Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 When Bobby came in the back door and stomped his boots clean, Mavis noted
that Meg and Sally took an inordinate interest in how school had been for
him.  He had written several notes to Mavis in the last week, in response
to questions from her about one thing or another, and she knew he was much
smarter than the rest of them thought.  She also knew that, in his heart,
he was a good boy ...  or man, as it were.  She too had seen the marks on
his back, and knew that that could have made him mean, but hadn't.  And he
was almost a man, she thought.  She looked at him speculatively.  She
hadn't taken the time to think about him all that much.  He'd fitted in
well, and hadn't caused a single problem.  Well, not yet anyway.  She'd
also seen what swung between his legs.  She'd reacted to that lovely penis
herself, and she certainly couldn't blame two young, single women for
noticing it too.  <br><br>
   Could that be a problem?  she wondered.  There would certainly be a
sensation in town if either of them turned up with a swelled belly.  She
pondered that for a minute and snorted.  There was no way in the world
Sally had the gumption to take up with the boy.  And Meg ...  well Meg
might bear some watching.  It WAS possible that she had just loosened a few
buttons because it was hot in the bathroom, and then re-buttoned them
wrong.<br><br>
   She looked at Bobby.  He was smiling.  He had a beautiful smile.  He was
a handsome man, or would be if he got a little more meat on his bones.  And
that would happen too, at the rate he ate.  He had asked for paper and
pencil and was writing a note to Meg.  She got up from peeling potatoes and
went over to see what was going on.<br><br>
   Meg had just finished reading the note.  "His teacher wants to spend
some extra time with him," said Meg.  She didn't sound happy about that,
though there was no real reason why it wasn't a good idea.<br><br>
   "Well, he needs an education," said Mavis neutrally.<br><br>
   "Yes ...  but ..." Meg's voice dropped off.<br><br>
   "But what, Meg?" asked Mavis calmly.<br><br>
   "Oh nothing," said Meg, handing her the note, her jaws
clenched."<br><br>
   The little danger flag in Mavis' mind inched higher on the flag pole.
   </p> <p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0;
border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">
   Over the next week Rachel kept Bobby behind at school three more times.
That he was intelligent she could tell immediately upon testing him some
more.  But when she asked him why he couldn't talk, he got a guarded look
in his eye and couldn't provide any information.  At one point she made him
open his mouth, to see if he had a tongue or not, and he looked at her
strangely.  In the process she got close enough to him to smell his scent.
He didn't smell like most of the men she met on a casual basis.  They
smelled of stale sweat, and most had poor oral hygiene too.  Bobby, on the
other hand, smelled good, like a man should in her mind.  And his breath
was clean too.<br><br>
   She asked him about that, and learned through his writing that he had
been taken to a dentist once, and after that he had done everything
possible to make sure he never had to go again.  She looked again and saw
where the tooth had been pulled.  He showed her the new toothbrush Mavis
had gotten him, that he still carried in his pocket, and used each time he
ate.<br><br>
   He read everything she gave him, and only rarely pointed to a word to
have her explain its meaning.  While she didn't have the classics in the
school house, she owned a few herself, and knew people who would loan her
things ...  Chaucer, Shakespere, more of Twain's work and many others. 
During regular school he sat in a corner and read, unless she needed him to
help, which he did willingly.  He was a wizard at teaching the younger
children their numbers, and how to add and subtract.  And he sat with them
and helped them draw out their letters too, showing them his own and then
watching closely as they tried to copy that.  She smiled at the two girls
who had a crush on him.  If June Bug and Emily had been ten years older
they'd have lost their virginity to him by now.  She wondered what it would
be like lying with Bobby.<br><br>
   Her head jerked.  Where in the world had THAT thought come from?  She
looked at him, as if he might be working some magic spell on her, but he
was simply reading at the time.  Reading with those deep brown eyes of his,
under those too long lashes of his.  Her head jerked again and a child
asked a question.  She was only too happy to focus on that.
   </p> <p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0;
border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">
   It was Friday night when the accident happened.  Jerry and Terrence were
playing catch in the parlor.  They were throwing a rolled up sock back and
forth.  When Jerry's throw went wrong, Terrence dove to catch it and hit
the clothes tree that several coats were hung on.  It tipped, and the
weight of the coats sent it into the window nearby.  There was only one
hook on the clothes tree that wasn't occupied, and that was the one that
hit the window.  The glass broke with a crack and tinkling sound as the
pieces fell, mostly outside in the snow.  Terrence was still off balance,
though, and he instinctively tried to grab onto something to stop his fall.
