Pueros

Wrecked

Chapters 31-38

Chapter Thirty One – Appreciation

(New York, USA, winter 1850)

Jack completed washing himself, including his hair. The boy subsequently collected the old and torn but clean towel resting adjacent to the bundle of second-hand but decent clothing that had been provided for him and was currently on the floor next to the small bathtub in which he was sitting.

Simultaneous to gathering this towel carefully around him in order to avoid exposing his private parts to the scrutiny of the nearby captain of the sailing ship, Jack stood up in the small bathtub. The boy then stepped out of the soapy water and began with equal modesty to dry himself.

The captain, who was sitting at a table, apparently diplomatically engrossed with the ship's logs whilst Jack bathed, now looked up at the boy. Whilst straining to exhibit as much seeming nonchalance as he had originally afforded to the 11 year-old's stripping and bathing, the man subsequently instructed his new young crew member "Don't redress after you've dried yourself, as I need to inspect your body before you do so."

In response to the clear expression of unhappy embarrassment that suddenly appeared on Jack's now blushing face in reaction to this, to the shy child, disturbing instruction, the captain explained "I have to make sure that you're healthy enough to be a cabinboy. The job's tough and you need to be in good condition to do it!"

"Also," the captain continued, "you'll quickly have to lose the obvious inhibitions about nakedness, which your face is currently suggesting that you have. We're all men on board, who share the same cramped bathing and toilet facilities, and so you'll have to become accustomed to occasional nudity, including your own in front of others!"

"If you're not prepared to accept these conditions," the captain added threateningly, "I suggest that you're not fit to be a cabinboy. I think that I should therefore return your old clothes to you and ask you to leave my ship to go find another trade."

With these words, the captain, despite being very attracted to Jack, was not actually furtively preparing the boy for a future sexual role, at least on board his ship. He was instead only attempting to encourage him to reveal his naked body for scrutiny by advising him about some of the practical realities concerning true normal life on board his vessel.

The captain was doing so despite the fact that he had actually no intention of allowing any situation to arise where any of the rest of the crew could see Jack naked. He believed that the boy's undoubtedly lovely nude form would probably be too tempting for his generally ageing but nevertheless still libidinous men, starved of decent sex whilst at sea, to ignore without trying to satiate their lusts.

Whilst temporarily terminating his towelling, Jack briefly contemplated the captain's words before answering "But I want to be your cabinboy, Sir." He subsequently reluctantly added "I'll therefore, of course, do everything you ask."

The captain grinned in response. He was happy not only at acquiring Jack's obedience through his threat but also with the prospect of soon intimately viewing the boy's freshly washed young naked body.

As the captain exhibited his grin, Jack immediately felt uneasy. The boy correctly thought that he detected, in the man's expression, more than just his happiness at the child's reluctant acceptance of some aspects of the lifestyle aboard ship.

Jack was too young and innocent to appreciate what lechery was but, if he had known, he would certainly have associated such underlying lasciviousness with the captain's own current facial expression. Nevertheless, the boy was actually safe from molestation at the man's hands and cock.

Jack, with straight dark, almost black, hair and eyes of a similar shade, was simply too potentially valuable to the captain for him, or indeed any of his crew, to molest. The man knew that he would at present instead simply have to confine himself to platonic appreciation of the boy's beauty after the child had eventually finished drying himself.

This visual delight now came quickly. Despite Jack's shy inhibitions and concerns about the nature of the captain's grin, he finally plucked up enough courage, after briefly delaying by pretending to still be towelling his already dry body, to advise that he was ready to be examined.

"Good," the captain responded. He subsequently stood up from his chair and advanced towards Jack. However, on his arrival at the boy's side, however, the child was still clinging to the towel, which remained wrapped round him, albeit not for long.

In reaction to this display of residual shyness, the captain simply roughly pulled the towel away and threw it to the floor, thereby fully revealing the underlying young beauty. However, in startled instinctive reaction, Jack instantly covered his genitals protectively with his hands.

