Wills & Dills in Westpoint

(Because Alastair was wondering - )

"Hey, Mr. James. How're you doing?"

"Hey, Ms. Archer. I'm good. What are you doing here?"

"Not a lot." She sat down beside him. "The same as you, just watching the kids' soccer practice. My brothers are out there. I didn't know that you were into soccer."

"I'm not really; I'm just waiting for Wills."

"Wills? Oh yeah, your cousin, William. He's a cute kid."

"He is. He's not just my cousin, he's my best friend too."

"Yeah? You two are pretty thick these days. You and him are like Siamese twins. What about Brodie? I thought he was your best friend."

"Brodie? Nah. Brodie's a mate, but he hasn't got a lot of time for me lately, he's far too busy."

"Busy doing what? Oh, don't tell me, I know. He's got a thing for Suzanne Woods, hasn't he?"

"He surely has! She's got a thing for him too, it's all good."

"Yeah, good for them. Man! There's been some changes in the Woods family. The mother's gone all religious, she's all-but living at the church. Suzanne's come out of her shell and got herself a boyfriend and Ashton's gone into a shell. He never goes anywhere or sees anyone now, just spends all his time at the de Groot's place. Maybe he's got a boyfriend too?

There's certainly some rich pickings there. Have you seen those cousins? Way cute, all of them. Mind you, the only one you ever see him with is Peter. He surely can't be into him."

"And why not? Peter's a nice enough kid."

"You think? No, Ashton's Mr. Cool, or he was, Peter de Groot is a bit of a dork, isn't he?"

"He's not at all. You just don't know him, Joyce. Would it worry you if they were boyfriends?"

"No. Why should it? Good luck to them, if that's what they want. None of my business anyway."

"You're right. It's not. You've got enough on your plate with Mac anyway. Where is Mac?"

"Over the other side there, being a dork."

"Yeah, I see him. Mac's not a dork."

"Okay, he's not. Don't tell him I said that."

"Don't tell him you said he's a dork?"

"No, Dylan. Don't tell him that I said he's not. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. What about you and your cousin? You've got me wondering now. Are you boyfriends too?"

"Joyce! That's none of your business either."

"Guess you're right. But that's not a 'no'. No, he's too young for you anyway. What is he, about 12 or something?"

"No, he's not. He's just turned 14 actually."

"That much? He doesn't look it."

"Maybe not, but he is. Sometimes I think Wills is more grown-up than I am."

"Wouldn't take a lot."

"Shut up, Joyce Archer!"

They exchanged grins.

Their practice run finished and Joyce's brothers ran over to where Mac was. William came towards Dylan and Joyce.

Joyce picked up the bags next to her and stood up. "Okay, that's it - at last! I thought they were never going to finish. The idiot brothers have gone the wrong way. I'd better take their clothes over to them. Catch you later, Dylan. Be good."

"I'll be good, you be careful. Laters, Joyce."

"I, umm, yeah. Laters, Dylan. Hello William, Goodbye William."

"Hey and goodbye, Joyce."

She walked away and William took her place on the seat, next to Dylan. "What's this then? You chatting up girls while I'm not looking, Dills?"

"As if! Why would I want to do that when I've got a gorgeous boyfriend?"

"Oh have you just? So have I and he's all mine."

"All yours, My Wills. Put your pants on and we'll go home."

"Yeah, we'll go home and take them off again."

"Randy little shit."

"That's me! You wouldn't want me any other way."

"I'd want you any way you were."

"Yeah, you would. I love you too, Dills. So, are we on for the trip to the West Coast?"

"It's all on. Mum says we can have her car, but we have to pay for everything ourselves."

"That's okay. We can afford it, can't we?"

"Sure we can. We'll take a tent and sleep in that. That'll save us heaps."

"A tent? Are you sure? It rains all the time over there, doesn't it?"

"Not all the time, just a lot. They are in a rain-forest. Mum says that they don't get many more wet days than we do, it's just when it rains over there, it really rains."

"Something to look forward to then. What are we going to do if we get caught in a rain-storm?"

"Dunno. Get wet maybe?"

"Shut up, Dills. Come on, let's go home. I'm starving!"

"You're always hungry."

"Yeah, well, I'm growing. I've got a long way to catch up to you."

"No hurry, Wills. You'll get there and I'm not going anywhere. I'll wait for you."

"Thanks. And, you'd better! Let's go."

William shrugged into his camouflage jacket, Dylan slung the bag over his shoulder, and they started walking, out of the park, along the Esplanade to the main street and around to the hill up to William's house.

"I'll be glad when you get a car, Dills."

"Yeah, so will I. I'm thinking that a van would be better than a car. There'd be much more room and we could sleep in the back."

"We could, and do other things too."

"Yeah, I thought of that too."

"Of course you did. You call me randy - you're just as bad."

"You complaining?"

"Not likely!"

Their weekend trip started on a bit of a 'downer'. Dylan had their gear already loaded in the car and he brought it to school on Friday afternoon so that they'd be able to get on the road as soon as. It was only about 4 to 5 hours driving to Westpoint through the Lewis Pass, so by getting away straight after school, they planned on getting to there on Friday evening.

