Paul's Story

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The author retains copyright (2007/8) to this story. Reproducing this story for distribution without the author's permission is a violation of that copyright.

This story is fiction.

Thank you Nifty for the opportunity to post this story.

Paul's Story.

Chapter 14.

Four days later a convoy headed down the coast, four cars and Andrew's big motorcycle. Paul and Jarrod were with Jeremy of course and they listened to him rave about how good it was. It was a very special place for him but even apart from that everything sounded unreal. There was an island, a kilometre out in the ocean which you were meant to swim to, which was spooky to both Paul and Jarrod, and Jeremy kept stirring about the nudity.

"You'll love it Jarrod. No clothes for nearly two weeks. You watch. Pete'll have everything off as soon as we get there. You'll have nine guys all drooling over you. What will you do when you're in a tent with William?"

"William? I thought I'd be with you and Jeremy."

"Only on the first night. Pete makes everyone swap round after that. It's a good idea."

"What do you mean about William?"

"He said you're the sexiest person he's ever seen."

"Me? He's pretty sexy himself."

That set Paul and Jeremy grinning.

"What?"

"Well if you want to do anything with him, go to bed early, because once you start something he'll go for hours."

"Hours?"

"Yeah, he's like Jeremy."

Now it was Paul and Jarrod grinning, with Jeremy calling them idiots. Even though it took three hours the travelling was fun. The CD player went almost non-stop because Peter had a funny rule of no radios or recorded music at the camp. Paul was seeing new places, and the Great Ocean Road, with its drop-away cliffs and ocean views, was a breathtaking new experience for Jarrod. Pete was pulled up at the turnoff to the secondary road and when everyone arrived headed along the last fifteen km of winding gravel road. Paul watched eagerly and exclaimed at the occasional glimpses of the Southern Ocean. The forest closed in then opened again and changed to coastal vegetation.

"Nearly at the track. The odometer says fourteen km."

"Odometer?"

"That's Jeremy's fancy word for speedo... Here it is."

They followed Pete's van as it turned on to a rough gravel track, kept close for several hundred metres then had to stop suddenly.

"God, the track's blocked."

Everyone climbed out to survey the fallen tree trunk. Further along they could see another.

"A wind storm I think. They've been uprooted."

"What will we do? Leave the cars here and walk?"

"We could. It's nearly five km though."

"It needs a chainsaw."

"How about a hatchet? That's all I've got."

"It would take hours."

Andrew arrived last and had a good look.

"How do we solve this Pete?"

"Well we can't move it. It's blocked by all the shrubs, so I thought we could take turns with the hatchet."

"No. I like it. It means we'll have the place to ourselves."

"What? Carry all our stuff? It'll take at least two trips."

"No, we'll use the cars."

Paul wondered what he meant. So did everyone else.

"Drive your van close then we'll lift it over."

He laughed at the looks he was given, but with eleven strong guys and careful cooperation it only took a few minutes and Pete's van was driving towards the second trunk. One by one the vehicles were lifted and then again at the second trunk before the cavalcade continued.

"Wow... I would never have thought of that."

"I know. That's Andrew for you."

They drove carefully along the overgrown track till Pete's car pulled over. All the cars were manoeuvred off the track in case someone else came along, and the first bash through the bush started. Peter knew where he was going and led the way till they reached a small creek.

"Don't tread in this because it's our drinking water. We're nearly there."

They must be. Paul could hear the crash of ocean waves. A few minutes later they were standing with their rucksacks dumped on the ground, gazing at a sandy beach, a beautiful bay with a rocky island in it that was 100 m out, not a kilometre, steep cliffs on the other side sweeping away to the head of the inlet and the open ocean. Jeremy gave him a happy smile. Oh wow. An hour later they'd made the second trip to the cars, set up the six tents and were stowing their gear when there was a great yell from Pete. Everyone looked. Off came his shirt, off came his shoes and off came everything else.

"Last one there's a drongo."

With another yell he raced across the sand, did a running dive into the water and swam towards the island. Paul, startled, watched Jeremy yank his T-shirt over his head. Another glance and he saw William was down to shoes only and all the others were rapidly disrobing.

Jarrod looked at him then laughed and joined the race. God. Their tent was furthest from the water. He was going to be last. A host of grinning faces greeted Paul when he clambered carefully onto the mostly flat surface of the rock jutting almost a metre out of the water. Pete beckoned to him.

"Come here rabbit."

"What?"

"Onto my back."

Paul gawked at him. It was nothing really but it would feel rude with everyone watching. Oh well. He did feel rude but it was fun too, with all the laughs as Pete carried him carefully from one side of the rock to the other.

"Where d'you want to go in. The high side or the low side?"

"The low side."

Of course he walked to the high side. Expecting to be thrown in, Paul wasn't ready when Pete leapt horizontally and took them both headfirst into the water. Amidst a great flurry of bubbles, Paul surfaced quickly to get the breath he hadn't taken. He just had time to see William and Jarrod looking down at him when his legs were grabbed and he went under again. Peter released him straight away and they swam to the other side of the rock where you could climb out. Then for half an hour everyone mucked round.

Anthony said he was going fishing and Brian left with him. Peter, Michael, Sam and Pete set off for a swim to the ocean along the base of the cliffs on the other side of the inlet and Jeremy said he wanted to go exploring the rock pools. Andrew stayed at the camp, saying he had a novel he wanted to read and William went with them. Jeremy seemed to know everything. He said Peter had told him stacks but he'd also looked things up after other trips. They had goggles and snorkels which made everything even more interesting, and Jeremy kept diving and looking under rocks and ledges.

"What are you looking for?"

"Anything. But there might be crayfish. We found them at the other bay."

They were nearly halfway along the base of the cliffs and Jeremy had just said it must be the wrong conditions when William surfaced from a dive and said he'd seen one flick away. He dumped his goggles and snorkel and powered off towards the camp.

"Where's he going?"

"Peter's got gloves and a gadget to catch them in his van."

He was back soon and after four or five unsuccessful attempts he brought a fiercely snapping crayfish to the rocks. Jeremy took a turn and after only two dives was proudly displaying his catch. Paul had a turn and didn't like the feel when the short spear thing pierced the crayfish's body and it flapped madly to escape. Jarrod said he didn't like killing anything. They carried the crays in a netting bag and on the way back to camp Paul was surprised when Jarrod asked William if he wanted to share his tent for the night. William was surprised too, but obviously pleased.

"Hey, great! I thought I'd be by myself."

"I know. I hope you don't mind, seeing we hardly know each other."

William grinned and Paul knew he'd decided Jarrod was a good guy. It would be an interesting night for them. Hmm. Maybe he could speed things up.

"Guess what Jarrod said on the way down William?"

"What?"

"He thinks you're sexy."

William looked at Jarrod, who despite the tan he'd developed in the last three weeks, was obviously blushing, and laughed.

"Paul, you're a stirrer."

They reached the camp and Jeremy grabbed a couple of collapsible water containers and showed Paul where they collected fresh water from the creek while Jarrod went to get his gear organised in William's tent. The long-distance swimmers were back and questions and comments flew thick and fast while Jeremy started a campfire.

"Wow. You've done it again Jeremy. Did you see any more down there?"

"William found them this time and he caught the first one."

Paul couldn't help smiling. They wouldn't even have looked if it wasn't for Jeremy. Everyone went on an expedition to collect firewood, which wasn't much of an effort since there was plenty of driftwood along the inlet shores, and Andrew went to collect the fishermen so plans could be made for tea. Peter wanted tea finished with enough time left to get to the ocean and watch the sunset. Jeremy said Peter and Michael had a thing about sunsets. Paul thought everyone did, especially Jeremy. Jarrod mightn't have like killing crayfish but he sure liked eating them. The surf beach was quite a distance and Peter got them to tie strips onto shrubs, from a long roll of blue plastic, every ten or fifteen metres in strategic positions. He knew the way in the daylight but since they were returning after sunset it would make things easier. Paul decided he agreed with Peter and Michael when he watched the huge red ball of the sun disappear below the horizon. You could see it moving it seemed, and the colors changed before you had time to appreciate them properly. Jarrod was sitting between Peter and Michael and looking very happy. This holiday was going to be good for him. He'd spent most of his meal time with William and on the walk was talking with Anthony and Brian. The sky darkened and Pete had everyone looking for the first star. Michael saw it, which Jeremy whispered was typical, and for a short while the competition continued, trying to see each next star, till suddenly they were everywhere.

