Copyright © 2021-2026 Douglas DD. All Rights Reserved.
Greetings Readers. The cruise is coming to a close. Sailing down the Inland Passage to Skagway on the beautiful “Sapphire Princess” brings The Pierce and Drake, along with their new Bellingham friends, closer to home.
Thanks to Larry for writing about Pierce and Drake.
CHAPTER 48
CRUISE DAY 5 - SKAGWAY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12
6:00am
<Blake and Bryce’s Cabin>
“I’ve just made my first teenage resolution,” Blake said as their alarm woke them at six o’clock.
“What took you so long?” Bryce mumbled into his pillow.
“The only reason you’d ask me that is because you’re the goody-goody twin and have probably made a couple of dozen resolutions already.”
“Not quite. But six would have been the correct guess, and it’s half a dozen, so you were kinda in the ballpark.” Bryce flipped over to his left side and planted a wet kiss on his brother’s lips.
“You wanna tell me what they are?” Blake asked.
“Only if you tell me yours first, although I think I know what it is.”
“It’s that if I ever take a cruise again I make sure we don’t do tours that we have to wake up early in the morning for.”
“Oh,” Bryce said with a hint of sadness.
“What? What did I do wrong? Don’t you agree?”
“I agree cuz I made the same resolution. But it sounds to me that you forgot the resolution we both made last night,” Bryce said.
“Oh, you mean that we fuck each other as soon as we can?”
“Exactly.”
“I figure that was what dad calls an ironclad promise. It isn’t something we’re gonna DO, like as soon as we can no matter what. That’s more than a resolution - that is a twinkie bro blood oath just like on TV,” Blake said emphatically.
“Or in a book. Now, if we want to meet the big teen studs for breakfast, we’d better get up and shower and dress.”
The brothers hopped out of bed and crowded into the little shower, washing themselves and each other while rubbing their morning boners together. “I’ll tell you one other resolution,” Bryce said as Blake shut off the shower.
“Go for it.”
“That I see a naked girl before I’m fourteen.”
“Forget fourteen, I bet Janet will let you do it before school starts,” Blake said. “Hell, I bet we can get Linda to show us her naked bod before the cruise is over.” The boys dried themselves and headed back into the main cabin. “And, yeah, I want to add that to my list too, although we don’t have to do it together—at least the first time.”
They dressed quickly and Blake called Pierce. They agreed to meet at the elevator as soon as possible and head up to the buffet with the parents for a filling breakfast.
<Pierce and Drake's Cabin>
Pierce and Drake were out of bed and into the shower at 5:45am. Walker and Christian had showered earlier and left their cabin for a stroll around the deck.
"I'm sure looking forward to the Fabulous Fifties dance party tonight," Drake said as the boys climbed out of the shower and dried their hair. "According to the 'Princess Patter' schedule the DJ's name is Shondra Lee." Drake ran a towel over Pierce's back.
"Interesting," Pierce replied as he took the towel and dried Drake's back. "I figured the DJ would be a guy although I don't really know why I thought it would be that way. I'm sure a woman can play the music just as well as a guy."
"You've DJ'd at several of the Swing Dance Club events," Drake said. "You're pretty good at knowing fifties music."
Pierce nodded. "I'm good enough to know that records by The Beach Boys, as fantastic as they are, are NOT fifties music. We'll see if she sticks to actual fifties songs."
The boys had just finished dressing when Walker and Christian returned from their stroll.
"Morning, Dad. Morning, Chris," Pierce said. "How's the weather out there?"
Walker hugged his son. "Actually very pleasant. A little cool but mostly sunny."
"Your dad did pretty good at the casino last night," Christian said with a smile.
Pierce grinned. "Cool! OK, dad, just don't forget who your son and his boyfriend are."
Walker smiled at the two teens. "Well, suffice to say that I did well enough to pay for your new hoodies and then some."
"Yippee! That means our hoodies are no longer considered Christmas presents," Pierce said with a wicked smile.
"Which also means that there can now be other Christmas presents," Drake said with an even more wicked smile.
"Do they really think they've got things that well figured out?" Christian asked.
Walker shook his head. "They just think they do."
Just then Pierce's phone chimed. It was Blake calling.
"Hey, dude," Pierce greeted. "Are you and Bryce up and at 'em?"
"We sure are," Blake replied. "Are you guys going to the buffet for breakfast?"
"We're ready - meet you at the elevator?"
"Works for us. See you there."
----------
When the Randall family arrived at the midship elevator foyer they found Pierce and Drake along with Christian and Walker.
“Dang those two are sexy,” Bryce whispered to Blake.
“Since when did grown men turn you on?” Blake asked.
“I was talking about Duck and Pokethem. You’re such a dork. And to think I shared mom’s womb with you for nine months.”
“At least I know how to say Pooka,” Blake said who was now close enough for Drake and Pierce to hear.
“What about Pookas?” Pierce asked.
"My dork brother can't even pronounce your nickname," Blake said.
"What are you talking about?" Drake asked.
Blake: "Never mind..."
Bryce: "...we'll tell you later."
In amongst all the boys' chatter, the adults managed to greet each other.
"Good morning, Randall family," Walker said as he pressed the "UP" button for the elevator. "We're getting to be old pros when it comes to having breakfast at the buffet."
"Good morning to you as well," Helen said. "The food is always delicious and such a great variety."
"I love their omelet station,” Margaret said, referring to the station where a person can order a fresh omelet made with their choice of fillers. “That will be my first stop after we find a table. Bacon and tomato sounds good.”
"Betcha Bryce and I can take the stairs and beat you guys up to 14," Blake said to his parents with a gleam in his eye.
“And we can follow them,” Drake said. “See you up on 14.”
The four boys started up the stairs before the adults were on the elevator. When the boys reached the Deck 11 foyer, Blake and Bryce stopped.
"Time for some quick good morning kisses," Blake grinned.
"I kinda figured that's what you dudes had in mind," Drake said as he wrapped his arms around Blake's body and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. Pierce and Bryce exchanged tight hugs and prolonged kisses.
"Okay, change partners," Blake said. Drake and Bryce and Pierce and Blake exchanged lip locks. This time there was lots of tongue and enthusiastic groping involved and all four boys felt their cocks stiffening.
"Damn, your hair looks sexy this morning," Drake told Bryce. "It looks redder than usual."
"Maybe it's because I'm horny as hell," Bryce said with a leer as he kissed Drake again.
"We better get moving if we're gonna beat the 'rents to 14," Blake said. "Besides I got a major league boner starting."
"Me, too," Drake agreed. "Let's go."
The four boys raced up the remaining stairs to Deck 14 and were waiting in the foyer when the elevator dinged and Walker, Christian, and the Randalls stepped off along with a few other passengers. Those passengers getting on the elevator on the way up had allowed the boys to beat it even with their planned kiss and grope stop.
“You beat us up here again!" Walker said with a smile. "That's three days in a row!" Both Walker and Christian knew exactly why the boys wanted to take the stairs.
“We'll try for a fourth day tomorrow," Blake said with a smile. Bryce, Pierce, and Drake knew exactly what he meant.
----------
Before walking into the buffet, the group stopped at the two wash sinks to wash their hands. The attendant, whose name badge read 'Kareesa', greeted them pleasantly. Pierce checked the buffet entrance - he did not see Bayani standing there this morning.
"Good morning, Kareesa," Pierce said. "Is Bayani hosting in the buffet today?"
"He’s working in the dining room this morning," Kareesa replied. "Emilio is your host today."
Jeff led the group into the buffet and said he had a party of ten. Emilio greeted them pleasantly and led them to a pair of tables that had been pushed together. The group was an old hand at the breakfast buffet but they still enjoyed exploring the food options which varied from day to day. Today the French toast and scrambled eggs with bacon looked especially appetizing. And as always there was a large selection of juices and fresh fruits. Drake was a biscuits and gravy lover and he filled his plate with a generous serving topped with plenty of fresh ground black pepper.
After they sat down, Blake tried to explain to Pierce and Drake his brother's problem pronouncing Pierce's nickname. "He was pronouncing it as 'Pokethem.' Where he got that, I'll never know. The dude must have been tongue-tied or something."
