(Author Note: This is the thirteenth 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 12 before reading this one!)

The boys stood on the porch of Fox Cabin staring at the rain. It wasn't exactly coming down in buckets, but it was raining hard and steady. "I sure hope it doesn't rain like this all day!" said Alan.

"It probably will," said Eric.

"They say Friday the 13th is unlucky," said Jerry. "Looks like Tuesday the 13th won't be any picnic, either.

"Nope," said Corey. "You definitely can't have a picnic in rain like that."

"Why, you!" said Jerry. He started doing his Moe routine, pretending to be angry.

Corey responded by doing Curley, of course. He noticed that Kyle was confused by their antics. Corey thought it was incredible that Kyle didn't even know who the Three Stooges were. Did his parents lock him in a closet with a bible, or something?

"Alright!" said Jeff. The counselor seemed bemused by their early morning antics. "Knock it off, you knuckleheads! Hit the showers, or we'll be late for breakfast."

"Do we really have to walk all the way to the Bath House in that?" protested Tony.

"Well, yeah," said Jeff. "Afraid that you'll melt in the rain?"

"Like the Wicked Witch of the West!" said Paulie.

"No," said Tony, glaring briefly at Paulie. "But the rain's coming down as hard as the water in the showers. Couldn't we just dance around in the rain a couple minutes and call it even?"

"No!" said Jeff.

"We'll get soaked again coming back," said Phil.

"So?" said Jeff. "Just wait to dry yourselves off - do it right before entering the cabin to get dressed. Use a little common sense...if you have any."

"Soitenly!" said Corey. He marched off into the rain with feigned comedic dignity, Jerry and Eric by his side. As they walked down the path they pretended to trip each other and attack each in typical Stooge fashion. The rest of the Fox Cabin campers followed at what they hoped was a safe distance.

After breakfast the dreaded announcement was made. The rain was expected to last all day, so all outdoor activities were cancelled. "It has come to my attention," said Boss Lemmon after he made the morning announcements, "that certain campers have yet to complete their deerskin moccasins. That kind of laziness will not be tolerated in Camp Torowa Falls."

Corey stifled a groan. He had been afraid of something like this.

Boss Lemmon continued, "I expect each camper to have a complete pair of moccasins ready in three hours. They don't have to be ready for the fashion show circuit, but they should at least be wearable. Any boy who doesn't have a pair of moccasins completed will have to explain his problem to me personally before lunch. That is all."

As the campers headed for the storeroom to retrieve their crafts projects, Corey wistfully imagined that Joey Graham was there to sit on his chest and pound his head in again. Being unconscious would sure beat what he had to look forward to until lunch time.

Laziness? Corey snorted quietly. How about a complete lack of talent for crafts work? Corey fancied himself as an above average athlete, although not as good as guys like Jerry and Roland. He considered himself above average academically, too, although far behind guys like Alan and Eric. But when it came down to arts and crafts, Corey was at - or at least near - the bottom of the heap. Nobody could be good at everything, could they?

A few minutes later Corey sat at the table with his "moccasins" in front of him. The blobs of deerskin sitting there could only be called footwear in the most academic sense of the word. There were holes near the back, but it didn't look like human feet would ever fit in them.

"Need some help with those?" asked Kyle - much to Corey's surprise.

"Sure," said Corey. Help from anybody beat a personal interview with Boss Lemmon. Plus Corey had noticed that Kyle's moccasins were among the best he'd seen.

Kyle examined Corey's hunks of deerskin carefully, then pronounced them salvagable. The two boys worked together for nearly three hours, and managed to come up with something that they hoped Boss Lemmon would deem wearable.

In fact Boss Lemmon did approve of all ten pairs of moccasins presented by the campers from Fox Cabin. Not everyone was so lucky. Three boys, including Bill Ramsey from Wolf Cabin, left the hall trailing meekly behind Boss Lemmon. Corey was glad that he wasn't in that group. He wasn't sure what Boss Lemmon was gonna do to those guys, but whatever it was, Corey would happily skip the experience. He turned to Kyle and thanked him again.

