(Author Note: This is the second story in a series. The characters and situations were introduced in the episodes:
Camp Torowa Falls 1964 - 01: A Fair To Remember
Read that episode first! Then read episodes 2 thru 16 before reading this one.)
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Corey spent most of Sunday afternoon wandering around the outskirts of Camp Torowa Falls. The camp property was just over 320 acres, about half a square mile. So it was possible to be very alone out there. Of course campers were not supposed to be alone. Part of it was the control aspect of the situation. Corey had masturbated a couple of times, mostly for something to do while he was thinking, and as a release of tension.

The official reason for campers never being allowed to wander the huge grounds alone was for safety. It was a completely valid reason, of course. If Corey became injured or trapped somehow, he could quite easily die out there long before he was ever found. Considering the mood he was in that day, death was not Corey's biggest worry. He wasn't even remotely suicidal, but he was desperate enough for some time alone to be willing to take the risk.

He loved Jerry like a brother, and maybe his friend could have helped him work through his problems. But it was fairly clear that Jerry was coming down with a case of the runs. That kind of thing is unpleasant enough when you have ready access to modern plumbing facilities, like at home. It's a bit of a problem at camp, where there is only one set of toilets available to campers. It would be impossible to deal with out here wandering around the "wilderness" edges of the camp.

The other reason for leaving Jerry behind was to save his friend from whatever consequences awaited Corey when he returned to camp that evening. He had no idea what Jeff would do, or Boss Lemmon for that matter, if the camp director got involved with the situation. But damn the consequences, Corey needed an afternoon alone to think things through. He had been acting crazy for nearly 24 hours now, hurting people he cared about, and he needed to work out his feelings so he wouldn't do that anymore.

Corey stayed out a little over five hours, getting back to Wolf Cabin about 20 minutes before dinner time. The first thing Corey noticed when he walked through the front door was that Jerry seemed to be taking a nap. He knew Jerry wasn't feeling well.

The second thing he noticed was that Roland was lying on his bed reading a magazine. The Wolf Cabin patrol leader looked up from his reading and said, "Jeff wants to see you in his office - right away."

"Okay," said Corey. As he strode confidently to the rear of the cabin, Corey felt anything but confident. But he had made his decision, and now it was time to face the consequences for his actions that day, whatever they might be. Corey was glad he had stopped for a pee before returning to the cabin. The next hour or so might get a little intense. He knocked on Jeff's door.

"Come in."

Corey opened the door and entered Jeff's office, closing it behind him. "Hi Jeff."

"Hi yourself," said Jeff, a stern look on his face. "Have a seat, while you can still enjoy it."

Corey gulped involuntarily as he sat down on a chair. He couldn't think of anything useful to say at the moment, so he remained silent.

"So, what the hell happened to you in the last 24 hours?" said Jeff. "Yesterday this time you seemed just fine, and now suddenly you're crashing and burning."

Corey thought for a few seconds before saying, "I just needed to get away from everyone for a few hours to work some things out."

"I see," said Jeff, sounding dubious. "Corey, I need you to be completely honest with me. Are you taking drugs?"

"No!" said Corey, stunned at the very idea that Jeff would think that.

"Okay then," said Jeff. "Here's your two choices. You can either start telling me exactly what the hell is going on, or I will strip you and start looking for needle marks."

Corey was so stunned by this that he could only splutter indignantly.

"Okay," said Jeff. "Stand up, I'm stripping you."

"No, wait!" said Corey. "I'll tell you."

"Well, alright, but move it right along," said Jeff, glancing at his watch.

Corey gathered himself, took a deep breath, and began, "You know Anna Belling, right?"

"Yeah, the Rev's granddaughter," said Jeff. "She's the little blonde who causes such a stir with you horny little monkeys whenever she's around."

Corey was alarmed and somewhat offended by this description of himself and his fellow campers, but chose to press on, "Yes, well. Last year, you see, Anna and I were.... involved."

Jeff looked stunned, and moved nearer to Corey so that he loomed very close to the nervous boy. He said very quietly and carefully, "Define 'involved'."

Corey gulped again, then said, "Well, we k..kissed."

"Kissed?" said Jeff, relaxing a bit. "On the lips?"

"Oh, yeah," said Corey. That had not been one of those demure little pecks you give your grandmother.

"Okay," said Jeff. "Let me see if I have this straight. Eleven months ago you were kissing Anna, and last night she shows up for the first time this year. Then you started flipping your lid. Now what happened?"

