The blue moon made me pleasure – 3

“The blue moon made me pleasure” Part-3 Continues…..

“You’re welcome, my pleasure…really,” I said as I stepped out of the van, still naked and in desperate need of a place to pee. To my surprise, Barbra soon followed, equally naked and wandered off only a few feet and simply squatted down.

“Don’t tell me you’re still shy, after last night,” she laughed as I stood there looking about awkwardly for a moment. Feeling silly, I turned slightly, and then began to piss hearing her as she did the same. “As they say, if you shake it more than twice, you’re playing with it. And unfortunately, we really will have to be going soon. So don’t you dare go getting it all nice and hard again, or we’re apt to be here for a while.”

After we had both finished, and after I’d given myself only a couple of shakes…we got dressed and were soon on the road headed back in the direction I’d already come from. And though it would take me out of my way a little, and cost me some time, I was again reminded that I really didn’t have to be anywhere at any time specifically either.

Twenty minutes later we came up over a rise. Below and off in the distance a bit sat a small homestead.

“That’s it…that’s my place,” Barbra said, pointing towards it. I could see it was still set back a short distance from the road we were on.

“So no one’s really waiting or worried about you?” I asked again.

“Only my dog,” she said smiling. “Rose, my Golden Retriever. I’m sure she’s been anxiously wondering where I’ve been.”

“Rose?” How strange I thought. But then again, since the beginning this road trip had been a bit strange anyway. As we neared the turn off, Barbra insisted that I let her out there rather than taking her all the way down to her house.

“No seriously, just let me out here,” she said, meaning it. “Not that I don’t appreciate the offer to drive me all the way in, but Rose doesn’t take too kindly to strangers either. And besides, I’ve held you up long enough as it is.”

“What about your car?”

“No worries. I’ll call Ned, he’ll run out, have a look at it, and if necessary, tow it in for me. So we’re good,” she said, stepping out of the car as I pulled over at the end of her long dirt driveway. “And thanks Antony, thanks for everything. I enjoyed myself tremendously. It will be a night I will always remember and cherish.”

Barbra then walked around the front of the Van, leaning in through the window and kissed me.

“Again, thank you. Drive safely,” she said. She stood there watching me as I turned the van around in the road. She waved as I did, and then I headed off once again. I looked back through the side mirror, and then the rear view, but she appeared to have already headed down the road where I could no longer see her.

“Well at least that’s one that just didn’t get up and walk away,” I told myself, suddenly feeling a little bit better again, and looking forward to reaching Glacier National Park before sundown.

“Rose,” I said, shaking my head. “Who’d name their dog that?” I asked myself, and then sat back for the long drive ahead.

**

I knew there would be another KOA just outside the park, which would prove to be a lot cheaper for me to stay there than paying for a campsite with far less amenities inside the park. And as it was already getting late in the afternoon by the time I arrived, I felt like having a nice shower first, and then getting a bite to eat before catching up on some much needed rest.

I planned on spending the next day, if not two, just driving around inside the park taking in all the various and sundry sights. Though I couldn’t help thinking about Brenda and wondering if I might in fact run into her again at some point.

I actually did manage to catch up on my sleep, though waking bright and early to the new day. I drove into the park looking for someplace to eat, and found a combination restaurant, tourist center. I needed to pick up some more film for my camera anyway as I planned on taking several pictures of the park during my hike later on. As I stood at the counter waiting for the woman behind it to ring me up, I noticed there were a lot of bells on display.

“What are all the bells for?” I asked curiously.

“Are you planning on hiking any of the trails?” She asked.

“Yeah…why?”

“That’s what the bells are for. Keeps the bears away. Might be a wise decision if you’re planning on doing that, to take some along. Not that you will run into any bears, but it’s been known to happen for people wandering about a little too quietly.”

“I’ll make sure to cough once in a while,” I said trying to sound funny, but she just gave me a disapproving look.

“Suit yourself, that’ll be fifteen thirty-six,” she said waiting for me to pay her. I handed her a twenty, and she gave me my change, though she spoke. “You might want to reconsider wandering off on any trails all by yourself, you never know what it is you might run into.” She then rang a string of bells, though I couldn’t see myself walking about jingling like Santa Claus all day.

“Thanks anyway, I’ll make sure to step on a lot of branches,” I assured her, and then left the shop.

