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Running Away

By: radk



I was naïve in believing that divorce would solve all of my problems. My problems had only just begun. Now where did I get this nugget of wisdom? From the same place I get most of my truly wise insights, school. But not just any school. I learned this from what I jokingly call the school of hard knocks. 

Here I sit in this little airplane seat thinking how truly intelligent and wise I am but what I really am, is fucked! My self-esteem is fucked, my health is fucked, my belief in justice is fucked; everything is fucked, fucked, fucked! Oh well, at least the scenery below is awe-inspiring. In another thirty minutes we will land at my temporary refuge from the pain of my life. In a little while we will be at Duke's.

After two days of searching the internet I found Duke's. It sounded like the ideal place to run away to and hide. The description even said it was a good place to hide and why wouldn't I believe it? It was on the internet and we always believe everything we read on the internet, don't we? Here's what I read.

'Duke's lodge is located on the edge of one of Canada's most remote yet picturesque lakes with an abundance of wildlife and some of the best fishing the Northwest Territories has to offer. This is an excellent launching point for day fishing excursions, all day trips, and overnight stays at one of Duke's remote hideaways. And for the less adventuresome, the beauty of nature is everywhere and only a short walk from the lodge. With a little luck you will be able to see Canadian Geese, Black Bear, Beaver, and Moose. Duke's has four furnished rooms in the lodge and six fully furnished cabins on the property. These rustic cabins are ideal for getting away from civilization and the stresses of modern life. Our cabins for 2 people feature one bedroom with one double bed or two single beds. Two rooms in the lodge can sleep 4 people comfortably. Duke's is also ideal for just hiding out from the wife (or husband.) Meal packages are available upon request. Long term rentals are also available upon request. Contact Duke Wayne for reservations and travel arrangements.'

The description sounded so good that I made the call immediately after reading it. Now the little floatplane that left Yellowknife an hour ago is bumping and jumping over the snow capped peaks headed toward that picturesque lake and my haven for the next couple of months. I've never ridden in a floatplane before. It's a bit disconcerting. There are only eight seats and one pilot and most of the space in the back is filled up with boxes. I'm the only passenger. The noise from the props makes doing anything but looking out the postage stamp of a window impossible. I would love to sleep and get a temporary respite from my misery but that's out. What I should do is sit and enjoy the view from fifteen thousand feet but instead I do the worst thing possibly, I start to relive the events leading up to my little floatplane ride.

Up until a month ago I was married to one of the most beautiful women in the little central Pennsylvania town where we both grew up. Her name is Sheila. The town is Henley. Sheila was born on the other side of the tracks, the wealthy, high-society side of the tracks. I however came from the working class side. My father worked in the factory that her father owned. But shit happened that I can't explain and despite the differences in our backgrounds we got married. So I moved from one side of the tracks to the other. That was five years ago. Two years ago we had a baby. Not just any baby, this little girl is the most beautiful and loving child on earth. I'm probably saying the same thing that every father says but I know that it's true. Sarah is a wonder. She's pure joy. She's my reason for living. Whenever I look at her, I thank God for blessing me as He did.

Sheila and I worked for her father's company Bloom Enterprises: I was an accountant and Sheila was the Customer Relations Assistant. Sheila's father is Ezekiel Bloom. He's a stately grey haired, gentleman that nobody in their right mind wanted to cross. He was also the richest man in Pennsylvania so that helped to put everyone on their guard. He's also working on his fourth Ms. Bloom, the lovely trophy wife Jennifer. 

Like a lot of married couples Sheila and I had our ups and downs but usually we were able to work through them without bloodshed. Three months ago I discovered something that turned my world upside down. I found out that Sarah is not my daughter. She calls me dada and I call her my little angel but the DNA test showed that she is not my biological daughter. I curse that damn test! Why did I do it anyway? I think I just wanted to protect my little princess. We were in the doctor's office for her annual check-up waiting for our turn when I read an article that said that doing a DNA study on a child and their parents can 'help to provide an accurate medical history for the child, giving the healthcare provider additional insight during diagnosis and managing the child's health'. That sounded reasonable considering that I had a sister that died a week after birth from a congenital genetic abnormality that affected the development of her heart. I wanted to know if I may have passed that trait or any other problem on to Sarah. Maybe it did sound reasonable but now I wished I had stayed ignorant. I didn't tell Sheila I had the DNA test done, I didn't tell anyone.

There was no way I could figure out who Sarah's father really was because of the elder Mr. Bloom. He owned everything and everybody in town so I had nobody in town I could trust. If I went to anybody in town with my worries, the tale would get back to dear old daddy before I could get home. So I asked a buddy that I went to college with who was a private investigator working in Washington D.C. to look into things and find out what he could find out. He found out that my loving wife Sheila had another man in her life. The two had been together since before we were married. It was a major shock to my system when I found out who he was. I had the proof I needed to burn that cheating bitch at the stake so I filed for divorce. That's when all hell broke loose. Sheila denied it. Her father stood by his daughter like a rock. My out of town divorce attorney was out numbered and out classed by Sheila's attorneys. Although I had evidence of her betrayal the judge ruled in her favor screwing me totally in the deal. I guess I should have anticipated what would happen since dear old daddy owned everybody in town, including the presiding judge. I was left with shit. The divorce would go forth. The evidence I showed the judge was ignored and I was forbidden by him to ever show it to anyone. If I did my ass would be in jail 'faster than I could fart.' That was a direct quote from the judge. Dear old daddy just sat and smiled as I had the shaft shoved so far up my ass it came out the top of my head. I had to pay child support for Sarah even though Sheila lived in the luxury of the Bloom family money. Sheila kept our home. I could keep all money that I brought into the marriage, in other words none. My visitation rights for Sarah were limited to one weekend a month supervised by a court appointed guardian. Of course I lost my job. I lost my friends. I lost everything including my trust in the judicial system. I became depressed mostly because I couldn't be with my little girl. That was the worst of it. Sheila's father hit me the hardest by taking away the one thing that I loved the most in this world, Sarah. Sheila didn't say anything because she never showed up at any of the hearings. It was just me and my attorney against Ezekiel Bloom and his team of attorneys. I was fucked, fucked, and fucked again!

So now here I sit in this noisy little floatplane headed for a temporary safe haven. I'm a refugee from everything sane and just. I did manage to remove the shaft from my ass before I left town. The Bloom factory mysteriously burned down. I didn't have anything to do with it but I did bring the marshmallows.

********

"Wow, this isn't exactly what I expected," I said as I stood on the rickety dock and looked up at the lodge.

"Yeah, a lot of people say that when they arrive. It'll grow on you." This bit of wisdom came from the pilot who was in the process of unloading the boxes from the rear of the plane. 

It's true that the lake and the surrounding mountains are beautiful beyond belief but the description of the lodge is, well, a bit of an exaggeration. I had in mind a grand log cabin lodge with decorative stone walkways and ornate native carvings all around. It actually looks like a relatively old, average sized log cabin on a hill with a dirt path leading from the dock to the porch. It looks clean but not as grand as the description. Looking at my luggage on the dock and the winding dirt path up to the lodge I guessed that it would take a couple trips to get everything up the hill. I grabbed the two small bags and started up the winding dirt road to the lodge. "Maybe I should have read the reviews from previous guests first." Stepping into the lobby of the rustic old lodge I hear a deep gravely voice coming from under the counter.

"May I help you?"

"Yes. My name is Leo Baker and I have a reservation for one of your cabins."

"Ah, yeah Mister Baker, I've been expecting you," said the lanky silver haired man as he stands up. "My name is Duke Wayne and I'm the owner of this little piece of heaven. OK, now don't look at me like that, boy. My name really is Duke Wayne. My ma and pa were great fans of cowboy films and they named me after their hero, John Wayne. I don't swagger like him, I just sorta limp around. So tell me Mr. Baker, your registration said that you wanted to negotiate a long term stay. Hiding out from the wife, eh? That's OK by me, but I won't help you if you're hiding out from the law."

"No, it's OK. It's just a little domestic problem. I don't want to be found for a while. I reserved one of your cabins and yes I would like to negotiate a long term rental if that's OK with you."

"Great actually. We close down for the winter in October but you're welcome to stay until then. The cabins are up the road a ways on the other side of the hill. It's a bit of a walk especially if you have a lot of luggage. Oh, and this time of year we don't have a lot of customers so you will only have one other neighbor up there. Breakfast is at eight o'clock and we can talk then about arrangements for dinner. If you need anything and you don't see me around look on the bulletin board over there. If I'm out working as a guide for someone I'll put up a note. If you don't see a note just ring the bell on the front porch and have a seat, I'll be there as soon as I can. Here's your key. It's cabin number two. Cabin two has the best view of any of the cabins. Enjoy!"

"Thanks. Is there a phone here, how about cell phone service?"

"No phone or cell phone service... too remote. But we do have a radio that we use in emergencies or to order supplies. You can make a phone call through the radio most times. We're so remote that everything has to be flown in and out because there are no roads to the lake."

"Great. See you at breakfast."

I walk up the hill with my luggage and realize that that was a long "up the road a ways." Maybe old Duke is a little prone to exaggerating things just a bit. But at least I got to see a lot of pine trees. OK, there's number two. Hummmm, it looks rustic all right, just like the advertisement says. But it didn't say anything about small. Maybe it's bigger on the inside that it looks from here. As I enter I see that it's just a bedroom and a bathroom, hardly enough room to change my mind in. I've been in larger bargain motel rooms in my time. But it has the one thing that I want more than anything else in the world at the moment, privacy. Let's see if Duke was exaggerating about the view. 

I step out onto the small front porch and look toward the lake.

Actually, he may have been understating it a bit. From here I can see every bit of the lake. Everything is green and lush and the water sparkles with the reflections of the sunlight and the surrounding mountains. The snow capped mountains go all around the lake and create a giant green bowl with the extreme azure blue water in the bottom! Except for where I'm standing, it looks like civilization passed this place by. "Un-fucking believable," I said out loud.

"Yes it is, isn't it?" The disembodied voice came from the clump of trees at the side of the cabin.

