Stonehenge 2

By Pueros

Chapter 2 - Mudlarks

(The Great Bog, Salisbury Plain, England, April 1850 B.C.)

Bladud’s yelling became even more intense as the gooey slime began to approach his neck. The boy was now having great difficulty in keeping his arms above the thick mud. Surely, he thought, this was not how he was meant to die, alone and in a manner that no-one would ever know about. His lovely tearful eyes looked up at the clouds above, as he stopped shouting and instead began to pray to the gods of his own people for salvation.

“Well, what have we here?” a female voice from nearby suddenly enquired. Bladud looked to his side and saw two pretty children, a boy and a girl, both about 15 years old and, judging from their looks, apparently twins. “I’m sinking, please help me!” the 13 years old begged.

The twins looked at each other and then back at Bladud. “Stop struggling,” the fair-haired blue-eyed girl advised, “as you’ll sink faster if you do.” She then commanded “Don’t go away as we’ll be back soon” before running off with her brother into the reeds whilst laughing at her own joke. The 13 years old did not appreciate the humour.

Bladud wondered whether he would ever see the twins again but the girl was as good as her word and the siblings quickly reappeared, holding between them a thin long branch of an ash tree, extraneous foliage already shaven away with a knife. The duo pushed the branch across the surface of the shallow water that covered the underlying mud and the 13 years old, after a few failed attempts, finally gratefully grasped it.

“Hold on for your life,” the girl ordered, “as we try to pull you out.” Bladud just nodded his compliance as the twins began to tug on the branch. However, several mighty efforts produced no response other than terminating the 13 years old’s further decent into the ooze.

The twins stopped pulling and pondered the problem. Meanwhile, Bladud could feel the mud start to rise up his body again and pleaded “Please don’t stop. I’m sinking again!” The girl smiled at the desperate 13 years old in attempted but unsuccessful reassurance before suggesting “Point your toes downwards if you can. Your feet will be resisting our attempts to pull you out, not by much but it could make all the difference between success and failure.”

Bladud managed to obey and the twins began tugging again. They pulled and pulled with all their strength but again with no initial success. Their lovely faces became red and distorted with the strain and they were on the brink of exhaustion and giving up when suddenly the 13 years old’s muddy form began to emerge gradually from the surrounding slime. This sight invigorated the siblings into an even mightier effort and slowly but surely they eventually managed to land their catch.

The exhausted trio, breathing heavily, just lay on the pathway speechless for a while until their bodies finally recovered from their exertions. The now mud-splattered girl then smiled again at Bladud, who was himself covered from head to toe in clinging slime, and announced “Hello, I’m Boudda and this is my brother Aethel.”

Meanwhile, at Stonehenge, Bladud’s disappearance had been discovered and, as the escapee had presumed would happen, a party of the tribe’s best hunters had been assembled with their dogs to set off in pursuit. The boy had known, before making his attempt at flight, that the consequences of recapture would not be pleasant.

“I’m Bladud,” the deeply appreciative and relieved 13 years old responded, “and I thank you for saving my life.” “We’re happy to have been of help,” Boudda replied, “but tell me what are you doing here? It’s too dangerous a place for the inexperienced and unwary to be traversing, especially off the main paths.”

“I could ask the same of you” retorted Bladud, but politely and without animosity. “We live here,” Boudda answered, “but you don’t.” She then looked at the 13 years old’s now dirty red tunic and, despite the encrusting mud, recognition of the garment dawned. “In fact,” the girl continued, “you belong at the great temple and shouldn’t be here at all!”

Bladud’s face became white under its cover of slime as he realised that his young female rescuer had recognised his attire and therefore his status. He was worried that she might now be planning to return him to the great temple for the undoubted reward that would accrue. He therefore restarted his entreaties whilst dampness came once again to his lovely brown eyes. However, this time his begging was not for salvation from a grisly demise in the mire but from potentially a worse fate within Stonehenge. “Please don’t take me back,” he pleaded, “please let me go!”

Bladud’s young male rescuer now spoke for the first time. “What’s he talking about?” Aethel asked of his sister, who replied “He’s a priestling from the great temple, a runaway one by the looks of it!” The 15 years old boy now looked at the 13 years old with renewed interest before commenting with a not unpleasant smirk “Presumably trying to save his manhood!”

The colour of Bladud’s visage now turned from white to red, although this change could not be detected by the twins because of the covering muck. His worry was then compounded when Boudda finally answered his entreaties. “I’m sorry but we can’t let you go,” she announced, “as there’ll be a large reward for your capture.” Tears began to run down the 13 years old’s face at the realisation that his erstwhile young rescuers had become his captors. He immediately thought about trying to run away but quickly rejected the idea. Not only was the notion very dangerous in the middle of the great bog but also the older children would have the benefit of local knowledge and almost certainly more speed.

Bladud could not help himself and began to sob uncontrollably. However, a female arm then wrapped itself around his shoulders and a gentle soothing female voice advised “Don’t worry, we’re not going to return you. I only meant that it would be too dangerous for you to travel much further at present, as there’ll be people looking everywhere for you. We’ll hide you in a place where no-one will ever find you.” The 13 years old’s tears dried instantly as he now appreciated that he had misjudged the twins.

The trio were then prompted into immediate action by the distant sound of barking dogs. “It seems people from the great temple are on your trail already,” suggested Boudda as she stood up and helped the scared Bladud to his feet. Aethel quickly joined them and soon the 13 years old was obeying an instruction to follow the 15 years olds as they ran through the reeds.

