrupted only by a rather slower negotiation of the fence. Whatever Tatusu was saying in the meantime certainly seemed to have been suitably motivational judging by the way a heavily breathing Aki seemed to find a second wind as he completed the negotiation of the final obstacle before sitting himself heavily upon it.

Tatsu recorded his little brother's time - accurately!

"Come on Tatsu, praise your sprog." The larger of the Japanese kids gave Aki's already explosively disordered hair a further styling along with the appropriate demeaning praise. I don't know whether it was shortness of breath or the enduring desire not to have his brother dob him in that prevented Aki from retaliating verbally but he decided to settle for a poisonous look that rivalled one of Sid's best.


Aki was returned to his place on the chain and Luke was collected by Scott and escorted over to the tap that had soaked them both earlier. Intellect may not have been Luke's strong point but he'd had time to plan. He didn't think he could beat the somewhat more compact, better coordinated and extremely determined Sid but he did think that he could avoid coming a cropper on the sofa like Aki had just done. The fence was a different matter, he wasn't sure how he could best negotiate that obstacle. He did think, though, that he didn't want to lose the event even to protect Aki.

Scott held onto his sprog while Aiden took the starter's role. Luke didn't think it was really necessary for his big brother to have held him by the waist band of his football shorts like that but Scott disagreed and pulled the wedgie tighter.

On the call of, "Go", Luke took off with Scott in close pursuit, ‘encouraging’ him all the way. Sid genuinely hoped that Luke would not make a break for freedom. Luke knew that he wasn't as compact, as supple or as well coordinated as Sid but he'd calculated that, as long as he took things not too fast in order to ensure that he didn't fall over, he should be able to beat Aki's time. He did feel sorry for the little guy but he didn't feel sorry enough to want to experience the more severe and prolonged repeat of his recent wedgie that Scott was promising to try to ensure "fair" competition.

The bench was vaulted and Luke used the rolling technique to return underneath it. He was certainly more used to regaining his feet when tied up than either of his rivals and he made short work of doing so before negotiating the slalom. He'd figured out that, as long as he entered and exited the sofa via the arms then it might just be worth a try . . . He leapt the first arm, landed on his bum on the soft cushion and sort of rolled to the further end, threw his legs over the second arm leaving himself on his feet ready to continue.

"Referee!"

"Shut up Mo. Go Luke!"

"Steward's enquiry!"

"Nothing in the rules about it."

Luke ignored the argument and stuck to his task. He rolled back over the sofa and wove his way to the fence while the argument raged between the Owners. He even managed to negotiate the fence without troubling Scott or Aiden, who were guarding against his escape, before vaulting the bench, rolling underneath it again and seating himself with a triumphant, "Ta-da!"

The argument raged. Aiden and Mo thought Luke had cheated; Scott did not. They appealed to Tatsu, who had already recorded Luke's time, to make a decision. "There was-a nothing to stop Luke doing that."

"Tatsu!!" Mo was outraged. "How could you treat your little brother like that?"

"It-a is a question of honour." Aki earned himself another punishment for speaking Japanese.

The boys still could not figure Tatsu out. Mo tried to reason with him. "Look here, Tatsu; if Aki loses, you will have to suffer too.

"I have said, it-a is a question of honour. You did not say Luke had to go over the - - - -"

"Sofa", helped Aiden.

"- - - sofa on his feet."

The Owners were in deadlock. Aiden asked Tatsu whether Luke would have beaten Aki in any case, hoping to resolve the deadlock. Tatsu announced that the winner was Sid with Luke in second place and his own brother last. Sid cheered up.

Really, there was only one other man who didn't have a dog in the fight (so to speak); Luke and Aki would obviously be biased and their opinions would cancel one another out, Sid would be sure to side with his friend, Luke, so that left Matt. It hurt Aiden to have to ask him to mediate but there was little option.

Matt had a decision to make: risk annoying his brother or tell the truth as he saw it.

"It's alright Matt. On my honour I won't punish you if you don't make the right decision." Matt knew that Aiden took his Scout's Honour seriously and the brothers shook left hands.

Matt grinned. "Come on boys, that was a good laugh. Did you see Mo's face? I reckon that Luke was taking a chance on the stunt working at all. Good one, matey. I reckon Luke's time should stand."

Luke always looked cute when he grinned like that.

Scott returned Luke to the chain. "Well done, Shithead." Luke didn't like that so much.

Decisions would now have to be made but Tatsu seemed to be in no hurry to be sentenced and there was a more important matter to be dealt with first: lunch.

Tatsu is definitely honorable to a fault - kudos. Probably clever of Mo to decline the "helpful" offer of some rope.

Wonder what's going on with Sid! Looking forward to the next part.

Thank you. Yes, Tatsu is a gentleman of honour (and not too quick on the uptake) but the others are working on that!

Too much was happening at once for me to be able to be certain to give an accurate rendition of the following events but I shall try.

Mo couldn't contain his curiosity any longer when he asked Sid, "How come you didn't even try to escape just now?" He didn't notice the crooked smirk on Aiden's face.

"He said that you'd let me have my swimmers again." In truth, something needed doing about the increasingly grubby disarray that was Sid's underwear even after Mo had pulled it back to where it should have been all along.

Sid looked at Aiden as if seeking assurance. This time, even Mo noticed the curt nod of his friend's head. "Aiden promised me something if I won." The little guy looked for further reassurance.

"Go on, it's alright, tell him. I'll keep my word."

Mo looked at his fellow Owner, who beat him to the draw. "I know, I know, I'm no fun. Now tell him the rest, Sid." Mo started to look concerned. "Go on, Scrap, tell him."

"He said he'd let me off the Working Sprogs Class."

"Wha . . .?" Mo could see absolutely no reason to grant any such exemption to his annoying little brother. He was looking forward to enjoying humiliating him even more during that competition.

Mo didn't get the chance to express his disbelief any further as, bolstered by Aiden's evident support, Sid continued, "And that you'd swap places with me."

What followed was another of those rare occasions when Mo was left open mouthed but silent. Aiden filled the sound vacuum. "All those in favour, say, 'Aye'."

"Oooar, come on, lads, you wouldn't." A pause. "Would you?" Mo looked from the face of one 'friend' to another. Three hands were raised in affirmation of their assent (If you don't count Sid's vain attempt). Mo played his trump card. "What if I say this is MY family's place?"

"What, and chicken out of your penalty?" The round of clucking from Scott probably wasn't strictly necessary because Mo could no more renege on a commitment than he would download a Justin Bieber album for personal enjoyment; he was also too irresponsible to get out while the going was good. Mo went and knelt by his brother.

"Good man. But not yet; wait 'til after lunch. "





Aiden, Scott and Tatsu went to prepare their little brothers for their return to the camp site until Mo, who seemed to have accepted his fate without any resentment whatsoever, made an alternative suggestion. In amongst all the rubbish in the stable blocks were two large double gas burners and two of those enormous orange gas canisters that his granddad was storing for events such as the church fête. That sounded like a good idea to the Owners because, if they returned to the campsite for lunch, they'd only have to move the sprogs again for the "Working Sprogs" event.

Aiden volunteered Matt to collect the ingredients and anything else that would be needed. "It's OK, I can handle him, he can't afford to escape. OK, Tubs?" Matt knew he just had to suck it up. He simply couldn't risk having his brother inform on him to his school or to their father, let alone both of them. It was a case of a couple of day's humiliation or unthinkable deprivations over the forthcoming month. Big Tim was nearly as good a rugby player as he; he was bigger and stronger and his folks were certainly prepared to find the money if he had a chance to go on the French tour. Matt had no way out other than to take part in the wretched Little Brothers Contest.

Aiden approached the sturdy blonde with the rope that had previously secured his arms and Matt assumed that they were about to be secured once more. "Look, you bastard, like you said: I can't afford to escape. You don't need to tie me up."

"I know I don't NEED to. But what's need got to do with it?" So saying, Aiden tied a loose figure of eight knot about 60 centimetres from one end of the rope and knelt down. Matt considered resisting. Aiden raised a quizzical eyebrow, smirked and tilted his head to one side. Matt slumped. Aiden looked smug as he looped the shorter end of the rope behind Matt's neck and fed the working end into the loose knot skilfully forming a re-tied figure of eight knot which he tightened, leaving Matt with a roomy, non-slip noose round his neck. "All sprogs should be kept on a lead at all times." Matt growled.

Aiden got Scott to unlock Matt from the chain and Tatsu made a generous offer. "Use Aki's-a rucksack to put food in. He not mind. Empty on ground." Aki did not seem to agree but Tatsuhiko's English seemed to have deteriorated in his haste to make the kind offer. Aki was certainly piling up the punishments.

Matt stood up and Aiden led him back to the campsite.





Scott thought it was time to remind Luke of his place in the order of things and crouched in front of him (just out of range of his feet) and put on his most condescending voice, "Lukey wanna go walkies?" Luke still aimed a kick at his brother but it only resulted in his falling backwards as far as the recently slackened chain would allow him to. Scott left him to struggle to sit up again. "No walkies, then?" Luke had the choice, accept the offer of being taken for a piss while he had the chance or, perhaps, being left until it was too late. He indicated that he did, indeed, want to go walkies.

Scott checked Luke's ropes and decided that, although he wasn't in urgent need of release, it would be easier for Luke (and less embarrassing for both of them) if he had his hands cuffed in front of him, and Mo offered to lend Scott his granddad's garden line to act as a long lead. Scott declined his offer because he was, "Sure Luke wouldn't want his mate, Sid, to be tortured just because he escaped." Not being exactly averse to being tied up, that gave Luke an honourable excuse for failing to try to get away. He did wish, though, that he could just be tied up, blindfolded and left to drift off to his own private place. Oh, well, he'd just have to settle for competing in the big kids' silly games.

Scott took a couple of minutes to free his sprog's arms but he had no intention of giving him much time to loosen up before demanding that he present his wrists for attention. Luke was used to Scott's cuffing technique so he held his fists about 30 centimetres apart and braced himself. Scott thought he wouldn't bother with the full semi-rigid rope cuff and simply doubled the rope, slipped the bight over the rest of the rope and pushed the two resultant loops onto Luke's left wrist. He pulled the result tight and bound both free ends twice more round Luke's wrist before tying off on the original lark's head. Both strands were then wrapped three times round Luke's right wrist and tied off again, none too tightly, leaving a fair length of doubled rope hanging to the ground. Scott examined his work and asked smugly, "Who needs a lead in any case?

Luke knew that he stood a good chance of being able to untie himself if he wanted to; he also knew that there was no way he was going to try to do so. Scott released his brother from the chain and led him away from the stables to find somewhere private. He'd ruled out simply going behind one of the ranges of stalls because of the concrete underfoot and the two boys found a tree that was big enough to share.

As they returned to the stable yard, you wouldn't have thought that here was anything untoward in the way one of the brothers was bound and being led uncomplainingly by the other. Luke sat and was linked into the chain once more but not before Scott had made him step through his cuffs so that his hands were no longer in front of him. If it wasn't for the imminent prospect of lunch, he would probably have tried untying himself just so that Scott would be forced to tie him up properly.


