(Author's Note: This is the fourth story in a series. This series is based on characters and situations introduced in two novel-length series of stories: Camp Torowa Falls and Camp Torowa Falls 1964.
This is a continuation of Camp Torowa Falls 1965, which began with Chapter 1: Architects of Disaster. For best results you should read the preceeding chapters of CTF65 first.)
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For the second year in a row strong thunderstorms rolled through the Lehigh Valley in the early morning hours of July 4th. This time they cleared out of the area just before dawn leaving behind a clear blue sky when the sun came up that morning.

Having gone to sleep quite early, Corey woke up shortly after dawn feeling excellent. He was grateful for having plenty of energy since this was going to be a very long day. He sincerely prayed that the day would go better than last year.

While down in the bathroom for his shower, Corey examined his butt in the mirror. After four days the six stripes were still clearly there, although they had faded from red to a dark bluish color. He could touch them now without any pain. In fact he really only felt the stripes if he sat down too fast or if he tried to sit in on a hard surface for too long. He still fervently hoped that the next person who examined a set of fresh cane stripes in this mirror would be his smug little sister, Becky.

Corey was back in his room laying out his church clothes when Jerry woke up around 6:45. "Good morning, Jerry," he said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Corey," said Jerry, as he stretched. "You didn't have any trouble getting to sleep last night. You were snoring by 9:30."

"I've started snoring?" said Corey. He was genuinely surprised.

"Started?" said Jerry with a grin on his face as he climbed out of bed. "You started about two years ago, although it was only very soft at that point. So far it's gotten a bit louder every year."

"Seriously?" Corey was stunned.

"Seriously," said Jerry. "If this trend keeps up Anna will eventually need earplugs if she wants to sleep in the same bed with you."

"Gee thanks," said Corey sarcastically. "Listen, you let me worry about Anna. You worry about Ann-Margaret, and what she might need to sleep with you some day.... like maybe a brain transplant."

"Har de har, har!" said Jerry. He put on his bathrobe and grabbed some clean undies. "Is the bathroom open?"

"It was 10 minutes ago when I finished," said Corey. "So unless somebody on the second floor just woke up early, you should be clear."

"Only one way to find out," said Jerry as he headed for the stairs.

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Since it had turned into a gorgeous summer day, after church services the congregation of Grace Evangelical Church was once again standing around the lawn in front of and at the side of the building chatting in small groups as the younger children dashed around playing.

Jerry, Walt and Corey formed their own small group standing in their traditional spot at 9th Street and Lincoln Ave., at the edge of the church lawn. "Wow!" said Walt, "Mrs. Hofstetter was really on the warpath this morning."

Jerry chuckled as he looked at Corey, who simply had a big grin on his face.

"What?" said Walt.

"The concept of an elderly Sunday School teacher being on the warpath," said Jerry. "You gotta admit that's funny."

"Okay, okay," said Walt. "But she was really worked up about those little kids who were caught swimming in the canal the other day, and especially by reports that two older boys may have been swimming in the river."

Corey laughed, "So what? She's had a bee in her bonnet about that as long as I can remember. That bee will be eligible for Social Security benefits soon. Maybe it will retire."

Corey and Jerry shared a laugh over this, and eventually were joined by Walt.

After he stopped laughing Walt eyed Corey and Jerry suspiciously. "I couldn't help but notice that that incident was reported as happening the same day that you two were missing from the pool."

"Gee, Walt," said Corey. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Yeah, Walt," said Jerry. "We told you about the choking incident at dinner on Thursday night. Aunt Penny declared that Corey wasn't well enough to go swimming in the pool on Friday. That means he also wasn't nearly well enough to go swimming in the river."

"Yeah, you're right," said Walt. "Sorry for being suspicious."

"Ah," said Jerry, with a dismissive wave. "No offense taken."

"Yeah," said Corey. "I guess the two of us do have a kind of reputation for getting in a lot of trouble after last summer. But this year we've turned over a new leaf."

"Yeah, okay," said Walt. It appeared he was about to say something else when his face suddenly registered surprise and he said, "Uh, oh, here come Corey's parents."

