Wrecked Chapters 2-4

Wrecked Chapters 2-4
By Pueros

This story is intended for ADULTS ONLY

For Heredia

These are chapters two to four of a long saga about the adventures in 19th century Africa of twin English boys.

Chapter Two - Beach

(Coast of the northern Mozambique Channel, summer 1850)

Rather indiscriminate and unnecessary hurtful prods from the sharp spears of some of the fierce black African warriors standing around them encouraged James and John to climb to their feet. The boys then discovered that they could only attain this feat unsteadily, which caused them to sway and almost collapse back onto the soft golden sand as they attempted to stand.

The sight of unconscious obviously twin boys of white skin, attired in strange clothing covering virtually all of their small slim bodies, had originally amazed the proud, tall and muscular black warriors. The men had never previously seen humans of this colour or in such garb.

The warriors were accustomed only to people who shared their own very dark coloration and only wore loincloths, apart from the lighter but still swarthy Arab trader who wore a flowing gown and visited their large stockaded village every year at about this time. However, the black men had quickly overcome their astonishment on realising that their young captives were, despite sporting exceptionally white skin and fair hair, extremely attractive.

This perception on the part of the black warriors produced two results. The first was immense satisfaction at being able to take their young pretty prizes back to their chieftain, who would consequently surely honour and reward them. The second was the substantial bulges appearing at the front of their hide loincloths, which indicated the swift development underneath of hidden excited large manly erections.

The black warriors also now had cause to laugh, and not just in joyous celebration of their undoubtedly very valuable finds. The men were additionally amused by the damp and bedraggled boys' initial unsteadiness, as they attempted to stand whilst one each of their wrists were still bound together.

Elisa, the devoted governess of James and John, had bound the boys' wrists together so that they would share whatever fate awaited them after their sailing ship had foundered in the awful storm. The subsequent destiny of the twins had actually been somehow to survive the wreck and be washed up relatively unharmed on this beach of golden sand with verdantly green dense jungle backdrop, apparently by miraculous chance. Unfortunately, the twin 11 year-olds were soon to have cause to consider their survival to be more like catastrophic mischance.

After finally regaining their feet and steadying themselves, James and John tried their best to brush damp sand off their wet and dishevelled attire. The boys' outer garments actually comprised matching dark blue satin jackets, which were short, extending down only as far as their slim waists, and trousers, which were tucked into their socks at their ankles, as befitted the fashion of the day for young English middle-class gentlemen. Their feet were also protected by black leather laced shoes.

The attire worn by James and John was originally pristinely laundered and neatly tailored to fit their sublimely lithe bodies perfectly. However, the recent comprehensive exposure of the clothing to seawater had caused the garments not only to look crumpled and ragged but also to shrink significantly, especially now that the hot sun in the cloudless sky had begun quickly to dry the suits. The former sparkling shine to the boys' shoes, created by Elisa's dutiful daily polishing, had also been ruined.

There was, however, one advantage to the shrinking of the attire worn by James and John for observers with a taste for pretty boys. The shrivelling of the twins' trousers enabled the delectable curvature of their bottoms to be fully appreciated because the covering to the rotund mounds comprising their buttocks had been stretched taut.

In fact, the black warriors who had found James and John washed ashore were now feasting their eyes on the delicious sight, as they all walked slowly round the boys to examine their young exotic prizes more fully. As a result of such close visual scrutiny, several of the obvious bulges present at the front of most of the men's loincloths became even more pronounced.

As the black warriors circled the frightened James and John, who feared for their lives, the men spoke amongst themselves in a language that sounded like gibberish to the boys, who attempted in return to communicate to the men in English. The twins begged not to be harmed but instead to be escorted to a white settlement. However, the African adults were too busy chatting to each other about the various highly attractive attributes of the 11 year-olds to be bothered to take any notice of what the youngsters were trying to say in their own unfathomable tongue.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and so eventually did the black warriors' inspections of the unexpected beauteous bounty of their hunting trip. The severing by an African knife of the short rope that connected the wrists of James and John, followed by a few more prods into boyish flesh from the sharp ends of some spears announced this fact. These actions also suggested to the perceptive twins that they were next expected to walk with the men towards the jungle.

James and John had given up their attempts to communicate with the black warriors. The boys instead just hoped that the men, who thankfully appeared to be happy to keep them alive, would have the motivation eventually to guide them safely to white civilisation.

Unfortunately for James and John, the black warriors would soon prove not to be benevolent rescuers but rather mean captors.

Chapter Three – Jungle

(Northern Mozambique, summer 1850)

James and John had both long since lost their broad-rimmed hats, which had shielded the delicate white skin of their very pretty faces from the fierce overhead sun. The boys were therefore initially grateful for the substitute protection of the dense foliage above and around them after they were led into the jungle. However, their gratitude proved short-lived.

