0 comments/  7507 views/  1 favorites

Shooting with Rick

By: EgmontGrigor2011



CHAPTER 1

The lithe and cutely breasted blonde, who fitted her jeans curvaceously, called loudly in a small bar in Central Otego in the South Island of New Zealand, "Where can a girl get some action around here?"

She was ignored by the twenty or so men in the bar because she was 

1)Female
2)American
3)Loud
4)And the guys were either married or in a relationship. The young bucks didn't arrive till after dark.

The motherly barmaid, drying a glass said, "Ducky these guys are New Zealanders and they like their women to talk quietly and be in the kitchen cooking or in bed with their legs open."

"Um I don't understand."

The barmaid pointed and said, "See that guy in the blue checked shirt with those two scruffy characters?"

"Yes."

"Go up to him politely and say, 'Rick will you take me out night-shooting?'."

"Omigod I love hunting."

The barmaid smiled, picking up yet another glass, "Then tell him that darling and offer him $300 for three nights shooting."

"Why three nights?"

"Because then he'll know you're serious."

The blonde thought for a moment.

"But how do you know that?"

"Darling, I'm his mom. Now don't waste any more time talking to me; talk to him. Remember be polite and don't be loud."

Lara Kennedy, from East Moline, 165 miles west of Chicago, Illinois, went up gingerly to the guy in blue.

"Excuse me Rick. I'm prepared to pay you one hundred a night to be in your company."

That statement went down like a lead balloon but the guys recovered.

"Fifty bucks and you can have me," said one of his companions with a bushy beard.

"No pay me $15 bucks a night that I'll refund if I find you completely satisfactory," said his pot-bellied companion.

The guy in the blue checked shirt said she had to be joking.

"I want three nights shooting varmints, that's all I asked and I'm not available for anything else."

Rick's companions lost interest and drifted off.

He asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes you are Rick."

"Jesus," he winced. "I'm a professional rabitter."

"Oh you raise rabbits for the trade?"

"No sweet lady, I shoot bunny rabbits to kill them and I'm paid to do that."

"Omigod," Maxine said, and fainted from fatigue because she'd hiked 22 miles over rough terrain that day and had overlooked taking any food.

Rick being Rick of course caught her as she fell, saving her from damaging herself. 

* * *

Lara woke up some time later, having no idea where she was.

"I smell burning. Oh no my room is on fire!"

"Oh hi," Rick drawled. "No worries. What you smell is a cabin wood fire. You are safe in my cabin."

Fully awake, Lara said uneasily, "How safe is safe?"

"Well you won't be feeling Fred's beard prickling into your tits or Jimmy's pot belly pressing against you stomach and he attempts to push his little dick into you, if that's what you mean."

"I... I... thank you for saving me."

"No worries."

"What? I need a pee."

"God, woman. I pushed you outdoors for two pees during the night. Don't you remember anything?"

"No."

"Do you know what time it is?"

"No."

"God woman, don't you know anything. It's 3:15 in the afternoon."

Lara groaned and scratched under an armpit and said it can't be. 

She was told to check her watch.

"Omigod."

Rick enjoyed that as if thinking she was just like a big kid. 

"Obviously you are not a whisky drinker Lara. You said you were when we arrived here after collecting your backpack and signing you out of your motel last night. Okay over there to that door and don't pee on to the vegetable garden."

"What?"

"We live close to nature out here lady. We don't foul the natural environment with toilets."

"Oh."

She came in cold and Rick handed her thick padded pants and a ski jacket and a 12 volt 35-watt headlamp with a motorcycle battery backpack.

"What will I use to shoot?"

"Lady you are an American tourist, but at least you are a backpacker," he said with a touch of respect. "You just accompany me, keep your mouth shut and observe."

"But I have been shooting varmints since I was four." (Liar, make that 14).

Rick looked impressed. 

"Jesus, well I'll get you a pump action Remington 870 Express 20 gauge with a 26 in. barrel from the cabinet."

"Thanks, I suppose you use the Wingmaster?"

"Yes," Rick said, looking surprised. "And I also use a German over and under I like for sports shooting."

"My dad and my brother do too. They swear by the Wingies."

Rick said right, he'd cook breakfast and hot lunch as one meal. They needed to leave an hour before sunset.

"What will you cook"?

He said curry and rice and she said that ought to be okay. Even a Bunny could cook that.

He grinned watching her walk out wearing only panties and a bra.

"Walk out in my boots," he said. "But don't pee in them."

He smiled when he heard her giggle. 

* * *

They drove out in an old black open Jeep.

"This is a Jeep isn't it?"

"Yeah my trusty CJ-7. It was my dad's and he had it rebuilt and lifted for better ground clearance and tyres replaced with 35-inches. He then gave her to me two years ago when I began thinking of becoming a night rabbiter."

"Omigod that's the legendary Jeep but it's dirty."

Rick muttered Jesus and they roared off and left the dirty track at an alarming angle and he yelled there was no need to cling on for dear life.

"I'm sitting on the wrong side for a passenger."

"Then get out and go back to America."

She gritted and said she could cope.

"Sit on your arse lightly and move your body as if riding a horse. God girl don't you know anything?"

"Asshole," Dana muttered.

Dana thought, well she had wanted adventure and perhaps this is what she was getting. Perhaps Assholes provided the best adventures?

The ground was so dry, not unlike a desert but there were sheep grazing.

"Why are we not driving on a road?"

"Because our mission is to shoot rabbits. We can drove along a road and shoot them but we won't see many. Our job is to go where they are thickest and wipe them all out, well at least most of them."

"Why?"

"Because they eat grass and other vegetation and can change this tussock and grass land into wasteland."

"How?"

"Because they chew down to the roots. Sheep and cattle chew off the tops."

"Well a little bunny is not going to each much."

Rick grinned.

"If I were to tell you 10 adult rabbits each as much as an adult ewe you wouldn't believe me, would you?"

"Well I might."

"God a blonde with brains."

She could have hit him.

"It's the proliferation of rabbits that's the problem. It's dry here in central Otago, with the land shielded from prevailing weather from the west by the Southern Alps. During mild winters the rabbit population booms."

"So you shoot them."

The landowners poison them but that's very costly.

"How horrible."

She was ignored.

"Poison called 1080, also known as sodium monofluoroacetate..."

"Spell that for me please."

"Get stuffed. The poison is dropped by aircraft and kills of 90% or even more can be achieved if everything goes right and it's up to me and other bounty hunters like me to get that kill close to 100 percent. But it's an uphill battle."

"Why?"

Rick chopped down a couple of gears to drop down into a shallow ravine and then down another cog to climb up the other side, the straight-six motor roaring healthily and they ground up the other side.

"There's a boulder, it will rip out your gearbox."

"No it's okay but only just. This vehicle was lifted during the rebuilt."

Rick asked theoretically how many babies could Lara produce in a year.

She thought, god he wants to have sex but she answered one or two in the case of twins.

He said, "In good conditions just one female rabbit can produced thirty or more babies in a year and the offspring is sexually active within three to four months."

"Omigod and therein is the problem."

"Yeah and I often manage to shoot two with one cartridges when the bastards are fucking."

Dana felt sick.

"Can't someone castrate the males?"

She had to grab the wheel as they breasted the slope because Rick was laughing so much that he was almost falling out of the doorless vehicle.

Wiping his eyes he said thanks.

"Here's a statistic for you. In 1924 New Zealand shopped seventeen million rabbit skins to Britain. Everything has been tried and the numbers have been reduced significantly over the decades but in a few parts of the South Island like here they remain a pest. In 1999 it was estimated the loss of annual livestock production on farms due to rabbits was estimated at fifty million bucks, but that did not include the significant loss of grazing land due to erosion from being denuded and pastureland that will never revert back to grass."

"Gee that puts my mind into perspective. Um why is this huge island called the South Island?"

"Because it lies directly south of the North Island."

"Oh... and so that means the North Island lies..."

"Yeah, not bad comprehension for a blonde. You know I'm surprised you had the guts to sleep in the cabin with me and to come out here alone with me."

"I took the risk and I do know your mother."

"You know my mother? But you only spoke to her for one minute in the bar yesterday afternoon?"

"I know. But I was feeling a bit homesick and she spoke to me like a mother."

In opening up like that, Lara had expected to be teased mercilessly but in fact he drove on, looking straight ahead. God he was so unpredictable.

"Oh look she screamed, a rabbit."

"Then shoot it."

"My shotgun is in the rack behind us."

"Thank goodness for that," he said. "We are not shooting on this property today. Each of my three station owners requires me to advise when I will be shooing on their land."

"Is a station an alternative word for ranch?"

"Lara you really are a discredit to blondes who value their dumb-blonde reputation. Yes and in this case they are very big ranches. This one we are crossing now is 33,350 acres and the next property where we will be shooting is 54,690 acres and the third is 68,700 acres. I have a contract with these station owners to shoot on each property six times a month for five months from late autumn which is now. They share the cost based on acreage and for my work over five months that averages four hours a night plus travel, I'll receive $32,000 gross. I have to cover my expenses."