Sure enough, Corey's family came towards them walking quickly. "Come on boys," said Dad as they approached the trio standing on the corner. "It's after 11 already. We'll be hard pressed to get home, change our clothes, load the car, and get to Allentown by noon. So let's not dawdle."

Corey and Jerry wished Walt a happy July 4th. So did the rest of the Lane family as they passed by. The two boys fell in behind the family procession and followed them home at a brisk pace.

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In fact Dad pulled the fully loaded Ford Falcon Squire station wagon into Uncle Karl's driveway at 12:16 PM.

Uncle Karl came out of the house as the Lanes piled out of the car. He walked up to Dad smiling broadly and tapping his wristwatch. "So, Mr. Punctuality is late for once."

"No excuses," said Dad, "but I will mention that our pastor usually offers a truncated service on these secular holidays when he knows people have to get places. Today he apparently forgot."

"Hey, no harm done, Will," said Uncle Karl, who quickly dropped the teasing. "And hey! Nice shirts, folks!"

"Thank you, Karl," said Mom. "I bought them from a co-worker who was selling them as a school fundraiser."

"Hmm," said Karl, "Very nice, Penny. I do really like them."

Corey's mother had purchased five copies of a patriotic t-shirt in the appropriate sizes for her family and Jerry. They were white shirts with an American flag depicted waving proudly on the front chest area with the phrase "Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue!" written in alternating red and blue ink beneath it. The words were lyrics from a 19th Century patriotic song entitled, "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean".

Corey had initially been unimpressed with the shirts. But now that he was wearing his and seeing them worn by Jerry and his family, they were rapidly growing on him. Mom had only commanded everyone to wear their shirts at least until after lunch was cleared away. Corey and Jerry both had spare shirts in the car, but now Corey was unsure if he wanted to change.

Three of Corey's cousins came out to help them unload the car, so it went fairly quickly. Soon enough all the pies and cakes had been taken inside the house. Becky's deviled eggs were consigned to the spare refrigerator in the garage. Corey and Jerry carried them in, under the close supervision of Becky herself.

"Wow!" said Jerry after the trays of eggs had been loaded in the fridge and Becky had headed inside the house. "This is one humungous fridge!"

"It sure is!" said Corey. In fact it was more than twice the size of any fridge he had seen in any kitchen. All stainless steel and about six feet tall, it was nearly six feet wide as well, with two large swinging doors that opened from the middle.

"It's a commercial refrigerator," said Joey Hoffman, the 14-year-old eldest son of Uncle Karl. "The kind they normally only use in restaurant kitchens. My parents host a lot of picnics and parties so Dad got it for the extra cold storage space. He bought it at an auction where they were selling off equipment from a closed restaurant over in Emmaus. He only paid $40 for it, which is peanuts, but he did have to get a special outlet installed here in the garage to handle it. 220 amps or volts... or something."

"It's 220 volts," said Corey. "220 amps would be enough power to run everything in the house plus this thing, I think."

"How do you know all that stuff?" said Joey.

Corey shrugged. "I have a book on electronics kicking around my room somewhere at home. I know I'm going to study engineering at the Naval Academy someday, but I haven't worked out what kind of engineering I want to study."

Joey laughed and shook his head. "You guys and Gary have always amazed me with your single-minded dedication to a goal you set when you were just little kids. I'm the same age as you two and I don't even know what I want to do for a living, much less where I want to go to college."

"Who exactly is Gary?" said Jerry.

"Our cousin, Gary Hoffman," said Corey. "He's the oldest son of Uncle Andre and Aunt Pamela. You met him here last summer."

"In fact he's the oldest member of our generation," said Joey. "At 18, he's older than all of his cousins, including of course me and Corey."

"Gotcha, I remember him now," said Jerry. "And Gary's single-minded goal is...?"

"Oh," said Corey. "He's always wanted to be a Cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. And guess what? He made it! He starts there this summer. We really should corner him after lunch and try to get some info about what the application process was like. I'm sure the procedures for West Point aren't all that much different than those for Annapolis."

"Well, he's only gonna be an Army guy," said Jerry, pretending to hold his nose, "but it's probably a good idea anyway."

"Umm, no it isn't," said Joey, looking a bit sheepish. "Gary isn't here today."

