And he nearly did burst. "Hello" said a voice behind him. He leapt out of his skin, and was bolt upright in a second. He saw a girl stood there studying him curiously. She was maybe eleven years old, with long blond hair, like the kneeling girl in the building; she looked amused.
"I didn't do anything" Benedict blurted out "I didn't see anything... I wasn't spying" he said growing ever more desperate. The way she just smiled at him sweetly sent him into a panic, and he threw himself at the brambles, fighting his way back into the gap, oblivious to the scratches he was receiving.
"Nice bum" she called after him, but Benedict didn't hear her. His advance was fast and furious, and he battled his way through the vicious vegetation until he emerged tattered and bleeding at the other side. He looked around frantically for his bike, wrenched it up from the floor and, on the third running attempt, mounted it and pedalled away as if the devil was chasing him.
CHAPTER TWO
Benedict sat on the wall, in the warm sunshine outside his house looking sullen. Three days had passed since he had stumbled across the girl being stripped in the old wooden building and he had fled from the forest, and those three days had been a living torment. He could not get that vision out of his mind, he could not forget the thrill of it, and it haunted him. At night he lay in bed tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep with little success, and in the mornings when his mother woke him and forced him to get up, he was virtually a zombie.
For three days he'd been confined to the house and garden. His mother, when he had returned home that day, had been furious at the state of him. He had been filthy. His polo shirt was torn, and even his jeans showed signs of where the brambles had ripped at him. She had issued dire warnings of what would happen if he should return home in that state again; warnings that involved stripping in the garden, the garden hose; she had never talked to him like that before.
All Benedict had wanted to do was to return to the forest, find a better way of spying on the building, and waiting, hoping that he might see another scene like he had before. The possibility of it, the anticipation, tormented him. But he still had another day of confinement. He wasn't allowed out for another whole day.
Workmen traipsed back and forth as he sat on the wall, and one of them paused before him, carrying a cardboard box containing a kitchen cabinet "Cheer up mate, it may never happen" he said with a wink. Benedict looked up at him but didn't reply. 'That's what I'm afraid of' he thought.
Although the house was relatively modern, having been built in the 70's, his parents were having the whole thing remodelled. Double glazing was being put in, an extension was to be built on the back, and the kitchen and bathroom were to be replaced. Today, the new kitchen was being fitted. His dad had said that altogether the work would take four or five months to complete, and the whole operation: the noise, the mess, the inconvenience were making his mother stressed; even though it was she who had wanted the changes. She was snappy, and constantly giving Benedict jobs to do, or complaining at him for something or other. He just wanted to get out, away, into the forest.
Benedict was staring at the ants milling about a crack in the tarmac pavement below his dangling feet, when he heard the voice. His whole body went rigid. He knew that voice; it was etched on his brain, it was the voice that had said "Shall we get her knickers off then?"
"Hi" is all it had said this time. Benedict looked up slowly. He saw grubby white Nike trainers, khaki chinos, unbulged at the front, and a black van Halen t-shirt. The muddy brown hair spilled around his shoulders, framing his beautiful face.
"Uh... hi" said Benedict in response.
"You're new aren't you?" said the boy.
"Only here" said Benedict.
"I'm Paul" said the boy holding out his hand. Benedict looked at it, afraid of what this simple gesture, this common courtesy, might signify. He took a deep breath, shook Paul's hand and said "Ben". He hated to be called Benedict.
"What are you up to?" asked Paul.
"Nothing, just hanging out. Gotta help with stuff, with the house" replied Ben.
"Oh" said Paul "You like that do you?"
"Nah, it's crap" replied Ben.
At that moment Ben's mother, Margaret, was stood at the front door, wiping her hands on a tea-towel, looking to see where Ben had got to. She saw him sat on the wall, his back arched away from her slightly, talking to a boy she didn't know. She smiled. She was aware that the move had been hard on Benedict and Amy, and although Amy seemed to have already made friends, Benedict, as far as she knew, had not. She walked over.
"Benedict" she said gently. Ben froze, already his mother had embarrassed him in front of his new friend by using his full name.
"Listen..." she continued "... it's not going to be much fun around here today, so why don't you go off and play." As she said this she smiled at Paul, who smiled back and offered his hand.
"Paul" he said as he shook Margaret's hand "Margaret" she replied.
Benedict didn't know what to think. His mother was giving him a reprieve, letting him off early, it could hardly be for good behaviour. He was free, to go back to the forest, to spy, to... except that Paul was here, how was he going to ditch Paul?
"Just don't get yourself in a state like the other day." she added.
"What state?" asked Paul.
"Covered in dirt and dust from head to toe, and torn to pieces by brambles" responded Margaret, wiping her hands on the tea-towel again.
Benedict cringed. Why did she have to tell him that? No, he wouldn't guess. There was dirt, and there were brambles everywhere. It wouldn't mean anything.
Behind them the sounds of drilling suddenly filled the air, and Margaret turned her head. "I'd better get back inside, keep an eye on things" she said.