The captain, though, had anticipated such a reaction. With equal rapidity, he knocked Jack's hands back to the boy's sides.

"How can I possibly examine you properly if you're covering things?" the captain simultaneously asked. He subsequently firmly commanded, whilst his lustful eyes began to feast on the glorious young form in front of him, "Now, keep your arms at your sides and stay still!"

The captain then happily confirmed, amidst his careful and prolonged visual appreciation of Jack's naked form, that, with the surface grime now washed away, the boy was indeed immensely beautiful.

Chapter Thirty Two – Preparation

(Northern Mozambique, summer 1850)

In the southern hemisphere, summer reigned in contrast to the winter in New York. However, this made little difference to the weather in northern Mozambique for, other than for the occasional heavy tropical rainfall experienced, climatic conditions tended to be always sunny and very hot throughout the year.

Gambo now concluded his stamping of the demeaning Arabic lettering on James' back, just above the 11 year-old's delectably curvaceous buttocks, each of which was now decorated by the branded tribal emblem of the leaping cheetah. The 13 year-old black boy subsequently covered his younger white charge's naked body with the special glistening oil that efficiently protected his exposed flesh from both the strong outside sunlight and the interest of flying insects.

Gambo then fitted James with a minuscule loincloth, similar to his own. The skimpy garment was of the same dark hide, was much smaller than those worn by the other ordinary villagers who were not slaves and, unlike theirs, also did not possess an underlying thong or rear flap.

Consequently, James found that, as with Gambo's, the sparse garment embarrassingly only just hid his genitals. He therefore appreciated in shame that, as with the black boy, his sexual organs could readily be observed when he moved if an observer was at the right angle at the side.

James also realised that the same shameful sight could be seen if his motion was sufficiently energetic to cause the front flap to rise temporarily upwards. The latter embarrassing phenomenon could, of course, additionally occur in windy weather.

Gambo detected James' unease in wearing the minuscule loincloth, which would be the only clothing that he would be permitted in future and was in marked contrast to his previous comprehensive covering, namely the attire of a young English gentleman. However, the latter was no longer the white boy's status for he was now just the slave of a black African chieftain.

As a result of detecting James' unease, 13 year-old Gambo had attempted to relax his younger white charge by suggesting in his broken but understandable English "No worry. You soon get used to little cover. Anyway, cooler in heat!"

"I suppose that you're right about the loincloth being cooler to wear in this climate," James had replied, "than my normal shirt and britches. However, I don't think that I'll ever become accustomed to being virtually naked in public!"

Gambo did not respond to James' comment, as he felt that he could not in actuality properly assess the white boy's future attitudes to his radical change in status and the associated permanent loss of most clothing. The young black slave's own background of longstanding servility had truly made him accustomed to the debasement of only being permitted the skimpiest of attire.

James' own past was completely different, being one of relative privilege and wealth and, within the limits of an English Victorian childhood, much spent at boarding school, freedom. The white boy might therefore indeed, as he had suggested, never become accustomed to such degradation as being regularly exhibited virtually naked in public. However, what the young black slave did know was that his younger charge would have to accept and endure such humiliations compliantly or suffer severely or even die.

Now being afraid for James' future welfare, if the white boy did not immediately accept his fate and adapt compliantly to his new role, Gambo next advised him in his broken English "Well, if no get used to state of dress, just be brave and endure shame. Also always be good obedient slave or suffering will be terrible."

As Gambo issued these wise words of advice, he simultaneously carefully visually checked James' overall appearance. The black boy again decided that he very much liked what he saw, which caused the already noticeable bulge at the front of his own minuscule loincloth to increase in size.

Meanwhile, James briefly contemplated Gambo's sage counsel before sensibly replying "Don't worry. I'll try my best to be brave and endure what I have to, including being an obedient slave."

The advice was difficult for James to accept. However, he nevertheless believed that compliance was correct, with his submissive attitude aided by having previously been an observer of the suffering of the other young black slave, who had been whipped and then sodomised by a hound.

