Red Sky at Night, Schoolboys Take Fright
by Jolyon Lewes
Chapter 3
"Daddy," said James Steadman, addressing his father who was seated in his study. "I've been invited to go camping in the last week of July in the Peak District with a boy I met last weekend when I went climbing."
"Stand still when you're speaking to me, boy. Hands behind your back, not plucking at your shorts. Which boy is this?"
"His name's Oliver and he's seventeen."
"Ah, he must be the boy who's still at Mr Hemerdon's old school."
"Yes, Daddy, that's the one."
"Mr Hemerdon speaks well of him but I should have to meet him before I can approve of your going away with him. Where does he live?"
"In Dore, just south of Sheffield, Daddy."
"Hmm, well I'll need to telephone to his father then. I said hands behind your back! I will not have you constantly tugging at your shorts!"
"But they're so short, Daddy. Everyone stares at me. It's so embarrassing."
"I've told you time and again, James. You'll have long trousers when you have hair on your legs and not before!"
Poor James: he wore grey shorts at school, he wore grey shorts at home, he wore grey shorts every day. Not the same pair, of course - he had many pairs and the shortest of all he had to wear at home, much to the delight of some of his father's businessmen dinner guests. The only long trousers he possessed were his pyjamas. He was now faced with spending the seven-week summer holiday in grey shorts that barely reached his thighs.
Later that day James's father told him he'd spoken to Oliver's father and that next day Oliver would arrive for afternoon tea and his interview. "I've said I expect Oliver to attend in his school uniform. You and I will meet him at the railway station."
James slept only fitfully that night, excited about seeing Ollie again but fearful that his father wouldn't consider him a suitable companion for a camping trip in the Peak District. He needn't have worried. A gleaming Ollie alighted from the train in his school uniform and shook Dr Steadman firmly by the hand then greeted James with polite affection. James's proximity to Ollie in the car gave him an erection and he had to make sure his penis didn't shoot out of the right leg of his shorts as it had done in the barn at Stanage Edge. Once at home James took Ollie up to his bedroom and suggested he leave his little rucksack there.
"What on earth have you got in here?" asked James. "It's not as if it's going to rain."
"My jeans and sweater and trainers," said Ollie. "You surely don't think I travelled like this?"
James looked at Ollie, whose school uniform was similar to James's: grey suit with ludicrously short grey trousers, black shoes and long, woollen, grey socks.
"Haven't got my long trousers for the Upper Sixth yet," said Ollie, "so I had to wear these stupid little things. I got changed just before the train came into Nottingham. Got some very strange looks and a couple of blokes couldn't stop leering at me. And in the car you seemed pleased to see me too!"
"How did you know?
"Well, you seemed aroused by something. Maybe you'd seen a pretty girl in the street."
"I wasn't looking out at the street, Ollie."
"So let's be honest. You fancy me a little bit, don't you?"
"Oh, please don't talk about this sort of thing," said James, blushing violently. "At least, not at home - my parents could be listening."
"OK, fair enough, but I fancy you." Ollie reached up to touch James's cheek and gave it a little caress with the back of his fingers. "But first I've got to pass my interview with your father and then we can plan a few days away together, just the two of us. Is my tie straight?"
"But what about Dan?"
"Oh, he's gone to Colorado for some climbing. Won't be back for a month. Anyway with him it's a one-way thing. He's crazy about me - as you must have seen - and I don't really fancy him at all. But I fancy you like anything!"
James was feeling dizzy. Billy, his would-be boyfriend at school had never said he fancied him or even liked him but here was the gorgeous Ollie saying 'I fancy you.' It was both thrilling and scary.
James's mother had had the housekeeper lay out afternoon tea in the drawing room and Ollie sat with James and his parents, enjoying tiny sandwiches, cakes and some trifle, all washed down with tea served in dainty cups. James saw his parents watching Ollie's every move. They were assessing his posture, his table manners and his ability to make polite conversation. His performance was perfect, although James panicked a little when he saw Ollie opening his legs in order to reach down to retrieve an errant sugar lump from the floor. James saw the white bulge of Ollie's underpants holding their precious contents and feared something would pop out and frighten his mother. But it didn't and once Ollie had closed his legs again James relaxed a bit. He tried not to look at Ollie's glossy, burnished thighs glinting in the sunlight lest he become aroused, as had happened in the car. At last, tea was over and Dr Steadman took Ollie onto his study for the interview.