"Wow being paid for something you love doing."

"Yeah well with a commitment to shoot a total of 18 nights a month I have flexibility to choose which nights I shoot. That allows me to miss heavy snow and strong winds. We don't get much rain up here and that's me rabbits populate so heavily in this district. Poisoning costs them somewhere between $32 to $40 an acre so you can see with me shooting for secondary clearance is damn cheap in comparison. My role is to kill the rabbits that escape being fatally poisoned and to try to keep the inevitable population increase down."

"Well here we are at a rabbit-proof fence along the boundary line between two of the properties. Open the gate please love and close it securely."

Rick stopped the vehicle and did up a loaded cartridge belt and handed one to Lara when she came up to the Jeep.

"Number 6 cartridges?"

He said yes. Fill your jacket pockets as well.

"Why how many rabbits will we shoot at."

"At least sixty."

"Omigod that's a slaughter."

He said yeah, that the only good rabbit where they were was a dead rabbit."

"Look for the eyes of the rabbit and shoot at them. You walk just off from me and shoot any rabbit you see on the left and up to the middle line between us. That will mean we won't shoot each other. If you get tired and wish to vomit because of the slaughter tell me."

Taking a deep breath, Lara said she'd be okay.

"Do we have to remove the bodies?"

"No the landowner will send the kids or one of his shepherds to count bodies tomorrow. The bigger the total of dead rabbits the happier everyone will be."

"I can see rabbits."

"Okay keep relaxed. Don't shoot till we are ready. These rabbits will be gun shy but they still like popping back up to take a look at what's happening."

Rick handed her a wool cap like his that covered down to his eyebrows and over his ear plugs. He also handed her ear plugs.

"God this will make me unattractive."

"Yeah will we can have sex when we get back. This is war."

She hesitated and said, "So you have been thinking of having sex with me?"

"Yeah, most of the time."

She thought wow and said, "Me too, especially since food took away my hangover."

"Do you like sex?" he asked.

"It's okay," said the 26-year old.

They began walking forward and Rick said, "Don't shoot people or dogs or sheep. There are supposed to be no sheep on this block but sometimes strays appear. Oh sheep are white and woolly."

"Oh thanks," she said sarcastically.

They switched on their headlamps strapped around their foreheads and looped back just above their ears.

Lara shot one rabbit to her left and another that hopped over the body and then one a bit more to the right.

"Good shooting for an intelligent great-looking butt blonde," Rick said, and fired twice and two rabbits dropped. "Get used to firing from in the range of twenty to 35-yards. Trying to shoot any more than 35-yards increases the chances of missing. It's economical to kill one rabbit for each firing, or two if we catch them fucking."

They added cartridges to their gun magazines and walked on. The rabbits had disappeared.

"Why don't you say having sex is only all right?" he whispered. 

She was astounded he was on about that rather than talking about the task in hand.

"Where are the rabbits?"

"Busy outsmarting us by laying low. So we just stop and wait.

"I seem to have trouble finding excellent lovers."

He ignored that, saying, "Bugs and Jenny Bunny are having sex just to you far left.

His spotlight caught them and she said she couldn't and he said shoot them.

She shot them and both fell.

"Omigod, it seems so cruel. I should have waited till Bugs finished."

"Yeah and he would have been so grateful you silly twit."

She had to laugh. He was so cruel and yet could make fun out of it.

"Shooting them fully of lead is a more humane way of exterminating them than poisoning them."

"Oh yes, I hadn't thought of that. Well that was probably a potential litter of whatever number eliminated before they could eat a blade of grass. Someone had to do it; it may as well be her. This was so different. Normally she'd only shot game to eat.

After ninety-minutes, Rick said to Lana, "How many?"

"Twenty-nine."

"Good girl. We'll keep you on. Thirty-six for me so we'll end up with a big number tonight. Here point your barrel down and take this."

"A candy bar, not thanks. That rubbish makes people fat."

"The night cold will sap your energy and therefore your concentration which means you'll begin to miss targets."

"Oh yeah, right. Give me two."

"Now you go back slowly to the Jeep, shooting as you go but for fuck sake don't shoot the Jeep. You won't see so many but the ones you do shoot will be really worthwhile because in all probability they are the crafty ones."

"I have no idea where the Jeep is."

"Well we are in open country and the land generally slopes down to the Jeep that is parked on a big of a rise and I left the parking lights on. If you do too far to the left you'll come to the rabbit-proof fence. If you miss the Jeep and can determine you are still going down the slope you'll come to the lower boundary rabbit proof fence. So walk to the left..."

"And walk back along the second fence and I'll come to a gate and will see the tail lights of the Jeep."

"Yeah, very good Blondie."

"And if I lose direction what then?"

"You'll probably fall into a ravine and die. If you screw up and come back uphill..."

"Oh god, you'll shoot me."

"Only if you have rabbits eyes at the height of rabbits eyes darling."

"I want to stay with you."

Rick chuckled. "No you were looking for adventure and this is it. Just do it. Your target is to shoot and kill twelve rabbits on the way back and for you to find the Jeep before you find either of the two fences... er or a ravine. Do you accept the challenge?"

"Yes. God just you wait till I get you to cross a street in Chicago during rush hour."

"Baby there is no way you'd ever get me into a city in American with more than 2000 people. Two thousand Americans are all I would be capable of coping with."

Lara shook her head and used a Kiwi (New Zealand) uncouth expression: "Cheeky shit."

He laughed and she began her return telling herself not to panic. Rick reckoned she was intelligent so she must do it intelligently. If she became lost she could sleep among the dead rabbits and he'd find her after dawn.

Yeah.

"Rick Chambers you asshole," she spat.

Lara shot fifteen rabbits on the way back and it would have been sixteen had the last one she spotted in her lamp been not been eating beside the front tyre of the Jeep. She'd seen the lights before she saw the rabbit and was only ho-hum about finding the Jeep. She'd kept a lookout and whenever she saw a dead rabbit she knew she was on the right route.

She settled into her seat and wished he'd given her the keys and she could have listened to music.

She heard two shotgun blasts reasonably close so guessed Rick must be on the way back, that is if he managed to find the Jeep. She had a sudden thought and found the keys in the ignition. Yeah will who'd steal a vehicle parked a zillion miles from nowhere. This babe was a survivor and already knew her way around this foreign land.

She was surprised to find the music matched her taste. Asshole was old, at least thirty. 

Suddenly his light blinded her and she jumped almost a foot into the air.

"Jesus you asshole."

"Sorry. How many?"

"Fifteen kills, only two misses."

"Good girl."

She told him about spotting the sixteenth rabbit but the front wheel and that she didn't shoot at it but Asshole crouched down obviously looking for pellets embedded in the tyre."

"Oh here's bunny poo. So you weren't lying."

She could have strangled the jerk.

He walked to the back of the jeep laughing, having heard her whispered abusive language. He arrived back with two cans of beer and a pack of chicken sandwiches that had thawed.

"I don't drink beer or anything but natural fruit juice and red wine."

"Professional hunters finish the shoot by drinking beer."

She cracked open a can and took a big gulp, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and said with her fake New Zealand accent, "Not a bad drop."

"Yeah. You know baby our tally for tonight is amazing, ninety-three."

"Oh good but you must have suspected that. We are not fucking amateurs."

She couldn't really catch his expressed but he had been left speechless and his eyes practically popped.

Rick took another route uphill on the first station and after half a mile turned to the right inside an internal fence line to exit on to a dirt road and they returned to the cabin fairly quickly.

"Um Rick would you mind if we went without sex tonight? I need a bath to be at my best and..."

"We'll go into town and take a room in the motel where you were staying. It's owned by our family trust as is the bar where we met and we also operate the best restaurant in town but that's closed now, it's 11:30. I'll get the motel night manager to do us bacon and eggs with toast, is that okay?"

"Yes but no bread for me."

"Right and I don't want you getting fat either. We'll stay at the motel and spend all day, or most of the day in bed and next day we'll go into the foothills after wild deer. Mom has asked me to get venison for the restaurant and a wild goat if we can."


Shooting with Rick



"All day?"

"Oh sorry I thought you wanted to have sex?"

"But all day?"

"Well I like to sleep after sex and then wake and... well you know how it goes."

"I-I'm not sure that I do."

She certainly was not confident about the situation. Also she knew virtually nothing about Rick. God what a mess she was in.

Rick had left her in the lounge. He went off to arrange food and to 'grab a drink'.

Lara decided the best thing to do was to get out of there.

The went to the office but no one was there so she wrote a note using motel stationery addressed to Rick saying it had become all too much for her and she was leaving and he should not expect to see her again.

Out in the parking area a woman, just driving off, stopped and said, "Hi may I drop you somewhere?"

"Yes Rick's cabin. I have been staying there."

"Jump in," said the woman and smiled. "Rick is a real randy bastard isn't he?"

Lara though she knew what that meant and said, "Yes too much horsepower for me.