The black warriors led James and John along a narrow pathway, just wide enough for one person and to which the men appeared accustomed. However, fast-growing jungle foliage had invaded the trail in parts and this had to be hacked away by a menacing cleaver produced from a type of hide scabbard attached to his loincloth by the leading African.

Despite, the use of this tool to clear the path, some thin branches of foliage still proved intrusive and consequently the clothing of both James and John was regularly attacked by sharp wood, occasionally causing little tears to their now rapidly dried but also very tight satin garments. Some scratches were additionally inflicted on the boys' previously perfect underlying skin.

Nevertheless, such discomfiture soon became secondary as far as James and John were concerned. Being tormented by flies and other nasty insects, some of which were deposited onto the boys as a result of their frequent brushing with passing foliage, rapidly became the major nuisance, along with the almost overwhelming heat.

Those bits of James and John that were uncovered, which basically comprised their heads, hands and parts exposed because of the tears in their clothing, were now frequently bitten by the insects, creating some sores at the relevant spots. However, two superficially delicate English boys were to prove remarkably immune to common African diseases, including those carried by the tiny nuisance creatures, which often proved fatal to Europeans in an era before inoculations and other decent medicines. Such amazingly miraculous resistance to illness was to prove to be rather fortunate, given the copious other sufferings that the young beautiful white twins were to experience in the immediate years ahead.

The unwavering heat swiftly brought both James and John, who were, of course, completely unused to such jungle conditions, to the brink of exhaustion. The boys' desperate condition was exacerbated by their wearing of clothing much more suited for mild English summers than steamy African jungles and by their now intense thirsts. However, their black warrior escorts showed no compassion.

Any slowing on the part of James and John was met either by a harsh push in the back or more painful prod of a spear from the particular guarding black warrior walking just behind each of them. Any pleading to be allowed to rest or have a drink only earned a similar response.

James and John were eventually brought close to total collapse. Copious beads of sweat ran down their now red faces and permeated their torn clothing, whilst they had also begun to stagger like an adult drunkard rather than healthy English public schoolboys who had never tasted alcohol.

Fortunately, the appearance of a big stockaded village, full of round huts of mud and thatch, black people and domesticated animals, in a large clearing astride a broad river suddenly indicated that the destination, to which James and John were being led, had finally been reached.

Chapter Four – Village

(Northern Mozambique, summer 1850)

The sudden arrival of James and John into the village naturally stirred up enormous interest. Only one person currently in the settlement had ever seen white people previously.

As the warrior hunting party led their young prizes, who were now more dishevelled than ever, towards the largest mud hut in the village, which belonged to the tribal chieftain, they were surrounded by enthusiastic noisy crowds, slowing their progress. James and John could now see around them nothing but excited black faces belonging to all ages and both genders, with all the bodies below being bare apart from loincloths covering their privates.

James and John had never before seen bare-chested females. They momentarily considered the sight of the young girls and women to be interestingly pleasant, which was an attitude matched by a strange tingling sensation in their supposedly immature groins. However, this reaction was quickly subdued by realisation that much older feminine breasts, such as those sported by the great grandmothers present, were in the boys' opinion not only far less alluring but also positively repulsive.

The slow progress amidst the accompanying crowds to the tribal chieftain's large hut eventually concluded successfully, aided by the fact that the excited throng respectfully stopped at the edges of a wide circular open area, at the far circumference of which stood their leader's residence of mud and thatch. James and John were now only escorted by the small warrior hunting party who had found them, as they traversed the flat compressed soil of this broad space.

The fears of James and John relating to their future welfare then returned as their lovely sensuous blue eyes absorbed the surrounding scene. What immediately caught their attention was the presence at the near edge of the open area of two tall stakes firmly embedded in the ground, with an obviously petrified young naked and rather pretty black boy, about 12 years old, chained spreadeagled between them. Although the African villagers wore little, this was the first time that the twins had seen anyone completely unclothed. Even babies and tiny infants sported loincloths with front and rear hide flaps.

The naked boy, who was facing away from the chieftain's hut and therefore towards the advancing James and John, was also different from the rest in other ways. He had what appeared to be a heavy collar of black iron fitted tightly around his neck, which possessed several small semicircular rings embedded into the dark metallic surface.

Matching tight-fitting round black iron fetters were attached to the boy's wrists and ankles. The purpose of the small embedded rings was evident from the fact that chains linked some of them to the two stakes, thereby keeping the 12 year-old resolutely in vertical spreadeagled bondage.

What most fascinated James and John, however, was the sight of another very narrow black iron ring tightly circling the boy's completely smooth and immature but nicely proportioned genitals, which constriction caused his sexual organs to be more uplifted and therefore prominent. The twins were also intrigued by little dark marks on the 12 year-old's pleasant body.

