River 3
- 4 years ago
- 24
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As always it was a little sad and hectic getting the passengers onto the crew bus and heading up the hill, but the important piece of news was Karin's presence in the first place; that told them that things had gone well for her.
They got more details as the crew bus was taking the passengers up the hill. As planned, Karin had driven back from Lee's Ferry the day they started the trip, helped Michelle with a couple of reports that needed to be dealt with, and explained how to pull together information that would be needed for a couple more. The next morning, Jeff had driven her to the airport in Phoenix. Just about the first thing she did when she got off the plane at O'Hare was find her Buick and drive to a divorce attorney's office; she'd made an appointment with him long-distance on Monday.
"There are advantages and disadvantages to doing the divorce in Illinois, out here in Arizona, or in Nevada," she reported. "Nevada would be the quickest, but I'd have to establish residency, and I'd probably have a very unfavorable settlement, so we ruled that out. To make a long story short, we worked up a proposed settlement for an Illinois divorce, and told Pete he had the option of accepting it. It's really very fair to him. If he refused, I'd wait three months and file out here in Arizona, where he'd get a much worse deal on the community property settlement."
"Plus, he'd have to travel out here to fight it, and he'd hate that," Crystal laughed.
"I hadn't overlooked that," Karin grinned. "It'd mean he'd have to travel outside of Chicago, and he hates going any farther than the grocery store for a bottle of milk."
"So, how'd he take it?"
"He threw a monumental fit, even for him," Karin laughed. "However, I'd expected that. My attorney was present, of course, but I'm sure you remember Thelma, from my office. I asked her husband to be present."
"He's a cop, isn't he?" Crystal giggled.
"Yes, and a rather large one at that." Karin laughed. "To be honest, I think he was less upset about my leaving him rather than having to deal with the changes it will mean for him. In any case, he apparently consulted his own attorney and accepted the offer. It'll probably take a year, perhaps longer, to get everything settled, and I may have to go back to Chicago once or twice. For example, it isn't clear yet whether he'll buy up my share of the house, or whether it'll be sold and the money divided. If it's the latter, there might be paperwork I would have to deal with there. In any case, it's under way, and it's a huge relief."
"It is for me, too," Crystal nodded. "You should have done it years ago."
"Perhaps, but there were reasons to not do it then, too," Karin shrugged. "Of course, things have changed considerably in the last few weeks. I said nothing to anyone about Al, of course. In fact, Pete doesn't even know I'll be in Flagstaff. The only address he has is a post office box I set up in Sedona on the way to the airport."
"Any word on Nanci?"
"Absolutely nothing," Karin shrugged. "Pete commented at one point that he hasn't heard from her since I left. I spent some time talking with the families of some of the friends she used to have, and they haven't heard from her, either, but have promised to write if they hear something. I told Thelma that I would be with you in Flagstaff. Nanci knows that Thelma and I are good enough friends that if she finds me gone from Heller-Aller and wants to contact me, she might get a hold of her. There's where I had to leave it." She let out a sigh and glanced up to see that no one else was in earshot, then continued, "Al, you and I are still going to have to keep things absolutely above board, although as time goes on we'll be able to appear closer. However, the connection with Crystal probably should remain a secret until the divorce is final."
"You're thinking that if Pete finds out, he'll fly into a rage and upset the applecart?" Crystal frowned.
"Yes," Karin smiled. "As it is, I think he'll accept the reality. Grudgingly, of course, that's his way. But there's no point in rubbing his nose in it. Anyway, I arranged my retirement at Heller-Aller. I had to actually work a few days to turn my job over to Thelma. There were a few other details that needed to be settled, but I started back Saturday morning and arrived Monday. That was just in time, as it turned out."
"Trouble?" Al frowned.
"It would have been. As it is, you're going to have less than a hundred dollars in tax penalties. Another few days and it would have gone up steeply. Michelle and I closed the third-quarter books and reports yesterday; most of it will be in the mail tomorrow, since it'll be after the first of the month. There's one report that we're waiting for a form on, but she knows the numbers that have to go on it, so that'll be done. It's just as well; we'd still be on the river when it's due."