When it was over Dr Steadman said he'd take Ollie back to the station for his train to Dore. James and Ollie went upstairs to collect Ollie's rucksack.
"Christ! That was some ordeal!" said Ollie. "But I think I passed. Now do you believe me when I say I fancy you? D'you think I'd go through all this if I didn't care about you? Hey, we'd better go - he's gone out to get the car. And don't worry - I'll be in jeans before the train's even left Nottingham."
After dropping Ollie at the station Dr Steadman drove James home and gave his verdict. "Oliver is just the sort of boy to be your friend. He's well-mannered, intelligent and smart and I'll be happy for you to go off with him. You'll need a rucksack and wet-weather clothing."
James brightened at this but his spirits fell at what his father said next.
"You may have noticed Oliver wears short trousers in the Sixth Form so I don't expect any protests from you when you return to school next term for another year in short trousers. He plans for you both to camp on the Chatsworth Estate. His father is friendly with the Duke of Devonshire so as there's a chance you might meet the Duke and Duchess you will wear your school uniform on your camping trip. You must be properly dressed if you are to meet aristocracy."
In bed that night, James was thinking not of yet another year in short trousers nor of his father's preposterous statement that he'd have to wear school uniform for wild camping but of the magnificent Ollie; his superb good looks, his fabulous body, his self-confidence and his success in winning over his father. And Ollie had spotted James's erection in the car and had correctly guessed its cause. But most of all, it was when Ollie had said he fancied James and had obviously meant it that really concentrated James's mind and for once he was happy as he prepared for sleep. When he pulled his penis out of his pyjamas and let it shoot its load into an old T-shirt James had taken to bed he was happier than he'd ever been.
A couple of days later James was the proud possessor of a 75-litre rucksack, a nice blue anorak, a bottle-green pullover and some walking boots. But no trousers. His mother insisted he take not one but two school uniforms, shirts, ties and cap included and his father ordered him to pack shoe-cleaning stuff for his black shoes. With his shoes, sleeping bag, pyjamas and spare shirts, school uniforms and underwear there was just room for the PE kit he'd worn for climbing at Stanage Edge. Looking at his assembled baggage James felt grateful for small mercies. He had some basic equipment and some highly unusual clothing for a camping expedition but more importantly he'd be off to spend time with Ollie and Ollie had said he fancied him.
The plan was for the boys to meet at Chesterfield railway station at 11.00 the following Thursday. James travelled there from Nottingham in one of his older school uniforms, his newest carefully packed in his rucksack to wear only if he was invited to meet the Duke or Duchess. He made a strange sight - a six-foot youth wearing a worried expression, size 10 walking boots and what was obviously a school uniform with shorts so brief that his thighs were totally bare. In the train people were staring at him. A priest sitting opposite him was so aroused by the sight of James's long, bare legs that he had rush to the toilet after only ten minutes. At Chesterfield James was met by Ollie, in sweatshirt and jeans and carrying a bulky rucksack with his tent strapped on the top. Ollie gazed fondly at James, whose customary tugging at the hems of his shorts served only to emphasise their extreme brevity. 'Oh God,' thought Ollie, 'has he any idea how sexy he looks?'
They shook each other's hand warmly and Ollie led the way out of the station. "I hope you weren't expecting me to be in school uniform again."
"No but Ollie - you said we'd both be in shorts."
"And we will be, just as soon as we're in the country. Look, we've got about four hundred yards to St Mary's and we can get a bus from there to Baslow where we get off and walk to Chatsworth. Once we're by ourselves we can change into something more suitable."
"I don't have anything more suitable, apart from PE kit," said James. "You lead the way. By the way, it's really nice to see you again."
