Posted As Missing

Chapter Twelve

By the time David had done his geology and security survey, Rachel and Maria had already placed their packs in a perfect camp spot beside a huge block of gabbro.

He walked over to join them, took off his pack and laid it alongside theirs. "What a fine spot this is," he said, examining the setting and pointing to the tops of the cliffs soaring around them. "It appears to be well hidden from almost any angle."

Rachel nodded. "We tried for years to find it again, and even knowing where to look, we couldn't. We tried from above and below, crossed the slopes many times in each direction. No sign of it."

David wiped the sweat from his brow. "While we're hot and sticky, let's unpack and set up camp so we cool before we bathe." He examined the fallen block of gabbro. "This seems an ideal place for our shelter." He unstrapped the roll of canvas and blanket from his pack and spread it out, then said, "I'll set it up for us while you ladies unpack then go to the pools."

While the women organised the contents of the packs, David wedged the line from a corner of the oiled canvas into a crack in the rock at his chest level, then he led the line from the next corner around a flake on the back of the fallen block. Rachel came over with a towel in hand as he adjusted the line. "That's an unusual shelter."

"I thought a low sloping roof would not only make a good dew and rain cover, but also help retain our body heat. I'll tie lines from the lower two corners around large rocks on the slab. That will enclose a tight little space between the cliff face and this rock. The only opening will be a small triangle. We'll be hidden from the entrance ramp"

Rachel nodded and held up her towel. "Maria and I are off to the pools to bathe. You stay here to allow us our privacy."

A while later, as Rachel and Maria lay soaking and relaxing in the warm pool, Maria said quietly, "Mama, you've told me lots about me, about my body, but you've never told me much about boys — about men. I know you've tried, but I wasn't interested. Then I saw David and sensed his interest." She trembled. "Last night I learned I like men, at least that one over there. I don't even understand how his things work, they're so different from my little button and grooves."

"My dear little girl. Seems we both missed your growing up – you did it so quickly. Every time I suggested we have another talk, you were so uninterested. Now here you are, eighteen and beginning to learn. I'm delighted you're not shy about it."

"I'll be nineteen in September. Why should I be shy? I'm curious, though — like when I was tending his wounds, I watched the bulge as he expanded along his trouser leg. Did that mean he was interested in me, like when we put the stallion in with the mare?"

Rachel chuckled. "No, Sweetheart, not necessarily; men rise for many reasons. Sometimes when they're emotionally contented, as he would have been with your tender care. Sometimes it happens for no reason they can think of, often when they're in deep sleep and almost always when they wake in the morning."

She looked at Maria and smiled. "The good times for us are when their arisings are about us, or when they're because of us. And fortunately for women, that's an easy thing to arrange. When we're hungry, a little hint, a show of flesh, almost any little thing we can imagine to show some interest, will turn on the passion."

"I discovered that last night. I wanted a third go, so I ran my finger up the back of his neck and back down and shifted my hips a bit. It was as if I had thrown a switch, he quickly grew again inside me."

"A third time? How long were you together last night?"

"I got off at eleven, and we started to walk home at half past midnight, so an hour and —"