"Good deal," Al nodded. "I was concerned about that. I never thought about taxes until Michelle brought 'em to my attention on the last trip."
"She is a jewel," Karin grinned, "Even though every time I look at her I have to add ten years to her age mentally." She smiled again. "The weird thing is that she reminds me so much of Nanci when she was about fourteen, I had trouble avoiding calling her that."
"Yeah," Crystal nodded. "You're right about that, although I'd never quite seen it that way. But I saw her in action on the river about as soon as I met her; that gives me a little different perspective."
"She's been very helpful in a number of ways," Karin said. "Like I said, she's a remarkable young woman. She arranged for a small house for Crystal and Scooter and me. It's unfurnished, but she was able to come up with enough to live with, although it's rather Spartan, and some of it is old. However, the price was right, and she even had it set up when I arrived. Al, I think you'd better plan on keeping that girl."
"I knew that years ago," he grinned. "So, did she have Mike find your son?"
"Yes, she did," Karin confirmed. "It has been a real struggle every day to not drive down to Phoenix to check it out. He was able to find several pieces of information, including the fact that he's working at a place called Lambdatron Corporation, get this, with his wife!"
"Bingo!" Crystal laughed. "I thought that might be the case, even though it's hard to imagine Jon getting far enough away from his computer to find a woman to marry. Did Mike get her name?"
"Yes," Karen smiled. "You were right. Tanisha."
"Two and two make four after all," Crystal smiled. "I only met her the one time, but she seemed like a nice kid."
"Mike told me the people at Lambdatron were not very helpful, but he was able to confirm that much. He has some other leads to follow if necessary, but he's pretty sure we have all we need."
"If they're at Lambdatron, it shouldn't be a problem," Al smiled. "I've had half a dozen people from there run with us, including the company president. It shouldn't be any trick to call in a favor. I suppose we'd better think about going down there tomorrow."
"It seems like it," Karin nodded, "But there's no point in leaving early if we want to catch them at home after work."
"I'd like to make it a quick down and back if we could," Crystal said. "No more than overnight. Scooter did a good job pulling the loading together for this trip, but I felt guilty about it."
"Oh, hell," Scooter smiled, "This is more important. Take the time you need. But maybe we'd better get started on the loading here or we're not going to get back at all."
As always, it was late when they got back, and with the shorter days it got dark sooner. Michelle was waiting for them, of course, and Jerry was there again. Michelle had also called Norma and Barbie over from Northern Arizona University, and this time had flushed out a couple of the high school kids who had run on tryouts with Team 1 or 2 over the summer -- Crystal being new, Team 3 had avoided that chore for all but one trip. Michelle had hinted to them that someone who volunteered to dump the groovers had a better chance of getting put on as a swamper in the summer; that simplified the problem of figuring out who was going to deal with that stinky chore.
But before they even got seriously started, Michelle had some business for them: "I went ahead and scheduled a sailboat out of Abaco," she told them. "The dates aren't quite what we talked about, but that doesn't matter a lot. Since I scheduled four weeks, they're going to extend the low rate for the last week. That's a twenty-eight footer; I could have gotten the dates we talked about on a thirty-two footer, but that would have cost more."
"Should work," Scooter nodded. "What's the dates?"
"January ninth through February fifth," Michelle said. "I think I can manage January in the Bahamas. I'm thinking of getting a bikini that's really daring."
"Christ knows what that's gonna be like," Crystal snickered. "Considering you think a string bikini is conservative. But I think I can handle January in the Bahamas too, especially when the alternative is freezing my ass cleaning up dog shit in Spearfish Lake."
"Doesn't take much deciding, does it?" Michelle laughed. "Oh, by the way, Crystal, speaking of Spearfish Lake: Randy wants you to call him while you're on break. He said you knew the number."