The woman laughed and their introduced themselves. Janet was the evening manager and had just been relieved by the late night manager who would work through to 8:00."

"Danny arrived early and told me to hop it," Janet said.

"I just want to collect my things and get out of here," Lara said and the older woman said there was nowhere else to go at this time of night.

"I'll just walk."

"Look I can't let you do that, not at night. I'm going through to Queenstown to stay with my parents because I have the next two days off work. Stay the night with us and you can decide what you wish to do tomorrow."

Lara accepted that offer gratefully. She still had two months of her visitor's visa to run and could apply for a further six-month extension. 

She had a great time skiing with Janet by day and eating out with Janet and her parents during the next two days. Then Janet returned to work, saying her parents would take Lara to the airport in the morning. Lara gave Janet her address and mobile phone number and invited her to stay with her if she ever came to America.

Lara then spent the next month touring the North Island and then left for Chicago.

She'd been home for two weeks when Janet called.

"Rick was talking to my mom in Queenstown and she mentioned you had stayed with us. Now he's pestering me for your contact details. What should I do?"

"Give him what he wants and tell him it could be very much a waste of time because the next time I leave America it will be to visit France."

"Is that being friendly?"

"Janet that night I had to get out of your motel was when he said we would have sex that night and continue to plow in the trough all next day, or words to that effect."

"Oh that would have been amazing."

"Janet, I'm only twenty-six and don't intend to be sexually worn out by the time I'm forty. I only met him for the first time the previous night and next afternoon we went out on a night shoot. We never had sex and I'm well over any feeling I had for him. He appeared very acceptable to me until he came up with that idea of a sex marathon. I wasn't asked for my thoughts on that."

"Well I'll tell him that's why you left. He thought it was because you were having a period."

"Omigod," spluttered Lara and the two women laughed hugely.

Rick called her.

"Hi."

Lara slapped her hand over her forehead and experienced palpitations and knew she'd been kidding herself. She had not gotten over Rick. Not by a long way.

"Is that you Rick?"

"Yeah I didn't think you'd recognize my voice."

"I can. No other person in my life has given me such a big adventure as you did. I often think of being with you that night."

"Me too."

"What think of being with yourself that night?"

He laughed and they were away, no tension between them, talking freely.

"When are you coming to visit me?"

"Dunno but I'm preparing to apply for a Green Card. I've made contact with a rancher who is interested in sponsoring me. He's already having lodges built with the intention of turning his property into a hunting property for deer, elk, Red Stag."

"But that won't be near here. What if I get dad to sponsor you? He runs a business supplying gun clubs, hunting stores and hunting ranches throughout the state, sometimes guns and bows but mainly things for ground blinds and tree stands, ammunition and knifes."

"Yeah thanks for the suggestion. Give me his email address and I'll find if I can get something going." said the 29-year-old.

Lara returned to the dinner table and told her parents and 22-year old brother, "That was the New Zealand guy who took me on that amazing rabbit massacre."

"God I wish you wouldn't talk like that Lara," said Lindsey, her mom. "Sometimes when you three get going I feel I'm connected to the wrong family."

She was ignored.

"It thought you were off him, calling him over-sexed?" said Larry.

"Lara?" said her mom who'd not heard mention about that.

"Oh it was nothing mom. I was dead on my feet after two grueling days and he was after sex and I walked away instead of trying to explain. That's all."

Lara's father Fraser said, "Now don't decry him Lindsey. Red-blooded guys who go hunting are not your average suburban male pea-brain."

"I was thinking no such thing. He was kind to Lara to give her adventure when she asked for action. He obviously has a kind side to him because he didn't take money from her for taking on the big shoot."

"Yeah and we know what he was after," muttered Larry who was ignored by his parents and kicked under the table by Lara who glared at him.

"Dad he's applying for a temporary work visa for three months and needs a sponsor. He's really big into hunting and could be a field salesman for you. Many of your clients would recognize his accent is not American and then would enquire about hunting in New Zealand. He could be a winner. He will email you a CV."

"What does he work at when he's not wiping out New Zealand's rabbit population?"

"I have no idea. I'm not the sticky beak of this family."

Lindsey glared at her daughter.



CHAPTER 2

Four months later Lindsey was serving up dinner when she saw a guy get out of a cab on the side of the road opposite and pull out two bags from the trunk and then stare up at the house.

"Are any of you expected anyone for dinner," she called.

The replies were negative.

"There's a guy across the street sizing up our house.

Lara and Larry came out to look.

"Omigod," screamed Lara, and was off out of the house like a scalded cat.

Her mother and brother watched her race down the driveway and the guy left his bags where they were and rushed towards her.

They slammed into each other at the gate and kissed passionately.

"The New Zealander has arrived," Larry called to his father.

"He's a week early."

"Perhaps they don't have calendars in New Zealand?" Larry suggested.

Lindsey sighed and said, "If Lara is not interested in this guy why is she going over the top like this?"

Larry grinned and told him mom she would know what women were like. They never really knew what they wanted.

"You are spending too much time with your father listening to his drivel," Lindsey snapped and knowing she'd been wound up.

"Mom this is Rick Chambers from Central Otago."

Lindsey eyed the curly-haired blond guy who stood more than six feet and was grinning at her.

"You have a lovely neck Mrs Kennedy."

"Oh do I?" she said, touching her neck while he slipped a hand into his back pocket.

"Here let me put this around your neck," he said.

"Oh mom, it's a jade dropper made out of New Zealand Greenstone."

Mrs Kennedy pulled it up and out to look at the polished stone on a gold chain and said rather awed, it was lovely.

"Please call me Lindsey. It is so lovely to meet you. You made a profound impression on Lara considering you only knew her for 30 hours."

"Mom."

"Hi you must be Lara's dad," Rick said, holding his hand out to be shaken and Larry looked at Rick dumbly.

Rick laughed and said could Larry bring in his two bags outside the front door.

Grinning, Larry held out his hand and they shook and he said, "You'll do well here, American babes like genuine male humor. He grinned at his sister who was glaring at him.

"I'm Lara brother," grinned Fraser and that made Lara snort.

"Hi Fraser, we meet at last and this is my opportunity to really thank you for sponsoring me."

"Well young man, just don't let me down. My business reputation means everything to me."

Fraser spoke with a hardness that didn't surprise Rick. Well Fraser ran a hunting and fishing agency that specialized in guns in particular.

He toughened up.

"You give me the support and resources I need and you won't be disappointed."

Fraser started at Rick.

"It you are going to talk tough like that with me and the people we do business with you better be prepared to stand strong."

"Come on boys, this is playtime," Lindsey said. "Get the drinks please Larry."

"What will you have Rick?"

"Coors Lite if you have it. Here catch.

Larry caught the outer vest with pockets favored by hunters.

"Gee thanks."

"It's made of a blend of fine Merino wool and New Zealand opossum with suede leather lined and leather flapped pockets, weather resistant with a lamb's wool collar."

"Holy smoke Rick, mom take a look at this baby."

"I haven't forgotten you Fraser," Rick said.

He handed Fraser a package. 

Fraser unwrapped the box and sighed, "Oh glory be, Highland Park 18-year old single malt Scotch Whisky. I remember my late father opening a bottle of Highland Park to celebrate his 60th birthday."

He sniffed and slapped Rick on the bank and thanked him.

They were seated having a drink when Rick said, "Oh Lara I was waiting for you to ask where is my present? It's over here in my shirt pocket.

Lara eagerly fished out a pair of exquisitely shaped drop earrings of carved shark bone set in silver wrapped in tissue and cried, "Omigod", and kissed Rick.

When the two women were in the kitchen, Lara demanded, "Well?"

"Oooh I want him Lara."

Lara's mouth opened and stayed open in shock before she managed, "Mom!"

"Well don't ask if you don't with me to answer. He'd every girl's dream darling expect that he won't be educated."

"Mom I've never heard you express an interest in another man."

"Well darling, considering the types you father brings home do you blame me for that?"

They laughed and hugged.

"You teach 10-year old kids darling. You should take him to your school and talk to the kids about New Zealand."

"They won't know where it is or understand his accent."

"His accent is not too bad and he'll tell them were New Zealand is."

"Well I'll ask Miss Knox what she thinks. She's big on international relations."

"Do you wish to sleep with him?" asked her mother. "You could have the main guest room."

"No I never have sex with a guy until I really get to know him. Also it could be a bad influence on Larry. You sleep with him."

"Darling please don't say things like that. Your father is more than enough for me."

Lara awoke in the morning to find her mom in the kitchen alone.

"Where is everyone?"

"I'm here and your father and brother have taken our guest out to shoot a deer."

"Oh god, it's too late to warn Rick they will set him up with an impossible shot and then tease him he's no good."

"Darling your man doesn't look stupid to me."

"He's not my man."

"Then why has he come to America."

Lara's face turned brick red and she turned hastily to the coffee pot and said "Coffee top up" and her grinning mother said thank you dear but pour yours first while you recover from your shock."

"He'd here to learn about hunting in Illinois."