This is the second time in my life I've turned around to see a creature of beauty approaching after I say something foolish out loud: The first time was when I met Sheila and now her, whoever she is. Wow, she is something. She's short and thin with her dark black hair pulled back into a pony tail. She's not frail, just a small woman. The jeans and a red flannel shirt don't show her figure and her boots are way too big for her. Why is she carrying a pail of water? God, I love her skin. It's clean and clear and the color of warm cocoa. Her eyes are so dark and I can't tell what color they are and she has a full, sweet smile and a cute pointed nose. She's obviously of Hispanic origin and looks just like someone on an advertisement poster for tourism in Mexico, except she's missing the cliché sombrero.

"Hi, you must be my new neighbor. I'm Annabella. Annabella Willams. I'm in cabin one just through the trees there. Duke told me someone would be coming today. I've only been here a week so if you have any questions I'm sure I won't know the answer." 

"Hi, yes I'm in number two. My name is Leo. Leo Baker. Pleased to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you Leo. Are you staying long?"

"Yes, actually, I think I'm going to be here all summer, how about you?"

"I don't know yet. For a while I guess, I just don't know. What brings you here? I didn't see you bringing up any fishing gear so I guess fishing isn't the reason."

"Actually I'm here to get away from things back at home for a while. It's rough back there right now and I just had to get away to think. What about you? Why are you here?"

"Same reason actually. Problems at home and I needed to get away. Well, it was nice meeting you Leo. I'm sure we'll be seeing one another around. See you at breakfast?"

"OK, Bye."

Boy, she looks great walking away too. Nice and full everywhere I like. Christ, I haven't thought about another woman like that since I met Sheila. I guess I'm allowed to now that I'm almost single again.

As I stood there and watched her disappear into the trees a thought struck me. I was never been a big believer in the 'love at first sight' thing. I know I've had some 'lust at first sight' encounters in college but knowing that you love someone on a first meeting seemed far fetched. But right now, thinking about this lovely woman walking through the woods, I felt something that I couldn't explain. I don't think its lust, although she does look good enough to eat, but I also don't know if it's love. Maybe what I felt was a familiarity about her. Her whole demeanor made me feel relaxed. I hoped I could get to know her better. I wonder if she's what I came here to find.

********

Breakfast wasn't exactly what I was used to. Duke's breakfast is a very basic meal: Eggs, sausage, toast, orange juice, and coffee. I'll survive quite well just so long as I don't have to cook. The other two lodgers seem nice, obviously fisherman. Anyone that wears a vest with a thousand flies stuck to it is a fisherman. Maybe they knew something I didn't because they were staying at the main house. I haven't seen Annabella anywhere this morning. Maybe I should ask Duke.

"Hey Duke, where is the young lady that has the cabin up near me?"

"Anna? She came down early and ate. Said she had some work to do. Hell, all she does is set on the bench up at the top of the hill past you cabin watching the birds. She doesn't want to be around people much. Something's bothering her big time but she won't talk to me about it. Maybe you can get her to open up, eh?"

"I've got my own problems to worry about. I can't afford to have anybody else's problems mixed in with mine. No room in the old head... might explode."

"Well do what you want but if I were fifty years younger I'd be after her to open up. She's the prettiest woman that's been here in twenty years, since my Louisa died."

"Thanks Duke, I'll take it under advisement. For now I think I'll just go back to my cabin and sleep. See you at dinner."

********

Yawnnn. Damn I didn't mean to sleep all day. I must have been more exhausted than I thought. I guess getting fucked repeatedly by your former wife and her family took a toll. Fuck em! Fuck em all! Hope I haven't missed dinner.

Knock, knock, knock. Annabella's sweet voice announced through the screen door, "Hello Mr. Baker? Hello?"

"Hi, sorry, I'm just getting up. I was only going to take a short nap. I guess the thin mountain air is making me sleepy. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I was just wondering if you had dinner. I didn't go down to the lodge at dinner time so I just decided to make a pot of soup, would you like to join me. It's quiet up here, except for that bear that comes around every morning, and I would enjoy the company."

"Bear?"

"Oh, don't worry. He won't bother you if you don't bother him. He just prowls around outside to see what we left out that he can eat. You'll learn fast enough."

"You know I would enjoy a bit of company too. I guess I missed dinner so your soup is starting to sound good right about now. Let me clean up a bit and I'll come over."

"It's just through that clump of trees. In an hour? See you then."

I watched as she turned and walked away with another pail of water. She walks so nicely. And what a shapely pair of jeans she has. Her pony tail falls down to the middle of her back and swayed from side to side with every step. "Un-fucking believable." This time I didn't say it too loudly.

She did say an hour, so fifty minutes is close enough right? Just think, yesterday I was in nowheresville Pennsylvania and today I'm on the top of a mountain in Canada with one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. For the first time in months I can say "life is good," at least for the moment.

Knock, knock. "Hello neighbor. Anybody home?"

"Mr. Baker, you're early. You should know better than to come to a woman's place early. I'm not ready yet. Give me a few minutes."

"I can go away if you like?"

"No, just sit on the porch and enjoy the view. It's not as nice as yours but it's still pretty spectacular."

"Oh, and call me Leo. Mr. Baker is my father," 

I turned and sat and saw that she was right. The view from this rickety old rocking chair is pretty spectacular. I've never seen anything like it. You can't get a sense of how large the mountains are across the lake from here. They looked almost like you could reach out with your hand and touch them. But I knew that they were probably a day's walk away. The quiet is deafening. The smells floating through the air are a combination of pine and whatever Annabella's cooking. Both smelled heavenly.

"OK Leo, soup's on. I hope you like it."

Oh crap, she's dressed for dinner. I'm sitting here in my jeans and a sports shirt. Maybe I should have put on something nice. I'll bet she looks exquisite in whatever she wears. It's just a simple light blue long sleeved print blouse and dark blue slacks. Her broad, beautiful smile is just as it was this morning, or was that yesterday? The boots are gone and have been replaced by sandals. Her hair now falls straight down over her shoulders. She's absolutely beautiful!

"Hey Leo, wake up! Here's your soup."

"Oops, sorry I was distracted for a moment. Like you said, the view up here is pretty spectacular."

"Flatterer. Here eat! It's not fancy but it is edible. It's my own concoction so I hope you like it. All I can offer you to drink is water. Is that OK?"


Running Away



"Fine. Soup and conversation goes good with water."

It took us the better part of an hour to eat her wonderful soup and tell each other the basics of our lives. I told her about Pennsylvania and she told me about her home town in Texas. I told her that I'm an unemployed accountant and she told me that she too doesn't work. I told her about Sarah and she said that she doesn't have any children. It's been all superficial and formal but at least it was a start.

"Leo, why are you here? I don't mean to pry but you don't seem like the fisherman type and this is a very remote place. Someone might come here to get away from things. Is that why you're here?"

"Well, it's a very long story. It's also still very painful. I don't really want to think about it right now if you don't mind, maybe later. I'll be here for a while."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry."

"That's OK. How about you?"

"Same thing, long story that I don't want to talk about right now." She pauses for a moment and gazes out over the scenery. "You have a better view of the lake from your cabin. Maybe next time we can eat at your place." 

"I'd like that and thank you for dinner. Your soup was great. I can't believe that you could come up with a dish like that on just that small burner. It was wonderful. Well, I should be going. Will I see you at breakfast?"

"Of course. I'll make it a point to come down. Have a good night Leo."

I reached my cabin and stood on the porch watching the sun set over the mountains. It's dazzling to say the least. All I could hear was the wind gently rushing through the trees and the occasional chirp of a bird. Far away was another sound I don't recognize, it may be an owl but I don't know my bird calls that well. Everything was better in person standing here than it ever was on my old high definition TV. "This must be what heaven's like."

********

I usually don't let my food get cold but this morning sitting across from Annabella made time slow to a snail-like pace. It's the same basic food as yesterday: Eggs, sausage, toast, tomato juice instead of orange juice today, and coffee but the big difference is the company at my table. I motioned for Duke and he brought a refill for our coffee. "I'm going to take the other two out on the lake and show them some of the good fishing spots. I'll be gone most of the day. Will you two be all right here by yourselves?"

I looked at Annabella and answered for both, "We'll be OK. Maybe we'll take that nature walk I read about on the website."

As we walked back to our cabins Annabella said, "Uh, Leo. You know that nature walk you mentioned? Well, you took it already when you walked from the dock to the cabins. Pretty, wasn't it?"

Maybe there was a lot less to this place than I read about on the website. She made me smile anyway. "What are your plans today?"

"I don't have anything on my schedule. I usually just sit at the top of the hill on the park bench or on the dock and watch the birds on the lake. When the seaplane comes in I usually help Duke unload the supplies. He never asked for my help but I'll do whatever I can for him. He's giving me a break on rental here because I can't afford much. He may not look like it but Duke is 76 years old. He's been alone in this place ever since his wife died twenty years ago. Duke's quite a character."

"Sitting by the lake sounds good. May I join you?"

"It would be my honor sir," she said with a mock curtsey. So down to the lake we strolled.

I found a couple of old rocking chairs by a shed and brought them up to the dock. We both sat quietly for a very long time. We just rocked back and forth and looked out over the lake and up to the mountains. Annabella turned her head away from me. It appeared like she was starting to cry. "What's wrong?" I asked. 

"Nothing." 

"Now I know there's something wrong. Did I say something? What can I do?"

"I'm sorry. I have a lot of stuff on my mind. I don't want to worry you with my problems. I'm guessing that if you're up here you have your own worries. I don't want to add mine to yours."

I looked out over the lake trying to decide whether I should push her or not when an old memory came back to me. "We had a preacher at our church when I was a kid that used to say that if someone had a problem then the best way to get rid of it was to talk to someone about it. Just by talking to someone would make your troubles go away, he would say. If you want to talk I'll be willing to listen. You can't give me any more problems than I already have and maybe I can help with some of yours."

"That's kind of you. I would like to talk to somebody about all of this but it's complicated and very, very personal. It's also embarrassing. You're a stranger. How can I just dump my personal problems on you? "

"Well, how about if we trade stories? I'll tell you a little something about me and then you tell me the same little something about you. You don't have to say anything that makes you feel funny. We can go as slow as you want. I'll be an open book if you want to listen. Please believe me when I say that I won't judge you for anything that you've done. I'll just listen."

"Well, OK, but you go first."

