Michael was only vaguely aware of being led, driven, and half-carried into Leanna's house. Maria was nearly in tears, not wanting anything to do with this, feeling so sorry for the poor naked boy. Terri had carried his clothes but the box and the other ropes and things were still in the shack. Of course, a chain, each end locked to an ankle, and the handcuffs, were still in place.

Michael lay on the bed, a cover over him from about his mid-abdomen to his ankles. Leanna was speculating that he'd had only a few bruises and that his nuts, er, scrotum, would be sore for a few days.

"I can get the handcuffs off," she said, as her cousin had given her a handcuff key to put with her own keys, "just in case. You never know when you might need one," she said. "But we need to get his feet undone."

"Why take the handcuffs off, Aunt Leanna?" Terri said, looking at the boy's exposed chest. Maria said something about they could be hurting him and Terri, almost reluctantly, handed Leanna the Volkswagen key chain. "Will one of these do it?"

Leanna smiled. Maria was standing by a bowl of warm water, with a wet washcloth. Leanna grabbed the keys. "Good work, Terri." She freed his ankles first, then rolled him up gently, the boy still sobbing, to unlock the handcuffs. Terri was so interested in seeing his butt that she got into Leanna's way. Leanna looked at her as if to say "get out of the way" and in a moment the boy was freed.

* * * * *

Later, it being almost five in the afternoon, Michael, still naked but under light covers, was propped up in pillows, embarassed about being naked under the cover but glad to be safe and unchained and covered.

Terri was wiping his face and head and chest with the damp cloth, and Leanna was asking him a few questions. Maria, still teary-eyed realizing the boy could have been killed or maimed, stood by ready to do anything to help.

Leanna then addressed the girls in presence of the boy. "All right, listen to me. Not one word to ANYONE about this. Do you understand? Not - one - word."

"No police?" Maria asked.

"No police," Leanna confirmed. "Don't you understand, if this gets out this boy won't be able to show his face ever again. Every bully within a hundred miles will be looking for him." Maria had given her a run-down on the situation during the ride back and while in the kitchen fixing the boy a drink. Terri was holding the cup of Pepsi for Michael even though he held it with one of his hands.

"And you, Maria. You thought it was funny."

"Only at first."

"Well listen, your mom and dad may let you run wild all the time, but if anyone finds out about this, I'll have you both grounded for a hundred years. No dates. No boys. And no records," she added, looking at Terri. "He would not have been hurt so bad if you'd just left, or better yet, hadn't gone with that punk bully up there to smooch or whatever."

Michael, who had thanked them repeatedly, suddenly said, "Oh no! I need to get home. Where are my clothes? I need .. ."

Leanna took his hand. "I'll fix that right now," she said. Michael looked like he was gonna cry again. He dreaded this part as much as the beating and humiliation. Leanna picked up the phone. She asked Michael his number. He hesitated and told her.

There was a long pause. "Mrs Buckley? This is Leanna Whelan. I live a few blocks over and south of you. I'm Terri's aunt. Terri, she's a friend of Michael's." Looking at the boy and motioning him to be quiet, she said, "Yes, well, Terri is staying with me and she ran into Michael a little while ago, and if it's all right with you, can Michael stay here this evening, for supper? We're going to watch some movies. Lord of the Rings or something like that. Yes, yes he's a sweet boy. Yes I could just hug him to pieces. Well, the movies are long ones, probably not til late, if it's OK. Sure, here he is."

She winked and handed him the phone. Terri was beaming. Maria wiped a tear. The boy spoke with his mom, said yes he was OK, yes, he'd be a good guest, and Terri ran around and whispered something to Leanna. Leanna reached for the phone.

"Mrs Buckley, it will be so late when the movies are over ... no, not that, I'm just wondering ... no of course not. We were talking, Terri and I, and she suggested that he spend the night. No it will be fun! Yes, I've been wanting to see those movies. We can make it a 'Lord of the Rings' party. Of course not, we've plenty to eat. We'd just end up throwing it out anyway. Oh yes, we'll find something for him to wear. Yes, yes, I'd love to. Well there are ... hey, Terri, how many of those Rings Lords movies are there? Three. Yes, we can watch them all. I've been wanting to see them for a long time. We have them on DVD. Yes, of course, my number is . . . . "

After some more chattering, she hung up.

"But Aunt Leanna," Terri teased. "You lied to her. You said you never saw those movies. You've seen them a hundred times, and you know there are three of them."

"I said I've been WANTING to see those movies. And I have. I haven't seen them for at least three months!"

