The Castaway Hotel - 1 - 27. Chapter 27 - Back In Pennsylvania

The following morning we left to go to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, our final vacation stop. We would spend two days in the general area, so we could see the major points of interest. First, we visited an Amish village in Strasburg, where we toured a blacksmith’s shop, a one-room schoolhouse, a farm, an operational watermill and windmill and a smokehouse, where they cured their meats. The boys watched the blacksmith for a while, but didn’t think he was as impressive as the blacksmith they had worked with at Williamsburg, so we moved on. The one place that did interest them was the one-room schoolhouse, where we talked about what it would have been like to attend classes there.

“It would be kind of weird to have all different grades in the same classroom,” Brandon remarked, after seeing the one-room schoolhouse.

“Yeah, kids our age would have been in with first and second graders,” Danny observed, after learning the typical age range would have been from four to sixteen. “How could the teacher teach all those different grades at once.”

“I don’t think the teacher did,” I informed him. “I think the teacher basically taught the older students and used them to help teach the younger ones, while he or she was busy with a different group. They might do some things together, like maybe history or geography, but the arithmetic, reading, writing and spelling would have been done separately.”

“I think that would have been pretty neat,” Jay announced. “I wouldn’t have minded helping the younger kids learn.”

“Me neither,” Ricky agreed. “Especially if it meant I wouldn’t have to be studying all of the time.” I guess I should have figured he’d have a hidden motive in there somehow.

All four of them were also intrigued by the many physical differences in the classroom too, like the students’ desks. They quickly noted these desks weren’t the one-piece design they were familiar with, nor were they a single desk and chair, like they had at home. These were oddly built, at least to them. That was because the seat for one desk was attached to the front of the desk behind it. The seat would fold down when in use, but could be lifted up and out of the way when no one needed it.

“I don’t think I’d like these desks,” Brandon observed. “You’d be too close to the person behind you and they could do things to you without you noticing it.” I had to chuckle to myself at his comment, because I was about to prove him correct.

That happened after the boys noticed the inkwells in the desk. At first they were merely intrigued by this hole in the desk top, which I informed was placed there to hold a small bottle of ink the student would use to dip their quill pens to write with. After I explained that a quill pen is just a large feather that was used to write with, I let them know this was done after the tip of the hard center shaft had been sharpened into a fine point. That was when I also told them that some of the mischievous boys might have dipped the pigtail of the girl in front of him into the inkwell, which was not an uncommon occurrence back then.

“He might have done this because he disliked the girl,” I informed them, “or possibly because he DID like her, and he used this as kind of a warped way of getting her attention.” The boys thought that was kind of a sick thing to do, but I think some of them could also see themselves doing it.

“I bet you did that,” Ricky challenged, while flashing me a smirk.

“I’m afraid that was even before my time,” I replied, while feigning hurt that he thought I was that old.

“Oh, come on,” Danny challenged. “We know you went to school with George Washington and Ben Franklin. That’s how you know about all of these things.” The others were laughing hysterically now, knowing they had finally paid me back for some of the things I would occasionally do to them.

In addition to inkwell, there was also a small paddle-like chalkboard the students would use to write their work on. I explained this was because paper and ink were not as easy to come by back then and a chalkboard could be used over and over, with only the chalk needing to be replaced. The students would do their assignment, get it checked, erase it and then move on to their next task.

“There was no way that any of the students could claim the dog ate their homework,” I joked, “although I guess they might be able to claim the pooch had erased it with his wagging tail.”

We also examined the replicas of the textbooks the students might have studied from, such as a set of McGuffy’s readers and some old geography and history books. The boys quickly noted how strange the McGuffy readers were and how thin the history books seemed.

“No wonder you can remember all that history, Pop,” Jay announced, while pointing at a slender history book. “When you went to school, your history books had less than half of the stuff ours have in them.” This drew another round of giggles and the boys all gave Jay a high-five, as a way of showing their appreciation for how he had just zinged me.