While Scott was dealing with Luke, Tatsu made a similar offer to Aki. He, however, wasn't going to take the chance of re-tying his little brother in the way Scott had in case all his previous appeals to honour were wearing thin. At least, that's what he told himself. In truth, all the misdemeanours he had to hold over the little guy would have easily ensured Aki's compliance. Tatsu just wanted to get full value out of his opportunity for retaliation. What had happened to that nice, unassuming young man that all the boys' mothers liked so much?

Aki assured his big brother that he could be trusted but Tatsu said that it would not be fair on the others if he let him go to the toilet on his own in spite of the fact that he had done so previously. Aki was past caring now and earned himself a shed-load of punishments for speaking Japanese. When he reverted to English, the others were impressed by the quality of the expletives he had learned. Tatsu simply smiled.

Aki became instantly silent when he saw what Tatsu had taken out of the pocket of his trackie trousers. "It is too late." said Tatsu disingenuously as he wrapped several rounds of micropore tape round his brother's unprotected head, depriving him of sight.

"And my mum always says what a nice boy you are!" A grinning Tatsuhiko bowed - just sufficiently. What the other boys didn't know was where Tatsu had threatened to stuff his little brother's running shorts if he continued his tirade. He had obviously decided that the rule about not speaking Japanese out of courtesy to their hosts did not apply to him.

Tatsu released his brother from the chain, lifted him to his feet by one arm and went in search of a thirsty looking tree. When the Japanese kids returned, nobody bothered to ask how Aki had managed to aim. He was still very subdued when he was forced to sit and added to the chain once more.


Even after having had to listen to what Sid had to say and having explained the suggested lunch facilities to the other Owners, Mo could have offered Sid the opportunity to go walkies at about the same time as the others had gone but, for some reason, he thought he ought to retrieve one of the double burners and a gas canister first. He then took more time to locate the gas spanner than was strictly necessary and even set up the stove on the old bench whilst totally ignoring poor little Sid, who, having pushed his luck about as far as he dared before his protector returned, just suffered in a rather fidgety silence.

By the time Maurice was ready to ask Sidney if he wanted to go walkies, Aki and Luke were safely ensconced and Aiden had brought his brother back to the stable yard.

As Matt approached on the end of his lead, the others noticed that he had been made to change into those embarrassing posing briefs again. He was also carrying Aki's rucksack in spite of having his hands tied in a similar way to Luke's.

"What happened?"

"I was going to let him wear his boardies." No, he wasn't (and he'd found another use for his Aussiebums). "Little git questioned my parentage." Yes, he did (but, with his underpants taped into his mouth he couldn't say anything at the time).

Mo looked daggers at Aiden as he handed him the bright red swim boxers that he had retrieved amongst the food and other things. Still Sid didn't dare to smile.


Mo approached an apprehensive Sid and said, "Come on, then." as he unlocked the loop of chain that was round his neck. "This way."

"What? Are you just going to let him take a pee up the stable wall?"

"No, there's an old privy on the end of the block." It was Mo's turn to smirk.

The verbal expressions of "What the . . ." and its equivalents from not only the other Owners but from Luke as well can be imagined. Perhaps, in his position, Mo should have thought better of holding out on that information previously. Too late.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"You didn't ask." Mo pointed at Sid. "He didn't tell you either." Sid sat open mouthed and alarmed.

Luke came to Sid's rescue, "You would have killed him!"

Mo was still grinning. He'd just have to be prepared to pay for his entertainment later. He grabbed one of Sid's arms and led him off to the ancient privy to attend to his needs and change out of his, by now, far from modest underwear. He did force Sid to carry his swim boxers in his teeth.


While Mo was looking after Sid, Aiden hobbled Matt and expressed his satisfaction with his situation. "OK, Charles Atlas, slip your arms under your bum and untie your hands. Then you're on KP. Make one move to remove your underpants from your mouth and you get to chose which of your 'naughties' Dad gets to find out about before you even get home. Oh, and swing that lead round behind you - ''elf 'n' safety' 'n' all that." Aiden patted his phone.

While Aiden went about emptying Aki's rucksack ready for Matt to assemble the lunches, Matt filled the large old aluminium kettle that Mo had produced and lit the stove. Lunch was baps made into sandwiches, chocolate, fruit and the inevitable cake for which Matt needed to make gourmet ‘Bird's’ custard. The older boys decided to keep the squirty cream for a better use later. Even as a novice, Mo didn't like the sound of that as he noticed their attention was focused on him when he returned with a freshly accoutred Sid who simply had his hands bound in front of him.

Sid was chained by the neck again and Tatsu went to untie his sprog, knowing that the chain was securing him safely in his place. Scott gave Luke permission to slip his cuffs under him and untie himself but Mo just told Sid to use his teeth. Without Matt in his place, the chain was just about loose enough for Aki to help Sid once he had been untied and neither Mo nor Tatsu made any attempt to stop him.

Matt split the buns, "buttered" them, added the grated cheese and the ham and opened the jar of Branston. He wondered if he couldn't find a better use for the bread knife that would involve his brother. It was comforting in its own way but he would no more have acted upon his ideas than Sid would have run over his own brother.

Aiden had collected the lunch ingredients, mugs, plates, etc from various rucksacks and soon the Owners had settled to their lunches. Matt was made to serve the other little brothers before being consigned to the chain again and allowed to remove his gag so that he could eat. He did not try to remove his shackles. The big brothers enjoyed coffee or tea but they served only water to their siblings.

Matt had brought several bin bags, into one of which the dirty plastic crockery and cutlery was consigned. Well, it beat doing the washing up; and the Owners declared themselves ready for the "Working Sprogs" event.

Great story, nice characters!

Thanks.
As you might have noticed, some of the characters have been 'recycled'. Please enjoy the new ones, though.

The older boys had been busy in the week before the Little Brothers Contest was due to take place, and, on the Wednesday, all the important things were in place for planning the Working Sprogs event: the Coke, the junk food, Tatsu's computer and the downloads of two past editions of "One Man and His Dog". By the end of the evening, they considered themselves to be experts on the rules of sheepdog trials. (Well, at least they could tell the difference between a border collie and a sheep.) They had also decided how to overcome the difficulty of not actually having any sheep for their sprogs to shepherd.

The course had been prospected, carefully marked out and the landscape was used to its best effect. The field had been cleared long ago but whoever had tried to cultivate it had left several mature trees in place, mainly on the small bank that marked an ancient hedge-line. The stump of an enormous old felled tree would do as a starting point as well as providing both somewhere from where the competing Owner could see his sprog clearly and from which he would not be allowed to move all the while his sprog was working.


Before the Owners could put their carefully designed course to use, they had to prepare their sprogs and transport them between the stable yard and the nearby field. Luke thought he had been somewhat short-changed when he only had his wrists tied simply behind his back with his hands palm to palm but the other sprogs would have settled for that. Matt and Luke, as old hands in the roles of tie-up victims, noted the amount of rope that, having not been used constructively, was simply draped over the floor behind them as they sat waiting.

There was some discussion concerning whether the little brothers should be blindfolded to make them easier to handle in transit. When Scott suggested, "Not yet", for various reasons, the word "yet" was not lost even on Aki. Once all the littlies (and, in Matt's case, not so "littlie") were bound, the ends of the chain were unfastened from the vertical posts and they were left to get themselves to their feet. A certain group coordination became necessary there but the Owners were in no hurry and enjoyed mocking the clumsiness of their sprogs' initial clumsy efforts. Maurice made some points about why Sid might find it advantageous if he became rather less noisy and thrust the grubby underpants that he had insisted that Sid brought back from his trip to the toilet into the waistband of those bright red swim boxers.

Aiden shouldered Aki's pack, which was obviously not yet empty, once more and took hold of one end of the chain. He did give his brother one second's warning before tugging the coffle forwards.

Four boys were marched chain gang style out of the stable yard. Each one trailed the ends of a doubled rope that needed avoiding by those behind him. Tatsu pointed out how considerate he had been when he didn't insist that his little brother be blindfolded again for his frequent, discourteous use of Japanese. Aki's answer demonstrated once more his increasingly impressive use of vernacular English.

Sid, who was bringing up the rear of the column, had been hoping that the big brothers would have added Mo onto the chain instead of him ready for their imminent job-swap. They weren't that stupid: Mo would not try to escape whereas Sid almost certainly would. Aiden explained that he could just wait.

The party made its fairly laboured progress around the field next to the stables, where there was a broad strip of unploughed rough grassland, and through the gate to the next field. The boundaries were secure and the only other gate was on the far side of the field. Not only could it be guarded effectively but the sprogs would be unlikely to be able to locate it in any case when they were working. It was almost an ideal location.





All the little bothers noticed, other than a large field with a covering of close-cropped grassland and scattered trees, (and the inevitable offerings from those creatures who had cropped the sward before being sent to market) a number of Day-Glo stars, a few rusty corrugated iron sheets propped up against one another and an area that had been marked out with a length of bright blue baler twine. Closer inspection would soon reveal a cheap plastic football and an upended red, plastic crate as well.

The five straight branches (five because one would almost certainly be needed for the losing Owner) that Scott and Aiden had rescued from the debris that had not been cleared following the recent felling of the largest tree were not so easy to spot but the "Working Sprogs" would encounter them soon enough. Neither Scott nor Aiden expected the younger boys to appreciate the trouble they had taken to ensure that the results were neither too thick nor too thin, that they were all of equal length or that they had been shaved of any annoying, spiky, twiggy outcrops. The woodworkers simply remarked that their siblings had always been a crowd of ungrateful little oiks at the time. They were happy in their work.

Once the chain gang had penetrated just far enough into the field for the gate to be out of their easy reach, the sprogs saw some of what Aiden had had the foresight to pack. Sid didn't believe that the big brothers could possibly need any more rope. After all, he had spent the last several minutes avoiding treading on what was trailing behind Aki and even Luke as they in turn tried to avoid the possible trip hazards that were being dragged behind those in front of them.





Aiden cheerfully dropped a hank of well-worn rope in front of each sprog, "One for you, one for you, one for you and a special one for you." Aiden had kept a specially self-satisfied grin for his brother, who changed his mind about repeating his assertion concerning Aiden's ancestry when he noticed that his recently used boxer-briefs had been deposited along with the rope. His "look of death" still couldn't rival Sid's.

Following various words of advice to their sprogs, the Owners picked up a shaved stick each and instructed them to clamp the staves between their arms and their backs. Their parents seemed to believe that, whatever the older boys had been planning during the week before the event, at least it was keeping them out of trouble. How trusting!

The private practice session round Mo's granddad's huge manor house should have ensured that the next procedure was fair for all concerned or, at least, fair for anyone who mattered, and it should also have enabled even the inexperienced Mo to prepare his brother quickly and efficiently. Mo regretted now the suggestion that he had made during the practice session concerning using something like the walking stick that he had found when he realised that he would probably be subjected to the same procedure himself before having to swap roles with Sid. Oh well, he might as well enjoy himself at his brother's expense in the meantime.

Following Tatsu's lead (I wonder how he had become so proficient at tying his little brother up?) the other three Owners took enough time securing their sprog's elbows to the sticks, securely enough to deny them any useful movement in their arms, by using the trailing ropes. Careful calculation, or more likely, that practice evening left even Aiden with enough rope left over to complete the tie. It was not a favourite moment for any of the younger boys.

Each of the four bound lads now had his wrists bound behind him, his elbows drawn towards one another (but, other than poor little Aki, not too stressfully) and tied to a substantial oak stave. The free ends were then tied pretty tightly in front of the victims' torsos before they were fed between their legs and knotted off between their wrists. At that point Mo questioned the wisdom of not having bound their feet first. However, being chained together left the little brothers with very little useful scope for escape.

