Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 22:36:45 +0100 (BST)
From: Andrew Foote <footea81@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Boy on the Towpath 4

BOY ON THE TOWPATH.
Chapter IV

This chapter contains intimate non-sexual bonding between an adult and a
minor. If due to laws in your country of residence, spiritual beliefs or
customs it is illegal for you to access such material, please leave now.

All comments will be replied to and should be addressed to the author.
Thomas.
(footea81@yahoo.co.uk)

I woke the following morning and I don't believe we'd moved all night.
Once my brain was functioning clearly I became aware that Tom had popped a
woodie -- probably `piss hard' but a woodie none the less and it was laying
in the crack of my bum!

Under different circumstances I would more than likely wriggled against it
hoping to encourage some `action' but Tom had trusted me and I was damned
if I was going to betray that trust.  Anyhow it wasn't long before he
stirred.

As he `came to' he stretched himself then clung onto me again like he was
almost afraid that it was never going to happen again and so milk those
last few moments.

" Good morning Tom. Sleep well?"

"Umm. Yes very well thank you! I have an embarrassing problem though."

This time I did wriggle my butt onto his dick!

"This problem?!"

"Uh yeah" he laughed "It's embarrassing!"

"Just got a piss-hard that's all. We all get them and absolutely nothing to
get fucked up about honest! Why don't you go and use the can and come back
to bed for five minutes."

Tom swung onto the side of the bed and stretched himself again then looked
at me with a cheeky grin.

"Promise not to perve me up?"

My response of "No! I'm not going to promise! Get going" drew a gale of
laughter from him and as he stood up he deliberately waved his dick at me
inches from my face.

Oh God! He was perfect in every detail.  His dick had risen to a good four
and a half inches and stood bolt upright against his tummy. His foreskin
half retracted over his glands, his cock bounced with every beat of his
heart.

"Get thee behind me Satan! Go and take a leak before I lose control of my
desires you little bastard!!"

"okay okay I'm gone already!"

A few minutes later he was back in bed and again all inhibitions forgotten
even though he was still half hard.

"Turn over Stu. Let me cuddle you?"

ALARM BELLS!  I turned over towards him and he melted into me, both of us
clinging tightly to each other for dear life.  It was no good.  We both
were hard as nails in a heart-beat.  I can remember the thought that
flashed through my mind.  `This has got to stop! He's just a little kid and
it's so very wrong!'

With some massive amount of will power I eased myself away from him making
the excuse that I had to use the toilet and take a shower preferably a cold
one!

Once I'd finished I came back into the bedroom to find Tom sitting on the
end of the bed wearing just his shorts and with a subdued look on his face.
He looked up at me and spoke.

"Are you angry with me Stu?"

"Me? Angry with you? God no! That's the last thing I am.  If anything I'm
angry with myself and very disappointed with myself."

"Why?"

"Because I allowed myself to get carried away.  What just happened --
cuddling up like that. Well it was wrong of me.  If it's not illegal then
it's so damned close. Probably be viewed as the very least as
`inappropriate behaviour' at worst sexual abuse of a minor.  My only excuse
is that I walked up to the wire and accidently tripped over it but Tom, it
must never happen again. Do you understand?"

"I think so but I liked it and wanted you to cuddle me like that. Doesn't
that make it alright?"

"Unfortunately not.  The law sees things in black and white -- there are no
shades of grey in fact it could be seen as if I'd `groomed you' into that
way of thinking.  From now on if you want to share my bed then you and I
will wear at least underpants. Okay?"

"Okay. I do understand Stu but I think the law is stupid!"

"No it isn't. It's there to protect you until such time as you're old
enough to make considered decisions for yourself.  I know we joked about it
but there are men and some women who prey on young kids with the specific
intentions of forcing them into sexual activity physically hurting them --
sometimes even killing them and mentally scarring them for life."

We sat together talking for another five minutes before I suggested we
finished getting dressed. After all we had a boat to move.