James also readied himself to demonstrate immediately his compliance with the advice. By the time that Gambo concluded his preparation by removing the chain connecting the wrist manacles of his younger charge, although not that linking the ankles, the perceptive white boy had realised what was about to happen.

James recognised that he was now about to make his first public appearance as the black African chieftain's new white slaveboy.

Chapter Thirty Three - Examination

(New York, USA, winter 1850)

The sailing ship captain's own cock, safely hidden within his scruffy trousers, was already hard and throbbing when he began to examine Jack's gorgeous naked body, which he so much wanted to molest. However, the man had always been more interested in money than sex and so managed to curb his sore temptation.

The captain instead contented himself with enjoying the immense delight of carefully visually and manually scrutinising Jack's freshly washed nude form. He began by running his excited hands through the boy's silky straight black hair and down the sides of the child's face and neck before checking the strength of his lithe young arms.

The captain's hands subsequently gently rode over Jack's chest, lingering momentarily at each rosy nipple, before venturing further downward towards his belly. The boy then felt a fingernail carefully poke his cute navel.

The blushing and deeply embarrassed Jack did wonder in his innocence whether such comprehensive humiliating manhandling, from a man who was clearly enjoying his task because his strange grin had been maintained, was really necessary. However, as the slow intimate process remorselessly continued, he felt disinclined to query the situation with the captain because he so much wanted the job of cabinboy.

Jack therefore just suffered his shame in silence, whilst wishing that his embarrassment would soon end, with the captain confirming that he was healthy enough to be his new cabinboy. However, his humiliation now only worsened even more.

The captain actually apologised to Jack when he began next to fondle the boy's completely smooth and hairless genitals, which were very nicely proportioned for his age. "I'm sorry that I have to do this," the man lied, whilst secretly becoming even more excited at holding the young sexual organs, "but I have to check that you're not suffering from any infection here or from a hernia."

To maintain this pretence, the captain initially gently pulled back the foreskin on Jack's uncircumcised penis, apparently in order to check the healthiness of the revealed cockhead but in reality just because the man enjoyed doing so. Whilst also later gently grasping the boy's nicely dangling smooth scrotum in his palm, he simultaneously requested "Now, please cough."

The now fiercely blushing Jack had never heard of hernias and considered the captain's latest instruction to be very strange. Nevertheless, the boy complied with the unusual request.

Only after the captain eventually let go of Jack's genitals, with his reluctance to do so reflected in a reduction of the grin on his face, did the boy finally notice that his own cock had embarrassingly grown. Although he had occasionally encountered such a phenomenon previously, generally associated with a pleasant tingling sensation in his groin, he had not known the cause, being very naïve about sex.

Jack's current sexual innocence also extended to the fact that he had not yet learnt to play with his cock to make his enjoyment even greater. Masturbation was a term that he had never yet heard, let alone practised.

The fact that the strange phenomenon of a hardening cock had reoccurred now, after the captain had fondled him, caused a sharp intensification in Jack's embarrassment at his current debasing situation. This exacerbation of the boy's already acute shame also resulted in a further deepening of the redness displayed by his normally gorgeous face.

The captain was conversely delighted to observe Jack's display of sexual liveliness, as such an attribute should add to his future value. However, the man naturally did not convey his thoughts to the vehemently blushing boy but instead continued to act with as much superficial false nonchalance as he could muster, given the intense personal pleasure that he was presently secretly experiencing.

Reluctantly departing from Jack's lovely genitals, the captain's hands next ventured to check his lithe legs and feet before instructing the thoroughly abashed boy to turn around. The 11 year-old again reluctantly complied and was soon rewarded by manly fingers gently roaming over all his bare back before lingering on his curvaceous bottom.

Jack now noticed that his own cock, which had just returned to shamed flaccidity after finally being denied the captain's manual fondling, began to grow again, as the man's hands instead carefully felt and sometimes gently kneaded his buttocks. The boy was subsequently contemplating this further deep embarrassment when he was commanded to "Bend over, with your legs wide apart, as I also need to check your anus for infection."