Bryce shook his head and gave Blake a you're-so-full-of-shit look. "I'm sorry, Pooka, I momentarily forgot your nickname," he admitted. "Pokethem just came out of my mouth as a substitute."
Pierce and Drake both chuckled. "I think that's both great and funny," Pierce said. He turned to his boyfriend. "We need to remember that word in case you ever forget Pooka."
"I'll never forget Pooka," Drake said with a smile. "But just in case..." Pierce and Drake bumped fists.
"Did you guys get out and take any pictures this morning?" Pierce asked.
"We looked outside but there just isn't that much interesting scenery here," Blake replied. "It's nothing like the scenery and geology around the Arm and the glacier. So no, we didn't take any. We figured we'll take a bunch of pictures later this morning when we ride the White Pass and Yukon Route. That trip should be awesome scenery-wise."
"Margaret and I traveled the WP&YR last time we took this cruise," William said. "The trains travel out from Skagway about an hour and a half and then loop to make the return trip - about three hours total."
"They must not go very fast," Jeff said.
"I'd say about 25 mph maximum," William said. "It's a very hilly and winding route. Blake, you're totally correct when you say the scenery is awesome. Be sure you have well charged batteries in your camera. You'll probably want to shoot both pictures and videos."
"Bryce and I had our camera battery packs on the charger all night," Blake said. "This should be an awesome trip."
"My camera uses the same kind of battery pack yours does," William said. "I'll bring a couple spares."
"Thanks, Grandpa."
"Hey, Dad, I've got a question," Bryce said.
"Shoot."
"It's about being teenagers."
"Okay," Jeff said with an obviously-humoring-his-son smile.
"The day after our twelfth birthday we started our thirteenth year of life, right?"
"Um, correct." Jeff couldn't help wondering where this was going.
"So starting that day, we were in our thirteenth year so we technically started being teenagers, right? I mean when a person is born, they start their first year and then at the end of that year, they are considered one year old and they have their first birthday. Nobody ever celebrates their day of birth as their zero birthday."
"If all this is true, I should be able to get my driver's license now because I'm in my sixteenth year," Pierce said with his blue eyes glowing enthusiastically.
Jeff couldn’t help but think, ‘Why the hell do they want to grow up faster than they already are?’
“So, what's bringing on all this analysis?” Jeff asked. “Are you saying we should have treated you as teenagers the day after your twelfth birthday?"
"Well, yeah, in a way. It's just something I got to thinking about last night."
Blake addressed everyone at the table. "You need to excuse my bro. His brain suffers from short circuits now and then." Bryce gave Blake the finger under the table.
Jeff shook his head. "Bryce, you're up against some awfully strong traditions and the way laws are written. And using your logic, you'd stop being a teenager a year earlier than you do now. But the logic that is used is that your ‘age’ tells how many years you’ve completed in your life. That makes your ‘age’ the year before the year you’re actually living in.”
"I don't agree, Dad," Bryce persisted. "You just said that my 'age' is actually the year I'm living in. That's not true. My 'age' is thirteen because I've completed thirteen years, but I'm LIVING in my fourteenth year. Granted I'm only in the first day of it but I am living in it."
William, Margaret, and Helen were working mightily to avoid chuckling at the banter between Jeff and his son. William was mentally admiring his grandson's persistence.
"Well, okay, I stand corrected, Bryce," Jeff said with a smile. "I misspoke. Your 'age' tells how many years you've completed in your life." He half expected his son to claim his current age was 13 and 1/365th years old but Bryce didn't push things that far.
“I think I’m kinda sorta getting it, dad,” Bryce said as he stuffed another bite of pancake into his mouth. “So, yesterday we finished thirteen years of living, and we get to spend a year telling everybody we did that by telling them we’re thirteen years old, even though we’re in our fourteenth year. Thanks for explaining how it works. It all sounded weird, so I thought I’d ask. It sounds just like a riddle."
"Like you said, you and Blake are officially teenagers now using the old school rules, which are actually the up-to-date rules," Jeff said with a grin. "We'll leave it at that."
"Speaking of riddles, I saw a riddle in the 'Princess Patter' this morning," Margaret said. "What did the retired sailor say?"
Drake was a riddle lover and responded immediately. "I give up - what did he say?"
"Long time no sea."
Blake shook his head. "I don't get it."
"You gotta realize," Drake said, "that 'sea' is spelled S-E-A."
"Oh. OK," Blake mumbled.
"Who are the two guys at the top of the window?" Drake asked.
Margaret responded. "I give up - who are they?"
"Curt and Rod."
Margaret laughed heartily. "That's a good one!"
Drake couldn't resist offering another. "What do you call a Christmas decoration made out of hundred-dollar bills?"
"What?" Blake and Bryce responded in unison.
"Aretha Franklins."
The entire group had to laugh at that one.
"After we get back from Skagway, let's get together in the Teen Center and check out all the pictures and videos we took," Blake said. "We can help each other decide which ones to keep and which ones to delete."
"It'll be awesome to see them," Pierce said. "We can plan to meet in the Teen Center."
----------
"Well, we'd better head back to our cabins and get our jackets and things," Jeff said. "I don't know if this trip is sold out but we'll want to get to the meeting area as soon as we can."
"Walker and I took a stroll around the deck earlier this morning," Christian said. "You might want to wear a light jacket."
"Drake and I will wear our new hoodies along with our shorts," Pierce said with a grin. "Dressing that way proves we're from Washington."
"I'm assuming there are gift shops in Skagway," Drake said.
"There are at least as many as there are in Juneau," Margaret said. "Are you in the market to buy gifts?"
"Well, I'm not sure right now," Drake said with a smile. "I'll need to look around."
"Just for the fun of it, we'll have to check and see if any place in Skagway sells hoodies," Pierce said.
Drake shook his head. "I don't know how any place could sell hoodies nicer than the ones we got in Juneau."
The two families left the buffet and headed for their cabins. They agreed that they would meet on Deck 5 at the excursion meeting area at 7:45am.
----------
<Blake and Bryce's Cabin>
"Damn, bro," Bryce said as he and Blake arrived back at their cabin. "Drake is so fucking hot. His body is solid as a rock."
"Somehow we gotta work out a way to get those dudes naked," Blake said.
"We'll figure a way," Bryce replied. “I hope I get to sit next to Pooka on the train.”
"All those hugs and kisses he gave you on the way to the buffet must have helped you burn his nickname in your memory," Blake said with a laugh. “And I hope I’ll be able to sit next to Duck when we get on the train.”
“You’ll figure out a way,” Bryce smirked. "Do you think dad and mom are onto us about why we keep wanting to take the stairs up to the buffet?"
"Good question," Blake replied. "I don't know about dad and mom but I'm pretty sure Pierce's dad and his friend know what it's all about. I was glad my boner had gone down by the time we got up to 14 or they really would have wondered."
"I just got one question," Bryce said. "Who's Aretha Franklin?"
"Shit, I don't know," Blake replied with a shrug. "Some actress or something, I think."
“Well, looking up shit like that is why we’ve got Google.”
"We better get over to the 'rents cabin before they come looking for us," Blake said. He gave his brother a quick but deep kiss. "I love you, bro."
The twins put on their hoodies, grabbed their cameras, and headed over to Jeff and Helen's cabin.
7:45am
The two families met on Deck 5 where a gangway was set up. They got into a short line, tapped their medallions, and headed down the gangway to the pier. The group got in line for a shuttle bus which would take them to the end of the pier.
A member of the ship’s excursion staff greeted the group at the bus and asked what their destination was. Since he was the veteran cruiser of the group, William was their spokesman. “We’re riding the train,” he said.
“You must be the group of ten,” the staff member said as he referred to his paperwork.
“That we are.”
“After you get off the bus, head to the crosswalks and cross the street. You will be met by a member of the train crew and told which car to board. Have fun.”
“Thanks.”
They piled onto the bus. Once the bus was full it started down the pier, passed the Royal Caribbean “Mariner of the Seas”, and stopped at the staging area that had been set up for the shuttles as well as tour buses. The trip had taken less than five minutes.
