The fort was an architectural triumph for twelve year old boys. Suspended fifteen feet in the air between the V of a massive oak tree, it boasted not one, but two rooms, each with its own lookout window. The mismatched lumber used for its construction had been pilfered from various yards and barns. The nails, and hinges for the lookouts and trap door had been shop-lifted (practically a nail at a time) from Holden’s Tru-Value. Old man Holden would not notice the missing items until his year-end inventory, by then he’d have no way of knowing who the thief was.
Johnny McIntyre, the self-appointed leader of the “big kids”, had made it known around the neighborhood that the fort was off limits to all but his rag-tag group of friends. Johnny was the brains of the group. He designed the plans for the fort, and oversaw its construction. He was a rough boy with an incongruous grace and ease about him that the other boys found impossible to duplicate, and the girls found impossible to resist. His prowess on the ball fields, in games of War, on his bike, and especially with the ladies, was legendary. No one on Baker Hill had more cache than Johnny.
The muscle, Mark Williams, was a towering brawny boy with a hank of white- blond hair cropped close to his block-like head. He was an intellectual wasteland, but his loyalty to Johnny was boundless and as a result he became Johnny’s right- hand man. In matters that required physical conflict, or threat of the same, Mark’s value was immeasurable. Everyone was afraid of him.
A handful of boys from the other side of Baker Hill filled out the group and provided Johnny with enough disciples to be considered a leader. They fell in behind Johnny and Mark like little soldiers and nodded agreement with Johnny’s decrees without discussion or dissent.
The only oddball in this little gang was Bobby Davis. He was a tall gangly kid with glasses, buck teeth and bad skin. His family was relatively new to Baker Hill and the subject of much gossip by all the kids and their parents. There were four Davis children, and two Davis dogs. It was a close contest as to which of these six was the most vicious. The Davis parents won that title, however; they were rude, loud and cruel, and the Davis children transferred the abuse they received to the dogs and to others who were weaker than they were. The dogs responded by charging and biting anyone foolish enough to pass by the house when they were unleashed.
Bobby Davis was a sociopath, given to secretly torturing small animals and molesting his sister. He was included by Johnny as a way of controlling him. Bobby idolized Johnny. Johnny despised Bobby; for no other reason than the kid just seemed off to him. Johnny did not really want Bobby around, but he knew enough about friends and enemies to keep them both close.
The fort was the talk of the Hill. The older girls whispered about going there with Johnny or Mark. They hinted at bases being got to in one room, while Johnny’s minions kept watch for intruders from the other. Younger boys from Baker Hill, like Jim Blake, coveted the fort for the status it represented. At nine, he was too young to be part of Johnny’s gang, but Jim was the unspoken leader of his own small group of boys. Like Johnny, Jim had way about him that drew people to him naturally. Jim and Johnny were cut from the same mold, both good-looking boys with brains and charm. Jim had a handicap that Johnny did not, however; Jim had me.
