(Author Note: This is the tenth episode in a series. The characters and situations were introduced in the story:
Camp Torowa Falls 1: Wet Sheets Lead to Sore Rumps.
Read that episode first! Then read episodes 2 through 9 before reading this one!) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four twelve-year-old boys were sunning themselves along the bank of the creek near their encampment. They lay on their bellies watching the rest of their party cavort in the deep swimmin' hole as the shadows grew longer.

A casual inspection of the four prone, nude boys might have suggested rather severe sunburn effects on their buttocks and the tops of their thighs. A closer inspection would have revealed vivid red stripes and some blue bruising, the results of the very severe beating each had received less than ten hours before.

It was early in the evening and further sunbathing would soon prove difficult. Not only was it going to get dark in another hour or so, but cloud cover was closing in fast from the west.

"Looks like rain again tonight," said Alan.

"Yep," said Corey. "Your tent holding up okay?"

"Yes," said Eric. "Despite the fact that it looks like a refugee from the Boer War."

"Which war?" said Jerry.

"The Boer War, 1899-1902," said Eric. "The British vs the Boer Republics (Dutch colonists, basically) in southern Africa."

"Fascinating," said Jerry.

"How do you remember all that stuff?" said Corey. "I have enough trouble cramming American history into my brain."

"Well, at least you manage to do it," said Eric. "At least you know the difference between Gettysburg and Valley Forge."

"Hey!" said Jerry. "Shut up, you two twits!"

"What's that all about?" said Alan. Corey and Eric explained Jerry's confusion about the two historic landmarks, and all three boys laughed raucously at Jerry's ignorance.

"Go ahead, kick a guy when he's down," said Jerry bitterly as he scrambled down the bank into the creek. He turned and splashed water back up on to the three sunbathers.

"Don't go away mad, Jerry," said Corey.

"Just go away!" said Eric and Alan in unison.

Jerry howled in frustration, splashed some more water on them, and swam across the creek, getting out on the other side. As they watched Jerry march stiffly up the far bank towards the encampment, Alan said, "You don't think we overdid it, do you?

"Nah," said Eric. "He'll get over it."

"We can all apologize to him at dinner," suggested Corey. The others agreed to this, and they went back to catching some final rays before the oncoming cloud cover obscured the sun entirely.

"Look, Panny!" said a high-pitched voice from somewhere behind them, "Those boys all have red hineys!"

Corey turned his head and saw two girls standing about fifteen feet behind them. The oldest girl, about Corey's age, had a big smirk on her face. She turned to the younger girl, maybe 5 or 6 years old, and said, "They certainly do, Callie!"

"Do you think they were naughty?" asked the little girl.

"Probably," said the older girl knowingly, "most boys are."

At this point Corey recovered from the shock of seeing anybody who wasn't in their group after two full days in the wilderness alone - let alone girls - and leapt into the creek, making it in about two steps.

As Corey's head popped back up out of the water and he turned back towards the newcomers, he caught a glimpse of Alan and Eric's feet disappearing into the water, they had dove in right behind him. The girls were carefully walking down the embankment towards the bank of the swimmin' hole.

Great, two girls show up at camp, and not only are the Fox Cabin crew all naked, but the campers are all sporting technicolor asses. He had to get them to leave. "Could you girls please leave?" said Corey. "This is a boys' camp here."

"I'm afraid we can't leave," said the older girl. Both girls were garbed in light summer dresses, which Corey thought were an odd choice for trekking through the wilderness. Their camp must be close by.

"Why not?" said Corey. Eric and Alan had both popped back to the surface and were listening to the conversation.

"We're lost, that's why!" said the little girl.

Corey suddenly realized that the two girls looked rather dirty and frazzled, not at all the way girls usually kept themselves. "Okay," said Corey, "We'll help you." How?

Corey turned to see Simon apparently asleep on the far bank. He screamed, "Simon! Wake up! We have company!" No reaction. "Simon!!" He turned to Eric, "Eric, go wake up Simon, then go back to camp and get Jeff."