For the first time, Matt was probably quite lucky in his wardrobe, Aiden had no excuse for pinching his rather prominently displayed assets and could easily pass one strand of rope to either side of them before threading them between his legs and tying them off between his wrists - but not before pulling them tight enough to force what little there was of the back of Matt's posing briefs right up between his arse-cheeks. Perhaps Matt wasn't quite so lucky in his wardrobe after all.

Sid wasn't quite so lucky in avoiding an unpleasant initial pinching, neither was Aki, but neither of their Owners tied their ropes off as tightly as Aiden had and they both soon wriggled them into a comparatively more comfortable location. Luke just wished he wasn't wearing only his footy shorts.

"Right, you lot, listen up. Stop making a fuss, Luke, it's not the first time that's happened". Luke could not manoeuvre himself into a less revealing posture and just had to accept that there were certain drawbacks to his enjoyment of being tied up. "OK, shut up all of you if you want the chance to see what you've got to do before you start. No skin off my nose. Shut up or not?" Comparative quiet ensued.

Scott explained that the "Working Sprogs" would go off one at a time and would have to go round the course that he was about to demonstrate but their owners would not be allowed to leave the tree stump from which he was addressing them. Sid and Aki thought that sounded good, especially when they hoped that they might be able to get to be very close to the far gate; Matt and Luke knew better.

Scott leaped from the tree stump and set off jogging at a rate that would allow him still to shout while he negotiated the course. He mounted the low bank passing to the right of a pair of tall ash trees, the right hand one of which bore a green day-glo star. "Remember: keep the green stars on your left." Scott lunched himself off the bank and jogged on until he came to a large oak. "Green on the left." He rounded the oak and started the return run. He could see the two stars on what was previously the backs of the ash trees and reiterated, "Green left, red on the right. Remember: red, right." The sprogs were starting to think that this was going to be piece of piss, even bound as they were.

Scott continued his guided tour of the "Sheepsprog Trials" course. He rounded the tree stump and headed out between two pollarded rowans, marked with red and green stars. Unlike Mo, when he demonstrated the agility course, Scott made no attempt to hold his arms behind him and instead used them expansively to assist his balance as he rounded the tree on the right (red star) without leaving the bank.

A leap from the bank started a cross-run, a pass between a pair of beeches, round the left hand one and a run towards a lightweight football that had been positioned in the middle of where a length of blue baler twine had been staked out to form a rudimentary enclosure. Scott booted, or flip-flopped in his case, the ball out of the enclosure and headed off towards where Aiden and he had made a crude pen out of several old corrugated iron sheets that had been abandoned in the field along with more of their whittled oak poles. Inside the pen was an upturned plastic crate upon which he climbed and announced, "And that's all there is to it." Matt and Luke still smelled a rat.

"Oh," said Aiden as Scott started to return, there's just one more little detail." He picked up Aki's rucksack again and emptied the entire remaining contents.

Matt caught on immediately. "How the hell are we supposed to see where we're going?"

"You're not."

"Then what was all that crap about 'red on the right'?"

"That was so that we remember where you have to go. You wouldn't want us to steer you wrong, would you?"

When Aiden started toying with Matt's discarded underwear with his foot, Matt thought he'd better shut up. Sid and Aki had still not quite processed their situation but Luke had. "If you use those to hood us, how the hell can we go the right way?" He knew full well where the collection of old pillow cases was about to end up and he knew what the rolls of Sellotape were for as well.

"That's the clever bit, that's why Scott won't be allowed to leave the tree stump all the while his sprog, that's you by the way, is working. He'll tell you which way to go." After the outburst that followed, Scott sort of regretted not having brought some of Luke's discarded underwear. Luke, however, soon calmed down; he liked being bound and blindfolded, it was just a shame about the rest of the treatment that went with it but, deep inside, he knew Scott would not let him come to any harm.

Sid made an unwise attempt to run for it as Mo picked up one of the pillow cases. All the while he was chained to the other sprogs, though, it was pointless and Mo merely grabbed the pole that had been tied to him and lifted. There were several sharp intakes of breath from others present and Sid soon stopped kicking and succumbed to reason. Mo pulled the pillowcase over Sid's head and in the bright sunlight, Sid was somewhat comforted to notice that he could just about see through the fabric. He couldn't see very well but at least he thought he would be able to see well enough to avoid any obstacles. He seemed to have forgotten that it was his brother who should have been hooded. Before he could mention it, though, Aiden said, "Hey, Mo, how's he going to help you to get round the course like that?" just in case his friend had forgotten his forfeit.

Mo just smiled, "Wouldn't be fair on the others to let him see them suffer, would it?" and he picked up the roll of Sellotape and anchored the hood to his little brother's neck.

Luke offered no resistance and was, if anything, disappointed to be able to see through his hood, even to such a limited extent. Scott, however, soon obliged him by not only anchoring the fabric as Mo had done but also added several rounds of tape round his head at what was obviously his eye level. Even transparent tape has the desired effect when used like that.

Matt was soon blindfolded in like manner and Aki offered no resistance as his brother completed his adhesive tape collar. Tatsu then said something to his brother that none of the others understood but it did have the desired effect as Aki started mouthing off.

"Naughty boy, I told no Japanese. Now I punish." Aki couldn't really see what he had coming but Tatsu soon had several layers of tape forcing the white fabric between the now incomprehensible Aki's teeth. Aki saw no reason to stop trying to share his opinion of his current state with the world in general. The other owners clapped once more and - once more - Tatsu bowed - just slightly.

"Tatsu, that's not round his eyes." Mo pretended that he believed that Tatsu had made a mistake.

"Oh, so sorry, my English - - -" The broad grin gave the others the distinct impression that Tatsu wasn't being entirely truthful. "So sorry, little brother, I would not do, but other boys say I must". Even Aki could realise when Tatsu was pulling his "Confused Oriental" trick. He just braced himself for the inevitable and stopped making himself sound ridiculous. He soon found out how effective the ensuing blindfold was.


Aiden called the working sprogs to order. "Right, last one on his bum has to run with his feet hobbled." That was a bluff - but an effective bluff - and, by some miracle, none of the bound kids fell too violently as they tried carefully to seat themselves in spite of being pulled around by their fellow sufferers. Aiden slipped back into character "Goood boyees." Matt and Sid swore as their brothers ruffled their hoods.

Scott took over the training. "A wise sprog would do what he's told now. Nod if you understand." As far as could be told, it looked as if they all understood. "Be careful, you don't want to fall over, do you?" Not only was that rhetorical, there was no realistic way that any of them would be sitting soon. "Cross your legs - - - that's good, now bring your right foot up to your left knee." Still, all four sprogs kept their seats. "Gentlemen, praise your sprogs." The regulation congratulatory scruffings were met with the customary objections.

Each of the sprogs found his right ankle being bound just below his left knee with a sort of square lashing. It was really just a matter of time 'til they had all fallen over backwards. They weren't going to be like that for long and the Owners were just going to leave them to their own devices. They would always get some relief when they were competing in the Working Sprogs Class.

The running order still had not been decided so the Owners drew straws (or, at least, grass stalks). The big brothers could operate very quietly when it suited them and they wanted to keep the result to themselves. By an internationally easy to understand series of nods pointing gestures and raised fingers it was confirmed that the running order would be: Luke first followed by Aki and then Matt with Sid/Mo going last.

A final reminder about the advantages of cooperation and the disadvantages of losing was issued and Aiden was asked rather more loudly than was strictly necessary whether he had his catapult handy. The Owners took up their positions ready for the first sprog to be released from the chain.


Scott untied Luke's legs and released him from the chain. It was improbable that he would try to escape (But he would probably be stacking up the retribution that he would wreak upon his brother's head during any forthcoming inter-troop feuding.) but Aiden and Tatsu jogged off to the gate at the far end of the field just in case. Mo could always guard the other gate.

Scott grabbed Luke by the stave and marched him to the stump that was forming a sort of dais for the trials. "OK, Shithead, step up." Luke appreciated the warning in spite of the customary abuse and he managed to mount the platform without occasioning himself any undue damage. He was used to this sort of treatment in the unofficial inter-troop games and made a mental note of the height of the stump ready for his departure therefrom.

Really, the poor kid couldn't win: if he beat Sid, Sid might lose the event; if he didn't beat him, Scott promised that, with Mo's permission, he would make Sid wish that he had. Luke thought that, on balance, he would be well advised to do his best. In truth, Scott knew that his little brother was not the best coordinated or the most athletic of the sprogs and he himself wouldn't really mind if he had to pay a forfeit if Luke lost, but he thought he ought to make sure that Luke would do his best for the sake of the competition.

Mo made one of his grandiose announcements and Aiden gave the signal to start. The older boys had already decided that using technical terms (you know: "away to me", "balance", "come by", etc.) would be difficult enough for the English Owners to learn let alone Tatsu so they decided that they would use ordinary language. No one seemed to take the difficulties that the "Working Sprogs" might have into account, but they hardly mattered, did they?

Luke made a somewhat irresponsible leap from the tree stump and headed off well to the left of his first target. Some shouted corrections mixed with assertions about his intellectual capacity from Scott soon had the working sprog heading well to the right of the ash trees before he encountered the bank. Luke stumbled a bit there but Sid and he had, perhaps, a slight advantage over the other sprogs in that they had played in that field since they were much younger and he knew what to expect. He recovered quickly but Scott had to pull him round to his left if he was to round the oak tree ready to return.

Once "Lukey" had started his return run, it took a while for Scott to figure out what was wrong; every time he shouted, "Shit-head, left", Luke headed in the wrong direction. Scott wasn't thick, he had just got carried away when things seemed to be going wrong but it soon dawned on him that his left was Luke's right and the snorting boy soon came to the bank again. Scott told him to stop and then wasted some time making him hand-rail the ridge fairly slowly to get in position for passing between the ash trees.

Aiden's sarcastic, "Remember: red, right" was not appreciated by either the "shepherd" or the "sheepsprog".

Luke negotiated the bank and then rounded the dais from where his brother was directing proceedings at some speed. Scott slowed him down as he corrected his approach to the rowans, between which he passed with no incident before starting his cross-run. The gap between the beeches was negotiated and the nearer one was rounded by Luke without even mounting the uneven ground of the bank.

Once more Scott told Luke to stop to get him on line for the football. Mo's intervention of, "Why not tell him to lie down?" had the desired effect. When Scott concentrated on anything, he became very single minded and easily irritated. His mates were well aware of that. Having told his friends what he thought of them and suggested that they might be so kind as to consider remaining quiet while he was trying to concentrate, Scott returned to the task in hand (or in voice).

Luke was told to walk. "Pity he's not a pony, you could have said, 'Walk on.'"

"Shut up, Aiden, don't be a dick. Luke, bit to the left, no don't run - right a bit. Stop." Scott had directed his sprog to be as near to the football as he thought possible. "Feel round for the ball, Luke." Luke swept his right foot tentatively round and managed to locate it without moving his target. "OK, just get it away somehow. You need to move it about three metres." Luke knew what would happen if he gave the ball a punt and missed slightly: he would have to find it again and have another kick, so he gave it a good shove with the inside of his foot. Good enough.

