Trial Of Strength (Book 14)

"TESTS OF MANHOOD"

The hot mechanic Pablo takes his boy Tyler fishing and realizes there is more to having a boy than fucking him. Tyler depends on him – to teach him, nurture him, help him grow from boy to man, a challenge Pablo welcomes. A critical event bonds them even closer. Meantime, the blond cop Mark and Arab Marine Hassan reenact their long-ago savage wartime interrogation in a dark desert dungeon.

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<><>    From War To Peace    <><>

The dramatic saga that had rocked the tribe seemed to have come to a triumphant conclusion, with men and boys giving a standing ovation to their leader, the charismatic gypsy boss Randy.

Randy and his boy, the sexy mechanic Pablo, hade been accused of mistreating and ignoring Pablo’s shy, sensitive boy Tyler. But Pablo had made his peace with the worshipful Tyler. and Uncle Mike had taken a firm hand with Randy.  He had humiliated him by making him crawl across the ground naked and suck the older man’s cock.

Worse, if had been filmed by Mike’s boy Larry and the boss’s degradation was watched by the whole tribe. 

As the movie faded to black, there was a stunned silence – and then the cheers began.  The men rose to their feet in a standing ovation, a jubilant crowd facing Randy.

Mike rose and joined the acclaim.   Looking down at Randy he said loudly, “Dude, it takes a real man to submit to that punishment but, even more, to show up and be surrounded by your guys while they watch your humiliation. Come here and let me shake your hand, stud.”

Uncle Mike pulled Randy to his feet, shook his hand warmly, then faced the audience and raised Randy’s arm up high like a victorious fighter.  Randy’s admiring son Pablo joined them and beckoned to Tyler. His eyes sparkling, the boy stood between Randy and Pablo who each grabbed his wrist and raised it up high.  They acknowledged the cheers like actors at a curtain call after a triumphant performance.

Amid the din, Grady sat down next to his boy Brian in his wheelchair.  “Definitely one for the archives, kiddo, but a tough act to follow. How do they top that, eh?”

“Oh they won’t try, sir.  I think they’ve all had enough of thunder and lightning for a while. Things will calm down, you’ll see.  Pablo will take Tyler fishing at the lake, and that will be a lovefest under the stars. Tender sex like theirs can be just as exciting, in its way, as a Randy slugfest.

“And we should keep our eyes on Mark, Jamie and Felipe. They are pretty much a perfect threesome, but even the most solid love triangles wobble sometimes.  Takes careful handling to keep it upright.”

“Let’s hope they can do it right, kiddo ... or not ...” Grady grinned mischievously.

“Now you’re being naughty, sir.  I think we’ve had enough drama for a while.”

<><>    Fishing Lessons    <><>

After a raucous group dinner, the group finally broke up and Pablo took his excited boy Tyler to bed.  They made love, of course, then Tyler laid his head on Pablo’s chest and talked dreamily of fishing at the lake, until he dropped off to sleep.

Tyler woke early next morning but Pablo was still sound asleep.  So the boy eased slowly out of bed so as not to wake him.  He went to the kitchen where his pal, the assistant chef Will, made him up a breakfast tray with Pablo’s favorites, and Tyler took it back upstairs.  He pushed the door open with his foot and announced, “Breakfast is served, sir.”

Drowsily, Pablo opened his eyes and broke into an affectionate smile as his boy stood there holding the tray, beaming eagerly.  “Breakfast in bed, sir?”

Pablo grinned his crooked grin, “Sure – if breakfast includes you, kiddo. Put the tray here and jump in.” 

Soon they were sitting together on the bed with the tray between them, munching happily.  “So, kiddo, we’ll leave for the lake right after breakfast.  How much do you already know about catching fish?”

“Nothing really, sir.  I never went fishing with anyone before.”

“So I’m the first, good.  Randy taught me all he knew so I’ll pass it on to you.  I’ll be your teacher.  Lake fishing is simpler than ocean fishing.  Basically it means just lolling about in a rowboat anchored in the middle of the lake, throwing a line over the side and waiting.”

“And what do you do while you’re waiting?”

“Nothing much, that’s the beauty of it.  Some guys just lie back and get some sun, others meditate or jerk off and, if they’re luck enough to have a cute guy with them they make love.  I told you before about making love in a rocking rowboat.  Nothing like it.”