"Nice to meet you, Paul. Be back for tea, Benedict" she said as she withdrew to the house.
"Nice to meet you too, Margaret" replied Paul, and then more quietly to Benedict "Your mum seems really nice"
"Seems" said Benedict "Just wait 'til you get to know her."
"Do you want to come and play?" asked Paul.
"Play what?" asked Ben, feeling a thrill of fear and excitement suddenly.
"Don't know" said Paul "What do you fancy?"
Ben sat there for a moment not knowing what to say. He couldn't think of any games that didn't sound childish. What he wanted to play was 'strip a girl' but he couldn't say that. "Football?" he suggested weakly.
"Come on, let's get out of here" said Paul, turning and walking off. Ben hesitated briefly, then slid of the wall, slaughtering a whole army of ants in the process, and followed him.
They walked side by side in silence for a while, until they turned off the road that led out of the estate, and onto a trail that led into the forest.
"Where are we going?" asked Benedict rather nervously.
"We often play in the forest" said Paul "It's quieter, no adults around"
"What... what do you play?" asked Ben tentatively.
"All sorts. It's fun." said Paul.
Benedict walked along in silence again. He wanted to ask about the girl, about the stripping. He wanted to ask about the other girls who'd been there helping Paul. He wanted to know if they were going to do it again, if he could join in, if they might do it today. His mind raced with possibilities, but he couldn't think of a way to broach the subject in an innocent or casual manner.
"We've got a gang" said Paul.
"A gang?" asked Ben, his voice quavering slightly.
"Yeh. There's a few of us. We've got a great den in the forest. Do you want to see it?"
"Uh..." Ben didn't know what to say. He was keenly aware this might be some sort of trap. Maybe they knew he had been spying, maybe they were going to punish him. Once he was there he'd be helpless with three of them to ambush him. Ben stopped.
"I don't know" he said.
Paul stopped and turned to him "What's the matter? It's only a den."
Ben opened and closed his mouth a few times, nothing came out as his mind wrestled with the uncertainties.
"I...." he managed eventually.
"We can go back if you want" said Paul.
Ben's mind reeled, surely they wouldn't dare; he'd tell; they'd be in big trouble. But they had dared with the girl. But... but she'd done something wrong. He didn't know what it was, but she was being punished for something. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to go, with every fibre of his being, become a part of this thing, whatever it was, have a chance to see a naked girl, but on the other hand the risks, the danger...
"I know what you're worried about" said Paul casually.
"What?" said Ben "What do you mean?"
"You know what" said Paul, moving off again towards the forest.
"No... I don't..." replied Ben pathetically, before skipping to catch up.
"You saw us the other day, didn't you?" said Paul.
"No... that was someone else, it wasn't me" stuttered Ben.
Paul stopped again and turned to look at Ben. Ben's face was taught, his eyes bulging slightly, his lips almost quivering. His whole body was tense like a piece of sprung steel. Paul put a friendly hand on Ben's shoulder.
"Look, I don't know how much you saw, but we don't do that sort of thing to our own. If you join the gang you'll be one of us." He said.
"One of... what... well who... I mean why did you..." stammered Ben trapped between denial and confession.
"She was just a tourist. We don't like tourists, they're a pain in the arse. All summer long they're tramping through our forest. Whole bloody families of them. Sometimes the kids go off on their own, you know, to get away from the annoying parents. If they bother us, invade our territory, or worse still, muck about in our den, we make them pay" explained Paul.
"Are there... many tourists like that? I mean how often..."
"Often enough. It's fun. Not just girls though, boys too sometimes. Actually, it's more often boys than girls, but we get plenty of girls. During the summer, if we're playing in the forest, we'll probably get two or three a week, sometimes more" said Paul.
"Two or three a week? Bugger! What... do you always... you know..." said Benedict getting excited.
"Strip them?" asked Paul.
Ben just nodded; his eyes wide open.
"Always. And more" replied Paul, feigning far more casualness than he felt.
"More?" Ben blurted out.
"Yeh, more. You'll find out." Paul looked back towards the forest and after a pause added "Of course it's always a lot more fun if we catch a pair of them: brother and sister, or boyfriend and girlfriend."
Ben was stunned. This was what he had dreamed of. It wasn't a one off, it wasn't a fluke, this was a regular occurrence, and he had his chance to join in the fun, to strip a girl, see her naked... and more, whatever the more was. He flushed red, and felt his penis hardening, and was filled with that aching again. That aching that had never really left him since he'd seen that first naked breast; had realised that those knickers were coming off.
"Bugger!" he said again.
Paul laughed. "If you want to join in the fun you'll have to join the gang. Which means you'll have to be initiated, and you'll have to swear an oath of secrecy. You can't tell anyone about us, or what we do."
"Why don't they... I mean, what if they tell, don't they tell? Don't you get into trouble?" asked Ben.
"Nah. They never tell" replied Paul.
"Why not?" asked Ben.
"Most of them are too embarrassed. Would you want to run to your mummy and say a gang of kids stripped you and stuff? Anyway, we take precautions, we have our insurance" said Paul.
