Author's Note: This is by request. As always, I'm open to suggestions. The more votes an idea gets, the quicker I tend to write them.
Background: This is based on the 1960's TV show "Flipper" which aired in the US. It was about two brothers, Sandy, aged 15 and Bud, aged 10 who had made friends with a dolphin. Their father, Porter Ricks, was a Ranger by profession and seemed to be responsible for any number of things that went on in the sea. Flipper was a very intelligent dolphin and often helped get the boys out of sticky situations.
* * * * *
Excitement was high as Ranger Porter Ricks pulled his sleek Chris Craft into the dock. His two sons, Sandy and Bud scrambled out and securely tied the boat to the pilings.
"Gee, Dad!" exclaimed Bud "I still can't believe we found that wreck!"
"Well, let's just keep it under our hats for a day or so, boys. The Lady of Liverpool may have had some valuable cargo. And since it sank during World War I, it may have gone down with explosives on board as well, so we don't want a bunch of fortune hunters poking around out there" his father said.
"We won't tell anybody, Dad" Sandy put in. "Will we Flipper?"
The friendly dolphin poked his head up out of the water and gave a long whistle.
"Flipper says he won't tell, either!" Bud clarified.
Porter Ricks gave a good-natured laugh. "Well, with Flipper helping guard the wreck, everything should be safe. You boys stow all the gear and then meet me at the house."
Bud and Sandy had done this hundreds of times before, and in no time everything was shipshape. They hosed the salt water off their bodies and then went and joined their father. He was starting dinner, and they helped by setting the table. Over dinner they talked about the events of the past few days.
Bud and Sandy had been fishing out by Old Spencer's Reef when Bud had rather carelessly dropped his penknife overboard. Flipper had kindly dived down to retrieve it, but when he came back to the surface (with penknife in mouth) he was clicking in excitement. Sandy had looked down in the waterglass to see what had gotten their friend so excited. Much to his surprise, he was able to make out the outline of what was clearly a sunken ship. It had only been luck that the two boys had anchored right above it. They took sightings on the land, and then went to find their father.
Porter Ricks had come back with them, bringing diving equipment. They had a bit of difficulty finding the site again, but when it was clear that the boys were having trouble, Flipper was able to lead them right to it. Mr. Ricks and Sandy dove down, leaving a very frustrated Bud in the boat. They saw right off that the ship had been down there for several decades. It was not possible to identify it; the name had long since worn away.
But that night, Porter Ricks gotten a list of all the ships that were known to have sunk in the area. Most he could eliminate from consideration right away, and soon had it narrowed down to five possibilities. Two more dives and some more research and now they knew for sure what lay on the ocean floor at Old Spencer's Reef; the Lady of Liverpool, a fast cargo ship that had sunk in a storm during the winter of 1916.
"So what's next, Dad?" Bud asked as they sat down to dinner.
"Well, son, there's a new Port Inspector in town. I have to go and talk to him tomorrow. I've put in a call to the British Maritime Authority in London and asked them to see if they can dig up a manifest for the ship. She sank during the days of Lend-Lease and so it was probably carrying war supplies. I want to know exactly what's down there before we do any serious salvage work."
"So does that mean we'll go back out tomorrow?" Sandy asked.
"No, I'm afraid not Sandy" came the disappointing answer. "I doubt I'll hear from London tomorrow and I'm sure the Port Inspector will want to go look at the wreck before anything more is disturbed, and I can't expect him to just drop everything and run out there with me."
The two boys were a bit let down, but they tried not to show it.
"Anyway," their father continued, "I need you boys to do a few things around here tomorrow. I want you to scrub the bottom of my boat, for one thing."
"O. K., Dad" Sandy said in a resigned voice.
Shortly after supper, Bud went to bed. Sandy soon followed and both boys fell deep into sleep, dreaming about the wreck out on the reef.
*
Bud woke up with the sunlight shining in his eyes. He hopped out of bed and threw on a pair of cutoff blue jeans over his briefs. He looked at himself in the mirror; his reddish-blonde hair was all askew, but he only ran his fingers through it and then went to wake Sandy.
His older brother was still sound asleep and so Bud shook him awake.
"What is it, Bud?" the other boy asked him.
"Get up, sleepy head" his younger brother told him. "I don't hear Dad. He must have gone out already."