His nine-year-old hand landed on the broken edge of the glass still in the
window frame and nearly took two of his fingers off.<br><br>
   The breaking glass got everyone's attention.  Terrence's screams as he
saw his bloody hand got them all running.<br><br>
   Mavis knew it was bad when she saw the amount of blood that had already
spilled and welled out of the boy's tightly closed hand, which he was
holding to his chest as he sat and rocked and screamed.<br><br>
   She had towels brought to her and had Meg hold Terrence tightly while
she pried his hand open to try to stop the bleeding.  Her blood ran cold
when she saw the damage.  He had to be seen by a doctor, and he had to be
seen soon.  She stuffed the end of the towel against the wound and let him
close his hand again.  Then she instructed Meg to help him hold the hand
tightly closed.  Prudence and Donna were already gone, since it was so
close to bedtime.  That only left her and Sally to take care of the kids,
since Meg was tied up with Terrence.<br><br>
   She went to the desk and, with bloody hands, wrote a note.  She called
to Bobby, who had been standing and watching.<br><br>
   "Take this down to Doctor Johanson's office.  He lives upstairs from his
office.  If you can't find him there, go to the saloon.  He has to get this
note, Bobby, and he has to come soon.  Terrence could bleed to death if
not.<br><br>
   Bobby took time to get his coat, which was good, because it was bitterly
cold in the night air.  He ran, but when he got to the Doctor's office on C
street all the windows were dark.  He headed for the saloon.  The back door
was closer, so that's where he went.  He burst into that door, into the
kitchen, where an amazingly fat woman was standing at a big wooden table
rolling out pie crusts.  She looked at him and frowned.<br><br>
   "Don't need no snot nosed boys hanging around here!" she barked.  "Now
GIT!" She brandished the rolling pin in her hand.<br><br>
   Normally, Bobby would have done exactly what she said.  But he couldn't.
<br><br>
   "Doctor" he said explosively.  He was so unused to speaking that only
one word came out.  He held up the bloody note and the woman paled.<br><br>
   "In there." She pointed to a set of double glass doors with lace
curtains making it impossible to see through them.  <br><br>
   Bobby darted to the doors and pushed one open.  Inside there was a
table, set for dinner.  Through another set of doors Bobby could see the
saloon proper.  He was in the dining room.  There were six men sitting
around the table, smoking cigars, the remains of dinner cluttering the
table.  A bottle of whiskey stood unstoppered beside a man wearing a vest.
The doctor was sitting in another chair.  Bobby had been with Mavis one
time on a shopping trip when she stopped Doctor Johansen to ask him a
question about a rash on one of the children.  She had introduced Bobby,
who, of course, had said nothing.<br><br>
   Bobby went to the man and thrust out the bloody note.  The man read it
quickly and jumped up.<br><br>
   "Gotta go boys," he said, grabbing his coat.  "House call," he added. 
He went out the doors to the saloon immediately.  Bobby started to follow
but was grabbed by the collar of his coat.<br><br>
   "No you don't, boy!" said the fat woman, who had followed him into the
dining room.  "You go out there and the constable will make my life
miserable for a month.  Out the way you came in!" she said.  Bobby wondered
if she knew the constable himself was one of the men sitting at the table.
She manhandled him with surprising strength and dragged him back to the
kitchen and to the back door.  She opened the door, shoved him through it
and slammed it again without another word.<br><br>
   He pulled up the collar of his coat and started down the line of
buildings that abutted the saloon.  He had to pass a smaller building, set
back from the alleyway, and noticed that there were lights in its windows.
He didn't think anything of that until he was right beside it and heard a
muffled scream.  It obviously came from that little building.  He heard a
woman scream "GET OUT" and then a sound he knew only too well, that of a
hand hitting flesh.  He moved closer, and heard the woman crying and
pleading "Don't do this."<br><br>
   Bobby stood there, unsure of what to do.  Whatever was going on in there
wasn't any of his business.  He thought to go on and the woman screamed
again, a terrified sound.  There was another slap and a gruff male voice
shouted "SHUT UP BITCH, OR I'LL KILL YOU!" <br><br>
   There was a pile of discarded trash and crates against the wall and
Bobby saw a board lying loose.  It was about three feet long, and narrow
enough that he could grip it.  He picked it up and stole closer to the
nearest window.  There were curtains inside, but there was a slim gap in
them that let him see part of the room.<br><br>
   He could see half of the back of the man, and beyond him a bed with a
woman on it.  The woman lay crossways on the bed, her knees at the edge,
her feet hanging down.  The man raised his right arm and slapped the woman
again, making Bobby wince.  He had put all of his strength into that blow.
He couldn't see the woman's upper body, but he could see that she was
naked, though her clothing lay on the bed under her.  He realized her dress
had been torn open and she was lying on top of it.  He could see that the
woman had golden blond hair between her legs that puffed out and looked
strange to Bobby.  <br><br>
   He could also hear her terrified screams as the man pushed his
suspenders off his shoulders and let his pants fall.<br><br>
   Bobby didn't have a clear understanding of rape, or the ins and outs of
sexual behavior between adults.  But he knew that nobody deserved to be
treated like this.  <br><br>
   Then the man moved, and Bobby saw that the woman was Miss
Templeton.<br><br>
   After it was all over he couldn't remember running to the door, or
pushing it open.  What he did remember was the knife in the man's left hand
as he stood over Miss Templeton and the stiff penis that jutted from the
man's groin.  He remembered the man turning his head toward Bobby, and the
snarl on the man's face as he raised the knife.<br><br>
   And Bobby remembered swinging the board, aiming for the side of the
man's head.<br><br>
   The man went down instantly, and the board was jerked from Bobby's hand,
driving splinters deep into his fingers.
   </p> <p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0;
border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">
   Level two of Mr.  Maslow's pyramid is where events like this take place.
Bobby, according to Mr.  Maslow, had just defended someone he cared about.