Jack then felt that his humiliation must be complete when, after once more reluctantly complying, he felt the captain's fingers gently test the lips of his anal entrance. Nevertheless, the boy's cock, now at full shaming erection, visibly quivered at the touch on his pink sphincter.

The captain noticed this penile reaction. Jack's genitals were, after all, again now nicely presented for his scrutiny because the organs were dangling between the boy's splayed legs, just below the delightful bent-over bottom that the man was inspecting.

The captain was, of course, once more pleased with this further display of Jack's libidinous liveliness. The man astutely appreciated the boy's current sexual innocence but also recognised, from such evidence, that his young body was on the brink of pubescence and greater sensual maturity.

The captain now happily privately thought of an appropriate metaphor. He believed that Jack was like a precious ripening fruit, one that would soon blossom and be ready for plucking and sale in the appropriate market for consumption.

The captain, from his copious years of commercial seafaring, knew about many of the world's great markets, trading in all sorts of merchandise. Included amongst this comprehensive knowledge was an emporium where a certain type of precious ripe fruit could be sold very lucratively indeed.

The captain was, of course, currently not principally checking Jack for possible anal infection. The man was instead assuring himself about a very important and valuable attribute that he wanted the boy to have, which, if intact, he would need to protect from his libidinous crew during the imminent voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to North Africa.

The captain was now most happy to note that the sought attribute was indeed still intact, for Jack retained his highly precious anal virginity.

Chapter Thirty Four - Mortification

(Northern Mozambique, summer 1850)

Gambo finally escorted James out of the small windowless hut of mud and thatch, which had been allocated to the white boy and was situated behind the chieftain's much bigger and grander version. The latter was sinisterly decorated at the front by an array of human skulls.

Gambo escorted James past the stockades adjacent to one side of the chieftain's hut. Another brief cacophony of bellowing simultaneously arose from the now suddenly sexually aroused animals inside, which had smelt the delicious aroma of a lovely white boy.

Being well-trained in beastiality, in which the animals invariably acted as the dominant males with young humans as their passive partners, the creatures had momentarily wondered whether they were being brought a treat. However, they quickly realised their mistake, as the prospective largesse was instead led into the semi-circular open area of compacted soil beyond, and so they soon quietened once more.

This semi-circular open area in front of the chieftain's hut was already surrounded by most of the villagers, respectfully keeping as usual to the perimeter. The men, women and children concerned cheered on observing James appear before them, albeit clearly not affectionately.

The villagers were instead cheering because they were extremely pleased and amused to see the strange sight of a boy with, to them, unprecedented and therefore very precious white skin displaying the garb and bodily adornments, including the brandmarks, of a tribal slave. They felt honoured that they now had such a possession, even if at first he would undoubtedly be the utility of their chieftain. However, such pride did not prevent them from currently greeting him with mocking disdain for, after all, his status had clearly sunk severely from what he had once been.

James felt the mockery in the villagers' cheering. This in turn again made the white boy acutely aware of the shame of his skimpy attire, of the black iron slave rings attached to his neck, wrists, ankles and, most humiliatingly, his genitals and of his brandmarks, which were clearly visible on his pale skin. His sense of deep mortification was exacerbated by having to walk with a rather slow shuffling motion because of the chains still linking the manacles on his feet.

The fact that the villagers had already seen James completely naked, without the puny benefit of the skimpy cover provided by his minuscule loincloth, was of little use in allaying his intense mortified feeling. Despite the prevalent intense heat radiating down from the merciless overhead sun, this sense of abject shame instead now caused goosepimples to form on the boy's young glistening body. This physical sign of mental unease was also quickly exacerbated by some of the other sights within the semi-circular open area.

There were the two stakes between which James had been chained spreadeagled for his branding. There were also the four metal rings firmly embedded in the compressed soil, which appeared to represent another sinister bondage position.