"Good boy, Lukey, now just turn around slowly until I say, 'Stop.'." Luke did exactly that until Scott told him to start running again. Luke approached the four rusty old corrugated iron sheets that Scott and Aiden had propped up against some posts that they had made from the oak debris and, once more, Scott instructed his sprog to, "Stop. Stay, boy." It was no use Luke putting on that look all the while nobody could see it.

A somewhat delicate manoeuvre enabled Scott to guide his sprog through the opening in the pen and up onto the crate when Aiden stopped the watch. Tatsu entered the time on his tablet.


Scott collected his sprog, gave him the official, "Good boy." and head scruffing and escorted him back to where the other three younger brothers were, by now, lying.

Luke was chained into place and his right ankle was secured to his left leg again. As Matt was untied, unlocked and helped to his feet, two other sprogs were making rather a lot of noise in spite of the fact that one of them could hardly be understood at all. The jist of what Sid was saying was, "I say, you fine fellows, I am somewhat uncomfortable lying supine with this fine piece of carpentry occasioning indentations upon my person."

Action was obviously required from the concerned owners. "Why don't you just turn over, there's plenty of chain?"

"Oh, ha ha, and how am I supposed to do that? You've tied this bloody piece of wood to me, I can't use my legs properly and I can't sit up."

"Hmmm! Now let me think." It's amazing how few ideas Mo could have when it suited him.

"Turn 'em over?"

"Oooo, let's."

The chain around the necks of the captives was loose enough to enable the boys, one by one, to be turned over but not without protests. Luke, not having been left in the situation that was causing Aki and Sid such distress for any length of time, wasn't so sure that smelling grass, and whatever else was with it, was the preferable option.

So many forfeits to look forward to.

I hope Tatsuhito was keeping accurate records.

He better not sneakily try to forget his own... that would be VERY dishonorable!

Thank you for the support [mention]blackbound[/mention].

Here's the next part.

Aiden was pretty sure that Matt would really try to win the "Sheepsprog Trials". The promise of release for the winner of the Working Sprogs Class was the only way out of his current situation that the blonde kid had and, even if Aiden did have to release him, he would still have him exactly where he wanted him until he had boarded the coach for the rugby tour. Perhaps Aiden should have explained that there was also going to be a "Gunsprogs" event in the Working Sprogs Class.

Even once Aiden had assisted Matt to mount the official tree stump, he still considered letting his little brother barge into the trees round which he was supposed to be navigating but you know Aiden; this was a sporting contest and Aiden is very competitive. Even deliberately losing the earlier farcical arm-wrestling contest with Maurice went against the grain with him but there were some sacrifices that were worth making. Matt was probably comparatively safe.

Matt was basically a "power athlete". The main advantage that he had over Big Tim, however, was that he was also comparatively fast over short distances. That is what ensured his continued selection for the first fifteen, that and a total disregard for personal safety where sport was concerned! Aiden lined him up carefully to try to ensure an accurate launch when he got the signal to start and, judging by the way Matt took off, he seemed to have made the correct decision. Aiden simply had to hope that he would not trip over.

Matt's outrun (technical term there) was quickly completed with only a minor check as he negotiated the bank, and Aiden got him round the tree so closely that there was some danger of his encountering it with his stave. His return between the ash trees was a bit more circumspect but, by now and with his arms drawn back and his chest thrust forwards by his bonds, even Aiden noticed that "Tubs" was probably no longer a suitable sobriquet for his sprog. He did decide, though, that he was unlikely to stop using it.

Aiden was getting "cruise control" down to a fine art and Matt trod on the protruding oak roots as he rounded the stump. His path to the rowans was a bit less certain and Aiden needed to make him adjust his course quite frequently. Even so, Matt mounted the bank and rounded the tree on the right. The feel of the ground underfoot indicated to Matt that he was ready to descend the bank and the resultant acceleration made his descent somewhat unstable but he soon got his run under control again and settled for a more gentle jog. Aiden saw no need to encourage him to greater efforts and gradually adjusted his heading as he approached the beeches.

As Matt came alongside the nearer beech, Aiden told him to stop. He did so. At his brother's command, Matt sidled towards the tree. He couldn't see it but Aiden was being particularly articulate. Matt gently manoeuvred round the trunk, keeping his stave in contact with it thus avoiding the need to mount the bank. Proceeding so carefully made it relatively easy for Aiden to aim his sprog in the right direction to encounter the re-positioned football.

There followed quite a bit of fine adjustment before Matt found the football with his foot. Aiden could have dribbled a football efficiently even if he was blindfolded but Matt was a rugby player and didn't share that skill. He gave the unpredictable missile a misguided toe-punch which only moved it a metre or so at an angle to where he was aiming it. Aiden swore. So did Matt.

After such a good/lucky start, the working sprog wasted quite some time before managing to evict the ball from the marked area and a bit more as his Owner got him facing in the right direction to continue. Once he was back on track and jogging easily again, Matt made short work of entering the enclosure and mounting the crate. Aiden wasn't sure that he had beaten Luke's time. And Tatsu wasn't telling.

Aiden couldn't resist a "Well done, mush." as he returned the sparsely clout but nevertheless sweating sprog to the holding chain. Aki was readied and Luke and Sid declined the offers of being turned onto their backs.


The shouting over the next quarter of an hour or so was a total mystery to six of the youngsters but only a partial one to the little, increasingly grubby guy who kept on slipping over when he encountered the bank and having to get up again. After the event, Tatsu admitted that, to get him to do his best and to ignore the indignities to which he was about to be subjected, he had to promise Aki permanently to forget about two of the misdemeanours that he was holding against him. The other boys could never figure out why he seemed actually to mean to keep his promise. Tatsu was very old fashioned in many respects. In any case, he still had several other misdeeds in store.

However. Aki put his heart and soul into the event or, at least, into reducing the threats hanging over him for when he got back home. Although Tatsu seemed to give accurate directions to his sprog, he never seemed to warn him about the bank before he slipped and ended face down. "Tatsu, don't you think that's going to hurt?"

"It not hurt me." Tatsu seemed to be working on a catchphrase of his own.

Aki was, at least, warned to stop before he tripped over the crate and eventually mounted it safely. Once more his big brother recorded the time taken - accurately.

"Come on, Tatsu, tell us the times."

"Is a secret. After Maurice." Tatsu was enjoying himself. "Do you not trust-a me?" Tatsu tried to look hurt. The others knew that, even though Aki had made many assertions concerning his big brother, even he would never have accused him of dishonesty. "Next-a sprog-a, please."

Tatsu turned back towards the holding chain with Aki in hand. All the other owners, and Luke, giggled.


It was time for a council of war. Everybody, including the still prone Sid, started speaking at once.

"Right - lads - shut up a minute!" Mo called the rabble to order. If he was to get his suffering over as quickly as possible, he thought he might as well get it organised himself.

The main argument revolved around the lack of a long rope to bind Mo with. (Aiden hadn't thought of everything after all.) Sid's kind offer to allow them to use the one that was tormenting him was declined. Mo appealed to reason; well, it was worth a try. "Look, you've got Aki, Luke and Matt. They're all tied up, none of them can see, Aki and Matt daren't escape in any case and Luke simply won't." Luke had the grace to blush when he grinned. "They're also gang-chained so why do we need to keep their legs bound?"

The sprogs immediately, and somewhat enthusiastically, agreed and the owners came, somewhat more reluctantly, round to the idea. That would give them three shortish ropes to bind Mo while he was playing his role as a sheepsprog. Sid thought they had miscounted; Mo assured him that they hadn't.

All four prisoners had their right ankles freed from their left legs but, before Sid could rejoice too much, Mo tied a crude rope cuff between his ankles. It lacked the sophistication that, say, Aiden could have lent to it but it would be effective as long as Sid's arms remained secured behind him. The other three sprogs wriggled themselves into less uncomfortable postures.

Sid was ignored then while the enthusiastic Owners prepared the last sheepsprog for his trial. There was not enough rope to tie Mo in exactly the same way as the other contestants but he wasn't exactly too upset about that, especially in respect of the lack of protection and the sparse preservation of his modesty that would be provided by his allegedly spunk proof boxers if they had done so.

Mo submitted to having his wrists bound efficiently behind him with his palms facing backwards. Once more Tatsu demonstrated considerable skill in securing his friend without the need to use all the rope. Scott and Aiden then worked as a somewhat noisy pair in securing an elbow each to the remaining stave. They remarked upon how fortunate it was that Mo was a somewhat slender person, or "scrawny little mushty" as Aiden, somewhat unfairly, put it . That meant that there would be just about enough rope left to enable them to tie the ends in front of their subject.

"OK, Mo, brace yourself."

"Breathe in!" There was - just about - enough rope to enable a reef knot to secure the ropes together rather more tightly than Mo appreciated.

"There you are, Tatsu; that's the way to do it."

"Yeah, you didn't even use all your rope."

Dignity in all things: Tatsu bowed, "I think you say, 'Played-a for'." He then took the two rope ends that he had left hanging down behind Maurice, brought them upwards, in front of the stave and twined them behind his back. He pulled the ends apart, Mo straightened; that pinched. "So sorry," and the disingenuous Tatsu tied the ends with a further reef knot. "Now he not," and Tatsu held his hands in front of him and jerked them gradually apart. Tatsu nodded, Aiden and Scott returned the little bow. Mo was gutted!

Scott went over to Sid and removed the loop of chain from round his neck. Sid was getting used to the "motivational" advice he was receiving; in this case it was about behaving himself and the consequences for him if Mo lost in the Sheepsprog Trials. Never the one for subtlety, Scott then shouldered the rather alarmed little guy and carried him across to the tree stump where he deposited him on his feet and threatened him once more for good measure before "borrowing" his hood having striped the Sellotape from it first. Tatsu decided to stand guard over him.

Mo saw Scott coming. And that's the last thing he saw. Aiden announced that there was even enough adhesive tape left on the roll to allow him to increase the efficiency of the blindfold. "Thanks, Mate. You do know you're no fun, don't you?"

At least Aiden allowed the bound and hooded Mo the dignity of being allowed to walk to the tree stump and mounting it alongside his grinning little brother. Aiden did have the consideration to point his friend in approximately the right direction and to make sure that the two brothers were unlikely to impede one another with the staves to which they had been tied when Mo started out.

It was only then that a horrible thought dawned on Mo. OK, Sid had been threatened to within an inch of his life to try to ensure his cooperation and, yes, that gruff voice of his was certainly loud enough to carry to the far end of the field but Sid would have to give clear instructions if Mo was to win or, at least, not to lose the competition and Sid was probably the most inarticulate person he knew.


Mo heard the signal to start and, once he had jumped down from the tree stump, he set off at a gentle jog in spite of Sid's insistence that he shifted his "lazy arse". Having watched the previous sheepsprogs carefully, Mo had decided that he would rather avoid tripping over if he could in order to avoid the waste of time involved in getting to his feet again if he did. He also didn't really fancy his chances of avoiding damaging himself because he would be unable to use his arms to break any fall he might take.

Mo's outrun was, disappointingly for his mates, boringly uneventful, he even managed to keep his balance perfectly as he negotiated the bank. Being brilliantly coordinated was paying off in ways that he had never previously considered. He rounded the oak without incident but Aiden remarked upon where such a little guy might have learnt language like that as Sid continued to berate his older brother for heading in the wrong direction when he was supposed to be heading for the gap between the ash trees. The family discussion became more animated as it looked as if Mo was going to miss his target by several metres. Cries from the spectators such as, "Come on, Mo, don't waste time." didn't exactly help any more than suggestions that Sid should try it in French. No one, other than Mo, understood the few very French words with which he responded.