Where to start? Usually starting at the beginning is a good thing. I wondered how much detail was too much. OK, here goes. "I was born and raised on the working class side of a little town called Henley in Pennsylvania. My father made a decent living in the factory and my mother is what we now call a stay at home mom. I have an older brother and sister now living in different parts of the country. After I received my Masters Degree in finance from Penn State I came back to town because my father had a heart attack and my mother needed me to help care for him from time to time. I met a beautiful girl, fell in love with her and we got married. She was a girl from the upper class side of town. Her father owned the factory my father worked in and a lot more. As a matter of fact he owned just about everything in town, politicians and parking meters too. My wife's name is Sheila. When I came back to town I got a job as an accountant at the company owned by her father. She worked at the same company as a personal assistant for her father, that's how we met. Two years ago our daughter was born. God, she made everything so much more enjoyable. I love being a father and I probably would have gone on to spoil her rotten if things had worked out differently. You see, quite by accident I found that I wasn't her biological father. That tore my heart out. I love her more than anything else in the world but she's not mine. I found out that my wife has had a lover since before we were married and he's Sarah's father. When I found that out our marriage just went away. I have all of the proof of her infidelity. So I was going to divorce Sheila and take Sarah and live with my parents until I got back on my feet again. I didn't care that Sarah wasn't my biological daughter, I loved her and wanted her to grow up with me. Sheila's father made sure that didn't happen. He handled the divorce for her and all I got was a big fat nothing. I don't have a job, I don't have a home, I don't have a wife, I don't have my daughter. And I've got to pay her for support for a child that isn't mine. I don't mind supporting Sarah but I can only see her one weekend a month and that's killing me. I have nothing. I was so screwed by the divorce that I just had to get away and figure out how to start over. I don't know if I can start over. I've just got to think things out. That's why I'm here."

"Did you talk to your wife after you filed for divorce?"

"Nope. I had a restraining order preventing me from getting within a thousand feet of Sheila and Sarah. I was fired from my job and evicted from my house. Like I said, her father owned everything and everyone in town so I couldn't do a damned thing. And she never came to any of the hearings, her father and the lawyers handled everything."

"If they took everything from you how did you get here?"

"My mother had some money saved and she gave it to me to get out of town. It was going to supplement their income in their old age. My father couldn't work any more and he has a disability retirement pension so they will be OK. But that's just it, they will be OK, not good like they planned, now they'll be able to live and that's about it. I would like to pay them back but I don't know if that's going to be possible."

The memories were spinning around and around in my head. I felt tense. I felt low again. Every time I thought about my life I got so damned depressed. I couldn't think straight. Somehow Anna sensed my melancholy mood beginning and mercifully changed the subject.

"My story is quite similar. I too came from the poor side of town. My mother and father came from Mexico with my older brother and sister. I was born here. We lived in the Mexican side of Plano Texas. It was not a very pleasant place. My father left when I was eight years old and my mother did housecleaning for a rich family across town. My brother went into the army and was killed in Iraq. My sister married a grocer and now lives in San Antonio and has three kids of her own. I married a man that I met at a friend's wedding. His name is Logan and he worked for a local car parts manufacturer. When I first met him he was a new salesman for the company but now he is one of their senior sales representatives. We dated for a while and he was sweet and kind and always made me feel like a princess. We didn't have a lot of money so when we were married we went on our honeymoon to a local resort hotel. It was wonderful. I felt like everything was perfect. I loved him and he loved me. I had just finished going to culinary school and was looking for my first job as a chef when he told me that he didn't want his wife to work. He said that it made him feel inadequate to have his wife work. I wasn't happy about it but I stayed at home. Over time our marriage went bad. He started out sweet and considerate but after a couple years he became demanding and abusive. I stayed with him and took his abuse for a couple more years. One day something happened that made me sit back and take a look at our marriage. I was no longer a princess. I wasn't happy. I was in danger. Things happened that I hated and I just had to get away. So, one day I was looking on the internet for a place to go when I found the website for Duke's. The next day I took all our savings out of the bank and sold my car and my wedding ring and came here. I've only been gone two weeks. Sometimes I'm afraid that Logan's going to find me and come here. After I run out of money I don't know what I'm going to do or where I'm going to go. I could go to live with my sister but I would be just another mouth for her to feed and besides Logan would find me there eventually. I want to figure out where to go and what to do before I leave here. All I can do is hope."

"Annabella, do people call you Anna? What can I call you?"

"I like Anna."

"Well Anna, you and I are in the same boat. We're recent refugees from a bad relationship and don't know what the future is going to bring. All I can tell you is that I have a little money and if you need some help to stay here and figure out your future I'll be glad to help in any way I can. We can wait and see how it goes but remember the offer." 

"That's kind but I don't want to take anything from you. You have your own problems and you'll need all the money you have. But, thanks."

I'm lost in thought staring out over the lake and the conversation has stopped. I looked over at Anna and she too was looking out over the lake, and she had stopped crying. Our long silence was broken by big fish jumping out of the water just a few feet away from the dock. We looked at each other and smiled. "And Duke thinks he knows where the best fishing places are," she said with a little laugh. This helped lighten the mood for both of us. Soon we were talking about our college days. Penn State sounds exciting to Anna even as I try to make it sound boring. Culinary school sounds exciting to me because I'm a big fan of eating. As we talked we become more and more comfortable with each other. Our conversation turned to the dreams we each had as we were growing up. We talked about our pets and our friends. We sat and talked until the sun was straight overhead and the water was so calm it looks like a mirror reflecting upside down mountains from the other shore. God, I love this place.

"Leo, I'm going back to my cabin for a while. I'm going to take a nap. If you want I'll bring a pot of soup over tonight and we can sit on your porch and talk some more. I really enjoy your company. Is that all right?" She stood and ran her fingers across the back of my hand. The reaction in my body was startling and pleasant.

"I would love it. I really enjoy talking to you too. I'm going to stay here for a while. You go ahead on up."

As she left I turned to watch her walk up the dirt path. I was still amazed at the beautiful site of her walking away. Amazed and aroused. I looked at her as she walked away and thought that now anything was possible. I turned back to look at a pair of geese flying over the lake. Before I knew it I was sound asleep in the old rocking chair.

********

"Knock, knock, anybody home?" Anna said through the screen door.

"Hey, let me help you there. Put that down on the table and I'll see if I can find some bowls. Sorry I can't offer you a fine wine but I forgot to pack a few bottles. Maybe when Duke has a supply run we can include a couple."

We each fixed a bowl of another concoction of hers and went to the porch to eat. When we put down our empty bowls, actually after I had two helpings, I sat back and put my heels on the porch railing and my hands behind my head.

She looked over at me all stretched out and comfortable and said, "Just like a man and a dog. A full stomach and now all you want to do is stretch out and go to sleep."

"Where did you learn to cook like that? We had a housekeeper that cooked for us but she never put together something as impressive as that. That was delicious!"

"Thank you. I enjoy cooking and had a great teacher in school. He told us that at one time in his life he was unemployed and had to eat whatever he could find. Sometimes he got leftover food out of restaurant dumpsters and made a soup or a stew with whatever he found. He called it 'Heaven Provides Soup.' My mother used to call it 'Hobo Stew.' Whatever you call it, it works. I just took his idea of taking whatever you have and putting it together in a way that makes it enjoyable. I'm glad you liked it."

We sat in silence for a while looking at the lake. A squirrel came rushing out of the brush and stopped just a few feet in front of us. Just as soon as it stopped another came rushing out and went after the first. They ran around and around chasing one another until finally they both disappeared back into the brush. "I always enjoy a little after dinner entertainment," I said. She just smiled.

"Leo, you said that your marriage went away when you found about your daughter's father. What did you mean by that?"

I took a deep breath and let it out fully before starting. "I was married to Sheila for 5 years. In all that time I never knew that she had a secret lover. Maybe I was too stupid to see the clues. I don't know why I didn't know, but I didn't. When I got the DNA test results I reached the only conclusion I could: Sheila was having an affair. I didn't want to believe it, hell I couldn't believe it, but all of the evidence was there. So I asked a friend from college Ken Houghton to help. He works as sort of a private investigator in Washington D.C. and has a group of people that can find out just about anything. What he found out was the identity of Sheila's lover. He had photos and videos of them in bed together and somehow he found evidence that they had been lovers since she was in college. How could I believe that my wife could be unfaithful to me? I needed to see for myself. I watched the video and I was completely blown away. I watched my life and my marriage dissolve right in front of my eyes on that TV monitor. I was brokenhearted and sick. I cried. I beat the walls. I wanted to die. I wanted to kill somebody. I spent several hours on my motorcycle riding around thinking about what I saw and what I should do about it. The only solution I could find was to get a divorce. "

"I'm so sorry. That must have been horrible for you. It's crazy that someone could live two separate lives and not expect to be found out. What she did to you should be punished. God, what a bitch. Oops, sorry, sometimes it just comes out. Puta!"

"I do understand a little Spanish and that last part is exactly right. You know, I've said the same things myself. But, I don't know if I want revenge. Right now all I want is to get as far away from her and her controlling father as I can. I'm still thinking."

Anna took the dishes back into the cabin. When she returned I turned to hide the tear coming from my eye and wiped my face before she could see me. I think she saw anyway. 

"You know Anna, just talking about the whole situation makes me hurt all over again. I really loved Sheila and can't understand how she could betray me like that. You can understand how painful it is when the person you loved is not the person you thought they were."

I saw in her eyes that she knew all too well the pain I'm describing. I put my hand on hers and she began to speak.

"Leo, I told you this afternoon that I feel comfortable talking to you. I know that we've only known each other for a little while but I want to be as open with you as you have been with me. Please understand that some of what I'm about to tell you is hard for me. It's very intimate. I don't know if I can even say these things out loud. Please be patient with me."

I said, "Just talk and don't worry about me. I won't interrupt. I'll be patient and I don't want you to do or say anything that will hurt you."

"OK. Here goes. I told you that my marriage started out beautifully and changed over time into a nightmare. My first signs of trouble were subtle. I thought nothing of it because I loved my husband and wanted to please him. When we were first married our sex life was great. We made love with passion and only occasionally did we just have sex for fun. We didn't do anything weird. A few months after we were married Logan said he wanted to experiment. I didn't really know what he meant but I loved him and trusted him so I said OK. One weekend we were making love and suddenly he started becoming a bit rough. He started pushing me and twisting my skin between his fingers and leaving marks all over me. He turned me over and took me from behind. That was the first time I've ever had sex like that and it hurt a lot. I was bleeding a little bit when he finished. He just smiled at me and said that I was a good wife. He said he wanted more. And over the next couple weeks what he did bordered on brutal. 

