The sergeant wrapped his other arm around Sammy. And Jerry hugged his cousin. Jerry whispered to him, "And it's not fair. He said we ruined the exercise but we didn't. What if there were real spies and they buried stuff, we might have found it or someone. And he said the beach was secure, but it wasn't. They could have stopped us if they had a guard, and anyways how'd they know to be here unless they had a map, too? Real spies wouldn't give the army one."
When Jerry said that the sergeant was surprised. How indeed had the major known to set up their base of operations here, and why wasn't the beach more secure. Something seemed fishy to him about the operation. He put Jerry on his feet and walked over to the major. "Sir I can see your busy, and we need to get these civilians out of there before operations really begin. How about if I finish their spankings and get them on their way home."
The major looked up. He'd almost forgotten the boys were there. He was busy staring at a map and yelling at some soldiers. "Carry on, Sergeant." he said. He came back and grabbed the boys pants. "Can you make it? We're moving out." he said. Jerry nodded and Sammy did a moment later. They moved quickly out of the cave and up the hill to the sergeant's jeep. A private saluted the sergeant as they passed.
He gave the boys their jeans. "The path we just came up. Is that how you came down?"
"No sir. It was that way." Jerry said. Sammy nodded.
The sergeant started his jeep and drove a bit. "Right here." both boys said. The sergeant got out and looked at the hill. There was indeed a small path down to the beach with no sentry stationed at it. "Sloppy." he muttered.
He came back to the jeep. Something was wrong -- more wrong than two young boys getting into the mess. "Look, boys, I told the major I'd be finishing your spanking. Once I do, I want you to get on your bikes and ride home. You are not to tell anyone about this today. I expect you to tell your parents tomorrow. Jerry, your dad is the Coast Guard officer heading this mission up, right?"
"I guess so. That's what the major said. Daddy ... my dad didn't tell me." He looked at Sammy, "Is your father involved at all?" Sammy said no, his father was in the Pacific. The sergeant took the boys one by one and gave each three mild swats over their jeans. Both boys looked puzzled. The sergeant said, "This is more of a parental matter, boys. Now scoot. Get your butts home."
The boys hurried to their bikes and began peddling fast. Neither sat down as their bottoms were still sore. After a mile without a spoken word they both stopped their bikes. "What's going one there, Sammy?"
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