"Yeah, right! Forget that, at least until they leave." said Eric.

"Alan?" said Corey, turning to his other friend.

"No way!" said Alan. "Why don't you do it, oh mighty Patrol Leader?"

"Great," said Corey. "A mutiny my first day on the job. I do not believe the day I'm having." He turned back to the girls. "I don't imagine you girls would agree to turn your backs while we go put some clothes on?"

"I don't think so," said the older girl.

"We wanna watch!" squeaked the younger girl, who then proceeded to giggle.

Corey sighed. He said, "Yeah, that figures. Stay right there, and I'll bring help." 'Then I'm gonna go find a gun and shoot myself,' he thought as he swam back to the far shore.

Corey climbed out of the creek near where Simon slept. He heard a cascade of girlish giggles in two distinct tones as he shook Simon awake. "We have company, Simon!"

"Whaaa", said Simon. He was slowly waking up.

"Those two girls on the far shore are lost. We need to get our campers dressed and we need to help them."

Simon looked across the creek and spotted the two giggling girls. "Whoa, nellie! Okay, let's go!" he said as he rose, covering his bare crotch with his hand. Then he turned and sprinted up the hill through the trees, with Corey in hot pursuit, the sounds of girlish giggling fading as they climbed.

"So who are they?" asked Jeff a couple minutes later.

"I didn't get their names," said Corey, as he hurriedly dressed.

"What do you know about them?" asked Jeff.

"They said they're lost," said Corey. "They look dirty and worn out, so it's probably true."

"You said they're on the far bank?" asked Jeff.

"Yep."

"Will they be hungry?" asked Simon.

"I would say definitely yes," said Corey. "They looked poorly equipped for hiking. They're wearing dresses."

"Okay," said Jeff. "Jerry, snap out of it and get some food to take along. The marshmallows are gone...grab those crackers we have to go with the chili tonight. Corey, grab a couple of canteens." Both boys moved to comply.

"How are we going ta get them over to this side without getting 'em wet?" asked Simon.

"I think there's a good fording place a couple hundred yards upstream. Remember it from the search yesterday?" said Jeff.

"Oh, yeah," said Simon. "I remember. Rocks to step on and everything."

"Right," said Jeff. "You boys ready yet? Follow along when you're ready, chop, chop!" Jeff and Simon headed down towards the creek at a trot.

Thirty seconds later Corey said, "Ready?"

"Ready!" said Jerry, as he moved to head out.

"Wait a minute," said Corey, reaching out to stop his friend. "Look, I'm sorry about that Valley Forge business down at the swimmin' hole."

Jerry smiled wryly and said, "Don't worry about it, buddy. I know you didn't mean it. And I do need to study harder, history and a lot of other stuff, if I'm ever gonna get in the Naval Academy."

"Okay," said Corey. "Let's go!" The two friends trotted down the hill.

As Corey and Jerry arrived at the creek, Jeff was determining the identities of the lost girls. They were 11-year-old Panny Welles and her 6-year-old sister, Callie. Apparently they had become lost while hiking near their parents' campsite the day before and hadn't had anything to eat except a few berries in the past 24 hours or more. Other than that, they were uninjured.

Jeff turned to Corey and Jerry. "Okay, you two," said Jeff. "Those girls need food and water right now. Walk upstream as quickly as you can. About 200 yards upstream you'll find a good fording place, with rocks to step on. Head back down the other side until you reach the girls. I'll be guiding them upstream from this side. Got it?"

"Yes, Jeff," both boys said simultaneously.

"Okay, move out, on the double!" said Jeff.

Corey and Jerry walked quickly along the bank of the creek. "How could they get lost from their parent's campsite?" asked Corey.

"I guess we'll find out when they tell us, if they even know."

"Do you think they're the reason we saw all those airplanes today?" asked Corey. They had seen several light planes flying around at low altitude, after seeing none the first two days.

"That seems likely," said Jerry.

They soon reached the fording place and made it across the stepping stones without too much difficulty. They quickly headed down the far bank.