"Yes and that too dear. Do you think he'll want to take you back to New Zealand?"

"Mom stop it. Your rampant thinking is unnerving me."

"He's come here to hunt you down and don't expect him to give up on you darling."

"Oh god mom. None of this is what I had in mind."

"I know darling. Your gran wanted me to marry a preacher but I wasn't sure about their personal attitude about having sex and so I chased after your father."

"God I didn't know that. Are you over-sexed mom?"

"Pass me the dish detergent and open your mouth darling."

Lara almost had hysterics and her mom wasn't far behind her.

The men returned late-morning with a hind.

When Larry came into the kitchen his mom said, "Who shot it?"

He scratched his neck and said in awe, "Rick. Dad stalked one and then I had a go and then dad said for Rick to have a go. As you know with shoguns we have to get not more than fifty yards from the target to make sure of a clean kill. Rick asked could he take dad's Benelli Super Black Eagle 2 with its rifled barrel to take a two and three-quarter inch Sabot slug. The problem was the breeze sweeping down into the valley alerting the deer we were there. We saw the hind walk across a clearing and when almost reaching the woods and it turned to look back. there was a bang, it fell."

Dad saw Rick emerge and using his range finder said Rick must have been eighty yards from the deer, When he arrived back with the hind we saw he'd placed the perfect shot, just above the heart, the heavy slug blasting into the epicenter of the circulatory system." 

"Oh and another thing. Rick began leading the way back to where the truck was parked. I was carrying the carcass and dad turned to me and grinned thinking it would not be long before Rick confessed he was lost because we were three miles away from our vehicle. But Ricked homed into that vehicle as if he was using GPS. He told us he'd 'read' the trees, the crossing of the two creeks and nature of the terrain on the way in. We had to believe him because at the time he looked very much at home in this terrain that he'd never seen before. It was raining and footing became even more slippery and he asked me if he could pack the deer for me and I had to say no thanks because dad was with us and I didn't want to disappoint him. Then as the mist closed in Rick began whistling. Jesus, the guy was having a ball."

Lara said, "Well I had indicated what he was like when out hunting."

"Yeah will dad was so impressed he told me he's thinking of working in Rick to gain sufficient experience to take VIP clients hunting. I was thinking by the questions Rick was asking as we walked out that Rick was already one jump ahead of dad's thinking." 

Lindsey asked, "Rick may have a struggle with clients when he makes calls and opens his mouth with that accent,"

"Perhaps he won't mom. Once he gets talking about guns, ammo and hunting gear he should be okay because how much the salesman knows about hunting and equipment is more important than what part of the world he hails from."

Lara said a couple of days later at dinner she'd been invited to stay with a girlfriend at her cabin the following weekend.

"Would you like to accompany me Rick?"

"Sounds great."

"Can I come too?"

"Yes Larry providing you promise not to fool around with Beth and make any reference to her being overweight."

"Overweight? Um on second thoughts I stay he and help Johnny put back his motor-cycle motor he stripped down last weekend."

Lindsey stared at Lara who blushed but Lindsey apparently decided not to embarrass her daughter after outwitting Larry.

Lara let Rick drive her mother's F150 to get him used to driving as New Zealanders drove on the left-hand side of highways.

They called at a small town to buy supplies and when arriving at the cabin found it deserted.

"Where's your friend?"

"At home with her husband. They've given us use of their cabin for the weekend."

"You mean...?" 

He stopped what he was about to say.

"Yes it's about time you and I had sex and got to know each other better."

"Sex is a good conduit to allow that."

"Yes and that was my thinking. Mom told me you have a master's degree in environmental studies."

"Yes."

"You didn't tell me that Rick."

"You didn't ask."

Lara sighed and said well she was getting to know Rick better already.

Rick pulled off Lara's jeans and panties.

"Um it's customary to remove a girl's top and bra first."

"Is it? I was eager to get a look at your cunt."

"Oh god," Lara wheezed and lay back on the sofa in surrender.

Rick blew on her neatly clipped pussy and Lara appeared to almost climax.

"Er Rick?"

"Sorry, a bit sensitive eh? Well let me get at these tits."

Lara thought although Rick was very accomplished outdoors, he had a lot of learning to do with bedroom technique when alone with a lady. Er a woman. Er a hot woman," she corrected and corrected again and she grabbed his hair and used her free hand to try to jam a breast down his throat. Jeepers, he had her motor humming already.

Later she said, er Rick, please use a condom before you enter.

"Why don't you like raw dick?"

"I-I d-don't know where you've been," she stammered.

"Well not with your mom although she looked interested and actually there has been no one for about two weeks. It's been a bit of a drought with getting ready to travel and all that."

God was he trying to wind her up, talking about her mother like that, Lara thought.

He said he was without condoms and asked if she was packing any?

She said no.

He said right then, no sex.

"What?" she said, aghast, although nothing was wrong with her hearing. "Give me a minute. Perhaps I can find my emergency supply."

Rick grinned, knowing he was with a woman who had no intention of missing out.

He accepted the packet and said, "How many do you have?"

She blushed and said six.

"Well you must have been expecting a lot of emergencies?"

"Rick," she rasped and he grinned and said he was teasing. 

Lara was already breathing heavily, probably from tension in dealing with him mixed with suppressed desire, as he rolled on the condom. She lay on her back and held her legs open wide, the moist and pink pussy interior twinkling at him in the brightness of the sole overhead light.

"Push it in," she murmured, and he lined up.

He thrust it in and she gasped and then cried "Omigod" and released over his dick.

"Are we finished already?" he frowned and watched her lips peel back and she snarled, "No of course not your idiot. You got me off early because you've had me on a roller-coaster. I can come all night if necessary."

"Right," he said. "Let's test out that claim."

Lara turned white and she whimpered.

"It's okay, only joking."

She eyed him balefully but he soon settled into a deep stroking rhythm and a big smile covered her face as she breathed through her open mouth, her nostrils flaring.

"Oh god you're good," she said after five minutes and came for the second time.

He'd watched her eyes roll up and he slowed the pace but she took a deep breath and said, "No-no, don't stop. This is heavenly."

When she looked half asleep and he was tiring and he then climaxed, Rick pulled out, ripped off the condom and spread thick white goo over her belly.

"You pig."

What?

He scooped up some of the semen and rubbed it into her tits.

She smiled and said that was better and promptly went to sleep.

Lara came into the bedroom an hour or two later and shook him awake.

"You pig, you left me on the sofa."

"You looked so peaceful I decided not to disturb you and covered you with a fresh sheet."

As she got into bed she yawned and said, "Oh you got the sheet. I wondered how it got there."

Eh? 

Rick went to clarify that but could tell by her steady breathing she was already asleep. Well he now knew how to shut up Lara if she became too talkative: just fuck her.  

In the morning he grabbed a towel and followed the downward sloping terrain behind the cabin for half a mile expecting to find a pond instead and found a quite big lake with the shoreline mostly fringed by woods.




Shooting with Rick



He stripped off his polo shirt and shorts at a small clearing and jumped in and half-froze, estimating the water temp would be not much over 50ºF with the start to the summer a month away.

More than refreshed, he climbed up the bank and a middle-aged woman in a track suit and Labrador on a leash ran past, said good morning as she approached and then looking at his penis said, "I'll get that warmed up before it drops off."

Rick cringed and thought the American's would sure to have laws opposed to public nudity. He looked for his marker tree and finding it disappeared into the woods and headed up to the cabin thinking the sheriff and his deputies would need tracker dogs to find him now.

Lara was up, wearing only bra and panties, cooking bacon and eggs. She looked at his wet hair and said, "Where did you wash, I didn't hear you in the bathroom?"

"In a lake behind the cabin."

"Omigod, the lake. You swam in the lake?"

"Well it was little more than a quick dip."

"Beth said that's a restricted breeding area, with no dogs or cats allowed and swimming and other activities on the lake are prohibited."

"Well Beth didn't tell me that."

"You've never met Beth."

"Yeah well there's your answer. It was your responsibility to brief me."

The stainless steel spatula in Lara's hand waved threateningly until she sighed and said, "I guess I should have said something to you."

"Thank you. There was a woman running a dog around the lake edge."

"Omigod, although we are very remote here, two wildlife criminals in one morning will be playing havoc with local crime offender statistics."

Rick, being an honorary wildlife (excluding rabbits and stoats) back home, didn't consider that as being funny.

"Well I guess we'll have to report that woman."

"If you do that then you'll have to report me."

"I guess so. Fetch me phone please."

Aghast and thinking he could be deported over this, Rick began walking to the bedroom, only to be called back.

"Come back you fool and eat your breakfast. You are not the only one who can tease."

She squealed as he leaped at her and squeezed her tits with both hands and bit into her neck, but not being overly rough with those exhibitions of affection and attempts to display domination.

"Okay," she said panting. "If you hurry we can have sex before eating."

"No," he said releasing her and sitting. "Let's eat and then allow me to ball you leisurely."

That did nothing to subside Lara's heavy breathing.

