Algy's Peril

Although not entirely necessary, it might be advisable to read Algy's Peril first.

With lots of hugs and manly backslapping I saw Alan and Tricky off on the train from Paddington. They'd spent another three days with me at home and though we did go to a nightclub it was on the last night, not on the same night as we'd gone cruising. That night I collapsed and they took me home in tears, much to my eternal chagrin. The next morning they were both incredibly solicitous and kind and I didn't know how to react or how to handle them. The difference in our ages, though slight, had become more apparent and our friendship, strong though it was, subtly changed as they became real older brothers to me. How could they not? Even though they both told me that the three on the heath wouldn't have really hurt us, I knew different. I knew Alan and Tricky had literally saved me from a beating, and very probably rape. That they had saved me and that I'd frozen, immobile and terrified out of my wits, kept going around and around in my mind, souring my thoughts. "Algy, bro," Tricky said. It was the morning two days later and I was watching him dab at his newly pierced eyebrow with a tissue soaked in antiseptic. "Mmm?" I managed, very half-heartedly. He glanced at me in the mirror, then went back to his dabbing. "Algy, look, I ... fuck!” he said as the antiseptic stung him. I laughed. "Well, I would, but wouldn't Alan get upset?" "Ha!" he said, glaring fiercely at me in the mirror. Then he smiled and stuck his tongue out. "There you are! You laughed. The old Algy's back again." "Sorry Tricky." I said, the instance of the old me fleeing back behind the walls I'd raised. Tricky screwed the top on the bottle of antiseptic and turned to face me. "You've got to let it go, kiddo." I frowned. He knew not to call me 'kiddo', after all he wasn't that much older than I was. Alan, as the eldest, had the right, but Tricky didn't. I was about to tell him off when he continued. "Alan and I are worried about you. It was an awful experience, but you have to remember that nothing happened and we dealt with the problem. Besides, neither of us think it was really dangerous. People play out their fantasies on the heath, and those three were definitely playing at being dickheads." "Yeah but...." "No! No 'yeah buts'. Put it behind you, mate." He leant forward and took my hands in his. "You'll find yourself an other. A partner, a soul mate. You will. You've just got to be patient." "But you and Alan...." "Are very lucky," he interjected. "We found each other early. And ... and we love each other. It's down to fate mate." We chuckled and rolled our eyes in unison at his appalling rhyme. I sighed. "I know. I really do. It's just I can't get the image of those three coming towards us out of my head, hard as I try. And ... and I keep seeing a different ending. An ending with you and Alan lying battered and bloody on the footpath." Tricky chewed on his bottom lip and his expression became serious. "Maybe, er, maybe you should talk to a professional, Algy," he said after a moment’s silence. "Maybe an outsider’s point of view would help." "And just why is my boyfriend holding my best friends hand?" Alan said from the door. "Alan!" Tricky yelped, let go of my hands and was snuggled in his arms before I could blink. Alan had gone out that morning while the house was still asleep. I say the house but what I mean is Tricky and me, my parents having left for work at their normal time. Thankfully, my parents knew nothing of what had transpired on the heath and I'd sworn Alan and Tricky to silence on pain of, well, on pain of pain, really. My parents knew I was gay, and as we lived locally they knew about what occurred on the heath, too. But they definitely had no idea we'd been there, and they were the last people on earth I'd ever tell. Especially after what had happened. "I've got something for you both," Alan said once they'd finished their lip-lock. A lip-lock that had given me a raging problem. "Fancy making coffee, kiddo?" Alan said, peering at me over Tricky's head. "And as for you monkey boy!" he added, patting Tricky lightly on the bottom--which was because Tricky had somehow climbed up him and had his legs wrapped around his waist. Thinking of Tricky's flexibility and what it might let them get up to of a night did nothing for my problem. "Sure," I said, "I made some cold brew yesterday. Fancy that?" "Mmph," Tricky managed, his mouth buried in Alan's blond hair. "Oh, yeah!" "Umm," Alan said, his face turning red, "yes please." I tried hard not to laugh. He had the same problem I did and no way of hiding it. I got up, artistically covering myself with swinging hands as I slid past them into the hall. "I'll leave you two to it, then. See you, umm, in the kitchen." I took a quick peek over my shoulder in time to see the bedroom door close. * * * "They're beautiful, Alan," I said, admiring the ring on my finger and turning it slightly so it caught the light. He'd bought three rings made of platinum. On the outside of each three thinner individual bands intertwined, and on the inside, which was solid and glinted, 'ATA' was engraved. Each ring came in its own velvet-lined wooden box. They'd come downstairs fifteen minutes later