*****


With breakfast eaten and the dishes washed and stowed I went out and
started the engines.  The sun had burnt back the clouds and it promised to
be a beautiful day.  I know Tom was really excited about taking the boat
out also I was rather looking forward to being on the move again having
been bankside for the best part of three weeks.

Before we cast off I asked Tom if he could swim.  He replied in the
affirmative but admitted to me that he wasn't particularly good at it.  I
sorted out a life jacket that fitted him then looked for a suitable box he
could stand on if he wanted to have a go at helming.

We had a mile to cover before the first lock -- about a twenty minute run
and I took the opportunity to explain what I was doing and why, how the
boat handled, prop-walk (how she handled when going astern) and how to
approach mooring points.  He listened intently and asked some very
intelligent questions.

We approached the first lock and tied up on a bollard.  I suggested that we
both walked up to it and I would explain the mechanics of locking through
and the order in which things were done.

All simple enough but it became evident that whilst he knew what to do, he
just wasn't strong enough to do it which was a pity as it would have made
the whole process far quicker.  No matter. We weren't in any rush.

Back on board I suggested he took over and helmed the boat away from the
bank and into the open lock gate.  He climbed up onto the box and looked at
me nervously.

"Are you sure about this Stu? I mean what happens if I hit something?"

"She weighs nineteen tonnes and made of ten millimetre thick steel. If you
hit something, it won't be the boat that suffers!"

Okay he was almost crapping himself but he had listened to everything I'd
told him earlier and he performed the complete operation faultlessly.  He
entered the lock without so much as nudging the sides which is no mean feat
given the lock is only six inches wider than the boat.  Neither did he
touch the far lock gate -- going astern at just the right revolutions to
come to a comfortable stop.

I came off the boat and locked us through and once the far gate was open to
allow us passage out, I came back on board and grabbed a set of hand held
VHF transceivers.  I set the frequency on both of them and locked it in. I
showed Tom how to use the one I'd given him and fixed mine to my jeans.

"Why do we need these?"

"Because as my First Officer you will be helming and I'll be operating the
locks so I won't be on board.  You've shown me that you are very capable of
handling her so she's all yours.  You drop me off when we get out of here,
I'll close the gate and walk up the towpath to the next one.  Drive slowly
and I'll radio you and let you know when the lock is open for you.  Just
remember not to be in any hurry and think ahead as you just did back then
and you'll be fine!"

"But what if..."

"The worst that can happen is that you reach the lock before it's set for
you and in that case you just idle the engines and drift. I know you'll be
fine. Okay let's go!"

A clockwork operation! Tom was a superstar not one problem up the remaining
fourteen locks and because I wasn't having to keep getting on and off the
boat every ten minutes we fairly shot up them!

After the last was cleared he pulled over to allow me back on board and I
told him how I felt.

"That was nothing short of awesome Tom! A truly professional piece of boat
handling if I may say so!  You didn't make one mistake, not one
miscalculation. Proud of you doesn't come close!  Oh the other thing? Did
you see the folk watching you?"

"Yes I did and that made me even more nervous!"

"Well one guy said he thought you were far too young to be in charge of a
boat especially one as big as this but I told him that he should watch and
learn and you didn't disappoint! He was gob-smacked! Hey! He also thought
you were my son. I hope you don't mind but I wasn't going to tell him
otherwise. I didn't say you were but neither was I about to correct him."

"Wow. I don't mind. I told you it would be cool if you were my Dad and I
meant it. Did I really do okay?"

"It was text book boat handling Tom and you did every bit as well as I
could and I've been living on the damned thing for almost ten years!  I'm
so very proud of you and you should take pride in what you did!  Anyhow
`number one', let's go. Fourteen hundred revolutions should do it. We'll be
fairly skipping along so just keep concentrating."


*****


We made Headingly by four-thirty that afternoon and aside from the first
bit of the trip when I was giving Tom some instruction, Tom did all the
helming including reversing onto my mooring.