On coming closer to the naked boy, James and John noticed that these dark marks, which were still clearly visible despite the blackness of the flesh on which they rested, were actually small depictions of a leaping cat. The twins were later to discover that the animal supposed to be a cheetah.

The relevant animal emblems were displayed on the middle of the naked black boy's chest and on his front upper legs, adjacent to his genitals. After passing the spreadeagled 12 year-old and glancing back, James and John additionally noticed not only the keyholes in the metal collar and fetters, which indicated that they were locked in place, but also the small symbol of the leaping cat exhibited at the centre of each of the child's curvaceous buttocks.

James and John could not immediately establish how these markings had been applied to the naked black boy's flesh. Their initial guess was that the emblems had either been painted on, perhaps with the aid of a stencil, or stamped on using a woodcut. Their young and currently innocently naïve sheltered English middle-class minds could not yet perceive that humans could brand others of their kind, just as if they were cattle.

After James and John had passed the naked black boy and returned their attention to what lay ahead rather than behind, several other sights began both to fascinate and frighten them. The first was four metal rings firmly embedded in the compressed soil, which appeared to represent another sinister bondage position. The second, not far further on, comprised a sharp narrow spike of black wood, apparently vertically jutting out to about waist-height from a pit, which was covered by what looked like reasonably strong basketwork trapdoors. The third was in the very centre of the circular open area and consisted of a short round rod of very shiny polished ebony, with curved top about two inches in diameter, which protruded approximately a foot from the ground.

What concerned and scared James and John most about the sinister spike and rod was that both appeared to have copious dried blood coating their otherwise smooth surfaces, with the sanguine deposits still evident despite the blackness of both pieces of wood. However, the boys' attention was now quickly drawn away from these strange features after they heard a loud roar, which triggered a raucous cacophony of other animal noises.

The fear already inherent within James and John then intensified, as they finally noticed the sources of some of the sounds. Adjacent on both sides to the chieftain's large hut were several small but strong roofed stockades, some accommodating ferocious-looking beasts.

In one of the stockades, visible through but prevented from escaping by the surrounding strong wooden lattices, was a huge cat, which both James and John cleverly judged correctly to be the model for the markings on the naked black boy. The cheetah, which had roared at the smell of the two white boys approaching, also wore a black iron collar.

In another stockade was what the startled James and John mistakenly initially thought was an enormous monkey. The beast was in fact a gorilla, which was uttering loud grunts at the sight of James and John.

Other occupied stockades contained a few large evil-looking and apparently permanently ravenous dogs of several kinds. Some of these hounds began to bark and even foam at the mouth on seeing the approaching James and John.

Meanwhile, tethered more quietly by a long rope to a post in front of the stockades, what the amazed James and John at first erroneously considered to be a strange exotically- coloured pony had stopped chewing some fodder also to look with interest at the white boys. A large protuberance then rapidly developed between the zebra's legs, pointing away from the animal's body at a 45° angle towards the ground.

James and John might have been immaturely and innocently naïve, especially about matters relating to sex. However, the boys instantly recognised an enormous animal penis when they saw one, although they were currently unable to understand why the strange black and white creature's erection had now suddenly developed. However, their ignorance about the issue was soon to end. They were also not to remain unaware for too much longer why the rest of the exclusively male beasts confined in the stockades, which all sported black iron collars and had been well-trained in the enjoyable performance of certain acts, were similarly aroused.

The animal cacophony did not last long, as the well-trained beasts concerned quickly astutely appreciated that what they wanted would not be made immediately available to them. The creatures had leaned instead that patience would eventually be rewarded.

The attention of James and John was now drawn towards the large hut now close in front of them, before which on a low wooden pedestal was a big basketwork chair with armrests. The back of the seat was painted with the dark insignia of the leaping cheetah, as was the upper front of the platform, close to where the enthroned chieftain would place his feet.

What now caused further increased trepidation within the souls of both James and John were the two human skulls adorning each side of the top of the chair's backrest, plus similar but more numerous sinister objects decorating the front of the thatched roof of the chieftain's hut. The boys immediately wondered if the tribe practised human sacrifice and whether they were destined to be the next victims.

The tribal chieftain had, of course, been aware of the white boys' capture and arrival because one of the warriors had hastened to give him forewarning. However, he always liked to make an unrushed formal ceremonial appearance before his people in such circumstances and he so had still not emerged from his hut by the time that the fearful James and John were brought immediately before his external throne.

An eerie quiet now descended on the open area, interrupted only by the sound of birds and grasshoppers nearby and by more distant howls from the surrounding jungle. The villagers had respectfully remained at the circular circumference and, despite their excitement, had become reverently silent whilst they anticipated the appearance of their chieftain. Only the warriors who had captured James and John were therefore alongside the fearful twins, as they awaited, in acute dread, news of their fate.

(To be continued)

[Comments to the author can be sent to pueros@hotmail.com]