"What's the hurry, you dope. It's not like we have anything fun to do today. Dad said he wanted us to work around here."
Bud didn't have any good answer to this, so instead he threw open the curtains, letting the sunlight pour in and stab Sandy in his half-open eyes. Sandy threw his pillow at Bud in disgust as he got up in a huff.
Sandy put on the same outfit as Bud, but he made a bit more of an attempt to get his light blonde hair into order. They went downstairs and got themselves some cereal for breakfast. Dad had left them a note with a list of things that needed doing. The boys sighed as they looked it over; it would take them most of the day to do all this.
After breakfast they got started on their various tasks. There were a few easy ones, and so they did them first. That took an hour or so. Then they started on one of the bigger jobs; polishing the chrome on their dad's boat. This was something that Bud didn't' like to do, and he started whining about it.
"I hate doing this, Sandy" he complained.
"I don't like it either, but we have to" his brother reminded him. "And I'm not doing your half."
Bud did a bit more, but then he put his scrubbing pad down.
"My hand hurts from doing this" he moaned.
Sandy's own hand was a bit stiff so he suggested that they take a break. The two boys sat on the dock. Flipper was absently swimming around; he looked bored, too.
"Can we run into town for a few minutes, Sandy?" Bud asked.
"What for, Bud?" his brother questioned.
"I don't know, let's go get a chocolate bar or something."
Sandy considered it. He was just as bored as Bud. It would only take a short while and Dad wouldn't be home until much later. Even if he came home now, he wouldn't be upset if they weren't gone too long.
"O. K., Bud, let's go" he said as he stood up. "You wait here for us, Flipper."
The dolphin gave them a questioning whistle.
"We won't be gone to long" Sandy assured him.
The two boys grabbed their bikes and rode down to the grocery store. They each bought a soda and a candy bar and sat down on a bench to eat their snack. Two men walked by and Bud's sharp ears picked up something.
"Sandy, I could have sworn that guy just said something about the Lady of Liverpool" he whispered to his brother.
"That's impossible, Bud"
"I tell you, I heard it!" Bud insisted.
"Well, we better follow them, then" Sandy replied.
The two men had gone around to the side of the store building and were standing by a black car. The two boys carefully poked their heads around the corner.
"So you got the information on her?" one of the men, a tall, dark haired man in his late thirties was saying.
"Yes, I've confirmed it" said his companion; a shorter, balding man in his fifties. "The Lady of Liverpool went down with a safe full of gold ingots"
"Sunken treasure," the dark haired man said. "Who'd believe it?"
"Many people would" the balding guy answered. "We'd better move on it right away or someone else will hear about it and then it will be gone. We can't allow that."
"No, I guess not. Is everything ready?"
"So I'm told. The boat's all loaded, so we can be there inside of an hour. Once we have the safe up, there's no hurry about anything."
:Well, let's go, then!" the dark haired man said as he opened the car door.
The other man got in, too and they sped off towards the docks.
"Sandy, did you hear that!" Bud asked. "There's gold on the wreck and those guys are going to steal it! We have to go find Dad!"
"But, Bud, we don't even know where he is. And there isn't time to find him, those bandits are going out to the wreck now. We have to stop them ourselves."
"How are we going to do that?" Bud asked.
"I don't know yet, but let's go!" Sandy said as he ran to his bike.
Pedaling furiously, the boys got back to their house in no time. They ran out on the dock and jumped into their 13 foot Boston Whaler.
"C'mon Flipper!" Sandy said to their aquatic friend, "Some bad guys are trying to steal stuff from the wreck!"
As they started the outboard engine on their boat, Flipper swam up beside them and squeaked in excitement. Soon they were pulling away from the dock, heading out into the open water towards Old Spencer's Reef. Their Boston Whaler wasn't all that fast a boat, and the dolphin was easily able to keep up with them, leaping out of the water as he swam with them.
It took them about half an hour to reach their destination. As they approached the reef, they saw a 30 foot Mako anchored directly over the site of the wreck. They slowed down and cut their engine and drifted. They were about 100 yards away from the other boat, but they could clearly make out the older of the two men they had seen in town standing in the bow.
"Those bandits got here first!" Bud said in frustration.
"Yea, but I'll bet they haven't found the gold, yet" Sandy said. "There's still time to stop them."
"How, Sandy?" his brother asked.