"Super to see you," said Ollie, doing a little scuttle forward.
"You alright?" asked James. "It looked like you were about to stumble or something. That rucksack must weigh a ton."
"No, it was just a reaction. When Dan says it's nice to see me he always wallops my bottom. Sorry."
"Well I won't wallop your bottom, even if you're naughty!"
Ollie gave James a smile so cheeky that James's penis gave a mighty surge. Soon they were sitting on a low wall beside St Mary's and All Saints Church, looking up at its famous twisted, leaning spire.
"There was this pervy priest in the train, staring at my legs," said James. "I ought to be used to it but it's still embarrassing, every time."
"I'm staring at your legs now," said Ollie, "but it's because I like you and anyway, I'm not twisted, like that spire." He gave James's thigh a friendly pat. James smiled in return.
Soon the boys were in a bus travelling west and in a short time were approaching the edge of the Peak District National Park. They left the hot and crowded bus a few miles from Chatsworth House and were glad to get out into the fresh air.
"Oh James, I've got to get these jeans off," said Ollie as the boys left the main road and headed down a narrow lane.
"And I can't wait to get this uniform off," said James. "Look, let's nip through that gateway and get ourselves comfortable."
Emerging from behind a dry-stone wall five minutes later, James no longer looked like an awkward schoolboy but a handsome young man in PE kit and trainers. Ollie had removed his jeans and was in the wickedly brief denim shorts he'd worn at Stanage Edge. 'Oh God,' thought James, 'has he any idea how sexy he looks?' Feeling suitably liberated, the boys shouldered their rucksacks and strode happily off into the countryside, each admiring the other's body.
The huge Chatsworth Estate is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, whom Ollie's father knew well enough to ask permission for the boys to do some wild camping on land well away from the public areas. There would be privacy in the woods and on the moor and if the boys wanted a meal they weren't far from an excellent café. Their first port of call was the estate office, to be briefed on the areas they'd be free to camp on and areas to avoid. They left their rucksacks by the door and were invited to perch on high stools to study a large map spread out on a table.
"You probably want to be out of sight of the tourists," said the young man in the office, "so you can go up here, near the estate boundary and you won't be disturbed but keep clear of the land here," (pointing at a farm), "the tenant farmer's an awkward cuss. Now, we've got a bunch of German Scouts camping down here and ...," he tailed off, distracted by his close proximity to James's long, slender and very bare legs. As he folded the map he contrived to pass the back of his fingers all along one of James's thighs. "What nice brown legs; you must spend lots of time in the sun."
"It's because I don't possess any long trousers," said James, wondering why so many men seemed to like stroking his thighs. But at least this man was younger and less repulsive than the horrible old men his father invited for dinner.
The young man gulped. "What, none at all?"
"Only my pyjamas," said James.
"May we make a fire by our tent?" asked Ollie, in an attempt to change the subject.
"Yes, you'll need to keep your friend warm," said the man, who now had a massive erection. "But do be careful. You can cut firewood from the hazel we're coppicing on the side of the hill. You can borrow the map but please bring it back before you head for home."
The boys jumped off the stools, thanked him and turned to leave. Ollie had to bend over to re-tie his laces, inadvertently treating the young man to the best sight he'd seen in ages. Ollie's shorts were outrageously brief and rode up to reveal over two inches of smooth, glossy buttock. Before the boys had gone far the young man was in a storeroom, wanking himself stupid at the thought of those two delicious, half-naked boys sharing a tent.
Ollie and James filled their water bottles at the café, bought some sandwiches and cakes, paid a strategic visit to the loo, walked half a mile up through the woods and looked for a likely spot for their tent. By four o'clock they'd pitched it on a nice patch of grass, clear of trees but concealed by bushes. The gardens and parkland designed by 'Capability' Brown were visible in the distance. It was a beautiful summer afternoon and Ollie was hardly able to believe he'd got James to himself, well away from prying eyes. Meanwhile, James was chattering as each boy sorted out his gear.
"Oh Ollie, the tent looks awfully small – it'll be a squash with both of us in there," said he. "What if we can't fit in?"