He would spank me and slap me and pinch me on my breasts and between my legs until I would cry. A couple times he put things up inside me. Once it was the top neck of a beer bottle and another time was this big black plastic penis that he bought. He even tried to get his whole hand up inside me. It hurt a lot. But the more it hurt the more it turned him on. Several times he tied me to the bed and had sex with me. Sometimes I was face up and other times I was face down. He became a mad man the more I screamed and begged him to stop. I remember one time that I was sick with the flu or something and he told me to get in the bed and get ready for him. I said that I was sick and couldn't. He grabbed me and ripped my clothes off and started slapping me until I fell to the floor crying. He dragged me to the bed and tied me to it face down. He started laughing and hitting me on the bottom and the back of the legs with a stick. The more I protested and begged the more he laughed and the harder he hit me. I cried out for him to stop but all he did was tie a pillowcase over my mouth so he couldn't hear my screams. He hit me over and over and over until I passed out. When I came to I was untied and my bottom had something stuck in it that hurt a lot. I reached behind me and pulled out a beer bottle. I just threw it on the floor I was so angry and hurt. I also had this sticky stuff all over my face and hair and I figured out that he uh, ejaculated on my face. I couldn't sit down at all because my bottom hurt so much. I could barely walk. I found him passed out on the couch in the living room. He was passed out drunk. I didn't know that he was drinking because he was doing it outside the house and in the car. Before long he was drinking all the time and at home too. I tried to stay clear of him when he did. Another time he came home after an afternoon of drinking with some of his friends and he was angry that dinner wasn't on the table when he walked in. That's the first time he hit me with his fist. He hit me in the stomach and I fell onto the floor trying to catch my breath. When I tried to stand up he just kept pushing me back down with his foot and laughing. So I just stayed on the floor and cried. He went over to the couch and passed out. I didn't know what to do so I ran into the kitchen and quickly made his dinner and put it on the table. I woke him up and told him that his dinner was ready. He just slapped me across the face. I fell backwards across the coffee table and landed on my back. He got up and went into the kitchen and I heard dishes breaking. Some of them came crashing into the living room. I tried to run into the bedroom and lock the door but he caught me and started to hit me some more. I was almost unconscious when he started ripping my clothes off. He pulled his pants down and started to force his way in between my legs when suddenly he went limp. He blamed me and started punching and kicking me again. I don't remember anything after that. When I woke up I was in bed and he was sitting next to me crying. He said he was sorry he hurt me and it wouldn't happen again. He promised. I was bruised all over and had blood coming from my bottom again. There was so much blood this time that the sheets were soaked in blood, where I was laying. I said that I needed to go to the hospital but he said "no". He didn't want anybody to know what he had done. It took two days before I could get out of bed again and when I did I could only see out of one eye. I was alone when he went to work and when he was home all he did was cry and apologize. I loved this man. How could he hurt me like that? He said that he was going to stop drinking. I listened to him cry and blame everything on his drinking too much and I believed him. So I didn't tell anybody about what he did. I thought it would never happen again.




Running Away



He did stop drinking and we were back to normal for a couple months. One day he came home from work and told me that he found a digital camera in the parking lot at work. It was a very expensive looking camera and I didn't believe him but I didn't say anything. He told me to go and get dressed in my best dress so we could go out. When I was finished dressing he came into the bedroom and said we weren't going out. He told me to sit on the bed. He started taking pictures of me with the new camera. I didn't mind because he was smiling and paying attention to me again. I started to feel like a princess again. He told me to stand up and undress. I knew he wanted to take naked pictures of me and I didn't want to make him mad so I did. He was telling me how to pose and what to do with my hands. Finally he had me lie down on the bed. He told me to spread my legs and masturbate. I said I didn't want to. He got the same look on his face like he had when he was drinking and then started yelling at me. He called me names, all sorts of names, all the while taking pictures of me. I was naked and crying and he still took pictures. He took off his belt and said that if I didn't masturbate for him he would turn me over and beat my bottom. So I did. I masturbated but I couldn't finish. He got out that big black plastic penis that he bought and told me to use it. I was still crying but I did. He kept taking pictures. I wasn't able to finish with it either. He got even angrier. He started to hit my legs with the belt and calling me the dirtiest names I've ever heard. My legs hurt from the belt so I just acted like I was enjoying the dildo. He stopped hitting me but kept taking pictures. I didn't know what to do so I faked an orgasm. He was so aroused that he pulled his pants down and put his penis close to my face. He told me to suck on him so I did. He took a lot of pictures of me with him inside my mouth. He pulled out and got on top of me. He was very rough. After a few minutes he ejaculated inside me. He got up and took the camera and took some close up pictures of the stuff running out of me. When he was finished he said that if I didn't do this whenever he wanted he would print out the pictures and give them to all my friends and neighbors. I didn't want that so I posed for him and danced for him and stripped for him when he told me to. Sometimes he took pictures and sometimes he just watched. Afterwards, he took me wherever he wanted, sometimes in the mouth, sometimes in the front, and sometimes from behind. Each time was rough. I did what he wanted because I didn't want to be beaten again.

One day he came home and he was drunk but I couldn't smell any alcohol on him. I suspect he had been smoking something. He got his camera and demanded I strip for him, and I did. He told me to pull his pants down and suck him, and I did. When he told me to lick his behind I said no. That's when he hit me with the camera. Blood started running down into my eyes and I started to scream. I think one of our neighbors heard me scream because someone was knocking on the front door. He told me to get a towel and clean up my face. He answered the door and told whoever was there that I fell and hurt myself. He came into the kitchen and got a butcher knife from the drawer and told me that if I ever told anyone what he did he would cut me. I was so scared that I just cried and told him I wouldn't tell anyone. He went into the living room and passed out on the couch. He came home drunk like that a couple more times and threatened me with the knife and I did whatever he told me to do. I was so scared I didn't think about anything except what he said to do. I just didn't know what to do."

Jesus H Christ! I thought my life was a wreck. This little beauty has been abused, shit that's not the right word, she's been tortured by some drug crazed lunatic. I didn't know what to think. I was starting to shake I was so mad. I wanted to kill someone again. I looked at this frail flower and I felt tears start to well up in my eyes. I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her that everything will be all right. I wanted to hold her. I didn't know her well enough to do something like that. Instead I didn't say anything or move at all. I just shook all over.

"Leo? Are you all right? Please say something. Leo?"

After a moment I looked up into at her and said, "My God, that's awful! That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. I can't imagine what you felt. I'm so sorry. Oh my God!"

She got up from her chair and came over to me and put her hand on my hand. Tenderly she pulled the tense hand from my chest and put it to her cheek. She smiled. My tension started to fade and my shaking subsided somewhat. She whispered in a soft voice "Thank you. You don't know how good that makes me feel."

We just remained holding hands for the longest time. "I think I'd better take what's left of the soup and go back to my cabin, "she said as she set my hand down on the arm rest. "I'll see you at breakfast."

When she was gone I could only think of her and her awful, brutal husband. Finally I decided I needed to go to bed. It took a long time for me to get to sleep because of the images she put in my head. Now I had more awful images along with the ones of my wife and her lover. These were different though, these showed an innocent, young woman being tortured and all I want to do is come to her rescue. Slowly, a fitful sleep blacked out my thoughts.

********

Duke poured the coffee and observed "Looks like somebody had a rough night."

He's right. When I looked in the mirror this morning all I saw was bloodshot eyes and drooping shoulders. "Got any aspirin?" 

"See what I can find."

I took a big gulp of the coffee and looked around the room. The two other lodgers are just finishing up their breakfast and I nodded a greeting to them. Anna was no where to be found. Duke returned with a bottle of aspirin and set it next to my coffee. "This high mountain air will fool you. It doesn't take long to get that headache because the oxygen is just a bit thinner up here. Take it easy for a couple days and let your system get used to it. Why don't you go out on the lake today? I'll get you one of the boats and you can see what kind of a fisherman you are."

"Good morning Duke," Anna kissed the old gentleman on the cheek making him blush. "Isn't it a beautiful morning?"

"Ask your friend here. He looks like the bear slept with him last night." Duke filled Anna's coffee cup.

She finally got a good look at me and said "Good God you look terrible. What happened?"

"Thin mountain air caught up with him," Duke replied. "He'll be fine in a couple days." He walked away back to the kitchen with the coffee pot.

"Are you going to be all right?" She asked.

"Yeah, as soon as the room stops pulsing I'll be fine. Duke suggested a day out on the lake. I may take him up on it. I haven't been fishing since I was a kid."

"Maybe you shouldn't go out alone. I don't know anything about fishing but I can at least keep you company."

"That might be nice. Got any sun block?"

"I'll see what Duke has."

We sat quietly and ate Duke's usual morning fare of eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice and coffee. I had a side order of aspirin.

"You seem happy this morning. Did the old preacher's advice work? Confession is good for the soul?"

"Maybe it did. I do feel a bit more relaxed. Maybe there is something in telling a friend your troubles. You are my friend aren't you? I did dump a lot of heavy stuff on you yesterday."

"Naw it's OK. I can handle it, being macho and all that. And yes, I'm your friend."

As we left the lodge after breakfast we heard Duke yell after us "I'll put one of the little boats in the water down at the dock. Take it out whenever you want."

"Thanks Duke."

Anna took my hand and we walked hand-in-hand back to our cabins.

********

Around ten o'clock I met Anna at the dock. She dressed in a white long sleeve man's shirt and her blue jeans. She was now wearing tennis shoes and a white baseball cap. Her hair was pulled back into the pony tail again. For a woman that dressed in everyday grungy clothes she sure looked beautiful. It may have had something to do with the big smile on her face as she saw me approach. I haven't had too many beautiful women smiling at me lately. "I found some sun block. Duke has a supply cabinet in the back room with everything. How are you feeling now?"

"Better. The headache is bearable. Maybe a day on the lake with you is just what I need." She smiled when I said 'with you'. She has such a pretty smile.

