Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 21:55:04 -0700
From: dnrock@rock.com
Subject: Photo 14

Photo
by:  dnrock(dnrock@rock.com)

14: A Little Adventure Is Good For the Sole

The snow and high winds had tapered off and everyone wanted to take
advantage of the fresh powder.  Trevor stayed with me to help photograph
the kids at their snowboard lessons.  We got a goodly number of quality out
side shots, in the brightness of the mid morning spring light.  By about 11
the clouds have moved in, the top of the mountain was beginning to become
obscured from view.  By noon we were in near white out conditions.  Trevor
and I were getting just a bit worried and when noon came and none of the
others showed up for lunch we were almost in a panic.  I tried not to
telegraph my uneasiness to Jonas and Shelley, that proved impossible.
Especially with Mrs. N. began looking for her daughters.  By 1:30 I called
the lift operators.  They told me the lifts had been closed since just
after 11.  I asked if the ski patrol people had checked in .  All ten were
stuck in a hut near the summit with about a dozen skiers but our group was
not among them.

The conditions near the top of the runs was complete white out.  "The hut
is only a few yards from the lift towers and they can not see them."  A few
skiers were making their way in every few minutes but again our group was
not among them.  They were reporting impossible to very poor visibility
most of the way down.  It did not take a genius to realize that few
experienced people were even available to mount a search party.  I asked
Mrs. N. to call Fred.  He arrived with about 5 others and ten snow mobiles.
We got several more from the lodge along with some toboggans and started
out in three convoys up the hill, along the most popular runs.

I had not been called on to use my training in a real situation before but
I remember most of it.  Jonas just would not accept that he had to stay put
while his friends needed him.  It did not matter that he was not physically
strong enough to operate the powerful snow mobiles in rugged terrain or
that he was not an experienced enough skier, let alone short enough to
disappear in the deep snow.

Mrs. N tried to convince him that his parents would not like it if he put
himself in danger.  In fact, they simply would not allow it.  Well, to
Jonas that was a red flag.  Had not Apollo and Brad rescued him, he had to
help, it is the right thing to do.  I finally told him the right thing for
him to do was stay with Shelley, Mrs. N. and Ms, Trend the reporter.  He
was needed on this end, my home based anchor.  The poor kid was in tears I
think he was afraid I would not come back and or that Brad might be hurt.
I'm sure that was a part of it but he was also concerned that Agent Snipe
would think he didn't do a good job of keeping us out of trouble.

"Oh, little man, I'm not in trouble and I taught both Brad and Bob about
winter survival.  Search and rescue is part of what I have trained for,
it's part of what I do."

"Well big man, you just better come back to me in one piece, I'm not ready
to find a new man, you know."  I gave his crotch a gentle squeeze and a
searing kiss on the lips, "and I'm not ready to find a new boy."

Moving back into the common room I hugged Jonas and Shelley and bounded out
the door.

It was about 3 in the afternoon before we got the show on the road.  I had
forgotten about all the gear one needs for safe snowmobiling.  Helmets with
visors, high felt boots, huge leather mittens, bulky one peace suits.
Trevor, Fred and I moved out along the north trail.  Three other machines
up the center and two along the south.  Fortunately it stays light until
after 7 pm MST this time of the year.  Fred lead the way as he knew the
hill better then Trevor or myself.  That did not mean we went very fast;
visibility was only a few tens of feet at best and we had difficulty just
keeping on the trail.  The north run is one of the more difficult to ski,
so Trevor figured that is probably the one his brothers would be on.  If
they were there so would Brad, Linda, Veronica and Bob.  I also figured
Brad and Bob would know enough to hunker down in a sheltered spot, close to
the service trail and ski run, preferably in a position between the two and
probably just below the tree line.

This was tough going.  The snow was very deep and quite soft so the
machines had to work very hard.  The trail is steep and difficult to follow
since visibility was so poor, and the light so flat that dips and bumps
were hard to recognize, combined with blowing snow and fog mixed.  The only
thing that helped us were the yellow glasses we had.  The yellow lenses cut
the UV and blue light.  That part of the spectrum scatters more then the
reds and yellows.  We were also fortunate that my walkie-talkies had the
same channels of the ski patrols' so we could keep in good contact.  Trevor
had only operated a snow mobile a few times before and not in the
mountains, by the end of this trip he would be a real expert, he only fell
off twice.