As they were eating lunch, Alan pointed out with glee that the Bears were stuck out camping in the storm. This brought expressions of approval from the assembled Foxes, who were generally happy to see the Bears suffer. This gloating went on for a while until Kyle pointed out that Roland was out there with the Bears. That thought wiped the smiles off of the faces of some of the Fox campers, particularly Corey, Jerry and Paulie.

After lunch Boss Lemmon announced that the Mess Hall floor was scheduled to be polished that afternoon. The work couldn't be postponed since the rain prevented the cleaning crew from doing anything else that day. Therefore the campers would be given a "free activity" period back in their cabins. The counselors would be attending a meeting in Boss Lemmon's cabin, so the assistant counselors would lead the campers back to their cabins, and keep an eye on them until the counselors returned.

Adam North, the Asscon assigned to assist Jeff with Fox Cabin for the week, led the crew back to the cabin. The campers left their rubberized yellow rain ponchos on the porch of the cabin. Corey wasn't sure what kind of rubber they were made from, or even if it was really rubber at all. Whatever it was, it stank terribly when the ponchos got wet. Corey wondered who designed the ponchos, and what where they thinking when they designed them?

Fox Cabin had a small collection of board games on its shelves, to be used in the evenings, during weekend free periods, and on rainy days. The games had mostly been donated by former campers and/or their families. Most of them were in good shape, but some did have a few items missing.

Phil and Lionel grabbed the chess/checkers set and began to play checkers. Eric loved to play chess, but nobody in the cabin would play against him anymore because he was just too good. He had even offered to play without his queen, but there were still no takers.

Tony and Willie began to set up to play Parcheesi, and they were quickly joined by Kyle and Paulie.

Corey, Jerry, Eric, Alan and Adam began a game of Monopoly. The game was supposed to support up to eight players, but three of the playing pieces were missing. Unless the extra players wanted to use buttons or whatever small items were laying around, Monopoly in Fox Cabin was limited to five players.

After about 75 minutes Jerry and Corey had been knocked out of the Monopoly game. They watched as Eric and Alan squeezed Adam until he, too, was knocked out. Finally it was left to the two members of the Fox Cabin brain trust to slug it out for title of play money mogul.

Adam quickly got bored and left for a while, warning the campers "Not to wander off or fool around while he was gone."

A few minutes later Paulie won the second Parcheesi game - Phil had won the first one. Everyone got up to stretch a bit before starting another game. Some of the finest output of the Boston Candy Kitchen was handed around for general enjoyment.

Corey got out a deck of playing cards and started fooling around with it. "What's that bird on the back of the cards?" asked Paulie.

"It's a flamingo," said Corey. "It's the symbol of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas."

"Where did you get those from?" said Jerry.

"My dad got them when he was at a convention," said Corey.

"An insurance convention?" said Jerry.

"Yep."

"That sounds really boring!" said Paulie.

"It was," said Corey. "At least according to Dad. Las Vegas is in the middle of the Nevada desert and there's absolutely nothing to do there."

"New Mexico," said Eric, who had just conceded the Monopoly game because Alan was too far ahead.

"What?" said Corey.

"New Mexico," said Eric. "Las Vegas is in New Mexico. I saw it on a map."

"Well, my dad was actually there," said Corey, "and he said it was in Nevada."

"How can there be nothing to do there?" said Alan. "Don't they have legalized gambling?"

"Sure," said Corey. "But if you don't like gambling, there isn't anything else to do."

"What about entertainment?" said Alan. "Did your dad see Sinatra sing while he was out there?"

"No," said Corey. "The Rat Pack guys aren't in Las Vegas all the time, you know. They make movies and stuff, too."

"They made a movie in Las Vegas a couple years ago," said Jerry. "What was it called?"

"Ocean's 11," said Alan.

"That's right!" said Jerry.

"Yeah," said Corey. "But they make most of their movies in Hollywood, which is a long way from New Mexico...or wherever Las Vegas is..."

"Did your dad gamble?" said Kyle.

"A little," said Corey. "He played craps and blackjack."