As they disembarked the group saw the green train across the street. The narrow-gauge train consisted of twelve mostly vintage passenger cars and two diesel locomotives. Some of the cars looked like vintage cars but were built much later to provide more cars for the burgeoning tourist trade as well as to replace equipment that had worn out. The last car of the train had a drumhead hanging on the rear which identified it as the observation car.
After crossing the street, they were greeted by a railroad employee. After verifying that they were the large group he had been informed of he told them they would be riding in the last car. “Ohh, a great place for picture taking,” Blake informed Bryce. The group walked to their assigned car where one of the conductors met them and helped them with the boarding process. The car had the name “Lake Surprise” lettered in gold on the side.
“You’re the first to board this car so you have your choice of seats,” the conductor said. “But if you would sit as a group that would be appreciated.”
“Does sitting as a group mean all of us sit on one side or we sit on both sides using three rows?” William asked.
“The second choice would be fine.”
“I don’t care where we sit, I just want you to sit with me,” Blake whispered to Drake.
They decided to use three rows toward the back of the car. William had already informed Blake that they would be able to step out on either the front or the rear platform once the train was underway. “Those platforms are fantastic for picture taking so it’s good to be close to the door so you won’t have far to go when the train reaches a particularly scenic area. And remember our train will go up to White Pass, loop around, and come back the way we came. You’ll get different perspective going the other way so be ready to take a ton of pictures.”
“I can’t wait,” Blake said. Bryce and Blake had already agreed that Blake would mostly take photos of the scenery from the platform and Bryce would concentrate on people pictures and videos.
Each row consisted of four seats, two on each side of the aisle. The group picked the three rows they wanted. William and Margaret took two seats on the left of the first row they’d chosen. Jeff and Helen sat in the right two seats.
Walker and Christian took seats on the right of the second row. As they got on the car, Christian had particularly taken notice of the neatly uniformed conductor, a tall handsome man who looked to be in his early thirties.
"Damn, that conductor's hot," he whispered to Walker. "I love a man in a uniform."
Walker was aware of Christian's fetish for uniforms and he chuckled out loud. "Yes, you've mentioned that to me several times." The two men smiled at each other.
The important seating occurred in the third row. Blake took the window seat on the left side and signaled for Drake to take the aisle seat, which the older boy did. Pierce took the right window seat and Bryce took the aisle seat. Sitting with Pierce wasn’t as important to Bryce as sitting next to Drake had been for Blake, but that didn’t keep it from being special. The boys quickly agreed that they could trade seats any time during the trip.
Bryce was talking to Pierce about their morning kiss when two boys and their families entered the car. Bryce recognized one of them; it was Tracy, the boy they had met in the Youth Center. He knew that today was Tracy’s thirteenth birthday. He didn’t know who the other boy was, but he noted that he had brilliant blond hair. The families took the last of the empty seats which were five rows ahead of where Blake and Bryce were sitting. The two blond boys were sitting together on the left of the aisle.
“I know the bigger kid. His name is Tracy,” Bryce said. He turned to face Blake. “Hey, Blake, did you see who just came in?”
“I did. This is going to be one wild train trip. Did you see that he had a camera?”
“Yeah, I did.” Bryce wondered whether Tracy noticed him and Blake. ‘Whatever, me and Blake will be sure to get their attention when the time comes to take pictures.’
Christian got a treat when the conductor came through the car to collect everyone’s excursion ticket. The car was full when the train left the pier on time. In fact, the entire train was sold out.
The train passed the Skagway train station a couple of minutes out and soon was passing the WP&YR yard and maintenance shops. The boys reacted excitedly when they saw two steam locomotives tied down in front of the roundhouse. Lisa, the train’s tour guide, greeted the passengers on the train’s PA system. She pointed out the yard with its spare passenger cars and locomotives as well as the special maintenance equipment. A large rotary snowplow was also parked in the yard. She also explained to the passengers that after the 20-mile marker the train would turn around on a loop so that the passengers sitting on the west side (the right side) would be on the east side of the train coming back.
Because he didn’t have a window seat Bryce thought he was being cheated when he only got a glimpse of the steam locomotives. “Weren’t you listening to the tour guide say we would be on that side coming back?” Pierce asked.
“She did? Dang, I guess I’d better pay more attention,” Bryce said. “I was standing up and everything trying to see the locomotives and wasn’t listening very good. Will I get the window seat on the way back?”
“We agreed we could switch seats any time, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Pierce placed his arm around Bryce’s shoulder. “You are one overly psyched teenager,” he grinned.
“Better than being overly horny like my brother,” Bryce said quietly into Pierce’s ear. He nodded his head toward the seats across the aisle where Blake had his right hand on Drake’s thigh, giving it a light massage with his fingers. Drake could feel his crotch stirring and wished those fingers would move up and over a bit while at the same time hoping they wouldn’t.
“They are dirty minded boys, aren’t they?” Pierce smirked.
“Especially my brother.”
The seats across the aisle from Walker and Christian were taken up by two men in their forties. Walker and Christian speculated as to whether they were gay. They introduced themselves to the two men who said their names were Ned and Zeke. “But my friends call me Z,” Zeke said.
“I guess that must make me a friend, since that’s what I call him,” Ned said. Even with the aisle separating them, the four men quickly became friends.
The train soon passed a historical cemetery on the right side. The guide told the passengers that the cemetery was where early Skagway residents were buried.
“You’re gonna bone me up if you don’t move your hand,” Drake whispered to Blake.
“Good. But don’t worry, I won’t be doing it for long. As soon as they announce we can step out on the platform, I’ll be taking my camera out there for picture taking.” Blake did remove his hand from Drake’s thigh and started talking about how this would be his first time taking pictures while on the move. Drake now wished he hadn’t said anything because he missed the moving fingers.
As soon as the train crossed the Skagway city line the guide told the passengers they could now stand on the platforms on either end of the cars. Passengers were admonished not to attempt to go to the next car—only crew members were allowed to traverse the walkway connecting the cars. The big plus in being assigned to the last car was that the back platform ran the width of the car, giving an unobstructed view of the scenery and more room to maneuver for pictures.
Bryce and Tracy stood up at the same time. When Tracy faced Bryce’s way his face lit up with recognition. He waved and Bryce waved back. Then Tracy saw Blake on the other side of the train. He returned Blake’s wave and wondered why the twins weren’t sitting together.
Bryce pointed to the exit door and waved for Tracy to meet them on the back platform. Tracy and his friend Cole joined the twins along with Drake and Pierce. The six boys were soon crowded together on the narrow platform. One adult with a video camera joined them. There was barely enough room for a couple more.
“Hey Tracy. Happy birthday,” Bryce said. “These two big dudes are our friends Drake (he touched Drake’s shoulder) and Pierce (he touched Pierce’s shoulder but for a longer time).”
“Hey, guys,” Tracy said. “Good to see you again.”
“Dude, am I dumb," Bryce said apologetically as he bumped his hand on his forehead. "I forgot you met these guys last Sunday in the Teen Center."
“Happy Birthday, dude,” Drake said as he and Pierce traded fist bumps with the birthday boy of the day.
“This is my friend Cole,” Tracy said. “We met in the Youth Center. He’s weird.”
“What do you mean I’m weird?” Cole asked.
“You’re twelve and won’t be turning thirteen on this cruise like the rest of us.”
“But you still like me, right?”
“Nothing wrong with being weird,” Bryce said. “Blake and me being identical twins, now that’s weird.”
“Tell me about it,” Tracy said.
“Is that camera a birthday present?” Blake asked Tracy.
Tracy held up his new Nikon. “Yep. I love taking pictures and now I’ve got the best way to do it. But I see you both have Canons and they’re really good, too.”
Cole held up his phone. “I take pretty good phone pics.”
“He’s telling the truth.”
“Blake is the big-time photographer. He loves taking pictures and his shots are epic,” Bryce said. “He’s like an artist. Me, I take pictures just to have a picture of something.”
From there the boys got to talking about tackling the task of taking pictures from a moving train. They talked about the proper shutter speed and the proper f-stops to make up for the train’s changes of direction and the shadows cast by the trees and cliffs around the tracks.