After the boys regained control of their emotions again, we discussed how the students would also be taught morality and patriotism at school. I advised the boys that the students might also be required to memorize such things as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, passages from the US Constitution and important dates from US history.

“I’m glad we only have to remember a few dates,” Jay remarked, “because I have enough trouble just keeping track of those.”

Our discussion ended when Jay spotted a collection of hickory sticks in a bucket against the wall and asked me what they were for. I took that opportunity to explain to all of them about how corporal, or physical, punishment was used to discipline unruly students and described how the hickory sticks would be utilized for that purpose.

“The disruptive pupil would have the palms of his hands or backside whipped by one of those ‘switches,’ wielded by the teacher,” I told them, “and this was often done in front of the entire class, to dissuade others from misbehaving.” I went on to add that not only would that student be punished at school, but if the parents found out about what he had done, he would often also be disciplined at home, getting another spanking or whipping from his father. The boys cringed at that thought, especially Ricky, when he reflected back upon all the times he’d been in trouble at school, before he came to live with me.

“Damn, I’d have been in real trouble back then, wouldn’t I Dad?” he asked me, while looking more than a little troubled.

“Most likely,” I agreed. “Adults back then had little sympathy for a child who couldn’t show self-restraint and was a disruptive influence.” Instinctively, Ricky unconsciously rubbed his backside as I said that, which got the others teasing him unmercifully, about what life would have been like for him back then.

Once we returned to the items at hand, Brandon asked about a list of rules he spotted hanging on a wall.

“Those are rules for the teacher, not for the students,” I explained, before we began to study them.

I went on to inform the boys that many of the teachers wouldn’t have been much older than the students they taught, nor would these teachers have much more education than what they would have received in a similar one-room schoolhouse. I did tell them that some teachers might be older and committed to spending their lifetime teaching, and they would be called a schoolmaster (male) and schoolmistress or schoolmarm (female). These teachers were paid very little, generally four to ten dollars a month, so many of them couldn’t afford their own home and would board with the family of one of their students. This also meant the adults in the family would be able to monitor that teacher’s activities and make sure he or she was a moral person and abiding by the established tenets of that era.

This lead us to examine the list of rules the teacher was expected to follow. Carefully, we examined them and discussed what each one meant. They read as follows.

1. Teachers each day will fill lamps [with oil], clean chimneys.

2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s session.

3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.

4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.

5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.

6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.

7. Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years, so that he will not become a burden to society.

8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity and honesty.

9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.

This discussion turned out to be quite a lengthy one, and we covered what the teacher’s life would have been like and why they would have accepted all those restrictions without objection.

“Would you have wanted to be a teacher back then?” Brandon asked me.

“Possibly, but I wouldn’t have lasted for very long,” I added. “It looks like I would have found a new profession, once I got married and started my family. Even though males were allowed to marry, it would have been hard to support a family on those earnings.”

“Not only that,” Ricky followed, “but I don’t think you would have liked living by those rules either. Ten hours at school, doing all those chores, only reading the Bible and not allowed to go out and do much else – and I don’t think they would have let you take kids in to live with you, like you did for us.” The others all nodded their heads in agreement and I had to concur. That would have been quite a difficult and lonely occupation for me to endure, if I’d have lived back then.

Now that we had covered those areas, we left the schoolhouse and took a buggy ride around the area. The five of us sat in the back of a small black carriage, pulled by a single horse, while the driver sat on a separate seat in front of the enclosed passenger compartment. The ride was really quite enchanting and the boys all seemed to get a kick out of it too. We also rehashed how much longer it would have taken to get from place to place, if they had to use a horse and carriage all the time, and how that would limit how much they could do or how many places they might eventually visit. Even making a trip from your farm into town would take at least ten times longer than it did now. It also gave the boys a chance to appreciate what it would have been like to live a hundred or more years ago and how much better off they actually are, living with all the technological advantages.

It was early evening by the time we finished our ride, and the boys had been complaining about being hungry, so we went out to eat next. After dinner, I wanted to do something different with the boys, but didn’t know what. As I drove along, I happened to spot a miniature golf course, so I pulled in. This immediately caused the boys to voice their approval.