"Can't see a problem," said Ollie, scrabbling about in his rucksack. "It's a two-man tent. Oh, sod it, I forgot my sleeping bag."
James smiled. "Well, mine can unzip so there'll be room for two – if you don't mind...."
"Looks like we've no choice then, James," said Ollie, feeling an erection coming on. "We're miles away from your parents now, so you can speak freely. You know I fancy you. Do you fancy me, even a tiny bit?"
"I think I probably do, Ollie."
The boys boiled water on Ollie's gas stove and made some tea, eating the sandwiches and gobbling the cakes from the café. Sitting on the grass side by side, chatting about this and that, they watched the sun sink over High Peak. There were wispy clouds, high in the atmosphere and too few to make the night a warm one. Ollie knew it would get cold later, a thought that gave him an exciting sensation in his chest.
Half an hour later James said "Look, Ollie, it's a red sky at night!"
"And if you think that means I get my thighs spanked you can think again. I've left school now so you're the only schoolboy here. Are you taking fright?"
"Hmm, now you mention it I think I am. You didn't bring a cane with you, I hope."
James had a fit of the giggles and a second later the boys were having a friendly wrestle, their bare legs writhing together and their hands exploring parts of each other's body they'd been too polite to explore before. At one point their faces were close enough for a kiss but James backed off.
"No, sorry, Ollie. Not ready for anything like that yet."
"OK, that's fine by me," said Ollie, "but it's getting cold and we should turn in soon. You must be freezing in that PE kit."
"Yes, you're right. It's getting cold." James unzipped his sleeping bag so he and Ollie could lie on it in the tent and carry on chatting. It must have been around midnight when James, who was still in his PE kit, began to shiver.
"Shall we zip this thing up," said Ollie, "with us inside?"
"Well, if you think it'd be alright," said James. "I ought to put my pyjamas on though."
"Nobody wears pyjamas when camping, you daft bugger!" said Ollie, pulling James close and dragging the sleeping bag over the two of them. The zipping up provoked a few giggles and eventually the boys were cocooned safely, lying on their sides and facing each other. Ollie hadn't managed to get either arm inside the sleeping bag so wrapped them around James's head and shoulders and drew him even closer. "Let's pretend we're Antarctic explorers!"
"I wonder if they have to do this to keep warm," mused James as he put both arms around Ollie's waist and let his legs intertwine with those of his friend. "Oh, Ollie! You've got a stiff willy!"
"Well, can you blame me, my innocent young friend?" murmured Ollie into James's ear.
The morning was warm and sunny when the boys managed to separate from their nightlong embrace and poke their heads out of the tent to sniff the air. Ollie quickly got the gas stove going to cook sausages and to boil water for tea.
"It was OK, wasn't it, last night?" said Ollie. "I mean it wasn't too much, all that hugging and things?"
"I loved it, Ollie. I've never done anything like that with Billy - or anybody."
"I liked it too, James." Ollie sat in a blue T-shirt and his wickedly short blue denim shorts and looked at James, in his white PE kit. "You look a bit like a kid about to set off on a cross-country run. And that smacks of school. Why don't you wear your grey shorts and that green pullover? It'd make you look more like a Cub Scout than a schoolboy and I'm sure you'd be warmer. And talking of Scouts, we might get to see those German ones. I bet they're all in microscopic Lederhosen!"
"It'd do me good to see boys in even shorter shorts than mine," said James. "As if that was possible."
"Same goes for me," said Ollie. "And it would do me good to see you in those grey shorts. "Oh God! I sound like I'm giving orders and honestly, I'm not. I suppose it's a reaction to Dan. He's always giving me orders."
"So why do you obey his orders?"
"I don't honestly know. When he first fell for me I was only fourteen and I liked all the compliments and the attention he paid me. I did things I knew would please him. He was my master and I knew it. I don't like everything he does, like slapping my bottom in public, which you've seen for yourself. It's very embarrassing. And now I'm seventeen I don't like being treated as a plaything. But I'm not like him, James. I'd never try to take advantage of you because I'm too bloody fond of you. I just think you'd look less conspicuous if you weren't in PE kit."