"I never really looked at stars much before you took me to the secret beach."

"I used to till I came to Melbourne but then I stopped till Pete brought me down here."

Paul was lying, his head on Jeremy's chest and loving the feeling of fingers moving through his hair while he gazed upwards. It would be nice to stay like this for ages. Everyone had gone quiet except for one muted voice and Paul lifted his head. In the glimmer he could just make out Andrew pointing upwards and talking softly to Sam and Pete. Peter finally made a move and from the day pack he was carrying produced long-lasting LED headlamps for everyone then led the way home. There were drinks and a snack and everyone disappeared to their tents. Peter and Michael went first then Sam and Pete. William said something to Jarrod and they were gone so Paul and Jeremy went too. Jeremy thought it was funny.

"They're all feeling randy. Michael just got back from his parent's place, and Jarrod's curious about William."

"Curious?"

"Of course he is, after what you told him."

"Me? You told him too."

"No I didn't. I just agreed with whatever you said."

Paul thought back and Jeremy was right of course.

"Do you think he'll cope with William?"

"Paul. I don't know if William will cope with Jarrod. Jarrod's been bonking since he was fourteen."

"Not with guys."

"No, but he sure learns quick. He keeps both of us going."

That was right and then Paul couldn't help laughing.

"What?"

"I'm just imagining them both crawling out of the tent tomorrow morning too wrecked to stand up."

"... Hey Jer, guess what? I'm all randy from thinking about them."

"I know Rabbit. Me too."

Monday was calm and sunny. It had been decided the night before that it would be a relaxing day, and the next day, Tuesday, would be the first abseiling expedition. Jeremy wanted a quiet time to get into his writing, so Paul, Jarrod, and William decided to go to the surf beach for three or four hours. The blue plastic markers made it easy, though they didn't really need them because there were so many footprints. First up was the surf, so their day packs were dumped in the shade and the sun block came out.

"Aren't you going to wear speedos in the surf?"

Paul and William grinned at Jarrod.

"What for, we just use extra sunblock."

The extra sunblock was applied to each other with interesting results, then the trio headed into the surf. They walked, and ran, along the beach, surfed again, relaxed in the shade then had another surf before heading back to the camp in the early afternoon. Jeremy was still writing, which was no surprise because once he was into it he could keep going for hours and hours. He put his notebook away though, when they tucked into some sandwiches. Sam asked Jarrod if he could sketch him and a rather surprised Jarrod was gone for the rest of the afternoon. Paul wondered if it was Sam's way of getting to know Jarrod or if he was interested in him as a model. Probably both.No one else was around. Evidently they'd gone off in Pete's van to check out a beach further down the track and might not be back till early evening. Well, their lazy day of doing nothing didn't last long. Jeremy took them exploring for a couple of hours, along the tops of the cliffs where they'd be abseiling tomorrow, then they decided to do the fishing since Anthony wasn't back. This was a totally new thing for Paul. Jeremy and William seemed to know what they were doing but when he landed the first fish his interest level shot up.

"Beauty Paul! It's whiting and they're delicious so I hope we catch more."

Three more whiting came in the space of ten minutes and then there was nothing for a while. They were thinking of packing up when William caught the biggest fish yet, then another and another. Jeremy thought they were salmon. Sounds came from the camp so they decided to end the fishing and see what was happening. Pete explained.

"We found some awesome cliffs. Peter was studying his map this morning and the contours showed it must be very steep so he wanted to check it out. He's really excited about taking photos and we're going back on Wednesday. It's so rugged it took us an hour just to get there from the track so we're leaving early and taking all day."

"Does everyone go?"

"You're crazy if you don't Paul. We're taking a big rope in case we need to climb."

The long-distance swimmers set off to the head of the inlet and Jeremy went with them. Paul nearly went, but he'd already had several hours in the surf so instead he started the campfire, collected fresh water from the creek, and watched Anthony cleaning and preparing all the fish. Tea was delicious. Paul hoped someone caught fish every day. Everyone sat round the campfire talking about their activities, laughing at Pete, and then Andrew got Michael singing. Jarrod was quiet and Paul wondered what he was thinking. Well, he'd find out soon enough because Pete had them sharing a tent tonight. After a wash with the sandalwood soap that Jeremy had brought, they organised the tent and relaxed on the sheet. It was still too warm for covers.

"It's unreal here isn't it?"

"I can't believe it Paul. Are gay guys all friendly like this?"

"I know. I used to wonder that too, but they're not. William and Pete have known guys who wouldn't last here for even one day."

"Gay guys?"

"Yes, William had lots of trouble before he came here. I didn't even like him at the start."

"He's great."

"So? Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Not till about one o'clock."

"Jarrod. You went to bed early."

"Well it was you who told me to. Sam's great isn't he?"

"Sam's unreal. Are you changing the topic?"

"No. He made me feel great today and he asked me to think about doing a project with him."

"Oh wow! I hope you said yes."

"I sort of did but I wanted to ask you about it."

"Me? Because of the elf pictures? Well, go for it."

"He says it would take lots of time and I start working for Anthony as soon as we get back."

"That wouldn't matter. Sam would just work it out whenever it suited you. Tell him you'll do it."

"Yeah, I guess."

Paul couldn't figure the tone of reluctance.

"What's wrong? You said he made you feel good today. He's like that all the time."

"Well... I'd be nude. That's why Sam wants me to think carefully."

"You like being nude."

"With friends, or by myself. Not in public. What did you think when people were looking at you on the Internet?"

Paul had to ponder that.

"I didn't really think about it much. I was way more upset about them forcing me to do stuff I didn't want to. Yours wouldn't be porn though, so it's different."

"That's what I thought too, but Sam says I'm so good-looking that some people will look at it that way."

"I suppose. It's complicated isn't it? ...Not really. If it was me, I'd do it for Sam any time."

They talked about it more but Jarrod was now pleased with the idea.

"Did Sam have eyestrain today?"

"What? No, I don't think so."

"He must have if he said you're good-looking."

"Idiot! You're dead Paul."

"Yikes! Murder by a nude model."

"What kind of murder do you want?"

"Put your hands behind your head and I'll show you."

"Aren't we going to wrestle first? We always do."

"Would you use rude tricks on me?"

"I might."

"All right. We'll wrestle with our hands behind our heads."

"We will? How can we do rude tricks then?"

"Like this."

The abseiling was unreal. The hike to the wild cliffs was a mixture of effort, excitement, breathtaking views and lots of waiting while Peter and Sam went berserk with camera and sketchbook. The swim to the island was unforgettable, and the days of surf and sun sheer enjoyment. Pete and Michael kept everyone laughing and there was a bounteous supply of fish and crays to enhance the evening meal. Every evening there was a happy gathering round the campfire and Paul was laughing with Jeremy at the way no one stayed up late. Jarrod got to know all the ones who'd been away, spent time off with Sam and arrived with news the morning after he'd shared the tent with Peter that his pay was going to stay at the same rate till the house was finished.

"He doesn't have to do it Jeremy, but he says it will give me a good start. He's really pleased I'm working with Sam too. He reckons it will turn out special."

"Hey. Having fun Paul? Distracting my subject?"

That was exactly what Paul was doing and it was working perfectly.

"I'm just showing you how rude he is Sam. All he ever thinks about is sex."

"Is that so? Strange how you turn up and it happens for the first time."

"It's not because I'm here. He's randy because he didn't get any last night."

Since Jarrod had shared Sam's tent last night this cheeky comment got the attention it deserved.

"Who's calling who randy? And anyhow, what makes you think nothing happened last night? Sam and I have got secrets. ...Haven't we Sam?"

Sam's nod was just a payback. Well, it must be.