looking a tad dishevelled. Alan had sat us down around the table and looked a bit embarrassed, as if he didn't know how Tricky and I would take being given a ring. For once in his life Tricky didn't make a witty off-the-cuff comment. In fact I was sure I saw his eyes watering as he examined his ring and then looked lovingly at Alan. "Why?" he asked quietly. "I mean ... I mean, I know, but I'd like you to say." He trailed off and blinked. "They're friendship rings," Alan said. "You're both as close to me as brothers and you, Tristram Seega, are my beloved. I thought getting us something in celebration was apt." He smiled warmly at us both. "I don't think I need to say more." Tricky and I sniffed. Then, as one, we got up and hugged Alan until he begged for mercy. Considering my fragile state of mind going clubbing with them that night was amazing, too. Though I didn't find anyone special I danced with quite a few guys and spread my wings a little. Mainly, we danced together and after the intense club atmosphere and the pounding music I felt in a much better frame of mind by the time we left. The next morning I went with them to the station. Tricky was going to spend some time at Alan's before he had to go home. I'd been invited too, but tempting though it was I didn't want to crowd them and become a spare wheel, so I said no. Besides, I had a plan: I was going to beat my fear of the heath. After all, when you get thrown off a horse the best thing to do is get straight back on and go riding. When I got home my mother flung a spanner in the works. "There's a family thing, darling," she said, almost as soon as I closed the front door. "Oh yes?" I said politely. After all I could hardly complain as my parents had put up with the three of us for the last week and had been very good about our odd hours. "Mmm, yes. Your cousins are coming to stay for a week. They're over from Australia." "Oh," I said. "Okay. When are they arriving?" We went into the kitchen where I made us an iced coffee. My mother sipped at hers, then contemplatively crunched at an ice cube. I'd met uncle Robert just the once at a family get together that had ended in a blazing row, and I'd never met the twins. Uncle Robert and his wife Celia had emigrated before I was born, and the row, as far as I could remember, had been about my other uncle on my mother's side, Cee, who lives in the basement flat. Cee's gay and I remember uncle Robert heartily disapproved. "Cee's due back soon, isn't he?" I said. "Won't that be awkward?" "Tomorrow," my mother said flatly. "But as Robert and Celia aren't coming I don't suppose it'll matter." "Ah," I said noncommittally. Robert Jnr., 'call me Rob,' and Josephine, 'call me Jo,' arrived in a taxi the next morning. They were the epitome of blonde Australian youth that's served up on daytime television and, at first, almost too polite to be real. Nice though, I thought, following the party as my mother showed them up to the spare room. Five months younger than me; they weren't identical twins but came pretty close in my mind. I faded out watching Rob's bottom as he carried his rucksack up the stairs in front of me and only came to when Jo punched me lightly on the arm. "Not you too," she said with an odd expression. I gulped and tried to feign misunderstanding. "Algy has to go back to school at the end of next week and he's got a lot of work to do, so you'll have to excuse him," my mother said cheerily as she demonstrated the pull out bed. The twins glanced at each other with some message I didn't get. "That's all right aunt Jane," Jo said. "Don't worry Algy, Rob and I have a few things we'd like to do anyway." "Yeah," Rob added. "We want to tour the museums and maybe get to see a show in the East End." "West End," I said, automatically correcting him, then felt myself blush as he smiled at me. "Mum's right, I do have a stack of prep to do for next term, but I'll take you when I can ... umm, if you'd like, that is?" "Sounds good, doesn't it, sis?" "Yep, dinkum." Jo said, and grinning, punched me on the arm again. It rained heavily for the next three days, though that didn't put Jo and Rob off going out sightseeing. The first day they did the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye-which took so long to go around, Rob said, that he thought he was going to wet himself-the South Bank and ended up at Madame Tussaud’s. They came back upset that the Planetarium had closed, and I felt an idiot because it had been me that had told them how fantastic the Planetarium show was. "Don't worry, Algy" Rob said. "There's now a Planetarium at the Greenwich Observatory. We'll see that instead." The twins had a wicked sense of humour that caught us all out on the second night. Cee had arrived back and came up to dinner. Rob glared at him as he sat down. "Dad says you're a pooftah," he said flatly, his face expressionless. I glanced at Jo who seemed to be examining something in her lap. My father harrumphed and my mother went white with anger. Rob and Cee stared at each other for what seemed like hours and honestly you could have heard a pin drop. Then Rob beamed and thrust out his hand. "Me, I don't care. Some of my best mates are gay." "Good one, kid," Cee said, and smiling, shook the offered hand. Sounding