At 1:00 after a morning wallowing in sex they hit the cycle track that became a snow-ski track in winter, on the two mountain bikes stored in the lean-to at the back of the cabin and headed to the store three miles away that also served simple meals.

The woman behind the counter, who'd delivered her message about Rick's dick early that morning, recognized him and winked and said, "Oh good morning, strangers to our lovely area."

"Yes," Lara said. "I'm Lara and this is Rick. We have the use of Beth and Jerry Mason's cabin for the weekend."

"Hi I'm Helene and Harry my husband is one of the park rangers."

Rick had to grin thinking the park ranger's wife was breaking park management regulations. She was now staring at his chest and he thought she might also be ambivalent about her marital vows as well. 

"We are here for lunch," he said.

"Well it's out of season so the choice is sandwiches, omelets or lake fish and fries."

They chose the fish, thinking they would have been taken illegally from the lake.

Helene must have read their minds because she offered, "The rangers have a fish trap at the headwaters of the lake to prevent aggressive fish from entering the lake to upset the balance of the lake fishery."

"Oh," said Rick.

"And I run the 7-mile perimeter of the lake each morning with our dog Boris who is an honorary park ranger and is trained to take after feral cats and kill them."

"Oh," said Rick.

"And I'm also an honorary park ranger but won't be reporting you for swimming in the lake, well not this time. Please don't do it again."

"No ma'am."

"Thank you and there's no need to grovel."

Lara smiled and said, "Please lunch with us Helene."

They returned that evening to dine with Helene and Harry at their park ranger's house.

Harry was Helene's age, about forty, and very friendly because part of his job was to interface educationally with the public and they were really keen to be meeting someone from New Zealand.

"That's where I met him, in the southern part of the South Island, and he took me out rabbit shooting and between us we shot ninety-three rabbits."

Their hosts looked disbelievingly.

Lara said, "Rick was working at a professional vermin control officer. The dry sub-alpine ranching area has a huge and almost out of control rabbit infestation. Aerial poison drops are expensive and rabbits build up immunity to poisons or shooters go in to clean out pockets not receiving air-drops. Um Rick has a degree in environmental protection, don't you."

"Yes and it's a case of me doing something worthwhile. Given enough rope rabbits will damage the environment so badly they can eventually starve to death but by then the native grasses and improved pasturelands can be wiped out and weeds take over."

"God I've read about that but wondered if the claims were exaggerated," Harry said. "So what do you think about our neck of the woods."

Rick's response amazed Lara.

"I've only been for a walk down to the lake and so haven't really had time to note much around here. But I went out shooting with Lara's father and brother to the south-west of here to get a White-Tail for the table. It was an amazing three hours in the bush, er I mean the woods for me. I saw wildlife I'd only read about or seen in film before, including chipmunks, woodchucks, a red fox, eastern wild turkey and two types of woodpecker. The trees new to me were hickory, black walnut, bottonwood, bur oaks, post oaks, Ohio buckeye and swamp white oak, but I say other oaks, ash and maple in particular I was unable to identify. It was awesome."

"Well what say I take you guys on an educational tour of our park in the morning? Helene said you came to the store on bikes. There are largely cycle-friendly bike trails all through the park."

"Oh but tomorrow is Sunday Harry. It's probably your day off," Lara said.

"Helene and I will ride out with you guys with pleasure and one day when Lara and I visit the South Island of New Zealand Rick will do something similar for us. I'd really like to get up into that alpine country and sight trophy Tahr (Thar), chamois and the enormous antlered red stag you guys have down there."

"That was a memorable weekend, one that I'll never forget," Lara said when they arrived home next evening. "I've asked my principal could you come and address my class about wildlife and she said yes but I think you should come and address the entire school. You already know more about wildlife in Illinois than I do."

"Yeah okay but the kids and teachers might be disappointed."

During the next week Rick went cold-calling on clients with a regular hunting equipment salesman Mike Rigg who then said to Fraser, "He's more than ready to be given his own territory. My clients can't get enough of him and he's absorbed everything I've briefed him on. I suggest you went him off to south of Springfield where our sales have been knocked back by competitors."

"Oh come on Mike, that would be too tough."

"Fraser, believe me. This guy will bring home a full order book, guaranteed."

"Well I don't know..."

"Give him any other territory and he'd be encroaching into the business areas of your established salesmen, including me and Springfield is the southern boundary of my territory."

Fraser considered where to place Rick and they agreed his territory should cover the full width of the state immediately south of Springfield to Interstate 72 that enters Illinois at the Mark Twain Memorial bridge over the Mississippi River and continues 182 miles to the outskirts of Champaign, about 40 miles on Interstate 74 to the Indiana state line.

Rick was given a GMC Savana cargo van when one became free. It was loaded with samples and he went off for five days and would return to base in East Moline on Friday afternoon. He was given a company credit card and Fraser suggested he station himself in the city of Decatur at reasonably priced accommodation.

When checking in, Rick asked the attractive receptionist in her early thirties could she recommend a good restaurant and she smiled and said that information was in the guest information folder in his room.

"Are you Australian?"

He smiled and said close but no, he was a New Zealander.

"Oh I've never met a New Zealander before."

"Well we are like Australians but nicer."

"That's what my dad says about us Americans compared to Canadians."

"Yeah, it's all bullshit isn't it?"

She laughed and he read her name tag and asked, "What time do you get off Dinah?"

"At 6:00 but I'm married."

"Oh pardon me. Please don't take offense."

She looked at Rick and said her husband was out-of-town at the moment, perhaps she could have a few drinks and then eat with him.

"Great but I'll come through here at 6:10 and if I don't see you I'll know you've had second thoughts."

She finished registering him but didn't reply to that comment.

When they left the restaurant, Rick asked, "Do you wish me to put you into a cab or will you come to my room?"

"I've been thinking about sex with you," she said frankly. "I do insist on condoms."

"No problem," he said taking her arm. "I keep thinking about your breasts."

"Oh a titman," she giggled and that told Rick they were on a similar wavelength.

She entered the hotel ahead of him and he followed and found her waiting at his door looking very excited.

Dinah left his room at 7:00 next morning to go home and change before returning to her job.

"I should have married you," she said kissing him. "You have a big cock and know how to use it. However my husband makes up for having a small one and tiring early by being a big income earner."

"Well limit his booze, keep him away from other women and work on his diet and fitness and try to get him to get more sleep."

"What will that do?"

"Possibly turn him into a rutting husband."

"Oooh," she said.

They following the same pattern for the next three nights and then he was to head home.

At 8:00 on that second morning in town Rick phoned through orders and client details that Sally back at the depot entered directly into the computer and she said, "Omigod those orders total $23,000."

Rick thought he surprise signaled disappointment so said, "I lost three and a half hours through drive-time getting here yesterday. Today I shall do better working a full day although I'll be driving larger distances between gun shops as I'll move out of the city today."

Sally emailed the sales report to the boss and knew that Fraser Kennedy would beam in delight that his new guy had done so well.

On his final call before heading back to Decatur and Dinah whom Rick have found sweated rather a lot when engaging into sex energetically, the sales assistant said, "Sorry but we no longer deal with your guys."

"Well I'd still like to see the owner."

"You'll find Kevin out the back attempting to teach his latest girlfriend how to pull a bow."

Rick saw the guy looking ready to blow a fuse and went over and say, ""Hi Kevin, I'm Rick from Kennedy Hunting and Camping Supplies."

"Can't you see I'm busy and anyways we no longer deal with you guys."

"Okay I'm off. Oh ma'am will you allow me to inspect that bow?"

Rick was going to check the pull weight but noticed something.

"Are you strong?"

"For a woman yes," she said frowning.

"Are you dumb?"

She glared and the Kevin said, "Now look here Rick..."

Rick ignored him and said to the woman, "Why are you trying to pull the bow right-handed when you are left-handed?"

"Because when I went to change my position Roy said to stop fooling around and to follow his instructions."

Kevin clapped a hand on his forehead. "Oh Jesus Cathy, I know you are left-handed. I'm so sorry."

Rick jumped in and grabbed a bow for left handed people from the rack with a draw-weight suitable for a muscular female of 5 ft. 10 in. He stepped in behind Cathy and got her set up properly and told her to draw the compound bow back.

She pulled the string with a draw-weight of 45 to 55 lbs. easily and Kevin said aim at the target and release smoothly."

The arrow dug into the side of the archery foam target and Cathy reacted rather excitedly."

"Go grab a coffee Rick," Kevin said. "I'll be with you in a few minutes."

Rick had worked in sports stores since he was seventeen during school breaks and continued doing that when at university and had been an active gun and archery club member since he turned fourteen.

A few minutes later Kevin appeared and said, "I've left one very happy lady still firing arrows. Thanks for your assistance. Now let's see these great deals."

Rick booted up his laptop and Kevin said beside him with coffee and he ended up signing off a $7330 order and that wasn't too bad because it was a fairly small business but he'd struggled to get orders with his other calls."

"Come early in the day when you next call, giving me 24-hour notice, and I'll take you out bow hunting Whitetails," Kevin promised. 