"We've got to sabotage their boat" the older boy answered. "You stay here, and I'll swim over there with Flipper and see what I can do."
As they were talking, the man in the other boat gave them a casual wave, and then turned away.
"Look at that smug creep" Bud muttered. "He thinks we can't do anything to stop him just because we're only boys."
"Yea, well he's about to find out different" Sandy said. He grabbed a pair of wire cutting pliers from their little tool box, put on his mask and snorkel and gently slipped into the water. Flipper came up beside him and looked at him.
"Flipper, I need to sneak over to that boat. Can you tow me as quietly as you can?" he asked.
Flipper clicked an affirmative response and Sandy reached out and took hold of the dolphin's dorsal fin. With a flick of his powerful tail, Flipper started off towards the other boat. The man was still facing away, but Sandy took no chances. When they were about half the way there, he silently indicated that Flipper should take him the rest of the way underwater and took a deep breath.
Boy and dolphin slipped quietly beneath the surface and surged quickly toward the end of the boat. Sandy let go of Flipper and carefully stuck his head up next to the engine. Ever so carefully, he clipped the cotter pin on the propeller and pulled it off. He let go of the prop and it quickly sank into the depths. Sandy considered leaving, but what if the men had a spare prop? He'd better do some more damage, or they might get away.
"Flipper" he whispered to the dolphin "You go and distract that man. I have to get on board the boat and mess it up some more."
The dolphin glided toward the front of the boat while Sandy silently slipped aboard.
"Oh, hello there, dolphin" he heard the balding man say. "Aren't you the friendly one?"
With the man occupied by Flipper, Sandy went to work. First he clipped the cables to the battery. But to be sure, he decided to snip the steering cable, too. This was a bit harder; those cables were much thicker. But Sandy put all his strength into it and the cable parted with a loud snap. Too loud as it turned out.
"Hey there boy, what are you doing!" he heard the man shout.
Sandy stood up and tried to jump over the side, but he was not quick enough. The man grabbed him by the arm and held him firmly.
"Bud! Flipper! Help!" Sandy shouted out.
As Sandy continued to struggle with the man, he heard the engine of the boys' boat start up. Even thought the man was not very tall, he was quite strong; too strong for Sandy, and the boy found himself thrown to the deck by the bow. The man stood over him.
"Now what did you think you were doing, you young miscreant?" the man asked him.
"I'm not talking to you, you pirate!" Sandy shouted back.
The man just looked puzzled at that. Sandy heard a bump as Bud brought the Whaler along side. The man had apparently forgotten about the other boy, and so he was not prepared for what happened next.
Bud flew out of the boat and tackled the bandit. Already thrown off balance by the wake from the Whaler, the man lurched to the side and with a shove, Bud pushed him right over the edge of the boat. There was a loud splash as he hit the water. Then Flipper went into action, butting him in the stomach and pushing him away from the boat.
"Great job, Bud!" Sandy said. His younger brother offered him a hand and pulled him back to his feet. "Let's trash this boat!"
The two boys threw off the cover of the inboard-outboard engine and Sandy randomly started cutting wires and cables.
"Hey, you kids stop that!" the man shouted in vain from the water, but the two boys ignored him. They heard Flipper give them a warning whistle, and they got ready to jump back in their boat. Two figures with scuba tanks surfaced right next to the boat. One of them was clearly the younger man they had seen in town, but the other man was the last person they expected to see.
"Dad?" Bud said as Porter Ricks pulled his mask up on his head.
"Sandy? Bud? What are you boys doing here? And why is Inspector Brachman in the water?" their father asked.
"Inspector Brachman?" Sandy blanched as he looked at the older man. He was climbing in to the boat with a very angry expression on his face. His clothes were dripping wet and he had lost his sunglasses.
"Ranger Ricks, do you know these two boys?" the inspector asked as the other two men started to climb into the boat as well.
"They're my sons. What they're doing here, I have no idea." Porter Ricks said with a very confused expression on his face.
"They've more or less managed to destroy the engine," the Inspector pointed out. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to ask them why."
Mr. Ricks looked around at the boat and surveyed the damage. With darkened eyes he glared at his two sons.
"What in the world have you boys done!" he demanded.
The two boys were shrinking under their father's angry stare.
"We, ah, thought they were robbing the wreck, Dad" Sandy said lamely.