“All right,” Danny shouted excitedly. “I’m going to whip all of your butts at this.” The others began to protest, that is except for Jay, who I think knew he was no match for Danny’s athleticism and competitive nature.

It was really quite entertaining, although none of us played very well. When we were done, I took all the boys over to the ice cream stand, which was right next door and owned by the same people. Once we finished our treat, we went back to our motel room and spent the rest of the night watching television, when the boys weren’t cleaning up.

In fact, their showers became a bit of a curiosity for me, as they chose to team up in different pairs tonight. Jay dragged Brandon off first, leaving Danny and Ricky behind. I merely sat next to them, with a puzzled look on my face.

“What’s up with this?” I inquired, trying to learn what led to this unusual pairing.

“Oh, nothing,” Ricky answered almost matter-of-factly. “It just that we’ve all become much closer during this trip and Jay and Brandon thought it was time to get to know each other better.” I raised my eyebrows in response and Danny thought he’d better clarify the point for me.

“Brandon’s never played with an uncircumcised cock before and wanted to have a try before we got back home,” he blurted out, which caused Ricky to give him a strange and surprised look. Danny didn’t give this much heed, however, and continued to explain this for me. “Brandon was afraid he might not have another opportunity after we got back, so he thought he’d better do it now. Jay is nearly as eager about doing it as Brandon is too, so you don’t have to worry.” I wasn’t so sure about this, seeing that pair was only temporarily under my supervision, but I’d address that with them, once we were alone.

“Well, I guess it’s okay, as long as they both agreed to what they’re doing,” I responded. “I guess you might say no harm, no foul in this case.” The other pair chuckled and then I continued. “It’s been a while since you two have showered together too, so do you have plans as well?” They looked briefly at each other and then back toward me, nodding their heads in agreement. “Well, I’m glad you boys all feel comfortable with each other, but I must admit this has been an extremely interesting, and sometimes surprising trip.” They both giggled at my response.

In the other room, Brandon wasted no time in checking out Jay’s prick. “Man, this is neat, the way the skin covers up the end of your cock, Jay.”

“Well, we were all born like that, it’s just that your parents had the doctor cut off the extra skin while you were still a baby.”

“I know,” Brandon acknowledged. “I learned about it in health class, but I’ve never seen one this close before or been able to check it out for myself.”

“Don’t be shy. You can do whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t hurt me,” Jay told him.

“Thanks, Jay. You’re all right.” Jay smiled at the older boy’s praise.

Brandon got down on his knees in the shower and began to check out this new phenomenon before him. He pulled on the loose skin, stretching it and pulling it apart so he could peer inside. He pulled the hood back and forth over the glans, intrigued with how it worked. This caused Jay to get hard and, soon, the excess skin was pulled so tight that it lost its fascination. Now, Brandon began to lick Jay’s head and taste it, in a prelude to giving him a blowjob. Brandon bathed Jay’s groin in saliva, without ignoring any part of it, including his scrotum and the pubic mound above it. By the time he took Jay’s tool down his throat, Jay was so sexually excited that it didn’t take long for him to blow his load. Brandon’s bobbing motions were instantly rewarded with five bursts of honey-glazed cum from this uncut delight. Brandon eagerly slurped up the entire load, before letting go of Jay’s prick.

Once Jay had recuperated, he was more than ready to change places with Brandon. He wasted no time in positioning himself, so he could work on Brandon’s entire groin region, too, and return the favor. He used his tongue to explore the older boy’s penis and bring Brandon to a state of arousal. Then, he took Brandon’s boy meat in his mouth and worked that big cock, well at least it was big to Jay, and it wasn’t long before he sucked Brandon’s boy juice from his gonads. Brandon’s cock spurted half a dozen thick, creamy ropes into Jay’s waiting orifice and Jay greedily swallowed each load. Once they finished and Brandon had recovered, Brandon wrapped his arms around Jay, in order to caress and kiss him passionately, as a reward for his efforts. Surprisingly, Jay allow this, and when they came out of the shower, they were a lot closer than when they went in.