I drove around for a while taking pictures, though mostly from the van. When I’d decided that I wanted to take a few different pictures than I had been, and perhaps actually get a chance to see some wildlife, I pulled into an area that had several hiking trails leading out of it. There were signs posted everywhere of course, warning campers about bears being in the area, and steps they could take to protect themselves,

as well as warnings about leaving food out in the open. Armed with only my camera and nothing that smelled even remotely like food, except for a couple of bottles of water I’d tossed into my small backpack, I headed out. I’d been walking this particular trail for well over an hour now. I’d passed one or two camping areas a ways back, only one of which was occupied, though I didn’t see anyone there as I walked by. I surmised they must be out wandering the woods as well.

It was about then that I spotted a herd of Elk over a small hill and slowly crept up towards the top hoping for a better vantage point in which to snap a few pictures. There was a small deer-trail leading up and around it towards the opposite side, which looked easy enough to take, and would get me around the right side where it was that I wanted to be. It was a semi-steep climb and gradual as I began slowly walking up the side of the hill.

As I started to come around the bend nearing the crest, I heard something, and then stopped to listen. I actually laughed. I could hear bells jingling as someone above me approached heading towards my position. But it was also about that time I heard the sound of someone crying out suddenly, unexpectedly, and then the sound of rock or shale suddenly loosened, running down the side of the hill.

Hurriedly I made my way towards the sound, rounding a corner through a stand of trees. Sure enough, there was a woman sitting there on the ground, and though she didn’t appear to be too seriously injured, it was obvious she had fallen, or had been tripped up in the loose rocks trying to make her way down this side of the hill.

“You all right?” I asked as I approached her, surprising her a little as she looked up towards me.

“I think so, at least I don’t think anything’s broken,” she informed me, though it was obvious as she continued to sit there rubbing her leg, she had hurt it, if not sprained it in fact.

“Can you stand? Walk?” I asked.

“I don’t know…I think so maybe. Not sure how easy it will be to walk on it though, it really does hurt,” she added.

“So much for my hike,” I thought, realizing that now I’d be forced into helping her get back to wherever it was that she came from.

“Are you staying close by here?” I wondered.

“Not too far away, yes. I’m with some friends who are camping here. They continued on with their hike, making the loop. But I wasn’t up for another ten miles, so I decided to head back to camp and wait for them there. Maybe I should have gone with them and then this wouldn’t have happened. Just damn lucky you came by.”

“Yeah, lucky,” I said, shaking my head, though she didn’t see that as she tried putting some weight on her leg, and found that she couldn’t.

“Shit…maybe I did sprain it after all,” she told me. “Think you could help me get back?”

“Sure, no problem,” I assured her, helping to take some of her weight as she put her arm around my shoulder for support. “We’ll need to take it slowly though going back down the hill, think you can make it?”

“I think so…yes. And thank you, ah…what is your name anyway?” She asked me.

“Antony, and you are…no, wait, let me guess. Bonnie? Bernice?” I said changing my mind before she could answer. Her eyes widened slightly at that.

“Well no…not quite. Not Bernice, Bernadette,” she informed me. “And how’d you manage to guess that anyway? It’s not exactly a very common name you know.”

“Lucky guess,” I stated. “Though I really didn’t guess it exactly now either did I?”

“No, but you were pretty close,” she said smiling at me. “So now Antony, what’s to say we get me down off this mountain?”

**

Glancing at her from time to time as we slowly made our way down the hill, I surmised she was in her early to mid forties, though she could have easily passed for being younger than that. She was still in damn fine shape, except for her ankle of course. And there was something about her eyes too that I found intriguing as we slowly made our way back up the trail, and sure enough, ending up at the single campsite I had passed by a bit earlier.

“That’s my tent over there,” she said pointing as she half hobbled, limped and jumped with me supporting her over towards it.

“How’s the ankle?” I asked.

“Hurts like hell,” she told me as we reached her tent. “Would you mind unzipping the door and then helping me inside so I can lay down and have a look at this?”

I did so helping her inside. It was a small tent, barely enough room for one let alone two, and not without having to basically crawl around inside once we were in.

She did seem to have a nice comfy air mattress beneath her sleeping bag however as she settled down on top of it. “Let’s take a look at your ankle again,” I told her, carefully and gingerly examining it, though once again nothing appeared to be broken, though I told her she might want to consider going someplace to see a doctor anyway and getting some X-rays.

“Well, it’s sort of hard for me to do that at the moment, and no…I’m not asking you to take me either, especially as I have no way of letting anyone know where I’ve gone. Don’t want to worry my friends, have them come back and not find me here either. But…I would ask, if you wouldn’t mind too terribly much,

The blue moon made me pleasure – 3 will continue on the next page