like a boiling kettle my mother exhaled and my father guffawed. Jo was grinning, too. All in all it was a very memorable meal. The twins visited the museums in South Kensington for the next two days, each night regaling us with their day’s events. They were expert at finishing each other’s sentences, too. The fourth day ended up a nightmare. I went with them to see a revival of 'The Rocky Horror Show' in the West End. The twins were major fans and I had to admit the show was fantastic. During the interval I went to brave the queue at the bar and get cokes. On the way back I saw them talking to one of the cast. Rob seemed to be arguing with him, and Jo's expression was one of shock, though by the time I made it back through the ever-plodding audience re-gaining their seats they were alone and head-to-head in whispered conversation. "Problem?" I said lightly, handing them their drinks. Rob looked at me oddly and Jo shook her head. After the applause faded and the last curtain came down Jo went to the ladies while Rob and I waited for her outside. The foyer was in darkness and the lights on the theatre’s hoarding had been switched by the time she came out. On a post-musical high we made fools of ourselves cavorting down Shaftesbury Avenue to Piccadilly Circus. After a while spent people watching we meandered over to Leicester Square and finally caught the last tube home. Our carriage mostly emptied at Camden Town though a few people were waiting to get on. I didn't pay them any heed as the train rumbled out of the station and we set off for Hampstead. We were singing 'Sweet Transvestite' in badly off-key harmony when I noticed that sitting further down the carriage a man in leather jeans, a studded leather jacket, and a Yankee’s baseball cap was watching me closely. A shiver ran down my spine as I recognised him as one of the three from the heath; the one who had got away, who had shrugged at me, then run. I looked away from him fast, studying him in the reflection in the window glass, instead. Now, he was frowning and chewing his bottom lip as if unsure I was who he thought I was. Then he took off his cap, scratched his head, and I saw he looked younger than I'd first thought and had a nasty bruise on one cheek and a plaster above his right eye. He replaced the cap, stood up, and looking directly at me, walked slowly down the aisle towards us. I froze. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. I wanted to disappear, like Alice, to Wonderland. I didn't care if there was a maniacal red queen or a bunch of vampires waiting to devour me provided the man went away and didn't come one step closer. I looked fixedly down at my friendship ring and prayed for a miracle. Where the fuck were Alan and Tricky when I needed them? "Algy, you're shivering," Rob said, his voice full of concern. "Are you okay, cobber?" I turned to him but couldn't answer. The man got closer and I shuddered, as panic set in. How was I going to explain him to the twins? What could I say to my parents when they found out, as they surely would once we got home. I drew in a big breath. After all, if I yelled at him he might run away again ... would he? Holy hell, why had I ever.... He walked straight by us and stopped by the doors, waiting, as the train slid into Chalk Farm. An eon later the doors slid open. He got out and walked down the platform. Like a moth to a flame I followed him with my eyes. As he passed our window he turned and mouthed 'sorry' at me, then carried on walking. After what seemed another eon the doors closed. The train jolted and sparked as it pulled out of the station gathering speed as it entered the tunnel. I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. It was short lived. "Who was that, Algy?" Jo asked. "And what was he sorry for?" Rob added. "Umm, fucked if I know." I said, then opened my eyes and saw their disbelieving expressions. "No, really. I have no idea who he was." "Really?" Rob said. "Then why are you so freaked out?" "Look, this is London. London, and not some small town where everybody knows everybody. London's full of weirdos and most of them, it seems, like to spend time on the tube. "Shit Rob, you were only saying an hour ago that Piccadilly Circus was full of strangely odd people. They've got to go home sometime, huh?" "I guess," Rob said. "Man, the dude had loads of piercings. Think he's gay?" "Could be," I said, desperate to get him off the subject. Jo was being awfully quiet, too. "Though it might be that as we've just seen The Rocky Horror Show we're ... what do they call it? Projecting. After all, we're in that sort of a mindset." I laughed, but even to me it sounded false. "Are we?" Rob said. "Yeah, I guess. But I still reckon he was gay. He probably thought you were someone he knew. I wish we knew why he apologised to you." "Mmm, me too." I said, feeling sick, yet grateful that the man hadn't started apologising on the train. Nobody said anything until we pulled into Hampstead station. The journey up to street level in the lift was silent too and the party atmosphere that had blessed our evening seemed to have evaporated. We walked out of the station onto the pavement, home a five minute walk away. "Guys, I'm not tired," Rob suddenly said. "Isn't there somewhere