Michael Dun - 5. Chapter 5

“Tell me how it is you know him?”

Charlie’s voice came from behind Michael.

“Charlie!” He exclaimed gleefully, throwing his arms about him and repeating his name as though he had been gone a lifetime.

Kissing his face all over, Michael told him it was Peter Sheffield.

Charlie stopped him at once. “Not here, not in this place.”

Michael stepped back. “I came here as a student. This Inn is for people like us. We appreciate the male within us, even those men who are extraordinarily eccentric, like him over there.” Michael nodded towards a middle-aged man wearing a set of blue cotton dungarees with pink straps over a yellow coat.

“I remember him from my student days. He is always dressed like that.”

“D’yer call that a man, then? I have to get used to this I am afraid, sir. ‘Tis good to see yer.”

“Well, then, shall we drink to our journey?”

“We shall drink to us.” Charlie lifted his glass, smiling.

Michael winced. Once upon a time Peter Sheffield said that.

*

At the steps to the ship, the concierge recognised Michael as soon as he identified himself and said, “I have a telegram for you, Sir. Yes, here it is…”

Michael opened the telegram and read silently, then turned to Charlie, “Lord Granville wishes to speak with me. I am to wait for the carriage.”

“Who is Lord Granville?”

“He happens to be an uncle. My Godfather to be exact.” Michael lied.

“Prob’ly wants you to go home. Will you?”

“Mr. Manning, this is an adventure of a lifetime. Would you pass up this opportunity?”

“I s’pose not, Mr. Dun.”

“Well then, shall we board?”

Michael was about to step aboard when a carriage arrived with Lord Granville and two men at his side. Michael turned and strolled through the crowd towards them. Charlie stepped aside and waited for Michael to return. He noticed them exchange some harsh words and suddenly the older man, whom Charlie assumed was Lord Granville as mentioned in the telegram, dipped a hand into his jacket pocket and brought out an envelope which he gave to Michael. Michael stared at the envelope between his fingers for a moment then placed it in to his breast pocket. He lifted his hat, turned confidently on his heels and returned. They stepped aboard the Great Britain and Michael tilted his head to look at the mass of people gathered below on the quay; he realised life had waved its magic wand.

Their lives would never be the same again.

They lingered on deck and frolicked among the crowd who were straddling the sides of the ship-waving goodbye, when he spotted Peter Sheffield, one of the last passengers to board, talking loudly with his two companions. Michael did not wave to them, nor did he wave to Granville – now just a face in the crowd. He stared at them through eyes that held a mature confidence, he felt sure he would succeed.

The gangplank was hoisted and the Great Britain slipped away to sea.

Peter caught sight of Michael and Charlie and came across, carrying with him three bags of luggage.

“This is Mr. Gordon Atkinson, and Mr. John Mansfield. We were ever looking so forward to this voyage! Would you believe we almost missed it, chapsies?”

Michael introduced them to Charlie and commented that it was a ‘queer coincidence, meeting like this, after college’.

Charlie stepped forward and volunteered a handshake. Peter did not respond, the other gentlemen warmly shook his hand.

Michael noticed the moment was tense so he promised to see the trio at dinner, then he called a porter who led them to their cabins.

*

The wood floor of their cabin reflected the lamplight and they watched through the porthole as the ship sailed through harbour.

“What did she say to you?” asked Michael.

“Who?”

“Gwendolyn. She said something to make you run. What did she say?”

“She said my services were no longer wanted. She would hire a qualified gardener who cared for the garden.” He trailed off.

“She told me she saw you climb into my room.”

“I know. She expressed her feelings quite blatantly about that”

“Is that all she said to you?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you run?”

“Because I have my pride, Michael Dun.”

The magnetism could not be repelled.

They fell into each other’s arms and embraced with their mouths and hands in an explosion of exploration. Michael's nimble hands explored, searched, his lips kissed, giving pleasure. His body, smooth, hairless and firm whilst Charlie's hirsuteness covered his entire being. His muscles, firm and large from turning the soil. The excitement of touching another man's flesh and the danger involved in being caught in the act, made both of them tremble. They began to sweat and Michael finally parted Charlie's legs. With a gentle nudge, Michael placed himself inside of him and once bonded, made gentle, sweet love.

“Will you call me Michael”

A light silence, then Charlie said, “Michael. It sounds strange.”

“The moment I heard that you had left I set about finding you. Thanks for the note. But, why Cecelia?”

“She’s closest to you and able to reach you so easily.”

“May I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Charlie replied.

Michael hesitated, then asked, “When did you realise you were attracted to men?”

“The moment I met you, sir…Michael. I knew there were others like me and my desire was to find out as much about it as possible, so surprised I was when it happened so close to home.”

They were unable to sleep that night speaking of things closest to their hearts. Michael got to know the pagan called Charlie who celebrated the earth, while many people celebrated Christianity. He preferred the quickness of tongue and mind to the dullness of idle banter and false words. Eager to learn and appreciate new things and communicate in the real world, Charlie took pride in being a heart man, someone who cared for others, things, animals, even insects. A difficult task in a world that believed a young man who desired physical strength should avoid handling his own sexual organs. The world that said it weakened the intellectual, moral and physical characteristics of a person. A world where men had to be pure in body and pure in speech, despite which, in the institutions of learning and the military, masturbation, self-pollution, degradation, and defilement are practiced among many students. The very teachers and generals and politicians who passed laws in Government and labeled other men as disgusting and degrading, were the perpetrators of their own laws. To others, the practice was a sin against God and nature.

But what about two men who loved and cared for each other like Michael and Charlie.

Michael despised society for making him what he was, an outcast.

Untouchable - not unlike a leper - forever doomed to silence and secrecy.