The sharp narrow bloodied spike of black wood, vertically jutting out to about waist-height from a pit, which was covered by strong basketwork trapdoors, was additionally still present. So too, in the very centre of the semi-circular open area, was the short round rod of very shiny polished ebony, with curved top about two inches in diameter, which protruded approximately a foot from the ground.

Gambo led James before the chieftain's currently unoccupied basketwork throne, which was on its low wooden pedestal. The back of the seat was painted with the dark insignia of the leaping cheetah, as was the upper front of the platform, close to where the enthroned tribal leader would soon place his feet.

As James began to stand before the throne, he again felt horrified at the sight of the two human skulls adorning each side of the top of the chair's backrest. However, such distaste was short-lived because his mind suddenly refocused instead on the increased volume in the derisive cheering around him, particularly from behind.

The reason for this increased volume was, of course, the fact that James, who had turned around to face the chieftain's throne, had now fully displayed his bare branded bottom to the majority of the accumulated crowd of villagers behind him. They had previously only seen the white boy approach from his loincloth-covered front and the sight now of his pale naked buttocks, marked with the tribal emblem, clearly delighted many of the gleeful spectators.

James recognised the immensely demeaning reason for the increased cheering but, of course, could do nothing to alleviate his humiliation. The very intelligent boy also fully appreciated that worse shame was to come, despite the fact that Gambo had not briefed or instructed him about the clearly imminent ceremony.

James assumed that Gambo had considered such briefing and instruction to be unnecessary because the new white slaveboy would receive the relevant information during the impending rituals. The 11 year-old's presumption was to be proved correct.

James' sense of acute degradation, at being virtually naked in public, with the intensely humiliating bodily adornments and markings denoting his new slave status visible to all and being simultaneously subject to loud mockery, was exacerbated when Gambo now left him. The black boy departed to enter the nearby hut of the chieftain.

James' exacerbated feeling of degradation resulting from Gambo abandoning him actually had little to do with the young black slave himself. The white boy instead just felt even more shamed because he had been left alone before the chieftain's throne without any guards.

James' chances of escape from his present circumstances were, of course, less than minimal. The boy was lost in a vast, strange and inhospitable country, virtually naked, with his ankles chained together, and surrounded by unfriendly people intent on keeping him as their property. Nevertheless, standing alone before the chieftain's throne without anyone to guard him appeared to him to be highly symbolic of the recent radical diminution in his status and his apparently timid acceptance of the situation.

The very reality that he just stood there compliantly in his new slave regalia, with no guards at his shoulders and clearly ready to perform obediently whatever ritual was imminently required of him instead of attempting to escape, seemed to symbolise to James that he had truly accepted his debasement. The current intensifying of the boy's sense of mortification stemmed from the fact that there were so many witnesses to his abject subservience.

James' mind, however, suddenly switched from recognition of the apparent degrading symbolism of the moment when he instead again quickly refocused on other matters. On this occasion, the boy's mental functions now changed to concentrate on the appearance from the nearby hut of the tribal chieftain and his seemingly usual ceremonial entourage.

As James had witnessed previously, when in the company of his beloved but now lost twin, John, Gambo led the ceremonial procession, carrying the pole on which was affixed the large wooden silhouette of the leaping cheetah. The tall chieftain followed, attired in his brown loin-skin skirt, which extended to his knees, and colourful round cloth cap.

James could not now momentarily prevent himself from admiring the chieftain's physique. The body of the tribal leader, apart his potbelly, looked impressively fit for someone over 70 years of age.

James again noticed that the hair on the chieftain's head was white, in stark contrast to the deep blackness of his skin, but fulsome. The similar hirsute covering on the man's broad chest was still adorned by a golden medallion depicting the leaping cheetah, whilst multiple tight-fitting strings of little cylindrical beads of many hues continued to decorate his muscular neck, upper arms, wrists and ankles.

The same group of similarly dressed and adorned younger men and boys as before followed the chieftain in the ceremonial procession and, when he eventually sat on his throne in front of James, they took up standing positions on both sides of their tribal leader. The striking family resemblance between them all again struck the watching white boy.