And so a couple of hours later, there they were – in the middle of the lake. 

At home, Tyler had excitedly helped load the boat in Pablo’s truck and, with mounting excitement, they had driven up the long winding road into the Angeles National Forest, then taken the bumpy dirt road through the bushes to the placid lake shimmering in the sunlight.

“Wow,” Tyler sighed, “this is awesome, sir.  Such a great place to ...”

“... to fish, to be together, alone, the only guys in the world, fishing and ... anything else we feel like doing, eh?  Come on, let’s unload our gear and set up camp on this little beach.  Nobody else comes here, it’s too remote, so we’ll have the place to ourselves.”

Eagerly Tyler helped his man unload blankets, towels, fishing gear, but no tent as it was warm at night and they planned to sleep under the stars. “Right, first fishing lesson, eh kid?”

“Yes please, sir.”

Pablo pulled off his shirt and dropped his jeans, leaving only his boxer shorts.  This is how we dress for the lake, kiddo.”  Tyler did likewise, with no hint of shyness.  They hauled the boat off the truck, stocked it with rods, tackle and bait, then carried it down to the shallow water. Pablo got in first, reached back and took Tyler’s hand.  He stepped in clumsily and fell against Pablo, who wrapped his arms tight round him.

“Oops, sorry, sir.  Good job you were here to catch me and stop me falling.”

“Kiddo, from now on I’ll always be here to catch you.  I won’t let you fall.” 

Pablo pushed the boat out, rowed to the buoy in the middle of the lake and attached a rope to it.  “OK, first lesson – baiting the hooks.  We’ll get to fly fishing later.  For now we’ll simply attach worms and drop the line over the side.” 

Pablo was amused by the intense concentration on Tyler’s face, his tongue sticking out as he carefully speared the worms on the hook.  “Yeah, real tight ... you don’t want it to fall off and sit here for hours with no bait on the hook.  OK, just drop the line over the side, fasten the rod in this rowlock here and ... and now we just let the boat drift around, we wait and hope for a tug on the line.

Pablo lay back in the boat, head on a pillow, and opened his arms.  Tyler lay down next to him and kissed him, then rested his cheek on Pablo’s chest.   Pablo wrapped his hand round his boy’s head.  “This is the life, eh kid?  A little slice of paradise.”

Tyler sighed deeply and Pablo gradually understood the truth of what Randy and Bob had been telling him.  There is much more to having a boy than just making love and fucking.  Tyler not only Idolized him, he depended on him – to teach him, nurture him, help him grow from boy to man. 

It was a huge responsibility, one that Pablo welcomed.  It heightened his sense of his own manliness – completed him as a man, similar to how a man feels on becoming a father for a first time.

That growing realization was soon to be reinforced in a dramatic way.

<><>   The Breath Of Life    <><>

Tyler had not been dozing very long when the rock rocked slightly.  The fishing line was taut.

“Hey, talk about beginner’s luck, kiddo.  You got a bite already.”

Tyler woke up, startled, and the truth hit him.  “Wow, that’s great.  I gotta reel him in.”  Without thinking he jumped up and stepped over to the line.  But of course that rocked the boat even more, he staggered, lost his balance ... and fell backward, off the boat and splashed down in the water.

He did absolutely the wrong thing by splashing his arms wildly.  Frantically Pablo leaned over and stretched his arm toward him.  “Grab me, kid, swim over here and I’ll pull you in.”

Tyler choked, “I can’t swim, sir.  Help me ... aaahh ...”

His cry was lost as he sank below the surface.   Pablo stood up and dove into the water.  He turned around under the surface but the water was so rough and cloudy he couldn’t see him. Frantically he swam deeper and finally glimpsed him – sinking lower. 

He swam strongly down to him and managed to hook his forearms under his armpits from behind.  With a strong frog kick he brought him to the surface. Still kicking hard he brought him to the boat and hooked his arms over the side.  He heaved himself into the boat, leaned down and pulled his boy up carefully, and laid him gently on the blanket.

Tyler was coughing and Pablo turned his head to the side.  “That’s it, kiddo, cough up all that water.  Don’t panic, you’re safe, you’re with me.”

Tyler was still gasping for breath and Pablo had a horrifying glimpse of life without him.  He couldn’t lose him, couldn’t live without him.  Tyler didn’t need the breath of life but Pablo gave it to him anyway.  He clamped his mouth over his boy’s and breathed steadily in and out, using his own breath to help him inhale more steadily and calm down.