"Why not?" said Corey, who was suddenly concerned. "Did something happen to him?"

"Nothing bad, no," said Joey, "Gary left for West Point a few days ago."

"Really?" said Corey. "Training for new West Point cadets starts before July 4th?"

"I guess it does," said Joey. He started to head for the house. "I don't know why else he'd go up there, unless they have to do a ton of paperwork when they're starting."

"Weird," said Corey. "I always thought the Naval Academy report day for new Midshipmen was in mid-July. Guess I better check that out more thoroughly."

Jerry laughed, "Check all you want, Corey. When the time comes I just plan to show up at the date and time on my orders."

The three boys laughed as they headed for the picnic in the back yard.

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Once again Jerry was welcomed warmly into the family. Corey noticed that Jerry was choked with emotion after being fussed over by Corey's grandparents, but at least this time he kept the tears out of his eyes.

The "Band of Six" adolescent boys quickly reformed for another day of fun. These boys were naturally clustered together in ages. The four 14-year-olds were Corey, Jerry, Joey Hoffman and Sam Bielecki. The two 13-year-olds were Jimmy Hoffman and Pete Bielecki. The fact that the last time all six had been together had been when their backsides were being thrashed for the "Rocket's Red Glare Affair" last year did not seem to bother them in the least.

Despite their eldest grandchild having reported for training at West Point the week before, Victor and Ann Hoffman were once again presiding over the biggest picnic in the neighborhood. Corey counted 42 people who turned up for lunch. Most would stay for the entire day, but a few would leave sometime after lunch ended because they had other picnics or events they had to attend. Those people would likely be replaced by others who were taking care of other obligations early in the day and would arrive in time for dinner and fireworks.

Yes, Uncle Mitch had once again brought a collection of heavy duty fireworks he obtained somewhere. This made four years in a row. But there was going to be one difference this year. The Band of Six were called on the carpet and informed that they would be allowed to watch the heavy fireworks, but only from a safe distance. Their fathers told them in no uncertain terms they were strictly forbidden from personally touching anything more powerful than a sparkler.

Corey was mildly annoyed by this order, but he readily agreed when his father asked him if he was clear on these instructions. Needless to say all six boys were very agreeable. All agreed later that a little wounded pride was better than the seriously striped rear ends they got for their trouble last year.

Jerry had been amazed by the sheer quantity and variety of picnic food available for lunch and dinner in 1964. If anything, the family's cooks had outdone themselves even more this year.

Of course there were the usual hot dogs and hamburgers that emerged from the large charcoal grill presided over by Uncle Karl. Everyone could dress their burgers and dogs as desired at the condiment bar (really a folding picnic table). This hot food was joined by Grandma's Boston Baked Beans as the only hot side dish. Of course on a hot, muggy summer day cold side dishes were much appreciated by the picnickers. They would not be disappointed. A partial list of the cold sides included:

• Potato Chips
• Chow-Chow (Pickled Vegetables)
• Aunt Lil's Potato Salad
• Aunt Pat's Pickled Cabbage
• Sandy Hoffman's Macaroni and Cheese Salad
• Becky Lane's Deviled Eggs
• Donna Hoffman's Red Beet Eggs
• Aunt Pamela's Scotch Eggs
• Aunt Viv's Ambrosia Salad

It took several folding picnic tables to hold all this food. And this was only the half of it. Half of the available quantity of these various sides were waiting patiently in the various fridges (kitchen, basement and garage) for dinner that evening.

Two other picnic tables held the desserts. In addition to Aunt Penny's various fruit pies, Shoo Fly Pie and Black Walnut Cake, there were miscellaneous cakes, pies and brownies brought by visitors as well as fresh watermelon slices for those who wanted something lighter.

All of this food was washed down with iced tea, lemonade or draft birch beer. Adults had the option of draft beer with two choices: Rolling Rock Lager or Horlacher Pilsner.

Jerry sampled many of the various sides, and he had a scotch egg for only the second time in his life. He had been confused by the English picnic favorite last year until Corey bit into his and showed him the inside. The hard boiled egg was coated with a seasoned sausage mixture and then baked. Served cold, the scotch eggs had been provided by Aunt Pamela, who learned to make them when growing up in England. Jerry wasn't sure about the foreign treat at first despite trying a bit of Corey's, but he had finally tried a whole one at dinner the previous year and found he liked it a lot. This year he immediately placed one on his lunch plate.