It took a few minutes to figure out how to get the motor started and get moving. We puttered around for a while and finally turned the motor off in a spot where we could see all sides of the lake at the same time. The mountains that surrounded us made our little boat seem so tiny and the lodge looked like a postage stamp from where we were. I looked around and saw that Duke had prepared everything for us, the poles were ready and there was a little box with some bait that looked like little dough balls. "Well, let's at least look like we know what we're doing," I said. I put a dough ball on one of the hooks and gave the rod to Anna and she dropped the line over the side. On the other pole I left the spoon that was already on it in place and put the line in the water. She watched me and copied what I did with the rod at the other end of the little boat. Tentatively she held the rod and reel and said "now what do I do?" 

"Just wait," I said "and be patient." 

We sat like that for a few minutes when Anna said to me "Leo, I didn't think about what I was doing yesterday when I told you my story, well actually, part of my story. I didn't tell you everything. You got all tense while listening and I think I may have added my problems to yours. I didn't think about that and I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it anymore if it hurts you. But truthfully I feel somewhat better by telling you."

"And to be truthful to you Anna, I did dream about what you told me. I thought about how brutalized you were. I look at you now and can't imagine someone wanting to do that to you. You are so delicate and gentle and beautiful. How could someone try to destroy that? That's monstrous."

"Did you just call me beautiful?"

"Uh, yes. You are beautiful. I look at you and see a very beautiful woman, hell, any man in his right mind would. But that's just the outside. I can only see a little of what's inside but what little I do see also looks beautiful too, and quite fragile." 

"Thank you. I haven't been called beautiful in a long time."

"There are a lot of stupid people in this world."

"Thank you for not being one of them."

Anna's rod jerks downward suddenly. "What was that?"

"That's a nibble. Hold onto the rod but not too tightly. Wait and see what happens."

We sat quietly for a while staring at her rod. Nothing happened for a long time. "Relax. He's gone." I said.

Anna looked from the rod to Leo. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure, anything."

"You make me feel like princess."

"You are a princess."

She smiled at me and said "Thank you."

We relaxed and looked around taking in the spectacular view of the mountains and the sky. After a while our eyes met. She smiled her wonderful smile at me. I smiled back and thought that the spectacular view just got a whole lot better. She scooted over to sit next to me and put her hand on my hand and her head on my shoulder. We sat like that for a long time just looking out over the lake.

Again Anna's rod jerked downward. "Hey, our friend's back," I said. I took her rod and put it into her hands. As soon as she gripped it the tip jerked downward violently. Then again. I said, "Hold on I think we're going to have a visitor. Pull up on the rod and reel it in a few feet." 

The rod began to bend and pull and shake violently. "I don't know what to do. Help me Leo."

"Just hold on the rod tightly and put the back end in your hip. Take the other hand and start reeling it in, slowly." Tentatively she did as I said. The rod was bucking and pulling but she managed to keep hold of it as she reeled. Finally a big splash came a few feet away from the boat as the fish broke the water. "Holy, shit... keep reeling, just keep reeling! I'll get the net." I got the net and looked over the side into the water. As I dipped downward into the water I pulled out what every fisherman dreams of, a huge lake trout. "Ha, ha, look what you got. This bad boy is huge. He's a beauty." All Anna could do was stare, wide eyed. "I know what we're having for dinner tonight. You called your soup 'Heaven Provides' well honey, heaven just provided dinner." I took the line with the fish and moved everything over to the cooler and put our dinner inside. "Wait 'till Duke sees this. He'll keel over."

Anna was still in shock. Almost at once she jumped up and threw her arms around my neck and let out a scream of glee, rocking the boat as she did. "Whoa there, sit down. We don't want to go swimming just yet," and she let go and sat down looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry. It's just that I never caught a fish before."

"Well, let's see if he has any relatives down there." I put fresh bait on the hook and let it over the side.

I sat down beside her and put my arm around her shoulder. She gave me the biggest smile imaginable and put her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my chest. "Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For making me feel happy again. Thank you."

She held onto my chest for a long time. Everything was quiet and peaceful on the lake. It was so peaceful that I thought that I could hear her heartbeat. I turned my head and kissed the top of her head before putting my cheek down on her ebony hair. Both of us were at peace for the first time in a long while.

********

"Holy mother of God, where did you get that?" Duke bellowed as I pulled the fish out of the cooler. "I've been looking for him for years."

"Well, the little lady snagged him."

Anna said, "I had no idea what I was doing. Leo just coached me after he was hooked. Did I do OK?"

"Little lady, that's a record trout for this lake. I'll bet he weighs forty pounds or more. We've got to get the camera before we fillet him. You two are going on the bulletin board." 

We all walk up to the lodge smiling and talking about the one that didn't get away. Anna got him. Duke went inside and got his camera and told her to pose on the porch with her prize and the lake in the background. We looked at each picture he took and smiled. "Yessirree, you two are going to be eating fine tonight. I'll take him and get him ready. You be here at six for dinner. My treat."

Anna and I walked back toward our cabins smiling and holding hands. All of our troubles were forgotten for the moment. A lake trout helped put our lives at ease. When we reached my cabin I turned Anna around and put my hands around her waist. We just stood that way for a while with the mountains providing the frame for the picture before I pulled her to me and slowly lowered my lips to hers. 

"Leo, I can't." She pulled back, looked down at the ground and started shaking in my arms. "I... I... Oh, God, I'm sorry. I can't."

"Hey calm down, calm down... what's wrong?" I lifted her chin up to look into her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just flashed back to before and got scared. He hurt me. I guess he hurt me a lot more than I knew. I know you wouldn't but it's just..."

"Shhhhhh, I understand. I shouldn't have pushed you."

"No, it's not you, it's me. When you kissed me your touch brought back the awful memories of Logan hitting me and having rough sex. The touch of your lips just triggered it. I'm so sorry."

"That's OK. I'll be here when you're ready. I'm not going to do anything to hurt you, you know that."

"I know. Please just hold me."

We stood embracing for an eternity. Her shaking subsided after a while. She felt calm and I could feel her breathing more slowly against my chest. She seemed so frail in my arms, so delicate and small. I will hold her forever if necessary, until her last demon was gone. 

The sound of a bird chirping close by breaks the silence of the woods. We turned to look but it had gone. When we turned back I saw her beautiful dark eyes smile at me. Then her lips move into smile to match.

"Thank you." Those were the most beautiful words I've heard all day.

Ever so slowly Anna moved to close the distance between our faces. Her eyes looked into mine as she slowly moved her lips to gently touch mine. It was almost not a touch it felt so gentle before she pulled back and smiled even wider. Time seemed to stand still as she looked into my eyes and smiled. Again she moved to kiss me but this time the touch was more purposeful. We kissed tenderly and quietly. When we separated we both smiled and looked in each other's eyes. I said "there's nothing in the world like a first kiss. Nothing will ever be more tender or more full of expectation. Everybody experiences a few in their lifetime. Nothing gets better than this... except the second kiss." I moved again to kiss her lips. Our kiss was longer and deeper this time. If our minds weren't so focused on our kiss then we would have felt our hearts beating together.

********

Tap, tap, tap. "Hello? Anyone home?" I asked.

"Hello yourself. Come on in, I'm almost ready." Anna's voice came from behind the bathroom door.

"And you talk about men and their cliché habits. Do what you have to do, I'll wait. After all, who am I to complain?"

I walked into the little cabin and stood there as Anna finished her face in the bathroom. I watched her finish her makeup and just smiled. "You are beautiful," I said. She is beautiful. She was wearing a pretty yellow print top that hugged her body in all the right places; not too tight, just right. And the color made her face light up. The jeans have been replaced with a black skirt that stopped just at the knees with sandals on the feet below. Her hair was in a pony tail again but this time it came from the side if the head, not the back. She turned to me and held out her hands. "Now, I'm beautiful. Let's go eat, I'm starved."

"Not just yet. Not until I've messed up some of that makeup." I lean to kiss her but she pulls away saying "no, no! Not now. Later. First we eat." She grabbed my hand and led me out of the cabin and down the hill.

As we walked to the lodge Anna said, "You look nice. Who would have thought to bring a blazer to a fishing lodge?" She took my hand and kissed it before intertwining her fingers with mine as we walked.

"Right this way to your table." Duke did an exaggerated bow as we entered the dining room. "Your meal awaits." I pulled her chair out and Anna sat. Duke draped a white cloth napkin over her lap and then put one on mine. He went into the kitchen leaving us alone in the room. We sat quietly looking into each others eyes.

Anna broke the silence and said, "I love Duke. He's such a gentleman. I'll bet when he was younger he was quite a lady's man. His wife must have been so happy." Duke returned with two plates of trout and vegetables. He said, "My wife was the reason I lived. After I met her I never looked at another woman again. She was my first and only love. We were together for thirty years: Thirty glorious years. Her ashes are up on the hill just past your cabins behind that little park bench." He set the plates in front of us and said "Bon appetite," and turned to leave us alone to enjoy the meal, and each other.

The meal goes all too quickly. At the end Duke brings out a pear half drizzled with chocolate sauce. "Just leave everything right here when you're done. I'll see to it tomorrow. Right now I'm going up to bed. Good night you two." After the simple dessert, we sat holding hands and looking into each other's eyes.




Running Away



Anna said "This has been a perfect day. Thank you for sharing it with me."

"It's not over yet. We can stay up and see if there's an aurora tonight. I fancy a little star gazing with you. How about it?"

"Sounds like the perfect end to the perfect day."

********

In the mountains and away from all the city lights, the stars above are beyond description. You can actually see what appears to be one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy. Neither of us was used to a display like that because we came from cities where the ground lights drown out the stars. But tonight the heavens are ablaze with stars. However, tonight there is no Aurora Borealis: Maybe tomorrow.

We sat in front of my cabin on the two rickety old chairs looking up at the sky holding hands. There was an occasional hoot from an owl and some crickets chirping but there were no other sounds, not even the wind. To one side there's a loud crack. We both turned our heads to look in that direction but everything is dark and we can't see a thing. Another crack, then another from the same direction, then a rustling sound of the bushes. "Uh, I think we've got a visitor," I said. "Maybe we ought to make a quiet retreat until he goes away."