"That little girl will have trouble making it across those stepping stones," said Corey.

"I know," said Jerry. "We'll figure something out."

"Is Jeff in college ROTC?" said Corey.

"Yeah," said Jerry. "Army ROTC, I think. Why?"

"He's been getting all military on us today," said Corey. "I was wondering where it came from."

"You better get used to that stuff if you wanna be a squid someday," said Jerry.

"Roger that, jarhead," said Corey. They both laughed.

They soon reached the girls, who had travelled about half the distance from the swimmin' hole to the ford by the time they met. Jeff was pacing the girls on the far bank, encouraging them along.

The boys handed packs of crackers to the girls. The girls greedily opened the crackers and ate them quickly, washing them down with water from the canteens as they walked slowly along the stream. "Thanks," said Panny. "That really hit the spot."

"No problem," said Corey, "Pansy...is it?"

"No, it's Panny!" said Panny. "P-A-N-N-Y."

"It's short for Pandora!" said Callie.

"Shush, you!" said Panny, giving her sister a warning look. Callie stuck her tongue out in response. "At least Pandora is better than Calypso!"

"Is not!" said Callie, sticking out her tongue again.

"My name is Corey, by the way," said Corey. "And this is Jerry." They all exchanged greetings.

Soon they reached the ford. Jeff crossed to their side and introduced himself. Then Jeff solved the Callie-getting-across-the-stones problem by picking the little girl up and carrying her back over to the other side of the creek. Jerry went in front of Panny, showing her where to step on the rocks. Corey followed behind, ready to try and catch her if she fell. They all made it safely back to the near shore.

As they made their way back to the encampment Jeff tried to get information out of the girls as to where their own campsite had been, and how they had become lost. He didn't make a lot of progress, and had a suspicious look on his face by the time they arrived in camp.

The other campers had all dressed while they were gone, and were waiting with Simon. They had started the fire and were getting ready to make dinner. While Panny and Callie were introduced to the other campers, Jeff and Simon held a private, whispered meeting.

After the meeting concluded Simon went to the tent he shared with Jeff while Jeff announced that Simon would be hiking to a nearby public campground where he could notify the authorities that the two girls had been found. Simon could then lead a rescue party back to their encampment first thing the next morning.

"Why does Simon have to hike out tonight?" asked Paulie.

"The girls' parents must be worried sick about them," said Jeff. "This way they'll know the girls are safe tonight, and that they'll be reunited tomorrow."

"Where will they sleep?" asked Alan.

"The girls will sleep in my tent," said Jeff. "Simon will be out of camp tonight, so there will be plenty of room."

Simon left at that point, armed with a jacket, hat, compass, canteen and flashlight. Everyone wished him well as he disappeared into the gathering gloom caused by both the approaching dusk and the approaching storm.

While dinner was being prepared, Jeff had the campers try and locate some spare clothes that might fit their guests. Finding jeans and a shirt for Panny was no problem, as she was similar in size to several boys in the group. Finding clothes small enough for Callie was more difficult. For once Paulie Jenkins' petite stature came in handy and Callie was able to wear his spare pair of denim cutoffs and one of his shirts. The clothes were still quite big on her, but wearable.

The evening turned into a race. It was obvious that it would rain again that night, and the campers were trying to get dinner under their belts before the rain hit. The chili was enjoyed by all, and the dinner conversation was lively.

"So," said Alan, speaking to Panny, "how did you stuck with get a name like Pandora?"

Panny shot a venomous glare at Corey and Jerry, who just shrugged. "My father is a Professor of Greek Literature at Columbia University," she said, in a tone that indicated that this was a very big deal.

Jeff looked up with sudden interest. "Is your father Dr. Eric Welles?" he asked.

"Yes!" said Callie. "Do you know him?"

"No," said Jeff. "But I own one of his books, it was a textbook in one of my Classics lectures."

"Do you go to Columbia, Mr. Paulsen?" asked Panny.