The guide came on the PA and told everyone that they were approaching Denver, which was 5.8 miles from Skagway, and that some special scenery would be coming up as the tracks crossed the east fork of the Skagway River. This was a picture that would be best taken from the left side of the train. Blake and Tracy leaned against the railing on the left side of the platform and took pictures of the length of the train traveling across the bridge. William and other adults were able to get their shots by standing behind the boys and shooting over them.
Their first big picture taking scene worked well. Bryce took videos of his twin, his grandfather, and Tracy doing their thing and was able to get some video of the train as the “Lake Surprise” entered the curve. The curve was a tight one-hundred-eighty-degree turn which made it possible for everyone on the platform taking pictures to get shots of the train.
Not only did they get pictures of the train, but they were able to take pictures of the scenery down the Skagway River valley where they were able to take pictures including Mt. Harding, the Harding Glacier, and snippets of the harbor. As always, the tour guide let them know what was coming up and where to look. Being on the observation car they had a wide view down the valley. Blake and Tracy made good use of their zoom telephoto lenses.
The next photo opportunity was Buchanan Rock which was at the 8.8 mile mark. What made it photogenic was the sign on the far wall of the Skagway canyon. It read “On to Alaska with Buchanan”. It was painted by the Buchanan Boys Tour Group, brought from Detroit each year, circa 1920-30. The group consisted of 50-60 boys who spent several weeks touring Alaska, climbing glaciers and mountains, and panning for gold. While there was nothing spectacular about the rock, the story behind it made it photogenic.
“I wonder if boys messed around with each other back in those days,” Blake said to Drake, Tracy, and Bryce who were standing close to him.
“They’re boys, probably teenagers like us,” Drake said. “And they had no airplane travel then, so they had a long trip across the country from Detroit and spent a few weeks in Alaska. Don’t tell me that boys a hundred years ago didn’t get horny.”
“Gotcha,” Tracy said. “I think I’ll Google Buchanan boys or Buchanan rock when I get back to the ship.”
“Why? To see if they messed around?” Blake asked.
“No. Just to see how they worked it all out. I mean it had to cost somebody money, and they had to get it from somewhere, unless their parents were all rich or something. Everything isn’t about sex, you know.”
“Don’t tell Blake that,” Drake grinned, the memory of Blake massaging his thigh as they left Skagway still fresh in his mind.
Pierce and Cole missed that bit of byplay as they stood together on the other side of the platform seeing what they could get with their phone cameras.
Tracy couldn’t help but wonder if there was a way he could be alone with the twins for a few minutes so they could at least compare their cocks. Or they could do what he and Cole managed to do once and get in a skin-to-skin grope.
The next big picture taking opportunity came at the 14.0 mile mark as they travelled through the chasm of Glacier Gorge until a wide 180-degree turn moved them into Tunnel Mountain at the 16.0 mile mark. This was one of the most scenic points on the railroad as the young (and adult) photographers worked for position to get pictures of the train entering the tunnel.
When they came out of the tunnel they had reached Inspiration Point, which gave them an even better view of the Lynn Canal, which flowed through Skagway, Mt. Harding, and the Chilkat Range. They were now at 2,413 feet altitude. Once again, the boys attached their zoom telephoto lenses to their camera bodies.
Since William and Jeff had gone out on the platform to join the boys, Helen had moved over to the seat next to Margaret. Helen had turned to the map of the rail route in the 'All Aboard' magazine and the two women were tracing the progress of the train as Lisa announced the various landmarks.
"We've sure got a bunch of amateur photographers out there on the platform," Helen said.
"Yes, we do," Margaret agreed, "and Bill is loving every minute of it. He gets a huge kick out of working with the kids on using their cameras and just talking photography with them."
"How many cameras does Bill have?"
"I think seven or eight," Margaret replied. "He loves his new digital cameras but he also has a classic Argus C3 that he's had for years. He claims it'll take better pictures than any digital camera as long as the photographer knows how to use all the controls and settings."
"And is willing to go through the routine of buying film and having the pictures developed," Helen added. "Has he shown his Argus to the twins?"
"I'm not sure," Margaret said, "but I'd bet that Blake would be interested in it. It's got all kinds of knobs and dials and controls on it."
Just then Lisa announced that the train was approaching the Steel Bridge. "Looks like we have another landmark coming up," Helen said.
At mile 18.6 the Steel Bridge came into view and the cameras clicked away. When it was constructed in 1901, the bridge was the tallest cantilever bridge in the world.
“That bridge says a lot about the engineering that went into this railroad,” Walker, who had wandered out onto the platform, told the boys. Walker was quite impressed by the engineering and work that went into building the 110-mile narrow gauge railroad that connected Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to Skagway, Alaska. It had only taken about two years to construct through rough, mountainous territory.
“It said in our ‘All Aboard’ magazine that they used 450 tons of explosives when they built it,” Pierce marveled.
“I bet all the noise scared all of the animals away,” Blake marveled.
“It sure would have scared me away,” Bryce said.
“It’s like two years worth of the Fourth of July only way louder.”
The Steel Bridge was closed to train traffic in 1969 as age made it too hard to maintain. The train passed the bridge and crossed the river on a newer, smaller bridge. Crossing the narrow gorge caused more pictures to be taken as the group on the platform cooperated to allow everyone to get into position to shoot pictures of the gorge. The train then entered a 675-foot tunnel which was built in 1969 to provide access to the new bridge across the river. They were now at 2,715 feet altitude.
“Did you observe the cliffs to the right of the train before we got to the bridge and tunnel?” Grandpa William asked Bryce.
“Yeah, I did. It was like I could reach over and touch them. They were right by the tracks and went almost straight up. But now there’s nothing but scrubby trees,” Bryce said.
"They're scrubby because they are under the snow in the winter," Kirby said. "The snow keeps them warm when the temperature is like sixty degrees below zero."
"That's a fascinating bit of natural history," William commented.
Kirby was one of three guides on the train. He worked the back half of the train and wandered from car to car. Percy worked the front half of the train. The only time the group saw Percy was when they were on the station platform and he told them which car to board. Lisa was the guide who was on the PA telling all the passengers what to look for, what they were seeing, and what was coming up, along with a lot of history.
“Okay, folks, we’re going to switch off of the main line onto a loop which will turn us around and put us back on the mainline,” Kirby said.
He was interrupted by Lisa who came on the PA and told the passengers that they were crossing the border into Canada. The line of flags they saw going up the hill to the left of the train were all flying on the border between the United States and Canada.
They had reached the White Pass Summit at 2,888 feet above sea level. The summit was 20.4 miles from Skagway. Lisa mentioned the loop and soon the train was making a one-hundred-eighty degree turn on the wide loop. They were heading back to Skagway.
All but two of the boys decided they’d seen, videoed, and photographed all they wanted. They were tired of standing out on the platform and wanted to sit. They could still see the scenery from the windows. Blake and Tracy, the two most serious photographers, were the ones who stayed on the platform. They each had some viewpoints in mind that they wanted to photograph from a different perspective. Jeff stayed out on the platform with them to answer any questions they might have. He trusted Blake to do the right thing, but he didn’t know Tracy and decided his presence would discourage any mischief.
It turned out that his presence probably wouldn’t have been needed since Tracy was as serious as Blake about his conduct. As two men came out on the platform the boys heard an announcement being made, but they couldn’t make out what it was. After getting pictures of beautiful Bridal Veil Falls, which they both had missed on the way up, they decided to head for their seats. The falls were at the 11.4 mile mark and Skagway was creeping up on them.
Blake saw that the seating had been changed and Pierce and Drake were sitting together. As a result, he had to sit across the aisle with Bryce, who kept his window seat. Sitting next to his brother wasn’t any kind of a hardship, but still, he was looking forward to continuing what he had started with Drake before they all headed out on the platform. ‘Drake is going to have to wait for some other time for me to massage his other leg,’ Blake thought.
“I’m gonna go take a piss,” Blake told Bryce seconds after he sat down. The head was at the front of the car.
“Be ready for a big surprise,” Bryce said.
“What kind of surprise?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“You’ve got to be the meanest twin brother in Alaska,” Blake said as he stood up.
“And I’m proud of it,” Bryce said.