"Good idea. I don't want to end a perfect day by being some bear's dinner." We both quietly get up and walk backwards into the cabin and shut the door.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked.

"Hummmmm, I can think of something," she said as she slyly eyed the bed.

"Hummmmm, yourself." I took her in my arms and kissed her like this will be the last one we ever have. It's powerful and deep but not too much for the little woman. She kissed me back and murmured "hummmmmm" as she did. Our tongues met and we shared each other's mouths with another "hummmmmm".

We stood kissing for a long time. When we broke we just stood looking into each other's eyes. Anna reached up in front and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, then the next and the next until her blouse was completely undone. She reached up and grabbed my face and pulled it to hers and put her tongue deeply into my mouth. This time I went "hummmmmm". I moved my hands around her bare waist feeling the skin of her sides and back for the first time. Her skin was smooth and warm and the touch brought out a warm feeling deep within me. While we kissed I moved my hands up her back and over her bra to her shoulder blades. I kneaded the skin underneath and gently scraped my fingers down her back. I moved my hands back up again and found the clasp of her bra and unhooked it. As we stepped apart I slowly moved my hands to her blouse collar to push the garment back off her shoulders and onto the floor behind her. On the way back I moved the bra around and forward off her arms and it too fell to the floor in front. I stood there in the dim cabin light admiring the beauty before me. Her black hair fell to one side and over the terra-cotta complexion of her shoulder and down to one breast where it touched the dark circle around the nipple. Her breasts were perfectly shaped mounds of creamy flesh just big enough to fill my hands. They just beg to be touched. Being as gentle as possible, I moved my hands to cover each breast and squeezed and massaged the smooth, soft mounds until she leaned her head back and moaned, "That feels sooooo good. Please don't stop." I could feel the rock hard nipple in my palm as I squeezed.

With her head tilted back like it was her neck became the target of my kisses. Up and down, left and right I kissed her throat and ran my tongue over the flesh. I bit down on one side for a gentle nibble before continuing the kisses. Anna lowered her head and leaned forward and looked into my eyes as my hands massaged her breasts. She reached to the front and grabbed my blazer lapels and pushed them back over my shoulders to let the garment fall to the floor. She then grabbed the sides of my shirt and pulled upward until it popped off over top and let it fall to the floor next to the blazer. Leaning forward, Anna kissed the center of my chest and ran her fingers up and down the sides. She returned the love bite by taking my right nipple in her mouth and biting, ever so gently. With both hands she reached down and found my belt and opened it. Then she unbuttoned my pants and pulled my zipper down. With one hand she reached inside to find the warm hard cock that she has been feeling grind into her stomach all during our kisses. She let out another moan as she moved her hand up and down the shaft. She released it and used both hands to pull down my remaining clothes until they too were in a heap on the floor. Then she went back to stroking the hard meat now pointing up at her chest. Up and down, up and down, her hands went. Looking down and licking her lips Anna set down on the bed and leaned forward to take the hard, warm cock into her mouth. With her lips wrapped tightly around the shaft she moved it in and out of her warm mouth all the while using her tongue to tease the head. I looked down at the top of her head as she moved back and forth and I stroked her ebony hair with my hands. The caresses are very gentle, almost tickling her head. 

Time passed in reality but not in our lovemaking. Anna moved her lips off of my cock and looked up into my eyes and smiled. She stood and reached in front to unbutton her skirt. When the button was opened it fell to the floor as she stepped out of her sandals. I put my hands under her arms and lifted her gently until our faces were on the same level then I kissed her ruby lips again and again. Then moving backward I placed her in a seated position on the bed and leaned over and continued to kiss her around the head and neck. She fell back and moved her legs onto the bed and I got in next to her. She remained lying flat on her back as I stroked one hand up and down the length of her body, over and around her breasts, and down to the panty covered mound between her legs. She turned her head and lifted upward to kiss me on the chin. I turned and pressed my body into hers and pushed my tongue deeply into her mouth which in turn pushed her head deeply into the pillow. My fingers moved along the panty material from side to side with her hips swaying as I stroked. When I reached the center of one of the side to side strokes I stuck my fingers under the material and slowly slid my hand between her legs. The hair over the mound was soft and downy and mixed with moisture coming from within. Anna moved her hands to the sides of her panties, and in a single swift motion moved them down her legs to her feet, and kicked them off onto the floor. Once she was finally naked she spread her feet wide to let me find my reward. I looked down and saw that the nicely trimmed hair between her legs was as dark as the hair on her head. I smiled and moved my hand up and down the slit between her legs, neither stopping nor lingering at one place. She moaned at my touch and lifted and moved her hips in encouragement. I scooted down in the bed until I was eye to eye with the dark, damp mound that I've been stroking with my fingers. Crawling over one leg I kissed the dark hair and extended my tongue to touch her moist labia: Up and down my head moved dragging my tongue along the outside and finally inside her moist folds. My tongue brushed the clitoris, which made her jump in delight, but I continued the up and down motion. When I was at the bottom I extended my tongue to move it up inside her as far as possible, tasting the warm sweet nectar leaking from her. This also got a jump of delight. I continued my up and down motion again but I start to concentrate my licking at the top on the little nub between the folds of moist, musky skin. Moving my tongue around and around the button brought Anna to a level of ecstasy that she's almost forgotten about. She was in heaven. "Oh my God that's good. Please don't stop. Eat me up." She moaned. I smiled around the hard clit and pressed onward. I also licked and suck on the flaps of skin that hid her clit and blew on the little button all to her excruciating delight. Her eyes looked up at the ceiling and her breathing started getting harder and faster. "Don't stop. I'm almost there. Oh my God. I'm..." and without finishing what she wanted to say every muscle in her body became stiff, her legs became rigid, and she cried out "Yes! Yes! Oh God Yes!" I wrapped my arms around her hips and squeezed both buttocks as she fell back on the bed and lapsed into exhaustion. 

We remained that way for a long time. Eventually she lifted her head up and smiled at me. "Come on up here," she whispered. I climbed on top of the most beautiful woman in the world as she spread her legs and lifted them on top of mine. The head of my cock was resting at the wet opening. I leaned down and kissed her softly and deeply wrapping my tongue around hers. With a single slow, soft stroke I entered her pussy for the first time. Anna let go of my tongue and moaned "God please, oh God, I love you, I love you, I love you, please, please make me cum." The stroking of my cock, in and out of her wet pussy, started slowly and gently and she pushed her hips upward to meet my downward stroke. We stayed moving up and down, back and forth, in unison for a long time. Gradually my pace quickened as our two bodies became more demanding. The sweat dripped off of my face and onto hers. Her body was slick with a coat of sweat as we slid up and down over each other, every pore on our bodies merging together as one. Faster and harder we moved until the expression on her face changed to one of exquisite agony. "OH GOD, I'M... I'M..." and then she leaned forward and screamed into my shoulder a word that can't be spelled and isn't in any dictionary. I continued thrusting up inside her harder and harder until my own face contorted in a way that only meant one thing. "UNGHHH" was the sound I made as I let loose a stream of cum up inside her that filled every crevice inside and started leaking out the sides where we touched. Once my face went back to normal I opened my eyes and looked down into hers and lowered my lips to meet hers. We lay in a sweaty, musky embrace for a very long time, kissing and making little noises in each other's mouth.

With a Herculean effort I moved off of Anna and laid face down beside her with my arm extended over her chest cupping one breast. We lay panting next to each other for a long time before either of us dared move, lest we disturb the rapture that the other has just experienced. I turned my head to look at her and saw that her face was turned away. She appeared to be crying. "Anna what's wrong? Are you OK?" I asked.

She turned her face back to me and showed me the tears running down her cheeks and said gently, "Oh Leo, there isn't anything wrong. Everything is right; exactly right. I haven't felt like this for a very, very long time. I don't mean the orgasm, which was fantastic by the way, I mean feeling loved. You loved me all the time we were making love. I could feel it. I hope you could too. It was exquisite. Oh Leo, everything's perfect."

"Whew, I thought there for a minute I was losing my touch."

SLAAAP! Smiling from ear to ear she slapped my back and said "no funny man you haven't lost your touch. I love your touch very much. Just don't joke around about it. Just hold me."

We turned our bodies so that we were face to face and wrapped our arms around each other. I nuzzled her neck and Anna kissed my ear. We remained like that until we both fell asleep in each other's arms.

********

I became conscious of the bed and the warm body in my arms as the morning snuck over the mountains underneath a slow, steady rain. The gentle pitter-patter on the roof echoed throughout the small room. We didn't see the light of day and didn't hear the rain on the roof. We did hear each other's heartbeat as we laid there in a warm morning embrace.

"Good morning."

"Good morning to you my beautiful lady. Do you want to skip breakfast and just stay in bed all day?"

"That sounds good to me, as long as you're here too."

"Bet on it! Just let me brush this bear out of my mouth and I'll be back to keep you warm and safe all day." I got up and headed for the bathroom.

Anna stayed there naked in bed looking at me as I went through my morning ritual. I could only imagine what she was thinking. It's surprising to me but I felt like I've always known her but in reality it's only been a few days. I returned to the bed and said "your turn." Anna got up and closed the door as she went in. Now I'm lying there naked thinking of Anna and I started to get hard again. I covered myself up and tried to look nonchalant, but how can you look nonchalant with a tent in the middle of the bed. When Anna returned she laughed at the protruding bedding and jumped under the covers with me.

We both just stayed there hugging one another; quiet, now aware of the pitter-patter on the roof. 

"Leo, don't take this wrong, and you don't have to say anything in return but I've got something to tell you. I think I love you. I know it's crazy because we've only known each other for a few days but I feel like I've always known you. I'm very comfortable around you and feel safe in your arms."

"Wow! I can't think of anything except... WOW! Yeah, maybe it is crazy, but I feel better with you in my arms that I have with anybody else for a very, very long time. Right now I want to concentrate totally on you and not think about the mess I just left. Anna, honestly I could feel that way about you but I can't think about loving you while I've got one hell of a problem to figure out. I don't want to hurt you. I want you to be happy and if you are now then that's all that I care about."

"I don't care about anything or anybody else right now. I care about you and only you, right now. Stop thinking and hold me."

Anna and I stayed in bed the entire day talking and loving. We made love two more times just like the first, gently and lovingly. We forgot to leave the cabin to eat.