"No," said Jeff. "I go to Faber College, it's in Pennsylvania."

"Oh," said Panny, clearly sounding unimpressed.

Panny then went on about the joys of living in New York City, and all the important people her parents knew. Corey quickly tuned it out. He wasn't the only one - after she finished eating, the exhausted little Callie started nodding off. Jeff put her to bed in his tent.

The evening campfire entertainment was cancelled before it got started by the arrival of the rain. Corey and Jerry entered their tent and sealed up the flaps to keep out the rain. Then they got undressed and lay down on their sleeping bags.

The two friends lay there for a few minutes listening to the rain hitting their tent. "Well," said Corey finally, in a whisper, "that was one of the weirdest days I've ever lived through."

"Yeah," said Jerry also whispering. "That cherry bomb plan wasn't such a big hit, was it?"

"I dunno," said Corey, "it hit me pretty hard." He chuckled ruefully.

Jerry chuckled, "Yeah, you're right. I am sorry about that."

"It was really Paulie's fault we got caught," said Corey. "But he shouldn't have had a cherry bomb in the first place."

"I know," said Jerry. "I promise to listen to you - and Eric and Alan - when you give me advice in the future."

"Glad to hear it," said Corey. He was unwilling to mention the part of Jerry and Jeff's conversation that he had overheard that afternoon. "I just hope our Frisbee plan works out better. Otherwise Bear Cabin will end up with all of the Frisbees and spanking all of us."

Jerry chuckled again. "I'm sure it won't go that badly."

"It could hardly go any worse!"

"True," said Jerry. "I'm really sorry that Jeff wore out two switches on your butt, despite me telling him you opposed the plan."

"Two switches?" said Corey, shocked. "Did he really? I didn't know."

"You didn't know?"

"Nope," said Corey. "After the first dozen or so strokes I wasn't aware of anything except pain. I lost count and just rode it out the best I could."

"What do you think of our two guests?" said Jerry, opting to change the subject.

"Dunno, really." said Corey. "Panny sure seems impressed with how important her family is."

"Yeah," said Jerry. "How do you think they got lost out in the wilderness wearing nothing but dresses?"

"Dunno, but Jeff sure seemed upset about something."

"I know," said Jerry. "We'll find out more in the morning, I guess."

"Maybe," said Corey. There was a pause, the rain outside was falling harder.

"You know," said Jerry at last, "we'll still have Miss Bertha waiting for us when we get back to camp tomorrow, and a bag full of soiled undies from last Friday's debacle."

"Don't remind me!" said Corey. "I can't imagine how I'm gonna get through laundry inspection without crying, especially with her brush landing on these fresh stripes."

"All we can do is try to be brave."

"Yep."

"Do you want to..." suggested Jerry.

Corey thought about it, this was gonna be their last opportunity for a long time. "Okay."

Corey hoped that the rain covered their surpressed groans of passion as they soiled another pair of socks. Afterwards, he opted to sleep on his belly.

Corey was up bright and early as usual the next morning. He looked out the tent flap into the early dawn light. The rain had stopped, but it was still misting a bit and foggy. Hopefully the sun would burn off the remaining clouds and it would be clear for the hike back to Camp Torowa Falls.

After his early morning relief mission, Corey returned to the tent and got dressed in jeans, camp t-shirt, socks, and boots. He went to retieve his fishing gear, and encountered little Callie coming back out of the woods.

"Good morning, Corey!" said Callie, loudly.

"Shhh" whispered Corey, holding his finger to his lips. "People are trying to sleep."

"Okay," said Callie, in an exaggerated whisper.

"Good morning," whispered Corey. He grabbed his fishing gear and started out for the creek.

"Goin fishin?" asked Callie.

"Yes."

"Can I come, too?" asked Callie.

"I don't know about that," said Corey, doubtfully.

"There's nobody else awake, I'm bored!"

"Okay," said Corey, "follow me." At least if he could get the little girl away from the tents she might wake up less people.