"Sure too. What sort of secrets?"

"Come here and I'll tell you."

"No way."

Jarrod laughed.

"See. You think I'm tricking. Will I tell him Sam?"

"You can try. I don't think he'll believe you though."

So. They were joining forces against him. This was fun.

"All right tell me."

"Come here so I can whisper."

"You don't have to whisper. Not if Sam already knows."

Jarrod called Paul a cheat and said the proper way to tell a secret was to whisper it. To find out what trick Jarrod had in mind Paul moved and put one hand behind his ear. Jarrod linked elbows and whispered,

"Now we'll see who's randy."

Paul made a weak attempt to pull away.

"No. No. Don't move. I want to sketch the two of you together."

Sam grinned at them as Jarrod's free hand rested on Paul's knee and slid slowly upwards.

"Is this a good enough pose Sam? Where else should I put my hand?"

"Let's see. Off his thigh. It will look better on his stomach ..Nice and intimate."

"Okay. ...How's that?"

"Lower. ...No, lower still. That's it. Now stay like that."

It was all a stir of course, but Sam started sketching with a look of intense concentration. One of Jarrod's fingers sneaked under the band of Paul's speedos. Whoo. That was too good.

"Sam. Do you think Paul would look better without his speedos?"

"Definitely. Yes, a more natural, primitive kind of look."

The speedos were gone already though, as Jarrod had flipped them down without waiting for an answer. Jarrod laughed, and enjoying himself, checked out Paul's boner.

"See, we're both randy."

Sam was shaking his head as if to say they were hopeless.

"Jarrod, let him go. If I sketch you like that it will be porn. Give him a hug instead."

"A hug? Full on, or sideways?"

"Full on, but sideways to me... Yes, like that. Now, rest your hands on each other's buttocks and stay close. Good. Stay like that till I finish."

Stay like this? With their groins together and the sneaky pressures Jarrod was making Paul didn't think he would last long at all.

"Excellent. That is so erotic. Hang on and I'll get some photos."

Jarrod and Paul pulled their heads back, looked at each other, then at Sam. He was definitely serious as the camera was coming out of his day pack. For the next ten minutes they embraced intimately, and oh so provocatively, till Sam was satisfied.

"Thanks Paul. We'll try that again later."

Later?

"Yes, in a different setting."

Awkwardly, and feeling frustrated but not wanting to let on in front of Sam, Paul moved back to the rock he'd been sitting on before all this started. He looked at his speedos but in his present state they wouldn't fit so he watched Jarrod who obviously had no worries about his boner. Well, he never had. Sam seemed quite nonchalant too and Paul wondered whether his other models got excited. Some did because he'd seen a few in the portfolios.

"Do many of your models get boners Sam?"

"Nearly all of them. I haven't figured out why, though I suspect it's some kind of communication thing between artist and model. It takes a lot of trust to let someone examine you so closely and when you're nude there is an extra layer. I like it when it happens."

"Like it?"

"Yes, it gives me a bond with my model."

He grinned.

"Looks sexy too."

Jarrod was listening closely.

"Does that mean I'm sexy?"

"Listen to him Paul, fishing for compliments. You both are and you know it. Now, what are we going to do? Wait for you to shrink, or will I keep sketching?"

"Um. ...Keep sketching if you want to. Will it be part of your exhibition?"

"Not very likely. I've only done that once before and you'd have to be happy about it."

"Once before? Someone with a boner you mean? Wow, who was it?"

Paul was wondering the same thing.

"Well, actually it was me."

"You? ...You did a sketch of yourself?"

"Lots of them. Kind of. Michael took the photos and I adapted them. It was a project we did together. Paul's seen some of them."

"Not with a boner Sam."

"No. That's only on the computer now. The original got sold."

"Wow. Did you feel funny when people were looking at it?"

"I hardly even thought about it. All the pictures were nude and I'd been working on them for ages so I was used to the idea."

"Did you see any people looking at the picture?"

"Not really. It was sold right from the start. Peter and Phillip said it was one of the best."

"Who's Phillip?"

"He's the gallery director. You'll meet him later too."

"You like doing male nudes don't you?"

Paul was surprised. This was the third session of Jarrod's posing and he thought they might have talked about this kind of stuff before. He found out later that they had, but Jarrod liked to get things clear.

"I do Jarrod. Probably because I'm gay."

"Pete says you're bi."

"Mostly gay."

"Do you ever do special pictures?"

"Like what kind of special?"

"Like something I asked you."

"Of course I would. I'd love to."

"What about a picture with Paul and Jeremy and me in it?"

"Sounds great. How do you want me to do it?"

"Well, nude because we like that, but not rude. Something that shows how we're together. It's complicated. Paul and Jeremy are partners but Paul's special to me and Jeremy's special in a different kind of way. Do you know what I mean?"

"Almost exactly Jarrod. It's like the way I fit in with Peter and Michael. I know. Can we spend a day together with the four of us?"

Paul nodded in agreement with Jarrod's hopeful look and with a degree of excitement they made a plan for the next day. Sam was taken with the idea and thought it would be a real challenge. A couple of hours later, at the end of Jarrod's posing session, they happily informed Jeremy that he was going to be a model for a day.

"I am? What for?"

"A trio picture. It was Jarrod's idea and Sam's all keen about it."

"Trio?"

After the explanations Jeremy was excited too.

"Why don't we start now? I bet it will take Sam a lot longer than a day."

"He's doing something with Michael this afternoon."

"Oh. Right. Well, are we still going to the surf beach?"

That had been the tentative plan at breakfast, so when William turned up they had some food, grabbed their gear, and set off. For an hour they surfed then had a relax in the shade of some large overhanging tea-trees.

"Hey Jer. Let's have a look at the rock pools. The tide's way out and we'll see more than usual."

Jeremy was always interested in exploring and his enthusiasm was quite catching, so, wearing T-shirts and speedos, because they'd already had hours of sun, and reef sandals for protection on the rocks, they made their way along the beach to the extensive rock platform with its channels, pools and ledges.

"Hey, it is low. The kelp's uncovered."

They looked in one of the larger pools, at the sea anemones, starfish which were everywhere, and an occasional sea urchin with its evil looking spines. There was a cluster of round lumpy looking objects which shot out a jet of water when you pressed them, that according to Jeremy were called sea-squirts. Another pool had loose rocks on the bottom and when you lifted them a crab would often scuttle off to safety or face up with gaping claws.

"Whoo. Look at this one. It's huge."

Jarrod cradled his hand behind, then quickly and carefully held the crab by the sides of its carapace and made as if to press it into Paul's stomach.

"Don't you dare."

Eventually the poor crab was released and they moved to another pool.

"Gods. Look at this."

"It's a puffer fish."

"Are they dangerous?"

"Only if you eat them. And it's dead anyway."

Jarrod was fascinated with this inflated fish with spikes all over it, and turned it over with his sandal then picked it up by the tail.

"Don't you dare."

Paul jumped to one side as the fish landed at his feet. He waited until Jarrod turned his attention back to the pool and stuffed a clump of green seaweed down his T-shirt. Jarrod fished it out then chased Paul till he was caught and had the green slippery mass put down his own shirt. That was given the toss, and laughing they knelt at the edge of a shallow pool to clean their hands.

"Hey, there's something there."

Paul glanced across and watched as Jarrod brushed some of the green seaweed to one side.

"Wow, look at that. An octopus."

It was too. A tiny one. It quickly sought shelter, and once again Jarrod moved the fronds of seaweed to reveal the little creature. Again it hid.

"It really is Paul. Give the others a yell while I catch it."

"Catch it?"

"Why not? It can't hurt. It's only a baby and we'll see it better."

Paul wouldn't have. An octopus somehow had a scary feel to him, with the thought of suckers and tentacles, but Jarrod dug his hand into the sand and scooping beneath, slowly lifted the little creature out of the water. Jeremy and William started coming to see what the excitement was about while Paul and Jarrod looked at their catch.

"Neat isn't it? You can see its eyes."