********

The next day the rain stopped but everything was still wet and muddy as we made our way to breakfast.

"Missed you yesterday. What'd you do, stay in bed and listen to the rain?" Duke said with a knowing smile. "My Lousia and I used to do that. Eyeah, we had some pretty exhausting rainy days."

"Yeah, something like that," I admitted as I smiled over my eggs at Anna.

"Hey listen. Today's Tuesday and the supply plane is due in around noon. Nobody's scheduled to arrive with 'em so you two will be the only guests when the other two leave today. If you want anything special for meals leave me a note and I'll send it out with them for their next delivery. The plane only comes on Tuesdays and Fridays so we've got to plan ahead."

"Can we get anything?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, just about anything that can be bought at a grocery store or a liquor store or a hardware store. Anything else you might have to wait a while for but you can put your order in for anything any time."

She smiled and took a bite of her toast.

The same floatplane that brought me in a few days ago arrived at noon filled with boxes of supplies, mostly food. We helped Duke unload the stuff and store it in the pantry while the two fishermen carried their luggage down to the plane for their trip home. Everybody worked quietly and efficiently. Duke sat down with us after the plane took off and told us about the operation of the lodge. He's been doing everything here for twenty years by himself and only his late wife ever knew how he did things. Duke is a funny old buzzard. He told us about the winters and how everything is completely isolated for two or three months as the lake almost completely freezes over. Sometimes the snow is so deep he can't even go from the lodge to the dock. The floatplane delivery service stops so he's got to plan for everything that he'll need in the mean time. Occasionally he goes out hunting for fresh meat but it doesn't last all winter. "The worst part about being at the lake during the winter is the loneliness, now that my Louisa's gone," he admitted. "And I'm getting on in years and don't have any children to pass this place to when I die. But, I don't plan on dying any time soon anyhow." The three of us spend the better part of the day talking about the mountains, the lake, fishing, hunting, bad winters, and good people. Never did the conversation stray to why the two refugees were hiding out here with old Duke.

After a day of pleasant conversation, Anna told us to stay at the dinner table because she wanted to go and whip up a stew for dinner. "I want to and I won't take no for an answer." She disappeared into the kitchen and closed the door.

"I like that gal," Duke admitted. "But there's something sad about her. She seems to have perked up since you arrived though. I hope you two hit it off. She deserves something or someone to make her happy."

"Duke, I like her a lot too. I've got my own troubles and don't want them to affect her. I'm going to take it slow and maybe we can both make each other happy, for a while at least. I will not do anything to hurt her I promise, so don't worry. I'm cool."

Soon Anna came out and brought a large tureen full of a steaming mixture of vegetables and fish. "I call this my 'Heaven Provides Stew' Duke. I hope you like it." She ran back in and got the iced tea and biscuits before sitting down to eat.

After a few mouthfuls Duke leaned back and said "Mmmmm, this reminds me an awful lot of a stew that my Louisa made. She called it a 'Fish Chowder.' It's one hell of a lot better than anything I can make, oops, sorry for my language. But it's great. Thanks."

We all ate in silence, except for the occasional slurping noise.

********

"Hello? Leo? It's me, can I come in?" Anna whispered through the door.

I opened the door and said "Hey there good looking, I was just thinking about you. What brings you out this time of night?"

"I was thinking about you too. My cabin is way over there and yours is way over here. Can we just combine everything and be together in one. Two can live as cheaply as one they say. Duke already knows and he seems OK with it. How 'bout it? Can I come in?"

"Of course. You shouldn't go back tonight in case that bear is out there lurking around. I just found you I don't want to lose you."

She snuggled up next to me in bed pressing her body into mine and wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Leo. If you don't want to answer this I will totally understand but you told me a little bit about your wife having a lover that you never knew about. You said that it disgusted you. How could you stay with her after you found out?"

"I don't know I just avoided her. Every time I saw her all I could think about was what I saw on the video. Every time I just wanted to strangle her. All I really wanted to do was be with Sarah. If being with Sarah meant that I had to stay with that conniving bitch for a while then I had to do it. From the time I found out until the day I filed for divorce I avoided her like the plague. I found extra projects to do around our house or at my parent's and I took Sarah to the park and playground whenever I could. All I thought about was finding an attorney and getting the hell out of there. When the paperwork was served, everything exploded. Her father got involved and my problems only got worse and worse. I already told you what happened but eventually I was beaten down to the ground.

The worst part I can't even talk about, it's just too disgusting. After I found out I threw up. Even now just thinking about it makes my stomach queasy. That one was the deal breaker. I knew right then that I had to get as far away from her and her family as I could."

"Then don't talk about it. Don't even think about it. I can't imagine anything worse than what you already told me. Come here and hold me and don't think about her any more. I'll help make it better."




Running Away



We laid there for a long time just holding each other in silence. I lifted my head from her shoulder and looked into her dark eyes. "Thank you for being here." I said before I placed my lips onto hers. Our kiss was tender and warm and it reminded me that there are some good people in this world. The black haired beauty in my arms is one of them. Our lips parted and I put my head back onto her shoulder.

"Leo," she whispered. "I've got more to my story that I couldn't tell you the other day. I think now I can now. I want to because I think that if I do then I may overcome some more of my own demons. Like your preacher said, 'confession is good for the soul'. Believe it or not, what I have to say worse than what I already told you. Can you stand to hear it?"

"Anything for you. Afterwards I may want to kill somebody but I'll hear whatever you have to tell me."

"Well this happened after what I told you the other day. Remember I said that Logan threatened me with a knife and said I had to do whatever he said? Well, one day he came home high on whatever he was smoking and told me to get dressed up because he had a surprise for me. I went into the bedroom and showered and changed into one of my nicest dresses. When I finished I came into the living room and Logan was sitting there talking to some woman. He looked at me with a strange smile and introduced her to me. She was his boss from work. Her name was Faye something. She was a big woman, not fat just tall and strong looking, with short blond hair. I thought she was kind of pretty until she spoke. She had a gravely voice and used a lot of swear words when she talked. She just sat there next to Logan and smiled at me. Logan said that he was showing my pictures around at work and Faye thought I was pretty and said she wanted to meet me. I didn't think about it at the time but the pictures he was showing were the ones he took of me with his new camera, the ones where I was naked and doing all sorts of things. Anyway, Logan brought Faye home to meet me. He told me that it was important to him to make Faye happy so I was to entertain her that night. I didn't know what he wanted me to do so I just stood there and looked at the two of them. He said something like "I'll explain it to you so you can understand bitch. You will do whatever Faye here wants and I'm going to sit and watch. You've got to keep her happy so I'm happy. If you don't do what she wants or hesitate for a moment you will be punished. You know what I mean?" I just stood there stunned. I didn't know what to do. Faye stood up from the couch and came over and stood in front of me, about an arms length away. She just stood there looking at me and smiling. Then she walked past me and into the kitchen and got two beers from the refrigerator and came back out and sat on the couch next to Logan. She smiled at me standing there and told me to strip for them. I didn't know what to do. I was terrified. If I ran away Logan would only get mad and beat me. I didn't know what to do so I started to undress. Faye told me to put some music on the radio and strip to the music. I danced to the music the best as I could as I took my clothes off. All the time the two of them sat there and watched. When I was done Faye stood up and came over to me and started touching me and rubbing her hands up and down my body. I was scared so bad I was shaking. She put her arms around me and kissed me. I've never kissed a woman before. I didn't know what to do. I started to cry. Logan got mad and started yelling when he saw that I was crying. Faye just watched as he yelled at me. Then he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the bedroom and pushed me down onto the bed. Faye followed us and stood over me next to the bed. Logan sat on the foot of the bed and said to Faye "She's all yours."

Faye started undressing next to me. I looked at Logan and he was just sitting there smiling and watching both of us. When Faye was naked she got into bed next to me and put her arms around me and kissed me again. This time she pushed her tongue into my mouth. I didn't do anything but just lie there and let her kiss me. Logan must have seen that I wasn't doing anything so he told me I had a choice: Either do back to her what she's doing to me or be punished. I didn't want to be punished so I kissed her back. That made Faye happy and she started rubbing her hands all over me and kissing me harder. She squeezed my breasts and pinched my nipples. All I could do was return her kisses and rub my hands all over her. After doing that for a while she put her hand between my legs and started stroking me up and down. I was pretty wet when she put a finger up inside me. I've never had another woman touch me there before let alone put her fingers inside. She continued to do that for a while and I found that I was getting turned on. I didn't want to but I was. And Logan just sat there and watched. Before long she put another finger inside and then a third. She continued to stroke me with her three fingers until I was getting more excited than I wanted. Suddenly she stopped and took her fingers out and put them into her mouth. She sucked on her fingers cleaning off my wetness. Next she pushed Logan off of the bed and moved down to the end and between my legs. She kissed me on my knee's and started kissing up my legs until she had her face between my legs licking up and down inside the slit. She knew what to do because I was responding to her kisses. She found my clitoris and sucked it into her mouth and I though I was on fire. Before too long I was on the verge of coming. I didn't know what to do so I grabbed the back of her head and pushed her face between my legs harder. She licked and sucked me harder until I screamed. That was the first time I've cum without faking it for a long time. She did it to me and Logan just sat there smiling.

She looked up at me over my mound of hair and said "it's your turn". I was petrified. I knew what she was saying and what she wanted. I've never even thought about doing that to a woman. She moved up beside me on the bed onto her back and spread her legs. She pointed down between her legs and smiled at me. The only thing I could do was what she wanted. Logan would cut me if I didn't make her happy. So I moved between her legs and started licking her. She had no hair down there and all I could think about was making her happy or being punished. I licked her slit like she licked me. I even sucked on her clitoris like she sucked on mine. I did this over and over until she came hard in my face. Afterwards I just laid there and felt disgusted. I had never had sex with another woman before let alone while my husband watched. She got up and dressed and was talking to Logan while I just laid there. I heard her say that she would like to come over again. Logan said that he would make sure that I would be available to her whenever she wanted. When I heard that I turned my head into the pillow and cried.