Corey let the way down the best fishing spot on the creek. As he got ready to begin fishing, Callie said, "I'm hungry, when's breakfast?"

"In about an hour."

"An hour? I'm starved!" said Callie.

Corey fished around in his pockets and pulled out a couple of his favorite hard spearmint candies. "Here ya go," he said, handing the individually wrapped candies over to Callie.

The little girl opened a piece of candy and popped it in her mouth. "Hmmmm, good!" she said. Then almost as an afterthought, "Thank you!"

"You're quite welcome," said Corey, chuckling.

Callie watched Corey fishing for a couple of minutes. "Do you catch a lot of fish?" she asked.

"Sometimes," said Corey. "But I usually catch at least some fish."

"Is your hiney still red?" asked Callie.

Corey snorted with laughter - he couldn't believe this little girl's nerve. "Probably a little bit," he said, blushing slightly.

"Were you and your friends naughty?" she asked.

"Yes, we were," said Corey.

"And Mr. Paulsen spanked you?"

"Yes, he did."

"Really hard?"

"Pretty hard," said Corey. He couldn't believe he was discussing his whipping with a six-year-old girl.

"Did you cry?"

"A little," said Corey. It would have taking another switching to get him to admit more than that, especially to a girl.

"Our daddy's gonna spank us," said Callie, in a strangely matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"You and Panny?" said Corey. "What for?" Although he suddenly had some suspicions of his own.

"We ran away," said Callie sadly.

Bingo! That's why Jeff looked so suspicious last night. He probably figured it out right away. Corey said, "From your parents' campsite?"

"Yes."

"Why did you run away?"

"We were mad at daddy, so Panny led me off into the woods. We were gonna hide from him for a while to teach him a lesson," said Callie. "But then we got lost."

"Well, now you're safe."

"Thanks to you!" said Callie. She jumped up and impulsively threw her arms around Corey's neck and gave him a kiss.

"Well," said Corey, spluttering a little, "I'm not sure how much I..."

"Dontcha like me, Corey?" asked Callie, pouting a little.

"Well, sure," said Corey. He didn't know what to say. "But I just happened to be here when you showed up."

"Doesn't matter," said Callie. "You're the best, Corey!"

"Thanks, Callie." So this is what it's like to have a fan? Elvis could keep it, for all Corey cared.

Phil joined them a few minutes later, but fishing was bad. In fact they caught nothing, and the campers had to make due with oatmeal for breakfast.

Corey took Jeff aside before breakfast and shared the information he had gleaned from his conversation with Callie. Jeff said that this confirmed the suspicions he had since yesterday. "Their whole getting lost while hiking story just didn't wash with the way they were dressed." The fog had burned off by the end of breakfast and the weather promised to be fair for the hike back to camp.

As the campers were cleaning up from breakfast and making preparations to break camp, the rescue team showed up, guided by Simon. Corey had expected the rest of the team to be made up of people he didn't know and was totally shocked to see Boss Lemmon in the party, speaking to a very tall man. Todd Ritter was also in the group, as well as two men wearing the uniforms of Adirondack State Park rangers.

As soon as Callie, who had been sitting next to Corey at breakfast, spotted the group she took off like a shot, made a bee-line towards the tall man talking to Boss Lemmon and leapt up into his broad arms. "Daddy!" she squealed with delight.

"Calypso, my darling!" said Dr. Welles in a booming voice. "I'm so glad to see you, you had us so worried!" He hugged his daughter tightly. Eventually she started squirming and he placed her back on her feet, where she stood, still holding his hand.

"Pandora, my dear," said Dr. Welles, looking at Panny, who was still standing near the now-extinguished fire, a look of annoyance on her face. "Aren't you glad to see your father?"

Corey thought it was pretty obvious that she wasn't.

"Come on, Panny!" said Callie. "Daddy will forgive us."

"Who says I want to be forgiven by him?" said Panny, crossing her arms.