By now Gambo had again planted his standard into the ready-made hole in the ground behind the chieftain's basketwork throne and, as James had witnessed previously, stepped forward to mount the low pedestal, upon which the chair was mounted, in order to stand next to the seated tribal leader. However, on this occasion, the young black slave did not next address the white boy in his broken English.

Gambo instead glanced down at the emblem of the leaping cheetah embossed into the pedestal near his feet and James immediately appreciated what the gesture was meant to instruct. Nevertheless, the white boy initially hesitated to comply with the unsaid command.

James' hesitation was, however, brief, as Gambo's next glance was clearly at the two sturdy wooden stakes, currently located behind the white boy. Nevertheless, the latter instantly appreciated upon what the young black slave's eyes had focused and why and therefore fully understood the meaning of this fresh gesture.

The new young white English slave of black African masters therefore immediately finally obeyed the original unsaid instruction. James stepped forward to the platform and subsequently sank to his knees. He then bent forward to kiss the embossed emblem of the flying cheetah in symbolic subservient homage to the chieftain and his tribe.

In the process, Jack uplifted with almost equal mortification and significance his branded bare bottom to the full scrutiny of all those watching from behind.

Chapter Thirty Five - Temptation

(New York, USA, winter 1850)

"You look very smart, cabinboy," the contrastingly scruffy sailing ship captain complimented Jack, as he now inspected the freshly washed and dressed boy. By this time, the man had fully realised the difficulty of the personal task ahead in attempting to prevent the child's molestation by a sex-starved crew whilst at sea and on the long voyage to North Africa.

The captain wanted Jack on arrival in North Africa to still be what he clearly currently was, namely a rather innocent and naïve virgin. The man had just checked the latter particularly lucrative attribute when recently intimately inspecting the boy's naked body, ostensibly to ensure the child's fitness to be the youngest member of his crew but actually to verify his likely value for another function in life entirely.

The captain appreciated that all he could realistically do in the circumstances to prevent any prospective unfortunate loss in Jack's value at his crew's wanton hands and cocks was to keep the boy as close as possible to him. At the same time, he would have to watch his men like hawks and regularly remind them of the consequences of disobeying orders to leave the child alone. The latter would include a severe whipping and the loss of a certain special bonus payment on conclusion of their imminent voyage to North Africa.

The captain also realised that he somehow had to keep his own hands and cock off Jack, despite the regular temptations that would also undoubtedly affect him on the imminent voyage.

Chapter Thirty Six – Consideration

(Northern Mozambique, summer 1850)

As James performed his humiliating homage, he fully realised the significance of the moment. The white boy's public obeisance was to symbolise to all, not least himself, that he was now truly a submissive tribal slave, who had accepted his situation. His act of degrading deference was as much indicative of his new servile status as his demeaning sparse attire and bodily adornments and markings.

After James eventually regained his feet, Gambo, having assumed a position on the platform to one side of the chieftain's basketwork throne, gestured the white boy towards a similar station on the other. The new slave was clearly initially to perform the same function as the young black, namely being an attendant minion for the tribal leader.

The perceptive James also correctly guessed that part of the reason for him being allocated such a, for a tribal slave, prominent function was to enable the chieftain constantly to show off his precious new trophy, namely the recently acquired very pretty young boy with unusual white skin. Having lost some of his sexual naivety, he additionally now recognised in shame where the necessarily relatively intimate role would probably ultimately lead.

James' consideration of this disturbing future was further stimulated when his mind now again thought back to the poor black boy who had been sodomised by the huge hound in the nearby stockade. As he remembered this shocking scene, he could also not resist briefly glancing at the groin of the now adjacent chieftain.

The chieftain's skirt, of course, currently covered his groin. Nevertheless, James could additionally not now resist momentarily giving some consideration to what must lay under this covering.

James' worried mind visualised a presently quiescent black manly cock that was probably looking forward soon to deflowering, when in full rampant form, a certain nearby white slaveboy.

