What made him do the Swim? I didn’t think he had the courage.’
‘The Old Codgers said he had to do it. They think it will make a man of him.’
‘Fat chance of that,’ sneered Tilley.
She had lived under the same room as her cousin long enough to understand his true nature.
Out on the river Angelo could hear that he was catching up with one of the swimmers, but he didn’t know which one it was. His slim body and broad shoulders were made for swimming and he felt strong as he powered through the water. Suddenly there was a scream from somewhere ahead.
Angelo swam on, heading toward the sound when he too found himself instantly caught in the grip of the Iceman. ‘Shit!’ he swore loudly as his entire body reacted to the freezing cold water.
Just then he saw Andrew Lang struggling toward him. ‘Go back!’ Andrew gasped. ‘It’s too cold!’
Angelo swam to him. ‘You can’t go back. That’s the trap. You’ll be too weak to make it all the way and you’ll drown. You have to go forward. Come on!’ he said as he stroked toward the far bank.
‘I can’t! I have to go back! I have a stitch in my side.’
‘No! This way. Come on. I’ll help you.’
He grabbed Andrew by the shoulder and forced him toward the far bank. ‘Come on!’
Shaking uncontrollably, Andrew reluctantly obeyed, but the cold and the pain in his joints were to be too much and his head disappeared below the surface.
Angelo grabbed for him, dragging him back to the surface by the hair. He cupped his hand under Andrew’s chin and then swam on, dragging his reluctant fellow swimmer with him.
Andrew slipped below the surface several more times before Angelo finally dragged the pair of them out of the Iceman’s grasp. Here, in the warmer water, they both rested for a short time while trying to regain their blood circulation.
The pair of them was completely spent by the time they reached the reed beds and when they were able to stand, they had to cling to one another while trying to catch their breath and get their stiffened muscles to work.
Suddenly Angelo realised that Andrew’s embrace had turned ardent and that the large youth’s penis was hardening with excitement. Angelo pushed himself away in disgust. ‘Let go of me, you big poof!’ he snarled.
Andrew’s face reddened in embarrassment. ‘Sorry!’
‘Friggin’ pansy!’ said Angelo disgustedly as he climbed out of the river.
‘I’m not a pansy!’ squeaked Andrew.
‘Of course you are. You’re a fucking queer and everyone knows it. I’ve seen the way you look at the younger boys when we’re in the shower.’
Andrew was shocked that his secret desires were known to others. It’s all a mistake. I’m not a queer. I have to make him believe that. He climbed out of the river on legs that still felt like jelly and grabbed Angelo by the shoulder to spin him ‘round. ‘I’m not queer!’ he insisted.
‘Fucking poofter! Listen to yourself. You talk like a girl,’ snarled Angelo as he pushed Andrew away again.
Weak with fatigue, Andrew’s legs gave way on the slippery bank and he grabbed at Angelo for support, but it was not enough. He toppled back into the river, dragging Angelo with him. They hit the river together and surfaced spluttering and spitting out muddy water.
‘Friggin’ poofter!’ Angelo screamed at his companion. ‘You can’t do anything right, can you!’
Andrew was totally beside himself with shame. Everything he had done that day was turning out wrong. ‘I’m not a poofter,’ he whimpered.
Angelo had had enough of the larger boy’s antics. He ignored Andrew and wanted nothing more than to get to the fire and its blessed heat. ‘Go back home to your mummy!’ he called over his shoulder as he climbed the muddy bank.
Anger exploded inside Andrew at the other boy’s dismissal. He could imagine what Angelo was about to say to the others about what he had done and a wave of panic and disgust washed over him. He grabbed at Angelo’s ankle dragging him back into the water and in an act of mindless desperation forced the smaller boy’s head below the water, but Angelo used all his remaining strength and Angelo struggled back to the surface.
‘I’m not a poofter!’ Andrew screamed as he pushed the smaller boy back under again.
The sounds of Andrew’s screams reached Clyde and Tilley and they rushed down to the water’s edge. They thought Andrew must be in trouble and needed their help to get out of the river.
When they reached the darkened bank they searched the river’s edge and eventually found Andrew standing among the reeds. He was weeping uncontrollably with Angelo floating face down beside him.
Clyde jumped into the water thinking that he could revive the drowned boy, but when he rolled him over he suddenly realised that Angelo hadn’t drowned.
The dead boy’s head lay at an odd angle to his body and there were marks on his throat left by Andrew’s hands.
‘What the hell have you done, Andrew?’ said Clyde.
‘He kept calling me names! I’m not a pansy!’
‘Jesus Christ!’ swore Clyde. He looked up to where Tilley stood staring in shock at Angelo’s dead body. ‘Tilley!’ he said sharply. ‘Get this idiot out of here! Take your idiot of a cousin over to the fire and don’t let him out of your sight.’
‘What are you going to do?’ she asked shakily.
‘I’m going to do what the Old Codgers would want me to do. I’m going to fix things and make them right. I can’t let the team down.’
Clyde waited until Tilley had led her sobbing cousin away and then waded over to where Angelo’s lifeless form floated. Despite the fact that he was still very weak from his own encounter with the Iceman he knew what he had to do.
Gripping the body under the chin Clyde swam out into the river using a sidestroke. Just as he felt the grip of the Iceman once more he released his burden and slowly swam back to the shore.
When the body gets washed over the weir it will get battered on the cement and in the eddy below. If it gets washed far enough downstream the wounds on the neck might not be so obvious. Angelo will become one more of the Iceman’s victims.
Clyde was in a state of utter collapse by the time he slumped to the ground near the flames of Tilley’s fire. He could see that both Andrew and Tilley had been crying. ‘What will happen now?’ sobbed the girl.
Clyde looked up at his companions. ‘We know nothing. Do you hear me? We know nothing. When someone says that Angelo tried the Swim as well we need to say that we didn’t