"Yeah, I see what you mean, Ollie. My PE kit's so bloody white! OK, I'll wear the grey shorts, even though they're shorter than the PE shorts. And I'll wear my school shirt and the green pullover but I refuse to wear my school tie!"
"Thank God for that! Nobody goes wild camping in a tie!"
James put on his grey shorts. For a crazy second he'd considered going commando, as he'd done in his PE shorts (habits die hard) but that would lead to considerable embarrassment, for there'd be nothing to stop his penis popping out of the right leg of the shorts, even in its present flaccid state. In the company of the gorgeous Ollie, it wasn't likely to be flaccid for long.
Having stashed everything in the tent the boys, their bare legs glinting in the morning sunshine, set off to explore the Chatsworth pleasure grounds. They knew they were attracting admiring glances from people of both sexes. Ollie was used to this but James found it quite exciting as he'd always interpreted the looks he received when out in public to be incredulous, pitying, or just plain mocking. With his handsome companion beside him he felt less tense than normal and began to return people's looks rather than cower in embarrassment. Some people even seemed to be smiling in a friendly way rather than openly sniggering at James's vast area of bare thigh. He looked at Ollie, whose blue denim shorts stopped only just below his crease. The skin on Ollie's legs was taut, hairless and glossy, a couple of shades lighter than James's legs, which had been exposed continuously for sixteen years. After a good tour of the gardens, our boys had a tasty lunch in the café, bought more provisions and headed back to the tent. James had lost his self-consciousness and was having the time of his life but Ollie hadn't come all this way just to be a tourist. He'd taken some photos of Chatsworth but now he wanted some he could take to University a year hence and keep forever.
"Shall we stay here till morning?" asked James, unzipping the tent flap. "We've seen all we need to and we've got enough food."
"I was hoping you'd say that, because I've got a favour to ask," said Ollie. "I want to take photos of you in that sort of Cub's uniform. You look so bloody sexy."
"I can't think there are many Cubs as tall as me," said James. "Or with a voice that broke about two years ago."
"Yeah, you're right but I want my own, sexy, not very little Cub Scout in my tent and I want to photograph him."
"Well, so long as nobody else sees."
Ollie took about twenty photos of James; none was indecent because in those days you had to send your film to a processor to develop but a few showed a smiling James reclining on the communal sleeping bag, the camera near his feet, looking right up his glorious legs to the tiny grey shorts, which barely covered his hips and presented a nice bulge at the front, which threatened to tear the shorts asunder. Ollie was certain these pictures would give him many happy nights in the years to come.
"Promise to keep these pictures to yourself, Ollie," said James. "One day there may be a way of sending pictures like this all over the world, at the touch of a button."
"And pigs might fly," said Ollie, sarcastically. "Don't fret, I'll keep the best ones just for me."
James looked so desirable Ollie had to put his camera down, dive into the tent and have a friendly wrestle, which swiftly resulted in two rock-hard erections. And then there was the sound of approaching voices.
"Stay there," whispered Ollie. "I'll have a look." He scrambled out of the tent to see traipsing up the hill, following their leader in single file, a pack of German Scouts. They were chanting some sort of mantra as they advanced. Ollie gave James an urgent order: "Don't come out! They're in ultra-short Lederhosen and you might get over-excited!"
As the procession of boys passed by, Ollie waved and nodded at their leader and when they'd all passed by he popped his head into the tent. "Real Germans," he said, "and every one a picture of beauty. They're marching uphill with flags and things and look like something from Lord of the Flies."
"Why," said James, "are their uniforms all torn to rags?"
"No," laughed Ollie, "they're not even wearing war paint. But your uniform would be in tatters if I had my way with you!"
"And I bet their Lederhosen aren't as deliciously revealing as those denim shorts you're wearing, Ollie. Did you see how that bloke in the estate office was looking at you? He wanted to eat you for his supper!"
"Jealous, are we?" said Ollie. "I'll teach you to be jealous!" He leapt upon James and pulling him close, gave him a big fat kiss on the lips.