"Well," said Corey, "Did you see her last night, in the Mess Hall?"

"Yeah..." said Jeff, kind of shrugging. "What was the problem last night?"

"She's with him now!"

"Him who?" said Jeff, who seemed thoroughly confused.

"Sandy!" said Corey, spitting out the word like a curse.

"Wait a minute," said Jeff, sounding more than a little alarmed. "You saw Sandy Welles kissing Anna Belling on the lips? Romantically? In the Mess Hall?"

"No!" said Corey, feeling sick at the very idea.

"Okay, so where did you see them kissing?"

"Nowhere!" said Corey. Why did Jeff keep asking such stupid questions?

"Okay, let's start again," said Jeff. "Did one of them tell you they had been kissing, or were otherwise involved?"

"No," said Corey. "They didn't have to.... I could see it plainly for myself!"

Jeff was looking confused and frustrated, and started rubbing his temples. "Corey, I think you got your wires crossed somehow."

"I'm not crazy, and I'm not making it up!"

"Hmm," said Jeff. "Let me see if I can find somebody who can clear this up for us." Jeff got up to leave, but before opening the door he said, "Stay sitting right where you are, Corey. If we have to hunt you down, you will be shipped back home to Easthampton where you can explain all this nonsense to your parents."

"Northampton."

"Where ever. Just stay put until I get back!"

"Yes, Jeff."

When Jeff left, Corey briefly considered going out into the main cabin to check on Jerry. But he decided against it. Jeff seemed really upset, and he didn't want to risk being sent home - if it wasn't already too late to avoid that.

After a minute or two, Corey started wondering if he might actually be crazy. He apparently was seeing something that nobody else saw, or at least nobody else thought was a problem. Of course Jerry and Jeff had never been in love with Anna - what did they know about the situation?

After several minutes the door opened and Jeff came back in. "Corey, I have somebody here who may be able to help us clear up this situation."

Jeff motioned towards the door, and Sandy Welles walked in, closing the door behind him. Corey couldn't believe this, and rolled his eyes dramatically. What kind of bullshit would Sandy be selling this time?

"Corey," said Jeff, "Sandy here has a few things he would like to say to you. It might help clear up any confusion about this situation. So I want you to sit there quietly and listen. When Sandy is finished, you will have an opportunity to have your say."

Corey nodded his understanding, and looked skeptically at Sandy.

Sandy looked a bit nervous, but eventually he began speaking, "Corey, I suppose you know that my father is fairly fond of you, and of your friends who helped rescue my sisters last summer."

Corey nodded an acknowledgement, but remained silent.

"Well, what you may not know is that you and your friends didn't wind up in this cabin together, with Jeff as your counselor again, completely by random chance." Corey shook his head, and Sandy continued, "Not only does my father have a rather regrettable fetish for rustic environments, he somehow got it into his head that I could best learn to navigate such environments, and possibly even appreciate them more, if I spent a month in the same remote cabin with you and your friends, and with Jeff as our counselor."

Corey's surprise at this revelation was quite evident from the look on his face.

Sandy continued, "Basically, my father donated a large sum of money to the Camp Torowa Falls Building Fund in exchange for a guarantee from Mr. Lemmon that I would be in the same cabin with you all this summer."

Corey was astonished by this information, to say the least. But he wasn't certain what this all had to do with the Anna and Sandy situation.

"Sorry for interrupting, Sandy," said Jeff. "Corey, I don't think we need to spread this information around too much. The last thing we need around here is to have a bunch of parents trying to get special favors and arrangements for their campers."

"I understand, Jeff," said Corey. Yeah, he understood, all right. Special favors and arrangements were reserved for the very rich like Sandy Welles. And probably Anna Belling, if she ever went to a girl's summer camp.

"Good," said Jeff. "Go ahead, Sandy."

"Well, that's mostly it, really. My father wanted me to try and 'bond' with you and your friends, and we didn't get off to the best start. I thought things were getting better, but then things went downhill again last night."

Yeah, when you stole my girlfriend.

"Look, Corey, I don't really care if you want to hate me because I'm rich, and because I have an overbearing father who always insists on having his own way. I'm almost used to people reacting that way..."

Corey tried to interrupt, "That's not why I..."

"Corey!" said Jeff. "Please wait until Sandy is finished before having your say."

Corey simply nodded and indicated that Sandy should continue.