Blake gave Drake’s left shoulder a squeeze, earning him a big smile, and then walked up the aisle to the head. When he came back, Bryce asked him what he thought.
“You’re right, it was a surprise,” Blake said as he sat down. “You gotta pump it instead of flush it.”
Blake took his camera out of his camera case and started scanning through his pictures. He was pleased with most of them, loved a few of them, and saw a lot to delete later. His grandfather had told him that unless a picture was an obvious mistake, he shouldn’t delete any pictures the first time around. Just as he thought about seeing if Cole would switch seats with him so he and Tracy could compare their pictures, Kirby entered the car. He announced that he had the $10 hats that Lisa had mentioned in her announcement. He reminded everyone that now was the time to buy them since they would be more expensive at The Train Shoppe.
“Whoa, I didn’t know they were selling $10 hats,” Blake said. "I gotta buy one.”
“Lisa announced it while you were out on the platform,” Drake said. “But you won’t need to buy one.”
“I wasn’t paying attention to all of her announcements. And I know I won’t NEED to buy one, I just WANT to buy one.”
Then he noticed that Grandpa William was handing money over to Kirby who then came up with the aisle handing out hats to Cole, Tracy, Pierce, Drake, Blake, and Bryce. “Your grandpa announced all of us boys were getting hats.”
“Wow, he even paid for Tracy and Cole, and he doesn’t even know them.”
“I saw him talking to Tracy’s parents after Lisa’s announcements. I don’t know if any money changed hands,” Drake said. “But I know your grandpa and Tracy got to know each other on the platform. He was really interested in Tracy’s pictures on top of yours.”
“I know. He was pretty busy out there for a while.”
Blake turned his attention back to Bryce when his brother showed him the picture of the hoodie in the “All Aboard” magazine. “They only have the one kind but in two different colors.”
“I want one. End of story.”
An announcement was made that the platforms would close in ten minutes and everybody had to be inside of the car. The ten minutes went by fast and the train approached the Skagway station. Kirby, who had replaced Lisa on the PA so Lisa could go through the train and introduce herself to the passengers, as well as to accept any tips passengers wanted to give the guides, had an important announcement. He said that passengers could detrain at the depot to sightsee or shop in Skagway. They could walk or take a bus to the pier where they could take the shuttle to the “Sapphire Princess.” The bus would cost a dollar a person. The rest of the passengers could stay on board and get off at the pier at the location they had boarded the train.
The Randall family along with Walker, Christian, Drake, and Pierce got off at the station. The twins said their goodbyes to Tracy and Cole, who were staying on board and riding to the pier. The group stepped down to the platform and headed for The Train Shoppe. Blake and Bryce each got a gray White Pass hoodie. The other available color was a shade of purple which didn’t appeal to them. The twins walked proudly out of the store wearing their new hats and hoodies.
A museum was connected to the store. The group stopped there briefly, but the time was approaching noon and lunch was calling them.
"Last time Margaret and I visited Skagway, we had lunch at a great bar and grill called Maggie's Pub," William said. "It's about two blocks from here and their food is mighty good."
A brief discussion was held and the group decided on lunch at Maggie's. "They have everything from pizza to fish and chips," Margaret said. "The place was crowded when we were there but the service seemed prompt and friendly. I think you'll like it."
12 noon
<Maggie's Pub>
In some ways, Maggie's Pub resembled The Fish House where the group had lunched in Ketchikan. Maggie's was busy, with rustic decor and furnishings, but wasn't as noisy and seemed more organized. Joslyn, the cute, looked-to-be-about-sixteen hostess, greeted the group, said there would be a ten-to-fifteen-minute wait, and gave William a beeper that would let the group know when their table was ready.
"I gotta go pee," Drake told his boyfriend.
"Enjoy yourself," Pierce replied with a leer. Drake offered Pierce his middle finger as a reply.
"Hey, Grandpa," Blake said as he moved close to his grandfather. "I switched my camera to monochrome for a few landscape shots on the way down from White Pass. I wanted to see how it works for black and white pictures."
"I'll be anxious to see how they turned out, too," William replied. "Digital cameras don't always take really good black and white pictures. They seem so attuned to taking shots in color. Although the Canons we have seem to do a pretty good job."
"I admire the Ansel Adams pictures you have in your home office," Blake said. "They're really beautiful."
"Adams was known world-wide for his black and white photographs of Nature's landscapes and scenery."
"There's a couple pictures I took in black and white that I think will look awesome," Blake said. "The lighting and the contrasts just seemed perfect at the time. Tracy said he was going to try some black and white shots with his Nikon, too. After we get back to the ship, we're all going to meet at the Youth Center and compare pictures."
Drake returned from the men's room and stood next to his boyfriend. "Everything come out OK?" Pierce asked with a grin and a wink.
"No problem."
Pierce recalled the event that had happened when Drake went to the men's room during the boys' day of bowling a few days before the cruise. "You didn't have a nine-year-old come in and stand next to you and offer a compliment about your endowment, did you?" he asked with a slight smirk.
Drake shook his head. "Nope. Actually, the guy looked about 22 and this time it was my turn to offer the compliment."
Pierce knew Drake well enough to know he was lying but he went along with the gag. "Your adventures in the men's room never cease to amaze me."
"This dude had to have been hung halfway to his knees."
"Did you get his name?"
"Dick."
Pierce and Drake looked at each other for a second and then burst out laughing. "You're so fulla shit," Pierce giggled as he squeezed Drake's hand. "I love you," he whispered. They were tempted to exchange a quick kiss - initially they resisted, but then gave in to the temptation.
Just then, the beeper sounded and Joslyn escorted the group to a large round table that seated twelve. "This is our community table," she said as she handed out menus. "There may be a group of two that will be seated with you later. Roen will be your server."
The Randalls and the Bledsoes arranged themselves around the table leaving two seats open. Roen approached the table, introduced himself, and took the food orders. It didn't take long for four pairs of teenaged boy eyes to scan the 6'4" 17-year-old brunette up and down and admire his boystache. Margaret and Helen ordered soup and salad, the boys all ordered tacos, William and Jeff ordered pulled pork sliders, and Walker and Christian ordered a seafood platter to share.
"The WP&YR trackage seemed fairly smooth considering that a lot of it is jointed rail," Walker said. "The coaches swayed a little bit but they obviously maintain it pretty well."
"I doubt that continuous welded rail is on their shopping list," William chuckled. "Judging from what I've read, I think most of it is jointed rail. They want to have the clickety-clack sound for the nostalgic effect."
A fairly portly woman in her early sixties approached their table wearing a big smile. Her name badge read "The One & Only Maggie."
"Greetings, folks," she said pleasantly. "Thank you for being here - we appreciate it."
After reading Maggie's name badge, Jeff couldn't help picking up on the light-heartedness of the moment. "We are now in the presence of the one and only Maggie," he intoned. "All bow down!"
The diners at the surrounding tables chuckled and Maggie replied with a ringing laugh. "This is my kingdom, honey, and welcome to it."
"My husband and I have been here before," Margaret said, "and we couldn't help recommending it. Your potato soup today was delicious."
"Well, thank you," Maggie replied. "All our soups are made here in our own kitchen. Are you on one of the cruise ships?"
"Yes, we are; the 'Sapphire Princess'," Jeff replied. "A trip on the WP&YR this morning, a day at sea tomorrow, a stop at Victoria Friday, and then home to Seattle."
Just then, Roen approached the table carrying a coffee server. "Hey, grandma, they want you in the kitchen."
"Okay, honey," Maggie said. She turned to face the table of guests. "I'm needed in the kitchen. You folks enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you for stopping in." Maggie hustled off to the kitchen.
Roen smiled shyly. "My grandma calls everybody 'honey'," he said with a mixture of embarrassment and amusement.
"My mom used to work in a diner and she does the same thing," Drake said with a smile. He let his gaze into Roen's eyes linger just a touch longer than necessary.
"Would any of you like coffee?" Roen asked.
"Yes, thank you," William said.
Roen served coffee to William and Margaret and moved on to another table.
"He sure is a long, tall drink of water," Helen said with a smile.
"I don't know about the 'long' part," Pierce whispered to Drake, "but he is tall for sure." They shared a fist bump.