Jonas managed to talk Ms. Trend into taking him and Shelley to the lodge,
to keep updated on our progress, she would also be able to relay their
encouragement to us.  My greatest fear was that one or more of the skiers
had been injured and hypothermia could set in, unless they had good
shelter, which I doubted and Fred was sure none was to be had.  We brought
lots of candy and water along, as well as a box of flares.  Ms. Trend had
my digital camera at the ready too.  If we were to descend in the dark it
might make a good picture.  At the very least she could get a good human
interest story out of it, perhaps even two.  Trevor told us that in
Switzerland they often would sky down the mountain at night with flares to
celebrate special events, but never in weather like this.

The others were having just as difficult a time as we were.  The south
group had encountered several skiers about half way down and the center
group made it to the hut about the same time as we reached the tree line.
Finally I saw several bright flashes off to our left.  Trevor answered by
lighting a flair.  Brad had used his camera flash to signal us, like the
strobe units on communications towers.  That was some smart and creative
thinking on his or someone's part.  It turned out to be his idea.  They
could hear our machines but not see our lights, due to the noise we could
not hear their shouts.  Snow if falling hard enough or blowing strongly
enough has a dampening effect on sound.  Fortunately at this altitude it
was more fog and snow then blowing.

We turned our machines around with some difficulty and pulled up parallel
to the trees, Fred and I also lit flares.  Brad had Will and Eric cary
Jason and Herman helped Bob, wade through the deep snow to the sleds.  Brad
told everyone line up in single file, even with the brightly colored ski
uniforms it was impossible to see more then a few feet ahead, and try to
follow in the footsteps of the guy in front of you.  Herman lead the way
and Brad followed up.  The natural light was also starting to fade on the
east side of the mountain.  Those stiff ski boots are great for the boards
but difficult to walk in.

I was sure happy to see that Veronica, Brad and the others were not hurt or
not hurt much.  Not being able to see very well is hard, but for me it is
even harder.  My whole persona is built around vision and representing
light.  My imagination was working over time until I saw their faces.  I
think I understand some of the feelings and panic Jonas' parents felt when
he went missing.  All I could see were the frozen, broken and twisted
bodies of my friends and loved ones.  Had I not been forced to concentrate
so hard on driving the snow machine, I suspect it would have been
unbearable.  I can only imagine how Fred must feel about his daughters, and
Trevor his brothers.  Fred took charge of securing everyone and their gear
on the toboggans and snow machines.  "Just like a life boat drill in a fog
bank, only you don't need to swim."  Trevor found his long legs a great
advantage in the deep snow.

Most everyone was at least in reasonable condition, no frost bite or broken
bones.  All were cold and Jason had injured his knee.  Veronica's ears were
frozen she said, but I could see they were not frost bitten.

"I'll kiss them all better as soon we are alone."

Bob was limping a bit but he kept saying it was not serious.  You know it
was damn hard to see his signing unless he was latterly on top of you.
Eric had scratches on his face from the tree branches he ran into and so
on.  Over all they would all look back on this as a difficult but positive
experience.  Now were they forced to stay the night, well we won't go
there.  We gave everyone candy and drinks which were welcome, unlike cross
country skiers, most downhillers don't carry that kind of stuff with them.

I radioed the lodge so they could tell Jonas we were coming down.  I
thought going up was hard, coming down was even harder.  Now the machines
wanted to run on their own and holding them back took all my strength.  It
would be nice to say skill but I can't, just brute force.  Between the
machines and the slays we could only cary 10, several had to ski along
behind us.  It was now quite dark and as the land leveled out, okay the
grade lessened, most of them began skiing again, all holding flares.  The
visibility was still poor due to blowing snow and with the added darkness
you just had to go slow, very slow.  Jason and Bob stayed in the slays and
Ziggy rode behind Trevor on his machine.  The south group held back some so
that we all came out of the forest at about the same time.  You could not
make out individuals but you could see the lights and flares all converging
on the lodge.

Jonas and Shelley were beside themselves with excitement.  They ran from
person to person, asking if they were okay, dragging Ms. Trend around as
their translator for the non family types who could not sign.

I understand that after they went to the lodge, Jonas went to all the
people to tell them, Apollo was riding his "golden chariot" to the rescue
and not to worry, I had rescued him and would rescue the stranded too. (We
know Apollo is the Greek God of light, it was Helios the sun god with the
chariot.)  Ms. Trend related to us and wrote in her story how Jonas and
Shelley had just charmed all the people in the lodge, taking over quite
literally getting them to play games and even sing, not that either one
could but they just seemed to know how to organize others and get them to
redirect their attention.

"Jonas showed a leadership and poise that few adults posses and something
you almost never see in a child,.  When I asked him how he knew what to do
he told me he didn't he just did what he thought Apollo and Brad would do,
the way they would do it," Ms Trend wrote.