we can go for a walk, like a park or something?" "No, it's too late and there isn't a park for miles," I said, glad to be truthful. "There's Hampstead Heath though. That's like a park, isn't it?" Jo said, looking at me. I felt myself flush though I was sure they couldn't see in the poor street lighting. "I thought you said...." "It's a heath not a park, Rob," I snapped, then lightened my tone on seeing his hurt expression. "There's a difference. Besides, it's late and the heath really isn't safe at night." "Hampstead Heath's a cruising place." Jo said. "A cruising place?" Rob waggled his eyebrows. I could have screamed. They were winding me up, they had to be. Or if they weren't then the night was turning into an early nightmare. "Look, I'm tired and I'm going home to bed." I said flatly, turning on my heel and walking off down the hill. I fully expected them to follow me. They didn't. By Flask Walk I turned around to see where they were, but other than a lone figure standing by the station entrance the pavement was empty. The twins had vanished. I cursed under my breath and pulled out my phone. Its screen was blank and I was about to curse again when I remembered everyone had to turn off their phones before going into the auditorium. I switched it on and waited as it booted, hoping the twins had turned theirs back on, too. Then I rang Rob. "It has not been possible to connect your call," an automated voice said, "Please try later." "Fuck!" I cursed and tried Jo's number. "It has not been possible to connect your call...." "Oh ... damn me." The choices were obvious. Either they were messing with my head and had gone home the other way and would be sitting around the kitchen table asking, wide eyed and innocent, where I'd been, or they really had gone for a walk on the heath without any idea of.... No, Jo knew people cruised the heath. She'd said as much, and if she knew that then surely she'd know how dangerous it was. I was pretty sure she was straight as she'd told me about her boyfriend back home, but maybe Rob was gay. He and I hadn't compared our love lives as guys are wont to do. Whatever their reasons, I was sure that people trying to get a bit of open air nookie weren't going to take kindly to two young tourists observing them. And what if the twins ran into the three that Alan and Tricky had seen off? I turned around and started back up the pavement towards the road to the heath. The figure was still standing outside the station entrance as I approached, and it walked hesitantly towards me. "Algy?" Freaked, I stopped stone dead. It was the leather guy from the tube. The one that had run away on the heath; the one that had got off the train at Chalk Farm and mouthed sorry through the window. How the...? "How the fuck do you know my name?" I said, glaring at him. He was definitely younger than I'd thought he was. Close to my age, and though he was wearing leathers and trying to look hard, somehow he seemed anything but. "I followe...." "And how the fuck did you get from Chalk Farm to here so fast," I steam-rollered over whatever he'd started to say, "and why? WHY?" I was livid. I'd never been so angry and clenched my fists ready to deck him if he came a nanometre closer. "Look, I...." "And who the fuck...." "If you let me get a word in edgeways I'll tell you," he said, and huffed. That floored me. We stood statue still in silence, me glaring and him straight faced. Then he ran his hand through his hair in a rather cute albeit self-conscious gesture and took a deep breath. "Look, that thing on the heath. I, erm, I didn't really know those guys and I should never have hooked up with them. I had no idea what they had planned or I'd have run a mile. Honestly. And as for knowing your name. I, erm ... well, I followed the three of you back to the pub and heard that bloke Alan call you Algy. You've got really good friends, by the way." I nodded as he continued. "Then today I saw you in the stalls at The Rocky Horror Show. I wasn't sure at first, and then I convinced myself I was imagining things, until the blonde girl called you by name at the beginning of the intermission. Then I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I had to apologise. So, erm ... so I followed you.” For all his hesitancy he spoke in a smooth calm tenor and I found I was watching his lips, certainly more than I should have. I blinked, then made a decision. Alan would have kittens, but Alan wasn't around. "You have me at a disadvantage. You know my name but I don't know...." "Jake," he said, with a small smile. "Jake Smith." And all I could think of was that he had a really cute smile. I held out my hand and said "Algy Catvern." He looked at my hand then up at my face and as his smile became a grin his hand shot out and clasped mine. It was a proper handshake, too. Firm and warm rather than flacid and damp. It lasted the perfect length of time, too. "Thank you for that, Algy," Jake said. "I can't tell you how bad I've felt. I've had the most miserable few days since almost meeting you on the heath. Erm, are we good, then?" "I think so," I said, and smiled back at him. "Look, I don't mean to presume but I need some help rather badly." "Sure, a quid pro quo, anything," Jake said, "though if it's money you need