"What are those?" said Paulie.

"Craps is a dice game, and blackjack is a card game," said Corey.

"Do you know how to play blackjack?" said Jerry, eyeing the deck of cards in Corey's hand.

"Sure!" said Corey.

"Let's play, then! Dimes?" Jerry said, as he went to retieve some money.

"Sure, dimes sound fine," said Corey.

"Wait a minute!" said Kyle. "You're gonna play cards for money? That's gambling!"

"Not really," said Alan.

"Huh?" said Kyle. He looked at Alan in disbelief.

"My dad plays poker with his friends once a week," said Alan. "He says it's only gambling if you play at a casino, or for lots of money. If it's just friends playing for small stakes, it's not really gambling."

"Hmmm," said Kyle. "I don't know..."

"You don't have to play if you don't want to," said Corey.

"We could play a few practice hands first for no money," said Jerry.

"We should probably do that anyway," said Eric. "If guys who've never played before want to try it."

"Okay!" said Corey. He got out some change and got ready to deal.

Soon seven boys were gathered around Corey's bed. Only Tony, Willie, and Lionel declined to participate in the practice hands. All three watched the proceedings for a while, before deciding to start another game of Monopoly.

By the time each of the seven boys had dealt a hand of blackjack, the three newcomers - Kyle, Paulie and Alan - had at least picked up the mechanics of the game. Corey was more than a little surprised when all three went to get some change to participate in playing for real money. Saint Kyle gambling? It boggled the mind!

They used Corey's bed spread for a playing surface. Everyone bet a dime. Corey leaned over the foot of his bed to begin dealing for real. He dealt a card to Eric, Kyle and Paulie down the left side of his bed, then to Phil, Alan and Jerry back up the right side of his bed. He dealt himself a card face down, then dealt everybody another face up card. It had been agreed that both player cards would be dealt face up, at least until the new players got used to playing.

Several good hands came out on the first deal. Eric had a hard 18, Kyle had a hard 19, Paulie had a soft 19, Phil had 5, Alan had 14, and Jerry had a soft 18. Corey, the dealer, had a five of clubs showing.

Eric, Kyle and Paulie all stood pat. Phil, who had a two and a three, took a hit - another two for a total of seven. Then another hit - a king for hard 17, where Phil stood. Alan had a queen and a four for 14 and took a hit. He drew a seven of clubs for twenty-one! Jerry stood pat on his soft 18.

Corey was up next, and he flipped over his hole card - a four of clubs. Added to the five of clubs he already had meant nine. He took the required hit - a queen of hearts, for a dealer 19.

Eric, Phil and Jerry lost, so Corey collected their dimes. Kyle and Paulie each tied the dealer for a push, and Corey paid Alan a dime for his 21, which beat the dealer. Corey had made twenty cents in a couple minutes. He happily turned the cards over to Eric on his left, who would deal the next hand.

Eric dealt next, and there were only two pat hands showing, Alan's 20 and Corey's 17. Eric had a seven of clubs showing as dealer. Kyle busted, Paulie drew to a four-card 19, Phil busted, and Jerry drew to a three-card 19.

Eric flipped over a jack of diamonds, giving the dealer 17. Eric paid Paulie, Alan and Jerry, and Corey pushed. Eric had lost ten cents as dealer.

"Why are we playing for dimes?" asked Kyle, who had just lost one of his. "Why don't we play for nickels?"

"It's too hard to pay off a blackjack," said Eric. "If a player gets a blackjack and the dealer doesn't have one too, the player gets paid one and a half times his bet. It's easier to pay out 15 cents than seven and a half cents."

"Oh, I see," said Kyle, as he tried to shuffle the cards for the next deal. It quickly became obvious that he had never handled playing cards before. Kyle tried to deal without letting Paulie cut the cards, and had to start over.

For a beginning dealer Kyle did pretty good. He dealt only one pat player hand, Alan's 18. He dealt himself a queen of spades as his up card. Paulie and Corey both busted, and Kyle flipped over his hole card, a nine of clubs, giving the dealer 19. He beat everyone but Eric, who had drawn to a three-card 20. Kyle had made forty cents, and suddenly seemed to feel a lot better about playing for dimes.

