Field

The field could be anything they wanted it to be. It could be a
football pitch, a lonesome prairie, an alien planet, an unexplored
jungle, a battlefield; it could change from day to day, or even hour to
hour. But whatever the field was, the small copse of hawthorn trees was
always the camp.

Adam sat on the lowest branch of the biggest tree. He liked to be there
early, before Gary and Simon. He liked to have the quiet time, time to
think of what they would play that day. He wondered why it always
seemed to fall to him to decide what they would play. He had grown
tired of trying to think up new games as the long summer holiday had
dragged along. Now it was almost over, he found it hard to think back
to where all the time had gone.

The worst time for him had been the one week he had been on his own,
when Gary and Simon had been away on holiday. Adam sometimes wished he
had a brother, someone to play with all the time. Although, Gary and
Simon always seemed to be arguing and fighting.

Adam glanced up. All around the camp were tall plants with red flowers.
About this time every year the flowers seemed to turn into cotton wool
- or something like cotton wool - which blew everywhere, even into his
mouth. It tasted horrible and his mother always moaned about the amount
of the stuff that stuck to his clothes. He had once asked his mother
what the huge red-flowered plants were called. "They're just weeds,"
she had said, and turned back to her washing-up.

Adam could hear the sounds of argument coming through the long grass.
He stood up on the branch and held on to the trunk of the tree. He
could see Gary's head as it bobbed through the grass. Occasionally, the
head would stop and turn. Adam could see the grass parting for Simon,
but he was too small to be seen above it. Adam sighed and sat back down
on the branch, hoping that the argument would wear itself out before
too long. He hated it when Gary and Simon were sulking at each other
all day. He changed his mind about wanting a brother to play
with.

"It was mine, and you broke it." Gary sat down under the tree. Simon
had been crying, Adam could see the grey muddy tracks down Simon's
cheeks as he stood, uncertainly, at the edge of the camp. Simon wiped
his nose on the sleeve of his shirt and sat down opposite Gary, well
out of his reach.

"What are we going to do today then?" Adam said.

"I don't care as long as he doesn't play," Gary said.

Adam thought about asking what had happened. He decided he did not
really care. He was tired of getting involved in their constant
disputes. He would be going to the junior school at the end of the
holiday. He began to wish that he would find some new friends there,
friends without brothers.

"Let's explore the jungle," Adam said, jumping down from the
branch.
"I'm not exploring with him." Gary crossed his arms.

Adam turned to look away from them. "There was this man, an explorer,
he was called Stanley - I think. He found this other man: Livingson,
who was lost in the jungle. He'd been captured by cannibals, but he
escaped and Stanley rescued him."

"What was his name, Stanley what?" Gary said.

"I don't think he had another name," Adam said doubtfully.

"Knife," Simon said quietly. "I heard our Dad talking about Stanley
Knife. I asked Dad who he was, but Dad just laughed."

"Don't be stupid, knife isn't a name," Gary said.

"Anyway," Adam said to Gary. "If you be this Liverson, then we can come
and rescue you."

Gary was silent for a moment. "Yeah, right then," he said and got to
his feet. He turned to Simon. "I think the cannibals are going to
capture you, and eat you." He laughed and ran off into the long
grass.

Simon smiled weakly at Adam and began to trace lines in the loose dirt
with a stick. "I hate having a big brother sometimes, everything is
always my fault. Anyway," he smiled again, "I bet it was knife."

Adam nodded and looked away. He thought the whole thing was typical of
grown-ups; they never answered your questions properly. They were
either too busy or they said they didn't know. Adam wondered what was
the point of being grown-up if you did not know the answer to
everything. He decided that when he grew up he would know the answer to
every question in the whole world.

"Come on then, let's go and rescue Liverson," Adam said.

"Are you Stanley Knife?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Who am I then?"

"You're, ...you're his faithful servant," Adam tried to think of a
suitable name for a servant. "Passport Two."

"Passport Two?" That's even sillier than Stanley Knife." Simon
laughed.

"It's the name of the servant of someone who went all around the world
in a balloon. They made a film of it," Adam said defiantly. "Come
on."
Simon followed Adam out into the field. "I'm not going to get eaten, I
don't care what he says."