Crystal got a grin on her face. "I will give anyone just one guess as to what that means," she laughed. "If we're going to Phoenix tomorrow, I guess I'd better head in and call now."
Chapter 11 So far: Jerome the yearling wolf has died, but two new wolves have joined the people. One of them decides that Moonie can atone for his sins, and over time the river cleanses his soul. The story of Moonie was told, both before the time of this tale, and after. As River and Wayne walked back to the Waters' campsite, River continued to tease the big man. She reached up and stroked his chest, marvelling at the muscles she could feel. "What?" "Just checking to see if...
So far: River's parents return that evening, only to discover what happened this morning. Dale is adamant that he will kill the molester, even if it means going back to jail again. River, however, is dejected and mopish as the river continues to ignore her. River and Wayne were silent as they drove back into the park from the town. After they crossed the little covered bridge, River sobbed twice, and then broke out into tears. Wayne quickly pulled over, and then slid along the...
Chapter 24 and 25 Chapter 24 So far: The events in Stone Ledge reach a conclusion, and not a happy one. However Marilyn receives a treasure, and the flotilla heads back to the reserve in record time. The suicide of Virginia Audette is not yet a completed story, however. -------- ------- ------ As Marilyn and Nick admired their tiny new baby, River came over. "It isn't over," she said. "The river said that there will be a hearing the day after tomorrow, before Ginny's funeral....
CHAPTER 4 So far: River is now a girl, and a revered leader of the people, after a special rite at the river. But her parents are in peril, with her father apparently in jail, and her mother seemingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. River rushed to her mother, who was close to losing it. "He went home last night, and got in after midnight," Alison sobbed. "He went into the office early, and found it was full of police and accountants. Somebody has stolen several million dollars...
CHAPTER 10 So far: Shortly after a traditional religious ceremony at the river had been a huge success, River and Wayne are running full tilt through the reservation towards the highway, where Moonie's chicken hatchery stands. Two shotgun blasts had been heard, and one squeal from a wounded wolf. River was a few dozen yards behind Wayne as he veered away from the river, running at full speed. Even so, she nearly caught up with him as they neared the hatchery, where they saw an old...
Chapter 28 - A New Dawn So far: Dale introduced a stone mason to his family, and River and the river helped him choose apprentices. Then Dale took Mark out hunting, or was it the other way around? ----- -------- ------ On Friday night, while Dale and Mark were still at their camp, in between hunts, River got up as usual at 2 a.m. and went to the river. She had been in there for about two hours when she looked up and found, to her surprise, a taxi from Sudbury Yellow Cab pulled...
Chapter 21 So far: things are moving along nicely. Alison and Mark are on the road north again, now permanently, with Nick escorting them. River has seen another couple given a special treat by the river, as her store starts to come together. And the expedition north is days ahead of schedule. ----- ----- ---- Connie called in sick on Thursday, her third day in a row. "Lovesick," she joked to River, as they worked setting up the store. She planned to drive back to Sault on Friday...
Chapter 30 - School Days So far: River learned how to tan a deerskin, and then there was a great coming together with people from many of the area reserves. The river taught all of them the language and the history, and one boy in particular learned something important. Homes were found for all the new students, and the high school is going to be close to bursting, mostly with grade 9 students. It was not all arrivals though. River had to say goodbye to Wayne, her first First Nations...
Chapter 39 - Death So far: Many of the residents of the area were updated on their winter activities, while a new and ominous character was introduced into the story. ---- ----- ----- Spring came on March 20 that year, although most people still considered March 21 to be the official date. Manitou seemed to prefer the second date, since the ice on the river broke up early in the morning and River and Mark went out at 2 a.m. to find the river filled with ice chunks flowing downstream. "We...
Chapter 26 So far: Nick solved the problem of a home for his new family, at least until a permanent place is completed. A delegation of the river people headed to a hearing at Stone Ledge, where Ginny's parents were banished. Luv's grandfather opted to move to the river reserve, while her grandmother decided to try her luck in the bigger city of Thunder Bay. ------- ------- ----- After the trauma and excitement of the past few days, River was looking forward to a quiet day ahead...