Paulie had the next turn as dealer, and looked for a while like he would do even better. He dealt no pat player hands, and had an eight of clubs showing. Alan and Jerry busted, but then so did Paulie. He had to pay off Corey, Eric, Kyle and Phil, for a loss of twenty cents.

Phil was the next player to deal, and he dealt like a professional, or at least how Corey imagined a professional blackjack dealer would deal. Hmm. Gotta keep an eye on this guy. Phil dealt a soft 18 to Corey and a 20 to Paulie. Phil was showing a six of hearts, and he turned over his hole card, a three of spades for nine. The required hit produced a queen of clubs for a dealer 19. Phil paid Paulie's 20, pushed Kyle's 19, and beat everybody else. Phil had made thirty cents as dealer, and was ahead for the first time that day.

Alan wasn't all that experienced with cards, but he was very precise in his movements as a dealer. He was like that about almost everything, but it was even more apparent when working with small objects like playing cards. Corey thought that Alan would probably make an excellent surgeon one day.

Alan dealt a 17 to Eric and an 18 to Paulie. He left himself with a two of clubs showing. Corey busted and Alan drew to a dealer 17. He pushed with Eric and lost to the other four. He had lost thirty cents as the dealer.

Jerry was the last dealer for the first round. He dealt a 17 to Paulie and was showing a five of spades. Eric and Phil busted, but then so did Jerry. He paid off the other four and ended up losing twenty cents as dealer.

It was Corey's turn to deal again. He had made a total profit of ten cents after the first seven hands. This time he dealt pat 17s to Paulie and Phil and a 20 to Eric. But Corey's up card was an ace of hearts. He checked his hole card - sure enough, a jack of clubs. Blackjack! He flipped his winning hand over and collected dimes from the other six boys. This was more like it!

"What the hell are you boys doing?" said Jeff, who had entered the cabin unnoticed by any of the inhabitants. Corey froze in the act of collecting the six dimes he had just won.

"We're just playing cards," said Alan, the first to find his voice.

"I can see that," said Jeff, as he stopped next to Corey and Eric. "But what's the deal with all the dimes? You're gambling!"

"No," said Paulie confidently. "It's not gambling because we're just friends, and we're only playing for small change."

Corey noticed Alan swallow nervously as his words were repeated back to Jeff. Corey wasn't really sure if they were in much trouble. But he was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was leaning over the foot of his bed. He had spent a few very painful minutes in a similar position over the past month. He sincerely hoped that it wasn't about to happen again.

"It doesn't matter if you're playing for twenty-dollar bills or pennies - gambling is gambling," said Jeff. "It's strictly against the rules of this camp, and I even seem to recall the bible having something to say about it."

"Have a heart, Jeff," said Phil. "It's been raining all day and we're bored silly. Couldn't you...just this once...look the other way...you know?"

"No, I can't just look the other way!" said Jeff. "This is a bible camp, in case you haven't noticed it, not the Lido Lounge! Stand up, all of you, and put your hands on your heads."

Jeff looked over at the trio standing around the Monopoly board. "You guys aren't playing Monopoly for real money, are you?"

"No, Jeff," said Tony. "We're only using play money. But you said everybody should stand up..."

"I didn't mean you three," said Jeff. "I only meant the seven demented dwarves here. You three can go back to your game, unless you want to watch."

The three Monopoly players displayed no interest in returning to their game at that moment.

"Okay," said Jeff, getting back on track. "First, all the money on this bed is confiscated." Several groans and general expressions of dismay greeted this news. Corey couldn't believe it! Not only was he out the 70 cents he had been ahead, but also the 80 cents he started with.

Jeff collected all the money and cards on Corey's bed. "Whose cards are these?" said Jeff.

"Mine," said Corey.

"Where did you get them?"

"From my Dad."

"He went to Las Vegas?"

"Yeah," said Corey. "For a convention."