Whoa! Corey couldn't believe this...he saw the look of anger on the face of Dr. Welles. That look sent a shiver up Corey's spine, and it wasn't even directed at him. Corey would never speak to his father like that, especially when he was already in trouble, unless he had grown weary of life and was looking for the most painful death possible.

"Pandora," said Dr. Welles steadily, his anger barely under control, "Come here."

"No!" yelled Panny, stamping her left foot angrily.

Corey took an involuntary step backwards, away from the combatants. He noticed everyone backing away from both Dr. Welles and Panny. It was strangely like the crowd clearing out of the line of fire before an old west saloon shootout. Even Boss Lemmon took a cautious step away from Dr. Welles. So did little Callie.

"Come here, young lady!" said Dr. Welles, his patience clearly running out.

"No! I wont!" screamed Panny, who looked just as furious as her father.

But Corey was putting his money on Dr. Welles in the upcoming fracas. Sure enough, the angry father crossed the fifteen feet separating him from his eldest daughter in four quick strides and had grabbed hold of her before she had time to react.

In a flash the jeans Panny was wearing were below her knees and she was bent over her irate father's knee, his huge hand administering very hard spanks to her bottom, protected only by thin white panties. Panny's initial reaction was angry, indignant protest, "Unhand me, you brute! How dare you!" and other words to that effect.

But as the relentless hand continued to strike the small buttocks, the building pain caused a change in attitude. After a minute Panny was sobbing, then crying. Finally she was showing a far different attitude than when the spanking began, "Oww! Please forgive me, daddy! Ouch! Nooo!" Her legs kicked futily as the correcting hand continued its work.

Finally Dr. Welles determined that Panny's attitude had been sufficiently changed. He stopped spanking her and helped her off his knee. Panny rubbed her bottom furiously for a few seconds. Then she said "Daddy!" and collapsed into his chest. He held her tightly, rubbing her back gently as she sobbed herself out.

Corey looked around and everyone was displaying varying degrees of embarrassment at having witnessed this private family moment. Little Callie was looking very pensive as she tugged at her bangs. Perhaps she thinks she's next.

Finally Panny had cried herself out and was stood back on her feet. Dr. Welles pulled her borrowed jeans back up and then handed her a small bag he was carrying in his pocket. "Panny, here are some clean clothes. Go into your tent and change please. I need to have a little chat with your sister."

"Yes, daddy," said Panny. "Oh, daddy, Callie just went along with me. This wasn't her idea."

"Thank you for telling me that, my dear," said Dr. Welles. "I will take it into account."

Panny took her clean clothes back to the tent she had shared with her sister and Jeff. Dr. Welles turned to Callie and said, "Calypso, come here, my darling."

Callie bit her lip, but then resolutely marched towards her stern father. She stood next to him, said "I'm so sorry, daddy!" Then she pulled down the denim cutoffs she was wearing.

Dr. Welles placed his hands on his tiny daughter's shoulders. "I know this wasn't your idea, my darling. But you know that you shouldn't have followed your sister out of camp without permission."

"I know, daddy," said Callie. She began climbing up on her father's huge lap. It reminded Corey of young campers climbing up on Miss Bertha's lap. Callie's spanking was much shorter and less severe than her sister's. But it left her sobbing and kicking at the end, begging her father to stop. Afterwards, Callie collapsed into her father's chest and sobbed herself out.

Eventually Callie was placed back on her feet and given a bag of clean clothes to replace her borrowed ones. When ordered to go change, she said, "Okay, daddy, but I want you to meet somebody first!"

The little girl pulled on her father's hand. He said, "Very well, my darling." Dr. Welles followed his daughter's tugging hand, and they were followed by Boss Lemmon.

Corey became alarmed when it began to appear that Callie was leading the adults in his direction. He gulped involuntarily.

"Daddy!" said Callie. "This is Corey Lane. He's the boy who found us!"

"Aha!" exclaimed Dr. Welles, in a voice that even more booming at close range. "Corey Lane, precisely the man I've been longing to meet since learning of my daughters' rescue!" He turned to Callie, "Thank you, my darling! Please go get changed now."