Adam and Simon wandered through the thick jungle, fighting savage
natives and ferocious wild animals. Stanley Knife was wounded in the
arm by a poisonous spear and Passport Two was mauled by a man-eating
tiger, but they bravely struggled on in their desperate mission to
rescue Liverson, despite the overwhelming odds against them.

Suddenly, they burst into a clearing. The long grass had been
flattened, as if by a huge roller. In the centre of the clearing was
something black.

"Careful, it might be a Tranquilliser spider," Passport Two
whispered.

Stanley Knife drew his sword and crept slowly up to the deadly spider.
Before it had a chance to leap on him, Stanley sliced it in half. "It's
a pair of tights. Look," Adam pushed at the black nylon heap with his
toe.

"Why would someone leave them here," Gary said looking around.

"Perhaps there's been a murder," Adam said. "Look, it looks like they
were fighting and squashed the grass down flat."

Simon looked around nervously. "There's no body and there's no blood,"
he said with relief. "Anyway, why would he need to take her tights off
to kill her?"

"I dunno," Adam said. "But on the telly, when they talk about murders,
they always say they found some bits of clothes and things."

"Look, what's this?" Simon poked at something on the ground with his
stick.

"It's a balloon."

"I know that, but what is that stuff in it?"

Adam screwed up his face in disgust. "Looks like someone's blown their
nose in it."

Simon turned away. Adam looked down at the pale pink balloon. It looked
like it could be blown up quite big. He moved closer, the stuff inside
did look a bit like snot. But, he decided, it looked more like the
stuff snails made their shiny tracks with. He thought it was probably
something - some sort of trap - people used to catch snails and slugs.
His Granddad was always complaining about how the snails and slugs ate
all the cabbages on his allotment. Adam had decided he quite liked
snails and slugs because of that, and he secretly hoped there would be
a plague of them and they would eat all the cabbage in the world.

Adam looked carefully at the balloon. He was relieved to see that the
snail, or slug, had escaped. He wondered if it was something he could
ask his Mom or Dad about. There were some things he could not ask
about; things that made his mother's face go red and her voice go
strange. "Rude things" and things that he would "understand when you
are older", things like why there were girls and boys and why they had
different toilets at school.

But the biggest rude thing had been the day Gary, Simon and Adam had
found a magazine, which seemed to contain nothing but pictures of
ladies without any clothes on. They had puzzled over the magazine for
several hours. There were pictures of women, standing in fields and on
beaches, with no clothes on throwing balls to each other, or just
smiling at the camera. But there were no cartoons or stories; none that
made any sense anyway.

Adam had decided to take the magazine home to ask his Mother about it.
But he only just managed to hold the magazine up to show her, before it
was snatched out of his hand and ripped to shreds. His Mother called it
rude, disgusting and - strangely to Adam - filth. He knew that showing,
what was called, his private parts to anyone except doctors and nurses
was rude, but the ladies in the pictures had not looked filthy to Adam.
They had looked clean, shiny even, with nice bright smiles. He wondered
how anyone could be called filthy when they were photographed in the
bath or in the sea, like the women in some of the pictures. There had
even been a part of the magazine called Bathing Beauties.

Adam and Simon left the small clearing without looking back. They
turned onto a small path.

Gary ran up to them. "Come here," he whispered, "and be quiet."

Adam and Simon looked at each other in puzzlement, but followed Gary,
trying to be as silent as possible. Gary led them to a small hedge; he
crouched down and pointed through the hedge. Adam and Simon crept up
beside Gary and looked through the hedge.

A girl, somewhere around Adam's age, with long, dark red hair, was
sitting at the edge of the field. In front of her, a row of dolls lay
on the grass. The girl had a toy stethoscope around her neck. She
crawled along in front of the row of dolls checking each one with the
stethoscope. Adam and Gary looked at each other and nodded.
The boys burst through the hedge, and stood in a rough semi-circle
around the girl. She looked up at them.

"We are cannibals," Adam said. "And we have captured you."

The girl looked at each of the three boys in turn. She nodded and stood
up. "I'm Florence Nightgown, a nurse," she said.

"Don't try to run, there is no escape," Gary said, stepping closer to
the girl. She shrugged and nodded again.

Adam and Gary looked at each other and stood either side of the girl.
Adam reached out to grab her arm, but found himself unwilling to touch
the bright pink wool of her cardigan.

"Put your hands behind your back, so we can tie you up," Adam said
quietly. "Please."