I don't have much." "Money's not what I need," I said. "I've lost the two I came with, the two from the theatre, and I was wondering...." "They went up towards the heath," Jake said. “You came up in the lift and as I ran up the stairs I was kinda out of breath, so I waited inside the station as you split up. You went left and they went up Heath Street." "Crap! I've got to find them." "I'll help," Jake said. "So, where would they have gone?" "How should I know? I've only been there the once." "You mean ... you mean that was your first time?” "Wasn't it obvious?" I said, rather bitterly. "I guess, with spectacular hindsight, yes. But those two? How well do they know it?" "They're my cousins from Australia. They've never been there before." "Never?" Jake almost squeaked. He looked shocked. "Then we'd better get a move on 'cause they could get themselves into a lot of trouble." He grabbed me by the hand and towed me back up past the station where we started up Heath Street at a fast clip. Apart from how nice Jake's hand felt holding mine all I could think of was what Alan and Tricky would say when I told them. We’d made it to the top of Heath Street by Whitestone Pond when I finally decided they'd claim I was delusional. "West Heath vale or East to the ponds?" Jake muttered as we stopped, slightly out of breath. "Hmm?" I'd almost forgotten why we were there. "I was wondering where they would have gone." "Oh, probably wherever the guide book suggests." "They're gay, too, then?" "No! Oh, I don't know," I blustered. "Jo's got a boyfriend I think." "So he’s gay?” "Jo is short for Josephine," I elaborated. "Rob's the boy." "Just antipodean curiosity then?" "I don't know!" I said. "It was Jo who said it was a place for cruising. I told them it was dangerous." "You've no idea, Algy. We'll go in by Whitestone, then." We crossed the road nearby the darkened and closed pub where Alan and Tricky had calmed me down before taking me home, and entered the top of the West Heath. It was almost a cloudless sky and the moon nearly full so it wasn't hard to see where we were going. A footpath meandered steeply downwards from the grass verge, disappearing into darkness; it vanished in a grove of trees. We were halfway to the trees when I froze as, unbidden, the terror of my recent experience came flooding back. Was I mad? I was being lead by the hand of a guy who three days ago was in a group who had nearly attacked us, and if Alan and Tricky hadn't been there god knows what might have happened. For all I knew Jake Smith, who had followed me all the way from the West End, might be carrying a bloody great butcher's knife under his leather jacket and planning on carving me up in the dark of the woods. Worse still, nobody knew where I was. Was I really such an idiot? In the quiet of the night my phone sounded hideously loud as it rang in my pocket. I used the interruption to drop Jake's hand and take a step away from him as I pulled the phone out. The caller display said 'Rob'. Smiling with relief, I answered. "Where are you, mate?" Rob sounded worried. "Looking for you two on the West Heath near the pub," I said, glancing over at Jake who was texting someone. "Where are you?" I turned slowly in a circle to see if I could see them. "Near your place, waiting for you." "But Jake said you'd...." The phone was snatched out of my hand. "Sorry, Algy," Jake said in my ear as I angrily turned towards him. There was a loud snick of a switchblade and I froze, terror gleefully taking over my mind. Jake walked around in front of me, terminated the call, and stopped, the silvered blade pointing at the ground. "Why?" I managed. "Because, Algy. Just because." He sounded tired rather than triumphant and I wondered if he did this sort of thing a lot. "Sit down, please." He gestured to the ground with the blade and I sat. He took a few paces back and started texting again, this time using my phone. I started ever so slowly sliding to the left, keeping my eyes on Jake as he worked the unfamiliar keyboard. I'd got nearly ten feet and was about to get up and run for it when he sent the text and looked up. "Nice try, Algy," he chuckled, closed the distance and sat down facing me. "What are you doing?" I asked. Then, "I take it your name isn't Jake, or Smith?" He sighed. "Shut up, Algy. We're waiting." "What? For Godot?" I said and laughed. I was being held against my will at knife point and I was beginning to lose the terror I'd felt as anger and outrage took its place. "Done Beckett have you?" "School production." I said. I thought that if I could scoot forward a bit I could kick the knife out of his hand, then hit him and run. The road wasn't far and there was still a fair bit of traffic. Damn, I wasn't craven, was I? why was I being such a wuss. He wasn't any bigger than me. "School production, eh." Jake said. "I bet you go to a really nice school, don't you?" "I suppose," I said. "What are we waiting for, if you don't mind me asking." "Polite too," Jake said, not answering. Then, almost under his breath, "Way to go, Jake. Fuck it all up before you give yourself a chance." We sat in silence for a minute or two, the sound of the traffic on the heath road and the occasional hooting of an owl helping me to keep sane. Jake was getting nervous