"Okay, they're confiscated," said Jeff. Corey began to protest. "But only temporarily - I'll give them back to you before you leave on Saturday."

"What about the money?" said Kyle.

"The money will be donated to the Camp Torowa Falls Building and Renovation Fund," said Jeff. "Thank you, boys!" Various groans and grumblings greeted this news.

"Alright," said Jeff. "Now we get to the painful part of the punishment. Line up on this side of Corey's bed." Jeff indicated the right side of the bed, where Phil, Alan and Jerry were already standing.

"Phil," said Jeff. "Squish over as close to the head of the bed as you can get. Alan, stand right up next to him - facing the bed."

"What are we doing?" said Paulie.

"You'll find out," said Jeff. "Just keep moving."

Corey soon found himself sandwiched between Jerry and Eric, their hips touching. It looked like the seven boys were just thin enough that they might fit between the head and foot of Corey's bed. What was gonna happen now?

"Okay," said Jeff. "It looks like this will work out fine. Shorts and undies down!" The seven boys complied at varying speeds, jostling each other as they lowered their clothing.

"Okay," said Jeff. "Lie down across the bed, all of you." There was more jostling and elbowing as the boys fought for the limited space on the surface of the bed. Phil, who was trying to lie across Corey's pillow, had a problem.

"Give me that pillow, Phil," said Jeff. He took the pillow and threw it on the neighboring bed.

Soon the seven boys were lying face down across Corey's bed. Corey could feel Jerry and Eric's bare hips touching his own. If one of them squirmed, he could feel it. Corey realized that he would be feeling his friends' reactions to the upcoming punishment, and they would be feeling his.

"Are you gonna use the paddle on us?" said Paulie, who was closest to the aisle and presumably scheduled to be the first recipient of the chosen implement.

"No, I'm not, Paulie," said Jeff. "In fact you may have already noticed that this spanking is going to be different from any that you've had at camp before. You guys like to gamble, so we're gonna play one more hand of blackjack." Jeff picked up the deck of cards he had just confiscated and began shuffling it.

"Make room on the bed in front of you," said Jeff. Corey was laying with his arms out in front of him, his hands draped over the far side of the bed. He pulled his hands back under his chin, which he rested on his clenched hands. There was a great deal of elbowing as the tightly packed boys got their hands out of the way.

Jeff plucked a card from the top of the deck, placing it face down on the bed in front of Paulie. Then he dealt a card to Kyle, Eric, Corey, Jerry, Alan and Phil. Jeff walked back down the line and dealt a second card to each boy.

"Okay, boys," said Jeff. "That is your final blackjack hand for the day. I'm going to give you one whack for each point your hand is worth. No talking! Keep quiet and just lie still - wait to take your medicine."

Jeff turned to the other three boys. "You three capitalists, please come over here and keep an eye on these guys while I go find something to beat them with. Make sure they don't move or touch their cards."

Jeff disappeared behind the prone culprits, heading for his office. Corey studied the two cards laying on the bed spread in front of him. The flamingo on the back of top card seemed to be mocking him. How many whacks would he get? A two card blackjack hand could range in value from 4 to 21. Would aces count as eleven? Would two aces count as 22? It didn't bear thinking about.

Finally Corey chose to stare straight ahead, past the gloating Tony, and towards the front door of the cabin. It was still raining outside. Then the front door opened and Adam North entered the cabin. He saw the seven half-naked boys lying across Corey's bed and his mouth dropped open in shock as the door closed behind him.

"Where the hell have you been, Adam?" said Jeff.

"I just went to the Bath House, Jeff," said Adam.

"Really?" said Jeff. "Were these guys playing cards when you left?"

"No, they were playing boardgames, Monopoly," said Adam. He was looking more than a bit sheepish.

Jeff took a look at the three-player Monopoly game, which had several hotels scattered around the board - it appeared to have been going on for some time. "You were gone long enough for the Dillinger mob here to set up a major gambling operation in this cabin. Would you care to explain what you were doing all this time?"

"Umm.." said Adam.