Eventually he did, the panic subsided, and Pablo said.  “How you feeling kiddo?  Can you breathe now?”

“Yes, sir.  I think I got rid of all the water.”

“You never told me you couldn’t swim, dude. I didn’t know.”

“Sorry, sir.  But you were there to catch me, like you said you would. You saved me, you breathed life back into me, sir.”

“I had to, kiddo.  Under the water when I couldn’t see you I had a glimpse of life without you, and it horrified me.  I need you in my life, kiddo, I need to love you, guide you, teach you – like how to fish, and most of all, how to swim,” he grinned.

“All that’s gonna take a long time, sir.”

“We have all the time in the world, Tyler, a lifetime.  We got a whole lot of living to do, you and me.  And it’s gonna be a whole lot of fun.  Are you warm enough?  I don’t want you to go into delayed shock.  You want another blanket?”

“Not when you’re close to me like this, sir.  You’re my blanket, sir, your hot body is my warmth.”

“And always will be, kid.”

“What happened to the fish, sir?”

“Feels like he’s still struggling on the hook.”

“Sir, let’s set him free, I feel sorry for him. You saved my life, I want to save his.”

Pablo kissed him on the cheek, then pulled in the line.  He held the fish and eased the hook from his mouth.  He handed it to Tyler.  “He’s all yours kiddo.”  Tyler held the fish, kissed him lightly then stretched out his arms and let him slide into the water.  The fish flipped his tail and circled a few times. 

“See, he’s thanking us, sir, for giving him the gift of life like you did me.  Goodbye fish ... have a wonderful life.”

“You are one sweet kid, Tyler.” As Pablo watched the joy shining on Tyler’s face his heart welled up and he knew without a doubt that he wanted this kind, loving kid in his life forever. 

His face still gleaming Tyler turned to Pablo.  “Sir, remember what you said about making love in a rocking boat?  You said I have a lot to learn, so can you teach me that?”

Pablo laughed.  “You just now nearly drowned and right away you wanna make love?”

“Yes please, sir.”

“Damn, I can see you’re gonna keep me busy, kiddo.  OK, here begins the first lesson.”

Tyler’s shorts had slid off and floated away when Pablo pulled him into the boat, and he now he lay naked on his back ... with that look in his eye that Pablo knew so well.  Pablo dropped his own shorts and knelt behind him.  Tyler pulled his legs back and stared up eagerly at his hero.  “You’re already wet, sir, so just do it.”

“Hey, who gives the orders around here?”

They laughed and Pablo slid his cock inside his boy, rewarded with a gleaming smile and deep sigh of happiness.

As Tyler’s butt muscles tightened around it, this was a whole new experience for Pablo.  Not just fucking a cute kid, but making love to his boy, his own boy, the boy who depended on him not just for love but for protection, guidance and, just now for his very life.  He stared into Tyler’s sparkling eyes and they laughed, with the joy of discovery and the certain knowledge that this was for keeps.

They were still laughing when Tyler shuddered and spurted plumes of juice in the air while his man filled his ass with his sperm.  Pablo stayed inside him and they kissed, soothed by the gentle rocking of the rowboat.

In time, Pablo pulled out, Tyler sighed deeply, and Pablo grabbed the oars. Instead of rowing straight back to the beach he circled the lake in search of something.  With a broad grin he raised an oar out of the water – with Tyler’s shorts hanging on the end.  He swooped them around and they fell splat on Tyler’s face. 

Peals of laughter rang round the lake as they finally rowed back and hit the beach.

<><>    A One-Boy Guy    <><>

After they pulled the boat up the beach they spread out the blanket and Pablo said, “Pity you had mercy on that trout and threw him back, kiddo, we could have thrown him on the hibachi for lunch.”

“He’s much happier in the lake, sir, than sizzling on the grill.  Besides, I’m in charge of catering and I had a word with my friend Will.  He’s great at this kind of thing and packed me up a ton of meals in those three coolers in the truck.  If we were cut off from the world we could last for weeks.  When that runs out, the fish might not be so lucky.”

“You’re all heart dude ... one of the things I love about you.”

They ate well, then Pablo gave his boy his first swimming lesson. “You shouldn’t do this right after eating but ...