"Robbing the wreck? Now what gave you that bright idea?"
"We overheard them in town, Dad" Bud jumped in. "They said there was gold on the wreck and they wanted to get it before anyone else did"
"Well, of course they did" Mr. Ricks snapped. "That's their job!"
"We thought they were bandits, Dad" Bud repeated in desperation.
"Didn't you two notice the Port Department logo on the side of the boat?" Mr. Ricks asked. "Or the official flag flying from the console? And how do you think bandits could have found the wreck anyway? We three and Flipper were the only ones who knew where it was. Did you think I'd let it slip? Or perhaps you thought Flipper told them!"
At hearing his name, the dolphin poked his head up and clicked out a negative. The two boys looked down at the deck. How could they have been so dumb? They had been so sure the men were bad guys, they never even noticed the obvious signs.
"So there I was with Deputy Inspector Ryan down at the wreck when I notice a propeller come sinking down. We came to the surface to see what was up, but this was the last thing I expected to find!" He was holding the propeller that Sandy had cut loose in his hand. "I can't believe how carelessly you boys acted. Look at how much damage you've done!"
There was nothing Sandy or Bud could think of to say. All they could do was hope that Dad would at least see that they were trying to protect the wreck. But Porter Ricks was not in a forgiving mood.
"Both you boys are going to get a severe spanking" he announced. "Right now!"
They looked up at their father in dread. Both of them had figured they might get spanked but right now?
"Please, Dad" Sandy asked "Can't you wait until we get home, please?"
"I could, but I'm not going to" Mr. Ricks said firmly. "If you get embarrassed because the Inspector and Deputy Ryan see you get spanked, too bad. I'm embarrassed about how badly you two have acted."
Mr. Ricks reached down and got a short oar from the side of the boat.
"Sandy, you're first!" he said pointing at his oldest son. Mr. Ricks sat on the center seat and Sandy slowly walked over to him.
"Get those shorts off, Sandy" he commanded. "You're going to get it on your bare butt!"
"No, Daddy!" Sandy pleaded. "Not bare!"
"Sandy, if you don't take them off right now, I swear I'll give you double!" Mr. Ricks threatened.
Reluctantly, Sandy undid the snap on his shorts and peeled them off. He stood there in his white briefs hesitating. With an inpatient grunt, Mr. Ricks grabbed the front of Sandy's underpants and yanked them down. Now the older boy was standing there in the alltogether. His tanned body and legs was markedly contrasted by his pale white crotch and butt. Also, the light blonde hair on his head was the opposite of his dark black pubic bush.
"Sandy, get over my knee before I get any angrier than I already am" Mr. Ricks growled.
With his hands shaking in fear, Sandy did as he was told. Mr. Ricks shifted his legs so that his son's butt was high in the air. Then he firmly gripped the oar and went to work.
SMACK! He brought the wooden paddle down on Sandy's bum and Bud jumped as Sandy cried out.
SMACK! SMACK! Bud saw the red blotches beginning to appear on his brother's butt. He thought about what was coming to him and his little penis shriveled up in fright.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! Sandy's cries were carrying across the water as well as the sound of the oar smacking his naked butt. Inspector Brachman had moved to the stern of the boat and was drying off, but Deputy Ryan was still in the bow, watching the show with a bemused expression on his face.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! As Mr. Ricks continued the spanking, Sandy started to buck on his father's lap.
"Hold still!" he snapped. SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
Bud had been trying to count the whacks Sandy was getting, but he lost track. Dad showed no signs of slowing down even though the tears were pouring down Sandy's face. Sandy was pleading for it to end, but Mr. Ricks only increased the force. After what seemed like forever, he stopped. Sandy's yells were so loud, Bud wouldn't have been surprised if people could hear him all the way into shore. Sandy rapidly rubbed his behind as he attempted to regain his composure. After a few moments, Mr. Ricks unceremoniously pushed him off and he stumbled towards the bow.
"You're next, Bud. Get those pants off and get over here!"
Bud quickly complied. He was hoping that by moving smartly, he would earn a bit of good will, but it didn't seem likely. Mr. Ricks reached over and grabbed both boys' clothes. balling them all up, he tossed them into the Whaler. Then he pulled Bud into position over his knee.