River and her stepdad were never close, but he didn’t mind her staying around the house and lending her some money here and there. The occasional blowjob or fuck helped motivate Brad to help her. The first time Brad had raped River was two months ago. Brad did not plan or really want to. But with River’s mom leaving them, he couldn’t help but resent the girl. He didn’t want to, but it happened. That resentment manifested as an aggressive lust one day when River spoke back to him...
River "Are we there yet," 14-year-old Ricky Waters moaned for at least the fiftieth time this morning. But finally the answer wasn't "No, not yet," but "almost" as his father slowed to pull down a side road toward the mountains. "Mangadetigweyaa Nature Preserve" was printed on a sign by the entryway. The place had been a provincial park when Ricky's dad was a boy, and he had come camping here every summer during the 1980s. He had decided that, with Ricky going into high school next...
Chapter 40 - Resurrection So far: The river has died, and River wants to die too. But there is Luv to think about, and her family. The men try to track down the killers, and are assisted by a very attractive and competent OPP officer, and a very plain and incompetent MoE agent. ------ ------ ---- The men went to the Waters' house first, and finding it empty, went next door to Nick and Marilyn's where they found it nearly full of women. River was holding Luv while eating pancakes. Liesl was...
CHAPTER 9 So far: River is back in the park after a long ride to Sault Ste. Marie, where she met, and collected two of the river's people who had been trapped in a cycle of prostitution and drug addiction. She will take them to the river as soon as they arrive at the campsite. They pulled into the campsite at about 10:30, after letting Gail and Gina off at the JR camp. The tired boys immediately went to their tent, and Alison told River that she would look after unloading the van...
Chapter 13 So far: River met with her family, and got an update on their activities. The next morning River and Liesl got a ride with Wayne to the edge of the reserve to visit with an interesting couple. After visiting one shop in the morning, she was headed to another home. ----- - -- ----- "Anna Audette?" River asked George. "Is she related to Kyle?" George chuckled. "No. Or at least not closely. There are five different families named Audette on the reserve, and six with...
CHAPTER 12 So far: River had a productive Monday, visiting many of the artists on the reservation. Tomorrow she and Liesl would visit some of the crafts people. River is heading back to the campsite to see how her mother and father made out in their days. ----- -- ---- River arrived at the campsite in time to help clean up the dishes. The boys had spent the day at the river, running wild, claiming they were fishing. They did catch one, in the traditional way, not...
Chapter 41 - Retribution So far: The river has not died, but is greatly wounded and River might still lose it. But a sting is set up to catch the polluters, and then Kyle and George Audette come to the rescue to help get it cleaned up. Our friend from the MoE makes another appearance, and really does little to help things. ----- ------- ------ Sid Oldman got to work more than an hour before the day shift started. He was a bit upset to see a forklift left out in the loading bay,...
Chapter 29 - The Students Arrive So far: The river saved another cancer victim, who decided that she and her daughter may stay in the area. Then news came of a near- disaster at Moose Portage Reserve that was narrowly averted by Rod and the girls. Finally, Mark wins twice, getting his trophy into the new house, and con(vinc)ing River to treat his hides. ---------- ------ ------ Sunday morning found River in her usual spot. She had a pair of trousers of her fathers to mend, and...
Chapter 17 So far: Everyone on the reserve had spent a busy week preparing for the Sunday services, when the Prophet and the Singers would leave on their expedition. ------- ----- ---- Sunday morning River was up in the early darkness as usual, standing in the river. She remembered a story from one of her helpers in the store on Friday. This was Small John George, a cousin of the Tall John who had returned safely with her brother the night before. Small John was one of the idlers...