“...but you’d be there to save me, sir, whatever happens,” Tyler giggled.

They lazed around for the rest of the day talking as they never had before, really getting to know each other, their true feelings and their lives.  When it got dark they lay on their backs gazing up at the stars.”

“I’ve had a great day, sir, just being together like this, just the two of us.”

“And that’s how it’s gonna stay,” Pablo grinned, “just us two.  I ain’t a two-boy kinda guy like Mark, with Jamie and Felipe.  I have no idea how he juggles that.”

“Not too easily from what I hear from my pal Brian at the Grady House. Brian ain’t nosey really, but Grady is and Brian keeps his ear to the ground and feeds all the gossip to him.

“So, what did he tell you about that particular triangle?”

“Wobbly is how he described it.  Felipe is the junior chef, as you know, but Jamie just got him a gig with the catering guys on their long shoots at the movie’s beach location.  Seems everyone was complaining about the food the caterers were serving up, so Felipe goes down there now and there’s been a big improvement.”

“Ah, which means the two boys are spending more and more time together, eh?  That can’t thrill Mark.”

“Well, you know Mark, sir, the strong silent cop, don’t show his feelings much but, like Brian said, the whole thing is kinda wobbly.”

“Something we definitely are not, kiddo, especially after today. I think we’re different guys now after all that – closer than ever.  Anyway, we don’t have to worry about those guys.  We’re alone, by the lake, lovers under the stars, and it’s time for sleep now, kid, I’m bushed. You gonna be warm enough, you need another blanket?”

Tyler grinned, “You know what I said before, sir.  Your hot body is my blanket, you’re my warmth.”

“And always will be, Tyler.” Pablo folded his arms tight round him and Tyler looked away from the stars above and into the handsome face right next to him – the last thing he saw as his eyes flickered closed and he fell asleep. 

<><>    The Cop & The Marine – A Homoerotic Memory   <><>

In fact, even as they spoke of the ‘triangle’, Mark and his old friend, the Marine captain Hassan, were simultaneously getting reminders of their boys’ divided loyalties.

The cop and the Marine were both at the tribe’s dinner, a rather muted affair today, given the absence of their boys, and of Pablo and Tyler in their private paradise.  As they sat chatting, their phones rang at almost the same time.  Hassan’s call was from his boy Eddie.

“Sir, sorry I couldn’t call earlier but we were in the middle of a complicated take here. We’re running late and have an early call tomorrow, so we’ll all be staying tonight at the beach hotel here.  Oops, the Director of Photography is calling me ... gotta go, sir.  Miss you ...”.

Mark’s call from Jamie was much the same.  “It’s really exciting surfing stuff, Mark, but it’s difficult, with take after take.  It means that we’ll be spending the night together in the hotel here – me and Felipe, Eddie and Nate, with Grady.  Sorry about that, sir, leaving you with an empty bed.  But we’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

“Never mind, Jamie, you all have fun down there.” Mark gave a resigned sigh as he shut off the phone.  Hassan grinned and held up his phone. “You too, eh buddy?  Both of us abandoned by our boys.”

“Yeah, but it’s worse for me ‘cos I’m still confused about this three-way thing we got going.  I keep looking for the little signs – like Jamie keeps referring to ‘we’ not ‘I’.  Like ‘me and Felipe will be staying here’ and ‘we’ll make it up to you tomorrow.’  It’s like they’re a double act – which they are, in every way.”

“Ah, don’t sweat it, man.  It means you got two hot guys in love with you, like a family.  I just got Eddie, and that kid’s a handful, I tell you.  I love him to death, but tonight after dinner I’ll be going back to an empty house and an empty bed.  Gets kinda lonely.  For you too, I imagine.” 

Hassan took a sip of wine.  “Hey, how about you come over to my place and we’ll drown our sorrows in a bottle of brandy.  The twins gave me a bottle of the finest stuff, goes down real smooth.”

“Sure thing, soldier.  Be like old times.”

Mark and Hassan had a long history, going back years when they were both fighting in the Mid-East war – on opposite sides.  Mark was a U.S. army lieutenant and Hassan an Arab soldier and interrogator.  Mark had been captured, chained in a desert cell and viciously interrogated by his enemy Hassan.

That was years ago, but the memory was still vivid. Now, in Hassan’s house across the street they broke open the classic brandy, and laughingly exchanged stories about their boys.  But it wasn’t long before they drifted onto the main subject on their minds.