Corey really wanted to try all the various sides, but of course there wasn't enough room on the plate, or in his stomach. His cousin Sam reminded Corey that most of the same sides would be available at dinner, so he could "pick up the spare" then. The good news was that Becky's Deviled Eggs were in fact just as good as when Mom made them. Corey looked forward to being able to give his sister a sincere compliment for a change. He finished off his lunch with a slice of Mrs. Henritzy's Double Fudge Chocolate Cake.

Although she was a terrific baker, Penny Lane had never been able to master the art of making a good chocolate cake. Corey wasn't sure if this was due to her general dislike of chocolate, or if that was merely a coincidence. In any event Corey loved chocolate and chocolate desserts. So he usually tried a piece of any good chocolate cake or pie he encountered when away from home.

Eventually lunch wound down. After the uneaten food was cleared away the Band of Six was tasked with folding all the spare picnic tables and storing them in the garage to provide more room for lawn games and other activities. For some reason Jerry began singing "Heigh-Ho" (the dwarf's marching song) from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves as he and Corey carried their first folded table to the garage. Corey laughed, but quickly joined in, the duo marching as they carried the table. Eventually the other four boys picked up the song and began marching, much to the amusement of the the rest of the family. The younger kids who were carrying the spare folding chairs enthusiastically joined in and soon there were nearly a dozen "dwarves" marching with their burdens and singing that song.

"Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, it's off to work we go," whistling.

The singing, marching, whistling kids all kept it up for the rest of the table and chair storage process. To Corey's great surprise, the humor of the situation and the reaction of the spectators did actually seem to make the work go a lot faster. Who knew?

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After the post-lunch chores were complete the Band of Six went into their default mode, which was: "play hard and have fun!" They spent the afternoon throwing around baseballs, footballs and frisbees, not to mention participating in the ongoing bean bag and horseshoe throwing games. Corey and Jerry both chose to keep wearing the patriotic t-shirts that Penny had given them. They agreed that the shirts were an appropriate statement to make on Independence Day.

As the blazing sun high in the nearly cloudless blue sky burned away yet another lazy, hazy, crazy day of summer, some of the visitors from lunch left to attend other picnics or events. Meanwhile other friends and neighbors showed up to participate in dinner and to see the fireworks afterwards.

George Howser, MD., the retired surgeon who had examined the Band of Six after the fireworks debacle the previous year, was back with his wife. They brought along a bowl of Three Bean Salad and Mrs. Howser's specialty, a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie.

Corey knew well that "coveting" was a sin, but upon seeing that pie he immediately decided that out of 40 plus people eating dinner there that night, he was going to be eating one of the slices of that chocolate peanut butter goodness.

The largest group of visitors for dinner that year was the Strickler family. Curtis Strickler and his wife Wendy brought their three sons, Charles (16), Douglas (14), and Kevin (10). Wendy provided a large bowl of German Chicken Salad with Sauerkraut and a tray of Peach Cobbler as their dinner contributions. The Stricklers had just recently moved into the neighborhood and befriended Uncle Karl's family.

Or rather the adults became friends by default since their children were becoming friends. Doug Strickler and Joey Hoffman were well on their way to becoming good friends, and Kevin Strickler always had a great time with fellow 10-year old Ray Hoffman. This was the Strickler's first time at a Hoffman family picnic and they seemed a bit shocked by the sheer number of people there.

Joey introduced Doug to the rest of the Band of Six, which almost immediately became the Band of Seven. Corey and Jerry shared a look and a rather positive shrug. Any friend of Joey's was a friend of theirs until he proved himself a creep, which hopefully would not happen. It turned out that Doug and Kevin were both relatively laid back kids and they easily assimilated into their own age groups of boys at the picnic.

It was their older brother, 16-year-old Chuck Strickler, who was not really fitting into his age group. He quickly made it clear that he was not impressed with Eddie Hoffman, the 16-year-old second son of Uncle Andre and Aunt Pamela. Not surprisingly, Eddie took a rather dim view of this arrogant newcomer. Fortunately Eddie decided to handle the situation by ignoring Chuck as much as possible.