Florence Nightgown submitted to the orders of her cruel captors,
knowing escape was impossible. Simon led the way, followed by Gary, who
kept turning back to check the captive was still there. Adam brought up
the rear. As the girl was about to step through the break in the hedge,
she turned and looked back at the patients in her hospital. "You're all
dead," she said to the dolls.

Adam thought about stabbing all the patients with his spear, but
decided against it. She had said they were all dead, and she was a
nurse, so she should know.
The cannibals arrived back at their village.

The prisoner stood in the centre of the copse, looking around. "Is this
your camp?" she said.

"Silence!" Gary shouted. "We will ask ze questions."

"You said you was cannibals," the girl said. "That's Germans that is.
Nasties." She made to scratch her nose with one hand, but remembered
they were supposed to be tied behind her back. She rapidly put the hand
back behind her. "Anyway, what are cannibals?"

"They're savages," Adam said.

"They eat people," Gary said, leering forward at her.

"How?"

"We're going to cook you.... In a big pot," Adam said. He turned to
Simon. "Get the fire ready, ...er, ...Mabingo."

"Right."

"You're supposed to say: 'Yes Banana.'"

"What?"

"It's what cannibals call their chief," Adam said authoritatively. He
had a sudden thought, which made him shiver. He glanced up at Florence,
and then down at the ground by his feet. "You'll, ...you'll have to
take your clothes off, so we can cook you," he said quietly,
half-looking towards the girl.

"No, that's not fair."

"Is," Gary said.

"Anyway, if you are proper cannibals you wouldn't have any clothes on
anyway. I heard it at Sunday school, naked savages. If cannibals is
savages, and naked is having no clothes on, so there."

The three boys looked at each other, Simon shrugged, but Adam could see
that Gary was sharing the same excitement as he was. It was something
that made him feel hot and cold at the same time, shivery and
sweaty.

"We could be Germans and you could be a spy, we could torture you,"
Gary said to the girl.

"I'm a nurse," the girl said. "You could be my patients. I could
examine you."

"That's a girl's game, I'm not playing that," Simon said with disgust.
Adam and Gary looked down at their feet. Adam thought the game might be
soppy, but he rather liked the idea of being examined by the girl, as
long as she didn't check his hair for nits.

"All right then," Adam said. "But we are going to capture the spy
first."

"No," the girl said. "Anyway, I ought to be going home, it's nearly
dinner time."

Adam could feel it slipping away from him. He looked over at Gary. Gary
shrugged. "All right then," Adam said to the girl.

"Right, you are all German soldiers... and I'm the nurse, Florence
Nightgown. You've all been wounded and I'm making sure you are all
right enough to go back to the war."

The boys nodded, Simon looked away in disgust, but lined up beside Gary
as the nurse ordered him to. Nurse Nightgown walked slowly along the
line of wounded soldiers, taking their wrists between her fingers for a
moment, then nodding. Adam tingled all along his arm as the warm
fingers touched his wrist. Nurse Nightgown gave a brisk nod and pulled
out her stethoscope.

"Gerroff, that tickles," Simon said pulling his shirt back down.
Reluctantly, he touched his left arm when the nurse asked him where his
wound was. She prodded and poked at the arm and then pronounced him
fit. Simon nodded and turned away. Gary's head wound was also
pronounced healed.

"Now Herr captain. Where is your wound?"

"It's my leg," Adam said.

"Show me."

Adam felt hot, he heard Gary laugh but did not look up. Adam let his
trousers drop. The nurse looked up at him. Adam slowly pulled his
underpants down as well. The nurse looked down at him; she nodded
slowly and turned to the other two boys.
"I need to check you two as well," The nurse said briskly. Gary and
Simon looked at each other.

"Why?" Simon said.

"Do as you are told, or I will have you shot!"

"No," Simon said.

"We will, if you will," Gary said.

"You're scared!" The nurse said triumphantly.

"I'm not, it's just not fair," Gary said.

The nurse looked over at Adam. He stood there, with his trousers and
pants around his ankles, and smiled at her.

"He's not scared," the nurse said to the two brothers, and pointed at
Adam. The brothers shook their heads. There was silence for a
moment.

"All right, ...but you two go first," the nurse said.