As Ricky and Danny entered the bathroom, the other pair came over and sat side by side on the sofa to watch TV. Before they got too comfortable, I reminded them it was time to make their final calls home, to let their parents know they were fine and that we’d be home Sunday.

After Danny and Ricky entered the shower, Ricky decided he wanted to teach his brother the new trick that he and Jay had discovered by accident. “Danny, I want to show you something Jay and I did together. It’s almost like f**king and it feels really good.”

“Okay. I’m game,” Danny quickly informed him. “What do I have to do?”

“Turn around and face away from me,” Ricky explained. “I’m going to put my wiener between your legs and I want you to hold you legs tightly against my dick. When you’ve done that, I’ll pump my wiener back and forth, until I shoot.”

Danny smiled at this simple idea, but thought it was worth a try. Before they started, though, he helped soap up his brother’s dick, seductively stimulating it. Once Ricky was erect, they got into the position Ricky had told him about and Ricky began to thrust his boner in the warm lining of his older brother’s thighs. Ricky humped and humped against the fleshy area below his brother’s crotch, and soon began to feel the initial signals of his imminent sexual release growing in his loins. His arms were wrapped around Danny and he was covering Danny’s back in kisses, as he pleasured himself. Finally, Ricky could take no more and arched his back, before releasing his seed. It left his body as strings of creamy fluid that jettisoned between Danny’s legs and splashed against the shower wall. As the last few drops oozed from his joystick and dribbled down the inside of his brother’s legs, Ricky’s knees gave out from under him. Danny turned quickly and helped to catch his brother, which prevented him from falling. Then Danny patiently waited for Ricky to recover his strength. After seeing Ricky’s reaction to this little sex-ercise, Danny was eager to give it try too.

Once Danny had moved into position, he quickly discovered he was a little too tall to do this comfortably with Ricky. His erect dick was pointing directly into Ricky’s cute little butt instead of pointing under it. It became obvious that the only way that he and Ricky could do this was if Danny bent his knees, thus moving his waist lower. Although it wasn’t a very comfortable position, Danny did it anyways and was soon glad he made the attempt. It didn’t take long before he began to feel the churning in his testicles, which indicated his toy cannon would soon fire. Several thrusts later, he was emptying his baby making fluids between Ricky’s legs, with it splattering all over the tub. Regaining his composure, Danny turned Ricky around to face him.

“You were right, little brother. That was really nice. In fact, it was pretty close to the real thing.”

“How would you know?” Ricky asked, while scanning Danny’s face and reading his brother’s surprised reaction. That’s when Danny realized he’d let the cat out of the bag.

“You’ve done it before, haven’t you? You’ve really f**ked somebody?” Realizing there was no way he was going to be able to deny it, Danny nodded his head to confirm what he’d already let slip. “Who was it? Was it Brandon? When did you do it?”

“If I tell you this,” Danny quickly advised Ricky, “you’ve got to promise you won’t tell anyone else. Do you promise?” Ricky eagerly nodded his agreement. “Yes, I’ve done it with Brandon. Dad helped us do it to each other when we were at Virginia Beach.”

“Dad helped you, but why?” Ricky seemed confused, yet fascinated by the thought. “Didn’t it hurt?”

“Yes, dad helped us,” Danny reiterated. “Brandon and I asked him to, because we wanted to try it, but we were afraid it would hurt. Dad showed us how to do everything so it hardly hurt at all. It was really wonderful.”

“Wow, you guys really did it,” Ricky stated, somewhat in awe. “That’s nice for you, but I still don’t want anyone sticking their thing up me.”

“Don’t worry. If you don’t want to do it, no one will force you,” Danny explained, which caused Ricky to nod his understanding. The boys finished their shower and came back into the common area, to join the rest of us. Danny had his arm over Ricky’s shoulder as they came over to sit beside me, which both pleased me and made me wonder what they had done it there. We did watch a little more television before we turned in, but it was a fairly quiet evening.