It was an animal reaction, which is quite normal on the lower levels of the
pyramid, but it was based on a very human thought process.
   </p> <p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0;
border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">
   Bobby stared at the blood where the board, for some reason, seemed stuck
to the man's head.  He noticed that the knife was lying on the floor, and
that the tip had a reddish glint to it.<br><br>
   Then he looked at Miss Templeton, who lay splayed on the bed, naked and
sobbing.  There was blood on her too.  It was coming from a wound under her
chin, and had trickled down her chest to cross one pale breast.<br><br>
   He couldn't help but notice her breasts, even though that wasn't
uppermost in his mind.  They were probably twice as big as Meg's, and
rounder.  Meg's nipples were brownish, but Miss Templeton's were
pink.<br><br>
   Then she saw him and struggled to sit up.  Once her motion got going she
flew up off the bed and she tripped over the man's body at her feet.  Bobby
stepped forward and caught her, his hands sliding up her sides to her
armpits.  Her forward motion made her take a step and she stepped on the
man's body, then up and over it into Bobby's arms.  She was crying
hysterically and her grip on Bobby was so strong he couldn't have broken it
if he'd have tried.  He would have spoken then, but he had no idea what to
say.  The man wasn't moving, and Bobby didn't know if he was in trouble or
not.<br><br>
   So he just stood there and held her.  Her torn dress covered her back,
as it was still whole across her shoulders, but her naked front was pressed
against him.  He knew that, yet he didn't think of her in the same way he
thought of doing this with Meg.  He did not get erect.<br><br>
   Bobby began to suspect more and more that he was in trouble.  He'd
spoken to the fat woman, but not to anyone else.  Maybe he could still get
away with playing mute.  He knew he had to go get someone.  He couldn't
stay here, and he couldn't just leave.  He remembered that the constable
was in the saloon, or had been when he left the dining room.<br><br>
   She finally began to calm, her shuddering breaths coming more easily,
and words beginning to tumble out of her mouth.  She must have said "Thank
you" ten or fifteen times in between her recounting of how the man had
forced his way in, and ripped her dress said he would kill her if she
screamed.<br><br>
   He pried Miss Templeton back away from him, his eyes going automatically
to those big, round pale breasts.  He pulled at the tatters of her dress
where the buttons had been ripped off, and pulled the cloth to partially
cover her.  Her hands gripped him, but he pushed her to a chair and made
her sit in it.  He saw pencil and paper on a table nearby and wrote "I'll
get help" on it.<br><br>
   She looked at the paper without reading it, still sobbing.  Bobby shook
her and pointed at the note.  She brought it close to her face.<br><br>
   "Noooo, don't leave meeee" she wailed.<br><br>
   Bobby looked at the man.  He had the look of the dead.  Bobby had seen
death before, on more than one occasion.  Back where he had come from men
ended up in alleys looking like this man looked.  He went to the man as
Miss Templeton's eyes followed and he kicked the body, which rocked and
settled again.  His intent was to show Miss Templeton that the man was no
threat to her.  Then he went back to her and pointed at the note
again.<br><br>
   The door was still open when he turned to it, and her cries for him not
to leave her were still calling out to him as he closed it behind him.  He
ran back to the saloon, and through the kitchen door.  The fat woman was
still there, but she only had time to take a breath to yell at him and he
was already through the double doors into the dining room.  The Constable
had just stood up and was putting on his coat, his cigar clamped in his
jaws.<br><br>
   Bobby went to the man and grabbed his arm, pulling.<br><br>
   "What?!" the man growled, jerking his arm.  "What are you up to now,
boy?"<br><br>
   Another man at the table spoke up.<br><br>
   "He cain't talk Homer.  He's one of Mavis' brood."<br><br>
   Bobby jerked again, harder, making it obvious that he wanted the
constable to come with him.<br><br>
   "Well let's just go see what kind of trouble you found boy," said the
man.<br><br>
   Four men followed the constable out into the back of the saloon as Bobby
pulled him.  They moved as a gaggle toward Miss Templeton's house, one of
them announcing that that's who lived there.  When they got to the front
door Bobby reached for the knob and a hand closed over his wrist.<br><br>
   "Is she in trouble boy?" asked the constable, his voice low.<br><br>
   Bobby nodded and the man reached beneath his coat and pulled out a huge
revolver.  He pushed Bobby to one side and opened the door.  He only had to
take one step to be able to see the whole house, for all intents and
purposes.  His eyes swept first to the body on the floor, and then to the
source of sobs in the chair.  Her condition, and the knife on the floor
made it obvious what had happened.<br><br>
   "Jules, check that man," he ordered tersely, as he stepped toward the
young woman in the chair.<br><br>
   "It's all right miss," he said in a surprisingly soft voice.  "It's all
over now.  What happened here?" Her dress was hanging open in the front,
and he couldn't keep himself from noticing her lush body either.<br><br>
   Rachel, between sobs, told of the man coming into the house and
threatening her with the knife.  She told how he'd ripped her dress, and
told her that she'd be glad when he was finished.  She'd fought and he'd
threatened to kill her.  Then Bobby was there.  She looked around at the
men, who were all staring at her.  <br><br>
   "Bobby was here," she said.  "Where's Bobby?" She lunged up out of the
chair and gripped the constable's coat lapels.  "WHERE'S BOBBY?" she
screamed.  She couldn't remember what he'd done, or if the man had stabbed
him or not.  "He saved meeee," she cried.<br><br>
   "There there, he's fine.  He's outside," said the constable.  "You're
bleeding missy.  We need to get the doctor to take a look at you." He
patted her head like she was a dog.  "Missy, I have to ask this.  I know
it's hard, but I have to ask.  Did he have his way with you?"<br><br>
   Rachel's head came up and her eyes cleared.  "NO!" she said.  "Bobby
saved me.  Where's Bobbeeeeeee" she started crying again.<br><br>
   "He's dead, Homer," said the man who was kneeling beside the rapist. 