They'd find somewhere to sleep, have a bit of a look around on Saturday morning, and then drive down to Brownsville for the night. They'd sleep there, go over the Arthurs Pass to Christchurch and get back home by Sunday night.

So, as soon as school was over, a very excited, and impatient William was standing by the car waiting to go, but there was no sign of Dylan, he'd been delayed somewhere.

A pair of older boys, on bikes, came over, stopped and studied him and the car. William sighed and looked the other way. He could do without attention from the Griffin brothers. Like it or not, he had it.

"What's this?" Dougie Griffin sneered. "Off for a dirty weekend with James are you?"

"Looks like it, " Steven agreed. "He's fucking you, isn't he? Dirty queers."

"Yeah, the filthy bastards. I suppose, if you're into that sort of thing, this one's nearly as pretty as a girl. You're not though, are you? I mean, you have got a dick, haven't you?"

Willam thought of a dozen things he could say to that, but he kept his mouth shut. The goons were both twice as big as him. He wished they'd just go away and leave him alone, but they weren't going to.

Dougie continued, "Someone should do something about this. Cousins fucking, that's got to be illegal."

"Piss off, Griffins. Leave him alone!" Another boy came running over.

"Little Stevie Archer. What's it to you, Jerk? Are you fucking the pretty boy too?"

"No, I'm not. William's my friend and you can leave him alone."

"Like you're going to make us? Get real!"

"Yeah," Steven sneered. "Fuck off and mind your own business, unless you want a hiding too."

"Do you goons ever pick on someone your own size?" Lachan McLaughlin stopped. Virgil Cain was with him too.

"Oh, Gawd! More of them," Dougie said. "What is this, the Kaimoana Queer Club?"

Virgil said, "If there was a club, you'd be in it. It's all you two ever think about. Fuck off and leave the kids alone. Hassle them again and you've got big troubles."

"Oh, no! The Virgin Pansy is threatening us. I'm so scared! Bring it on."

Virgil grinned and said, "Hey, Missy."

"Missy? Is she here?" The Griffins looked around.

"Come on, Steve. Time we weren't here."

"Yeah, we've got better things to do." They got on their bikes and left.

Virgil nodded," Pussies! Lachie, sooner or later, we're going to have to do something about those two."

"It'll be a pleasure," Lachlan agreed. "You okay, William?"

"I'm okay. Thanks for that."

"Not a problem. We can't stand bullies, especially those two. Where's Dylan?"

"Don't know. He should be here, but he's late. Oh, here he comes now."

"Yeah, there he is. You'll be okay now. See you." They walked away.

William said, "Laters, Guys. Thanks again." He turned back to the other boy. "Thanks, Stevie. That was brave, rushing in like that."

"They don't scare me, well, not much anyway. Of course I came over. That's what friends do, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is, but thanks. I'd be glad to be your friend."

"I thought you already were. See you, William. Have a good weekend."

"Oh, I will! Hope you do too. Hey Dills, where've you been?"

"I got held up, sorry. What's been going on here?"

"Let's get going and I'll tell you on the way."

They drove up to William's house to get changed and get something to eat before they hit the road. They had a long way to go. Dylan asked several times what William was doing, but he brushed him off and didn't tell him until after they'd left town.

As it was, they were approaching Oaro when he told him about the Griffin brothers. Dylan turned into the next farm driveway and stopped the car.

"Dills, what are you doing?"

"We're going back."

"Back? What for? Come on, Dills, we're on our way now."

"So we'll go later. I'm going back to see those Griffin bastards."

"No, you're not! Dills, nothing happened and it's over now. Please, just leave it and we'll go and enjoy our weekend."

"Well. . ."

"Please, Dills?"

"Okay then, I'll leave it, but I'm still going to talk to them. I'll see them on Monday and tell the pair of them that if they touch you, they're touching me and I'll take it real, real personal. I'll kill the bastards."

"Dylan! You will not. Sheesh, you tell me to behave myself."

"That's different, Wills, and you know it. We're a couple and what hurts one of us hurts the other one too."

"All right then, but please don't do anything stupid. If you get in trouble, that'll hurt me too."

"I guess. Thanks, Wills. I love you."

"I know you do. I love you lots, My Protector."

"Always."

At Waipara, they turned on to State Highway 7 and headed west.

"Westward ho!"

"Yeah, westward ho the wagons. But I'm glad we've got a car."

"Yeah, cars are good. A wagon would take all week to get there."

"Probably. In the early days, some people walked all the way over there. That would take a week."

"At least. They bred them tough in the old days. How far have we got to go now?"

"Bloody miles. Just keep driving, Dills, we'll get there."

At Culverden, they stopped for a pee and a pie, which they ate as they carried on up the road. After the Hanmer turn-off, the signs of civilisation got more and more sparse as they headed up into the mountains. The sun was low in the sky now, which was a pain as it was directly ahead of them as they headed west.

"Must be a pain living on the West Coast, sometimes."

"How do you work that out?"

"Well, Christchurch is the nearest city, every time they go there for a weekend, they'd have the sun in their eyes all the way home."