Eventually Sid guided Mo between the trees but he did clip one of them with his stave causing him to make a very unsteady decent to flat ground once more. Mo and Sid thought they would confine themselves to French as Mo passed near his brother and round the dais from which he was making a complete horlicks of guiding him. The English language was resumed as Mo passed, without any trouble, between the rowans but he didn't manage to prevent himself from running clumsily down the bank having done so. Once he had recovered his route, Mo had little trouble passing between the Beech trees or, by some miracle, locating the football.

An accurate, but somewhat destabilising, toe-punch sent the ball well over the blue marker rope and things became boringly uneventful until Mo collided with the corrugated iron pen. THAT language certainly wasn't French. He grazed his thigh slightly as he kept in contact with one of the sheets until he found the opening. After that, the rest was easy. Sid wasn't looking forward to hearing the result.

"OK, Lads, I've done it, you can untie me now." It must be admitted that Mo said that more in hope than expectation, as the incredulous remarks of his "friends" immediately confirmed.


"Do you want I tell you times now?" Tatsu's English showed signs that he was still overexcited but the others suggested that they secure Sid and, not to his very great surprise, Mo as well before he did. "Very good, we wait." Tatsu took his lead from Scott and shouldered Sid, lifting him from the tree stump and delivering him, protesting, to his end of the gang chain.

Adjustments were made to the positions of the little brothers along the length of the chain to take the presence of Mo into account. Mo was subsequently locked in between Sid and Aki using the padlock that usually connected the ends of the "necklace" to keep the little brothers in place round the designated tree on the campsite. Even the slight reduction of the distances between the captives would adversely affect their scope for independent movement as Scott remarked with a sense of satisfaction that was not echoed by the chain gang.

Aiden packed the items that hadn't been used, cleared up the discarded tape and shouldered Aki's pack, Matt and Sid had their discarded undies reinstated in the waistbands of their attire, just as a warning, and the chain gang was ordered to stand. This time Tatsu led the unwilling little brothers and Mo out of the Sheepsprog Trials field, round the adjacent one, through the stable yard and back to the clearing where the boys had established their camp. It was on that journey that the little brothers realised by how much more their freedom of independent movement had been restricted. Every stumble by one seemed to be transmitted along the chain to each of the others. The journey was not a quick one, especially as no one had thought it necessary to free Sid's ankles.

Once the party had returned to site, there were several decisions to be made, not the least of which was how to secure the necklace and its contents round the tree now that Mo was using the spare padlock. Needless to say, Mo's suggestion was vetoed. The answer was, of course, obvious and the loose end of the chain by which Tatsu had led the boys back was simply hooked into the padlock securing Sid but not before Mo's hood had been stripped of tape, pulled from his head and dropped loosely onto the little scruff-bag "just for security" as the padlock was quickly undone and re-fastened. At last, that was a decision that Mo agreed with. The five bound boys all tried leaning against the tree but, with the staves interfering with one another, only Matt and Mo got to do so.

Mo couldn't really figure out why he was still tied up. After all, he had paid his forfeit for owning the losing sprog in the Obedience Class but had not been recognised for having the winning sprog in the Agility Class. He thought he would ask. The justice system swung into action.

Fairness, of course, prevailed following some "lively" discussion. Mo should really have known better than to ask. The prisoner was found guilty on multiple counts:
One, the Sheepsprog Trial was Sid's reward for winning the Agility Class and not Mo's forfeit
Two, Mo held out on the other Owners about the availability of a loo in the stable yard
Three, Mo still owed a forfeit for Sid's last place in the Obedience Cass
Four, Mo was a new tick who had not yet been properly initiated.

Although he thought count one was somewhat unfair, Mo accepted the jury's decision with his usual dismissal of his mates as being no fun. He had not taken into account that there might be more bad news to come. Until Scott asked, "Oh yes, Tatsu, what was the result of the Sheepsprog Trails?"

Tatsuhiko cleared his throat in a very theatrical manner. He enjoyed formality. Predictably, Maurice had lost. "It's-a very close between my brother and Lukey but Matty was most quick. He is winner." Matt saw freedom beckoning. What a pity he didn't know about the Gunsprog event being a part of the Working Sprogs Class.

Matt demanded that his brother keep his word but Aiden said that decisions had to be made first and didn't he know that there were two events in the Working Sprogs Class? If only he could have been bothered, Aiden would have adjusted his brother's hood so that he could gag him following the resultant outburst.

Aiden thought that a resumé was in order so a detailed audit, led by Tatsu, was initiated but not before Matt's continued assertions concerning his brother's not so much resembling a certain gynaecological feature as to his being the very thing itself spurred him into action.

Aiden went to the first aid kit and located what was left of the micropore tape. Matt's foul-mouthing continued even after Aiden had removed the tape anchoring the pillow case to his neck. He should really have known better but bitter disappointment and anger were over-ruling common sense. Aiden whipped the Aussiebums out from the waistband of Matt's briefs, rolled them and inserted them into his mouth with very little difficulty. As he held them there, his good friend Scott started taping them in place. A few layers later and Matt gave up the effort. He could not even accuse his Owner of breaking his word because, apparently, the Working Sprogs Class was not yet complete.

I shall spare readers all the arguments, most of the special pleadings, and the technical considerations but what the audit boiled down to was:

1) Any losses from the Miss World type swimsuit competition and interviews had already been paid for so would not be considered again.

2) Matt had just won the Sheepsprog Trials and should be exempt from the Gunsprog Event. Aiden dissented but democracy ruled and Matt started mouthing off again. "What was that, Tubs? We said that the winner of the Working Sprogs Class would be released immediately? Is it over yet, Lads?" Tatsu, Scott and Mo had to agree that it was not. Matt emitted one final muffled expletive. "OK, OK, just to show what a nice guy I am and because my so-called friends have let you off being a gunsprog, I'll take that stick off of you. Just no more yelling, OK?" Matt didn't respond but Aiden took his silence as acceptance. "Right then, just wait until we've decided a few things."

3) Luke, having not won anything should take part in the Gunsprog Event. Luke didn't object; he didn't even seem to mind.

4) Aki had lost the Agility Event so Tatsu and he had a penalty to pay. Mo suggested that it would only be fair to him if Tatsu had to be a gunsprog as well. I think Tatsu understood what he was voting for but, even so, all four Owners agreed that, after what Mo had just been through, it was only fair. Aki saw his chance. His offer to swap places with his big brother in the same way Sid had in the previous event was declined for good technical reasons. And because Tatsu shut his brother up with a few obviously well-chosen words of Japanese. The "nice, polite young man" whom their parents had always seen could have given all the others lessons in blackmail techniques. Tatsu had been stacking things up for years.

5) Obviously Sid had to be a gunsprog but the Mo situation was agreed to be awkward. Sid thought that, because he had won the Agility Event, he should be let off. "Don't try it on , Little Matey, you've had your reward already and, in any case, if we let you off, we'd have to let Mo off as well." Mo couldn't see anything wrong with that. The others could. They wanted the new tick to suffer. It was agreed, however, that Mo and Sid would have only one penalty to pay - as long as they didn't lose the last event.





So, the gunsprogs and Matt had to be prepared but not before Scott had a soft-hearted moment. He justified it by claiming that they had only planned to have four gunsprogs competing and suggested that, because Lukey had not lost any events so far in "Scruff's Exemption Sprog Show", he should be exempt. Luke was quite disappointed but he could hardly beg to be allowed to compete without giving away his predilections and no one could see the expression on his face. It was a sensitive decision that required careful consideration so Mo suggested tossing for it.

Scott made an unnecessary comment about Mo needing his spunk proof boxers if they did that. But once the dirty giggles had subsided and Aiden had tried to explain the joke to Tatsu, the Japanese Owner produced the required coin. Mo suggested heads, Luke plays, tails he doesn't and Tatsu flipped the coin.

"Jammy little sod." Luke wasn't sure he agreed with Aiden's verdict but he should have known that his brother would have an alternative in mind for him.

So, that's how it was decided that only the Japanese boys and the "hosts" would contend the Class.


There was no hurry for Tatsu to get ready but, being Tatsu, he had decided that he should do so before being reminded. As he stripped to his white briefs, he folded his discarded clothing and laid it tidily on his sleeping bag. Aiden asked him if he had a pair of shorts that he wanted to wear but Mo and Scott immediately objected. Tatsu said, "No, it's-a not fair. Scott in boxers for water, Maurice in boxers so I must wear my underpants." The others still didn't get Tatsu.

Aiden was as good as his word and untied the stave that was forcing his brother's arms backwards and closer together than he was enjoying. That involved, of course, untying the rope strands that were clamping his bits and jamming themselves between his arse cheeks. Aiden also removed the tape from round his eyes and the pillow case from his head. In spite of the crew-cut blonde's quite gentle prompting, however, he left the rope trailing on the ground but still binding his wrists. Matt cut his losses, stopped trying to beg for his gag to be removed and settled for picking his posing briefs out of his arse as best he could. Aiden debated whether he ought to make his brother kneel and use the trailing rope to put him into a kneeling hogtie. Silly question. All the while there was enough slack in the chain there was no reason for not doing so, or not as far as he could see in any case. Matt rather wished that he could just act as KP again. At least Aiden didn't pull his wrists too close to his ankles and, all the while his ankles were crossed, he was unlikely to lose his balance.

Next in line for attention was Luke. Alright, he was not a real escape risk but he would have been disappointed, or probably even have felt insulted, if not even a token attempt at sensible restraint was made as his accommodation was reallocated. Scott gave some thought simply to tying him to the tree that was currently hosting him but it was really too big for what he had in mind and Aiden could do without Luke's being anywhere near his brother all the while his attention was elsewhere. Scott checked Luke's ropes and found them almost undisturbed from where he had originally tied them.

"Good boy, Shithead." Luke risked a growl. Scott unlocked him from the chain and grabbed the stave that was rendering his arms almost immobile. That didn't please Luke as the ropes between his legs came into play once more. Even Luke wasn't going to suffer that in silence until his brother used the terms, "footy shorts", "big fat gob" and "willy waving" in quick succession. He did, though, ease off on the height to which he was raising the stave as he pushed the little guy towards a handy silver birch that must have been less than twenty centimetres in diameter and pushed his knees into the backs of those of his victim thus forcing him to kneel. Scott ordered his little brother to shuffle round until he told him to stop.

Luke was soon facing away from the tree and face down on the ground. Scott dragged him backwards until his feet were well clear of the trunk with one on either side of it. Having returned to the campsite, there was no shortage of ropes any longer and Scott called to Aiden who threw him one of the shorter ones. Luke felt his ankles being made to cross and his knees consequently forced outwards shoving the seam of his shorts closer up against his tender parts. He was pretty sure he knew what was going to happen. That was more like it.

Scott undid the ropes from between his brother's wrists and Luke even managed to thank him as certain pressures were no longer felt. "Oi, Aiden, come over here, mate, and bring another one of those short ropes with you. Thanks. Just hold him there, will you?" During that exchange, Scott had lifted his brother’s shoulders and jammed his back up against the tree. Aiden held Luke while Scott untied the constriction from round Luke's waist - another relief.