It really was tiny, sitting in the palm of Jarrod's hand, a greyish brown color with delicate tentacles. Paul was totally fascinated and then to his astonishment the colors changed. Whorls and rings of a beautiful blue started to appear at the same time as it started moving. Jarrod gave a little grunt.

"I think it nipped me. They haven't got teeth have... Look at those colors now."

He turned to William and Jeremy as they arrived.

"Look Jeremy. I bet you've never seen one of these before. It's neat."

"Put it down. Put it down. Quick."

There was an electric urgency in Jeremy's voice which froze both Paul and Jarrod.

"Jarrod. Now. It's dangerous."

Jarrod was still taking that in when Jeremy grabbed his wrist and twisted it. The octopus dropped to the pool. Jarrod stared at Jeremy and laughed nervously.

"Dangerous? It's only a baby."

Jeremy released Paul's wrist and knelt by the pool to watch.

"No it's not. I think it's a blue ringed octopus and that's as big as they get. I've read about them and the blue color means it's getting upset. That's why I made you drop it, in case you got stung."

Paul's heart lurched.

"Jarrod. You said it bit you."

"Um. ...I think it did. It wasn't much though."

He held his hand up but there was too much sand to see anything till that was washed away. Apart from one small red mark there was nothing.

"What did it feel like?"

"Just a quick sting but I hardly felt it at all."

Jeremy went quiet and very thoughtful, looked along the beach and then to the shoreline.

"Let's find somewhere we can sit down in the shade."

"Sit down? Do you think it could be bad?"

"I don't know Jarrod. It doesn't look much, so we'll be quiet for a while and see how you go. William, would you get my day pack and our other things?"

William ran off and a couple of minutes later they were all sitting in the shade. Jeremy took a long pressure bandage from his day pack.

"What's this for?"

"Just in case. If it was a real bite it needs a pressure bandage to slow everything down. The bandage doesn't hurt and if nothing happens we'll take it off and have a laugh."

Starting at Jarrod's wrist he wound the long stretchy bandage round and round, all the way up to his shoulder, and fastened it carefully with the little clip that was supplied with it.

"My whole arm?"

"Yes, if it injected any stuff into you it travels under your skin. It would be like a snake bite."

"Is it as bad as snakebite?"

"I think so."

"Aren't you meant to suck the poison out?"

"No. And you shouldn't do that with snake-bites either. Does the bandage feel too tight?"

"A bit."

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

"That's how it should be."

"Can we go back to the camp? I'm getting scared."

"No. We stay here. If you have been bitten then the worst thing to do is move."

"I think it did sting me. I feel funny."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I feel different but I could be imagining at."

He wasn't though, and soon there were four very frightened friends.

"What's going to happen?"

Paul had been wanting to ask this ever since they sat down but had been waiting for Jeremy.

"I read about it Jarrod and remember it clearly because I thought it was so interesting. The octopus has a poison which stops your muscles working properly. It doesn't kill you but we might have to help you breathe if you can't keep your lungs going yourself."

"If I can't breathe I'll die."

"No you won't. We won't let you. Paul and I will be here every second and William's going to get the others."

Paul felt awful when Jarrod looked at him. He didn't know what to say or do so he nodded and touched his hand to Jarrod's cheek.

"William, tell them Jarrod's been stung by a blue ringed octopus, we've got him quiet with a pressure bandage, and we're watching in case he needs any mouth-to-mouth. Peter and Andrew will know what to do."

William set off running but it would be at least three quarters of an hour before anyone could get back. Jarrod got worse. First he got numb round his mouth and then he horrified Paul by throwing up. That stopped and very quickly he couldn't speak. And then he stopped moving.

Jeremy sat with his hand resting on Jarrod's bared chest.

"You remember your mouth-to-mouth don't you Paul?"

"Not properly. I've never done it for real."

"It's easy. Watch me and you can take a turn when you're ready. I'm going to start now while Jarrod is still breathing for himself, so he doesn't get short of breath."

Paul watched, ever so carefully, and five minutes later he blocked Jarrod's nostrils, blew his first breath and watched Jarrod's chest subside.

"Again, and watch.

Again. And watch.

That's it. Now keep it steady."

Paul listened to every word of Jeremy's instructions and after a couple of minutes felt confident that he knew what he was doing. Jeremy stayed close, thank goodness, holding Jarrod's wrist and checking his pulse and after about five minutes took another turn at the mouth to mouth. Paul thought he should check Jarrod's pulse, almost panicked when he couldn't find it, then saw Jeremy press his free hand under Jarrod's chin.

"It's all right Paul."

He breathed into Jarrod's mouth.

"His pulse is good."

He breathed again.

"Don't worry."

Approximately every five minutes they swapped and Paul was on his fourth turn when there was a shout from along the beach. Jeremy stood up, called and waved, then sat down and took Jarrod's hand again. Peter arrived and had to catch his breath before asking questions.

"The ambulance is on its way. Is he conscious?"

"I think so, but he can't speak. His pulse seems to be okay and he's looking better than he did ten minutes ago."

"Do you want me to give you a rest? It's hard work."

"Um. ...No. We promised Jarrod we wouldn't leave him."

From the side of his vision Paul saw Peter rest his hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

"You're a wonder Jeremy. ...Both of you."

Paul got a fright. His breath didn't go in as easily as it should, but then the next one was okay. Jeremy was at his side and took over.

"Jeremy, it felt different just then."

Jeremy blew.

"Yes, it is."

He blew again, watched Jarrod's chest subside as he did after each breath, then blew slightly faster than the timing pattern they'd been using.

"I think his lungs..

He blew again.

"...Are trying to work."

Paul and Peter watched quietly.

"The ambulance can't get in here Peter, and Jeremy says we mustn't move him."

"It's not an ordinary ambulance Paul. Andrew organised a helicopter and there'll be a doctor on it."

Paul didn't understand that either because there was no phone signal in the area.

"But the mobile phones don't work?"

"His does. You've seen it. It's a satellite one and works everywhere."

More voices called out and Sam and Anthony appeared from down the beach. Paul could only listen to their worried questions because it was his turn at the mouth to mouth again. It was definitely different, and harder to pick the right time to blow. Jeremy helped.

"Just a fraction before his chest is lowest and a bit faster Paul."

The circle of watchers grew. A tremor ran through Jarrod's chest. Paul felt it quite clearly with his hand and the breathing rhythm went out of sync again.

"Jarrod, I think you can hear me. Let Paul do your breathing."

Paul's heart leapt. Jarrod must have been able to hear because the mouth to mouth became easy again, and it even felt like Jarrod was sometimes sucking the air in time with him. Jeremy took his turn but stopped short and looked at Paul with a wonderful smile.

"He's breathing by himself."

Paul couldn't see properly. Through blurry eyes he leaned forward to give Jarrod a soft kiss on his forehead. Everyone was there. Watching. It was as if Jarrod was waking in slow motion from a very deep sleep. His eyes fluttered and Paul felt the grip of their hands tighten slightly. There was a funny little sound from his lips then nothing for a while. Paul could hear Andrew talking on his phone.

"Jeremy... Paul!"

Soft as a whisper, clear as a bell, Paul heard their names. Jarrod was looking at them, his eyes flicking from one to the other.

"Close your eyes and relax Jarrod. The doctor's coming and he doesn't want you to move till he can have a look at you. Do you understand me?"

Jarrod nodded to Andrew, closed his eyes, then opened them again. His hand moved to interlock with Paul's fingers.

"Jeremy."

He lifted his other hand slightly and Paul knew exactly what he wanted.

"Jeremy. He wants to hold your hand like mine."

For the next ten minutes everything was fairly quiet with everyone waiting to see what would happen. Andrew and Sam were on the beach waving when the thud of the helicopter sounded, and in moments the noise increased to thunder as the machine hovered then descended in a storm of flying sand. When the blades stopped three people alighted, two with a stretcher and one carrying a leather bag. An elderly man strode over with Andrew and after a quick look at the situation was attending to Jarrod. After several checks and a few questions he asked Jarrod to move his left hand, wiggle his toes and to take several big breaths.

"Very good. Who took you through all this Jarrod?"

"Jeremy and Paul."