"Kid must have hit him with the board.  Had a nail sticking out the end. 
Punched clean through his skull.  Fell where he stood, more'n
likely."<br><br>
   "Well SHIT!" snarled Homer.<br><br>
   Rachel flinched and leaned away from him.<br><br>
   "Sorry ma'am" he muttered.  "Him bein' dead kind of complicates things."
<br><br>
   He stood up and looked at one of the other men.  "Jasper, get on over to
Mavis' house and fetch doc.  Since this boy is the one that come and got
him, I s'pect that's where he is.  Tell 'im I got a dead body and a mostly
raped woman, and I need 'im over here.  Get there Pronto, Jasper." <br><br>
   The man took off running and bumped into Bobby, who was shifting from
foot to foot in the doorway.  Homer leaned out and grabbed him.<br><br>
   "Don't you go nowhere, son.  We got us a mess here, and you're neck deep
in it." He pulled him into the room.<br><br>
   As soon as Rachel saw Bobby she leapt up out of the chair, her dress
flopping open and she rushed to hug Bobby, again gripping him so hard he
couldn't get away.  The men looked at Bobby with a mixture of emotions on
their faces.  They'd seen what she was pressing against him too.  Some of
them felt ashamed at feeling lust for a raped, or almost raped woman, but
later on they'd shake their heads and talk about what a fine figure of a
woman she was.  Most of them had wished they could see that body ...  even
if it wasn't like this.  And there it was, pressed up against a dumb orphan
kid.<br><br>
   The constable gave up trying to separate Rachel from Bobby and spoke to
the man nearest him.  "Kenny, your place isn't far.  Why don't you go see
if Eunice will come over here and sit with Miss Templeton." He spoke next
to Jules again.  "See if she's got some more dresses or something she can
put on." He turned to the last man.  "Tom, I guess that leaves it up to you
to go get Blaine Coggs." Blaine was the town undertaker.<br><br>
   Homer went over to the dead man and rolled him over to check for
himself. He made a sound.  "Know this feller.  Throwed him out of the
saloon earlier tonight for causing trouble.  He was drinkin' hard and had
no money to pay.  Should'a throw'd him in jail."<br><br>
   Kenny got back first, and came in to announce that Eunice was on her
way. Eunice got there right on his heels, and had two more women in tow. 
They shooed the men out into the snow and gathered around Rachel to do what
only women could do for her just then.  They had to pry Rachel's arms from
around Bobby.  When they told him to leave too, Rachel's sobs and pleas for
him not to go were so pitiful that finally Eunice relented.<br><br>
   "You stand over there, and turn your back," she ordered.  Bobby did so,
wondering where all this would end up.  <br><br>
   The women had just gotten Rachel into another dress when there was a
thump on the door and Doctor Johansen called out.  He was let in, and Mavis
charged in right behind him.  She saw Bobby and rushed over to him.<br><br>
   "Are you all right baby?" she asked anxiously.  "They said there'd been
a killing and that you were involved!  Bobby what's going on?" <br><br>
   Bobby was tempted to just tell her and be done with it.  Life was
getting way too complicated for the teenager.  But just then Homer called
in, asking if he could come in.  Since none of the women in the room knew
what actually happened, he was welcome, as long as he answered questions.
The doctor did a cursory examination of Rachel and pronounced that the
throat wound was minor and would take care of itself.  He was more
concerned about Rachel's mental state.  The women conferred and announced
that Rachel would be going with them, and that they'd take care of her at
Eunice's house until she recovered.  Kenny looked pleased, until his wife
caught him looking pleased.  She knew he'd been in this room before she got
there, because he'd described the scene to her.  And she knew how poor
Rachel Templeton had been dressed, so she knew what her husband had seen
that he HADN'T described.  <br><br>
   She faced her smirking husband.  "Kenny Holland, don't you be thinking
you're sleeping in our bed tonight.  You just go on over to the hotel and
get yourself a room.  I'll send word when you can come back home."<br><br>
   He tried to resist.  "Now Eunice, don't be that way.  Why can't SHE get
a hotel room?" There were groans from two of the other men, who were
looking in through the open doorway, and Homer shook his head sadly.  He
grabbed Kenny's arm and pulled him to the door before Eunice could go
looking for something to hit him with.  As he was led out Kenny kept
complaining.  "What in tarnation did I do?  I HELPED for pity's sake!  And
it's ME that has to find someplace to sleep?"<br><br>
   The doctor went to the man on the floor and leaned down.  He pronounced
the man dead and then stood up.  "Nothing more I can do here.  I still got
an injured boy to finish tending to, if this town can settle down for an
hour.  Homer?  I got to stitch the boy up.  Try to keep a lid on things for
a while, all right?"<br><br>
   Mavis faced Homer.  "I'm taking Bobby home," she said firmly.  "And
don't you argue with me Homer.  You and I both know that man needed
killing, and Bobby didn't mean to do that anyway.  He was just trying to
protect his teacher."<br><br>
   Homer raised a hand.  "Mavis, you know I'll have to ask some questions.