"Never mind," said Jeff. "I'll let you explain it all to Boss Lemmon later." Adam turned white as a sheet at this news, and gulped involuntarily. "Meanwhile, I need to you to help me spank these little brats."

"Sure!" said Adam, clearly happy to change the subject to someone else's impending doom. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to flip over their cards, one at a time, while I give them their allotment of whacks with this." said Jeff. Corey turned his head and saw a sturdy looking wooden-backed hairbrush in Jeff's hand.

"One at a time?" said Adam.

"Correct," said Jeff. "We'll start with Paulie here, you flip over the first card and I'll give him the number of whacks indicated by the card. Then we do the first card for Kyle, Eric, and so forth. Once I give Phil his first set of whacks we come back up to this end. You'll flip Paulie's second card over, I'll give him his whacks, and so on down the line. Got it?"

"Sure," said Adam. "That's simple enough."

"Okay, then," said Jeff. "Let's get started."

Adam flipped over a card and announced, "Queen of spades for Paulie."

"That's ten whacks," said Jeff. Corey immediately began hearing the distinctive "cracking" sound of hard wood sharply hitting bare flesh. He thought he might be imagining it, but it was almost as though Corey could feel movement transmitted from Paulie through the intervening bodies of Kyle and Eric. Paulie yelped by the last couple of whacks.

Adam flipped over the next card and announced, "Nine of spades for Kyle."

"That's nine whacks," said Jeff. The "cracking" sound was heard again, closer this time, as Corey's own turn drew near. He could definitely feel a small part of the force hitting Kyle's backside being transmitted into his hips right through Eric's body. Kyle didn't yell, but he did gasp once near the end.

Adam flipped over the next card, in front Eric, and Corey clearly saw it before Adam announced, "Four of spades for Eric."

"That's four whacks," said Jeff. The "cracking" sound was back, and Corey could definitely feel a bit of the force hitting Eric's backside being transmitted into his hips. The shortness of Eric's spanking brought Corey's into play all too quickly. Please be a two, Corey prayed.

Adam flipped over Corey's top card, and Corey thought 'Busted flush!' before Adam announced, "Three of hearts for Corey."

"That's three whacks," said Jeff. This time Corey didn't need hips to feel the force of the hairbrush. His buttocks transmitted the pain quite nicely. Two whacks to the left cheek, and one to the right. Jeff's hairbrush was a lot smaller than Miss Bertha's laundry brush, but it might have been a bit thicker. It sure packed a sting, and Jeff was clearly laying it on as hard as he could. Corey was quite glad he wasn't getting ten or eleven this round.

Adam flipped over Jerry's top card, and once again Corey saw it before Adam announced, "Queen of clubs for Jerry."

"That's ten whacks," said Jeff. The brush began its stinging work on Jerry's backside, and Corey could definitely feel his best friend's hips transmitting some of the force to him. Jerry didn't make any noise, but Corey could see his friend grimacing as he struggled to control the pain.

Adam flipped over the next card and announced, "Queen of hearts for Alan."

"That's ten whacks," said Jeff. The "cracking" sound resumed, getting further away from Corey. He couldn't feel much force through Jerry's hips this time, and Alan didn't make a sound.

Adam flipped over the last card of the first round and announced, "Six of clubs for Phil."

"That's six whacks," said Jeff. Phil took is six in silence, and no movement was felt by Corey from his position in the middle of the bed. Jeff and Adam moved back to the aisle to start again with Paulie for the second round.

Adam flipped over the card and announced, "Jack of hearts for Paulie."

"That's ten whacks," said Jeff. The hairbrush immediately began its urgent work, and it soon had poor little Paulie howling, and then crying. After the tenth whack the only sound in the room was Paulie's heavy breathing and gasping sobs as he struggled to cope with the searing pain in his rear end.

Adam flipped over the next card and announced, "Ten of clubs for Kyle."

"That's ten whacks," said Jeff. As Kyle's posterior absorbed its second dose of correction, the penitent boy was unable to stifle his grunts and gasps, but at least he didn't yelp. Once again Corey thought that Kyle may be tougher than he gave him credit for.

