Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 07:17:22 -0600
From: diamondddogggs@hushmail.com
Subject: Jake, Cody and Robin part 3 (Revised)

Jake, Cody and Robin part 3

By diamond dogs

If your reading and enjoying this story, please drop me a line. I will
only continue writing if I think people are reading it! thanks.

diamondddogggs@hushmail.com

this is fiction, blah blah blah

Jake and Cody, 10yo blond green eyed identical twins, short and
sturdy, light freckles

Robin, 11yo, Jake and Cody's best friend, dark red hair, large blue
eyes, shorter, slender and petete

Toby, 7yo, Jake and Cody's brother, black hair, long eyelashes, green
eyes, light freckles

After they had dozed off a bit lying in each other's arms on the
floor, Jake, Cody and Robin were ready for some more fun that Sunday.
They jumped up and all piled into the shower together (their bedroom
was on the lower level of their family's rambler, with a semi-private
bathroom) where they had fun soaping each other up and scrubbing each
other down. It was a hot scene to see the three pre-pubescent boys
gleaming with soapy water, hands sliding all over their smooth
hairless bodies.

When they were done they got dressed in shorts, t-shirts and sneakers
and headed outdoors. None of the boys were suprised when Toby looked
up from his cartoon, jumped up and said, "Wait for me!" as he hurried
into his room to change. The twins rolled their eyes at each other and
sighed, they didnt dislike their little brother like some older
brothers did, but it was kind of annoying that he wanted to be with
them every minute Robin was over.

Toby jumped on Robin's back for a piggy back ride as they went out the
door. Feeling a bit adventurous, the boys headed to some woods just
outside of town, a fairly long walk but worth it for the seclusion. It
was a warm spring day and the boys anticipated summer vacation just a
week away. A cold, snowy winter was behind them, and now nature
exploded with life as they walked through the idillic woods. A creek
led to a pond that then continued on to another creek, a tree lined
meadow was further, hardwood and pine forests were all around.

Of all the boys, Robin felt the most at home in nature. He was
intensly intrested in plants and animals, and desired very much to
learn all he could, especially about skills the Native Americans used
to survive. He had tried to learn as much as he could from books, but
it was difficult and sometimes he thought the books were inaccurate or
that the authors hadn't really done the things they wrote about. He
was also learning about wild edible and medicinal plants, something he
thought was extremely useful.

Several years ago Robin's mother had insisted he join the Cub Scouts
because of his interest, and also because she knew he lacked adult
male role models. However, he dropped out soon after because he felt
it was very superficial and they didnt seem to teach much skills,
instead focused on games that Robin wasn't intrested in. For years he
had been hoping that he would meet someone that could teach him the
things he wanted to learn, but also deep down he yearned for a father
figure he had never really had. This desire he had, for a teacher, a
mentor, a father figure was at times overwhelming. He found himself
attracted to any man who was nice to him. The twin's father was nice
and friendly enough, but he was a doctor at the local clinic and
worked long hours, not really able to spend very much time with the
twins or Robin when he was over, more often than not when Robin was
over he didn't see their father.

Full of energy and with a good breakfast in their stomachs, the boys
played and wanderd further and further into the woods, following paths
they had never been on before. Robin stopped to show the boys some
stinging nettle and explained how to identify it.

"The leaves are edible, but you have to be careful not to get stung,"
Robin said as he showed the boys how to roll the leaves in on
themselves to conceal the stinging hairs, and then popped one in his
mouth. "Your saliva will nuetralize the stinging part before it
touches your tongue," he said.

The boys did the same. "Not bad," they all agreed. Robin reminded the
boys never to eat any wild edibles that you werent 100% sure about,
and without his books with him easy to identify plants like this were
the only ones he was comfortable eating.

The boys continued to wander into the woods, the more they walked the
more they became unaware of the passage of time. They forgot about
their worries at school, at home. They forgot about the past and
stopped thinking about the future. They were simply in the present
moment, and nothing else mattered at that moment than enjoying a
perfect spring day in the woods with their best friends.

The boys didnt know it, couldn't know it, but what they were
experiencing today would become one of the more and more fleeting
moments of boyhood. Soon the responsibilities of high school, college
and then adult life would slowly chip away at this precious time they
had to wander, to not have any worries, to not have any cares. Soon
the world would weigh heavy upon there minds, and they would find it
more difficult to slip into this timeless, peaceful place. But for
right now, they were all sharing a very special time in their lives,
and being that time no longer existed in this place, in a way they
could stay there forever.

