It was hot and humid and pouring with rain, as Justin lay on his bunk bed, leafing through an old sports magazine. He was glad it was Sunday afternoon, because if it was any other day, he'd have to go outside and work - despite the miserable weather.
He was feeling restless, and rolled over, lying face down on the bed, and trying to comfortable reading with the magazine on the floor .
Three months at Diamantena Downs had changed him - his muscles now filled out his tight fitting work clothes and his body was deeply tanned from all that outdoor labour. At first he hated it at the station, but gradually he came to be friends with all the other jackaroos, and he learned to respect the discipline that would be given out, if he didn't do his work as expected.
"_d_a_m_n_ it's so hot" he muttered, pulling his shirt off and flopping back down on the bed. It felt good to have his sweating skin against the cool bed sheets. His thoughts continued to wander as he leafed through the magazine., just enjoying the quiet time alone.
He smiled as he heard the rowdy banter of his fellow Jackaroos as they played table tennis in the next room. Jake, the senior jackarroo was clearly winning, and the others were complaining loudly and jovially.
He heard Jake's voice yelling - "What - so none of you blokes are prepared to bet on my skill huh ?? ... too scared of loosing ?". Justin wondered what was going on as Jake was drowned out in a chorus of good natured complaining.
The noise grew as the doors between the rooms swung open and he heard Justin proclaim "well ... I'll just have to see if Justin is the only one man enough .. won't I ?"
Justin looked over to see Jake walk up to him, smiling broadly, and asking "Relaxing are we mate ?"
"Yeah" he nodded, not really feeling like joining in the game.
"Well that's gotta stop" boomed Jake "I need you to come and show those losers next door ....."
"Ummmm ... " started Justin
"C'mon mate " pleaded Jake, with a playful, but hard swat to Justin's backside, "get your arse in gear - you've been moping in here too long !!"
Justin knew that tone of voice all too well, and realised that arguing wouldn't do him any good, so he lifted himself off the bed and followed Jake into the common room. He was welcomed by the other Jackaroos with hearty good cheer and immediately was given an ice-cold beer.
He was handed a table tennis paddle by Andy, who muttered "good luck mate - you'll need it".
Jake picked up his own paddle and said "Ok Jus - it's real simple we'll play penalty ping-pong. None of these wusses were man enough, but I knew you'd be up for it "
"Penalty ping pong ???" asked Justin to the smirking group of men "what is that ?"
"We play each round as normal and the loser has to pay the penalty determined by the winner .. or we'll think up something nasty to do with this" replied Jake with a grin, as he waved the paddle around menacingly.
"WHAT ??" said Justin, "you've got to be kidding - I'm not doing that ". He looked around at all the others guys - grinning at him.
Jake looked at him seriously "What, not man enough mate ?".
"Well .. er .. no ...."
"What then - scared of losing ? " Jake asked again
"Not really .. no ..."
"Then that is settled " said Jake with a grin "you'll do it "
Justin looked around the room at the half disguised grins of his mates and realised that he had been set up for this. "Oh OK " he muttered and took a big swig from his beer before taking up his position to take Jake's serve. He couldn't help but smile at the cheering support he got from the others.
As the first volley began he remembered that Jake was an incredible table tennis player, and so he wasn't surprised when the first game wrapped up and .. he was the loser.
"Poor show mate " said Jake, in a mock serious tone "your penalty is to run, dressed as you are now, through the rain, over to the main shed and get a bag of wing nuts for each of us, and bring them back".
Justin looked down at the old pair of cargo shorts he was wearing, along with no shirt or shoes and decided he would take the penalty. To the cheers of his friends he raced across the wide yard and into the shed. He soon found the tray of wing nuts, and put some in a bag for each of his mates but couldn't carry all 7 bags at once , so he raced back with four and then had to make a return trip for the last three.
Justin was soaked as he came into the room with the last three bags. Jake had gone to get him a towel and gave it to him with a smile saying "Dry off and we can play round two".