"Normally, I'd give you less because you're younger, Bud" his father told him "But not this time. You were just as much a part of this, and you're going to be spanked just as hard as Sandy was."
Silent tears were already falling from Bud's eyes. The salt water from his Dad's leg felt sticky against his naked _d_i_c_k_ and the hot sun was beating down on his exposed, white bottom.
WHACK! Dad brought the wooden oar down hard against Bud's bare bottom and he screamed in pain.
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Cries of agony tore from Bud's throat. Dad had only ever spanked him with a belt before, and the hard wood of the oar stung twice as bad.
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Bud was already pleading for the spanking to end, but he knew it was no use. Dad had just gotten started. With a steady rhythm the spanks came and Bud's butt felt like the skin was being peeled off it. He was crying his eyes out and fighting the almost uncontrollable urge to kick his legs up; he knew that would only result in a longer spanking.
Bud stopped pleading, but the spanking did not end. The horrible paddle continued its assault on his bared buttocks. Dad was spanking his butt everywhere; high, low and even the tops of his thighs. The burning, stinging pain was all he could think about.
WHACK! WHACK!! WHACK!!! With three of the hardest spanks yet, Dad stopped. Bud was howling in mortal agony as he reached back to rub his blistered bottom. Dad gave him a moment, and then shoved him off and stood up.
Sandy was in the bow still rubbing his sore bum and looking very uncomfortable. Mr. Ricks turned to address the other two men.
"We'll have to tow her in, I'm afraid" he said. "Sandy, do something useful and pull up the anchor! Bud, stop that jumping around and attach a tow line to the whaler!"
The two boys snapped to it, Sandy very embarrassed as he went past Deputy Ryan to get the anchor rope. But rigged the Whaler's anchor rope for a tow, sniffing back more tears as he was careful not to bend too much. When both tasks were done, Sandy went to get in the Whaler, but Mr. Ricks stopped him.
"No, Sandy. You and Bud stay here. I'm going to do the towing."
Sandy looked hopefully at his shorts piled in the other boat, but Mr. Ricks caught him.
"Forget it, Sandy" he said. "Both you boys are going to stay naked until we get into shore. Maybe it'll help drive the lesson home."
Mr. Ricks got in the smaller boat and started it up. He threw it into gear and headed towards home. Of course, the boat being towed was twice as big and the small outboard on the Whaler didn't have much horsepower. The result was that they were moving very slowly. Flipper came along the starboard side and gave Bud a sympathetic look.
Sandy stood in the bow and self-consciously covered himself with his hands. Bud was less modest and looked for a place to sit down. The Inspector was in the stern and Bud didn't want to go anywhere near him. He had pushed the man overboard, after all, and he didn't look very forgiving. Deputy Ryan was sitting on one side of the center seat, so Bud decided to sit on the other.
No sooner had he sat down, than he leaped up again in pain. The vinyl cover of the cushion was hot from the sun, and it had scorched his already hot bottom. Deputy Ryan looked amused and covered the seat with his towel.
"Here you go, young fellow" he said to Bud.
Bud sat down again, still very embarrassed, but thankful for the man's gesture.
"So you thought we were pirates raiding the wreck, eh?" he asked with an twinkle in his eye.
"Yea, I guess" Bud said as he blushed. He saw Sandy turn away and face front. Sandy didn't like to be made fun of, but Bud didn't care at this point. They had acted really stupidly, after all. He looked at Sandy's red butt and wondered if his brother was as sore as he was.
"Well, if we had been, you would have succeeded in stopping us" Mr. Ryan said good-naturedly. "You used your head half the time anyway. That's better than not using it at all."
He ruffed up Bud's hair in a friendly fashion and the boy gave him a shy grin. They struck up a conversation, and soon Bud forgot that he was naked. Sandy stood silently in the bow sulking and the Inspector leaned back in the driver's chair and went to sleep.
Man and boy talked all the way into shore. Deputy Ryan had many exciting stories and he was happy to share them with Bud. Unlike the surly Inspector Brachman, the boy wanted to become friends and so he kept talking even when the conversation took an embarrassing turn.
"Your dad always spank you like that?" Deputy Ryan had asked him after a long pause.
"Well, no" Bud said as he flushed and looked down at the deck. "That was about the worst I've ever gotten. Usually he uses his belt and not so many."
"Does he always make you take your pants off?" the man asked in a voice of casual interest.