Chapter 37 - Celebrations So far: Miners try to take the reserve as their own, and a small war erupts as the First Nations decide that they will no longer let the white men take what it theirs. The river keeps the war bloodless, in a way, and eventually it is resolved. ------- ------ ------ The town and reserve were abuzz for several weeks after the miners' war ended. It was nearly the end of November when River realized that her birthday, or Ricky's birthday, as odd as that now...
Chapter 20 So far: Mark and Alison no longer have any ties to Toronto, and plan to head north following their respective adventures, riding in convoy with Nick. As well, let's update what River and the others were doing on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. ------ ------- ----- While Alison might have wanted to get back to St. Mary's as soon as possible, the three did not get away as early as they might have wanted. For one thing, none of Mark's clothes fit him, so he wore some of...
Chapter 32 - Moose Hunting So far: Mark has an interesting first few days at school, showing his teacher that he is not a slow student, and helps others in the class. He makes a friend at lunch, which leads to an after-school fracas the following day. ------ ----- ------ River woke up at 2, and then went to wake Mark. She expected more of a battle getting her brother out of bed early, but actually found him quick to get moving and dressed. While River never used a flashlight to...
Chapter 36 - The War So far: grand openings abound, with the Ojibwe Co-op and the Waters house getting most of the attention. Nick's and Marilyn's house, and the credit union also opened. Finally, River gets another idea, and the First Annual St. Mary's High School Fashion Show is the result. ------ ------- ------ In early November Mark and River were waiting for the sun to come up on a Friday morning when they heard a chorus of wolf howls from a few miles down the river. They got out of the...
CHAPTER 8 So far: River avoided problems with the law while helping the river cure the elders from the hospital. After that, there was a shopping trip to beautiful downtown St. Mary's in the evening, in preparation for the bigger excursion to the city on Saturday. Finally, River sees that her dad has a secret, which he won't tell her. River woke early again, and was able to spend an hour in the river before heading back to wake her family first, and then went back to her tent at...
Chapter 27 So far: River came up with a solution that will keep Dale from losing most of his workforce during deer season, in a way that will please Mark. The river refused to cure the cancer victims who come to it, with one possible exception. The prophet headed off to visit two more reserves, and River has a new hobby, sewing. Finally, Marilyn finds another project, and plans start for Ginny's House II. ------ --------- ----- The next morning River spent most of her time at the...
River walked slowly in the moonlight toward her hot tub. The night was warm, but her heart was still cold from the breakup. She needed to feel again, it was difficult to continue being so cold in her life. It was difficult to pretend to be fine while having her heart ripped out. Her longing needed relief so that she could rest and she had not felt that in so very long. It was okay to let him go, but there were still many other things in her life that needed to be taken care of. She knew her...
Chapter 23 So far: Kyle's Rube Goldberg invention is a huge hit, Alison's tormentors are punished, and Mark makes a new friend in the Toronto police force. Finally, the northern expedition is a huge success ... until they return to Stone Ledge. ------- --------- ----- Rod reached the tree first, and Ria was amazed when he seemed to run up the trunk in a display that was equal to those parkour moves she had seen on the Internet. But Rod had never before done anything like that,...
Chapter 34 - The mine So far: Wayne headed off to college in London, Ontario. On his mission from Manitou, he meets new friends, both four-legged and two-legged ones. He gets a ride back north for Thanksgiving, and Ginny's House II starts to become a reality. ------ -------- ------ Soon after Thanksgiving Neil Audette's divorce was finalized in Thunder Bay, and as soon as Nick and he returned home, they started working on the mine in earnest. Neil took his samples to an assay place he knew...
CHAPTER SEVEN So far: River had spent much of the morning in town treating and finally liberating several elders from the local hospital, where they had been encouraged (trapped?) to stay in a scheme rigged by the administration of the hospital to maintain a higher bed count. With the elders freed, River needs to take them to the river, to allow them to be cured in the ceremony that they had missed on Monday. At the river River pretty much duplicated the ceremony from Monday. After...
