Katie is the Mascot for the Tug of War Team

Katie was floating on a cloud for all of her first week back at college. The newspaper story about her went all over campus and lots of people stopped to say hello and to congratulate her. Many of the young male students admired the picture of her in the pool, and unknown to Katie copies of it were pinned up in more than one student bedroom.

She had to try hard to keep herself on the ground and get back into the way of her studies.

Roy told her about the next community initiative which the Bears were going to have. The next Sunday some of the junior players, including some of those who had attended the pool for her leaving, were to take part in a local Tug of War competition. This was one of the events around the autumn beer festival, which was taking place that weekend in the city park. Roy asked Katie if she would be the team's mascot, and she readily agreed.

A number of teams from local sports clubs and organisations were due to take part, starting at 2 pm.

Roy and Katie wandered down to the park on Sunday morning, to take a look and see where they were to go. A huge marquee stood in the main grassy area next to the car park, where dozens of brewers, from big corporations to one-man businesses, had their stands. Outside the marquee, where the parkland sloped gently away, were dozens of exhibitions, displays and trade stalls.

They both followed a sign pointing to "Tug of War", taking them down a steep path. They noticed a long hose; it looked like a fire hose, running down the side of the path beside them. Katie wondered what this was for. At the bottom, the grass flattened out into a wide circular arena, with a low embankment all the way around. Running straight across the middle of the arena the grass had been churned up into a muddy track, about six feet across.

It looked as if a small tractor had driven backwards and forwards, from one side to the other, until all the grass was here was ripped up and turned into mud. To make matters worse, the fire hose had been left running and a steady trickle of water was spreading out in the very middle of this area. As Katie and Roy walked over they noticed the grass under their feet becoming soggier and soggier. They didn't step onto the churned-up track, because it looked extremely wet and muddy.

"We'd better come prepared for this!" Roy exclaimed.

Katie knew that she was only supposed to be the mascot for the team, but she had a strong suspicion that even the mascot might very well end up covered in mud, as it seemed all the lads taking part were certain to do. Katie agreed that she'd better be well prepared too.

Katie went home to get herself ready. As the Bears were entering as a team, they would all be wearing their gym outfits (t-shirts and shorts) in Bears colours. Katie had borrowed a pair of rugby boots with long studs. They seemed to be several sizes too big for her.

She thought that she'd better wear her Bears gym vest. The trouble with the vest was that it was so loose and baggy. It didn't cover her properly at all. Whenever she moved, it floated around so it really required something else to be worn underneath, for her to look decent. If she just wore her bra under her vest then everyone would see it, especially if she might get pushed or pulled over.

So the obvious solution was her new Bears one-piece swimsuit! That matched her vest, in blue and grey panels, it looked good and it felt comfortable! Katie was ready for anything now! Katie slipped on a pair of soft cotton socks and then a pair of Bears gym shorts Roy had given to her. They were light blue and shiny. Katie tied them up tight and tucked her vest snugly inside. The top hems and straps of her costume poked out between the v-shapes of her vest.

She tied up her boots as tightly as she could, but they still wobbled around on her feet as she walked. She grabbed a sweatshirt, to keep her warm on the way to the park. She tied her hair up and put in a band to keep it out of the way. She was ready to get her kit totally muddy, if needbe, but she'd rather keep her hair clean!

Katie met up with Roy and they retraced their steps back down to the bottom of the path. The studs on their boots made a click-clack sound as they walked. A crowd stood around on the embankment, maybe a hundred people, mostly young lads. The arena itself looked totally sodden now, with little pools of water on the grass. The Bears team had congregated in a little group standing up on the embankment, with the other teams in little knots of people scattered around the circle.

The track in the middle was completely muddy, clumps of wet earth glistened and water lay in all the crevices in-between. The middle part of this track had been turned into a dark, filthy puddle about fifteen feet across. The fire hose rested at the side of this, and little spurts of water were still gurgling out of it. There were two sets of posts at the sides of the track, driven into the ground in pairs, each pair was about twelve feet apart near each edge of this particularly wet patch.