The group finished lunch and beckoned Roen to the table. He processed their payments through a hand-held device, gave them receipts, and thanked them for coming. Maggie's had turned out to be a very worthwhile stop on their trip to Skagway.
1:30pm
After leaving Maggie's Pub, the group returned to the ship and paused in the atrium for a discussion. Bryce texted Tracy that they were back on the ship.
"Hey, Grandpa," Blake said. "Can you come up to the Youth Center and help us look through our pictures?"
"I'd really like to," William replied with a grin, "but I'm not exactly a youth. I don't think they'd let me into the Youth Center."
"And we gotta remember that Cole is too young to be in the Teen Center," Bryce pointed out.
"Tell you what," William said. "There's a photography shop on Deck 7 toward the stern on the starboard side. I stopped in there last Saturday. They have tables and it's quiet. We could plan to meet there. As long as we're quiet I don't think they'll mind us using a table."
"I know where that is," Walker said. "It's on the same deck as the Wheelhouse Bar."
"You guys text Tracy and tell him we'll be there at 2:00pm," William said. "If he wants to bring Cole along that would be fine."
"We're all planning to go to the pizza restaurant at Alfredo's for supper tonight, right?" Walker asked.
"Sounds awesome to me," Pierce and Drake said almost in unison.
"Sounds awesome to us, too," Blake and Bryce agreed.
"Tomorrow is a day at sea and don't forget we have reservations at the Crown Grill tomorrow night," Jeff reminded the group.
Blake texted Tracy about the plans to review the pictures. Tracy replied that he and Cole would be there.
2:00pm
<The Photo Shop>
William, Pierce, Drake, Blake, Bryce, Tracy, and Cole gathered in the photo shop. Tracy brought his tablet so the boys could connect their cameras to it and display their pictures on a larger screen than the camera viewfinder.
Blake was going through his pictures with Grandpa William looking on when one of the pictures, a black and white shot, caught William's eye.
"Go back to the last one we looked at," he said to Blake. "There's something about that picture that stands out."
"I remember taking it from the platform just as we left Denver on the way back down to Skagway," Blake said. "It was the first black and white shot I took. The light seemed so perfect."
The display on the larger screen of Tracy's tablet brought out the fine details of the landscape and the sun playing off the trees.
"I can tell this was taken a little later in the morning than the others," William explained to his grandson. "The sun was higher in the sky. This is beautiful. When we get home, I want to display this on the big screen and check it really closely. This is framable material."
Tracy was listening to Blake and William and recalled a picture he had taken just as they came out of the tunnel on the way back to Skagway. He selected the picture and displayed it on his tablet.
"Here's one I took that has sunlight in it kinda like Blake's," he said.
William looked at Tracy's picture and complimented the young teen on how well he had visualized the scene and composed the picture before taking it.
"Like Blake's picture, you can tell this was taken a little later in the morning," William said. "This is a beauty."
"Both of you got great shots of Bridal Veil Falls," William said. "That's one location that gets photographed constantly - both in black and white and color."
The group spent the rest of the time looking at the pictures Drake had taken and the videos Bryce had shot. Blake and Tracy said that they had not deleted any pictures yet - they wanted to go through them one more time and William agreed.
"It's almost four o'clock," Pierce said. "We need to head back to our cabin. Drake and I want to change out of our shorts and into jeans and t-shirts for the Fifties Music Party tonight."
"I just got a text from my mom," Tracy said. "She said that Cole’s family has invited our family to join them for dinner tonight and then a show after dinner. He says me and Cole can meet you guys at the Youth Center after the show if you want. She wants me to come to the cabin now and Cole has to go meet his family—so we’ll see you guys later." Tracy and Cole left to meet their families.
William thanked the boys for asking him to join them in checking out their pictures. He had been truly impressed with some of the shots the teens had taken. He also thanked the attendant at the photo shop for letting the group use the table.
5:30pm
<The Piazza>
The Bledsoes and the Randalls met at Alfredo's Pizzeria on Deck 5. William and Margaret had taken seats at a table with Jeff and Helen. Pierce, Drake, Bryce, and Blake were sitting at a larger table nearby with Walker and Christian.
"Blake has great talent for framing and composition," William said. "He really took some outstanding pictures during that train trip."
"Thanks, Grandpa," Blake said. "I ended up taking almost 100 pictures and I haven't deleted any yet."
At about 7:00pm, Pierce, Drake, Walker, and Christian took a table in the Piazza Atrium area to await the start of the Fabulous Fifties dance party. There was music playing softly in the background and a large, mostly middle-aged, crowd had gathered. The ship's staff had arranged tables and lots of chairs around three sides of the dance area.
"This is going to be so much fun," Pierce enthused.
"There sure is a big crowd showing up," Drake said. "So what do you think will be the first fifties song she'll play?"
Pierce thought for a moment. "I'll say 'Jailhouse Rock'."
"Good guess," Drake said. "I'll say 'At The Hop'."
At 7:30pm, a member of the ship's staff welcomed the audience to the "Fabulous Fifties" dance party and encouraged everyone to dance and have a great time. He introduced the evening's DJ as Shondra Lee and turned the event over to her.
Shondra Lee greeted the audience enthusiastically and opened the program with John Cougar Mellencamp’s classic "R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.", technically not a fifties song but a great opening number, and it packed the dance floor. At the end of the song, she hollered "OK - now let's really go back to the fifties!" She segued into Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" and the audience knew they were truly back in the fifties. Over the next two hours, Shondra Lee provided her audience with a tremendous variety of songs from the fifties including the Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie", The Ames Brothers' "You You You", Danny & the Juniors' "At The Hop", Boyd Bennett's "Seventeen", Little Richard's "Rip It Up", Pat Boone's "Love Letters In The Sand", Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes", the Platters' "Only You", Paul Anka's "Put Your Head On My Shoulder", and many, many others.
Walker and Christian were loving watching everyone dance when William and Margaret came to their table. Walker greeted them and invited them to sit down.
"Those two are incredible dancers," Margaret said referring to Pierce and Drake. "I'm remembering a lot of this music."
When Jo Stafford's "Make Love To Me" came on, Drake walked to the table, held out his hands to Margaret, and the two headed to the dance floor. "I love this song!" Margaret said as she and Drake danced smoothly to the easy fox trot rhythm of the tune. Shondra Lee encouraged the dancers to call out "make love to me" each time the words were sung in the lyric. At the end of the song, Margaret gave Drake a sincere hug and thanked him as they walked back to the table.
"Your boyfriend is a marvelous dancer," Margaret said to Pierce as she sat down. It was the first time any of the Randall family adults had referred to either Pierce or Drake as a "boyfriend."
"He has the right moves, no doubt about that," Pierce replied with a big grin.
"Where'd Blake and Bryce go?" Drake asked.
"They went up to the Youth Center," Margaret said. "They're going to meet Tracy and Cole up there and play foos ball."
Pierce heard the opening notes of Patti Page's "The Tennessee Waltz" and he held out his hands to Margaret. "This one takes me way back," Margaret said with a smile as she and the blond teen moved out onto the floor. She suddenly realized that Pierce could ballroom waltz like no one she had ever danced with, even her husband, and she appreciated the way Pierce gently placed his hand at her waist as they danced. Margaret sang along with the song as they danced and Pierce loved that she knew every word of the lyric.
Walker and Christian, along with Jeff and Helen, Pierce and Drake, and William and Margaret, were inspired to dance to Shondra Lee's medley of Johnny Mathis' classics - "It's Not For Me To Say", "Chances Are", and "The Twelfth Of Never."
"Jeff and Helen are going to join Margaret and me for a cocktail before calling it an evening," William said to Walker and Christian. "Would you care to join us?"
"Sounds like a great idea," Walker said. "I had pretty good luck in the casino last night. I'm going to pass on it tonight. My luck would probably run out."
The six adults left for the Wheelhouse bar while Pierce and Drake ran to the floor to dance to one of their favorites, Sam Cooke's beautiful "You Send Me."
Two young men who looked to be in their early to mid twenties had been dancing together to most of the rock and roll songs. They had seen Drake and Pierce dancing together and noticed that they were not only very good dancers, they were also very cute. When Drake and Pierce took a break and sat down, the two young men approached their table.