They all laughed, even Michael. Leanna got serious again. "Now I mean it, no one EVER finds out about this. And don't worry about Rick and Monkey or whoever he is. Cousin Marcus will handle that, I'm sure. If Michael wants to report it, that's up to him. He's been through enough for .. for a long long time."

She looked around. Terri crossed her heart. Maria sniffed and nodded. Leanna looked at them again. "Well you to get out for a bit. Go get the tapes ready. Order a pizza. Make it two. Go on, scram!

The girls left the room quickly, Terri getting one last glance at Michael.

When they were gone, Michael said, "Why did you do this?"

"Because Maria had a change of heart and ran and told me . . ."

"No, Ma'am, I mean, why ... why ...."

"Oh, the cover-up." Leanna got out of the chair and sat on the bed next to him, leaning close. "You tied yourself up, didn't you?"

He blushed, sheepishly, and said, "Yes ma'am. It was a dumb thing to do, but, you know, it was just a game."

"I know. I played a few tie up games when I was a girl," she said, wiping his neck with the cloth.

"Really?" he asked, as if not believing it.

"I wasn't about to let some BOY tie me up, but I tied myself up a few times, as an adventure I suppose. I never had handcuffs. I used ropes and tape and I stayed at home. And I usually stayed dressed," she added, leaning back to the bowl of water, giving him a good look down her blouse. He looked away, after getting a peek at some generous cleavage in her bra.

"I know what would have happened if anyone caught me. And for you, well, it would have been much worse. Heck, they'd probably send you to a shrink or something. Anyway, your secret is safe."

"But Maria . . ."

"Trust me, Maria is a bit wild and kinda nasty, but she's gonna change all that. Trust me, Michael, she'll never spill a word of this. I can assure you of that."

Michael, for the first time that day, relaxed. Leanna kissed his cheek.

"Now where did Terri put your clothes? Don't worry, I'll get them for you."

She left. There were some words in the hallway, which he couldn't understand, and Leanna finally saying, "Maria, you come with me, you're not out of this yet."

He felt kinda sillly naked with a sheet and a thin bedspread over him. He thought of the view he'd just had of Leanna's cleavage and his pecker stirred a little. No no, not now! He started thinking about geometry to get it down, and a moment later Terri came in.

"Well how do you feel?" she asked.

"Sore. Not bad. No broken bones or ruptured organs, I hope."

Terri giggled. "I hope," she said. "I brought your clothes, but I thought, well, maybe they are dirty and I could wash them. The shirt at least. Look, I got you something else."

She held up a pair of maroon running pants, the kind with the two white stripes down the side. "These are Maria's. They'll fit you I'm sure. They're kinda baggy on her so of course she don't like them. You could wear them, you know, like pajamas. I guess we could find you a t-shirt. If you really want one. You know, for sleeping."

"Naw I guess not, not for sleeping. If I got the sports pants. If they fit."

"Wanna try 'em on?"

"Uh, not right now," he said. She was getting closer.

"You're cute," she said, and put her hand on his chest. He blushed but didn't remove it.

"You're pretty too. Both of you are. All three of you are." He glanced at her bare tummy and when she caught him looking, he said, "Hey your pants are the same color as those sports pants."

"Yeah," she said. Then she got closer and whispered. "I'd like to tie you up sometime." She paused and as his mouth dropped open she said, "and maybe tie me up too?"

She was eleven. He was thirteen. But wait, he'd be in ninth grade next year and she'd be in seventh. The same school. He would be fourteen in four more months. But she'd be twelve next month. At least that's what he'd heard when an argument ensued briefly between the girls and Aunt Leanna. A twelve year old, for example, almost thirteen, when the parent wants him younger, will quote him as eleven and then when corrected as "just turned twelve"; when she wants to question his responsibility, she will say "You're almost thirteen" even if he's just turned twelve. Parents.

She held up his underwear, the bikini kind, blue, briefs. He hated the stupid baggy high-waisted stick-out-the-back-of-your-pants fly-in-the-front-that-no-one-uses white things that most mothers bought them that passed for boys' underwear. "Wanna get dressed now?"

He took them, pulled them under the covers with him, put them on. Terri watched. He looked at her. She'd seen him naked, but ...

"Oh, here I won't watch." She handed him the pants, with the cloth belt still in them. She turned her back and, more to her surprise than his, didn't peek.

When he asked for his socks, she just turned around, hugged him big, kissed his cheek, and whispered, "Think about it. About us tying each other up some time." She broke the kiss, giggled a bit, and as she left she said, "maybe I can be your girlfriend," and vanished.

He'd been speculating about the same thing.