The brothers slowly began to unfasten their trousers. They waited for a
moment until the nurse lifted up her skirt. Adam felt a shiver of
excitement. His back felt cold and damp. He could feel a trickle of
sweat run down his back as he stared at the pale pink pants. He felt
excited, but also a little disappointed. It looked as though there was
nothing there, nothing under her pants.

Gary and Simon pulled down their trousers and their pants. The nurse
nodded in satisfaction.

"Now you," Gary said.

Nurse Nightgown tutted, and tucking the hem of her skirt under her
chin, took both sides of her pants in her hands. Adam gulped; he could
see Gary tense out of the corner of his eye. The girl pulled down her
pants. Then she immediately pulled them back up. All Adam could recall
was a flash of pale flesh.

"That's not fair." Gary pulled his trousers back up.

"I'm not playing any more either." Simon pulled his trousers back up.
"I didn't want to play with a girl anyway." He picked up a long stick,
then walked off into the long grass slashing at the tall red
flowers.

"Come on, show us properly," Gary said.

"Let me examine you first."

"Only if you promise to show us, afterwards," Adam said.

The girl looked at Adam for what seemed to be ages. She smiled and
nodded. "All right, I promise."

The nurse walked up to Gary and nodded. "Right, you are all right."
She stood in front of Adam and shook her head. Adam could hardly bear
the touch of her warm fingers as she examined him. She seemed to spend
ages examining him, tutting professionally, but all too soon it was
over.

"You promised," Gary said.

"Oh, ...all right," the girl said. Adam thought she sounded like his
Mother when she finally caved in to his demands for sweets or a
comic.

The skirt was lifted once more, and held under the chin. After a quick
glance around, the pale pink pants were pulled down. This time they
stayed down.

Adam was amazed at the neat simplicity of it, a smooth slit. It made
him feel as though he wanted to touch it, hold it in the palm of his
hand. He was sure it would be warm and soft, like some small animal,
but at the same time smooth and silky. Adam reached out.

"I've got to go." She pulled up her pants, let her skirt fall and was
gone, just a flutter in the long grass.

Adam and Gary pulled up their trousers in silence, without looking at
each other. They stood uncertainly in the small shady clearing beneath
the hawthorn trees, each waiting for the other to speak.

"Whatever you do, don't tell your Mom or Dad," Adam said.

"Why not?"

"Because it is probably rude, and you know what grown-ups can be like
about things like that."

Gary nodded. "I suppose I should go. We are supposed to be back in time
for dinner."
Adam nodded in return. "Make sure Simon doesn't say anything
either."

"I will."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

Adam watched Gary walk away. He thought about going home, but he didn't
want to leave the camp. It felt different; different in the same way
that his trousers and pants felt wrong in the way they fitted him. He
could still almost feel those warm fingers as she touched him. Adam
sighed and turned for home.

Adam ate his sandwich and drank his juice as fast as he could, eager to
get back to the camp. He took a packet of crisps from the cupboard on
his way out, shouting: "Bye," to his Mother as he ran through the open
back door. He heard her shout something to him, but he couldn't make
out what she had said.

He ate the crisps as he walked down to Gary and Simon's house, dropping
the empty packet as he knocked on the back door. It flew open, and
their Mother glared down at him. Adam took a step backwards.

"They are not coming out again today. That was a very rude thing you
did. I suppose it was all your idea. I'm going to tell your Mother all
about it, so you can just look out. You are a dirty-minded little boy!"
The door slammed.

Adam stood for a moment, shivering in shock. Then he shrugged at the
closed door and turned to walk away. There was a knock on the window.
Adam turned. Gary was trying to mouth something through the
window.

"Simon told her when I hit him for taking my car." Gary was dragged
from the window, and the net curtain dropped. Adam walked away, head
down, wondering what his Mother, or worse - his Father, would say, and
do to him, once they found out.

There was only one place to go when he was in that much trouble. Adam
walked into the camp with his head down, watching his shoes kicking up
the dust.

"Hello."

Adam looked up; the girl was sitting up in his tree, on his branch. She
smiled. Adam didn't feel angry that she was sitting on his branch. He
smiled back.

"Where are the other two?"

"They couldn't come," he replied.

The girl jumped down from the branch. "I'm Florence Nightgown; the
nurse."

Adam smiled and nodded.

"If you want you could be a doctor... next, after that."

"Yeah, all right."

END.