I was not all that pleased with Jonas' boasting about me, there were 8
others on that hill and the ski patrollers up at the top who deserve some
credit, some nuts, most of the credit.  I reminded him and the others of
that.  Ms. Trend was kind to me in her story and she did name the other 8
and very factually noted we were three separate teams.

"Apollo who is Ranger Jim? He wants you to call him, `just as soon as you
are down'.  He asked about Brad too," Jonas signed,

"I have a whole list of people you need to call," Mrs. N added.

"Jonas, Shelley, Ranger Jim is a national forest ranger who taught me most
of what I know about the woods and mountains."

I exaggerated some.

"He and Brad and I had an adventure last June, its a long story."

Now Ms. Trend's interest was peaked and I realized Brad and I would be
retelling that one before the night was over.  I called the Ranger and
Jonas' parents.  His parents told me he had been on the TTY with a number
of short messages and they had talked with Mrs. N.

Ms. Trend is an excellent journalist and recognizing a story when she is in
the middle of one, had alerted the media to the situation by telephone.
That's how everyone found out.  It also gave her a chance to do some radio
interviews live from the hill as it were.  I had Brad call his dad, my
parents and Agent Snipe in that order.  It was now 8 pm and Mrs. N was
trying to herd us toward the chalet for dinner.

"Jason I think we should make sure the cooks all get large bones for all
these late meals."

"Already done Apollo, already done.  Brad was just great up on the hill, he
is a real take charge one isn't he.  I was most impressed, he realized the
situation before any of us, stopped us from crashing into each other or the
woods, except Eric and I, made sure we stayed together, had some shelter
and stayed put.  He said something about better to die following your
instructions then to suffer your wrath.  Did you really knock him down and
sit on him when he panicked last summer?"

"Yes I did, but I'm not all that bad, you know, Brad did get your
attention."

Dr. du Vaul, checked over all the stranded skiers, patrollers and searchers
at the main lodge and then came to the chalet with Corporeal Smith.  Jason,
it turned out had the most serious injury of all and that was just a
strained knee.  He will be in a knee brace and is banned from the hill for
a few days at least.

Smith, Margaret, Jason, du Vaul, Herman, Fred and I had a chance to talk a
bit, which we did over a brandy.  Smith filled us in on what happened to
the shadows after he arrested them.  The FBI had recently made a connection
between the two low-lifes and the cult, that plot was not only thickening,
it was starting to gel.

Ms Trend showed her interviewing skills off that evening.  Somehow she got
everyone in the room and Brad and I to retell our adventures with additions
and comments from Fred and Smith but it was Jonas that got the last word.

"Shelley and I did not quite understand what Agent Snipe meant when he ask
us to try and keep Brad and Apollo out of trouble.  Now we understand but
we don't think we can do the job.  Do we have to give the uniforms back?"

The look on his face was so sincere and earnest, I just want to cry.

Smith came to the rescue, "No, no, once a VSC always a VSC.  We know you
can't prevent Apollo and Brad from having adventures non of us can, not
even me.  I suspect they would not be happy if we tried.

You two did a super job of managing the situation in the lodge and that is
a very important part of police work and an important part of their
adventure.  If you and Shelley had not been able to keep all those skiers
engaged some of them may have tried to help and I would still be out
looking for them.  In times of danger or difficulty we all need to do our
part, what part we play is related to our skills, knowledge and abilities.
Everyone here thinks Jonas and Shelley did your part and whole lot more,
don't we?"

Everyone of course agreed with nods gestures.  Stan and Geoff picked up the
kids sitting them on their shoulders and paraded them around the room with
them slowly making their way up the stares so Mrs. N could try and get them
ready for bed.

Brad, Bob and I peaked in the kid's room to see if they were asleep, while
Linda and Veronica used the washrooms.  They weren't, in fact they were
sitting on one of the beds holding an intense discussion.  "Busted" Bob
signed.  All we got in return were two very large smiles.

"Can we sleep together, like Brad and Linda," Shelley asked?

Brad did not quite know how he should respond.  I could only think, well
that's what happens when the kids find you buck naked in bed with your
lover.

Bob to the rescue, "Yes, but not like Brad and Linda, no kissing, no sex
and keep your PJ's on."

They giggled, sex to nine year olds is funny, they just don't get the point
yet.  Kissing they have some experience with, it is still funny but they do
understand it has to do with expressions of affection that go beyond the
ordinary.  Jonas I know, has a bit more sophicistated view then Shelley but
my little boy just played the game, god can this kid act.  He has both
great charisma and chutzpah.