"OK, let go. - - - Tiiimberrrr!" On Scott's call, Aiden let go and Luke fell forwards but Aiden was ready for him and supported him before he could taste the ground. Luke did little more than grunt, he trusted his brother and his mates. Did I tell you he wasn't the brightest glow-worm in the hedge? Scott knelt and proceeded to free Luke's elbows. Even Luke was ready for that but he would never have admitted it. Soon, he had only his wrists and ankles secured with rope but he was still totally unable to see, as honour demanded while he was being gradually untied. It sort-of absolved him of the need to try to escape because he obviously enjoyed no chance of success.

"OK, Shithead, listen up." What followed was a series of threats that both boys knew to be totally unnecessary but formalities had to be observed. Scott then untied Luke's wrists before discarding the long rope and picking up the one that Aiden had brought over. The two older boys then hauled Luke up to his knees and pulled his arms above his head and backwards. Luke had made the right guess; he enjoyed a self-satisfied grin in the privacy of his hood.

Luke recognised the customary torture position as used by both his own troop of Sea Scouts and their rival Scout troop during their feud as his wrists were crossed and tied behind the tree trunk. It was impossible to sit all the while his ankles were crossed behind the tree and his still-hairless armpits, the soles of his feet and his still somewhat flabby belly were completely exposed. He was happy being tied up, especially when he was blindfolded as well, but he would have chosen to pass on being tickled in front of the others in case of accident. He supposed, however, that his big brother would be too busy to lavish much attention on him all the while he couldn't escape and there were gunsprogs to torment. He was looking forward to drifting off to his private place for some time to come.

Great story as always and great chapter. Luke deserves to be tortured - he loves everything else so much, he must endure this part that comes with the position

I suspect he understands that, it's just the price he pays.

At least Tatsu and Mo knew what the forthcoming event entailed, in spite of which Tatsu had so far shown no reluctance at all and Mo was simply stoical about it. They both knew what they were getting into and had to be prepared to pay their dues. Scott picked up the long rope that he had just removed from his brother's body, and the discussion of the fairness or otherwise of various different ways of securing Tatsu were discussed. Aiden and Scott got little satisfaction from their failed attempts to goad their somewhat chubby mate as Tatsu continued to display total equanimity concerning his imminent fate.

Eventually the decision was made: in fairness to Tatsu, he should not have to endure the tormenting crotch ropes all the while Mo did not have to do so but, as both the other gunsprogs were tied in identical fashion, that was fair and that, other than to make sure that they were still securely bound, no adjustment to their bondage would be necessary. Well, that seemed fair. Mo and Tatsu grinned.

Scott collected one of the discarded staves while Aiden did the honours and bound Tatsu's wrists with his palms facing away from him; with Tatsu's build, expecting him to have his hands forced to stay palm to palm was considered to be unfair. After all, it's not as if he was an annoying little kid brother. Aiden only bound his subject's wrists horizontally to allow for (comparatively) painless adjustment of his arms as he and Scott bound his elbows to the wooden pole.

Scott positioned the stave and, in an almost practiced manner, Aiden and he bound the big guy's elbows to the stave having drawn them as close together as they thought to be reasonable. It was probably just as well that Aki couldn't see how easily they had let his big brother off compared to what he'd had to suffer at his hands. Even given Tatsu's stature, there was still plenty of rope left once his binders had wound a few turns between his elbows just above the stave to make sure that he couldn't separate his arms any wider and, of course, Aiden needed to tie "a nice belt" round his waist "just to make sure". He neglected to say to make sure of what.

It was obviously unsafe to leave the remaining rope dangling from Tatsu's waist so Scott demonstrated his artistic side by tying a nice double bow in it. That ought to stay put.

There was one other aspect of the competition to consider before the event could commence: should the gunsprogs be allowed to see their rivals as they competed or not. It was soon decided that, not only would it be easier if they were able to see but that, if they did, they could all go off together without Scott needing to remove Luke's blindfold. Scott told his brother not to say he never did anything for him.

The time had come to remove Aki's gag and hood and, bound as he was, Tatsu crossed to where his little brother was in order to impart some words of oriental wisdom before Scott carefully stripped the Sellotape first from round his eyes and then from where it was forcing the pillow case into his mouth. Other than a grunt of relief, Aki was obviously acting upon advice received and remained silent as he blinked in the sunlight.

Mo couldn't be bothered to threaten Sid. He knew the fences round the field of play were secure and the associated hawthorn hedges were impenetrable ever since his granddad had hosted those hedge-laying contests a couple of years go. He also trusted his mates to get to Sid quickly if he even got anywhere near the single gate and its associated style. Sid was really just wasting his puff as he shared his opinion of the big kids with the world in general as he blinked in the newly restored brightness. Mo regretted that his little brother couldn't both be gagged and be a gunsprog simultaneously.


With a final check on Matt and Luke, more for the sake of form than for any other reason, to make sure that they were likely to stay put for the next hour or so, Aiden and Scott set about releasing the younger gunsprogs from the "necklace". Scott assisted Sid out of the clearing and towards the gate to the next field in the opposite direction from the stable yard. It didn't take him long to work out that, the more he resisted, the more Scot encouraged the ropes not only to bury themselves into his arse crack but also against the tender contents of the front of his swimmers as well. Aki needed far less positive handling by Aiden.

With Mo leading the procession and Tatsu bringing up the rear, it was only a short trek before the party entered the playing field. It had obviously been used most recently for grazing the few prize-winning Jersey cows that Mo's and Sid's granddad kept for showing. Sid was probably fortunate that Scott was shod in his customary flip flops and was being less cavalier than usual about stepping in the evidence of recent occupation and, more importantly, in helping him to avoid doing so as well. The grass was longer than the sward in the Sheepsprog Trials field as was so useful if the working sprogs were to act as retrievers.

The gunsprogs were ordered to their knees and made to cross their ankles.





It wasn't considered appropriate for Mo, as a gunsprog himself, to explain the event to Sid and Aki so Aiden displayed the equipment. He had two small, pale blue dumbbell-type dog toys and one of those noisy throwing rockets in his hands. The gunsprogs had to retrieve any of the items once they had been consigned to the long grass, probably as far away as Aiden could throw them. Have I told you that anything Aiden lacked in height, he made up for in muscle?

The rules were simple: Aiden would throw the "game-birds" and, when the gunsprogs heard the end of the whining noise the rocket made as it flew, they could go search and fetch. "Oh, and gunsprogs don't use their hands!"

Scott thought it would be as well to explain that the loser would be the gunsprog who couldn't retrieve any game and that, if he was one of the "puppies", he would be well advised not to keep Aiden and him waiting when he was recalled. The gunsprogs were then told to shuffle round on their knees and to face the gate through which they had just arrived.

"OK, on your bellies." All four working sprogs objected. "OK, OK, shut up. We'll help you. Cooperate or we'll leave you to it." Aiden and Scott then lowered the contestants gently to be face down on the ground and adjusted them until it looked as though their heads were in a straight line. "That's good, now feet up and cross your ankles." Once Scott was happy with the line-up, he gave Aiden the signal. Aiden deliberately threw the dumbbells from different starting points and to different parts of the field, neither of them too close to where he had launched them. He then took a run up and hoisted the rocket as far as he could into the deeper grass. The rocket whined as it flew and the gunsprogs readied themselves for the anticipated silence once it had landed.


Two of the gunsprogs had had more time than the others to come up with a winning strategy but only two people could possibly consider themselves to be at an unfair disadvantage and they had other things on their minds at the time.

The whining sound of the rocket rang out and then, just as Mo's granddad had explained about "doodle bugs", it stopped suddenly and ominously. There was an undignified scrambling to their feet before the gunsprogs turned round and tried to figure out where the rocket might have landed. It would be the easiest target to locate due to its size and they stood at least a vague chance of figuring out where it might have landed from the noise it had made. In spite of its size, its narrow waist might also have made it easier to retrieve in the expected fashion than the thicker but lighter dumbbells. Well, that's what three of the gunsprogs thought as they headed off down the middle of the field.

Aki had made a bit of a hash of getting to his feet so he thought that he might as well not join in that particular scrum because he believed, correctly as it happened, that Aiden was unlikely to have thrown all the game birds to the same part of the field. He cut his losses and made his way carefully down the field keeping about three metres from the fence, scanning from left to right and back as he progressed. He knew that he would not be able to see either of the smaller targets from very far away due to the length of the grass.

Sid got off to a good start but slipped and lost his footing twice soon after starting. Scott checked to see that he wasn't damaged and Mo opined that it was a shame about that. Tatsu and Mo jogged carefully in the direction in which they both thought the rocket had flown and were probably never more than a few metres apart until Mo made a fatal mistake. He caught sight of the garishly coloured missile and gave a triumphant, "Yes!"

Tatsu and Sid, who was still well behind the other two, changed direction. Mo approached the target and was just bout to get down to it, when Tatsu, being careful to avoid the stave that was helping to immobilise Maurice's arms used his considerable weight advantage and barged the surprised drummer onto his back.

"Isn't that the Japanese guy that our parents keep telling us is such a nice young man?"

"Yes, Scott, I believe it is. Good, isn't he? Hard luck Mo."

"Yeah, never trust a smiling Oriental."

"Don't bother saying it, Mo; someone's already told us we're no fun." Aiden and Scott were enjoying themselves.

While Tatsu knelt down and addressed the narrow part of the rocket with his mouth, Mo took more time than he appreciated trying to get to his feet again and Sid thought he ought to look elsewhere for one of the dumbbells. He had no system; he was just desperate. Tatsu wasn't really familiar with all the sorts of "games" his mates played yet or he would have known about that stunt that females can usually do without trouble but that always leaves those of the male persuasion flat on their faces. He knows about it now! As Tatsu knelt down to grip the rocket he fell onto his face.

"Coconut every time!" Scott was still enjoying himself.

"Come on, Tatsu, don't go lying down on the job now."

Even with the senior Japanese gunsprog sprawled on the ground covering the rocket and, presumably, swearing, there wasn't much point in Mo's trying to supplant him so, as Aki turned, moved away from the fence a bit and started heading back as nearly parallel to his original track as he could, he thought he would just look somewhere else. He had about as much of a plan as his little brother. Tatsu eventually gripped the rocket in his teeth, climbed awkwardly to his feet and headed for where Scott and Aiden were waiting and shouting encouragement.

The elder Japanese then approached Aiden and expected him to hold his hand out. No luck, even if Tatsu was a mate of his, he was still a gunsprog and still had to complete his task properly. "Tatsu, siT." Tatsu knelt. "SiiT." Aiden's emphatic instruction needed no further explanation and Tatsu sat cross legged just as his little brother knelt to retrieve one of the dumbbells. "Give." Aiden held out his hand. "Good boy, goood boooy!" Tatsu got the distinct impression that he wasn't expected to get up yet so he sighed and shuffled round to get the best view of the remaining contestants that the elevation of his head allowed.

Aki soon returned in spite of having dropped the dumbbell once he was on his way to Aiden. He was soon sitting next to his brother but not before Scott had untied enough of his bindings to relieve his more sensitive parts from their torments. Aki thanked him only to be told not to be too happy about it and to cross his ankles. There was no sign of either Sid or his big brother being anywhere near the remaining game bird yet so Scott had plenty of time partially to untie the little guy and then use the now redundant free ends of the rope to tie his ankles. There was probably no need to do so but he thought he'd rather not have both him and Sid not only free to run off but also near to the gate. Besides, what did need have to do with it?