and kept tapping the knife on his knee, which in turn made me nervous, too. Then my phone chirruped, the sound for an incoming text, and without thinking I reached for it. My hand slid down the blade of the knife and I yelped in pain as Jake jumped to his feet. "Are you fucking mad, Algy?" He said, anger intermingled with concern, which I thought was odd. "Christ almighty! Here," he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bandana. "Wrap it in this. Don't worry, it's clean," he said then looked down at my phone. The cut was across my palm and though I didn't think it was very deep it was still bleeding badly. I flicked the folded cotton bandana out then wrapped it around my palm feeling sorry for myself, and stupid for not putting a time lock on my phone. Footsteps behind me. Rather than turning I looked at Jake who seemed angry, then he blanked his expression. "So yah fuckin' got 'im then, Jakey," a deep voice said. It was my worst nightmare come real. "Sid?" A nasally voice shouted from across the hill. "Over 'ere Bri, and keep the noise down ya cunt!" Sid bellowed back, and I thought Jake chuckled. Little and large; side by side Brian and Sid stood looking down at me as Jake got to his feet. "I owe you for me sore bollocks, shitter," Sid spat at me. "Lucky fer youse theys still work." "Unlucky tho, cos na there are three of us." Brian said. "Na, Not me." Jake said, and his voice sounded odd, rougher, which fleetingly I thought strange. "I've done wot youse asked, now let me bruvva go like youse said." "Soon, Jakey son, soon," Sid said and patted Jake on the cheek. "Let's fuck the cunt first. You knows youse wants to." "Na," Jake said, shaking his head. "Na, not me, Sid. 'e’s all yours. Tell me where me bruvva is ‘n’ I'll be orf." "Whadda ya fink, Bri? Fink 'e'll squeal?" Sid mused. Even if I'd wanted to I didn't have a chance to warn Jake before Brian hit him hard in the kidneys. With a grunt of pain Jake dropped to his knees where, chuckling, Sid kicked him hard in the stomach, then he leant over and gave him a sloppy kiss as he groped his crotch. "We got us a twofer, Bri," he said, taking out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and lighting a couple. He handed one to Brian and they both took a deep drag. "Are you...." "Shut the fuck up, cunt!" Brian punctuated with a kick that caught me hard on the thigh. I wanted to scream so I did. Something caught me on the back of the head and I saw an explosion of stars. I was dragged. I was bundled into a hard darkness. I remember fractured images and voices; Jake screaming; flickering lights; a young boy's gagged and frightened face; gaffa tape on skin; nakedness; oil. With stealth they and the police came to rescue us. With sirens, batons, tasers and eventual panicked snivelling capitulation from Sid and Brian, they achieved it. They: my cousins, Rob and Jo. * * * When I finally and properly came to I was in a twin bedded private hospital room. I rose up from dreams that were at once both terrifying and comforting. I'd been saved. High up in the corner of the room a small television mutely played cartoons. Slowly, because my bruises and cuts were extraordinarily painful and I didn't want to rip out the IV line, I turned to look at the other bed. Jake, his face worse than it had been when I'd last seen him, had his arms behind his head and was looking at me blankly. "Thank you," I said. "Thank me?" He said in a voice devoid of emotion. I watched a tear creep down his cheek before he sniffed and wiped it away. "You're mad, Algy. You're here because of me." "Yes, but you saved me," I said, knowing the logic was flawed but not doubting its truth. He had saved me, my subconscious was certain. Jake sighed. "Whatever makes you happy. My brother's safe, that's all I know." He looked away and I drifted off to sleep. The next few days were confusing. I had a lot of visitors including Alan and Tricky-who gave me an earful, my parents-who went ballistic, the twins-who had extended their stay, and the police. The thing was, except for the belief that Jake had saved me, to begin with I had no idea of what had really happened or why. It was like I'd woken up in the middle of a surreal farce, with a lot of whispering. The police, in the shape of a portly middle-aged detective sergeant called Harris, were upset I wouldn't give them an immediate statement that would see Jake behind bars. So, to begin with, were Alan and Tricky and my parents. The following morning, surrounded by friends and family, the doctor released me. "You've had a rough old time, young man. The cut on your hand is not deep and is well bandaged. You've got two broken ribs, three cracked ones and a plethora of bruises. You also have some internal bruising, which will be painful but is not a problem. The worst was the concussion, but as we've monitored you and you appear okay there's not a lot else we can do for you here. Frankly," he chuckled, took off his glasses and started polishing them, "we need the bed. Anyway, bed rest at home is always preferable." "Where's Jake?" I asked Jo as Tricky and Rob fought over who'd get to push my wheelchair. Alan was quietly talking to Cee and my parents had buttonholed the doctor about my medication. The other bed had been