The second game, the third game and the fourth game all went Jake's way and so Justin was forced to make up a poem and recite it , do 50 press ups and finally go to the main house and beg the Boss for some more beers for the jackaroos.
The guys were all cheering as Justin struggled through the rain again, only semi-dressed and with sore arms from press-ups. holding a case of beers.
He was given a towel to dry off.
"Jake .. mate" he said, looking up at Jake practicing his back-hand, "look that's enough don't you think ?"
"Awww don't give up now mate" cheered Andy "just while your on a good losing streak"
"Ha .. bloody ha" said Justin, "Look Jake .. I'm just getting tired of the game .. that's all".
"Oh .. are we boring you" sneered Jake, with a teasing grin.
The other guys, who had opened the beer case as well as enough bottles for all, joined to create a chorus of jeering, fueled by the liberal amount of beer consumed in the room. As he laughed at the onslaught Justin could make out : "oh no !! .... hate for YOU to be bored .... relax mate ... don't worry about us ... we're not upset .... " as the group descended into laughter.
As the laughter died down, Andy said "Well let's make poor ol' Jus less bored". At that he lunged for Justin and tackled him to the ground. Justin yelped in surprise "Heeey ....." before laughing as his friend started to drunkenly try and pin him down. With a cheer the other guys leapt on them, making a pile of guys all squirming and laughing as they all wrestled, tickled and punched Justin and each other.
Jake stood back from the pile of Jackaroos, laughing at the ridiculous sight. He watched them squirm and poked and kicked at any targets that presented themselves . That always rewarded him with a startled "owww !". Finally the top guys stood up and Jake smiled as he saw a giggling Justin pinned down by Andy on one side, and Scotty on the other.
Jake stood over them with an evil grin.
"Well done boys " boomed Jake "you've caught the WUSS who wouldn't keep playing and manfully losing to superior skill ".
The other guys, panting and swigging from their beers - cheered at this declaration.
Justin looked about, and squirmed to try and get up. "Hey let go guys !" he complained.
Jake shook his head and said "No way mate - you've got to pay the penalty for not playing."
"Jeez... ok ..ok " muttered Jus, trying to get loose, "I'll play the stupid game !!!"
"Too late " intoned the grinning Jake, swigging from his beer. He then turned to Andy and Scotty, who were both laughing at Justin's attempts to get free, and said "ok boys, stand him up."
Justin stood slowly, guided by his two mates - he decided there was no point in arguing and he seemed to have little choice but to go through whatever it was they had in mind. So he didn't struggle, and grinned at the group looking on.
Jake said "You have two choices for penalty - you can go outside and plant a small vegetable garden right now .. or ...swig a whole bottle of beer in one go AND enjoy a surprise afterwards .... "
Justin took one look outside at the rain and decided he would rather take the beer and risk the surprise. He said so.
He was immediately handed a big bottle of beer which had been shaken, so it sprayed all over him as he opened it. He laughed along with the others and drank deeply from it, as the group egged him on, and the cheered as he finished the last drop. Justin lifted his arms in triumph as his mates played tribute to his "skill".
Jake called them all to be quiet. "Now for the surprise" he said, holding up the ping pong paddle. he pointed it at the table and said "Bend over the table mate - you're getting your backside swatted !!!"
The whole group cheered and jostled Justin forwards, as he tried to protest , and soon he bumped his thigh into the edge of the table and he felt his "mates" pushing him over. With a sigh he again decided to accept his fate and bent over, muttering "I'll get you blokes for this !!! " The group cheered and moved to the sides and Jake stepped forward, paddle in hand.
Jake smiled at the sight of Justin's muscular butt presented for swatting, in those shorts, which were still damp and clung to his buns. Jake felt the familiar stirring in his groin that he always got before giving one of the guys a spanking.
He stepped towards Justin, drew back and gave three sharp SWAAATS to his butt .
"Hey !!!" complained Justin, looking around and half standing "that hurts !!" He reached back to rub his butt.