Bladud was amazed at the confidence in which the twins made progress, as the 13 years old could perceive no noticeable pathway. However, his willingness to accept their superior knowledge of the great bog was severely tested when the trio came to a large expanse of water with mud just below the surface, a similar mix to that in which he had become entrapped earlier.

Boudda and Aethel began to run through the water but Bladud was reluctant to follow, standing instead at the water’s edge. Luckily, the girl looked behind and noticed the 13 years olds hesitancy. She stopped and, smiling sweetly, shouted simply “Trust us!”

It was something in the delightful smile that caused Bladud to lose his inhibitions and he was soon splashing his way in pursuit of his new friends. The 13 years old was as much amazed as relieved when the trio finally reached what seemed to be a little tree-lined island in the centre of the boggy expanse. He was equally surprised to find a small roundhouse hidden, from view to the outside world, in the middle of the small stretch of dry land. “Welcome to our home!” Boudda announced.

Meanwhile, the priestling’s pursuers had given up the chase. Their dogs were indicating that the young escapee had ventured into a very dangerous part of the great bog and the hunters were disinclined to follow. The men therefore decided to make for the other side of the mire to wait for the boy to emerge, if he ever did as most thought it likely that he would already be dead, another victim of the all-pervading ooze. However, they decided to take no chances and set up camp in a location near to which the 13 years old should exit if he somehow miraculously survived. They felt safe in the knowledge that, by taking the safer quicker route, they should have overtaken the lad, whose presence their hounds would be able to detect.

Boudda presented Bladud with an earthenware bowl of warm water, heated over a fire in the middle of the small but neat and cosy roundhouse. The duo were standing in the outside clearing. “Remove your tunic,” the girl requested, “so that I can wash it whilst you clean yourself.” However, the 13 years old’s hesitation to follow the 15 years old returned but in respect of instruction rather than direction. He had never been seen naked by a girl before and was too bashful to want to overcome this habit here.

Boudda recognised the reason for Bladud’s reluctance to comply with her request and tried to encourage him to overcome his shyness by saying “Don’t worry, you haven’t got anything that I haven’t seen before. Now, hurry and give me your tunic!” However, the 13 years old boy just stood, seemingly speechless and frozen to the spot. The 15 years old girl therefore changed her strategy and immediate intentions.

Bladud looked on in astonishment as Boudda removed her woollen blouse and long skirt, dirty after the rescue effort, to stand naked in front of him. The 13 years old’s hidden cock rose at the magnificent sight of her sublime slim form, the highlights of which were her still developing but nevertheless impressively rotund breasts and her little patch of golden pubic hair.

“You can stay dirty, then,” Boudda announced, “and I’ll use the water to wash myself. I’m rather filthy as well after saving you from the mud.” The girl then began to use the warm liquid to remove the recently acquired grime from her delicious body, as planned making Bladud deeply ashamed of his own timidity, before successfully accomplishing her original aim. “Unless, of course,” the 15 years old suggested, with a disarming smile whilst looking directly into the 13 years old’s eyes, “you want to stop being such a coward and want me to share it with you.”

Bladud looked down at his own mud-encrusted form and realised that he had no choice. He would have to wash sometime and have his tunic cleaned. He also did not want to be thought a coward by his beautiful young rescuer. The boy therefore summoned up all his courage and began to pull his tunic above his head. The garment was soon resting on the ground whilst the 13 years old dipped his hands into the bowl. It was then that he noticed that Boudda was looking at his groin, with noticeable delight in her gorgeous eyes. The lad had totally forgotten that he was still sporting an erection.

Bladud had earlier ascertained that his young rescuers lived alone in the roundhouse that their father had built. The man had died the previous year and their mother had not survived the birth of the twins. They had chosen to follow their parents’ choice to live in secret isolation. No-one, apart now from the escaped priestling, knew about the existence of their dwelling on a seemingly inaccessible island located in a remote and very dangerous section of the great bog. No-one would also particularly care.

The island had previously been clearly reachable by a narrow natural causeway but the rising water table had caused this to flood and become invisible. However, it was still safe to cross if you knew where it was and the siblings did know through years of use, assisted by the alignment of certain landmarks on either side.

The twins subsisted by growing a few crops on their small island, keeping some poultry and other small domesticated animals, fishing and cleverly making a variety of items of crude furniture from ash and birch wood and reeds, which could be bartered for supplementary foodstuffs and clothing. Aethel was now occupied with preparing bedding in the roundhouse for the unprecedented guest and would perform his own bodily cleansing later before redressing in a change of clothing.

Boudda was amused to observe that Bladud’s handsome face was red when the slime that encased it was finally washed away, presumably with embarrassment at being unable to hide his maintained sexual excitement. However, the girl politely tried to avoid this reaction to the boy’s obvious abashment from being noticed. Instead, she nonchalantly engaged the 13 years old in conversation about his background.

Later, after the arrival of darkness, the now clean trio, after enjoying a welcome meal, prepared by Boudda, which was both sustaining and delicious, sat round the fire in the middle of the roundhouse for warmth and further chat. Bladud was wearing one of Aethel’s spare tunics, which was much too big for him but nevertheless much appreciated. The 13 years old advised his young hosts “I don’t know how I can repay you for your kindness.” The two 15 years olds, sitting cross-legged on either side of their guest, smiled at each other before simultaneously replying in the same way.

Bladud suddenly felt a young female hand come to rest on his left knee and a young male one reach out for his right, before both intruders began to slide further up his lithe lower limbs to pass under his tunic and towards his groin. The 13 years old’s cock re-hardened when, at the same time, Boudda and Aethel announced “We know how you can repay us!”

(To be continued in chapter 3 – ‘Threesomes’)