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Nearly three hours after lunch ended the Band of Seven was resting for a while in the shade behind the garage. They were poking fun at the music that Uncle Karl was playing on his improvised outdoor sound system. The playlist was mostly country music and polkas.

"We didn't have to put up with this last year," said Sam, holding his hands over his ears as the "Beer Barrel Polka" once again blared from the sound system. "That's three times so far this afternoon."

"Yeah, it's my Dad's favorite polka," said Joey, a bit defensively. "He couldn't get the sound system running in time for last year's picnic, but he worked out the bugs over the winter and now it's operating."

"I don't imagine he has any Beatles or Herman's Hermits records," said Jerry.

"You gotta be kidding!" said Joey. "No way he would ever own something like that. For my Dad, country music is alright, but modern folk music is right at the edge of what he's willing to tolerate."

"He doesn't like folk music?" said Doug. "Like Peter, Paul and Mary?

"He's not a huge fan of folk music, no," said Joey. "He'll listen to it as long as it's not what he calls a Protest Song. But anything with electric guitars, forget about it!"

"Just out of curiosity," said Corey, in an attempt to change the subject, "where did your Dad get the parts for his sound system?"

"He bought most of it at various auctions," said Joey. "Dad goes to auctions a lot, and he drags me and Ray along sometimes."

"Does he leave those speakers out all summer?" said Doug, eyeing the two large horn speakers that were attached to the side of the garage facing the back yard.

"Well, yeah," said Joey. "They're supposed to be designed for outdoor use."

Doug laughed. "Outdoor-rated or not, the speaker cones inside the horns won't last long when exposed to the elements all the time."

"How would you know that?" said Joey. "Are you an electronics expert?"

Doug laughed even harder. "Hell no! But my Dad runs into that problem all the time at work. He's an Assistant Manager of the Allentown Fairgrounds. They have outdoor speakers all over their property and he says they have to replace the speaker cones on about a third of them every year."

"Which means they last only an average of three years?" said Joey.

"About that, yep," said Doug.

"Terrific," said Sam. "So we only have two more years of the Beer Barrel Polka to look forward to."

This brought general laughter from the group. While they were laughing Uncle Mitch strolled up to them. "Well, isn't this a bunch of merry men?"

"We can be if you want to lead us, Uncle Robin," said Corey, trying to affect an English accent. "All we need are bows and a forest to hide in."

Uncle Mitch joined in the laughter in response to this jest, "Very funny, Corey. But I actually came over here to ask you a question."

"Me?" said Corey. Now what?

"Yes, you," said Uncle Mitch. "We've had complaints about the musical selections Karl is playing from some of the younger members of the audience."

"Really?" said Corey, barely able to keep a smirk off his face.

"Yes, really," said Uncle Mitch, with a knowing look on his own face. "Now Karl isn't willing to let anyone play popular records on his sound system, but he told me that if I can find someone to sing a few songs live he would turn off the sound system for a little while."

Uh oh! Corey knew what was coming next and he wasn't happy.

"Your parents tell me you're learning to play guitar and sing some popular songs, like Elvis and the Beatles," said Uncle Mitch.

"Elvis, yes," said Corey. "The Beatles, definitely not! We're not all fans of that mop top crew from Liverpool."

"Fair enough," said Uncle Mitch, "Would you be willing to sing us a few non-Beatles songs?"

Corey really wasn't thrilled about performing in front of 40 plus people, but, "Well, I might be, Uncle Mitch. Trouble is that I left my guitar at home. So I'll have to decline."

"Hmm," said Uncle Mitch, "Lemme see what I can dig up."

As Uncle Mitch walked back towards the house Corey was feeling pretty confident that he wouldn't have to sing for this mob. "I'm sure glad I didn't bring my guitar."

"Umm, well," said Joey. "You might not be in the clear on that one."

"Oh, come on, Joey!" said Jerry. "Where is Uncle Mitch gonna find a guitar on July 4th?"

"Actually," said Joey, "in the basement of our house. Back when he was our age my Dad wanted to be a country singer. I think he still has his old guitar from the 1930s stored down there somewhere."