Just don't let him wander off somewhere hard to find."<br><br>
   She sniffed and tugged on Bobby's coat sleeve.  "Come along Bobby.  It's
past your bedtime."<br><br>
   Homer shook his head, watching them go and turned to Jules, the only one
left in the room.  "Boy just killed a man, and probably saved a woman's
life ...  and he's got a bedtime.  If that don't beat all."<br><br>
   Back home, Bobby was sent to bed on his own, while attention turned back
to Terrence.  Mavis had had to dose Terrence with whisky to sedate him
enough so that the doctor could sew up his hand.  Terrence fought the
drink, spitting it out, until Doctor Johansen had taken one stitch without
any anesthetic.  Then he had drunk what he was told to drink.  For a child
that small, it had only taken three ounces and he was out like a light.  It
had taken over forty stitches to put the hand back together, and the Doctor
still wasn't sure he'd have the full use of his fingers when it healed.  It
was the wee hours of the morning before any of the adults got to
bed.<br><br>
   School was cancelled the next day, of course.  Mavis didn't want people
to think that either she or Bobby were hiding or embarrassed so, despite
her late night, she got up and took Bobby to do the grocery shopping.  Word
had indeed spread all over town.  No one had been killed by violence in
Hampstead for thirty years or more, and it was all anyone could talk about.
Most people, once the dead felon was identified as a stranger, who had
probably ridden the rails into town and likely would have made his escape
the same way, decided that justice had been done.  <br><br>
   People weren't quite sure whether or not Rachel still had her virtue or
not, and that caused some arguments.  One group of five women banded
together and held out that, if she were truly soiled by the man, even
though it wasn't her fault, the town couldn't very well retain her as the
school teacher.  That group also concluded that the town needed no
vigilantes running around loose, and that Bobby would have to go too. 
<br><br>
   Various people suggested that if, in the future, any daughters of these
five women were heard to be screaming, or seen to be suffering rape, it
would just be assumed they were trollops who needed no interfering
do-gooders bothering them.  <br><br>
   Several fistfights almost broke out.  <br><br>
   Once Rachel came out into public, though, all that changed.  The left
side of her face was swollen grotesquely and was the color of mixed hues of
black, blue, purple and yellow.  She had difficulty speaking clearly.  She
had obviously been beaten severely, and it made people ill to look at her.
She had recovered her equilibrium, though, after spending 48 hours in the
care of good and nurturing women.  <br><br>
   She had also heard about the five women who wanted to run Bobby out of
town, and it was for that reason that she appeared in public, disfigured as
she was.  She sought out each of the five women.  She faced each one of
them down and offered to let the woman examine her maidenhood herself to
determine its status.  When each one of the women refused, Rachel suggested
that they close their mouths and keep their opinions to themselves, turned
and walked out.<br><br>
   In the end, Rachel was considered a heroine by most, though she'd be
hated by those five women for the rest of her life.  Three of them left
town after the war, tired of the grief they got over that incident. 
Rachel's telling of the story, and how, had it not been for Bobby, she'd
have been both raped and killed, also turned him into a local
celebrity.<br><br>
   Rachel wanted to start school up again after three days, but several
people convinced her to let her face heal more before the children saw her.
She looked in a mirror and had to agree that the smaller children would be
shocked and frightened.<br><br>
   During the three days school was out, Bobby was a celebrity, not only in
town, but at home too.  Donations of clothing came in, the result of
Homer's description of what the boy was wearing when he was interviewed
about the incident.  Mavis had been there with him, while he wrote out his
description of events The only detriment to Bobby was that everyone's
estimation of his intelligence rose significantly.  He was no longer
considered to be simple minded.  Homer also saw several of the carvings
Bobby had been doing on the long winter evenings as he sat, listening to
the radio.  June Bug and Emily didn't much care for the radio shows, and
played on the floor then.  When Meg read, though, Bobby couldn't carve,
because his lap was full of little girls.<br><br>
   Only Mavis had said anything to him about how everybody had
underestimated him.  She had seen and read what he wrote for the constable.
On the way back to the house she looked at him out of the side of her
eye.<br><br>
   "You're a lot smarter than you let on, aren't you?" she asked
casually.<br><br>
   Bobby looked over at her, but couldn't hold her eyes.  He wasn't ashamed
of what he had done ...  not in the way you or I might feel shame at doing
something sneaky.  He'd had a hard life, and getting what he could out of a
given situation was just something he had always done.  But these women had
been good to him, and he knew that.  He also knew that Mavis still didn't
know just how much of a trick he had been playing.  Acting simple-minded
was only the tip of the iceberg, as it were.<br><br>
   He looked back in her eyes, which were still staring at him, and
nodded.<br><br>
   Mavis smiled and put her arm over his shoulder, pulling him against her.