Disappointed he'd been unable to exceed his first day's success and with orders on the days since then being $3210. $4178 and today's effort probably being under $11,500, Rick knew he'd struggle to make a good living doing this as a commission salesperson.

Rick thought what he'd really like to do would be to stop working, buy an old pickup and tour America seeing the sights, fucking waitresses and having adventures.

The hotel receptionist Dinah called to say her husband was arriving home that evening a day early.

"I'm sorry about that. That means our plan for anal sex is off. I was looking forward to seeing if I could accommodate you up there."

"Well we'll never know," he said almost disinterestedly. "And I won't see you in the morning because I'm heading off to do the southwest area belong Springfield before heading home."

"Then I won't see you again."

"Nope."

"Then goodbye," she said and cut the call.

Two ships that passed in the night, he yawned. Sex was nothing without mutual warmth and respect. He'd been interested in Dinah for company and to fill her pussy and she probably took him on for company and to have her pussy given a good workout. 

Jeepers, how pathetic.

He set off for Decatur and thought his problem was he had no anchor, no position of responsibility. He'd gained a degree in ecological science from Canterbury University and wasn't using it as intended. But at least he'd gained an advanced education and that was something.

Oddly enough, Lara appeared to lack an anchor as well. He'd called her each even when Dinah was sleeping after their first round of sex... god how insensitive can you get! And she was bored at school and was missing him and then she ended the call the previously night saying, "I want you home darling."

Darling?

Jesus was she crazy, attempting to bond to an empty vessel like him, a guy going nowhere.

Rick began overtaking a slower vehicle and looked across and saw the driver of the pickup was a reasonable looking blond in overalls. The van's passenger window of darkened-glass was down and so the woman could see him. She smiled and pouted a kiss at him. Instead of slowing he accelerated slightly. God that was interesting. Did it mean he was no longer interested in women with hot pussies? That being so was his life about over, with nothing left but to vegetate into an ageing moron?

Nah it wasn't that, at least not yet. He was snarky and temporarily off females because he'd been dumped. He was pretty sure Dinah's husband wasn't arrived home a day early, that she'd lied because she was tired of him and had probably decided to have a girl's night out. Yeah. Fucking women, they were almost as bad as guys.

The negative bout of personal reflection and plunging self-confidence had abated by the time Rick arrived at the hotel. He thought he might order a meal through room service and watch an in-house adult movie and probably whack off if he became aroused. He saw a woman reading a magazine who looked vaguely familiar.

Was it Lara?

She looked up, saw him and waved, a huge smile spilling off her face.

Rick dropped his laptop and business bag on to a seat and raced over. She was coming toward him and they collided and he spun them slightly to cushion the impact and got his tongue almost down her throat.

"Oh god," she spluttered and laughed, pulling back. "A guy who goes without sex can be dangerous."

Rick led her to retrieve his laptop and bag and was comforted that Lara believed he'd gone without sex because she was his girl. What a babe?

Um hadn't he come 7000 miles from New Zealand to be with her?

Oh yeah.

Rick booked another person into his room and they went to the elevator hand-in-hand, Lara saying her dad had suggested she come down and spend time with Rick before he returned to base tomorrow afternoon.

"I pretended I was coming down sick and the school principal sent me home saying my symptoms were possibly contagious."

"You deceitful, disloyal employee."

"Yes and does that make me more attractive to you, knowing I'm not altogether Miss Goodie."

"Oh yes?" he said and grabbed a handful of her butt and heard her gasp lustily.

On the bed they went at it in a sixty-nine and for the first time Lara held him in her mouth as his dick pumped out semen. It made Rick even more aware that Lara was working hard to bring them closer together and he decided to be sweeter and softer with her.

As they approach East Moline next day she said, "I've had a wonderful twenty-four hours with you."

"Oh then it exceeded your expectations?"

"Well please don't be offended when I say you were so soft with me, softer than you've ever been and I just loved it. I've rented a small house and invite you to move in with me. I couldn't stand the thought of having to go about secretly every time we want to have sex, not with mom and dad being in the house."

"Oh I felt so comfortable there."

Lara looked horrified.

"Perhaps we could suggest they move to the small house?"

She laughed happily and said he was such an idiot and she cuddled him and soon they were banging again.

The rented property was only 400 yards from the Kennedys' home and they went their first.

"I know the couple as I used to do gardening for them in the high school breaks when I worked in community jobs to earn community service credits that went to my school marks. They have gone to Ottawa for three months to be with their daughter and her family. Mrs Gorski said we can even use the linen."      

"It looks great. Um may we sleep here tonight?"

"Why are you exhausted?"

The way he looked at her made Lara flush and giggle.

"God don't you ever get enough?"

Lindsey and Fraser greeted Rick as if he was a returning son, and that pleased him. Well they always had been hospitable folk.

"So you will be living near us?" Lindsey said, handing Rick a beer.

"Yes we popped in to have a gander on the way here."

"I guess that means you have visited the house already?"

"Yes and it's very nice but I'll miss being here."

"Oh Rick," Lindsey said, stroking his arm.

"Did you two try the bed?"

Fraser's comment was ignored by Rick, Lara and her mom.

He made amends when he said after adding in Ricks' orders secured that day, "You did heaps better for the week than our previous best rookie salesman."

"Thanks boss."




Shooting with Rick



Lara called their rented place 'The House' so late that Friday night when she came out of the shower at 'The House' dripping wet, Rick entered the bathroom, grabbed her and they had groping sex on a towel on the floor like two over-sexed teenagers.

"Condom," she yelled.

"I lay in wait and came in with it already on," he'd said as he banged the cock-loaded sheath home deeply and temporarily leaving Lara breathless.

"God you brute," she snarled and bit his ear and slapped his butt and that ensured she got the really robust fucking she appeared to be seeking.

* * *

Fraser dialed up the code of the center lock of the steel-door to the smaller gunroom where Rick entered for the first time. Earlier over coffee Fraser had told Rick he was being promoted to take out parties of two to four hunters maximum and briefed him about procedures with emphasis on group safety.

Now he said, "The guns in here are for VIP hunters and we get quite of few of them."

"I have some very expensive European side-by-sides and over-and-under shotguns in that steel cabinet over there for really top VIPs who want a no expense-spared day out but I take them out. These other guns include the shotguns many VIPs are seeking and I'll now tell you about each gun, it's characteristics, what can go wrong if anything, and what you do to get it operating again if possible.

Rick knew about them all but had only shot with the Winchester 21, the Remington 870 and the Browning Citori. He listened intently when Fraser spoke about the German-made Merkel 200E and the Weatherby Athena and was impressed, thinking Frazer was as knowledgeable as a gunsmith. He certainly knew his guns.

After that day Rick assisted in the depot but spent more than half his time taking out small parties, having being fully briefed about the best selection of places to find deer or water fowl or whatever game the hunters were after.

He loved his work as a guide and knew what he wanted to do when he arrived back home, to convince his parents to progressively sell off the sheep from their 15,000-acre high-run, get a big bank loan to fence the boundaries of the 23 square mile property with deer proof fences and then stock the farm with deer, goats and pheasants and have the property registered as a game shooting estate. The redevelopment work could be done in stages to begin an early income stream to supplement income from the downsizing of the sheep flock. There were other game estates in the region but unlike other game estates, the Chambers Game Park would be restricted to shotgun shooting and thus pose a huge reduction in threat of stray shots entering neighboring properties thereby reducing the fears of those families and allowing game to be shot closer to the game park's boundaries.

Rick called home and his mother thought it was a wonderful idea and they could have the model redeveloped into a lodge. His father didn't know although said the idea sounded good and Rick's mother said she'd work on his father. He didn't tell Lara and her parents about his plan to develop and manage a game farm in New Zealand because it could sour the relationship because he now believe they were believing he'd seek permanent residency in America.

But that changed when he was sitting in Fraser's office being complimented for the very favorable feedback Fraser was receiving about Rick-led hunting parties.

Rick's phone went and Fraser said to take the call.

Rick's mom sounded very excited.

"We mentioned to John Marks and Yvonne about your proposal when we were over there for dinner last night. They were most interested and said they would be interested in a partnership deal if you were interested."

"Would you and dad want that?"

"Yes it solves the problem of accessing capital because as you know they are very well-heeled."

"Right."

"Do you have more information?"

"Not yet. Well that's good news mom, I'm at a meeting so better go. Thanks for calling."

"Good news I take it?"

"Yes Fraser."

Rick decided to unload to Fraser who listened intently.

"That sounds a great idea particularly when you say the returns from sheep have been down for some years and the country motel struggles for profitability although the tavern does well."

"You're not mad at me for wanting to go home." 

"Nah you return when you wish. Lindsey and I were hoping something solid would develop between you two but obviously this in not to be."

"Yeah right. Of course Lara might decide to come to New Zealand."

Fraser shook his head and said, "Sorry pal but I don't think so. All of her friends are here."

"I'd like to leave at the end of the month if that's okay."