Chapter 42 - Conclusion So far: The mill has changed hands, and a media frenzy waited for the First Nations occupation to erupt into violence, which never occurred. Nick and River negotiate a settlement, and a new couple return to St. Mary's. ------ -------- ----- A day after returning to work after her activities on the river, Const. Sandra Harper was passed by a black Mercedes travelling well in excess of the posted 110 kph speed in the opposite direction. Her radar gun recorded the speed...
Chapter 16 So far: River meets two new people, and the river bestows gifts on them. Carla gets a family, and a chance to be a girl, including a shopping trip. River and her new lawyer go to town, and make up with the hospital and the liquor agency. Then they cap off a busy day with a trip to Colin, resident computer nerd, and discover that a viral product means money will be coming into the reserve. And now: For a change we will look at the following four days, Wednesday to Saturday...
The woman was old and bent and gray, long in her days and hard-set in her ways. As constant in her course as the river which rolls past her place. Those whom she’d loved, (and some who’d loved her, she supposed) had long gone away, moved on or, mostly, passed on. Somewhere, (Tennessee, or Georgia she had heard) dwelt her children’s, children’s, children, but they neither knew her nor cared to. Yes, she was old, but the river was older still. Her family had dwelt on its banks for many...
Chapter 22 So far: the river has cured the doctor of cancer, although he won't admit it yet. Progress in getting a bank branch for the town has taken a different tack, with the possibility of a credit union managed by Alison. Both of Alison's children are registered for school in September, although not without problems. ------- ------ --- On Friday many of the townspeople were standing outside of Red Door First Nations Arts and Crafts, as the new store was named, and that name was now clear...
CHAPTER FIVE So far: Camping can be dangerous, as Mark learns when he is accosted by a strange, creepy man in the camp washrooms. River is minutes away, running faster than she ever has in her life. She doesn't know what is wrong, but the river has told her that Mark is in danger. She needed to get to the camp, find out where Mark is, and then get to the washrooms before the young boy is scarred for life. There isn't enough time. (Warning, this episode deals with pedophilia, and if...
Chapter 33 - Wayne's Mission So far: Night taught a science class, the Credit Union is started, and already expansion plans are made, and a massive moose chooses an honorable way to die. ----- ------- ------- Wayne arrived at the dorm in London with his roommate Jeremy just after noon on Monday. They spent the next few hours unloading the car and setting up their rooms. The dorm had two separate bedrooms with a shared bathroom and kitchenette, not the shared bedroom only type...
Chapter 35 ? Grand Openings So far: Word about the gold rush is on, and big companies wanting a piece of the action were surprised and upset when they couldn't convince the band to give up a share, in return for ruining the environment and rerouting the river. And Mark was taught an interesting lesson. ----- ------- ----- The months of September and October brought changes to St. Mary's. In the last week of September, the Ojibwe Co-operative had its grand opening. The store had been open for ...
Chapter 38 - Moving On So far: River gets some great news from the river on her birthday, and then sees her small celebration grow and grow and grow. Finally, Mark brings back a historic Ojibwe celebration with Longest Night to celebrate the solstice. ------ ------ ------ Winter in northern Ontario can be bleak. Snow, cold, short days, long nights and bad tempers for most people. But along the river the last one didn't occur this year. In February River promoted a winter festival, with all...
(Preface: The River Boat was created between Annora and My Erotic Tail. This tale of Abby and Sam on a house boat on the river grew from a small idea (SRP) into a wonderful tale. Thanks for the wonderful co-write Annora. I hope everyone enjoys the read as much as I enjoyed the write. A special Thank you to LadyShianne for editing.) (Chapter One) The Cherry The ride from the airport was long and quiet. They exchanged views of their expectations of this vacation get away. But the travel had...
Chapter 31 - Mark at School So far: River had her first day at high school, and all goes well. Her Ojibwe teacher had a sly way of letting her teach the language and history to the other students, without them knowing that she was really in charge. The river cured a newcomer to the school, although not in the way one would expect. And finally we discovered what Chip's secret was. Now we go back a few hours and go to Mark's first day at school. ----- ------ ------- Mrs. Cutler...