Eight teams had entered the competition, which was to be a straight knock-out to reduce the eight teams down firstly to four semi-finalists and then to two teams to compete in the final. The Bears were drawn to take part in the fourth tie. Katie and Roy stood and watched the start. Each team was made up of six lads. The rope had a flag in the middle, and the objective was for each team to pull this flag past the posts on their side of the track. If you got pulled in towards the posts, where the mud was wetter and sloppiest, it got harder and harder for the team members to keep their footing and to keep pulling back.

One by one each person fell back into the mud and then tried desperately to get onto to their feet before the whole team lost control. Just about everyone fell over, and even those who kept their feet were getting filthy from the splashes kicked up from those in front and from behind them. Each tie was to be the best out of three pulls, but the first three ties lasted only two pulls because one team was much stronger than the other. The losers ended up sitting and lying about between the posts, before getting to their feet with their shorts and shirts soaked and caked with dirt and hanging off them.

Then it was the Bears turn. Katie had a big sign to carry, as she ran out into the arena in front of the lads, which said simply "the Bears!" She felt her boots sink into the ground and coldness seep into them through her lace holes. Katie's socks started to feel wet. She jumped frantically up and down, screaming, "Come on, Bears!" at the top of her voice. Water splashed up around her as her gyrations encouraged her swimsuit to slip down a fraction, giving a passing glimpse of cleavage between the loose folds of vest. Several pairs of eyes fastened onto her and more than one lad watching secretly wished for her to fall over into the mud.

The teams lined up and lifted the rope. "Come on, Bears!" Katie screamed again as she ran up and down the line, clapping and jumping. Mud and water splashed all over her boots, her ankles and her shins. Her socks turned quickly from white to soggy grey. Muddy water ran down from her heels and inside her boots, and her feet soon were soaking wet and starting to feel numb. Her boots slipped in the mud several times, but each time she instinctively stuck out her arms and regained her balance. She stayed upright.

This tie was much closer, backwards and forwards the rope came, but neither side could make a decisive pull. The Bears were facing six men from a local gym, and they all looked like body-builders. They had a mascot too, on the side opposite to Katie; she was a young lady wearing a cheerleaders dress. Every second or two one of the players slid over, usually onto their backs but sometimes sideways, then they rolled onto their knees to scramble back up. Once someone had fallen down for the second or third time they were soaked through with filthy, clinging mud. The air was misty from everyone's breath and steam arose from wet, sweaty bodies.

Roy slipped onto his bum, but he quickly recovered and drops of mud and water fell off his shorts as he got back to his feet. Katie looked in turn at all the team, they were all so muddy and it looked such fun. The thought rushed through her head that she wanted to get muddy too. Katie felt suddenly envious of the lads; they got filthy just by being in the team! But if Katie wanted to get dirty she would have to do this to herself quite deliberately.

She couldn't just dive in though! That would look too obvious. She decided that if her feet slipped again then she would let herself fall over. Right onto her front, if possible, into the wettest and dirtiest pool of mud! The Bears were getting dragged inch by inch inwards, then their frontman went down and they couldn't pull back. One by one they slid into the middle patch and one by one they all fell. The flag went past the far posts. The Bears were one pull down. Now they had to win both of the remaining two.

"Come on Bears, Come on!" Katie shouted breathless encouragement. They all got back into line, no one could tell now that their kit had been blue and grey before they had started. Their heads were down and they pulled hard, their arms ached but the other team were stronger. This time the rope did not move back their way, it went inch by inch away from their end and once again they all flopped into the huge muddy puddle in the middle. The Bears were out of the competition.

Katie felt a sense of anti-climax! After all that, the Bears had only lasted five minutes! She stepped carefully across the slime and water. She ran her hands down the silky smooth sides of her shorts and she felt the material glide gently against her swimsuit underneath. If she was going to get herself dirty, then this was her last chance! The other mascot was only a few feet away, applauding her team.