Corey suddenly felt a bit queasy. He knew that he would have to make his first public performance someday. But using a guitar he had never seen before, much less practiced on? This could get tricky.

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A few minutes later Corey was summoned into the house where he found Uncle Mitch and his father waiting for him in the basement. They were huddled over an open black guitar case.

"We found you a guitar to play, Son," said Dad.

"Good," said Corey. Actually not good, but he knew he was on the hook and had no choice but to try not to embarrass himself too much.

It turned out that Uncle Karl had a 1930 Gibson L-1 concert style flat top acoustic guitar that he played when he was a teenager. When Corey tried to tune the guitar he discovered that the G string was dead.

"Can't you just play it with five strings?" said Uncle Mitch.

"No way!" said Corey. "Maybe a master guitarist could figure out how to do that, but I'm just learning to play. I have enough trouble getting it right with the correct number of strings that are properly tuned. We need to find a set of spare strings or we're out of luck."

Corey thought he was gonna get away with not performing that day until his father found a set of spare strings in the guitar case. So he ended up having to restring the guitar. Then he took a quick bathroom break before heading out into the back yard to deliver his first "public" performance as a musician.

Uncle Karl turned off the sound system as promised. Corey walked out into the yard and turned to face the family and visitors who had all gathered at the rear of the house to watch his performance. As he nervously fine-tuned the guitar he reminded himself to breathe. He also remembered his father's warning about performing any Elvis songs. "Don't do the dancing. Just play the guitar and sing the song."

Corey opened with "Don't Be Cruel" by Elvis. He stood there just playing and singing as ordered. He did do his best to imitate "The King's" voice. Not an easy task when you're an adolescent boy whose voice has been cracking from time to time. At least it didn't crack during that song. When he finished the song there was a small but enthusiastic smattering of applause, mostly from the Band of Six and other younger people there.

The second song Corey performed was "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran. This went great until the final spoken line when he tried to drop his voice into a bass register. As he said "I'd like to help you son, but you're too young to vote" his voice cracked. This drew a few laughs, the loudest it seemed was from Chuck Strickler - the twerp. At the end of the song he received the same scattered applause as before.

So much for any songs calling for lower ranged singing or speaking. Corey chose to close his brief set with a song that the whole audience might like. "I'd like to do one more song that you might all know and enjoy. It was written by Woody Guthrie a while back and it celebrates this great county of ours. It seems appropriate to sing this song on Independence Day. If you know the words, please join in on the chorus."

Corey then proceeded to perform "This Land is Your Land", the classic 1949 song by folk music legend Woody Guthrie. But Corey performed it in the modern style and timing used by Peter, Paul and Mary in their 1963 cover version. Much to his surprise, the crowd responded by clapping and singing along on the choruses. Even Uncle Karl and his grandparents were clapping and singing. Corey realized that this patriotic song cut across all generations. It was a powerful feeling, being in a large group like this all clapping and singing the same song, and realizing that he was leading them. Corey finished the song, and was amazed by the enthusiastic applause by nearly everyone there. He noticed that even Becky was cheering and applauding her big brother. Holy cow! Satan better get himself a winter coat!

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Dinner was scheduled to kick off at 7 PM, so preparations began around 6 PM. Once again the Band of Seven was pressed into service carrying the tables. Only this time they were hauling the tables from the garage and unfolding them where Uncle Stan told them to set up. Predictably, they began singing the "Heigh-Ho" song again and marching. They were joined by Eddie Hoffman so that they had an even number once again.

Corey could tell that Eddie was angry. Chuck Strickler had been flirting with Eddie's 15-year-old sister Sandy, despite her attempts to make it clear to Chuck that she wasn't interested. Meanwhile Chuck was ignoring the attentions of Donna Hoffman, Joey's 15-year-old big sister, who clearly was interested in flirting with him. The whole thing looked like a cheesy soap opera to Corey.

After all the buffet tables were set up, the crew brought out a few more tables to be used as seating for dinner. Some younger kids brought out the folding chairs for the dining tables.

As Uncle Karl fired up the grill and prepared to cook the dinner entrees the side dishes and desserts were retrieved from various fridges and storage locations and placed on the buffet tables.