Going astern on a narrow boat is perhaps the single most difficult
manoeuvre to master and I had to give him a few pointers. After all he'd
not done it before and I hadn't covered it in our earlier instruction. That
said, `the boy did good'!  I showed him the correct method of tying off and
the right knots to use -- untied and got him to do it.  God this boy forgot
nothing I showed him and I found myself getting even more attached to him
than I was before. Emotionally proud of him to the point where I wanted to
shout to the world `this boy is a fucking genius and I love him to bits!'

That evening we BBQ'd again. Our exertions had made us both more than a
little peckish and the meal lasted almost two hours.  At nine in the
evening we abandoned the BBQ and had a wander around the marina.  A few
boats had smoke curling out of their chimneys but most were still locked
down following the winter but it was nice to know there were at least some
other `live-aboards' around for company.

I lit the stove and the rest of the evening we sat around playing cribbage
allowing Tom a glass of wine which without me having to tell him, made it
last the rest of the evening.  Is he actually from this planet?  If I'd
been given a glass of wine at twelve or thirteen I would probably downed
the lot and be holding out my glass for more!  His demeanour was still that
of a young boy and that I loved but his approach to things like the boat
handling were measured and well thought through. Also he was a mean crib
player!  I lost way more points than I won and my penny jar was sadly
depleted by the end of the evening!

Squatting on the floor in front of the dying embers of the stove, Tom was
sat in between my legs with his back to my chest.  I think the day had made
us both weary as the conversation had slowed and we'd almost but finished
our wine when Tom spoke up. In a small voice almost as if he was upset
about having done something wrong.

"I'm really going to miss today. It's been great in a way I can't explain?"

"How so?"

" You know. You gave me all the reasonability and stuff and I was
shi... sorry so frightened but you had faith in me. Like you knew I
wouldn't screw up.  Now we're here and I'll miss it."

"I don't think so.  I don't have a boat like this and no go out with it at
every opportunity I get and so long as your Mum is cool with it, I can
think of nothing better in the world than you joining me whenever you can."

"Really!?"

"Come on!! What I will miss most of all is you going home tomorrow
afternoon. `Movin Home' will never feel the same without you on board!
You're part of it now and also my `Number One'!"

"Oh wow! I don't know what to say!"

"Just promise me that if Mum says it's okay, you'll visit as much as you
can?  It's almost like it's `our' boat now. You're the very first crew I've
had. You know I love you to bits and after today ---, well I'd be suicidal
if you didn't come back and soon."

Tom looked up at me with tears rolling down his face.

"I love you too and not just for the boat and stuff. I love you... I just
love you!!"

I thought I was going to lose it too at that point but I managed to remain
composed as I wrapped my arms around him, rocking him gently as if he was a
babe in arms.

Despite everything else that had happened between us I think that simple
act was far and away the most meaningful thing we'd experienced.  Tom
regained emotional equilibrium -- I knew this as he noisily snorted down
the phlegm generated by his crying.

He giggled "Sorry! It was either that or your carpet! Anyhow what does
`number one' mean?"

"It's a term used in the navy -- both the fighting navy and the merchant
marine.  First you have the Captain -- in this case me and then you have
the first officer otherwise referred to as `Number One'.  The Captain is in
overall command of the vessel but when he's off duty his fist officer or
`Number One' assumes command.  Unless over ruled by his Captain, `Number
One' has as much authority within the ship as the Captain during that time.
Also if anything happens to render the Captain incapable of command either
by sickness, accident or death, `Number One' assumes total command of the
vessel."

"Well cool!  So I must call you Captain from now on!"

"AHHHHH! Not on a narrow boat! I'm what they call the `Skipper' and that
name goes right back to the times of the old working boats.  When the horse
drawn boats were replaced by ones with heavy oil engines, either they
didn't have a crew or the term `Number One' was used."

"You think I'm good enough to be your `Number One'?"

"Ever since I met you, you have been No 1 in my life but you've earned you
stripes today and in spectacular fashion.  Yes `Number One'! You are!"