Lakeside 2: Wednesday

Part 2: Wednesday-Propane Problem

In the last chapter of this story you learned my wife, Jane, and I were at a friend's cabin on a large lake and I was naked and chained hand and foot and also had tight plastic cuffs applied by the local sheriff.

When I woke I had to get up and hop and jump outdoors so I could water a tree.  I then noticed that the gas lamp was off.  We had left it burning last night because I couldn't turn it off with my hands behind me.  I hopped into the cabin and tried lighting the stove.  It wouldn't light so we must have a gas problem somewhere.  I woke Jane and asked her to cut the plastic thingies off me and unlock my hands leaving just the eighteen-inch hobble on me.  I turned off the gas lamp, locked my hands together and put the six-inch chain between my wrists and neck collar, locking me up as we had agreed.  I could then go up the hill and try to figure out what was wrong with the gas.

I checked that the valve was open and that the gauge said one quarter full.  Then I tapped the gauge with the back of a knuckle and it dropped to empty.  Now I knew the problem, all I needed to do was call the propane service company and get the tank filled.  The telephone number for the company was on the side of the tank, so I memorized it and went back down the hill.  I called and was told that the service truck was on our route today and wouldn’t be back for a week.  I asked if he could stop by and the lady I was talking to said she would call him on the radio and see where he was.  Fortunately, he was just down the road from us and would stop by but as we weren't on his list for today he had not brought our gate key with him and if I could unlock the gate for him he would service our tank.  I told the lady that was good but it would take me at least ten minutes to get to the gate and unlock it. 

I asked Jane for the keys to my chains but she said "Unh unh, not part of the deal." 

So I took the gate keys and our RV key (so I could get to my credit card) and headed up the hill.  As I came to the top I saw that the gas truck was already at the gate and undoubtedly he had seen me already.  So I walked over and undid the gate and then said, "Hi, hope you don't mind me being naked but I didn't have a chance to get dressed before you got here." 

I didn't bother to mention that I couldn't put on shorts anyway with the chain between my feet. 

He said, "OK, a lot of my lakeside customers go naked in the summer but none usually wear chains like you are." 

I explained that my wife and I were just having fun with me and I was going to be this way for a couple of weeks.  That was fine by him and he looked at our tank after I told him the gauge had been stuck at one quarter full and we ran out.  He said he'd have to replace the tank to change the gauge but he could put twenty gallons in to get us by for a couple of weeks and then he would come back and fix it.  That was OK and could he fill the RV's tank while he was here and could I put it on my credit card? 

So, problem solved, he left, I relocked the gate and went back down the hill and made sure all the appliances worked after bleeding the lines.

Later that day, after lunch, we decided to launch the small boat with the ten horsepower motor and see if we could find and bait the trotline.  Jane did, as agreed earlier, remove my chains so we could get the boat in the water and mount the engine.  We took the boat out, with me still naked, and searched the shoreline for the trotline.  When we found it we came back to shore and began putting bait on the treble hooks and then attached them to the line.  After we got back, I went for a swim and then put the chains back on.  We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening just lying around doing nothing and turned in early.

Thursday-Fisher Folk

We slept in somewhat late Thursday and after having breakfast we took off my chains and with me still naked ran the trotline.  It’s something of a thrill to be out on the lake in a boat and all your clothes still back on shore completely inaccessible.  We had caught two catfish a little over two feet long and one baby about six inches long that we threw back.  We took the two big ones back to the cabin and put them in the live box in the pond.  I should explain that there is a spring fed stream coming off the hill that has been dammed up to form a pond about twenty feet across and four or five feet deep that we keep a perforated metal box in so we can keep fish alive before we're ready to clean them.  It’s also a nice place to go splash around to get clean.

I put my chains back on, nine-inch hobble on my feet and three inches between my wrists behind my back.  Jane fixed sandwiches for lunch and hand fed me and then wanted to go for a walk.  We went to the middle cove because it is almost a direct line out to the main channel of the lake and catches a goodly amount of driftwood, which comes in many interesting shapes and is also good for firewood.  The path had not been used for some time and caused me a little trouble and some scratches on my bare skin. 