"Well," said Sandy, "the most important thing I wanted to say was that I don't care what you think of me, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't take out your frustrations with me on my cousin."

Corey looked at Jeff, then back at Sandy, and realized that it might actually be his turn to speak. "Your cousin?"

"Yes, my cousin Anna," said Sandy. "She told me that you and she were quite close last year. But now you're suddenly treating her like dirt."

"Anna is your cousin?" said Corey, stunned beyond belief. "Anna Belling?"

"Yes, of course," said Sandy. "Anna's mother and my mother are sisters. You mean Anna never told you?"

Corey was profoundly glad he was sitting down at that moment. Had he been standing, he probably would have fallen flat on his face.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I was an idiot."

"Hmmm. That may be putting the case a bit mildly." Anna still looked very cross.

"I know," said Corey, who felt like a complete dickhead.

"So if I ever talk and laugh with another boy, you will go nuts and start hurting people?"

"No, it's just that..."

"It's just that you go around making assumptions about people - without ever bothering to find out what is really going on."

It took every ounce of Corey's self control to not burst into tears. "I know I did that, and I'm sorry."

"Do you think 'sorry' covers it?"

"No," admitted Corey, still close to tears. "Look, Anna, I realize that I probably blew whatever chance you and I may have had to be happy together."

Anna just glared at Corey, and didn't say anything.

"But I just wanted to tell you what I decided this afternoon as I wondered around the forest - back when I didn't know that Sandy is your cousin."

"And that was?"

Corey took a deep breath and said, "I decided that even if we can never be more than friends, that being your friend would be very cool. I'd still like to be your friend... if you can find it in your heart to forgive my stupidity."

Anna sat there silently, the gears of her mind working on this information. Eventually Corey started to see the ice melt, and her face slowly changed from stern anger to ironic humor. Finally she broke out into a smile and spread out her arms in a welcoming gesture, "Come here, you!"

As they hugged and cried together - tears of joy, at least on Corey's part - Corey vowed to never jump to rash conclusions about his friends ever again.

The good news was that Anna had forgiven him and they were friends again. The bad news was that Corey still had to pay the piper for going off on his own on Sunday afternoon.

After his meeting with Anna in the Chaplain's Cottage, where Anna was spending part of the summer with her grandparents, Corey and Jeff were accompanied to the Camp Director's Cabin by the Reverend Belling himself.

It was a very nervous meeting for Corey. Boss Lemmon was leaning towards making an example of Corey with a razor stropping in the Mess Hall after evening assembly on Monday night. Jeff and Reverend Belling managed to talk the camp director out of it. Instead, Corey would get a bare-bottomed paddling back in Wolf Cabin before lights out on Sunday night.

This came as quite a relief to Corey, although it was a bit troubling that the paddling would be a full dozen whacks, and that Boss Lemmon and Reverend Belling both urged Jeff to "make it a memorable one".

On the way back to Wolf Cabin, Jeff warned Corey that he was about to get the worst paddling ever, or at least the worst paddling he would ever receive from Jeff. Corey said he understood, but the boy had a request for his counselor, which was readily granted.

Fifteen minutes before lights out Corey and Jerry were trudging back from the bath house. Corey usually relieved himself in the last hour before lights out, but tonight it was critical. He was frightened of the paddling he was about to receive, although he would never admit it to Jerry or the others. Considering how hard Jeff had paddled him the year before, Corey was not looking forward to an even worse dose of the larger paddle Jeff was using this year.

Five minutes later Corey sat on the foot of his bed, wearing only his white briefs. That was the normal attire for him at lights out, in fact all ten campers were similarly clad on this warm late July night. The other nine boys were either sitting crosslegged or lying on their beds. Some of them pretended to read, but most of them were silently watching the very nervous Corey, who about to be the guest of honor for the bed time punishment session.

For a minute or two the only sounds that could be heard were the crickets outside, serenading the darkness in their customary fashion. This background drone was occasionally punctuated by some camper turning the page of a book or magazine. Corey sat on the edge of his bed, his nerves on edge waiting for the counselor's door to open and the inevitable pain to follow soon after.

Then Jeff's door opened and the Wolf Cabin counselor strode out, the hardwood camp paddle held firmly in his right hand. As soon as he heard the door open, Corey sprang to his feet. He surprised even himself at how fast he rose from the sitting position, then he braced himself stiffly to attention at the foot of his bed.