"You guys are UNREAL dancers," the taller of the two said. "You have to have taken lessons."
"Thank you," Pierce said. "We've kinda taken lessons. Have a seat and join us. You guys are awesome dancers, too. I'm Pierce and this is my boyfriend, Drake. I'm 15 and Drake is 16."
"I'm Lance and this is my husband, Royce. I'm 24 and Royce is 23."
The four young men exchanged handshakes. It had become obvious to them that all four of them were gay.
Lance was an All-American-looking six footer with longish light brown hair, blue eyes, and a few freckles left over from his boyhood. Royce was about three inches shorter with shaggy brown hair, a neatly trimmed beard, diamond earrings, and big, expressive dark eyes. They looked like they worked outdoors - and they were wearing a very seductive fragrance.
"So tell us about your dance lessons," Royce said.
"I'm in the drama class at my school," Pierce explained. "Earlier this year, we put on a play that had lots of swing dances and fox trots and jitterbugs in it. Everybody in the cast loved the dancing scenes and Miss Rutledge, our drama teacher, came up with the idea of creating a Swing Dance Club at the school where members could learn and practice various dance steps. Miss Rutledge is a professionally trained dancer and helped us a lot. The club meets every other Thursday after school to practice steps, hear new songs, and learn new dances. Three times since the club formed, we've had a big dance event in the school gym where one of the club members acts as DJ and we can invite guests. Drake comes with me and we dance together and have a great time."
"That is so cool," Royce said. "We're members of a dance club called the Jitterbuggers. As you can tell, Lance and I both love dancing. There were some members of the Jitterbuggers at our wedding reception and they invited us to join. There's probably six male couples in the club. We have a blast. Lance has a huge collection of fifties music and he DJs now and then."
"I DJ occasionally at our Swing Dance Club meetings," Pierce said. "My dad has a good-sized collection of fifties music and we keep adding to it. I'm going to be interested to see if everything she plays is from the fifties and so far, she's stayed with it.”
"Very true," Royce agreed.
"The way you guys danced to Little Richard's 'Rip It Up' was incredible," Lance said. "The hand claps over your heads added a great touch."
"That's one of our favorites," Drake said with a smile. "Everybody in the dance club loves that song. You may have noticed that Pierce does all the spins and fancy moves out on the floor. I just kind of keep our steps together."
"I got a question," Pierce said. "Who did that 'Seventeen' song that she played?"
"That was Boyd Bennett And His Rockets from 1955," Lance replied with a big grin. "It was their only big hit."
"And how about the song about "My Boy Flat Top?"
"That was Dorothy Collins also from '55."
"And "Crazy Little Mama?"
"That was Pat Boone from '55. The song is actually called 'At My Front Door'."
"I gotta get those three songs and play them for the Swing Dance Club."
"We love dancing to all kinds of music," Drake added. "Classic big band songs, disco songs, rock and roll songs, pretty much everything."
"And there's nothing wrong with a slow ballad now and then," Royce said. "I asked the DJ to play the original version of 'Oh, What A Night' by The Dells - she said she'd have it up in a little while."
"I don't recognize that one," Pierce said.
"You'll love it," Lance said. "A great, slow, dance-close-with-your-honey, doo-wop song from 1956 - and it's got a beautiful sax solo in it."
"So anyway, that's pretty much the story of our dance lessons," Pierce said. "We haven't had 'lessons' in the usual sense of the word but Miss Rutledge is an awesome dancer and a great teacher and has great knowledge of songs. We have a blast learning from her."
"Do you guys live in Seattle?" Drake asked. "We do."
"Well, actually I live in Seattle," Pierce explained. "Drake lives across the lake in Kirkland. I go to Whittier Middle School and Drake goes to Lake Washington High. We're on the cruise with my dad, Walker, and his friend, Christian. They sat here at the table with us for a while - then they decided to go hit the Wheelhouse for a nightcap. This is our first cruise and we're loving it."
"We live in Portland," Lance said. "We operate a landscaping business down there. Originally we're from Kentburg, near Centralia. We've always been Mariner fans and we've still got enough Washington blood in us to keep us that way. And by the way, this is our third cruise."
"We both loved baseball in middle school and high school," Royce added. "Our team was the Kentburg Royals. Lance and I still play baseball for the Park District team in Portland."
Drake nodded. "I'm on the track team at Lake Washington High. I've heard of Kentburg. The dudes at school say Kentburg has a kick-ass track team."
"One of our best landscaping customers in Portland is a retired Kentburg high school teacher," Lance said. "He stays in touch with the current faculty and keeps us pretty well updated on how the Kentburg teams are doing - and yes, they do have a kick-ass track team. They also still have a kick-ass baseball team."
"Back when we played high school baseball, one of our toughest rivals was the Mustangs from Mayfield," Royce said. "It's a little town east of Kentburg on highway 12. They were damn good - tough, talented, well managed, and well coached. And from what we hear, they still are."
"We know a whole bunch of guys that live in Mayfield," Drake said. "Marty Carlson is from Mayfield. Was he on Mayfield's team when you played them?"
"He sure was," Lance said. "In fact, I'm pretty sure he was their team captain."
"Yes, he was their captain," Royce said. "Do you guys know Marty?"
"We sure do," Pierce said. "We know both Marty and his husband." Pierce didn't mention that Marty and Rich had recently been to a pool party at his dad's house and that all the boys attending the party had been naked.
Lance and Royce glanced at each other. They both knew they could tell lots of stories about days gone by when Marty was 14 and Lance was 13 and Royce was 12 and the three of them often went to parties and keggers and got drunk and stoned on beer and weed. Marty had actually taken both Lance and Royce's cherry at one of those parties where the three of them were drunk and naked.
Lance and Royce had no way of knowing how much Drake and Pierce knew of Marty's past or that he was a recovering alcoholic, and now was not the time to get into that discussion. They also knew that it had not been solely Marty who had gotten drunk with them. Lance and Royce had been known in Kentburg as party animals and there had been many other classmates in Kentburg that knew that if a party was happening, Lance and Royce were very probably behind it. Those days were past, however. While Lance and Royce occasionally enjoyed one of the many craft beers brewed in the Pacific Northwest, they had a business to run. Their days of drinking just to get drunk were over and weed was not a part of their lives anymore.
"We still see Marty all the time on Mariners TV, of course," Royce said, "but we haven't talked with him or Rich for a long time."
"One of these days, I hope we can get reacquainted," Lance said. He and Royce were thinking it was time to change the subject but Drake did it for them.
"How long have you guys been married?" Drake asked.
"About two years," Lance said. "We got married as soon as Royce turned 21."
"We had been bed buddies since seventh grade," Royce said. "We stayed in the closet until the summer between Lance's junior and senior year. Kentburg is kind of a tough place to be gay - it's OK for guys to be known as 'bed buddies' but being out and boyfriends doesn't go down as well. Even though virtually all of our close friends knew we were boyfriends, it just wasn't talked about. During that summer I mentioned, Lance and a couple of our close friends suggested we just come out before school started. We did and it ended up being a big nothing. Everybody knew anyway."
"Yeah, but there were still three or four assholes that insisted on making a big deal out of it," Lance said. "They called us faggots and all that crap. Royce and his fists weren't about to take that shit, though."
"A couple black eyes and a few bloody noses got the point across," Royce said with a grin.
"After we graduated, I knew I wanted to marry Royce," Lance said as he grabbed his husband's hand. "Royce is my life - I've loved him since the day I met him. After we got married and moved to Portland, the opportunity to own and operate our landscaping business opened up and the rest, as they say, is history. It's hard work but we've kept at it and things are really beginning to pay off for us."
"You guys gotta join us for the country music dance event coming up on Friday," Royce said. "It's huge fun and the country DJ has some great dance versions of country songs."
"There's a couple dudes at the deli where I work that love country music," Drake said. "It seems like some of it has got a really good beat but I've never listened closely to it."
"The DJ's that play country music for events like this on the ship generally play songs that have a good rocking rhythm because they like to have everybody dancing," Royce said. "People always love good danceable songs. Sure, there's all kinds of great, slow, sentimental country ballads but the DJ doesn't play too many of them."