They wandered for some time until their stomachs began to tell them it
was time to head home, and they started walking back. Or, they thought
they were walking back. It didn't take long for them to take the wrong
fork in a trail that looked different from the other direction, and
become completely lost before they realized their mistake.

Once they started to see unfamiliar terrain consistently, Jake said
what everyone except Toby was thinking, "Are we lost?"

At this, Toby got a worried look on his face, and Robin replied, "Yeah
I think so."

"We could retrace our steps to where we turned around, and try to find
the right path this time," Robin said, trying to be proactive.

The boys agreed this would be a place to start, then tried for a while
to retrace their steps and find the correct path. But soon it became
evident they were completely lost. All the boys then started to panic.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Toby, starting to cry.

"Our parents dont know we're out this direction," Cody said.

"I'm hungry, what are we gonna eat!?" asked Toby, distressed.

"No one is going to find us here," Jake said.

"Ok guys, we need to make a plan," Robin said, trying to calm everyone
down. "In my survival books, they say that if you get lost you're
supposed to stay where you are so that people looking for you can find
you and you don't waste your energy walking in circles."

"Yeah but how will they know where to look?" Jake said, worried.

"Once they realize we're gone, they will start searching tonight
probably. They will do a radius search from the last place we were
seen, which was your house," Robin replied.

"It could take days to find us out here!" Cody said, really starting
to panic now. At this Toby started crying in ernest.

"Ok calm down guys, I know enough that we can survive out here for a
couple days at least, and by then the search will be bigger," Robin
said, taking the crying Toby in his arms and comforting him.

"Our parents are gonna totally freak out! We'll never be able to go
for walks again! And what are we going to eat?" Jake said.

"We can eat wild edibles that I know, and maybe try and trap some
small game," Robin replied, continuing to try to calm everyone down.
"But our first priority should be shelter, in my books it says the
most important things are shelter, water, fire and food, in that
order."

"Hey, does anyone know which direction town or a road is? If we knew
we could head in that direction and eventually run into it," Jake said
hopefully.

"Thats true, and I know how to make a sun compass so we will know what
direction we're heading," Robin said.

But, after talking some and thinking, the boys realized they didnt
actually know the direction of anything, they all just relied on
landmarks for navigation.

"Well there are some roads through this forest, and it isn't so big
that it would take that long to walk out of. If we just pick one
direction and follow it, we should run into something," Robin said.

What the boys didn't realize was the forest was actually quite large,
and their concept of how far one can travel by foot through the woods
wasnt accurate at all. They could easily hike for days on end in one
direction and never get out of the woods, but hypothermia on these
cold spring nights, or dehydration would probably claim them first.
They were taking a much bigger risk trying to get out than they
realized, and should have probably gone with Robin's initial plan to
stay put.

The boys agreed this would be the best plan of action, as no one
really wanted to stay where they were for days until they were found.
Robin and the boys then found a small clearing where they could make
their sun compass. Robin started by taking a long straight stick and
sticking it upright in the ground; where the shadow of the tip of the
stick fell on the ground, he marked it with a stone.

"Now we just have to wait a while for the sun to move, and I will put
another rock where the shadow moves to, that is the east west line. If
you put your feet at each one of those marks and face the upright
stick, your facing south."

The boys waited for a while untill the sun had moved enough where they
could put a mark, a distinct spot away from the first, and they
decided that they thought south might be the direction of the town.
Since they were unable to see for a significant distance through the
woods, Robin showed them how to make a sight line to a distant tree,
then once they got there, they would line up the tree they had just
come from and sight another tree in the distance using that referance.
This way, they were able to travil in a more or less straight line.
Soon the boys came to a meadow, and were relieved to be able to see
alot further than they had in the woods.

"We should make another compass to check our direction," Robin said.
"I wish I remembered how to make the portable sun compass I saw in a
book," he said, frustrated.

Again they repeated the process and were waiting for the sun to move.
Standing in the shadowy tree line, just out of view, a figure was
watching the boys with curiousity. He was leaning on a long wooden bow
that he had resting on one foot, a quiver of arrows slung on his back
next to a small pack. When he had observed them for some time, he
emerged from the tree line behind them. Robin saw the man first and
was startled. He was caucasian, tall, broad shoulderd and good
looking, he had a shaved head and was wearing camo fatigue pants and a
gray T-shirt, he looked to be in his late 30's, he was also barefoot.

"You guys making a sun compass?" the man asked in a deep, confident
voice.

"Were lost! Can you help us find our way home?!" Toby blurted out.

