A Trip to the Sheriff’s Office
The next day we went over our notes again and reread some more of the journal entries. We still hadn’t figured anything out. We spent all morning brainstorming ideas.
I said, “Hey, why don’t we go to the sheriff’s office? Maybe they still have records from back then.”
Kyle shrugged, “It’s worth a shot.”
We walked into the sheriff’s office and saw a man sitting behind a desk.
He looked up from the papers he was reading and said, “Hi boys. I’m Sheriff Baker, what can I do for you?”
I said, “Good morning sheriff. I’m Mike Jennings and this is Kyle Turner. We live out on Mulberry Road…”
The sheriff said, “Jennings? Are you Steve Jennings brother?”
I felt a lump in my throat, “Yes sir.”
He said, “I’m very sorry about your brother. The worst part of my job is when I have to go see a family and tell them that a loved one was in an accident. Especially when it’s someone as young as your brother. No parent should ever have to bury one of their children. How are your parents doing?”
I gave him a slight smile, “They’re doing ok, sir. Dad went back to work, and mom is coping the best she can.”
He nodded, “Please tell them hi for me and that I’m still thinking of them.”
I said, “Thank you sir, I will.”
He asked, “So, what can I do for you?”
I said, “We found an old journal, and we are trying to track down the person that wrote it. We were hoping you might be able to check your records to see if you any information.”
He smiled, “I’ll do what I can. Do you have the name of the writer and when it was written?”
I nodded, “Yes sir. It was written by a boy named Walter Hankins, in the summer of 1922.”
The sheriff chuckled, “1922? That was 50 years ago.”
Kyle nodded, “Yes sir, do you still have records from that long ago?”
The sheriff sighed, “I suppose so. What are you wanting to find out?”
I gave the sheriff a quick rundown of the journal. Just like with Mr. Johnson, I left out the sex parts. I told him that the journal ended abruptly, and we were hoping to find out if Walter and Ellis were still alive.
He said, “I have to tell you that they didn’t keep the best records back then. I do have some old logs in the file room. I can’t promise we’ll find you any answers, but come on, let’s take a look.”
We followed him to a room in the back of the office. There were bookshelves filled with old ledger style books and a bunch of file cabinets. The sheriff went to the shelf and started reading off dates, it appeared that there were 5 or 6 volumes for each year.
He said, “1920, 1921, here it is, 1922. What date are you looking for?”
I said, “The journal ended on July 8.”
He pulled the third 1922 volume from the shelf and started to flip through the pages.
He said, “Here is July 8. It doesn’t look like anything out of the ordinary. They responded to a fight near the old school, and then a fire out on Mulberry Road.”
I suddenly got excited, “That’s it.” I checked my notes, “Was the address 608 Mulberry Road?”
The sheriff nodded, “Yes it was.”
Kyle said, “That’s where Walter lived, and we saw the foundation of the old house.”
I asked, “Does it give any more details?”
He read through the logbook and said, “It just says the house was a total loss. They assumed the fire started from a broken kerosene lamp or a cigarette left burning.”
Kyle asked, “Does it say if there were any bodies in the house?”
The sheriff sighed, “I’m sorry boys, it does looks like there was a body in the house.”
I asked, “One body or two?”
He shook his head, “It says there was a possibility of two. They knew a father and son lived in the house and the father was a heavy smoker.”
I asked, “Is there anything else sheriff?”
He said, “Sorry boys, but no. Look, like I told you earlier, they didn’t keep the detailed records that we do now. Westburg had a small volunteer fire department back then and I’m sure they just watched the house burn. They just did their best to keep the fire from spreading. There weren’t any fire inspectors either, the sheriff’s department probably just assumed what started the fire. Sorry I can’t give any more information.”
I was writing all the things the sheriff told us in my notebook so Kyle and I could try to put all pieces together later.
Sheriff Baker said, “Hmm, this is interesting.”
Kyle asked, “What is it sheriff?”
He shook head, “I’m not sure if it’s related, but there seems to be a lot of drownings in Miller’s Pond during the summer of 1922.”
I looked at Kyle and then added that note to the page. I didn’t know it was relevant either, but I thought I should include it.
We had also asked the sheriff to check for any information on Ellis. He looked through the old logs and came up with nothing.
We talked with sheriff for a few more minutes and headed back to the shed.
Kyle said, “So, I think that Walter’s dad died in that fire. Walter mentioned in the journal that he had to put his dad’s cigarette out a couple of times.”