"Damm, Wills. You're not just a pretty face, are you? You really think about things. You're a bright kid. Anyway, there's one thing you haven't thought of."

"What's that?"

"Well, there's no sun in your eyes when you're driving west and it's raining."

"There wouldn't be. You're not just a pretty face either, Dills."

"Not as pretty as you though."

"You think? I wish I wasn't. I hate my fucking face sometimes!"

Dylan pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car.

William said, "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something's wrong. You shouldn't say that, Wills."

"That I hate my face? Well I do! Everyone just sees a pretty face and I get hassled by creeps like the Griffins. There's more to me than that."

"Damm right there's more to you! You're bright and funny and really, really smart - well, usually. You're warm and caring and loving and I think that you're the nicest person I've ever known. You're just about the perfect boy, and that's without even thinking about what you look like. I love you, Wills - the real you and not just the face you show to the world, but that's pretty damm good too.

You look good. You look really, really good, but that's not what I love. Usually, I don't even see what you look like. I just see Wills and I love you. Okay?"

"Okay."

William undid his seat-belt and climbed over and sat on top of Dylan, face to face.

"There is one perfect boy in this car and it's not me. Thanks Dills. I love you very, very much." He kissed him.

He pulled back and grinned widely. "Let's fuck."

"No, Wills. Not now. We've still got a long way to go and I don't want to be too late arriving somewhere where we've never been before. Anyway, we don't fuck. That's just crude. What we do is making love."

"Yeah, it is." He kissed him again, and then got back into his own seat.

"Okay, My Dills. Let's get going then. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get down to making love again."

"Sounds good."

"Oh, yah!"

He started the car and headed west again. They hadn't gone very far before the sun disappeared behind a big, black, bank of clouds over the mountains.

"Oh, oh. Looks like we spoke too soon about the sun."

"Yeah, it's raining up there. Dammit."

"Double dammit. I hope we're not in for a wet weekend."

"So do I, but I don't like our chances. What are we going to do, Dills? Maybe we should turn back and try again another time."

"No, to hell with that. We're going to Westpoint. A bit of rain won't kill us. We've got the car and we've got a tent. We can always put it up and stay in the one place for two nights."

"I suppose so. We can always go to the movies. We might see Indie again."

"Yeah, maybe. Did you bring a coat?"

"No. Did you?"

"Of course I didn't."

"Of course. Oh well, we can always buy some raincoats."

"You think? We're not rich, you know."

"Yes we are, we just haven't got much money."

"Shut up, Wills."

They drove into the rain. It didn't start gradually, it was more like driving into a curtain of water. It got dark all of a sudden and the windscreen wipers were struggling to cope with the deluge.

"Damm!"

"Yeah. Just as well we're not walking."

"Just as well. A motel is starting to look good."

"A motel is starting to look very good!"

They lost the radio reception as they headed up the mountain valleys, so William put a CD on.

"Oh no. Do we have to listen to this old stuff?"

"Yes we do. This is show tunes. We have to learn some of this stuff."

"I wish we didn't. Why can't they have decent music in the show?"

"Because it's a show. It's not that bad. It's just different to what you're used to. Enjoy, Dills."

"Yeah, right!"

They drove along in silence, listening to the CD.

William suddenly said, "Whoah!"

"Why whoah?"

"That sign we just went past, that was the summit of the Lewis Pass, the highest point on the road, so we're over the top now."

"Cool. Are we halfway there then?"

"No, we're way past halfway, but it's all downhill from now on."

"Maybe we should turn the engine off and save on the petrol?"

"Shut up. Dills. It's not that steep. It's only more or less all downhill"

"Oh. You should've said that then."

"I'm not even going to answer that."

They definitely were going downhill now and the road wound and twisted down the mountain pass. There was a high hill on one side of them, possibly a mountain, and on the other side, there was a huge drop down into a valley. It was swirled with mist and rain so they couldn’t see the bottom of it, but they were looking down at the tops of big trees.

The trees, as William pointed out, were still mainly the mountain beeches, but they were growing more densely together and there was a heavy undergrowth, mostly ferns. It was like they were in a different country already.

“Beech trees have got a special trick to stop snow settling on them. Their leaves are small and round and attached with very thin stems so that they shiver in the slightest breeze and shake the snow off. This road’s often closed by snow in the wintertime.”

“That right? Y’know, Wills, if I keep hanging around with you, I’m going to get well educated.”

“You are going to get educated!”

“Yeah, but it might take a few years.”

“That’s okay, we’ve got all the time in the world.”

“We have!”

Around a sweeping downhill corner, they suddenly came to a big well-lit building, next to the road in the middle of nowhere. The sign identified it as “Maruia Springs Thermal Resort.” It was all on its own and they passed it and were back among the trees.

“What was that place?”

“Maruia Springs – natural hot pools and a big pub. It’s like Hanmer Springs, but on a smaller scale.”

“Hanmer must be big then.”

“Yeah, kind of. It is a town.”

“There must be a lot of hot springs around.”

“Probably. They’re not everywhere, but there are a few. Most people don’t know about them.”

“But you do, of course.”

“Of course! They’re marked on maps. I like reading maps.”

“Of course you do.”

“Shut up, Dills.”