"And what did they do?"

"Jeremy put the bandage on and then they kept breathing for me."

"Well, you're a very lucky man to have such knowledgeable friends. They couldn't have done anything better. Were going to put you on a stretcher now and take you to hospital where we can keep watching you closely. It's still important to keep calm and quiet, as that bandage could be holding back some residual toxin. I know you'll cooperate won't you?"

Jeremy nodded and a moment later the two ambulance officers had him transferred to the stretcher, secured in place with various straps, and were carrying him off to the helicopter.

"Which one is Jeremy?"

Everyone looked at Jeremy and the doctor extended his hand.

"Congratulations Jeremy. I'm most impressed. Your actions today saved your friend's life. You should be very proud of yourself."

To Paul's astonishment Jeremy burst into tears. The doctor kept hold of Jeremy's hand and firmly clasped his arm as well.

"I wasn't sure doctor. I just wasn't sure."

"And you held your fears in check till you knew it didn't matter. That is even more to be proud of. Well I must go. We'll meet in Geelong tomorrow."

Paul rushed to hug Jeremy and almost had to fight off the crowd as everyone else converged with the same idea. The thought that the calm, confident and assured Jeremy of the last two hours had really been putting on a kind of show to help Jarrod stay quiet, was a shock and would need thinking about. He was okay now though as the onslaught of hugs and obvious admiration was forcing him to smile. Attention turned to the beach where the doctor and Andrew were climbing into the helicopter. The blades started turning and then a crowd of upturned heads watched till the helicopter shrank to a speck in the blue.

"Come on you two. We can't hang round here all day. We have to get you organised."

Peter's smile belied the stern tone in his voice.

"What happens now Peter?"

"We get you to Geelong to see Jarrod this evening, and then we'll find out from there."

Paul and Jeremy gathered their gear, as well as Jarrod's, then met the others who'd gone to the rock pool with William to see if they could find the little octopus. Somehow it had disappeared. There was a barrage of questions as they hiked back to the camp. By seven p.m. they were approaching the outskirts of Geelong. Peter's mobile rang right on the dot, as Andrew had arranged back at the beach, and Jeremy took the directions to a hotel not far from the big community Hospital.

"Our rooms are all booked but we should go straight to the hospital as visiting hours finish at eight o'clock and the patient is quite impatient to see you."

After walking two blocks and winding their way through a seemingly endless maze of corridors they entered a ward with a couple of beds and the impatient patient with a huge smile on his face. They knew already that he was okay from Andrew's report but it wasn't the same as seeing him. There was a short, eloquent silence.

"Hey. Where's my flowers and chocolate?"

He certainly sounded all right. Paul went over, grabbed Jarrod's hair with two hands and gave his head a shake before kissing him quickly on the lips. He got stirred for ever about the head shake, but Jarrod told him later he was so surprised he loved it. Jeremy gave him a kiss and Peter tousled his hair, saying he hoped it hadn't been ripped out by the roots.

"You don't get any chocolate. You're too sick to eat anything."

"No I'm not. I don't even need to be here."

"Idiot!"

"All they've done is stick needles into me and suck blood out. I think they're vampires."

"Blood?"

"Yes. Every hour they take another sample."

"He's famous Paul. They've never had anyone in here whose been stung by a blue ringed octopus and they're trying to get as much information as they can. The doctor wants to interview you and Jeremy about it tomorrow. It's organised for nine o'clock in the morning."

"Have they done anything else to you Jarrod?"

"Not really. They just ask me questions then tell me to take it quietly. Did you bring my clothes?"

"Clothes? What's wrong with your speedos?"

"Very funny. For tomorrow when I get out."

"You look good in your speedos. I bet all the nurses keep checking up on you."

The friendly banter continued till a nurse came in, took Jarrod's temperature and pulse, then switched the main light off.

"See you in the morning Jarrod. You'll be good and do what they tell you, won't you?"

"Idiot. Don't forget my clothes."

Food was the first priority after leaving hospital, then a wander around the city streets before heading to the hotel for an early night.

After a quick hello and delivering Jarrod's clothes, Paul and Jeremy got their directions to the doctor's office. There were two doctors and it was all very interesting. They learnt that there was no anti-venine to counteract the octopus poison. Most of the time was spent answering questions about what they saw happening with Jarrod as the poison took its effect. It was totally embarrassing when they met up with Jarrod again. His parents had arrived from Melbourne and treated them like heroes. Jarrod's dad got quite emotional, which affected Jeremy, while Paul kept a smile going despite the growing lump in his own throat. They were all in a sitting room close to one of the nurse's stations. Jarrod didn't have to stay in bed, but had to stay where he could be watched till the afternoon. He looked normal, but evidently he'd slept for ages during the night. His parents were concerned that since he was meant to take things quietly for the next few days, it would be a good idea for him to go home with them then travel down to Apollo Bay on the bus later, but Jarrod was having none of that and had his reasons all prepared.

"Dad, even the doctor says there is no reason I shouldn't go back to the beach, and there'll be ten people watching me. If Andrew tells me to have a rest I'm not going to argue with him."

That brought a smile all round, as Andrew's stature very obviously wasn't just physical.

"And if I go home, I'll either be by myself or one of you will have to take another day off work."

Jarrod got his way as he was so definite. Everyone left, when the nurse said it was time to, then met in the gardens at the Eastern Beach for a picnic lunch. Paul and Jeremy wandered off to have a look at the ships anchored at the wharf while Peter and Andrew stayed talking with Jarrod's parents. By the evening they'd picked up Jarrod, driven back to the camp, and were sitting round the fire answering questions, listening to everyone else's activities and thinking about plans. Jarrod was organised to be with Sam for the next two days, which pleased Sam while making sure Jarrod followed the doctor's order to take it easy. Pete decided to go to the island with the Cathedral Cave, since with the lower than usual tides, they'd be able to get right inside. Paul, Jeremy and Jarrod went to their tent quite early and cuddled together, talking, till Jarrod faded off to sleep.

The end of chapter 14.

Chapter 15.

Andrew had to leave at the end of the second week and Paul wished he didn't. They'd sat in the shade at the surf beach one day talking about all sorts of things and by the end of it Paul's plans had once again changed. Well, not changed so much as developed. Andrew thought he was doing too many things and said he should concentrate on the printing work and the websites.

"But what about the house? I have to help Anthony."

"No you don't. Jarrod's there now. You could help when he's doing his theory work and still have a couple of days free for the websites. And two nights you could set aside for some courses."

"Courses? I hate courses! I'd have to go back to school."

"Don't make me laugh. Are you saying you didn't like your printing course? You aced it."

"That was different."

"It was? How?"

"Well... It was important."

"So, choose important courses. If you did a graphic design course that would help you with your websites as well as the printing. And you know it would be easy because you're already covering a great deal of it with Brian. And what about some accounting? That could save you a great deal of money. And if you do what's important to you then you'll like it. ...How did you meet Jarrod?"

"We were doing a course together."

Andrew laughed.

"Well it's a good thing you did that one isn't it? He's rather like Jeremy."

Paul was taken aback. He'd never thought that.

"They both have open and trusting nature's Paul, and they both look up to you. You're a very lucky man to have two soul-mates."

Paul wasn't exactly sure what soul-mates meant. Andrew was giving him a great deal to think about.

"We're going for a run. Come on."

Paul looked round for Jarrod since he liked runs too, but there was no sign of him.

"He's busy. You won't see him for quite a while."

The looks that passed between Jeremy, Pete and Michael meant that something was going on.

"Where is he?"

"He's with William. ...For the next four hours."

It sounded strange the way Pete said four hours as if it was an exact time. Jeremy explained.

"Pete conned them. He was stirring them about the way they disappear together and how it's always a quickie so now they're trying a marathon."

"A marathon?"

Three voices replied.

"A sex marathon."

Paul gawked at them then his own smile grew.

"God! Four hours? What do they have to do?"

"Whatever, but they have to tell us how many times they make it. William says five but Jarrod reckons it could be more."