I nodded, “Yeah, I caught that too. Do you think Walter was in the house too?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know, he had been staying the shed. Hell, he hated his old man, if he saw the house on fire, I’ll bet he just stood there to watch it burn.”
I chuckled, “You’re probably right. But where did Walter go?”
Kyle said, “Maybe he went through with his plan to hop on that freight train.”
I sighed, “Maybe, but remember, Mr. Emerson told me that Walter’s dad’s truck disappeared after the fire. Maybe Walter used it to leave, but what about Ellis?”
We sat in silence for a while, neither of coming up with an answer.
Murph and Bug were due back tomorrow, so we made plans to meet again after lunch. I was hoping they would come over to the shed when they got home, so that I could introduce them to Kyle.
One More Place to Check
That night I was lying in bed thinking about all information we had gathered up to this point. Then it suddenly hit me, someone had to own the property that the shed sat on. If a family member still owned it, maybe they would know what happened to Walter. I got up early the next morning and finished my chores before lunch. I walked to town and went to the City Office, hoping they could tell me who owned the property.
A man looked up from his desk as I walked in the door. He said, “Can I help you?”
I said, “Yes sir, well maybe. I am trying to find out who owns a piece of property out on Mulberry Road.”
He replied, “I probably won’t be much help, the county is the one who keeps track of property owners.”
I sighed, “Yes sir, I was just hoping…”
He asked, “What is the address of the property are you asking about?”
I said, “It’s 608 Mulberry Road.”
He pulled a book from under the counter and opened it to a map of Westburg and found Mulberry Road.
He rubbed his chin, “Well, you may be in luck young man. It says here the city owns that property.” He started reading from the book, “It appears that no property taxes were paid on the property after 1922. The state seized the property after taxes weren’t paid for 5 years and put it up for auction. There were no bids, so the city bought it. They were hoping someday to need the property for new housing.”
I asked, “Does the city still own it?”
He nodded, “Yep. There was talk of some more businesses coming to town in the 20s. In 1929, a new manufacturing plant was in final talks to build here, but the Wall Street crash ended that. Before the depression ended the war started and nothing ever came of it. I guess the city is still waiting for another business to come to town to create the need more housing.”
I sighed as I was thinking about what he just told me.
He asked, “Can I ask what your interest in the property is?”
I smiled, “I just heard a story about the last family to live there and was trying to learn more about them.”
He smiled, “Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
I nodded, “Thanks anyway, I appreciate your time.”
I headed back to the shed; Kyle was arriving at the same time as I did. I filled him in on what I found out and we were trying to figure out if it helped us at all.
Mike introduces Kyle to Murph and Bug
I heard someone yelling outside, “Hey Mike, are you out here?” I put the journal away.
I opened the door, “Hey Murph, I’m in the shed come on up.”
We greeted each other at the door, damn he had only been gone two weeks, but it looked like he gained 20 pounds of muscle, and his skin was a golden tan. He looked great.
I said, “hey Murph, this is Kyle Turner, his family moved into the old Henderson place. He has been keeping me company while you and Bug have been gone.”
Murph smiled, “Nice to meet you, Kyle.”
Kyle shook Murph’s hand, “Nice to meet you too, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I asked, “Do you know if Bug is back yet?”
Murph said, “Yeah, I saw him unloading the car when I came up here, he said he was coming over as soon as he was done unpacking. So, what have you guys been doing since I have been gone?”
Kyle just grinned, “Oh, just getting to know each other… really well.” He winked at me.
Murph looked at us suspiciously, “Ok, I guess you know each other well enough to already have an inside joke.”
I shook my head, “It’s nothing, he is just trying to be funny.”
Just then Bug came in the door, “What’s up shitheads?”
I chuckled, “Hey Bug, how was camp?”
He shrugged, “Oh, you know, it was boring. What’s going on around here?”
I said, “Bug this is Kyle, a new friend of mine.”
Bug said, “Hey Kyle.”
Kyle smiled, “Nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you too.”
We sat down and listened to Bug and Murph tell all about their two weeks away. After they had finished, Murph asked, “So, what have you guys been doing besides ‘getting to know each other’?”
Kyle looked at me, “Should we tell them about Walter and Ellis?”
He had obviously forgotten our conversation about not telling our secrets.
I rolled my eyes, “I guess we have to, now.”
Bug asked, “Who are Walter and Ellis?”
I started from when I found the journal. I told them about Walter and Ellis meeting and developing a friendship and up to the end when the journal ended abruptly. I left out the sex parts and that they were in love, I wasn’t sure how they would take that part.
Murph asked, “So what happened to them, do you know?”