Chapter 19 So far: We start a chapter in which River does not appear. After Alison s horrible session with the vice president of the bank left her unemployed and shattered, she met up with the lawyer Nick and started to calm down. In this chapter we look at what her son, Mark did at the same time as Alison's meeting. ----- --------- Mark wandered through the Taddle Creek Mall, three floors of retail extravagance. In his mind he compared its 300-plus stores to the one main...
They pulled in at North Canyon Rapids an hour or so later -- no one was wearing a watch -- and called it good enough for the day. The hike out of there proved to be pretty good, and dinner was good, too. Al had some stories to tell around a tiny campfire that evening, and Crystal spent a few minutes talking about her beautiful trip down the Inside Passage on a salmon boat called the Glacier Bay a couple years before, and how they had to cross one wide opening in very bad conditions. A rogue...
They drifted on down the river, with Al mostly talking about the history and the geology of the place -- it was new and interesting to her, too, and would be among the many things she had to learn, she knew without asking. The wind was getting to her a little; so she dug around in her on-river drybag and pulled out a nylon rain jacket, that would help to keep the water off, and pulled it on. The Canyon walls were higher now, and closer together. As they drifted along Al explained that...
It was good to be out on the river. It was a comfortable day, not too hot; they got under way into a comfortable breeze that made things just about perfect. Scooter spent a couple minutes talking about John Doyle Lee, the Mormon assassin with nineteen wives who founded the Ferry back in the 1870s, the only place the river could be crossed for hundreds of miles in those days, and pointed out the old roadbed that led up the far Canyon wall. They ran around a slight curve and bounced through...
While most everyone but the crew was still asleep, Scooter and Crystal got their heads together in the early morning half-light. "If we're going to make this a qualifier for Randy, we're going to have to get him and Nicole out of Duane's raft," Crystal said. "And, I want to run with Nanci and Mom, at least today." "Guess we can do it," Scooter said from behind the roar of the big propane burner that was heating wash water. "How's about you take Noah, and I'll take Randy and...
River Boat: Day 2 (Turtle Cove) (This story was written by Annora and My Erotic Tail in (SRP) Thanks Annora~) (Edited by LadyShianne…Thanks S~) The sound of Abby in the kitchen woke Sam from his slumber. Slowly he arose and made ready the ‘Cherry’ for its daily voyage. The two of them exchanged ‘Good mornings,’ as Sam got the boat under way and Abby started breakfast. A bit nervous, they glanced at each other not sure what to say to break the ice. The River Boat made its way down river as...
River world is more of an experiment then a true reality anyone to have died on Earth is brought back to life on River World. River World is 100 times bigger then earth and it has billions of people on it. If someone is killed in River world at some point the keepers will bring them back to life somewhere down the River. Different people control about very square mile and the Keepers supply resources like food and some forms of luxury items. Thou they tend to be rare. The Keepers are the...
Kat started to school in the little River City community school and caught up to the other students. The weather was getting cooler and even on sunny days it was too cool for Kat to go without clothes. Except when she was inside the houseboat, then she hardly ever wore clothes. Luther had even quit fussing at her. For Thanksgiving, Luther and Kat fixed a real fancy Thanksgiving dinner and invited Granny to eat with them. With duck season coming on, Luther spent a lot of time getting his...
"You know," Scooter remarked as she and Jim headed down the Bright Angel Trail from Indian Gardens. "We ought to rig it around with Al so we could actually run with Dave and Mary once. I've never run with them, and I've always heard they were pretty cool." "They are," Jim said. "I spent all last fall running with them, remember? If Team 2 has a certain religious tinge to it, Team 1 has a New-Age tinge to it, so to speak." "What kind of tinge do you think Team 3 has?" Scooter...