Jake grab his wrists and pushed him back over the table and gave three more, harder SWAAAATS to that butt. "Aww poor Jus is getting a sore bum " he mocked.
Justin winced as another three SWAAATS hit his butt ,saying "ok ..ok let's get it over with then ".
Jake paused and said "OK mate .. if that's what you want ." He then reached around and pulled Justin's shorts down. At the same time, Jake was keeping pressure on Justin's back so that he couldn't stand.
"Waaait" yelped Justin, as the other Jackaroos cheered at the sight of their mate's bare butt.
"What are you complaining about " said Jake "it'll be over sooner this way !!!"
"... but ... " started Justin, ready to complain, before yelping as the SWAAAATS started. Fast and frequent the stinging paddle whacked into his butt cheeks. "Wait ... Jake " he said, laughing " ease up mate !!" The others (most sporting tenting of their shorts or jeans) cheered as the swaats continued. Andy reached over and gave Justin a bottle of beer to sip on, as he lay there taking his swats. This set Justin off into a fit of laughter ....
" ... c'mon guys...." Justin said, laughing " . enough's enough ...." as the stinging swats whacked into his butt, but didn't hurt enough to bother him instead he could feel his own hard-on growing, but lost count of the rapid swats. He drank from the beer .
Jake smiled as he pounded Jus's buns, his own jeans tenting very obviously - the city wuss was taking it well !!. With a final 10 hard swats he declared "Penalty paid !!" to cheers from the others.
Justin stood, with tears in his eyes - half from laughter and half from the pain, and pulled his shorts up over his red buns, gently giving them a rub, as the others laughed, and came to congratulated him on taking it so well.
As they joked around with Justin, the group began to get restless again . In the hot, humid rain storm - there was nothing to do except play games and drink, and these guys had a head of steam up that needed to be released.
Justin was feeling it too - he was sweating, excited and needed to get out and do something to work off that energy !! Then he had his brain wave, and said: "Let's play a game of indoor touch footy !!"
The other guys looked around in surprise and realised (in their slightly drunk haze) that a game of footy would be the perfect thing to do. They grabbed a football from their bunk room and all headed over to the equipment shed - where there was the biggest indoor space on the station.
They decided that it was going to be three on three playing, with Jake acting as referee.
Justin, Scotty and Andy were to be the "skins" team and pulled their wet, sweaty shirts off, while Brett, Charlie and Archie kept theirs on.
Somehow, Jake found a whistle, and soon the whole group were standing in the middle of the equipment shed. They had to shift some of the machinery around to make room. Soon they had enough space.
Jake blew the whistle and they were off !!!! The guys ran and back and forth in a furious game, laughing and cheering loudly.
Charlie had brought over one of the cases of beer and the stereo, and so the guys had a party, playing a bit of footy, having a few drinks and then some more footy. They had the music up loud and so didn't hear when the rain had passed and the skies cleared. Nor did they notice when Bill Fraser opened the shed door and looked in.
What he saw was: his equipment in disarray, beer cans scattered all over the shed in a mess, and his jackaroos playing a very dangerous game running around expensive equipment with sharp edges.
The boss walked into the room and pulled the power cord for the stereo from the wall.
The guys had been intent on their game and hadn't noticed him, looked around scowling.
"Awww Bosss !!!!!!" they complained.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE !!!!" he shouted.
Jake stepped forward "Umm .. we were just passing the time during the rain Boss"
"It stopped raining an hour ago you knuckle-heads" said the Boss "didn't Justin pass on the message".
Justin groaned as they all looked at him, he slapped his hand against his forehead and said "Uh ... no Boss .. I forgot. "
Fraser looked disgusted "You FORGOT ???" he said, "jeez Justin ... look guys what you were supposed to hear from Justin when he got you that extra beer was that the rain was forecast to ease soon and we'd need you guys to go up to the dam and sand-bag it to prevent flooding - we've been wondering where you all were !!!"
"Oh no " moaned Jake "c'mon then guys, let's get up there and lend a hand"
"I was going to ask you, Jake, to bring the tractor up there - but a think you're not in any state to drive- so I'll drive it up there myself" said the Boss, in an irritated tone.