"I suppose somebody who's gone through what you've gone through can't be
blamed for taking what advantage can be found.  You're a good boy Bobby.  I
know you've got a good heart."<br><br>
   They walked on a bit further and Mavis spoke again.  "About Meg ..." She
looked over at the boy who acted so much like a man and stopped.  When he
looked at her there was something almost like fear in his eyes.  It
troubled her, but she couldn't put her finger on why.<br><br>
   "Never mind," she said.  "Homer thinks you could sell your carvings,"
she said, changing the subject radically.<br><br>
   Bobby, glad the subject had changed from Meg, raised an eyebrow.<br><br>
   "Indeed" she said nodding.  "He thinks you could sell them at the Dry
Goods store.  They're really beautiful Bobby.  I'd like to have one
myself."<br><br>
   Bobby had completed three more carvings, all of dogs.  He was working on
a horse, but wasn't happy with it.  He hadn't seen many horses up close,
and was using a picture in a book as his model.  Wood had been a problem at
first.  When Mavis had seen him trying to carve on one of the pieces of
wood he'd sneaked back out of Patrick's closet after "killing the Umpelty
Oog" she recognized that it was poor quality wood.  She took Bobby to the
attic, where some old furniture had been stored.  One table had a broken
leg and she had picked up that leg and handed it to Bobby, telling him it
was walnut.  It was hard to carve, but the results were, indeed, beautiful.
He'd used about a third of the table leg to make the carvings Homer had
seen.<br><br>
   Having nothing else to say, Mavis finished the walk home without talking
further.<br><br>
   Two days later Parson Jenkins visited Milleson House, his arms full of
donations for Bobby.  At the bottom of the pile were two sheets of
sandpaper.  "The constable asked me to give you these," he said simply,
handing them to Bobby.  Bobby had looked at the paper dubiously, and the
Parson then explained what it was for.  Bobby had lit up and ran to get one
of his finished pieces.  He'd smoothed it as best he could with the edge of
the knife.  The sandpaper made what was already beautiful a work of
art.<br><br>
   Being intelligent, he just assumed that, after the incident, bath time
would change.  He was sure he'd milked it for everything it was capable of
providing.  Now that the women all thought of him as just quiet, he assumed
they'd also assume he could bathe himself.<br><br>
   It did change, but not in the way he had thought it might.<br><br>
   The next bath night things went as usual, with Meg reading while the
smaller children got their baths in shifts.  On this particular night June
Bug went first, and Emily second.  When the last shift was out and dressed
and Meg had closed the book, she stood up and stretched backwards, her
hands on her slim waist.<br><br>
   "Sally?" she called out.  "My back is sore tonight.  I don't know if I
could do all that bending over in the bathroom.  I'll put the little ones
to bed if you'll take care of Bobby.  Would that be all right?"<br><br>
   Bobby sensed something disingenuous in her comment.  His finely honed
sense of survival recognized falsehoods many more times than not.  But he
didn't know why Meg would want to avoid their play.  She had obviously
liked what had happened between them.  He didn't understand women at all
most of the time, with a few exceptions.  So he just sat and waited for
something to happen.<br><br>
   "Surely Meg" said Sally.  "I guess that would be fine."<br><br>
   Mavis looked like she was about to speak, but then went back to dressing
Terrence, who had trouble due to the big wad of bandages on his injured
hand.<br><br>
   "Come on Bobby," said Sally, and held out her hand.<br><br>
   Bobby got up and, as he followed her into the bathroom, remembered her
kiss, his reward for killing the Umpelty Oog.  He began to suspect that
this was no accident, and for some reason that made him feel good.<br><br>
   When Sally closed the door, however, she looked pale and nervous.  She
didn't fill the tub, as Meg always did.  Bobby, by habit, just stood
there.<br><br>
   "I don't know what to do," she said, as if she were talking to someone
else, or perhaps herself.  She wasn't talking about the bath part of why
she was in this room, but, of course, Bobby didn't know that.<br><br>
   Bobby took her hand and led her to the hot water tap.  She tittered
nervously and relaxed a little bit, turning her head to look at
Bobby.<br><br>
   "I know what you and Meg do in here," she said.  Bobby tensed up.  "She
told me about it," she went on.  Bobby relaxed again.<br><br>
   She didn't seem upset to Bobby, and he decided to just simply act
normal. That had worked for him in the past.  Sally finally started filling
the tub with hot water.  He started unbuttoning his shirt.  Sally turned to
watch him, her eyes going wider, but she didn't move away from him.  He
wasn't hard, and when he dropped his pants and stepped out of them, and
then removed his drawers, Sally looked almost unhappy as she stared at his
manhood.  She had forgotten the water, and Bobby reached past her to shut
it off before there was no room to add cold to it.  Sally blushed and
moved.<br><br>
   "Whatever is wrong with me?" she said, again to herself.  "I'm a grown
woman," she said firmly.  She turned to Bobby.  "Just how much help do you
really need?" she asked.  When he made no sign she asked "Do you need any
help at all?"<br><br>
   Bobby knew he couldn't lie to this woman.  She was too intelligent for
one thing - she read as well as Meg did, though not with the emotion of