"Yeah you decided when you want to end it Rick. Businesswise I've really got good money out of you and you've been great to have around."

CHAPTER 3

Anyone watching at Chicago O'Hare International Airport must have thought Rick, although not in uniform, was on his way to begin a tour of duty in Iran judging by the long faces of everyone in the group.

Rick walked to the departure admission area after being kissed by Lindsey and the really weepy Lara. Fraser and son Larry had done their best to crush Rick's right hand.

He waved for the last time and was checked through the entrance and felt quite depressed. Although he'd only being into Missouri on a day trip and had spent five-days staying overnight with friends of Fraser's in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan he planned to return to America one day to have a good look around. The families in Wisconsin and UP (the upper Peninsular of Wisconsin) were great in taking them out to show Rick examples of American wildlife. Species he saw included bobcats, grey wolves (and oh boy were they hard to spot), red fox, black bears, cougar and otter and of course frequent sightings of White-tailed deer. But there was no sighting of elk in UP although he was told given more time they would have found them and the bison they saw in Wisconsin were on private property. 

Rick flew on an internal service from Auckland to Dunedin where his family, including his married sister who was married to a country veterinarian.

Lorna kissed him and said, "Welcome home wanderer. You've got that American slut pregnant and have ducked back here to wipe your hands clean of her?"

"Don't talk about her like that or I'll yank out your ovaries."

"Oh my god mom, he's carrying a soft spot for her."

"Will you two stop that disgusting talk," Shirl (Shirley) said. "Welcome home son. Give your old mom a big hug."

"Welcome home son," said Bruce. "The contractors have got almost eight miles of deer fencing up, working three gangs."

"But dad I've not..."

"Don't worry son. The game estate is licensed, we have Resource Management Consent to the change in land use and at Dougal's suggestion (Lorna's husband, a Scot who is a country vet) we have another RM Consent application in to build a low-level dam across the outlet of the swamp to form an eighteen inch maximum depth lake to provide an estimated 48-acre ponding area to attract water fowl and provide another string to our bow to attract hunters and to add variety."

"Oh great move dad and with native grasses growing wildly without sheep we'll offer pheasants and grouse, having to stock those, but the feral rabbits will stock the land themselves."

"Lucy the new editor of the Upper Country Clarion has already done a feature on the shotgun game farm proposal Rick and is waiting to interview you. She's single and rather ducky and you ought to get a length into her no problem."

"Lorna!"

"Oops sorry mum, I forgot you were there."

* * *

They drove for almost three hours and went straight to the farm being developed into the game hunting estate to look at the fencing contractors at work to ring fence the property, circling the farm house to leave it outside the fencing and two gates would be installed. With an additional cross section of fencing with two gates to run between the two parallel side boundaries, a contract had been let for NZ$323,000.

"Your mother and I have formed a company with capital of $750,000 to launch the hunting operation on the farm and to upgrade the motel into a hunting lodge, but we retain full ownership of both properties," Bruce said. "Your mother had our accountant to come up with figures and accept it will be five to seven years before the operation returns a profit on development costs. Your mother and I have leased both properties to the hunting operation. You'll be paid $40,000 from capital until profitability covers your salary and begins to give your mother and I an income. We'll have income from the half of the farm that will remain stocked with sheep until we can begin the final stage of development and we will continue to gain income from the motel operation until conversion commences."

"God dad I wish you had waited to discuss all of this with me. What if it doesn't work out?"

"Joyce our accountant has worked out the costing and believes it's okay. She's also drafted an impressive business plan that awaits your perusal. The lodge will be all two bedroom suites so whether the hunter is a single person or comes with his or her partner and up to two other persons the room tariff will be the same. It's up to you to decide the fees for the hunting packages. Remembering we also have to stock the estate, Joyce is quite confident you should have the operation into profitability at least by year four or sooner if you are very successful in your marketing and management to produce the necessary levels of response and hunter satisfaction."          

Rick focused on his father and said, "Gee that's pretty complex, coherent and powerful comment from you dad."

"He's only parroting what our accountant told him," said Rick's mum and they all laughed.

"It's risky business guys."

"We know," replied his dad. "But your mother and I have been bored witless of our life since you kids left home and believe we are overdue for change and to grip a new challenge."

"Well to work," Rick yawned but his mom said he needed sleep after that long travel home.

* * *

Joyce, who'd became the Chamber's accountant after her father's retirement, was a little over-weight brunette three years older than Rick with widely-spaced breasts.. They sat in Rick's old jeep looking at one of the fencing gangs at work.

"I'm glad you brought me out to take a look at the property and this fencing work," Joyce said. "I'm very interested in this project and to see if we can make it a goer."

"And?"

"Much depends on marketing and management to grow a big reputation to attract the sufficient turnover of clients you'll need. You need to sit down with me to be fully briefed about that."

"Yeah and don't I know we require advice on how to crunch numbers," he sighed, dropping a hand on to Joyce's thigh.

They both looked at that hand until he pulled it away when she said softly that she was married.

"I apologize."

"No it's okay. You can touch me."

An inner voice was calling to Rick that it he went around fucking guy's wives or girlfriends the reputation he'd gain would not be conductive to good business relationships and the women were hate him when he moved on to the next pussy."

"No I shouldn't have done that. I must back off Joyce."

Rick looked at Joyce and couldn't believe how disappointed she looked.

"Joyce it would have been adultery. Believe me, tomorrow you will admire me for having backed off."

She looked at him big-eyed and said, "Are you sure about that?"

Rick wasn't sure because he'd never backed off before. "I just know," he lied.

Joyce reached over and pulled him against her and said, "I really admire you Rick for your good moral judgment. Kiss me."

He kissed Joyce passively and pulled away and started the engine of the jeep and said, "At nights I won't be able to avoid thinking of sinking into your wet pussy but that's life isn't it."

"Indeed," she said, sounding less than convinced. "Rick can we be close friends? You have a very appealing way about you and I see you as a guy of substance conversationally and intellectually."

Oh really? Jesus he must be doing something right.

"Yes of course Joyce. Let's be friends who don't have sex."

"Rick I really won't mind if you feel up between my upper thighs."

"But Joyce, that's fine right now. You must think what about in the morning when you wake up next to your husband and remember how close you came at breaking your trust in him."

"Gawd Rick," Joyce said breathing heavily. "I'd never thought going after something on the side could be as complex as this. You have exposed me as being morally weak."

"You're a lovely woman Joyce. Stay lovely particularly to your husband. You are no more morally weak than I am and most people around us."

She whimpered and Rick drove off thinking most women would let you bang them if you pressured them artfully. But it really wasn't necessary for him to bang every woman he came across who presented him with a seduction opportunity. Masturbation was a more benign and less problematic alternative. But hey, what was this? Was he reaching maturity? Rick Chambers turning down a casual fuck; he couldn't believe it.

The bar manager at the family's tavern asked for a month's leave to visit his family and ex-wife in the far north of the country. Rick had held a bar manager's qualification since he has twenty and agreed with his mother it would keep him occupied and earning income while they were waiting for further development approvals and for the fencing contracts to be completed.

Rick enjoyed the meeting up with his relatives, old friends and acquaintances again and he focused on people who would be suitable at building an infrastructure around the family's hunting estate business, although not hitting on them all at this stage. The people included a couple who ran a chartered helicopter service, food and drink suppliers, electricians, plumbers, builders, sub-alpine guides and even baby sitters and two women who probably would be prepared to operate as call girls.

During down time when the tavern wasn't busy and the dining room manager wasn't panicking because some of her personnel hadn't shown up, Rick would deal with some of this people he'd listed as being service providers.

Rick had gone through primary and secondary school with Harry Chappell who after leaving high school joined his older brother in his father's building business. Harry's dad was now retired and Rick me Harry and brother Jim at the motel to inspect the facilities and he then sat down and outline the conversion he had in mind and asked them to get copies of the original plans and specification s for the motel from the district council and sketch some development ideas for his family and accountant to consider.

Rick had resumed his friendship with Janet Walsh, night manager at the motel and had banged her a couple of times when he found her sitting in her office board. They'd gone to high school together and first had sex together on graduation night when Rick's partner went early when her parents called for her and Janet's partner had failed to show that night.

"Can I be hospitality and events manager when this place is upgraded to a lodge?" Janet asked, as she and Rick sat in the motel kitchen having lunch.

"Would you also be prepared to act as relief day or night manager/receptionist as the need arose?"

"Yes."

"Then you can run around after our clients performing hospitality and events management but I think the title should be client liaison manager."

"Oooh, fancy premises, fancy title... does that suggest a salary increase."

"Sure Janet to go with your elevated responsibility and I'm confident you won't let us down."

"Thanks. I though you would have given your mother that role."

"Her title will be general manager and she'll supervise the running of the lodge, the tavern and the restaurant and preparation of the accounts for our accountant."

"What will your father do?"

"He'll be in charge of the sheep until they go and then will demolish the woolshed and salvage everything possible for resale. His title will be operations manager and maintenance alone will keep him busy because that includes checking the integrity of the deer fencing."