Aki was glad no longer to have the ropes passing between his legs but he would really have liked to have been able to tug his shorts and their lining free from his crevices. "Oh, sorry, Aki: I nearly forgot. - Gooood boooy, goood boy." Aki's chaotic hair looked no more dishevelled after Scott's scruffing of it than it had before.

Scott and Aiden then returned their attention to the remaining gunsprogs who were being mighty unimpressive as retrievers. The standing spectators had a good idea of where the remaining dumbbell was so they divided duties between them. Aiden was to give Mo "warmer" and "colder" clues while Scott did the same for Sid.

After about five minutes both retrievers homed in on their quarry but Sid beat his brother to it and, by the time Mo had arrived, he had it in his mouth and was on his feet again and about to run to Aiden with it. A well-aimed foot from Mo tripped Sid, who went sprawling on his face for a third time spilling the dumbbell. Mo made short work of gathering the prize before Sid could recover and went off with it in the approved manner. A despondent Sid slowed down and bowed to the inevitable. By the time he had sat before Scott and Aiden, Mo had already received his "reward" scruffing and was kneeling next to Tatsu. Scott did not offer to partially untie him.


Decisions had to be made. Obviously Tatsu had won and it was decided that he should be released immediately. It was equally obvious to all except one of those present that Sid should have to stay bound for quite some time. (And that, all the while he was using language like that, he could look forward to being gagged as well.) It was just a matter of whether Mo, as Sid's Owner, should have to suffer alongside him. Don't bother yourselves with trying to follow the logic of the subsequent decisions, they only make sense to TUGs mad teenaged boys. The result of the determinations between Aiden, Scott and Tatsu, who had been reinstated to human status, was that, Mo and Aki should be released.

Mo thought he was probably relieved by the decision but that was more because he would be free to torment his little brother than because he would be untied. In contrast, Aki couldn't believe his luck.

Scott untied Tatsu and used the rope to make a lead for Sid while Aiden freed Mo. No one seemed to be in any hurry to release Aki. Once Mo and Tatsu had taken a short while to shake and massage their arms, Aiden explained that there was just one more thing Aki had to do before he could be released. Aki smelled a rat.

Scott had attached the newly redundant long rope behind Sid in such a way that it looped around both the stave and his elbows. He then tied both strands together leaving the loop secure but fairly loose. Sid wasn't too impressed when he was told to step his left leg over the strands so that there was even more rope passing between his legs. He could have refused, I suppose, but I don't think he was too keen to experience the consequent pain that would have ensued once his brother had reasoned with him. More of "that" language; you'd think he would have known better, wouldn't you?

It was all water off Scott's back and merely a further excuse for Mo to justify to himself his treatment of the gruff-voiced motor mouth. Scott tied the free ends of the rope together again well less than two metres in front of Sid and formed a similar loop round the stave that was immobilising Aki's arms as he had just tied round Sid's. That left a considerable length of rope unused. Aiden simply coiled it, tied the coils together and, with a, "Look after this lot, mate", slipped the resultant package over Aki's head, leaving it resting on his left shoulder and hooked under the end of the stave protruding from his right elbow.

Scott counselled Sid not to follow too far behind Aki as they returned to their camp-site, and the party set off once more.

The fates of the individual little brothers must be related as separate incidents if they are to be comprehensible but I am sure readers will understand that a lot of things were happening simultaneously.

The party returned to their campsite and Aiden made for Matt to keep his word about releasing him and, once Sid had been separated from Aki and consigned to the necklace, Tatsu also made to release his little brother. Other than going up to him and asking, "Alright, Shithead?" Scott could see no reason for releasing Luke. Just as Aki and Matt got their hopes up, Mo asked a question.

"Boys, haven't we forgotten something?" Tatsu, Aiden and Scott didn't think so but that look on Mo's face was intriguing. The other boys listened in silence but for different reasons. "Well, we've just held a 'Little Brothers Contest', right?" The other big brothers had to agree. The little brothers looked (as far as could be told) apprehensive. "Hang on a minute. I've got something here."

As Lewis Carol wrote: curiouser and curiouser. Mo disappeared into his tent and reappeared with a supermarket carrier bag in his hand. He continued speaking as though he had never stopped, "Shouldn't there be prizes?"

The big brothers couldn't see why, unless they were for them, until Mo pulled from the bag a couple of things he had "borrowed" from his pony obsessed sister. All of a sudden, the big brothers changed their minds and Aki and Matt saw their release being delayed once more. Just as a truly considerate big brother should, Scott removed his brother's hood so that he could appreciate the situation. Luke groaned.

Mo held up two of the rosettes that his sister had won at local gymkhanas: a first and a second; and he invited his fellow big brothers to decide which of their entrants should be allowed the honour of sporting them.

After careful consideration it was decided that Matt should wear the red ribbon because he had obviously won most of the events that he had contested while having lost none of them, so Aiden accepted the appropriate rosette while the big brothers had to decide who deserved the blue ribbon.
Luke was ruled out because, although he didn't lose any events, he didn't win any either. (Please don't bother trying to follow the "logic" of the decision-making process!) So, the discussion centred around Aki, who had both a win and a loss to his name and Sid who, although he had won two events had also lost three. Mo was over-ruled and Sid was awarded second place. (Please don't ask - he just was!)

Sid immediately demanded to be released in the light of his second place. You really would think he'd have known better, wouldn't you? Count one: he still had a penalty to pay for losing the last event. Count two: condemned out of his own mouth - all that language. But he could wear his rosette in compensation. Sid didn't seem to be impressed.





Once he had heeded Scott's advice and stopped trying to stand up, so to speak, for Sid, Luke could safely be ignored while the other three little brothers were dealt with. A simultaneous token tickling of the unprotected soles of his feet by his brother and of his cruelly exposed under-arms by Aiden soon persuaded him to be quiet. In compensation, Scott replaced the pillow case over his head. Luke was confused, he could just allow himself to drift off to his own private place again but he was getting somewhat uncomfortable by now and he would miss all the "fun" of watching his erstwhile competitors suffer. He stoically settled for what he could get. He still trusted his brother not to allow him to suffer too much and he was simply not prepared to beg for release.


Following the judges' decision concerning Sid's appeal, Mo collected one of his discarded trainers and proceeded to remove the lace from it.

"Come on, Mo, that kid's hurting my ears."

"Yea, my little brother's not supposed to hear language like that."

"Hang on, lads, I'm going as fast as I can." By now Mo was so involved in what he was doing that he had almost forgotten that he was clad in only his boxers. Sid continued hanging himself; surely, he must have realised what Mo had in mind by the time he'd picked up one of the dumbbells that had just been used as game-birds? No, it would seem not.

Mo tied the blue dog-toy in the middle of the shoelace and inserted it in the appropriate place with very little difficulty. Sid's jaws clamped down on it and it emitted a sort of squeaking noise. Tatsu helped by clamping it in place with an ample hand while Mo brought the ends of the lace round Sid's nape and passed them in opposite directions round the unbound end of the dumbbell. As Mo tightened and secured the improvised gag, Sid's vocal fury continued unabated. After some seconds, though, the ridiculous sound of Sid's swearing being distorted by the insistent squeaking persuaded him to give up the effort, especially in light of the derisive laughter it was occasioning.

Mo thought he might take a few minutes to get dressed following his exertions but not before he had pinned the second prize rosette onto Sid's swimming costume, just in front of his right hip.


Aiden approached Matt bearing the first prize rosette and aiming it down towards the front of his somewhat skimpy briefs.

"'oan' oo hu'in ngare!"

"What was that, Matt? You want me to pin the lucky thing there?" Aiden did nothing to abate his demonic grin as his hand got closer and closer to his brother's all to obvious assets and Matt tried vainly to move them out of his way. At the last second, Aiden pulled the side of Matt's briefs away from his right hip and pinned the rosette just to the right of centre before allowing the waistband to snap back into place.

Matt was almost relieved.

"OK, Tubs, well done. You are the champion. Time to get you released. Now, how shall we do this?"

"'op hu'in awoun' ang ungie nge."

"I'm not funking around."

"'ungh'!" Aiden's grin had still not abated.

Being tied as he was, there was nothing he could do for himself so Matt needed to be completely untied by his brother who then released him from the necklace leaving him to strip the tape from his lower face and neck and to expel his underpants.

Matt eased his aches and pains, staggered to his feet and jumped up and down. He was looking forward to going home even if he did have to walk. He knew that he would be believed if he simply explained to his dad that Aiden was a dick and that he couldn't stand staying around him any longer. Aiden seemed to agree with that just a little too quickly. Then Matt asked, "OK, what have you brought for me to wear?"

"Nothing."

"What!? Come on, you cunt, I can't walk home like this."

"Why not? You wear them at home." Matt may well have done so in the privacy of their home gym and when he knew that not even the rest of his family would be likely to see him, but finding his way off the estate, recognising where he was and walking along lanes and even the main road to his home and then along the village roads in nothing more than a skimpy pair of posing briefs held no attraction for him at all.

"Well, where's my boardies then?"

"Oh, you know . . ." said Aiden vaguely indicating the world in general. "If you start searching now you might find them before it goes dark." Matt stood open-mouthed; his board shorts might be anywhere. He might be able to find them straight away but . . . the following assessment of the extent to which he loved his big brother does not bear reporting verbatim here. "Tell you what, you help with dinner and sorting out things round here and I'll tell you where your boardies are in the morning. I might even let you wear this t-shirt of mine - and I expect Scott will lend you his flip flops. Scott indicated his assent.

Matt had one more thing to try: Tatsu was a lot bigger than he but . . . "Tatsu, have you got a top and some trackie bottoms I could borrow?"

"So sorry," Tatsu had re-attired himself but had so far ignored his little brother completely, "My English - - -" It was often surprising how poor Tatsu's English was - when it suited him. Matt knew there was no point in pursuing the matter all the while Tatsu was affecting his most theatrical confused look.

Matt's muttering, as he reconciled himself to his fate, soon subsided. He knew when he was defeated and he was honest enough to admit to himself that he would have done exactly the same to Aiden if their roles had been reversed. At least he'd given his big brother no excuse to cost him his place on the French tour.


Once Tatsu had dressed completely, he thought he might be able to spare the time to untie Aki. The little Japanese guy was looking forward to ringing his mother and getting himself taken home even though he knew that he didn't dare rat on his big brother. If he did, he fully believed that his parents would find out so much about his nefarious activities that he would be allowed no unsupervised time at all with his friends before the family returned to Osaka.

I'm sure that Tatsu didn't really need to be that clumsy as he untied the crotch ropes from where they were anchored to his brother's wrists but his repeated declarations that he was, "So sorry", might have indicated otherwise. He did at least have the consideration to ease Aki's grubby running shorts down slightly before continuing. Aki didn't object.

Aki was soon free from his ropes and from that stave, and he looked despairingly around the campsite where Aiden had distributed the contents of his rucksack widely. "Do not worry, pack-a your - er - ruck-a-sack. I have clothes for you to wear." Aki still smelled a rat, a large, grinning, oriental rat to whom he was closely related. However, being a wise man, he collected his gear painstakingly together and packed his bag more or less tidily. Meanwhile, Tatsu proved as good as his word and produced the promised clothing which, being Tatsu, he laid out tidily over the ridge of his tent.