Oh boy. Paul wished he'd been there. Just typical for Pete to get something like that going. He'd already tricked Jarrod one night for the biting e-mail and had him walking round with band-aids on his dick for half an hour.

"Hey, how did they come up with those numbers?"

Pete had the answers, which Paul knew were right.

"Jarrod told me, Michael. They had a three-hour session on their first night. That's why we made it four."

"Where are they?"

"Behind that dune. ...Where they always go."

It was very tempting to go and stir but they didn't. All along the run there was conjecture about what the current make' might be, but the numbers rapidly escalated to ridiculous heights. Still, it was fun to be calling out twelve' and `thirteen'. Pete was evil because he swapped the tent arrangements so Jarrod and William would be together for the night as well.

Andrew's ideas were important and Paul thought a lot and talked it all over with Jeremy, who said it was so sensible they should have thought of it themself.

"It's the only way you'll have enough time to do your websites properly Paul."

"I know. I'm way behind at the moment and I want to do some kind of maths course as well as the accounting and graphics."

"Maths? Am I hearing straight? How come?"

"Well, I'm always asking you or Brian to work things out for me so it makes me feel silly. I know I could do it."

"There's a Year Eleven maths that's got stacks of useful topics like measurement and money and equations. I reckon that's what you should do. If you did it before the accounting it would make that easier too. We'll ask Peter. He's the maths teacher."

It all fell into place. Three mornings with Brian, three afternoons to himself, a whole day for himself and one day each week with Anthony. It fitted perfectly with Jeremy too because they'd both have their weekends free. Also because of Andrew's talk Paul made a really big deal about it when he shared the tent with Jarrod on the second last night.

"Jarrod, you're fantastic. You're a real lifesaver."

"Me?"

"Yes. Now that you're working for Anthony I'll be able to do my websites properly. Andrew says you're a godsend because you've given me the opportunity to get myself organised."

"Andrew?"

Jarrod was in awe of Andrew. Well, so was everyone.

"Yes, he says it's important for Anthony to have someone reliable to work with too, and you're perfect."

"Did he really say that? We start next Monday and I'm nervous about it."

"Nervous? What for? You love working with him."

"Yes, but it'll be all official. It's different to just helping out like so far."

"It is not. You'll see."

"I suppose so. Anthony says the same thing."

"See.... There is something though."

"What? Oh no, what did he say?"

"Well, he's worried about what to do when you disappear into William's bedroom for hours and hours."

"You idiot. You've had it. I thought you were serious."

Paul squawked as the breath got squashed out of him. After five minutes of happy wrestling he was pinned on his back, his hands trapped beside his head with a triumphant Jarrod sitting on his stomach.

"Cheat. Taking advantage because you're stronger."

"That's what I'm meant to do."

"Bully."

Somehow Paul could tell that Jarrod was smiling.

"What's funny?"

"I'm just remembering the very first time I sat on you... At the pool."

It was Paul's turn to smile.

"I was so embarrassed."

"What did I do next?"

"You sat right on top of it and that made me even more embarrassed."

Jarrod matched his actions to the words then wriggled his backside.

"We've only got one more day before we go home. I wish we could stay longer."

"Me too. It's been unreal. Wait till we take you to the secret beach. That's good too."

"William told me about that. He said you took him there."

"Yeah, that's where we got to know him. We were stuck in a cave while the rain pelted down."

Jarrod released Paul's hands then lowered himself for a full body cuddle. Paul couldn't help giving a giggle.

"What?"

"Jeremy says we're a bad influence on you."

"How come?"

"Converting you to gay. You've been with three guys since you got back."

"Three? ...Um. ...Five really."

"Five?"

"Yes, Pete and Michael."

"You dog. When did that happen?"

"Pete last week and Michael the night before last."

"Oh boy. We really are converting you. Pete said he'd do something but we thought he was just stirring."

Their boners started a slow pressing competition till Jarrod lifted away slightly. Paul knew what he wanted and slipping his hand between, grasped the waiting boner. His own was taken and for a while there were soft sounds of pleasure.

"Fast or slow?"

"Really slow Paul, so we can talk. We've only had one night together."

"Paul, let's see if Anthony's catching anything. We want to talk about Jeremy's book."

It was the very last afternoon and with everyone hopeful for a sea-food feast, Paul was making for the rock pools where Jeremy and William were already diving for crayfish.

"Sure."

Catching Jeremy's eye across the inlet, Paul pointed to the fishing rocks to let him know the change in plans and received a wave of acknowledgement

"What's happening?"

"Lots. Sam says all the pictures should be ready for scanning in another week."

Paul kind of knew that from Sam, who'd had to put everything on hold till the holiday finished, but Peter obviously wanted to talk things over with Brian. Anthony was holding his fishing rod, and Brian, cleaning what looked like a salmon, must have sensed purpose in the approaching group.

"What's up?"

"Council of war for Jeremy's book."

"Great. Hang on a sec."

He finished the fish then washed his hands in sea water.

"When can we start?"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, we're just waiting for the illustrations. All the materials are ready. The official stuff is done with, the copyright and publishing guff. The text is done, and all we need is the final number of pictures and their placement."

Peter turned to Sam.

"Can you finish by next weekend Sam?"

"I think so. I've still got a few decisions to make and quite a bit of work on the cover."

"All right. It's just that there's a writer's workshop in Sydney the week after next and if I can persuade Jeremy to go it would give us a clear run for the printing."

Persuade? There wouldn't be much persuading needed.

"Paul. How's the Web site coming along? Sam says you've got it started."

"Well, not really. I've hardly done anything. Jeremy's always there and he's interested in everything I do."

"Hmm. Big problem. Okay, no more work on the house for you. At least for the next couple of weeks. I have a feeling this could be quite an opportunity, so let's make it a showpiece. I've got some ideas you might like to incorporate and Sam should have a strong involvement too."

Paul's eyes nearly bugged out as he listened to Peter's ideas, bios, galleries, catalogs, interviews, order forms. This was major. Sound? What would he do? He didn't have a clue what would be appropriate. Peter said Michael and Andrew might have some good ideas for that. Sam laughed.

"Peter, you'll send Paul crazy. He'll need more than two weeks to get all that working. And what about Jeremy? He has to be involved in the website too."

"Oh my. Of course he does. We're getting too wound up with the surprise factor. I know, we'll have a rough version as a surprise and then we get his input before it goes on-line. That's better for you too Paul."

Next morning early there was a big pack up and everyone made the most of a last visit to the surf beach, where ten strong, tanned, naked bodies, frolicked in the surf, lazed on the sand or spent their energy riding the waves, before Pete lined everyone up for a last official photo and the afternoon exodus began. The atmosphere on the home trip was rather high-spirited. Jeremy was on a bit of a high about the writer's workshop, Jarrod was excited in general and talking about his first day tomorrow as an official apprentice, while Paul's head was whirling with thoughts of all the things to do in the next few weeks. The finishing event for the holiday was a smorgasbord meal at a restaurant in Geelong and the last leg of the journey to Jarrod's house involved quite a bit of singing with the CD player and a certain amount of dozing by Jarrod and Paul.

*** The trouble with holidays is catching up afterwards and the next day Paul worked a couple of extra hours for Brian as they ordered new materials, went through correspondence and set up a print run that had to be in the Express mail by Wednesday. Two definite contracts for new work and three expressions of interest to be followed up put a smile on Brian's face, but kept him on the phone for ages, and it was nearly two o'clock before Paul sat at his computer. He started with some rough logic setups for the book site. Andrew had showed him these, flowcharts he called them, way back when he first started and they were a great idea to stop you getting muddled. That didn't last long because they were too tentative. He focused on the home page design but after half an hour gave that up as well because Jeremy kept looking in the window and it would be just like him to drop in for a moment. He did, sure enough, and luckily Paul had switched to entering the data for Peter, Michael and Sam's site. Jarrod came in too, looking all pleased, and Paul felt strange not working with them. Boy. This wasn't going too well. The demolishing activity on the kitchen wall just metres away was too distracting. He nicked in to see if Sam was being distracted. He wasn't because his room was on the other side of the house and the sounds were quite muted.