"Yes, daddy!" said Callie. She sprinted off towards the tent.

Dr. Welles dropped to one knee, leaving his head around the same level as Corey's. He placed his right hand on Corey's shoulder. "Corey, there is no way I can ever repay you for finding my daughters."

"Thank you, sir," said Corey, blushing with embarrassment. "But your daughters wandered into our camp. I just happened to be the first person who spoke to them." He shuddered to think what this huge man would do if he found out that Corey had been naked when he met his daughters.

"Ah, modesty as well," said Dr. Welles. He turned to Boss Lemmon. "You must be very proud of this fine young man, Mr. Lemmon."

"Of course, Dr. Welles," said Boss Lemmon. "Corey is one of our most prominent campers."

"Of course he is," said Dr. Welles. "How old are you, Corey?"

"Twelve, sir."

"Twelve! And a hero already!" said Dr. Welles.

"Hardly a hero, sir," said Corey, blushing some more.

"You let us be the judge of that, young man," said Dr. Welles. Corey nodded. "Have you chosen a college yet?"

"I'd like to go to the U.S. Naval Academy, sir," said Corey.

"Ah, a service man!" said Dr. Welles. "Well, if you are an example of the kind of men who will be defending our country in the future, the United States will last a thousand years!" He produced a business card from his pocket, and handed it to Corey. "If you have trouble getting an academy appointment, or change your mind and decide to go Ivy League, give me a call."

"Thank you, sir!" said Corey, a bit stunned and confused.

"My pleasure, Corey," said Dr. Welles, shaking Corey's hand. "My pleasure."

Dr. Welles got back to his feet and was introduced to all the other members of Fox Cabin. Corey stared at Dr. Welles' business card, still held in his hand, trying to understand what had just happened.

The campers packed up the camp and prepared to leave. They were surprised to learn that they would not be hiking the three miles back to Camp Torowa Falls. Instead, they would be marching about a mile to a local public campground with the rangers and the Welles family. From there they would take the bus back to camp.

They got back to the public campground before lunch time. Corey was shocked to see media vehicles from New York City in the campground parking lot, including a truck that said WWOR Television. He was even more shocked when it became apparent that he was going to be interviewed by reporters. The whole hero thing was definitely getting out of hand.

Corey appealed to Jeff, in an attempt to get out of there without being interviewed. "It isn't gonna happen," said Jeff. "Just don't mention that you were all skinny dipping when they turned up."

It turned out that Corey didn't have to mention that fact - Panny took care of it for him. Corey was left to mumble through excuses as why the campers had been swimming in the nude. The reporters seemed amused by the boy's embarrassment. Boss Lemmon seemed less than amused by this information.

Eventually the reporters tired of grilling Corey and the others involved in the rescue. Before leaving, the campers said goodbye to the Welles family, including the girl's mother, and their 12-year-old brother Lysander, who prefered to be called Sandy.

The campers piled on the camp school bus with their equipment for the trip back. The campers sat at the rear of the bus and were relatively quiet for the short ride, while Boss Lemmon huddled with Jeff and Simon at the front of the bus, right behind Todd Ritter.

"Do you think we're in trouble?" asked Alan.

"Probably not," said Eric. "But I bet that Jeff and Simon are. They're the ones who let us skinny dip."

Less than fifteen minutes later the bus arrived back at Camp Torowa Falls. The campers piled out with their equipment. Lunch had recently ended for the other campers, but leftovers were made available for the ten returning campers and four staff members.

After eating the boys were informed that Adam North would be looking after them until dinner time. Jeff and Simon accompanied Boss Lemmon to his cabin to discuss the camping trip and rescue.

The boys returned their camping equipment to its proper place and then took their clothing back to Fox Cabin. They were allowed to shower, and then they would have free time until the last activity period of the afternoon, which was the much-dreaded laundry inspection.