voice.  And she claimed to know what he and Meg had done, yet came with him
anyway.<br><br>
   He shook his head.<br><br>
   "But you want me to help ...  don't you?" she asked.  Her natural fear
of rejection had bubbled up to the surface of her thoughts.  She didn't
know what she'd do of Bobby rejected her too.<br><br>
   Bobby smiled and nodded.<br><br>
   Sally felt a rush of relief that made it suddenly hard to breathe.  She
felt her nipples tingle at that smile.  She too thought he had the most
beautiful dark eyes and welcoming smile she'd ever seen.<br><br>
   Bobby stepped into the tub and sat down slowly, because the water was
hotter than usual.  He made a sighing sound and leaned back, closing his
eyes.  Then he opened them, sat forward, reached for the sweet smelling
soap, handed it to Sally, and then leaned back to close his eyes
again.<br><br>
   She knelt by the tub, rubbing the soap all over his chest.  He had a
little more muscle there now and she liked the feel of the swells and dips
of his chest.  Knowing how sensitive her own nipples were, she washed over
his several times.  She was about to nervously take the plunge of rubbing
lower when he sat forward, leaning over to expose his back.  Her eyes took
in his scars, and her reaction was much the same as Meg's.  She touched him
tenderly there, at first, but it was clear he had no residual pain.<br><br>
   Then he stood up, and turned to face her.  He was still soft.  Since he
and Sally had never done anything he didn't know what to expect, and his
emotions were still fairly sedate.<br><br>
   "Should I wash you ...  there?" asked Sally, her hand rising toward his
penis.<br><br>
   He nodded.<br><br>
   "I've never done this Bobby," she said.<br><br>
   Bobby leaned over and kissed her, his lips soft.  She rose into that
kiss as his tongue tip wormed its way between her lips.  Her own tongue
responded and again she was breathless at the pleasure that streaked
through her.  She could feel that he really WANTED to kiss her ...  that
she was attractive to him in some way.  Part of her couldn't believe that,
but his lips on hers made it clear, beyond doubt, that he wanted her to
kiss him back.  She did, pressing herself against him as much as possible
with the edge of the tub in the way.  She knew she was getting her dress
damp, from the drops of water still on his body, and remembered seeing Meg,
with water spots on the front of her dress.  Meg had taken her dress off
for this boy ...  had let him touch her body.<br><br>
   Sally pushed away, as the emotion of contemplating being naked with him
overcame her.  It was too foreign.  She thought of the other things Meg had
done.  She could do that, she thought.  Her hand reached for his penis and
she was shocked to find it longer and much more firm.  She looked down and
saw that her hand had felt truly.  Her hand gripped him, but didn't move
until he reached and moved it for her.<br><br>
   She learned the rhythm quickly, and could tell by his face when she was
doing it the way he liked.  Her nipples tingled again and she thought back
to a time, over a year gone now when they had gotten a baby whose mother
had died in childbirth.  The father was off at war.  They had to bottle
feed the baby, which was going to be collected by relatives from
California, but it would take a week for them to arrive.  Sally had the
first night feeding, and the baby was hungry, but didn't want the rubber
nipple it was offered.  Its piteous cries In the night had stabbed deep
into Sally's heart and, in desperation, she had offered it one of her own
nipples.  It quieted immediately as its first sucks made her nipple extend.
She had so little breast flesh that she could pass for a man if she tried.
Her hips could give her away, or her nipples, if they got erect.  The baby
had sucked and, when the sensations were so strong that they almost made
her faint, Sally had pulled that baby off that nipple, which had extended
to almost an inch.  It looked deformed to her in the dim light of the
bedroom.  She had been able to get the baby to take the bottle eventually,
but had to offer it a real nipple three more times before it went back to
sleep.<br><br>
   Sally let go of Bobby's penis and stepped back.  "I can't get wet with
you," she whispered.  Her fingers flew to the buttons of her dress and she
pulled it apart with no sense of shame at all, baring her flat chest and
letting the dress drop to the floor around her feet.  Her passion had
overcome her self image.  Her pubic hair was so sparse that it was hard to
see, but Bobby easily saw thick, plump lips between her legs that he
suddenly thought might be nice to kiss, like the lips on her face.  Then
she stepped forward, out of her dress and took his prick in her hand
again.<br><br>
   She pinched a nipple, which had already begun to swell and elongate as
she stroked Bobby.  <br><br>
   "Could you suck me?" she whispered.  "Right here?" she pulled at the
nipple.<br><br>
   Bobby leaned over and sucked the growing nubbin into his mouth.  Sally
moaned, her hand clasping his prick tighter and jerking spasmodically,
rather than in time.  Bobby felt the flesh in his mouth get bigger and more
firm, until it was almost like sucking the tip of his little
finger.<br><br>
   Sally wavered, her head spinning at the streaks of joy that shot through
her due to his suckling action.  Her hand came and cradled the back of his
head, her fingers sliding through his long hair as she told him how much
she loved what he was doing.<br><br>
   Her orgasm frightened her, because she'd never had one and didn't have
any idea how strong those feelings could be.  First she couldn't breathe.