We were just strolling along when a boat entered the main cove and we stopped to watch it.  We were right near one of the five by seven inch 'Posted No Trespassing' signs so I moved over behind it.  There were four people in the boat and they seemed to have spotted us and were coming directly toward us.  When they were about ten feet away the driver apparently saw me and said, "Oops, we didn't know this was a nudist camp, we’ll turn around and scoot back out, sorry." 

I replied, "That's OK.  You're on private property but you're welcome if you're not offended by my lack of attire.  What can we do for you, are you lost or having boat trouble or something?" 

They said no, there wasn't any problem, they had just moved here from Virginia and a co-worker had lent them his place on the lake and the boat for vacation.  They had been fishing this morning and caught this thing and didn't know what it was, fish or eel and they didn't know if it was edible and should they keep it?  One of the girls (they all seemed to be in their late twenties or so) held up a fish stringer with a catfish about a foot or so long.  We kind of chuckled and told them it was a baby catfish and that we usually threw those back to grow up and that yes it was good to eat.  We had just caught a couple of nice ones this morning.  They asked how big they grew and we told them Jane's uncle had caught one that was longer than Jane was tall but we usually just got them at two or three feet. 

The other girl said that she had never seen a fresh water fish that big and how big were ours.  We told them between two and a half and three feet and if they wanted to see them we had them in a live box back at the cabin.  They thought that was a great idea and I pointed out to them that I was naked and if that didn't bother them they could join us back at the camp.  They were OK with nudity and I told them to go back out a ways and them go to the cove to their left and they would find a boat dock they could tie up to and follow the path up to our cabin.  I stepped out from behind the sign and showed them my feet were chained, turned around and showed them my wrists were also chained and said they would probably get to the cabin before we could going cross country even though it was much shorter.

When we reached the cabin, sure enough they were already there and I asked how long they had been waiting.  They said only about five minutes.  We then introduced ourselves, they said they were John, the boat driver, Andrew, call him Andy, Marge, John's wife and LeAnne, Andy's wife and call her Ann.  John asked what was with the chains and being naked and wasn't I embarrassed. 

I said, "Sure I'm embarrassed, that's part of the fun.  This place belongs to some friends and we have been coming to the Lake for the last ten or so years and have never met a soul that hadn't come with us.  Now within the last three days we have seen six people.  This started out as a wish, I said I'd like to go naked for a couple of days and then Jane dared me by saying 'and why not wear chains too' and then it sort of turned into a two week challenge.  So now, for two weeks, I'm going to go naked and chained up except to go out in the boat, into town or doing something that requires my hands to be free." 

John said, "Hmmm, sounds like fun, I'll have to try it sometime." 

I said, "Anytime, I've got more cuffs, chains and locks." 

He replied, "I'll pass on the chains but maybe naked is OK." 

But they came to see fish so I had Jane unlock my hands and we went down to the pond and got a cat out of the box.  John asked how we fixed them and I told him we skinned and filleted them before frying.  He wanted to know all about how we caught them, so I suggested if they were going to be around next week to come over around three on Wednesday and we'd bait the trotline and then come about nine the next day and we'd run the line, clean the fish and have a fish fry that afternoon.  We could swim, play horseshoes or whatever until mealtime.  The girls wanted to know what we ate with them and Jane said usually cornbread and either potato salad or slaw.  They volunteered to bring one of the salads and Jane would make the cornbread.  At that I put the fish back in the live box and had Jane lock my hands behind my back, no chain.  They decided that it was time for them to be getting back and they would be back for sure next Wednesday.

Nothing much happened on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  We didn't meet any more people while I was naked, but I did get dressed Friday so we could go to the grocery store in town.  Also on Friday we skinned and cleaned the fish and froze them.  That way if we didn't catch any next week we still had something for the fish fry.

The next episode of this tale involves me getting spread-eagled.

09.02.10