Janet nodded and said, "Then with your parents doing everything what will you do?"

Rick said stiffly he'd be hunting guide and game warden."

"Oh yes, I had forgotten about the purpose of the venture. You'll be right at the core activity of the business."

"Yes and thank you Janet."

Rick was aware more and more local people were calling it Rick's game part and his parents now called it your park when addressing him.       

His parent's friends John and Yvonne Marks, who ran a sheep and deer farm, had visited him asking would there be an opportunity to invest in the hunting operation.

"Yes is due course, for sure, as a provider of interest-bearing capital for us," he said.

"But not the chance to buy shares?"

"Not yet John because it's all expenditure and no income at this stage but that could change."

Rick said when they were up and running he could offer John casual work as a second hunting guide and to dispatch any maimed animal.

"I'd really like that Rick."

"What about me."

"What about cleaning toilets?"

"Get stuff Rick."

"What about being on call for when any of the clients want a woman for the night?"

"Rick," John growled but his wife said oooh, when could she start?

They laughed and Rick wondered if his mom would be offended she wasn't asked when Yvonne told Shirl about his dirty-minded son's suggestion. 

* * *

Rick called Lara in Illinois.

"Oh hi. I'd given up on you. I'd been expecting a call to say you'd arrive home safely."

"I don't board aircraft that are going to crash."

"Oh god, Mr Perfect. I've been really missing you Rick."

"Then why didn't you call?"

"I had other things to do."

"Oh yeah, like decided which dress to wear. How is the family?"

"They are all good. Mom said a couple of days ago she misses having you around and Larry said yeah and that same went for him."

"Give him one of your girlfriends to fuck Lara, and that will keep him too busy to miss me."

"We are Americans Rick, we don't seek casual sex."

"Yeah right."

Lara giggled.

"I'm calling because our local primary school at Hallett is in danger of closing because there are two teachers short and can't attract replacements way out in the country like this. Our local paper said the school hall was packed to discuss the crisis at an emergency meeting two nights ago."

"What's wrong with the school?"

"Nothing, Hallett's a great school. Mom and dad went there and my sister and I went there."

"I never knew you had a sister."

"I guess that's because you never asked. Yeah there are two kids, Lorna and me. She'll love you when you come here to teach."

"Rick I'm not coming to New Zealand. Practically no one around here knows where it is."

"We have the wheels grinding away to get the hunting estate established. Your dad told me he could send hunters to us once we were up and running and have a website going. He told me what to emphasis on the promos to attract American hunters."

"Luxury and adventure and trophy-standard heads."

"Yeah who told you that?"

"Dad told us what he'd told you. Scarcely a day goes past without him saying something like, "I wonder what that Kiwi boy is doing today?' He's told us your operation will become famous because of what you are."

"Is that so?"

"Yes and you know my father will believe that."

"I sure do. If I told him I want you down here he'd kick your ass and tell you to get on down to Rick."

"Rick please don't..."

"I won't. You have your comfort zone where you are, your friends and your career that's going well and lovely well behaved little American kids to teach not like snotty-nosed Kiwi kids who'll tell you that you don't know much because you're American and that you wouldn't know the difference between the back of a sheep and the back of the school bus."




Shooting with Rick



"Oh heavenly I'm sure. So you are progressive enough down there to have school buses?"

"It may interest you to know that guy credited to splitting the atom grew up in Nelson about 850 miles north where I'm sitting."

"That can't be true."

"Oh so an American was first to split an atom."

"I'd have to say that's more likely that a Kiwi kid growing up to do that in when was it, 1940?

"Actually it was 1917. We always do have interesting conversations Lara. You have a lively mind. Would you please tell your dad as at last night we have 17.5 miles of the 23 miles of ring deer fencing completed and I'm placing orders for the supply of red deer and that we have gained approval to place a very low compacted earth dam with spillway across a swamp to provide a shallow ponding area of almost 50 acres to attract water fowl for our hunters."

"Wow things really sound on the move."

""Yeah well I must go. Don't forget to come back here. Even on your honeymoon you'd be welcome. Bye."

"Bye," Lara sniffed.

* * *

When Lindsey and Fraser arrived home from their after-dinner walk, Lara told them Rick had called.\

"Oh god is Rick okay?"

Lara looked at her mom and said, "Yes and I'm surprised that you even remember who Rick was."

"I'll never forget that boy," Lindsey said and Lara felt her face burn.

"Well he's taken a month to call to say he's arrived home safely," Lara said sharply.

"You could have called him," said her father, and Lara said Rick had been the traveler; it was up to him to call.

"Why did he call?"

"To tell dad they have 17.5 miles of their 23-mile ring of deer fencing up and they will have a 48-acre lake created from ponding a swamp, to attract water fowl for their hunters to bag."

"Jeeze, 23-miles of deer fencing. Did he say anything else?"

"No, it appears he really called to say their local school is in crisis and will close unless it gains replacements for two teachers who have left. I guess being a country school it has to have a minimum number of students to continue operating."

"Omigod he wants you to go to that school to teach and in filling that position there will be some sort of immigration benefit."

"He made no mention of that mom."

"Well call the school and find out. What's the name of the school?"

"It's at a small country community called Hallett. But mom I'm not going to give up my life her to go to that remote area to stupefy."

"Or to have the best time of your life," Fraser said. "During that road trip he and I took up north he told me story after story of the adventures he had growing up in that area and the wild country hunting his father gradually eased him into until they were hunting in the really mountainous country of the Southern Alps that create the spine of the South Island."

"Did it want you to go there dad?"

"Well you go when he opens his game park and take some of your pals with you. I'll be staying here looking after mom."

"Your mom will be going too," Lindsey said. "I want to see the game park and I want to meet his sister."

"Sister? Did Rick tell you he had a sister?"

"Yes, I asked did he have any brothers or sisters. Didn't you ask him that."

"No I didn't," Lara said, turning and running from the room crying.

"Hormones playing up?" Fraser asked.

"If it's a hormone called Rick I'd say yes," Lindsey said. "I'll talk to later when she's had time to settle. God I'll hate to lose Lara."

"You can't mean..."

"Something tells me she'll be returning to New Zealand within a couple of months."

Lara wiped her tears and booted her computer. She entered the question on Google, 'Who first split the atom' and the answer came up Lord Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics. She found his hometown of Nelson was at the top of the South Island and the atom was split in 1917.

Lara burst into tears. How could a guy she thought didn't care a fig about here reach so deeply into her core from 7000 miles away. Then she remembered once telling Rick she loved him.

She ran weeping to find her mom, aware at twenty-six she was acting like a teen but that didn't deter her.

* * *

Rick had spent most of the day touring the completed fence lines with his father and the general manager of the fencing contract company. They inspected the places where additional work had been done to satisfy the client's requirement that the entire fencing system must be of the highest integrity in construction and to be hold game animals in and neighboring farm animals out.

The acceptance document was signed and the contractor grinned when told to call Shirl to arrange to pick up his final cheque.

"I'll see her down at the tavern tonight," said Ewan, a locally-based fencing contractor. "I need to keep my boys in beer to celebrate finishing this job, our biggest deer fencing job by far. Also everyone is gathering to get a slice of pork from that wild boar that came down off the hills and was shot by Constable Barr outside Marshall's Pizza Parlor when trying to mate with the front tire of a pickup." 

"You have to be kidding," Bruce said.

"No mate, my wife saw it happen. Alf from Alf's Meats estimated the boar would tip the scales at more than 400 lbs. There's a big dinner at the tavern tonight hosted by the school board to welcome the two new teachers whose appointments meant the school would remain open. Alf convinced Shirl to put on a $20 cover charge for admittance to the tavern bar tonight with all proceeds to go to the school's sports equipment fund. Alf is preparing the pork at no charge and notices have gone up on shop windows inviting everyone to the tavern tonight to taste a piece of the legendary boar killed by the town's cop for indecent behavior with a vehicle tire."

With record trade at the tavern likely, Rick was helping out behind the bar when he heard a woman with an American accent call out, "Where can a girl get some action around here?"

Guys biting into their piece of legendary pork stopped eating for a moment to call out, "Over here ducky" or invitations to that effect.

Off duty Constable Barr called out sternly, "It is illegal to solicit for sex in this bar" and then his wife told him to button up.

"It's fine Charlie, she's with me," Rick said, vaulting the bar and managing to land between two back-on couples, just brushing them, perhaps the only clear space in the entire room.

Rick pushed past people to get to her.

"Lara," he said.

She cooed, "Rick!"

"Aaaahhhh," chorused many of the females in the bar watching the couple kiss while many of the guys, all locals, stared and looked as if they were wondering how Rick Chambers always seemed to land the babes with decent breasts.

Mrs Church, chairman of the school board called from the doorway, "Miss Kennedy, as one of our two newly recruited teachers, would you kindly return to the dining room where the speeches of welcome are about to commence. I must say it didn't take you long to get your arms around Rick Chambers, the top eligible bachelor in this district." 



THE END