Then her knees sagged and she had to grab the edge of the tub to support
herself.  Her whole body froze.  She couldn't breathe, her hand stopped
moving on Bobby, and her knees bent and then locked.  She felt the pleasure
streak to the area between her legs and she suddenly wanted to touch
herself there, but couldn't without falling down.<br><br>
   "Uhhhhhhh" she groaned in a long sigh as the feeling receded enough that
she could move again.  Her knees failed and she sank to rest on them, her
face right in front of her hand, and the tip of Bobby's penis.  When Meg
had described putting her mouth on him Sally had shuddered, thinking that
was crazy.  Now she looked at the organ and knew it had to be as good as
Meg had said.<br><br>
   She leaned forward to let it slide between her lips.<br><br>
   She had to move her hand to get as much in her mouth as she wanted, and
Bobby groaned.  Her whole body felt hot, like it was next to a huge red-hot
stove, as she knew from the sound that she was pleasing the man who had
pleased her so much.  He cheeks caved in as she sucked hungrily.  She
tasted something, and, as her mouth evaluated that taste, she knew it was
the taste that Meg had talked about.  It was a mixture of a hint of bitter,
with a stronger hint of sweet, and another sensation she couldn't identify.
<br><br>
   She knew he liked to be stroked, and since she couldn't move her hand,
she moved her mouth instead, sliding almost off, to suck just the round
knob and then back down.  Bobby groaned again and she got more of that
taste.  His hands slid through her hair and he helped her move, not
grabbing tightly, but with a feather light pressure.<br><br>
   Then he groaned again and suddenly her mouth was overflowing with the
taste ...  his taste.  She wanted to laugh as she thought of a time she had
taken as big a bite of pudding into her mouth as she could get on the
spoon. The pudding had flowed all over her mouth in an explosion of flavor,
and now his juice did the same thing.  She swallowed gratefully, liking the
taste now, like Meg did, and wanting it to go on.  She sucked harder and
moved her mouth on him again, milking the thick fluid out of him until
there was no more.  His penis wilted quickly, and she felt sad somehow that
it was over so quickly as she pulled her mouth off of him and swallowed the
last dregs that still coated her mouth.<br><br>
   Bobby wanted to hug her ...  to feel her naked skin against his, and he
started to step out of the tub.<br><br>
   Still on her knees, Sally giggled.  "No, silly" she said.  "You're still
all soapy." <br><br>
   To Bobby's disappointment, she pushed him back down into the water and
then stepped back into her dress and pulled it up to cover her.  Then she
washed him properly, doing his hair and talking to him, telling him how
much she had liked tasting him, and how wonderful his mouth had felt on
her. <br><br>
   When she was done, and he stood back up he was stiff again.  <br><br>
   Sally laughed a high tinkling laugh of delight.  He wasn't quite as hard
as he had been before, but Sally didn't care.  She got to her knees again
and happily sucked until she got another mouthful of pudding.  <br><br>
   When he was dried off she hugged him then, and kissed his lips, wanting
another of those delicious kisses.  Then she checked her hair in the mirror
and, taking his hand, led him out into the dining room.<br><br>
   Mavis was doing more of her endless needlework, mending a pair of pants
that had somehow gotten the knee torn.  Meg had put the children to bed
with Donna and Prudence's help.  Normally the latter two would have
buttoned up their coats and gone home by now, but for some reason they all
found cause to sit around the table.  Their conversation would have sounded
normal to an outsider, but to Mavis it was obviously forced, as they found
things to say that didn't need saying, and talked about things they could
have talked about on the morrow.  Meg had gotten Bobby's night shirt from
his room while she was upstairs, and had draped it over a chair back. 
Mavis's keen eyes saw Meg's glance dart to the bathroom door more than once
as she talked about a new recipe she had gotten from the storekeeper's
wife.<br><br>
   Again, Mavis was about to speak of her suspicions, but as she drew
breath, the bathroom door opened and all conversation stopped.  Mavis
almost laughed out loud.  She looked at Sally, whose face had a luster that
was usually lacking.  She wasn't smiling, exactly, but she looked
lighthearted in a way that was alien to her usual demeanor.<br><br>
   "You look like you just got some mighty good news," Mavis remarked, her
eyes going back to her work.<br><br>
   Had she been watching, she'd have seen Sally blush.  She took the time
to dart a glance at Bobby's penis.  It looked darker than the last time
she'd seen it.  HE was smiling.  It wasn't a grin, but it spoke volumes to
Mavis.  Meg stood up and picked up his night shirt.  He raised his arms as
she slid it up them and over his head.  It all looked so normal ... 
almost. But Meg's fingers lingered on his shoulders, and slid to his chest
to grab the material and pull it down.  She was smiling too ...  at
Bobby.<br><br>
   Mavis almost laughed again as all four women hugged the boy good night.
They were so transparent.  She'd have to do something soon, before things
got completely out of hand ...  if they hadn't already.  She was surprised
when he came to her and bent to kiss her on the cheek.  She was also
surprised at how that made her feel.  It was just a simple kiss, but it was
so loving that it made her want to wiggle in her chair.<br><br>
   "Good night Bobby," she said.  He smiled.  She realized she could get
lost in those eyes.<br><br>
   Both Meg and Sally took him upstairs to his room, while Donna and
Prudence decided suddenly it was time to go.<br><br>
   Yes, she was going to have to do something ...  and do it soon.
  
orphanage_06