The other boys also quickly asked the man for help. The fact that he
was a stranger was brushed aside in leu of the emergency.

"Of course, where do you live? My name's Joe, by the way."

The boys were all incredibly relieved and grateful they had been
"rescued", and the man seemed very warm and friendly, they trusted him
almost immediately. The boys introduced themselves and told the man
their street adress.

"I dont know exactly where that is, but I know generally, I can get
you guys to a place you recognize," Joe said. "What direction were you
heading?"

The boys told him they were going south because they thought that was
the direction of the town, but Joe said, "Well south is actually
deeper into the woods, you might have gotten lost for days going in
that direction, although there are a few houses you might have run
into. But you were very smart to make that compass and head in one
direction, otherwise its easy to literally walk in circles."

The boys were embarassed that they were headed in the wrong direction,
but even nore relieved now that Joe had found them.

"Is that a bow and arrow!" Toby inturrupted, unable to contain his
curiousity.

Joe smiled and said, "Yeah it's one I made, do you want to see it?"

"Cool, you made that?" Toby said, approaching the man.

"Yeah, it's made from one of these Hop Hornbeam trees," Joe said,
indicating a small, straight tree with densly textured bark that was
growing in the treeline as he handed Toby the bow. Toby examined the
bow with excitement. It was about as long as the man was tall, with
fairly wide, flat limbs that narrowed to a handle that was deep and
wrapped with leather. He then attempted to pull back the string
akwardly.

"Thats quite a bit too heavy for you I'd guess," Joe said with a
chuckle. "Most adults wouldn't be able to shoot it, it's a 70 pound
bow."

Toby looked at him skeptically. "It dosent feel that heavy," he said.

"No, that's not how much the bow weighs, it's the force it takes to
pull the string back," Joe said patiently. "If you turned it upside
down and hung a weight on the string, it would take 70 pounds to pull
the string back to a full draw," he said.

Joe then indicated Toby should let the other boys see the bow, and
they all examined it in turn, then handed it back to him. Joe then dug
in his bag for some jerky and protein bars he offered to the hungry
boys, who eagerly accepted and ate as they headed for home. Joe seemed
to be naturally in touch with the woods. He seemed to belong there and
walked barefoot on the path quietly while the boys followed noisily
behind.

"I'm impressed that you know how to make a sun compass, Robin," Joe
said as they were walking, after Robin finished his food.

"I learned it from my survival books," Robin said proudly, enjoying
the man's attention and compliment.

"Cool," Joe said. "I know some of that stuff too, its really useful.
Maybe sometime you could show me what you know?"

At this Robin got very excited and attempted to impress Joe with what
he knew, pointing out things on the way that he was familiar with. Joe
patiently listened to Robin as they walked, and asked questions, also
complimenting him on the things he knew. Joe would add small details
and take oppertunities to expand on Robin's knowledge when he didn't
know something. It became obvious that Joe had been modest earlier
about his abilities, and he actually knew a huge amount about the
woods, not just "some". The other boys were also captivated by Joe,
and he involved them in the discussion which they eagerly participated
in. All the boys quickly became enamoured with Joe, who put out a kind
of magnetism that the boys couldn't resist.

Soon they were back on a path the boys knew and they took the lead the
rest of the way to their house. The boys' mother was out gardening,
and when she saw them approach she stood up. All the boys then
simultaneously launched into the story of how they got lost and found
by Joe. After deciphering what the boys were trying to tell her all at
once, she thanked Joe profusely for bringing the boys home safely, and
insisted he stay for dinner which he eventually agreed to, on the
condition that he help cook.

The boy's father came home a little later, and all was explained to
him as well. While eating dinner, Robin, the brothers and their
parents got to know Joe a little better. Turns out he had just
recently bought a house on a few acres near them that was adjoining
the state forest they had gotten lost in, and was in the process of
starting a primitive skills school on his property. The parents both
asked several times if there was anything they could do to repay him
for finding their sons and Robin, But Joe said it was no trouble and
it was nice to meet people in the town. He then invited them all to a
"get to know the neighbors" barbecue he was having at his place the
next weekend, and told them he would very much appreciate if they told
their friends about it and about the school he was starting.

It was finally time for Joe to leave, and the boys very reluctantly
let him go, clinging to him and making him promise he would take them
out to the woods sometime and show them more stuff. Joe said they
would need to make sure their parents were ok with it and he would
hopefully see them at the barbecue and talk then; he did however give
the parents his number to talk to him more if they couldn't make it.