"Well, I always get it bare, but mostly Dad just makes me pull them down."
"Don't worry" the man said casually. "My daddy spanked me the same way. It's something most every boy has to deal with at some point."
Bud felt a little better after Mr. Ryan told him that and they continued the conversation. As they drew near the shore, Sandy looked around nervously to make sure no one could see him. Mr. Ricks slowed down as they approached his dock and cast the other boat free. It floated in and Sandy silently tied it to the end post. Bud and Deputy Ryan stood up as Sandy climbed out of the boat.
Mr. Ryan was looking at his own boat with a stiff expression on his face.
"What happened to your chores, boys?" he asked in a deathly quiet voice.
Both boys were dumbstruck. Mr. Ricks just looked at them and finally Bud had to say something just to break the awful silence.
"We were just taking a short break to run into town, Dad" he said in a small voice. "We were coming right back."
"Oh I see. Then you uncovered this vast conspiracy and rushed off to foil the plot?"
Bud nodded his head and looked down. Sandy looked terrified.
"You know, I gave you boys a lesson earlier, but honestly, I think you need another. Could you hand me that oar again, Deputy Ryan? And Bud, get your little butt up here along with your brother on the double!"
Deputy Ryan handed the oar up to Mr. Ricks, giving Bud a sympathetic look in the process. Bud started crying as he slowly climbed up the ladder. He couldn't believe he was going to get spanked again.
"Let's get this over with" Mr. Ricks said. "I've had enough of you two today. Sandy, grab hold of that piling and bend over!"
Sandy mournfully took hold of the top of the post and bent over, pointing his bottom towards the angry Mr. Ricks. Mr. Ricks brought his arm back and let him have it; WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!
The sound of the oar and Sandy's cries echoed off the shore and Bud watched through misty eyes. His bottom still hurt a lot from the last time, and this would just be worse. He stared at his brother's rapidly reddening behind and tried not to cry too much.
It didn't last as long as the other one, but Sandy's yelping was louder at the end. Mr. Ricks finished and stood up.
"Go to your room Sandy" he ordered the boy. "This is really your fault more than Bud's. You should act more responsible. I don't want to see you for at least an hour."
Sandy trotted off in a hurry, rubbing his butt all the way. Mr. Ricks turned towards his younger son.
"Bud, get over here!"
Bud had known that it was coming, but at his father's words, he stared up with a low moaning in the back of his throat.
"No, daddy, please" he begged.
"Bud, just get over here" his father said with a sigh. "I want to get this over with and you boys have tried my patience far too much today."
Bud continued to make a keening noise as he slowly moved over and grabbed the pole. He looked down and saw Flipper looking up at him with a sad expression on his face. But the dolphin couldn't get him out of this. He felt the rough splinters of the pole on his hands as he bent over and stuck out his bottom.
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Mr. Ricks wasted no time. Bud's already sore bottom leaped to new life as the spanking started up. Loud cries came ripping out of his young throat as each new blow caught his burning buttocks. If Dad felt that Sandy was more responsible, you couldn't have told it from the beating he was giving Bud. His younger son was getting just as thorough a spanking as the older one had. Bud could only hold onto the post and hope for it to end.
With one final good WHACK!! Mr. Ricks finished and stepped back. Bud stood up and jumped about, his little _d_i_c_k_ and balls flopping around as he tried to cool the fire in his blistered cheeks. The Inspector had walked off the dock at some point, but Deputy Ryan was there giving Bud a look of support. Mr. Ricks got on his boat and started to put up the various things the boys had left out that morning.
"Go into the house when you are ready, Bud" he said. "I'll have to take Inspector Brachman and Deputy Ryan to town in my car. When I come home, I'll expect to see the table set for supper."
Bud painfully limped off the dock with Mr. Ryan following. Just as Bud was about to go into the house, the man stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder and turning him around.
"Cheer up, kid" he said as he bent down and looked into Bud's tear streaked face. "You'll get over it. Beats being grounded or something, doesn't it? At least it's over with."
He gave the boy's bottom a playful rub and Bud rewarded him with a slight smile.
"Anyway, when you can, why don't you come down by my office. I've got a bunch more stories I'd like to share with you."
With that, he turned away and went over the Mr. Ricks' car to join his superior. Bud turned back around and went inside. He went to his roo