Adam flipped over Eric's bottom card, and once again Corey saw it before Adam announced, "Ace of hearts for Eric."

"That's eleven whacks," said Jeff. The hairbrush sounded quite loud as it struck Eric repeatedly. Corey felt his friend begin to squirm by the end, and he grunted once, but otherwise kept quiet. Now it was Corey's turn again. Please be a two, Corey prayed, as Adam stepped in front of him.

Adam flipped over Corey's bottom card, and Corey relaxed immediately when he saw it, before Adam announced, "Seven of diamonds for Corey."

"That's seven whacks," said Jeff. Corey bottom cheeks lit up in pain again as the hairbrush completed its appointed rounds seven times. Jeff was clearly trying to make up for a lack of quantity with a whole lot of quality, and Corey was forced to fight to maintain control against the stinging pain that was threatening to make him yelp. Corey was amazed that Jeff gave him the extra whack on the right cheek this time - he remembered! At last it was over and Corey had maintained his dignity once again. He prayed that Jerry had a small second card.

Adam flipped over Jerry's bottom card, and Corey had to stifle a groan when he saw it before Adam announced, "Jack of clubs for Jerry."

"That's ten whacks," said Jeff. As the viscious brush went back to work on Jerry's bottom, Corey looked over his shoulder to watch. He was glad to see that although Jeff was giving Jerry quite hard whacks, the counselor let the brush bounce off of the boy's backside immediately. Jeff had pressed the brush tightly up against Corey's hind cheek for a few seconds after each of the whacks he received, which appeared to really add to the sting. As the spanking progressed Jerry began to squirm in earnest, and his hip bounced into Corey's. Once again Jerry didn't make any noise, but Corey could see that his friend was close to tears by the end.

Adam flipped over the next card and announced, "Three of spades for Alan."

"That's three whacks," said Jeff. Alan was able to take this three whacks in complete silence. If he moved, Corey didn't feel it down the line.

Adam flipped over the last card of the second round and announced, "Five of hearts for Phil."

"That's five whacks," said Jeff. Phil took is five stoically, and that was that.

Or was it? Jeff was looking at the cards laying in front of the prone boys. He said "Do you see a problem here, Adam?"

"Yeah, I do, Jeff," said Adam. "Two of these boys don't have blackjack hands you can stand on."

Jeff looked closer, and Corey's stomach started churning. "That's right," said Jeff. "Phil has eleven and Corey has ten, nobody stands on those hands. They each need another card. Adam, would you do the honors?"

"Certainly," said Adam. He grabbed the cards, which Jeff had left on the next bed. He peeled off a card and layed it on top of Corey's cards. When Corey saw it he had to choke back a very foul word while Adam announced, "Ace of clubs for Corey."

"That's eleven whacks," said Jeff. Corey gasped in shock as the stiffly applied brush caused new flames to rise in his unprepared backside. This was so unfair! Corey tried to maintain control and keep silent, but he lost the fight about half way through and started gasping and squirming with each new whack, although he didn't scream, yelp or cry.

Adam peeled off another card, unseen by Corey, who lay smoldering in anger in his spot in the middle of the bed. He did hear Adam announce, "Four of clubs for Phil."

"That's four whacks," said Jeff. Phil took is last four quietly, and that finally did end the punishment.

The other six boys clambered off the bed when released, but Corey just lay there face down for a while, stewing in his own juice. He was so pissed off about that extra card, and those eleven extra whacks, that he couldn't even speak.

Within an hour Eric, Alan, Kyle and Paulie were down on the cabin floor playing a game of Yahtzee. They all sat on pillows, but were laughing and having a great time. Jerry and Corey were lying face down on Jerry's bed, quietly playing a game of Stratego. Corey hoped that Roland was having a less painful day, camping out in the rain with the Bears.

(Technical Note: All blackjack hands depicted in this story were generated randomly by the author using a deck of Aristocrat Club Special casino playing cards. The cards had originally been used in the Palace Station casino in Las Vegas - the one in Nevada.)