"Insurance? Like what?" asked Ben.
"Look, all this will be revealed, but I'm not telling you all our secrets now. If you join you'll find out, if not, then you won't" said Paul turning away from Ben again and slowly making his way back up the trail.
"Are you coming?" asked Paul as he headed off, and then after a pause "Or do you always stand like that?"
The joke was lost on Ben. After a moment's frozen pause, Ben dashed to catch up.
"You said initiation, what sort of initiation?" asked Ben.
"You'll have to wait and see. That's another gang secret" said Paul.
"But what if I don't like it? What if...?" began Ben.
"You mean what if you're a cissy and a cry baby?" asked Paul.
"No. I mean, I don't know what it is so how can I agree" asked Ben.
"You have to make a decision. Do you want to join us or not? It's as simple as that. The initiation won't last long, and then it'll be over and you'll be one of us" said Paul injecting just enough impatience in his voice to put pressure on Ben.
"But... I won't have to take my clothes off will I? I won't have to strip or anything?" he asked, finally finding the courage to voice his greatest fear.
Paul stopped again and turned to Ben, levelling as sincere a gaze upon him as possible.
"Look Ben, I thought you were cool. I didn't think you were a wuss. Just stop acting like a baby. Every single member of the gang has been initiated in exactly the same way. Everyone, no exceptions. And in future, when other people join the gang, they'll be initiated in exactly the same way too. When we started the gang last year, we made up the initiation, and we took it in turns to do it. We wouldn't make something up that was so horrible, 'cos then we wouldn't have wanted to do it ourselves. And no, you won't have to strip. And I'm not saying any more. You make your mind up now. Join us or don't, I couldn't care less. But if you don't... well, just don't come anywhere near our den, in fact you'd better stay clear of the forest altogether, because if we catch you... Well you probably know what'll happen if we catch you." Paul turned again and headed back up the trail, more quickly this time.
Ben stood immobile again, his mind a whirl. He didn't know what to think. What was he letting himself in for? He knew what the benefits were going to be, they were going to be great, no, bloody amazing, but the cost. What was the cost? Paul had reassured him, he wouldn't have to strip, the initiation would be easy, they'd all done it. If he believed him.
He chewed his lower lip, adrenalin pumping round his young adolescent body. All the pieces of the jigsaw flew around in his mind, until eventually, they all settled in place. A calmness descended on Ben. He believed Paul. He believed everything he had said. He believed him for the same reason most people believed things: because he so desperately wanted to.
"Hold up!" shouted Ben, racing after Paul, "Okay, I'll join."
"Well that's not entirely up to you." said Paul.
"What do you mean?" asked Ben.
"It's up to the gang. We'll decide if you can join. We don't let just anyone in." said Paul.
"I thought you said..." said Ben.
"I asked if you wanted to join, I didn't say you'd be allowed automatically. We'll have to vote on it." said Paul.
"Who's in the gang, how many are there?" asked Ben.
"You'll have to wait and see." said Paul.
"But what if they're not there, how can they vote if they're not there?" asked Ben nervously.
"Do you always ask this many questions?" countered Paul.
"Um, no, just..." said Ben.
"You're nervous. Okay. We don't need the whole gang to be present, but we do have to be quorate." said Paul.
"Korat, what's that?" asked Ben.
"There you go again. It means that at least two thirds of the gang must be present for us to vote on anything." said Paul.
"So it means two thirds?" asked Ben sceptically.
"No, it means whatever number you decide. Any group, even the government, if they're going to vote on stuff, have to decide what the minimum number of people should be before the vote can be taken. That number's called a quorum. For a vote to take place the meeting must be quorate, meaning that at least that many people must be present, otherwise the vote can't take place. We decided on two thirds, that's all."
"Why do you have to have a korat?" asked Ben.
"Otherwise it'd be stupid. I mean... I could go to the den on my own, propose a vote that makes me in charge of the gang, then vote on it. If I was on my own I'd vote for me and win. That wouldn't be fair on the others would it? So you have to have a rule about how many people you need." said Paul.
"How many might be there now then? Will there be enough? How will they know there's going to be a vote?" asked Ben.
"There'll be enough" said Paul.
They climbed the ever steepening path through the forest in silence now. Ben's questions had dried up. He was still nervous, still excited, still afraid, but he had committed himself now, and was trying to be optimistic of the outcome.
The silence was only interrupted by the chirping of the birds, and the air was full of the scent of the trees. Suddenly Paul stopped and pointed "Look! A deer."
By the time Ben had looked over to where Paul had pointed, he saw only a blur, and heard the rustling of a bush.
"Did you get deer in the Forest of Dean?" asked Paul.
"Yeh, loads of them" said Ben "And sheep. Loads of sheep."
After a few more yards Ben suddenly stopped in his tracks. "How did you know I came from the Forest of Dean?" he asked.
"Shhh!" said Paul "We're nearly there."
[Continued in Chapter Three]