empty and freshly made when I'd woken. "Your parents had the hospital move him," she said quietly. "Are you going to tell me what the hell went on?" "Mmm, later. When we get you home," she put her finger to her lips as Tricky won and whooped until a passing nurse gave him a filthy look and told him off, which made everyone laugh. We travelled home in two vehicles, Cee, who kept giving me knowing looks, taking my parents with him. I was helped out of the wheelchair into the front seat of my mother’s car and the others got in quietly and waited until Cee and my parents had driven off. Then Alan turned to me and started. "What the hell were you thinking Algy! Are you...." "Leave him be, Alan," Tricky said. He was sitting between Jo and Rob in the back and sounded as serious as I'd ever heard him. "It wasn't Algy's fault." "It wasn't Algy's fault?" Alan sounded bemused. "I never said it was. It was that bastard Jake and those two other fuckers who...." "No!" I interrupted, "It wasn't Jake's fault either." Alan stared at me then closed his mouth with a snap. I turned, slowly, wincing at the pain of my ribs, and looked at Jo who was grinning at Rob. "Jo and Rob will explain everything," I said, “that’s the least they can do.” I couldn't help but smile at my cousins’ horrified expressions. "Umm, how much do you know?" Rob asked. "Not everything, but I think I've got a fair idea of what went on." "I wish I did," Alan said. "I suppose Cee's involved?" "Only in that he's being decent and keeping your parents out of it," Jo said, "but that's not going to last long once we get you home." "They know I'm gay." I said, managing not to whine. I didn't want to face my parents and have to explain anything, especially with all my friends around. "Yes, and now they know you went on the heath and nearly got kidnapped, too." "Shut up Tricky!" we all echoed. "Well Jo, the floors open for an explanation," Alan said. Briefly, Jo looked at us all. Then she took a deep breath. "The other night Algy, Rob and I went to see The Rocky Horror Show in the West End," she began. "During the intermission when Algy, sweetheart that he is, went to get us drinks, Jake, who works backstage at the theatre, came over and talked to me." "Us," Rob said. Jo nodded. "Yes, us. See, I was wearing my rainbow bracelet, so he knew it was safe." "Rainbow bracelet?" Rob and I said together. Jo rolled her eyes. "Yes." She pulled her sleeve back and displayed it. "Men are so observant, don't you think?" she giggled. "Jake had recognised Algy from a few nights before when...." "Yes, we know about that," Tricky blushed. "Thanks." "I think it was while we talked that he had the idea, but he didn't tell me until after the curtain came down." "When you went to the loo for an hour?" I asked. Jo nodded. "Mmm. It took him a while to persuade me. It's why I was so long, sorry." "Wait. So this is all your fault, Jo?" I said, bitingly. "No, the blame is mine too." Rob said. "Jo told me the gist of it while you were dancing around Eros in Piccadilly." "Anyway," Jo said, "Jake knew where we were going 'cause I told him." "And on the tube?" I said, thinking back to the terror I'd felt when he'd walked past us in the carriage. "When he mouthed sorry through the window?" "Yes, before he hopped back on the next carriage." "Were you both laughing at me?" I whispered, remembering the terror I’d felt. They shook their heads and had the decency to look embarrassed. "I know what it's like, Algy," Jo said, touching her bracelet. There were a few moments silence before Alan cleared his throat. "And then?" "And then we arrived at Hampstead station," I said picking up the narrative. "I wanted to go home but he," I pointed at Rob angrily, "said he wanted to go for a walk and asked about a park. And she," I pointed to Jo, "she said she'd heard of a heath. A park, I ask you! Fuck! How stupid was I?" I purposely twisted in the seat so my ribs screamed at me, the pain dulling the anger I was feeling. "Heh, not knowing I’d been set up I even walked away towards home thinking they'd follow. Of course when I turned to see if they were with me they'd vanished and I was left to walk back up the hill, slap bang into Jake's arms.” I turned away from them all and looked out of the passenger window, tears running down my face unchecked. What had I been thinking in the hospital? Getting aroused at the thoughts of that bastard Jake's hands running over me. I was deranged. I obviously needed help. The thing was, sitting there in the car as miserable as sin, I was getting hard again at the thought of him. Worse, my subconscious was screaming at me to trust him still when it was plain and obvious that was the last thing I should do. Damn it, I couldn't even trust my cousins who without a by-your-leave had set me up like a fish ready to be kippered. A hand slid across my back and squeezed my shoulder. I sniffed. "Thanks Alan. See, I really thought Jo and Rob had gone up to the heath. I thought it was up to me to save them.” "When you phoned, Algy, we were standing outside Hampstead police station," Jo said in a timid voice. "And when Jake texted we went in and started the ball rolling." Rob said, equally subdued. "They had a team ready to go." "I ... I don't understand. A team of police ready