Kyle told them about the research that we had done so far and that we didn’t know what we were going to do next.
We sat in silence for a few seconds, then Bug’s eyes opened wide, “Hey, are the Playboys still here?”
I nodded, “Yep” as I reached into the floorboards to retrieve them and handed them out.
We each opened a magazine and started to flip through the pages. Murph as always, was the first to drop his pants. I watched Kyle grin as he was checking him out and he quickly stood and removed his clothes too. I was undoing my pants as Bug stood and dropped his.
Kyle’s eyes grew as big as plates, “Holy shit Mike, you weren’t lying. That thing is huge.”
Bug looked at him, then he realized that Kyle had never seen him naked before. He put his hands on his hips and grinned like a first-time father showing off his newborn baby.
Kyle moved a little closer and started to reach for Bug’s cock, “Is it ok if I touch it?”
Bug just waved his dick back and forth and gave Kyle a nod. He reached up and took the monster into his hand, and it instantly swelled. Kyle started to stroke it up and down a little, Bug closed his eyes and let out a slight moan. Kyle started to pick up speed and squeezed a little tighter as precum began to leak from the head.
I turned to see Murph’s reaction, concerned he would be upset. His eyes were locked on the action in front of him and he was stroking his own dick to match Kyle’s rhythm; his mouth half open in awe. I shifted my eyes between Bug and Murph’s hard cocks while jerking my own. I moved next to Kyle and reached for Bug’s cock and began stroking it with Kyle. His dick was big enough both our hands fit with room to spare. I had wanted to touch Bug’s dick since the first time I had seen it, I wish I would have been as brave as Kyle was. I moved my hand to fondle Bug’s swinging nuts.
I watched as Murph was moving closer to the action. We were all a little bit surprised when Murph reached out and wrapped his hand around Bug too. Kyle removed his hand and smiled at me. I decided I was going to be the brave one and let go of Bug’s balls and moved my hand to Murph’s dick. He flinched a little, but he let my hand replace his as he closed his eyes and titled his head back.
There we were, Kyle and I on our knees as Bug and Murph were standing facing each other. Bug’s dick in Murph’s hand while I was stroking him. Kyle had reached up and was squeezing both Murph’s and Bug’s balls and grinning from ear to ear at me. He gave me a wink, then stuck his tongue out and nodded his head toward Bug and Murph. I knew what he meant. I thought what the hell, they hadn’t told us to stop yet. We both leaned in and licked the precum off both heads. Their eyes flew open and looked down to see what was going on. We each gave them a second lick, me on Murph and Kyle on Bug.
Kyle took Bug’s cock from Murph and wrapped his mouth around the head. Bug stood on his tip toes and panted, “Holy shit.”
I aimed Murph’s dick at my mouth and took him as deep as I could, his knees buckled. He steadied himself by grabbing my shoulders. He started to fuck my face, I looked toward Kyle out of the corner of my eyes, he was barely making it halfway down Bug’s dick. Murph started to pant and tried to pull out of my mouth, I grabbed his ass and pulled him tight.
He croaked, “Mike, I am going to shoot.”
I went as deep as I could as he flooded my throat with his seed. He spasmed as I swallowed deep and licked his cock clean.
We turned to watch Kyle stuff his mouth full of Bug’s dick, saliva running down his chin. Bug was really moaning, and he grabbed Kyle’s head and pushed into his mouth and yelled, “here it goes.”
Kyle coughed as cum leaked out the corner of his mouth. He took a big gulp and sucked the remaining cum from Bug’s cock.
Murph and Bug both sat back down and were looking at each other.
Kyle asked, “How was that, guys?”
Bug smiled, “That was great.” Murph just nodded, not really replying.
Kyle moved to me and grinned, he said, “Now it’s our turn.”
We maneuvered ourselves into a sixty-nine position and went to work on each other. We were so turned that we knew we weren’t going to last too long. A few minutes later we each dumped our loads into each other’s mouths. Once we were done, we moved to face each other and started kissing. We swapped cum with each other as I realized that Murph and Bug were still watching us.
Bug said, “I think you guys have done this before.”
Murph sarcastically asked, “Do you think Bug?” He then turned to us and asked, “So is this what you meant by ‘getting to know each other better’?”
I felt the heat rush to my face and nodded, “Yeah, we kind discovered that we like each other.”
He asked, “Does this make you gay.”
Kyle said, “It didn’t make us gay, we were already gay before we started to mess around.”
Murph and Bug just stood there staring at us, trying to take in what had just happened.
To Be continued…