That was the catalyst that set in motion a night of passion for our young heroes. James's grey shorts were soon to join Ollie's denim shorts in a pile at the end of the tent. Underwear discarded and ignoring the cold, leaving the tent only for calls of nature or to make a meal and, of course to watch the sunset, the boys spent most of the time naked below the waist and engaged in intimate exploration of each other's body. There were long interludes when they just chatted dreamily about their friends and their aspirations but there were frenzied sessions which resulted in much stickiness and much use of saliva. Neither boy had ever done anything like it. It certainly beat being molested by Dan, thought Ollie. Did he have penetrative sex with James? We must not enquire into such matters. My readers must make up their own mind. Let's just say that neither Ollie nor James could truthfully report that they'd passed the night undefiled.
When at last it was time to squeeze into the sleeping bag there was a reprise of the previous night. As an exhausted James clung to Ollie he was amazed his friend still had an erection.
"Well, can you blame me, my sweet boy?" murmured Ollie into James's ear.
"Sexpot!" grunted James, before falling sound asleep. Dawn had already broken.
The two weary teenagers came to their senses and after a prolonged cuddle managed to crawl out of the tent to face the day. Neither spoke much as they ate breakfast. They needed to catch the midday bus – the only one that day – so couldn't afford to waste time. Both looked wistfully at the little love nest they'd created before destroying it forever by dismantling the tent. The last thing James did before completing the packing of his rucksack was to get into his school uniform for the journey home. His life wouldn't be worth living if his father saw him wearing anything else. The best uniform, the one to be worn in the presence of the Duke of Devonshire, remained in its polythene bag in James's rucksack.
Ollie bravely wore his denim cut-offs, despite having to go 'commando' owing to a lack of clean underwear.
"We'll have to return the map to the estate office," he said.
"Well, I hope that man doesn't rape you!" replied James.
"I thought it was you he was more interested in. The way he drew his hand slowly up your thigh ... let me show you!"
Seconds later the boys were on the grass, wriggling and stroking and full of mirth. Ollie's shorts got a bit ripped and were now decidedly obscene but he didn't notice.
Ollie wanted to drop off the map, say thank you and depart but the young man in the office had other plans and laid out the map on the table.
"Could you just show me where you pitched camp? Oh and I've just made a pot of tea. You'll both have some, won't you?"
Ollie was too polite to refuse and was persuaded to sit in an ancient armchair with a cup of tea while the young man seated himself opposite and chatted away. James was left in charge of the map. The instant Ollie sank into that chair he knew it had been a mistake to go 'commando' with such wickedly short shorts. He quickly crossed his legs but it didn't help. By the time he'd finished his tea and said he really must be off – 'Got a bus to catch' – the young man was panting wildly. Ollie managed to escape without being molested and walked quickly out of the estate office, followed by James. The young man hurried to his storeroom, wondering how Ollie's shorts had become so interestingly ripped and desperate for an especially enjoyable wank.
Once clear of Chatsworth Ollie pulled on his jeans over his shorts and at last looked presentable in polite company. James remained in his school suit, the shorts looking shorter than ever.
In the crowded bus back to Chesterfield both boys were rather quiet. They couldn't say much for fear of being overheard and each was absorbed in thought. It had been a wonderful couple of days and while James had learnt a great deal about sex with another boy Ollie had discovered how good it was not to be at the beck and call of a dominant character like Dan. At the railway station Ollie saw James onto the train for Nottingham before catching his train for Dore.
"It's been really great," said Ollie, "and I fancy you more than ever!"
"And I fancy you, too," said James. "Let's do it again some time. But my next mission is to do some rock-climbing with Colin. A pity he's not remotely as good-looking as you. He's even got hairy legs! He won't be nearly as much fun as you."
"Don't you believe it!" said Ollie, grasping James's hand in farewell as the train began to move. "And don't you dare start growing hairs on your legs or your father might let you wear long trousers!"
"No chance" said James sadly. Then he saw the funny side and grinned at Ollie, waving till he could see him no more.
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