Chapter Thirty Seven – Perspiration

(Northern Mozambique, summer 1850)

The mind of James' twin, John, was worried too. However, this white boy's immediate concern related to the fact that he believed that his current almost overwhelming physical exhaustion meant that he would soon be unable to walk anymore.

John was, in fact, presently staggering more than walking, as he attempted to keep up with the line of similarly naked young black captives, of both genders, who were destined, like him, for the slave markets of Zanzibar. The heavily perspiring white boy also appreciated that his anticipated imminent collapse through utter exhaustion would probably bring him personal disaster.

John would probably not just be subsequently dragged for at least several paces by the momentum of the line of human merchandise, to which he was linked by chain and of which he comprised the rear, thereby probably inflicting bruising and grazing on his naked form. He believed that he was also likely to be beaten by the Arab merchant's black African guards for being such a clumsy weakling. The white boy had somehow, and in his opinion miraculously, managed to avoid such a disaster so far but he believed that his luck was about to end.

Fortunately for John, though, the caravan, of which he formed the very end, unexpectedly came to a sudden halt, just when he believed that he would not be able to stagger for more than another few paces. The boy was naturally very pleased about this development but, not knowing the reason, he also worried that the respite might only be brief, with the convoy soon beginning to move again, which would undoubtedly prove disastrous for him.

John's worries were in fact only partly correct. The caravan did indeed quickly begin to move again. However, the naked white boy now no longer formed the rear.

The Arab merchant had as usual been driving his covered ox-drawn wagon at the front of his long caravan. Consequently, he could not actually see the naked white boy who was at the rear of the convoy. However, his senior guard had regularly kept him informed about the progress of his most valuable recent acquisition.

The Arab merchant knew full well that the white boy, who was clearly unaccustomed to the climate and to toiling under the unrelentingly hot overhead sun, would be unable to match in this environment the stamina of the black captives, who were much more acclimatised to such experiences. The trader also had no intention of causing harm to his most precious property.

The Arab merchant's attitude naturally had nothing to do with any compassion for John, who to him was a mere commodity to be sold for the highest possible price. However, the man did appreciate this particular trading item's potential considerable market value.

Black slaves were commonplace in the markets in which the Arab merchant traded and their prices reflected this reality. However, white ones, especially young pretty children, were exceedingly rare and therefore highly valuable, but only if delivered to the auction block in reasonably good condition.

The Arab merchant's monetary interests were therefore best served if he did not allow John to come to any real harm. Consequently, after his senior guard had reported that the clearly distressed white boy was on the point of collapse, the trader ordered his caravan to halt.

The Arab merchant had only ordered John to be attached to the line of the black captives in the first place to help break his spirit. The trader was fully aware that the white boy detested being separated from his twin and would initially have done anything in his power to ensure a reunion, including attempting to escape in order to return to the black African settlement.

The Arab merchant therefore concluded that he should ensure that not only was such escape physically impossible but also his own white boy's mental spirit was broken, with his mind solely refocused on personal survival. The trader additionally believed that his aims could be further aided if John considered that his continued wellbeing was entirely dependent on the man's compassion and felt beholden for such mercy.

John's initial treatment alongside the black captives was part of these physical and psychological processes. The white boy later being mercifully rescued from his desperate dire situation to sit instead in the relative comfort of the back of the Arab merchant's covered wagon was a continuance.

The Arab merchant, dressed in the rather dirty and tatty robe that he wore when travelling, had personally dismounted from his wagon to walk to the rear of his caravan. As he proceeded, he passed his train of camels and mules, which were tethered together, laden with goods and luggage and protected by his black guards, attired only in loincloths.

The Arab merchant eventually arrived in front of the still heavily perspiring John, whom he ordered released and transferred to his wagon. The boy was subsequently not reluctant to go to this portable refuge but his utter exhaustion meant that two of the black guards virtually had to carry him there.