Dinner was served just after 7 PM and people began dressing their burgers and hot dogs and then loading their plates with side dishes. Corey and Jerry were at the condiment table dressing their burgers when all hell broke loose.

The anger between Eddie Hoffman and Chuck Strickler had been simmering all afternoon. As they waited in line for dinner Chuck insisted on once again hitting on Eddie's sister Sandy. Of course Eddie came to the defense of his little sister. Heated words were exchanged, and then suddenly Chuck took a swing at Eddie.

Eddie wasn't quite able to avoid the punch from the slightly larger boy and suffered a glancing blow to his head. This infuriated the young man and he responded by rushing Chuck and tackling him. Chuck was not expecting this form of attack and was thrown backwards although he managed to keep from falling. Uncle Mitch and Uncle Stan moved to intervene but they were too slow. As Chuck tried to regain his balance and footing Eddie charged and overbore him right off his feet.

The two boys were briefly airborne until they slammed into one of the buffet tables, collapsing it and sending its contents scattering across the lawn. The enraged Chuck lept to his feet and before Uncle Mitch could grab him, Chuck bodily picked up the groggy Eddie and threw him across the lawn. Eddie knocked the legs out from under one end of a dessert table, causing its contents to rain down on him and the lawn around him.

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Order was eventually restored but it took a while. The two combatants were restrained and then placed in the custody of their fathers. Uncle Karl stopped cooking dinner until the mess could be cleaned up and the damage assessed. It turned out that the buffet table that collapsed primarily held the egg side dishes. So Becky's Deviled Eggs were gone and she was crushed. Also gone were Sandy Hoffman's Red Beet Eggs and Aunt Pamela's Scotch Eggs. A couple of covered dishes brought by guests were also lost.

Most of the lost dishes had been on aluminum or plastic trays or in plastic dishes so they remained intact although the aluminum tray holding Becky's Deviled Eggs had been deformed in the crash. The big problem was the large glass jar that held Sandy Hoffman's Red Beet Eggs. The glass had shattered scattering eggs, beets and beet juice over the surrounding area. Obviously the broken glass was a major safety hazard and it had to be carefully picked up and disposed of before dinner could continue.

The dessert table that collapsed held the contributions from visitors for the most part. Corey was dismayed by the destruction of Mrs. Howser's Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. Well, that's what he gets for coveting things, he supposed. Corey would eat something his mother made for dessert, which he knew would make her happy.

While the cleanup efforts proceeded Chuck and Eddie were examined by Dr. Howser. Except for a few minor bruises both boys were given a clean bill of health. Uncle Andre had not brought a cane along with him, so he borrowed Uncle Karl's paddle. He and Mr. Strickler led their errant sons out to the garage and closed the garage doors.

The assembled picnickers would not be able to see justice served on the two miscreants, but they sure were going to be able to hear it. They could clearly hear Uncle Andre order Eddie to drop his shorts and underwear. All other conversations stopped. Nobody even pretended that they weren't listening intently. Corey certainly felt justified in listening. Because of those two twits he and Jerry were crawling on the grass carefully looking for stray bits of glass rather than eating their dinner.

Craacckk!! The sound of solid wooden paddle striking bare muscular 16-year-old backside could be clearly heard through the walls and doors of the garage. Craacckk!! No reaction could be heard so far, although minor gasps and groans would probably not make it through the garage walls. Craacckk!! Corey exchanged a look with Jerry. Both boys were glad to be hearing the paddle do its work from a distance rather an experiencing it first hand. Craacckk!! So far Corey was impressed with Eddie's ability to deal with the pain. Craacckk!! He hoped that he would take it as well.... Craacckk!! No, scratch that! Corey hoped he would not be getting his butt whacked anymore by the time he was sixteen. Craacckk!! "Aaaahhh." Clearly the pain was getting to Eddie now. Craacckk!! "Aaaahhhhh!" Yep, the yelping should start soon. That was 8 whacks already. Craacckk!! "Oooowwwww!!" Corey started wondering how many Eddie was gonna get. Craacckk!! "Oooowwwww!!" Eddie and Chuck must be wondering the same thing. That was ten. Craacckk!! "Aaaaaahhhh!!" Yikes, that was 11! How many are they gonna get? Craacckk!! "Ooooowwwwwww!!"