"Have you ever heard the country song 'Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy'?" Lance asked with a leer.
Drake and Pierce burst out laughing. "Have not heard that one but it sounds like all kinds of fun!" Drake said.
"People dance in groups to lots of the country songs," Lance explained. "A lot of the dancing looks almost choreographed like square dancing. Some of the country songs have pre-arranged dance steps and formations that all the dancers follow. There's lots of hand clapping to the beat of the songs. Some of the dancers, including Royce and me, wear taps on their boots just to emphasize the rhythm even more. You guys have got a good enough sense of rhythm that you'd love it."
"Oh, and by the way," Royce said with an evil grin, "I think you know what I mean when I say that there will be some very hot looking guys out on the dance floor."
"It sounds like fun," Pierce said to Drake. "Let's take a crack at it. We could at least watch and see what we think of it."
"Shit - you guys would be out on the floor after only one or two songs," Royce said as though it was a foregone conclusion.
Just then Drake and Pierce heard the opening notes of Bill Haley's 'Shake Rattle And Roll'. "Another one of our favorites!" Pierce hollered as the two of them ran to the dance floor clapping their hands as they went.
"Those two are un-fucking-real," Lance whispered. "I know girls who would give their right arm to have eyes and eyelashes like Pierce has."
"Yeah, for sure," Royce replied with a malicious grin. "And it looks to me like Drake's got a pretty decent package on him." Royce grabbed his husband's hand for emphasis. "Can you imagine what those two would look like in western shirts or T-shirts, nice tight Wrangler jeans, and cowboy boots and hats? I mean, I know they're just kids, but they'd look like a young version of Bo and Luke Duke."
"You're so fulla shit," Lance said with a laugh. "I know you better than that. You're not imagining them in western clothes - you're imagining them in bed. And yes, they ARE just kids."
Royce couldn't help chuckling. "You know me too well."
Lance kissed his husband. "And I can't think of a better person than you to judge packages - especially considering that slab of meat you got hangin' between your legs."
Royce groped himself suggestively. "And you love every inch of it."
"I always have and I always will." Just then the DJ segued from "Shake Rattle And Roll" to the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love." Lance grabbed Royce's hand. "Come on, stud, let's dance."
The great fifties songs just kept coming. Drake danced with Lance and Pierce danced with Royce to "All Shook Up" and "Jailhouse Rock". Then they switched partners for a slow dance to Johnny Mathis's "Misty" and Royce's request for the Dells' "Oh, What A Night."
Shondra Lee concluded the program at 9:30pm with the Four Lads' "Moments To Remember" and received a rousing round of applause. A few people in the audience hollered for an encore but in this case, when the event was over, it was over.
"It's been fantastic meeting you guys," Lance said as the two couples shared hugs. "The country and western music event will be at this same place on Friday night. Hope to see you - I think you'd love it."
"I think you'd love both the music and the dancers," Royce said with a big grin.
"This has been the bomb," Drake said. "You guys are incredible dancers. We'll plan to be here Friday night to check out the country music event."
"Thanks for talking with us," Pierce said. "Have a good night."
<10:00pm>
<Blake and Bryce's Cabin>
"So are we gonna take the stairs again tomorrow morning so we can have another kissing session with Duck and Pooka?" Bryce asked as the twins stripped naked. They had just returned to their cabin from the Youth Center.
"Tomorrow is a day at sea so I'm not sure if we'll do the same trip up to the buffet," Blake replied. "We'll stay in touch with the two of them about it. They'll know what we're talking about. Time to brush and floss."
"That server in the restaurant sure was cute," Blake said after the boys finished in the bathroom. "He must be a basketball player. He had to have been way over six feet."
Bryce grabbed his phone and Googled Skagway High School. "Yes, there is a school in Skagway," he reported, "and they do have a basketball team."
"I'd like to check him out in the shower after a game," Blake said with a grin.
"You and Drake are total sex fiends," Bryce laughed.
The twins snuggled into bed. Blake gave his brother a kiss. "I love you, bro," he whispered.
"Love you, too," Bryce whispered back.
As he felt sleep overcoming him, Blake thought about the times he had kissed Pierce and Drake, the rubbing of his fingers on Drake's thigh, the way he and Drake had talked and kissed in the woods after lunch at Juneau, and the way he had admired Roen. He found himself seriously wondering: "Am I gay?"
<Lance and Royce's Cabin>
"So how much do you think Pierce and Drake know about Marty's background?" Royce asked as he and Lance stripped naked and sat side by side on the bed. "You know - alcohol and drugs and all that shit?"
"For all we know, they know the whole story," Lance said. "Although if they do, I'd bet that they still don't know that Marty took my cherry when I was 13 and yours when you were 12."
"I'm not so sure - I don't think they know the whole story," Royce replied. "I'm just thinking about how young they are. I'd say maybe they've heard rumors, but I doubt they know the whole story."
"They did say they know a bunch of guys from Mayfield," Lance pointed out. "It prolly depends on who they know. If they've met older guys like Scott or Connor or Eric or Kevin, they might have heard rumors. We don't even know how well they know Marty himself."
"If they do find out about Marty's background, I hope they hear it from Marty himself," Lance went on. "That would be much better than going by a bunch of rumors and hearsay."
"Well, if we see them again, let's not mention anything about it," Royce said. "If they bring it up, well, we'll just have to feel our way. I'll say one thing: it's too bad they're not about five years older."
Lance nodded. "Can't argue with you there. They're gonna be beautiful men."
"Drake had to be going commando," Royce said confidently. "The kid's got a hell of a package on him."
"I didn't notice it until you pointed it out."
Royce burst out laughing. "You're a lot of good things but a good liar you are not!"
"Guilty as charged."
"I'd really like to see Marty again," Royce said. "Yeah, we got some bad shit in our past but we also got a pretty good present going on. And I mean, let's face it, Marty's gotta be pullin' down some pretty decent paychecks."
They headed to the bathroom to brush and floss, returned to their bed, and snuggled together.
"I sure hope Pierce and Drake come to the country dance event on Friday," Royce said.
"They'll be there - I'm confident of it. They won't be able to stay off the dance floor."
"I should let Drake try wearing my tap boots for a song or two," Royce said.
"That'd be cool," Lance whispered. "Good night, sweet man. I love you."
"I love you, too."
Two minutes later they were both asleep.
<Pierce and Drake's Cabin>
"That was so cool the way you danced with Margaret tonight," Pierce said as he and Drake stripped naked.
"And your dance with her to 'The Tennessee Waltz' was a thing of beauty."
"Margaret is a very fine dancer," Pierce said. "I hope I didn't piss off her husband."
"Don't let it worry you - he was enjoying it. She referred to me as your 'boyfriend'. That was a first for the Randall family."
"Shondra Lee did stick to fifties music," Pierce admitted. "She had a great playlist. I loved that 'Seventeen' song."
"So, what do you think about the country music event on Friday night?" Drake asked. "I think we'd like it."
"I agree. I'd like to talk with Lance and Royce again, too. They are awesome dancers. We'll check it out."
"You know, when you mentioned that we know Marty and Rich, Lance and Royce seemed to clam up a little," Drake said. "You think maybe the four of them messed around when they were in high school?"
"Well, they are four gay guys," Pierce said with a smile. "It wouldn't surprise me if they got it on."
"Shit," Drake said. "Can you imagine me and you getting it on with Marty and Rich? Holy fuck, just thinkin' about it has got me bonin' up."
Pierce kissed his boyfriend. "Don't even think it, dude - it ain't gonna happen. Tell you what - when we see Lance and Royce again, we won't mention anything about Marty."
"What if they do?"
"Well, we'll just have to feel our way."
"I was so proud of you tonight," Drake said.
Pierce kissed Drake. "I love you. It was a great time."
"Tomorrow's a day at sea," Drake said. "Are you gonna set the alarm tonight?"
"Shit, no," Pierce said with a laugh. "We'll treat it like last Sunday - in other words, when we wake up, we wake up."
The two brushed, flossed, and hit the bed. They snuggled together and fell asleep with Pierce spooned into Drake.
Next: Heading for Home