Corey sorted his soiled laundry, and was dismayed by what he was facing. He had three pairs of soiled briefs from the previous Friday, plus one pair from the wet dream he had Monday. The pair he had worn for the campout were obviously skidmarked. He had been going outdoors, for heaven sake, but Corey knew that would earn no slack from the laundry matrons. That meant ten hefty whacks of Miss Bertha's laundry brush over his stripes from yesterday's switching. It was gonna be an intense afternoon.

After everyone had their laundry ready, Kyle asked for a meeting about the Frisbee situation. It turned out that all ten campers were still willing to help get Squirrel Cabin's Frisbee back. They decided to wait until Friday, since it would give everyone another day to recover from Jeff's switching and from the damage Miss Bertha was about to do to many of them.

The part of the meeting devoted to conceiving an actual plan didn't go as well, and that was deferred until the next day, where they could discuss it while they moved through the day's activities. Corey was secretly glad for this delay. He felt that the less time some of these campers had to think about such a plan, the less that might go wrong.

After the meeting the campers rested or did some reading until Adam told them it was time to head for the Laundry Shack. They were a tad early in fact, and ended up in line in front of Elk Cabin this time. Tony got in line at the back of the Fox Cabin queue, since he apparently wanted to put off his spanking as long as possible.

Corey, Eric and Jerry had the opposite idea, and got in line first. As far as Corey was concerned, he had been "looking forward" to this for six days, which was more than long enough. Then the doors to the Laundry Shack opened and Corey stepped inside.

Miss Sally inspected Corey's laundry while Miss Linda inspected Eric's. Miss Sally ordered Corey to strip and show her his current briefs as soon as she saw the contents of the plastic bag holding his peed briefs from Friday. At least Corey had the comfort of knowing that his current briefs were clean. He put them on after a shower just a few hours ago. Soon the expected pile of five pairs of soiled undies had been separated, and Miss Sally announced, "Lane, ten swats."

But Miss Linda had announced, "Linsey, eight swats" a few seconds before, so Corey got to stand there and watch Eric get his spanking. Jerry and Phil entered and had their laundry inspected as Miss Bertha's laundry brush made contact with Eric's backside. Crraackk! Crraackk! Crraackk! Crraackk! Crraackk! "Ohh." Crraackk! "Umm!" Crraackk! "Sss." Crraackk! "Oww." Eric dropped to his feet and rubbed his bottom for a few seconds before stepping out of the way.

Once again Corey made the climb into Miss Bertha's vast lap. "Ten swats, you filthy boy?" asked Miss Bertha.

"Yes, Miss," said Corey, as he settled into position.

Miss Bertha answered that with her brush. Crraackk! Crraackk! Crraackk! Crraackk! "Uuhh." Crraackk! "Ssss." Crraackk! "Uuuhh." Crraackk! "Oww!" Crraackk! "Ooww!" Crraackk! "Ouch!" Crraackk! "Aaahh!" Corey hadn't been able to avoid wriggling near the end. But as he dropped back to his feet, Corey smiled at the thought that he had avoided tears.

Corey stepped out of the way so Jerry could mount Miss Bertha's lap while Corey put his briefs and shorts back on. He exited to the sound of the Crraackk! Crraackk! of Jerry's spanking. Jerry ended up with six swats, while Phil and Alan got four apiece. Kyle, Paulie, Lionel and Phil each got two swats - nobody from Fox Cabin emerged unscathed.

Corey had the grace to be at least slightly ashamed of the joy he took in listening to the ten swat spanking that Tony Lansing received. As the sobbing boy emerged from the Laundry Shack, many of the Fox and Elk campers laughed at the fact that the red-faced, sobbing boy hadn't even bothered to put his briefs and shorts back on. He just walked along, rubbing his glowing red bottom.

But this time when the campers returned to Fox Cabin, Tony wasn't the only one who chose to spend some quiet time lying on his stomach on his bed. Corey managed to catch a quick nap before heading off to the mess hall.

Dinner that night was a nice change from campfire food. Corey found himself subject to a good deal of teasing about being a "naked Greek hero," among other jests. Fame, even unsought fame, definitely had a price.