Finally Uncle Andre told Eddie to get up. So, it was an even dozen whacks. From the sound of those licks, Corey was profoundly glad that he wasn't gonna be one of the recipients this time. From the look on Jerry's face, his friend was thinking more or less the same thing.

Mr. Strickler ordered Chuck to drop his shorts and underpants. There was the sound of voices, apparently Chuck was arguing with his father. Yikes! Corey would never have the nerve to argue with his father when the man was about to give him an ass beating.

Craacckk!! Clearly Mr. Strickler won the argument. Craacckk!! Corey wasn't sure if he heard a slight yelp. Craacckk!! "Aaaahhh!" Yep, apparently it was. The big jerk wasn't as tough as he thought. Craacckk!! "Ooooowwwwww!!" Nope. Definitely not so tough. Craacckk!! "Aaaaaacchhhh!" Corey grinned to himself. Craacckk!! "Aaaaaaaaacccchh!!" It almost sounded like Chuck was yelping in Pennsylvania Dutch. Craacckk!! "Ooowwwwwwchh!" Corey was not impressed. It was a weak performance for a 16-year-old. Craacckk!! "Urrr!!" Corey looked around and noticed various looks of satisfaction on the faces of the other kids, and even most of the adults. Craacckk!! "Aaaaaaaaacccchh!!" Corey wondered if Donna Hoffman would still be interested in Chuck after this sad performance. Craacckk!! "Aaaaaaaaacccchh!!" Ten down and two to go.

Uh oh! Mr. Strickler was ordering Chuck back into position. Heated words were exchanged. It actually sounded like Uncle Andre was employed to hold Chuck down for the rest of his paddling. The rebelious youth received four more whacks of the paddle and howled after each lick. It almost sounded like he was crying when it was all over.

A couple minutes later the garage doors were opened again and Uncle Andre, carrying the paddle, led a tearful Eddie back into the house.

A few minutes later Mr. Strickler emerged from the garage followed by a very subdued Chuck, who was red faced and had clearly been crying.

Eventually the mess had been cleared away and dinner resumed, although the crowd was much quieter than before disaster struck. Corey and Jerry were both glad that they had tried the Scotch Eggs and Becky's Deviled Eggs at lunch. Jerry finished dinner with a slice of Aunt Penny's Strawberry Pie. Corey had a slice of her Black Walnut Cake, which was his favorite non-chocolate cake. Eddie and Chuck sat next to their fathers for dinner and neither of them seemed all that hungry. Corey could hardly blame them.

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It was finally decided to get the Band of Seven involved with the fireworks show after all. They were assigned to the safety crew, which resulted in Corey and Jerry manning a full bucket of water which they would throw on any potential fire as directed by Uncle Karl or Uncle Will, who were the Damage Control Officers in charge of preventing any damage to the people, the house or the garage.

Uncle Mitch was in charge of the firing range and actually set off the major fireworks for the show. He was assisted by Uncle Andre and his son Eddie. Uncle Stan was appointed as Range Safety Officer. His job was to ensure that none of the kids wandered too close to the fireworks launch area. After the debacle the previous year the adults weren't taking any chances.

Once again it was quite a spectacular fireworks show, especially for a non-professional crew. This time there were no accidents or major malfunctions. Every single roman candle worked exactly as designed, a fact that irritated Corey quite a bit as he stood by his bucket. They had to pick the one defective roman candle out of 10,000 to stand around last year. Sometimes life just wasn't fair.

After the show Corey and Jerry helped to put away the safety equipment. Basically they emptied their bucket of water and put all the buckets back in the basement. Corey was getting quite tired and plopped down on a old couch that was used as basement seating. Jerry joined him.

Jerry yawned and stretched, then said, "Have you noticed something about this summer so far?"

"I dunno," said Corey, trying to stifle a yawn. "It's been a bit hotter than last summer?"

"Well, maybe," said Jerry. "But I mean the fact that we've been witnessing a lot more butt whippings than we've been getting."

"I hadn't really thought of that," said Corey. "But I'm all for it!"

"So am I!" said Jerry. "May that trend continue forever!"