Katie thought that she could hurry over to her and then kick mud all over this poor girl's outfit! She could start a mud-fight with her, and then she could slip over and make it easy for this girl to pin her down. She could wriggle about and roll over! Katie felt suddenly so excited at the thought of getting as muddy as she possibly could be! But this other girl's make-up and hair looked so perfect! Katie dare not do this.

The mud squelched up right over her boots, she tried to slide one foot forward but her studs found a grip on the firmer ground below. She reached out her hand, helping the nearest lad on her team to his feet. The rest of them stayed down, they were happy to wait one by one for Katie and they appreciated the softness of her hands as she reached out to each in turn. Their hands were redraw from the rope, wet and filthy. Katie didn't mind. One or two of them rolled over in the sludge, like soccer players who had been tapped from behind. They looked like mud monsters, as they rose to their feet, coated in a layer of wet slime! Katie

Katie came lastly to Roy, he was lying flat out. Katie opened her mouth, she was going to whisper, "Pull me down beside you!" but no words came out. She thought about letting herself just fall down beside Roy, but when it came to it her adult self took charge and so she just helped him up too.

She wiped her own hands on her knees, as since she hadn't managed to fall into the mud, there didn't seem any point in her getting her nice new shorts just a little bit dirty. The announcer thanked the Bears for taking part and then thanked their mascot. Katie smiled and waved at the crowd.

"You can always tell who the mascot is!" the announcer joked. "She's the only one who is still clean!" Katie smiled again, as she inched towards the rest of her team, now standing on the drier grass.

"We'll see about that!" Roy grinned, and suddenly Katie felt four pairs of hands around her legs and arms. She squealed as they lifted her off her feet, then more hands went under her back and she was surrounded by all six lads. Four lads held each of her arms and ankles and her boots were untied and yanked off in seconds. "Just so we don't get kicked!" someone explained, kindly. "I wouldn't kick you, I wouldn't kick anyone!" Katie replied, sounding disappointed that they could think her capable of kicking them.

In fact, Katie offered no resistance to them and she was secretly thrilled that her wish to go into the mud seemed to be happening. She smiled happily as they lifted her into a more comfortable position. She felt wet fingers cold against her skin and arms around her shoulders. A hand inadvertently slipped underneath the back of her vest and rested seductively against the straps of her costume. Someone was supporting her underneath, around the top of her shorts and at the top of her legs. She realised that it was Roy. That was OK, she didn't mind even if Roy grabbed her bum!

They carried her swiftly back into the middle of the track, in-between all the posts, where the ground beneath was a total quagmire. The fire hose was still gurgling, a few feet away. Unceremoniously they swung her a little from side to side. "No!" Katie whimpered, but the lads could see that really she was laughing. "One, two, three!" then the lads let go of her. They didn't really throw her because they certainly didn't want to hurt her; they just let her flop down on her back with a splat into the thick, runny mud.

Katie landed flat and spread-eagled. She tried to look cross, but this did not convince anyone. Her
head flopped right down. She flattened her knees and let herself settle back, feeling her costume cloying warmly to her while her arms and legs felt cold. Then she sat up. The back of her vest was covered and she could feel the wetness soaking through her bum. The mud felt really cold now against the back of her neck and shoulders. Even the back of her hair was muddied and matted. The lads all dropped down to their knees and then scooped huge handfuls of muck all over her, splattering it onto her bare arms, her neck and all over her vest. Katie could feel cold blobs on her chest as the mud penetrated down her cleavage and tried to run down inside the front of her swimsuit.

Then all the mud and splashes seemed to land on her chest and she felt the wetness seeping right through both layers. The announcer was laughing loudly. The crowd cheered. Poor Katie was getting a proper mud bath, and this mascot was no longer clean at all. She wiped a pile of mud from her shorts and climbed up onto her knees, her once pristine kit lay soaked and flattened against her body, big drops of mud and lighter drops of water fell all around. Streaks of dirt ran inside her vest and down her costume. Roy smeared two handfuls of muck over both her cheeks and forehead. There were specks of dirt all over her hair. Roy helped her onto her feet and Katie looked around for her sweatshirt. That would help to cover her up a bit, but she was still a right sight when she walked back home to her flat.