Hassan took a long hit of brandy and said, “You still remember the desert dungeon, Mark?”

“You kidding?  How could I ever forget an experience like that – one that changed my life.”

“Me too.  Talk about homoerotic.  Interrogations were routine for me, but when I walked into that dank cell and saw you chained to the wall, shirtless ... damn I could not believe how fucking hot you were.  I had never thought about a man sexually, but you were different, you were the first.”

“Me too,” Mark said.  “I was scared, of course, determined to stick it out without talking, but when you walked in I couldn’t believe that my dick got hard.  It never occurred to me that the feeling was mutual ‘cos, fuck, you really laid into me, man.”

“I did, partly because it was my job, but partly because I resented your beauty and wanted to break you, make you submit to me.  Which you never did, and that increased my lust even more – and that’s why I fucked your ass.

“But even then I underestimated your endurance.   You were hanging there limply but when I unchained you, you sprang to life, pinned me to the floor and turned the tables by shoving that huge cock in my ass.  I guess I could have fought you off, but the truth was, I didn’t want to.  I wanted to get fucked by the hot blond American soldier.

“After you escaped I paced around that cell, still seeing you in chains, and I knew I had to see you again.  I bided my time till the war was over, then determined to come and find you.  I offered my services to the U.S. Marines and they took me because I was an Arab, fluent in Arabic, which they needed.

“In the U.S, I combed through the records and eventually found that you had joined the Los Angeles police force.  I even found your phone number.”

Mark grinned. “I was shocked to hear from you, but that deep accented voice gave me an instant boner.  So, when I was next in Uncle Mike’s place in the desert I did as you asked, and trekked out to that weird little house you have way out in the dunes.  I went in and down to the basement as you had instructed, and found a replica of that long-ago dungeon – but with you chained to the wall, offering yourself for payback.”

“Which you gave me, Mark, as heavy as I had given you.  I knew after that we’d always be buddies – not only fuck buddies but firm friends.  In some ways we’re cut from the same cloth, you and I.” He hesitated and a grin lit his dark-skinned face.  “I still jack off thinking about those times.”

“You too?” Mark chuckled.  “Dammit, when my boy leaves me alone – like tonight – I get my rocks off beating my meat, thinking about you.”

“You should have called me.  Maybe I’d be alone too – like tonight.”

And that was the moment that an understanding passed silently between them.  They knew what they both wanted.  Hassan said, “We have a big basement to this house and we’ve divided it into two.  One part is Eddie’s studio where he works his magic editing his videos.  The other room is ... well, I’ll show you.”

<><>    A Dungeon Replay    <><>

Mark’s heart was beating fast as he followed Hassan through a small door and downstairs.  Hassan opened one of the two doors and they went in.  Hassan faded up the overhead red lights that lit a small, simple room with all four walls lined with mirrors.  Equipment littered the floor and in the middle ropes were hanging from a hook in a ceiling beam.

They stood under the beam facing each other silently.  Earlier when they came home from work they had simply taken off their shirts, leaving Mark in uniform cop pants and a white T-shirt.  Likewise, Hassan was still in military fatigue pants, with a khaki tank stretched over his muscled chest.

They came close and kissed voraciously, at the same time feverishly pulling each other’s shirt off over his head. They stepped back and stared at each other, both shirtless.  Hassan ran his hands over Mark’s sculpted chest.  “Damn, that’s how I remember you back then. I gotta have you, stud.”

He grabbed Mark’s wrists who didn’t resist when Hassan pulled his arms up to manacles on the ropes. He fastened his wrists then stepped back and stroked the bulge in his fatigues, gazing at the homoerotic sight of the bare-chested cop, arms stretched up, at the mercy of the Arab Marine.

He picked a whip up off the floor and stroked it gently against his chest.  This was to be a symbolic replay of the origin desert dungeon scene.  Mark flinched and growled, “Fuck you, soldier.”

“No, stud, fuck you.  Your ass is mine.”  He dropped the whip, slapped Mark’s face, then went behind him, reached round, unbuckled his pants and pulled them down to his thighs.  “Yeah, that fucking ass.”  He slapped the cop’s ass cheeks, spat on his rigid cock ... and drove it deep in his ass.

Mark winced and Hassan said in his ear, “Remember that?”