"Tatsu!?

"Yes?"

"Aren't those a little - - -"

"- - - Japanese?"

"I am Japanese, he is Japanese and they ", here Tatsu indicted in turn himself, Aki and one of the garments he had laid out, "are Japanese. What have I done wrong?" He was wearing that theatrical, puzzled expression again. Aki was not looking pleased.

Ever since the family had been in England, Aki had managed to avoid wearing those shorts. Some time ago they would have been considered perfectly decent in Japan, and probably even in England over thirty years or so ago, but they were certainly considered bizarre by the young Brits who considered any shorts that weren't baggy and that didn't cover their knees to be indecent. This garment had been brought from Japan and had lain unmolested in Aki's chest of drawers since it had been unpacked. It looked as though it was a good job that the dishevelled youngster was not far into his adolescent growth spurt.

Aki was about to object when his big brother's expression changed. Ah well, it wouldn't be long until he could change at home and the only person, other than those present, who would see him would be his mother. He grabbed the white briefs, the shorts, the short-sleeved white shirt and the traditional Japanese sandals and socks that Tatsu had provided and ducked into his tent. When he emerged, he looked like a smart Japanese junior school kid who needed his parents to buy him a larger uniform. Those pocketed shorts sat quite high on his hips but must have had an inseam of less than three centimetres.

"Bit tight under the armpits aren't they, Tatsu?" That time Tatsu's puzzled expression was genuine.

"Hell of a VPL there, Aki." Aki blushed and tried to hitch the crotch of his shorts down to very limited effect.

Aki crouched and located his mobile phone. There was no signal but, even if there had been, Tatsu, had ensured that the device would not function. "English only, little brother." Aki asked to borrow Tatsu's phone.

"So sorry".

"Watch it, Aki, I don't think he really means it."

"Yea, we're getting to be able to tell when he's taking the piss." Tatsu didn't even bother trying to look hurt; it was too difficult all the while he was smiling like that.

Tatsu bowed very slightly and totally disingenuously as he continued, "So sorry, I forgot to bring it."

"Looks like you'll have to strap your bag on your back and walk." Aki was horrified. His brother and he lived about fifteen kilometres away and not only was it too far for him to walk, he couldn't think of how to explain his early departure to his parents and he certainly wouldn't like anyone to see him dressed like that. You might think he could simply change as soon as he was out of Tatsu's sight but it wasn't as easy as that, Tatsu would expect to find out from his parents that he had arrived "properly dressed". He would also ask everybody he knew if they had seen his little brother as he made his way home as soon as he had the opportunity to do so. The defeated Aki sank to his haunches and had difficulty holding back his tears.

Scott had another of his soft-hearted moments and reminded Aki that his friends, Luke and Sid, would still be around even if Sid's conversation might not be up to much for some time to come. Aki did not look convinced.


"Scott, you going to release Luke? He looks like he needs a piss." Scott followed Mo's eyes. Luke was, indeed, just about ready to hold hands with an old friend but he was still trying not to beg for release even though his body language could neither be misinterpreted nor ignored. Scott undid his wrists as Mo supported him safely down to the ground. There was nearly no need any more for Luke to find a thirsty tree at that stage but he did manage to hold on until Scott had untied his raised ankles and he had rushed clumsily for the relative privacy of the far side of a large tree.

Luke being Luke, he returned and surrendered to his brother; anything Scott could dish out, he could take. "No, Shithead, you need some time to move around. Go and get some clothes." Luke went to his bag but, other than retrieving a clean pair of boxers, got out nothing else except his flip-flops. He shared an opinion with his big brother as to his preferred form of camp attire and it was far from cold at that time of year. Luke was also about as shy as Scott and simply turned his back on the assembled company, dropped his football shorts, pulled up his boxers and replaced the shorts.

"Let me tell you how to do that without undressing later on." Mo's offer intrigued the big brothers and it looked as if the evening's cabaret would have at least one act. Luke stood and pushed his feet into his flip-flops.


Aiden thought he ought to move things along. "Mo, don't you think you ought to untie Sid for a while?"

"I don't see why."

"He's been tied up like that for quite some time."

"And your point is?"

"He's safe on the necklace and his arms must be really hurting by now." Mo was about to make his usual rejoinder when Aiden interrupted him. "You can tie him up again tonight." Mo cheered up and he went over to where Sid was still trying to express either disagreement or otherwise depending upon who was speaking. Aiden went with him.

Mo told Sid to stand and was somewhat rough as he started untying Sid's ropes. Each squeal came with its own dedicated squeak from the blue dumbbell. The squeals as Sid felt the circulation returning in his arms outlasted the accompanying squeaks by quite some seconds. "Now, aren't I a nice guy? I gave you something to bite on." Sid did not seem to agree.

Mo kicked the stave clear of his brother and started to coil the ends of the rope that were hanging from Sid's wrists.

"Aren't you going to untie his wrists?"

"If I do that, he'll pull out his gag and we'll only have to listen to all that naughty language again."

"Mmmm, mmmmm." lied Sid, shaking his head for emphasis.

"Oh, I don't think so." Both Mo and Sid looked at Aiden in silence. "You wouldn't do that, would you Sid?"

"Nng, Ngh." Each lying syllable still came with its own accompanying squeak.

"Because, if you did, Mo would just tie your wrists again, wouldn't he?" Sid froze; Mo grinned. "And then he could shove those skanky old undies (or even your cossie) in your mouth, couldn't he?" Sid gazed wide-eyed at his smug big brother. "And then one of us would hold it in until he could replace this thing, wouldn't he?" Aiden gave Sid's gag a flick. Sid squeak-snorted.

Scott wasn't going to be left out. "OK, lads, I think he gets it. Got it, Sid?" Sid nodded but didn't bite down on the annoying squeaky dog-toy. "Good, now ask Mo nicely and I'm sure he'll untie you properly."

I suppose the response, which was more or less, "Grunt (squeak), grunt (squeak) grunt-ungh (squeak-squeak) ngee (surprisingly, no squeak)", could have been, "Please, Mo, untie me", but it could easily have been one of Sid's more colourful descriptions of his brother. Mo chose to interpret it charitably because he knew he could rely upon Aiden to be as good as his word if Sid so much as moved his fingers to within ten centimetres of his face.

Mo untied Sid's wrists and the little guy wasted no time in massaging his aching arms and wrists.

Just a short chapter coming up.
It's a sort of public information notice for those who need to change their underwear discretely.
Look and learn!

Aiden knew he had a convenient slave who could not afford to disobey him so he instructed his brother to go and collect the double burner and the gas cylinder from the stable yard. Scott was starting to feel sorry for the budding muscle man and offered him his flip-flops to wear. Matt accepted and Luke volunteered to go with him to help so Mo told him where he could collect the food. Aiden adjusted the remains of the camp fire while Scott, Mo and Tatsu collected more fuel to see them through the rest of the evening. Aki simply sat and sulked and no one seemed to be taking any notice of Sid, who had sat himself down against the tree to which he was chained, trying desperately not to fall prey to the temptation of removing his humiliating gag.

By the time Matt returned dragging the sack barrow, which was laden with the large orange gas cylinder, alongside Luke, who carried the burner looped over one arm and a cardboard box, they both knew more about each other's attitudes to being tied up but Luke considered himself lucky to have Scott as his tier and sympathised with Matt's situation. As readers might know, he enjoyed his TUGs with his mate, Max, but wasn't so fond of being his brother's tie-up toy and even less fond of being tied up by Max's big brother. Luke had simply discovered that, being bound and, preferably, blindfolded, helped him to calm down, stay calm and so to keep out of the trouble into which he found it so easy to get. He also had a deal with his brother whereby, as long as he behaved himself in school, Scott would always be ready to oblige.

Dinner was to be based on the box of compo rations that Luke was carrying. He had got T-Boy from his Sea Scout troop to "obtain" it for him. It had been delivered to Mo's granddad's house a couple of days ago and he had stowed it in the stable yard ready for when it would be needed.

Coming with their own heating packs made the meals easy to prepare and left Matt to use his gas stove simply for a brew. All the boys, even Aki, ate the beef ravioli in mushroom sauce (Could have been worse: the last rat pack that T-Boy had "obtained" for the Sea Scouts was the vegetarian version! Well, HE thought it was funny.) and examined what snacks and breakfast supplies were available. Tatsu and Aki had long ago become used to the unfathomable British cuisine and, by the time the fruit cocktail and the squirty cream, that had been brought along specially, had been given good homes, even Aki had started to come round a bit. At least it looked as though he wasn't going to be tied up any more. The very thought caused him to take a sly look in his brother's direction to see whether there was any sign that he might want to punish him again for his repeated use of Japanese in the presence of his British friends.

Dinner was over, the "crockery" was consigned to the fire and even Sid was given a mug of hot chocolate. In an excess of generosity, Mo had previously allowed him to remove his gag over dinner. Various trees were visited and the assembled company settled down for the evening's entertainment.

Mo started to take suggestions for the cabaret. There were soon enough "turns" to ensure a reasonably entertaining session.

1) Obviously, to all but one person present, Sid would have to be tied up again
2) Mo would give his masterclass in how to don one's underwear without undressing.
3) Aki would be given the chance to avoid being tied up again for his use of Japanese. (He could either take that chance or start walking.)

After the cabaret, the big brothers and anyone else who would could retire to the "Gunsprogs Field" for a game of "Blind Pirate" with, of course, forfeits to follow. All present or, at least, everyone who mattered, agreed that those events should fill an evening and still leave time for staring into the fire afterwards.





Mo disappeared into his tiny tent to collect what he needed for his masterclass and soon returned barefooted, attired in what looked like a pair of his father's old cricket whites that had been cut down to make a none-too-brief but generously cut pair of shorts, and clutching a rather battered old pair of boxers in the hand that was not holding the shorts up.

"Ta - da!"

"You got any boxers on under those things?"

"That, Aiden, my man, is something you will never get to find out as Mo the Magnificent demonstrates how to change one's underwear in public without embarrassment". The other boys allowed the hyperbole to pass.

Mo sat on the ground and passed his right leg into the boxers that he had brought for use as night attire. Next, he pushed both his arms inside the oversized shorts until his right hand reappeared from the bottom of the leg when he used it to pull the undergarment out of sight. There was then some more than comical scrabbling around during which Scott asked whether Mo was "keeping himself company" in there. The manoeuvrings continued until Mo's left arm poked out from the bottom of the left leg clutching what was obviously the boxer shorts which seemed to be under quite some stress. Mo freed his right arm and used it to scrunch up the left leg of the white shorts. As the artiste brought his left foot up towards his bum, the audience waited optimistically for the ripping noise. It never came. The boxers disappeared from sight once more. Mo stood, inserted both arms into his shorts once more and pulled his boxers up. On the withdrawal of his arms, the oversized shorts fell from Mo's hips displaying the old boxers correctly positioned to preserve the wearer's dignity (sort of).

"Ta - da!"

"Yea, but did you have any boxers on before, though?" Mo just tried to adopt an enigmatic expression.

The applause was muted but Mo took a bow nevertheless, pulled up his shorts and started fastening a belt around them.

One video late but Tatsu came off way too easy.