Jeff stopped near Corey and said, "Corey, you're getting 12 whacks on the bare for being Absent With Out Leave."

"Yes, Jeff," said Corey. "May I make a statement before the sentence is carried out?"

"Go ahead," said Jeff. This came as no surprise to Corey, since Jeff had agreed to this request as they returned to the cabin earlier.

"First of all, I wanted to apologize for disappearing for hours like that. I know it was stupid and irresponsible, and that I could have been hurt, or worse. I also wanted to apologize to everyone in this cabin for acting like a moron the last couple of days. None of you deserved to be treated that way... Sandy, Jerry, Alan.... none of you. I'm sorry."

As he looked around the cabin at his fellow campers, Corey got mostly encouraging looks - they were forgiving him - all except maybe Vince Palmer, who looked a bit too happy about Corey's impending punishment. Well, screw that former Bear bully anyway.

"I just wanted to finish by saying that I won't act like that again. And I wanted to thank Jeff for going to bat for me with Boss Lemmon, who wanted to give me the razor strop at evening assembly tomorrow night." This news brought surprised gasps from a few of his fellow campers. He had not mentioned that fact before.

"You're welcome, Corey," said Jeff. "You do deserve a sound beating for what you did, but I think the razor strop might have been going a bit far. Is that all you had to say?"

"Yes, Jeff," said Corey. He turned around and lay down across the foot of his bed, grabbing two fists full of bed spread against the coming pain.

Smaaacckk! That didn't hurt much. Is Jeff using his hand? Corey turned his head just in time to see his counselor plant a hand spank on his other cotton-clad nether cheek. Smaaacckk!

"Corey, did you hear me say 12 whacks on the bare for AWOL?" said Jeff. "Get those undies off, boy, unless you want two dozen of the paddle instead!"

"Sorry, Jeff!" yelped Corey as he leapt back off the bed, whisked his y-front Jockeys down and off, tossing them on the bed. He had never forgotten to strip himself before, how incredibly stupid! Several of his fellow campers, including Jerry, were laughing as Corey once again lay down across the foot of his bed, presenting his now-bare tail for the paddle.

"No problem," said Jeff, admiring the reddish hand prints now gracing the twin trembling white cheeks that were waiting for the paddle. "We all know you've been distracted the last couple of days." This brought more nervous laughter from Corey's fellow campers.

"Let's see if an even dozen with this paddle will help focus your attention a little better," concluded Jeff as he swung the hardwood paddle over his head and crashed it firmly back down on the waiting 13-year-old backside. Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk!

Wow! That new paddle is a real corker! Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk!

The pain was incredible! Corey didn't know if Jeff was hitting harder that he hit Sandy the other day. It sure seemed harder at this range. Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk!

Corey gasped slightly from the agony he was experiencing. Jeff was definitely hitting at least twice as hard as he did last year as the Fox Cabin counselor. Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk!

"Oooooww!" Corey could no longer bear the pain being transmitted to his backside silently. Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk!

"Aaahh!" The paddle focused Corey's attention all right, mostly on the pain he was experiencing, which was going far beyond a level he could believe possible. Surely his backside must have exploded by now? Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk!

"Uuuuhhhhhh!" But as the tears started flowing from his eyes, Corey also focused on what he could have lost from his stupidity. Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk!

"Aaaaahhhhhh!" Corey might have been sent home in disgrace, losing all his friends in the process... Alan, Eric, Anna .... and Jerry. Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk!

"Nooooooooo!" Corey couldn't stand the thought of losing these friends, and began bawling - both from the emotion of the moment and the waves of pain coming from his scorched seat. As Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk! after Crrrraaaaaccccckkkkk! hit his unprotected rump, Corey lost count, sinking into a world of physical and emotional agony.

Eventually he became aware of the fact that the paddling had stopped. Shortly thereafter two of his cabinmates helped Corey get properly into bed so he could sob himself to sleep. He couldn't bring himself to look his helpers in the face.

One of them was obviously Jerry - he recognized the y-front Jockeys, the same kind Mom bought for Corey, as well as he tent that Jerry had pitched in the front of them. Corey didn't take Jerry's erection personally - he knew his closest friend always popped a boner when witnessing (or receiving) a spanking.

Corey was more than a little surprised when he noticed that the other boy helping him into bed was wearing Brooks Brothers briefs. So Sandy had decided to return the favor - Corey had helped Sandy the same way just last Thursday.

You can contact the author at: mrbwatson (at) gmail.com