“Fuck yeah, my first time.  Fuck my ass, soldier ... you won’t break me.”

The fuck was ferocious, yet Hassan held back from the damage he could have done, as brutally as he had done in the interrogation cell.  He wrapped his arms round his prisoner’s bare chest and twisted his tits savagely, making Mark howl in pain. 

From then on it was a trial of strength. All round them were graphic mirror reflections of the soldier pounding ass and the cop gritting his teeth but not surrendering.  “Fuck you, man,” Hassan growled. “Give up ... submit dammit ... aaagh!”

The scream was Hassan’s as his cock exploded in his captive’s ass. 

As his heartbeat slowed Mark panted, “Looks like I won, captain.  And you know what that means.”

“And that was where I made my big mistake all those years ago – releasing you.”

Hassan unbuckled the manacles and Mark lost no time in reversing positions. Hassan didn’t resist as Mark tied his wrists, just as he had been tied. He kissed him hard, then bit his nipples and heard him groan.

Mark walked around the room, staring at the multiple reflections of the shirtless Arab Marine stretched in bondage, at the cop’s mercy.  He picked up the whip and made a few desultory strokes, then dropped it.  “Nah, you and me are beyond that, soldier.  I can make you submit just like this.” He faced Hassan and worked on his tits again.  “Let’s hear it, soldier.  Tell me ...”

“OK, man, I give up – I submit to you.  I want you to fuck my ass, man.  I love you, godammit.”

Mark kissed him again, went behind him and yanked down his pants.  He spat on his cock and plunged it in the soldier’s solid ass.  “Fuck yeah,” Hassan moaned.  “That’s what I need. Fuck me, Mark .... hard.  Fuck me hard, payback for what I did to you in that dungeon.”

It didn’t take long, they were both so supercharged.  “I love you to, Hassan. God, this turns me on.  You’re gonna make me cum, soldier ... here it is ...”  One last savage plunge made Hassan scream as Mark unloaded hot semen deep in his gut.  Hassan writhed, shuddered and spurted another load of jizz on the basement floor.

<><>   Pride In A Boy Comes With A Price     <><>

A few minutes later they were upstairs sprawled on couches and finishing off the cognac.  “Damn that was hot,” Hassan grinned.  Now you know where to come when you’re all alone ready to jerk off ... just walk across the street.  My basement will be there – and so will I. 

“Even if Eddie is in his studio he’ll be so engrossed in his work he won’t notice the noise.”  The Marine grinned and shrugged.  “’Course he’ll probably want to film it.  The guy films everything and I gotta say, no matter how raunchy the action, those videos are works of art.  I’m so proud of him.  He’s come a long way since he was the tribe’s house cleaner.”

“I’m proud of Jamie too, turning his sport into a terrific job directing the surfing action in a major movie.  Grady said he’s brilliant, and has solved many a problem, much to the director’s relief. 

“But you know, Hassan, a man being proud of his boy comes with a price.  Previously when he was surfing just for fun, he’d always rush back and be waiting for me naked on the bed when I got home from work hot and horny.  Now he’s got an important job to do and, days like today, he’s down at the beach living it up with his lover Felipe and his other buddies. Where does that leave me?”

“It leaves you where you always were, stud – head of the family.  It’s not simple, but you’ll work it out.  I suggest you sit down with the two of them and have a heart-to-hearter to lay some ground rules.”

“You’re right, buddy.  One thing we got going for us is that we all love each other.  And I gotta say, sex with the two of them together is pretty spectacular.”  Mark laughed. “And if all else fails, your basement is a great substitute.”

“You’re gonna stay the night aren’t you Mark?”

“After all this soul searching, of course I am.  Sleeping naked with a tough naked Marine is some kinda fantasy.  Never know what will happen.”

“So, do we break open another bottle of brandy, or hit the sack?”

They grinned at each other and said together ... “The sack!”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 

TO BE CONTINUED in “A Trial Of Strength” – Book 14: Chapter 8

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Dear Readers: (Dec 6th 2022) The medical treatment I am undergoing is taking longer than I expected and leaves me too tired to write new chapters.  The condition is a common one, easily treatable, and the treatments are scheduled to end at the end of December.   So, in early January I should be back in the saddle with Charlie, Randy, Bob and all the other guys, with new adventures of the tribe.  

Rob Williams