to go?" "Mmm. We weren't expecting that, either. Jake didn't say exactly what would happen, but apparently you'd upset the wrong people, really bad people, and Jake saw it as a chance to sort them out. Also, they had his brother and he...." "Wait, wait ... what? His brother? I don't understand." "Which is why we're trying to explain," Rob said before Jo could open her mouth. "When you three went out on the heath you guys not only trounced two cruisers, but two psychos as well." I frowned and tugged at my ear. "There were three of them, not four." "No, there were two. Brothers in fact and in crime, and both of them nasty, vicious bastards. Gay and psychotic is not a good combo to piss off. Jake was there under duress as they had his younger brother captive in their house." "What? This is getting more convoluted than Lost. Remember I've got concussion. I think I'm heading for a relapse." "Jake is adopted." "It doesn't surprise me." "No he's not, Rob. He's ... what's that other thing they do?" "Foster?" Alan suggested. Jo smiled. "Yes! He’s fostered. Jake and his brother are fostered to those other two and...." "Don't be daft. Jake's too old to be fostered and...." "He's only just seventeen and his brother is twelve." Jo said. Rob nodded. "You seriously mean to say that those three on the heath were a couple of foster parents and their charge?" Tricky said. He who, remarkably, had been quiet as a mouse and following the conversation like an avid tennis fan. "Yes," Jo and Rob said in unison. Jo continued, "they wanted you two badly. Among the nastier types that frequent the heath, they had a bounty on your, umm, balls. But you'd both gone home. Vanished. Algy, however, lives locally. Jake had told them that much by mistake. So when he saw Algy almost miraculously sitting in the stalls of the theatre he had a chance to do something. He said it was like a sign from god. Only, umm, he doesn't believe in god." "You know a lot about him," I said, feeling somewhat jealous. She nodded. "Mmm, we've talked." "Finish it, please," I said. I was bone tired and I wanted to go home and think. "Well, you know a lot of the rest. Jake texted his foster parents to tell them he had you, then he texted us and we informed the police. We didn't arrive in time to stop them on the heath, but the police had their van under surveillance and that's where it all ended." "Ah," I said quietly. The vague images spun out by my subconscious made much more sense now, especially the frightened bound boy and the innate sense I had that Jake was a hero, not a villain. "Umm, in the van, I was wondering, was there ... oil?" Jo reddened and Rob wouldn't meet my eye. * * * We got home and Cee and the cousins protected me from parental inquisition as I hobbled upstairs to my room. I closed the door and slowly stripped, goggling at the dark bruises that covered my body. It was no wonder I was feeling so rough and in pain, even though my ribs were tightly bandaged in snowy white linen. My hand was bandaged, too. I thought back to Jake’s anguish as I'd cut myself on his switchblade. He'd been trying to save his brother and mete out vengeance on those two thugs. I could understand that and it was good, but he'd done it at my expense and I wasn't sure what I thought of that. It wasn't fair, but then he didn't know me. Then. On the other hand my cousins did know me, so why hadn't they involved me in the plan from the start? Did they think I wouldn't have gone ahead with it? Or did they think if I'd known I'd have stuffed it up? Naked and wincing with every move I pulled back the duvet. I sat down on the crisp fresh sheet. I was home. My parents and friends loved me, but what of Jake? He was shunted around foster homes and only had his brother and his responsibility to care for him. In his situation would I have done the same? I lay back, pulled the duvet up to my chin and turned off the light. Jake. I'd thought he was older, and yet seeing him in my mind’s eye sitting opposite me under the moonlight on the heath, I could see he wasn't. Oil. They'd been going to rape me. I knew it, but nobody else ever would. They'd stripped us naked and Jake had been screaming such invective at them I'd been terrified for him. Then they'd beaten him and his bound young brother had screamed too. And, and then when they came for me he'd covered my body with his to protect me as the bastards blows rained down. Jake had knowingly put me there and yet he'd saved me too. What did I feel, what did I owe? Jake. Tomorrow. One way or another, tomorrow I'd find out. The End. Thanks to CP, my ever kind, ever generous, editor, without whom this story would suck. Needless to say any mistakes are mine. ***** Thank you for reading Algy's Peril 2. I really hope you enjoyed it, and go on to read more of the excellent fiction available on the AwesomeDude website. Though AwesomeDude is an amazing free resourse and doesn't charge, it does have continual expenses. So if you can donate even a tiny amount to help the site we'd all be grateful. And if you can't, please don't worry. ***** The original 'Algy's Peril' was written for Midnight Dude: Selected Readings, an AwesomeDude Books Anthology with 17 short stories and a novella. 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