* * * * * Michael, at Leanna's insistance, took a quick shower, drying and dressing in the same clothes. Well, he hadn't worn the clothes all day and they were still clean.

The evening went smoothly. In front of the TV, pausing the DVD movies occasionally for bathroom breaks and so on, the four of them devoured two large pizzas and several bottles of Pepsi. Leanna noticed the attraction between Terri and Michael and smiled. So cute. Maria was more his age, but after what had happend, she wouldn't blame the boy if he spurned both girls. She was glad the boy was recovering. Something like that might mar a kid for life.

Maria, in the kitchen getting pop with Michael, at one point, between movies, said that she could get him a date with Terri if he liked. He shook his head, shyly. "I'd even let you take me out if you want to, but, well, I don't blame you if you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you. I mean, yeah, you laughed at me and stuff, but you stood up for me. I mean, you ran for help. Thank you."

She hugged him briefly. "Well, if you ever want a date or a girlfriend or something, I can fix you up. I have lots of friends. But Terri still likes you," she said, and ran off with her soda.

After the movies, Terri dozing on and off, not used to staying up past midnight, Leanna yawning a bit but glad to have seen the movies again, especially the battles, and Maria, pretty much wide awake, stood and stretched.

"Well, who sleeps where?" Maria asked. "Aunt Leanna?"

"First, remember we have a boy in the house and he's not your brother," the woman reminded the girls. She thought for a minute. She would sleep in her room, of course. The girls usually slept separately, as the old house had four bedrooms upstairs and one was set up for her exercise room.

"I could sleep with Maria and Michael can have my room," Terri volunteered, yawning. She was apparently having trouble staying awake.

"Or you both can sleep in your room," Maria teased her sister.

"Enough of that. I have the perfect solution. Michael,come with me," Leanna said, leading the boy into the kitchen and down the steps. There was an area in the basement, carpeted, which was apparently someone's attempt to make a family room. The walls were covered with cheap wood panneling, there were some shelves, and a couch. "Help me with this," she said.

She tossed the cushions aside and pulled on the frame. The couch folded out into a hide-a-bed. It still had sheets, a fitted bottom sheet and a top sheet, on the matress.

"If you like, you can have Terri's room, or . . ."

"Yes ma'am, this will be great!" he said. She turned on a lamp and turned off the overhead light.

"If you need to use the bathroom, there's one right down there. It doesn't have a bathtub in it. They used to call it a "half-bath". That way you don't have to worry about the girls.

"Miss Whelan, I want to . . ."

"Leanna. Call me Leanna."

"Leanna, I want to thank you for everything. You saved my life. I mean, not only getting beat up and all, but ... "

She hugged him warmly. "You don't have to say it. I couldn't let that happen to you. If you want to report it to the police, it's up to you. But I think that Ricky and Monkey won't be messing with you ever again. The are going to pay! And you can be REALLY sure none of us will ever let it get out. All right?"

"Thanks."

"Normally it's not good to keep something from your parents and the authorities, but in this case, well, it's not like your dad can move your family to Nebraska or something."

She looked at his face, his neck, and said he probably wouldn't have a black eye to explain. "You can always say that you and Terri were running through the woods behind your house and that you had a tumble," she said smiling. "I don't think you'll have more than a couple of bruises here and there."

"You're a very nice and wise lady, Miss ... Leanna."

"And you are a very sweet boy," she said. He blushed.

They went upstairs to get a blanket and some pillows and Maria's running pants for him to use as pajamas. He usually slept in his undies, and enjoyed it, but this time he would feel better with the sweat pants. Terri was asleep on the couch, Maria carried the blanket and pillows down for him. Leanna nudged Terri awake, and the girls went back upstairs, Michael going downstairs, several repetitions of "good night" in the process.

Michael took off his clothes, folding them and putting them on a nearby chair. It was cool but it felt good. His skin felt good. He pulled the sweat pants on over his bikini briefs. The fit was good.

In a few minutes, he was in the hide-a-bed, one pillow under his head, the other on his chest with his arm propped over it. He felt a little like crying. The pain. The humiliation. The embarassment. The crying. The injuries. His balls still felt a little sore. He hoped they weren't hurt. That would be very bad, as bad as going home naked, if he had to go to the doctor about his balls. Good thing that Rick and Monty didn't use all their strength. Probably saving it for later. They were going to take their time. His chest hurt just a little bit from sobbing and crying. His lip was a bit sore but not swollen. The bruise on his cheek wouldn't be big he hoped. Probably no black eye. One thing for sure: he'd never tie himself up again unless it was in his own house . . . .

And even he was surprised when he drifted off to sleep, without crying anymore.