Brad pulled the covers back and they scooted into position.  He tucked them
in and kissed each forehead.

"Thanks for all your help in getting us rescued today," he said.  Bob and I
followed.  They were giggling as we closed the door.

"What do you mean not like Brad and Linda, Bob?"

"Well I couldn't tell them it was all right for two 9 year olds to have sex
or sleep naked, now could I?"

"But you know they will be kissing and possibly even more, just as soon as
the door is closed.  Telling Jonas not to do something is giving him and
invitation."

"Right and I hope they enjoy it too but if ever asked, it was against our
instructions."

"CYA, always CYA.," I chuckled.

"We don't mind if we do," they said placing their hands on my butt in a
most provocative way.  .....................

I closed and locked the door.  Jonas stood tall and proud waiting for my
next move.  I knelt down so our heads were at the same level.  He though
his arms around my neck and pressed his lips to mine driving his tongue
into my mouth.  Jonas likes to tongue duel, so do I.  My hands were busy
touching ever inch of his precious little, well getting bigger, body.
Since you can't sign while embracing and lip reading in the conventional
sense is impossible while one is kissing with them we communicate in
subtler, touchy-feely way.

"Can I undress you?"

"Sure you know that, I want you to, besides my man likes to dress and
undress his boy, right?"

"Right, but it is always polite to ask and I never want you to feel I am
doing anything you don't want to do, ever."

I removed his shirt, pants, shirt shoes and socks.  He looked so, boy like
I guess, standing in his white briefs with his almost ten year old penis
poking the material out.  I just love moving my hands over his smooth skin
and finding all those tickle spots.  Placing one finger from each hand in
the waistband I slowly drew his briefs down exposing his perfect little
bubble butt and small but perfect erection.  I just stared at his beautiful
body.

"All I could dream about lately was how good it would feel when you touched
me.  My turn."

Jonas started unbuttoning my shirt and letting his little fingers play in
my chest hair.

"Before we go to far little man I have some education and instructions for
you.  Sit on the bed," I said patting a place for him.

"This is your penis, and this is my penis we already know a bit about each
others penises don't we."  Jonas nodded.  "Let me begin at the end: the
glans."

I was holding my totally erect and red penis pointing to the different
parts.  Jonas held his in his hands touching the indicated sub sections.
He would often hold and touch mine too, god I hate this instructional
stuff, I just want to get at the action.  Oh, well first things first I
though.

"This is the very sensitive end, or tip of the penis. It's covered by the
foreskin in boys who aren't circumcised, like you. The glans looks and
feels unlike skin on any other part of the body: it is soft, spongy, and
the home of the most intense and delightful feelings a boy can experience.
We already know that don't we?"

Jonas nodded he was not about to let go of either his or my cock to sign a
response.

"It is so sensitive that the feel of, say, a stream of water from a shower
head may be too intense to stand for more than a few seconds.  We can try
that later if you wish.  Yet for all its sensitivity, stimulating the glans
alone usually does not lead to orgasm - you need to massage some part of
the penis shaft as well."

"Are you teaching me how to keep my man happy?"

"Not just me but any man you want to make happy This means, if you know
what you are doing, you can give very extended pleasure by massaging the
glans.  It is so soft that unless it and your fingers are completely
squeaky clean most likely any petting will soon become irritating.  What
your partner really wants is a moist massage, either with saliva or another
lubricant."

Jonas bent down and licked my swollen cock head then began kissing it until
the pre cum was dripping out.

"Hold on little man just a bit more knowledge first.  The simplest and one
of the greatest treats we can give each other is to moisten our thumbs and
slowly rub it back and forth across the head of our partners penis.  Girls
can do this stuff to you know?  If you wish to teach her but that is up to
you."

"You mean I can teach this to Shelley?"

"If she wants to learn but only if she wants to.  I wouldn't worry about
her right now though.  You can do this for ten minutes, twenty minutes, and
watching each other drift into a plateau of pleasure, without the tension
of an approaching orgasm.  Do you know what that means?"

"No, not exactly."

"It means reach a level like the next floor up in a multi story building,
each floor represents a new and greater level of pleasure."  He nodded in
understanding.  "Of course, you can do the same with your lips."  His face
smiled broad and knowingly.  Jonas does have a bit of an oral fixation.
"It is almost impossible to resist the temptation to take more of the penis
into your mouth and then you're off to the races!"

He had his mouth on my cock head and was working his tongue around the rim
and sucking for all the kid was worth and that's priceless.