"Why don't you move out to the lock-ups till the kitchen's finished?"

That was a great idea since the big extension to the kitchen and the new rooms above would be going on for ages. There was no internet though. Hmm. He could get round that by using a memory stick and connecting through Jeremy's computer if he needed to.

"What are you doing?"

"It's so noisy Sam said I should work in the lock-up's."

Peter just nodded.

"Of course. We should have thought of that."

With so many helping the move was done in one trip. Anthony had quite a crew till College started, Jarrod, Pete and William as regulars, Peter, Michael and Andrew as occasionals, and Jeremy till he flew off to Sydney on the weekend. The unit above the lock-ups was too different at first, but that passed and by the end of the week Paul was settled in and rather enjoying the stirring about his new office. The other unit was soon taken by Peter and Michael who actually lived there till the new roof and upstairs rooms were finished. Sunday turned out very eventful. Seeing Jeremy off at the airport was weird. They'd never been apart for more than a couple of days ever since they met, so even though this was only a week it felt major. On the way home in Pete's car they talked about Jeremy, and the usual conjecture came up about his future.

"What do you reckon Paul?"

"I don't know. He'll probably be a scientist. He loves all that electronic stuff and he's so good at his science and maths courses."

"Do you think you might be a writer? He's really pleased about this week."

That was Jarrod and Pete followed on.

"Yeah, I've never seen him write as much as he has lately. I know. I've got it worked out."

"What?"

"He'll be a greeny."

That was one of the stirs Jeremy was always getting. He was passionate about environmental stuff and had persuaded Peter and Anthony to make all the new roof into solar power collectors and was always talking about better insulation and getting big rainwater tanks.

"How does he do all his stuff Paul? He's got all those novels he reads too."

"He doesn't. It drives him crazy. He told me about a book he read where this guy never had to sleep and could do all these extra things in his life."

"That's not true is it?"

"No, just a story."

"God, I reckon that would be awful. I like sleeping."

"Oh yeah Jarrod? You don't do much sleeping when you're with William. You were late for work on Thursday."

"Was not. Only ten minutes. And Anthony said it was all right because we worked extra on Wednesday."

"See, you did sleep in. You had another marathon didn't you?"

"Ha! You can talk Pete."

The marathon had become one of the major stirring points from the holiday and Jarrod quite enjoyed the notoriety of being labeled a `four hour stud'. This burst all came because Jarrod's dad couldn't give him a lift and William had quickly asked him to stay the night.

"When do you start your apprenticeship coursework?"

"Three weeks, and I go every Friday. It's at that place near your College, and Anthony's already been speaking to them."

"What are you going to do next year Pete?"

"I haven't got a clue. I'm more worried about my course. Fourth year's the hardest of all."

Paul was quite surprised because he'd never heard Pete sound worried about anything.

"You'll pass, Pete. You got good results last year."

"Yeah. I guess. Peter reckons I will as long as I get into it right from the start. I'm not a brain like you Paul."

Paul gawked at him.

"Are you crazy? I haven't even got Year Ten. I'm not a brain."

"You must be. How could you learn all that printing stuff and the websites in a couple of months if you weren't. Anyhow, Andrew says you are."

Paul didn't know what to say so he tried to find out more.

"Did he really say that?"

"Well, lots of potential and ability. It means the same."

"I reckon you're a brain too. Look how easy Life Maths was for you."

Pete glanced in the rear vision mirror.

"See, you must be. It's two to one."

Jarrod took the cue and swivelled round with a grin.

"Einstein."

"Marathon man... Four Hour Stud."

"Brain."

Pete parked the wagon and as they got out there was a yell and Michael beckoned them from the lock-ups balcony.

"Were all up here. Come on Kieran."

He disappeared into the in studio and as they approached Pete voiced his puzzlement.

"Kieran? What's he saying that for?"

Paul was wondering the same, though he knew Kieran was the character he modelled from Jeremy's story. Oh wow. Mounted on an easel just inside the doorway was one of Sam's illustrations.

"Holy hell. You look unreal Paul."

Pete and Jarrod were staring at the picture then back at Paul, while all the others enjoyed their reaction.

"You're in it too Pete. Come and have a look."

On a bench and a table were three giant art folios which Paul knew must contain the rest of the illustrations. Peter took over and explained they'd been helping Sam move into the studio while they waited for the airport group to return.

"We're all involved in the illustrations, which was a bit of a liberty, but we knew you wouldn't mind since it's for Jeremy's book."

"Book? What book?"

"One of Jeremy's stories. We kept it a secret Pete, but Brian and Paul are publishing it and Sam's done all the illustrations. This is our first viewing."

It took ages because you just had to stare. Paul was astonished. He'd seen the basic pictures of himself but not many with the backgrounds all finished, and only a few featuring the other household members. They were all there, Pete as an Elvin King, William an Elvin Prince, Andrew a great warrior, Michael a bard, Peter, Anthony, Brian and Jarrod, and with Paul and Jeremy the key characters. At first there were exclamations and comments but as Peter revealed each new picture and briefly explained its significance the atmosphere quietened. Paul's own excitement grew as he looked at the rapt attention and Sam's pleasure, and thought how special this book was going to be. When Peter finished, Sam faced a barrage of praise and questions. Even Michael was seeing these for the first time. Peter explained the plan of presenting the completed book to Jeremy. Andrew wanted to know if there were any other plans.

"Is this a limited edition Peter, just for friends and acquaintances, or do you have bigger ideas?"

"Much bigger, but we'll test the waters. It depends on what Jeremy wants of course, but Paul is developing a special Web site and we've got plans for marketing the book and poster prints of the illustrations."

The week was exciting and full on. On Monday Sam took the illustrations to be professionally scanned and digitised and then worked with Paul all afternoon and evening, planning and organising his input for the website. On Tuesday Paul swapped his usual times and when Sam arrived in the afternoon with the digitised images they spent an hour with the Publishing Software working out exact placements for the pictures. With that done, Paul set up the machine for the cover, which being printed on card, needed a separate run, then with an excited grin at the others, clicked the go-ahead for the proof copy. Perfect. And when Brian was satisfied all was okay the full run of 205 proceeded. After a change to the special paper required, seven sets of illustrations steadily worked their way through till they finished and went in for a slightly delayed evening meal.

By mutual agreement they started early the next morning and steadily the packets of text built in piles on the workbenches till the printer stopped and the tedious job of inserting illustration pages, paper folding, binding and trimming continued. Just before midday meal Brian did the honors at the binding machine and the first complete book was finished. Sam and Michael joined in for the afternoon and after tea the whole household kept Brian flat out at the binding machine, till just after ten there was a resounding cheer as he held up the last book. The following morning Paul spent an hour with Brian, making sure he understood how to set up the poster size work. Apart from a few experiments they hadn't done this before and it would use the graphics capability of the big machine to the limit. Magnificent. The first one looked the same as the original to Paul's memory, and it wasn't till later when they had them side by side that he could tell the difference. After the second picture he somewhat reluctantly left it to Brian to finish the set and went to find Peter who was giving his day to work on material for the website. Sam turned up as well and by the end of the day they were all feeling pleased with the layout that was falling into place. A copy of the book was resting on the workbench and Sam kept looking through it, which obviously delighted Peter.

"You've done it again Sam. This is extra special. Have you thought about your originals? Phillip has to see them."

Phillip was the Art Gallery guy who'd handled Sam's other work.

"I'm not sure Peter. I think I'd like to keep them together as a set. For a while anyway. What about you Paul? Do you think we should sell them?"

"That's for you to say Sam. They're your pictures."

A look passed between Sam and Peter.

"Well, not really. You're the main subject and you put in so much time. I'm setting you at a third. That's fair enough, don't you think Peter?"

"Sam, I would have said one quarter. No wonder I love you."

It was one of those moments, when Peter gave Sam a big hug and they both looked so pleased, and Paul knew he was missing something.

"Um. ...What do you mean?"

"Sam's saying it's your share of any proceeds from the illustrations."

The penny dropped and Paul stared at them.

"What for? I didn't do anything."

Peter laughed.