John, as he next sat in the back of the now once more moving wagon, recovering from his exhaustion, could not believe his good fortune. Having been on the brink of disaster, the boy was now thankfully not only excused from marching but also was resting and shaded from the overhead sun, albeit with his wrists and ankles still manacled together. He had also been granted water.

John, whose perspiration was now lessening but would not entirely disappear because of the prevailing heat, realised that the Arab merchant had clearly somehow become aware of his predicament and rescued him. The boy was naturally very grateful and was also now content not to do anything that might jeopardise the trader's compassion.

In adopting this passive attitude, John was, of course, falling into the psychological trap laid by the astute Arab merchant. The boy was now proceeding compliantly towards his revised destiny.

In doing so, John nevertheless still naturally had regular sentimental thoughts about his beloved twin. However, just as the Arab merchant had planned, the boy now never harboured any aspirations to attempt to escape from his current plight to be reunited with James.

John instead just sat gratefully and quietly in the back of the covered wagon, as he travelled towards whatever fate now had in store for him.

Chapter Thirty Eight - Profanation

(Northern Mozambique, summer 1850)

At the same time but now quite a distance away, James was feeling both very uncomfortable and bored. The boy's physical unease resulted from having to stand as still as possible in his humiliatingly sparse attire and bodily adornments under the very hot overhead sun. His mental tedium stemmed from having to be witness to many audiences granted by the chieftain to fellow tribesmen.

These audiences were regular occurrences, held to enable tribesmen to petition their chieftain over many issues, ranging from marriages to disputes. Such matters might have been boring to James in their own right. However, the boy's tedium was exacerbated by not yet knowing the language in which the topics were discussed.

James also eventually became almost as exhausted as John had been almost simultaneously but conversely from lack of motion rather than an excess of such activity. The boy's mind additionally began to drift and he started to feel a bit dizzy.

James began to feel that he might faint. However, the boy was suddenly unexpectedly stimulated into not only full alertness but also movement and loud squealing.

James suddenly jumped from his place on the platform adjacent to the enthroned chieftain, whilst uttering a surprised yelp. The boy's action shocked everyone, not least himself, and brought the current tribal audience to a halt.

The reason for such an instinctive display of, given the circumstances of the tribal audiences, irreverent indiscipline was actually currently evident on James' bare bottom, to where the boy's hands now belatedly protectively strayed. The reddish mark of a recent harsh pinch was visible on his left buttock.

Meanwhile, the expression on the 10 year-old face of one of the chieftain's young grandsons, who had furtively taken up a position immediately behind James, was looking distinctly mischievous. His amusement was detected by the shocked white boy, who had turned round in front of the platform on which the chieftain was enthroned in order to attempt to identify the culprit who had pinched his bottom. However, the young victim suddenly realised in trepidation that it would not be the perpetrator of the offence who would now suffer.

All eyes were currently focused on James, who perceptively appreciated from the clearly shocked, insulted and angered expressions of the surrounding villagers, including their chieftain, that they considered that their new white slaveboy had just profaned the tribal gathering by his action. He also somehow knew that they would not be interested in any excuses, regardless of how worthy.

Nevertheless, James attempted to excuse himself and apologise. In trying to do so, the boy addressed Gambo, who was the only other person around who could speak English.

"I'm very sorry," James announced, whilst still resting his hands on the sore buttock concerned, "but someone pinched my bum." Gambo, who was again suddenly concerned for the white boy's welfare, immediately translated this explanation for the chieftain.

James now hoped to observe an alteration in the current clearly still shocked, insulted and angered expression on the chieftain's face, perhaps to one of amusement, which might denote forgiveness. Unfortunately, no such change materialised.

The chieftain instead maintained a furious expression, as he spoke to Gambo. The black boy subsequently translated the tribal leader's response for James, with a look of great reluctance, regret and sympathy on his own face.

"Chieftain reply that there can be no excuses for your badness," Gambo declared in his broken English, "and you must suffer for your wickedness. Punishment will take place now without delay."

"Chieftain say that, as your bottom supposed caused your badness," Gambo worryingly added, "so your bottom now suffer beating!"