He looked around the group and said " Ok, Jake and Justin had better wait for me in my office, while the rest of you get your work clothes on and run up to the dam and get to work - I'll be along soon with the tractor and more sandbags.
It was a subdued group of guys the raced over to the bunk room to pull their wet short and off and get into work gear. They felt for poor Justin and Jake who would be skinned alive by the boss, and paused to look at each other silently as they heard raised voices and the sound of a cane impacting a backside from the Boss's office. They couldn't wait around to find out what happened and so they ran from the bunk room as soon as they were ready and raced up the hill to join the effort at the dam.
Meanwhile, Jake had fumed as he and Justin trudged over to the Boss's office. Justin was really upset and kept apologising "Oh God I am so sorry mate - I really am" he kept repeating. Jake couldn't trust himself to speak and so just stayed silent - he was annoyed at Justin and furious at himself for letting things get out of hand.
The two of them waited nervously in front of the Boss's desk.
They both flinched as the door opened and slammed and Bill Fraser stalked in. "Jeez guys - I need this like a hole in the head".
Justin blurted out "I am so sorry boss - it was just with all, the drinking and playing around and the bet and everything it just slipped my mind when I got back to our room".
The Boss looked at Justin - "You are going to be a lot sorrier mate - I can't let this pass."
Jake also looked up red-faced and said " It was really my fault Boss - I let the drinking get out of hand. "
"You bet you did" thundered the Boss "I am really disappointed in what has happened here today, after such a long period of exemplary work from all the guys. "
Justin and Jake nodded in agreement and looked at their shoes like naughty schoolboys - feeling terrible.
"Now we are all needed up there to help with the work - so I don't have time to give you guys the punishments you deserve, so I'll just give you a taste now."
Justin and Jake looked up again and gulped.
The boss pulled out his big cane from the cupboard and said "Both of you pull your shorts down and bend over the desk, I'll give you 12 each.
The boss watched as the two fit young men pulled their shorts down revealing their muscular backsides . He noticed the redness still apparent in Justin's bum, and realised that he must have been paddled or something. and then as they stretched over his desk, he flexed the cane and practiced his swing.
He lined up on Justin - and tapped the caned across his backside. The Boss swung the cane back and THWWWWWWAAAAAACKED it into his bum. I red welt appeared and Justin grunted softly.
The boss then repeated the stroke on Jake's bum, with the same result.
He then returned to Justin's butt, aimed an few centimetres lower and THWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACKED it again. He repeated the action and Jake's buns.
In his anger the Boss laid the cane on hard, so that after 9, both of the boys were gasping and moaning more loudly - although neither had moved from position, nor cried out. He decide the give each his last three quickfire.
He looked at Justin's butt and aimed low - and tapped once on the crease where the butt meets the thigh. "Hang on Justin, you'll get your last three at once and they'll be hard". He drew the cane back and THWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWACK .... THWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK .... THWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAACKED it on that same painful spot.
Justin gasped at the pain - owww !!!
The Boss aimed at the same spot on Jake's butt and repeated his warning and then swished the cane again - three strokes on the same spot, all hard. Jake managed to stay silent.
"Ok guys - stand" said the boss. Both boys stood slowly and painfully - both had red faces from the ordeal and still looked pained.
"That was the first installment boys" he said " you both should be ashamed of yourselves, now get dressed and run up to the dam and join in the sandbagging. "
With a quick nod the two pulled their pants up, raced to the bunk room and quickly, and painfully changed into work clothes and running as fast as their poor stripped backsides could take them to join in the sandbagging against flooding.
A few of the guys gave them a small smile as they arrived at the site and joined in the work. Andy slapped Justin's butt at one point, to get him to move out of the way and smiled at the poor blokes yelp of pain.
The Jackaroos were hard at work as the Boss arrived with the tractor and they set about saving the dam.
They were successful - but Justin and Jake would have to face up to more punishment.
To be continued