"No, you didn't spend weeks modelling, you didn't learn how to run the printer, you didn't do half the publishing, and you aren't building the website. What do you reckon Sam? Is that enough of not doing anything?"

"Nearly. You'd have to say he didn't inspire me to do extra scenes too."

Paul protested but they didn't give him any choice, so when Sam followed up his original question Paul quickly said to keep them as a set.

"He's tricky Sam. Well, we'll still see what Phillip has to say."

Sam nodded and then went ahead with choosing backgrounds for the Web pages.

*** Jeremy's plane landed at five thirty on Sunday afternoon and he talked enthusiastically all the way home in Pete's van. His first big surprise was the kitchen extension, almost completed with marble bench tops, big double glazed windows and large sliding doors.

"Wow. I go away for a week and everything's different. What's happening?"

"Special celebration. College starts on Wednesday, and Sam's breaking in the kitchen. The plumbing and new stove were just connected on Friday."

Jeremy got his hugs and greetings, answered a few questions about his trip, then headed for his room.

"You've only got half an hour guys, then the food's on."

After a proper hello Jeremy wanted a quick shower and change of clothes, so Paul went with him to the bathroom. God it was good to see him.

"Has anything been happening while I was away? Everyone seems extra happy."

"They do? Well it's because you're back."

That got a full on Jeremy smile.

"Well, what have you been doing then?"

"Printing and Web sites. It's been very, very busy. Brian had a deadline to meet but we managed it."

Jeremy nodded, he was used to hearing about Brian's deadlines, and gave Paul a smooch. Paul returned it as they both laughed and pulled apart. That would have to wait till later.

The feast lasted for ages, as mountains of Sam's delicious food was devoured by the hungry locust horde. That was Peter's description, and he readily agreed when Michael pointed out that he'd eaten as much as anybody else. Pete was in full form, stirring Michael about his motorbike, Jarrod for putting a window-frame in backwards, and making up outlandish stories about Jeremy having adventures at gay bars in Sydney. Jarrod spent most of the time laughing. Sam was intent on being the host and when Michael called him the head chef he started responding to everything with a phony French accent. Paul felt Jeremy lean against his shoulder.

"Something is so happening Paul. It's like they're all hyper, and Andrew just gave me a wink."

The atmosphere did have a definite buzz and Jeremy was picking up that he was involved somehow, so Paul decided some misdirection was in order.

"Yeah, Sam's been working on some special project and he's showing us tonight."

"Wow. ...I wonder if it's his sketches of Jarrod? That's the only serious thing he's started for ages."

Paul didn't have to respond because Peter stood up and suggested a move to the big new living area that was part of the kitchen extension.

"Jeremy, would you stand here with me and help. Sam will be here in a minute."

"Me?"

Jeremy went with a mixture of curiosity, and puzzlement. Paul had to smile when Jeremy looked suspiciously round. That made everyone smile even more and clinched his suspicion.

"What is it Peter? Why is everyone smiling at me?"

"We're excited Jeremy. If it wasn't for you, Sam wouldn't have done this new project."

Jeremy didn't say anything, but his gaze flicked round, then centred on Paul with a, why didn't you tell me', kind of look. Paul grinned back with his own, what? And spoil all the fun, I'm enjoying this', look. Sam arrived.

"Okay Jeremy. Tell us what you think."

The first picture was one of Paul in human guise. There were a number of these at the start of the story and it had been chosen to keep Jeremy guessing.

"Wow! ...Paul!"

His expression changed though, because Sam turned to the next illustration, with a full elven transformation, ears, eyes, and a blue nimbus of power, but despite the striking changes, still Paul. Jeremy stared. Understanding, disbelief, uncertainty chasing each other.

"Is ...this ...out of my story?"

Sam was loving this, along with everyone else in the room, and presented the next illustration. Jeremy looked around the room with his special smile, acknowledging they were enjoying his surprise, then focused as Sam worked through the Folio. Peter's hand was resting on Jeremy's shoulder the whole time and when the folio closed, he gave Jeremy a quick hug.

"So? What's the verdict?"

That had been obvious the whole way through with Jeremy making appreciative sounds and comments for each picture.

"They're unreal. Sam, they're wonderful... Um.. Did Peter give you my story?"

"Yes, the whole project was his idea. This is just my part."

"Your part?"

The puzzled look was back.

"Yes. ...Hey Peter, have you got that street directory for Jeremy's car?"

"It's with the display books."

Apart from being a blatant change of topic, this was quite a likely thing since Jeremy had been meaning to buy a directory for months. Peter nodded at the row of books between two black elephant book ends.

"It's a little thank you for the inspiration."

Jeremy hesitated, then understanding he was expected to collect the directory, moved and started looking.

"There's no direct..."

After a moment of stillness he reached forward, slid the book from its place and stared at the cover.

"...Is it. ...A joke?"

He looked at Paul who gave a little shake of his head.

"Have a look Jeremy."

With a look around at the watching faces he opened the book, turned a page and stared, turned another one and stared even more. Paul moved next to him and saw it was the title page.

"But what?.. How?.. I don't understand."

"It's the first copy of the first edition Jeremy. Brian and Paul published it for you."

"Edition?"

His eyes returned to the book. He slowly turned several more pages then lifted his head, first to Brian and then to Paul.

"You've made my story into a book? ...With Sam's pictures?"

Paul watched Jeremy struggle, watched the smile, watched him blink his eyes, and felt like making a million more books for him. The strength of the moment was sliced by a cheer from Pete who, grabbing Jarrod, pushed through and hoisted Jeremy onto their shoulders. Paul joined the laughter and cheers, all the while drinking in the wonder as Jeremy looked down at them. When he was lowered everyone gathered close to enjoy as Jeremy leafed his way steadily through the book and asked a multitude of questions about how it had all happened. Later there was a sing-along with Michael leading and Andrew on the piano, then after some supper Paul, Jeremy and Jarrod went to their room. Jarrod said he could stay with William or Pete but Jeremy wouldn't hear of it, saying the trio had to be together. There was more disbelief from Jeremy when he saw the website, followed by the mandatory wrestling and high jinks, and then the three were snuggled in bed.

"I still can't believe it. Does Peter really think my story's good enough for a book?"

"We knew you'd say that. Of course he does. He made up his mind the first day he read it."

"And when did you do the modelling with Sam? That must have taken ages."

"It did, months. Mostly on Tuesday mornings when you were at college, and every time Peter took you away on weekends."

"Sneaks."

"I know. It's good isn't it?"

"I wonder if anyone will like it? The story I mean. They'll like Sam's pictures."

"Well you'll find out. Peter's got stacks of ideas."

"Ideas? Like what?"

"For selling it. We had a big planning session with Brian and Sam. He's putting it in the bookshop at College for a start and then he's donating a couple of copies to the big fantasy book club here in Melbourne, and then some to the other States after that."

"Oh no. At College? That will feel so weird."

"No it won't. You'll be famous."

"Idiot."

"We have to get the website running first so people can send in orders."

"Running? You just showed it to me."

"It's not on the net yet. We have to get your ideas Jer. It's your book. Well, yours and Sam's, but he's already put his ideas in."

"I still can't believe it."

"Get him Jarrod, else he'll say that all night."

The end of chapter 15.

Special note.

• If any readers would like to know more about all the new people in Paul's life it can be found in the story `Peters Mistake'. There is also a special section about Jeremy.

Paul enters the story in chapter 22 and in the ensuing chapters there are some events involving him which are not chronicled in `Pauls Story'.

A note of caution. -- In an attempt to show the trauma of the initial meeting of Paul and Peter, the scene in the van guy's studio in `Peters Mistake' is portrayed far more strongly and some readers might like to skip to the end of it.

`Peters Mistake' was last posted in the College section of Nifty on the 1st of October 2007 but it's probably easier to access through the prolific author's section as mentioned below.

Author's Note.

Any comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Please note my main email address - iarwain@aanet.com.au I also have a backup address iarwain7@ains.net.au

Should you be interested, my other stories can be found by looking under 'Iarwain' in the Prolific Authors section on Nifty.