When she left Logan came to bed and forced me to have sex with him and as usual he was brutal. After he finished he told me what he had planned. He said that his boss really enjoyed my company and she wanted to come over again. He told her that he would let her if she gave him a certain customer's account at work. She said she would. He also told me that he had been showing my pictures to his friends at work and they liked what they saw. He said that from now on I would have to be ready when he called to entertain his friends and coworkers and customers and do whatever they wanted. He told me that he had already arranged for me to go to a party with a bunch of his drinking buddies the following weekend. He told me to be as nice to them as I was to his boss. They were paying him five hundred dollars for me for the weekend. Then he told me that he had more plans. I was also going to go to the company manager's meeting the next month and be there for everybody to have sex with all week. He was going to be making a lot of money from me and at work he was to be going to be put in charge of more important accounts. Leo, he was planning on pimping me out to his friends and coworkers. When he told me that I knew I had to leave. So, the next day I ran away."

I watched as she went silent and stared off into the distance. Then her face started to contort and her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh God, I can't go on!" Her whole body shook as she broke down in heartbreaking sobs.

I took her in my arms and held her tightly. "Everything's all right now. You're safe and away from those people. You're here with me now. I'll take care of you. I'll love you." I whispered the words into her ear. She continued crying and the tears ran down her face and onto my shoulder. Her sobbing slowed down and before long all I could hear was the rhythmic sound of her breathing. She cried herself to sleep in my arms.

********

Anna was sitting naked cross legged on the bed looking at me when I became conscious of the new day. 

"Morning," was all I said.

"Did you say that you love me last night?" she asked.

"Uh yes, I think I did. What you told me last night was horrible. You didn't do anything to deserve that brutality and I'll see to it that you never have to suffer through anything like that ever again. The only way I can make that really happen is to love you and keep you near me. With me you're safe and loved. From the moment I first saw you I felt something, I didn't know what it was, but now I think I do. Yes, I do believe I've fallen in love with you."

"God, I'm so happy! Thank you Leo, my prayers have been answered."

"I love you but I've really got to go pee and then we need to go down to breakfast," I said as I started moving toward the bathroom. Anna only smiled.

********

"You know Duke you should have a full time cook here. That way you would have more time to do the other things around here that need doing." I said offering my advice over a plate of pancakes.

"Can't afford one. When Louisa was alive she did the cooking and I did everything else. She was a wonderful cook. Me, I make do. You won't starve."

"How about Anna? She's a great cook. Maybe she can work for you to help pay the rent. I know we're the only ones here at the moment but if you get some more lodgers then maybe she can help out a bit. Is that OK with you Anna?"

"Of course. I'd love to help out if that's OK with you Duke."

"Well, I'll think about it. I have eight people due in on the next plane. We'll see how it goes."

We all went back to eating our pancakes. At the end when we were sitting back in our chairs digesting I asked "Duke, how do I make a phone call? I need to call somebody and let them know where I am."

"Well, all I've got is the radio. The people at Yellowknife can patch you through to an operator who can make the call for you. It's a bit expensive but it can be done."

"Can I use it after breakfast?"

"Sure. I'll show you how."

Anna said, "I'll just let you two alone. I'm going back to the cabin and clean up a bit. If we're going to have visitors then I want to look my best." She smiled at us and left.

The process for making a telephone call through his old radio set up was complicated and I had to use a credit card to charge the call. Duke allowed me to use his so there wouldn't be a charge on mine that can be used to find me. "I'll pay you back. Just put it on my bill." I told him. Duke politely left me alone to talk.

"Hello?" Came the voice from the old radio.

"Hi mom, it's Leo."

"Oh my God, Leo. How are you baby? Where are you?"

"Mom, I'm fine. I'm somewhere out of the country at the moment and I can't tell you where. If someone should ask then you can't lie. What's happening there? Anything I should know about?"

"They're looking for you Leo. Mister Bloom is madder than hell. When the factory burned down he immediately blamed you. The police have a warrant for your arrest. They even called in the FBI. They came out and talked to your dad and me. We didn't know where you were so we couldn't tell them anything. I think there's someone watching the house in case you show up. Things are pretty tense at the moment."

"What did you do with that package I gave you?"

"I put it in the basement behind some jars of canned peaches. I didn't open it."

"How about Sarah?"

"I don't know too much, son. Sheila came by and asked where you were. She said she wanted to talk to you. Sarah was with her. She's fine. She just wants her dada. I don't know if Sheila was trying to find you for her father or if she really wanted to talk to you. She seemed pretty upset."

"Well, I don't want to talk to her. All I care about is Sarah. As long as she's OK then I'm OK."

"Leo, I know that your divorce will be final in a couple months but could you at least talk to Sheila? Was what she did really that bad? You said that she had an affair. Is there any way that you two can talk and try to work things out, for Sarah's sake?"

"Mom, I only told you part of what happened. Sheila was having an affair the entire time we were married. But that's only half of it. I don't want to tell you or anybody else the rest because it will just hurt Sarah, maybe someday but not now." 

"Well OK. I guess I'll just have to trust you."

"Mom, there's something else. I've met someone here, her name is Anna. She's running away from a bad situation just like me. I want you and dad to meet her but I don't know how I can make it work. Since I can't come back home I'll have to figure out some other way. I just want you to know that I'm not as depressed as I was the last time you saw me. I'm better. I'm actually happy when I'm with Anna. I think I'm going to be OK as long as she's with me. I just wanted to let you know."

"Oh Leo, I'm so happy for you. After all the heartache you deserve to be happy. Call and let us know what your plans are. I love you son, take care."

"Bye mom."

Oh shit what am I going to do now? The FBI's out looking for me. I didn't do anything but that fat bastard Bloom has the police saying that it was me that torched his factory. What am I going to do about Sarah? Christ, what am I going to do about Anna? Now that I've met her I can't do anything that would hurt her. Hell, she's got her own problems. What can I do to help her? How can I get away from Sheila's old man, be with Anna, and have a future with her that's free and clear of the past? Christ what a mess. 

********

The following day I watched as the floatplane arrived and drop off eight men. They had expensive looking luggage and fishing gear. Duke greeted them with a big warm smile. "Welcome back gentlemen. It's good to see you again. I believe this makes your ninth year, right? Everything's the same as last year except the fishing's better. You got to see the picture of the one caught yesterday. A real monster it is." We all helped to get the men's luggage up the hill to the lodge. That afternoon they took four boats out to get in a little fishing before sundown.

Duke has Anna help him in the kitchen with dinner. She prepared the fish the men caught and steamed some fresh vegetables. Duke does the salads and bread under her direction. For dessert Anna prepared a simple pear-cranberry crisp. The new lodgers were very excited about dinner and asked the chef to come out and visit. Sheepishly Anna went into the dining room. All I could do was sit at another table and watch.

One of the men started speaking. "Madam, we want to complement you on your dinner. Everything was delightful. We expected Duke's usual rustic fare to go along with the rustic charm of the lodge, but this was totally unexpected. I know food. See, I own a string of restaurants in Detroit, Chicago and Cincinnati and none of our best chefs could match what we just ate. I know better than to ask you your secrets, but if you ever want to leave here and come to work for me you have a standing invitation."

"Thank you very much. I'm a little embarrassed at all your praise and I will keep your kind offer in mind. I'll see what surprises I can whip up for you for breakfast." Anna came over to my table and sat down beside me and put her head on my shoulder, smiling from ear to ear. The praise did her ego good. 

The restaurant owner got up and walked over to us. "Sir you should be proud of your wife. She's a magnificent cook. I'm serious with my offer. Please think about it." 

I said, "Yes I am proud of her, but we're not married. We both met here, refugees from bad situations back at home."

"I'm sorry to hear that, the bad situations back at home that is. Where are you from?"

Anna said, "I'm from Plano Texas." I said "I'm from a small central Pennsylvania town that nobody's ever heard of called Henley."

One of the other men spoke up and said, "I know some people in Henley. What's your name?"

"My name's Leo Baker."

"Nope, don't recognize the name. Where do you work?"

"Well up until a little while ago I worked at Bloom Enterprises. I was an accountant."

"Now that name I do know. That son-of-a-bitch Bloom cheated me and my manufacturing company out of a million dollar contract a few years back. Losing that contract set my business back quite a bit. We're only just now recovering."

"Yeah, I know the man you mean. I was married to his daughter."

The man got up from the table and came over to ours. "No shit," he said. "You're Ezekiel Bloom's son?"

"I was. I got divorced recently. Let me tell you, I'm not sorry to be out of that family."

"What happened?" The restaurant owner asked.

"In a nutshell, my wife cheated on me, I filed for divorce, and old man Bloom made sure that I came away with exactly nothing. No money, no job, no daughter, nothing. I came here to get away from everything for a while. That's where I met Anna here."

Another man got up from the large table and came over. "Did I hear someone mention Bloom Enterprises?"

"Yes, I did. I used to work there," I said.

"That name is very familiar to me. I work for the Justice Department in the racketeering section and Mr. Bloom and his company are on one of our watch lists. I can't go into specifics but the bottom line is we're investigating Bloom for violations of a dozen or more federal and state laws. I would love to talk to you in more detail about what you know sometime."

"Wow, I didn't know anything about that, but I don't doubt it one bit. Bloom owns everything in town including the judge that presided over my divorce hearings. Just before I left town one of his factories burned down and I'm the leading suspect. There's even a warrant out for my arrest and I'm positive he had something to do with it."

A fourth man got up from the table and came over to ours. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I was listening from over there and I just wanted to nose in a bit. You see it's the lawyer in me. I've just got to know things. How do you know that your ex father owns this judge? That's a pretty serious accusation."

"Well I had a video of my wife and her lover together doing, well you know, and the judge rejected it totally. He told me it didn't mean a thing and if I ever showed it to anybody, ever, I would, in his words now 'go to jail faster than you could fart'." 

"That sounds just like a certain pompous ass judge that I know in Henley. I've always suspected that he took some sly money. He screwed me and a couple of my clients too and I just wish I could prove it. Sounds like you need some help getting unscrewed. Maybe we can talk and see what's possible. I know I would like to help."

The manufacturing man said, "Absolutely, I'll do anything to give old Bloom a taste of his own medicine."

A fifth man stood up and came over. "Listen everybody; this sounds like we need some military style coordination here. I haven't seen any action since Afghanistan and would love to put the screws to some big shot to help the little fella, no offense Mr. Baker."