I sold every one of my shotguns at Rock Island. They were much more popular than the rifles. Even an Indian band pooled their resources and bought one of the shotguns. That was the kind of thing that was going to kill the nomadic life of the Indians. Once they learned how much easier it would be to obtain food with the shotgun, they would be buying powder, shot, and caps. That meant that they would locate near a trading post and not want to wander very far away. We didn't pick up much...
Once everyone had a chance at the lunch line and were standing around working on sandwiches and pop, Scooter got up on the drybox of her raft. "OK, folks," she called out. "I'm Scooter Whitsell. Scooter isn't my real name and some of you know what it is, but I'm trying to forget it so I usually don't answer to it. I'll be your trip leader the first half of the trip, since Crystal knows a lot of people here, and it'll give her a little more chance to be friendly. She'll be leading...
The Ohio River could and would be very treacherous if it was ever given the chance. Sand bars abounded and the channel was almost impossible to find when the river was in flood. Capt. Johnson had a man on the bow taking depth readings every few yards. The Lovely Louise was barely moving just fast enough to keep up steerage. Any faster and they would not have been able to correct for changes in the channel. Fortunately, the Lovely Louise drew very little water, even when heavily loaded. She...
Abbey and Sam were in slumber on the River Boat. The gentle swaying of the boat was like a rocking cradle. The night was quiet and peaceful. Abby lay warmly in Sam’s arms. The Moon’s light come through the window of the bedroom casting shadows as the boat swayed with the rivers swells. Sam opened his eyes wide in the pitch black dark. He looked at Abby whom was sound asleep. Sam rolled back over to his side, searching for a cool spot in the pillow. Then he nuzzled into sleep again. ‘Clink,’ A...
The cannon was small, but Capt. Johnson had bought some grapeshot and cannister rounds for it. Either one would play hell with attacking pirates. I made a point of getting to know the three cannoneers, Jim Anderson, Bill Jackson, and Hiram North. They were all veterans of the Indian wars and knew how to handle cannon against gangs of attackers. We all felt a lot more secure when they signed on to the Lovely Louise. Between the cannon and our fast-loading rifles, we would be able to outfight...
There were some supplies that Scooter needed to fill out early the next morning, things like extra sunscreen, sunglasses, Chapstick, and tampons, but fortunately they were able to find them in a convenience store not far from the motel. The Canyon Tours business office proved to be a small building that had once been a house, with a large steel building in the back and a big parking lot. Crystal parked the Dodge along the back fence and got out. Scooter got out of the car and checked out the...
It was getting well along in the afternoon when the crew bus got them back to Flagstaff, but there was still work to do. Scooter found out that no one had been joking about dumping the groovers -- they'd taken several and used each one till it was getting close to full. They all stunk like hell, and there was nothing to be done about it but try to survive and hope to hell there'd be a swamper junior to her on the next trip. They stunk just about as bad while they were being hosed out and...
Friday morning was strange. It still seemed strange to haul their things in from the trunk of the Dodge, to hang clothes in real closets, put them in real dressers. They took their time about it, and it still felt nice. Once again, Scooter volunteered to do Crystal's laundry -- a washer and dryer were things the house lacked. After Al picked up Karin and Crystal in the late morning, around lunchtime, Scooter drove the Dodge over to the Burro, got the laundry going, and had a beer and a bar...
What with one thing and another, it took several hours to wind up this end-of-the-season staff meeting. There was one more item on the list to wrap up the year: the season-end staff party at Al's the next night. Everybody who had been at the staff meeting would be there, of course, but so would most of the summer boatmen and swampers within reach, many of the people from other companies who had filled in for the odd trip or two, a few former boatmen like Michelle's parents Pat and Rachel,...
The trail was familiar -- she'd hiked it a couple months earlier; one of the hike-ins had done it a couple years before, it turned out, so he was familiar with it, too. She suggested he take point since the trail could be tough to find in spots. Scooter figured she'd take sweep, to make sure everybody made it up all right, but right now her mind was mostly on other things. A little ways up the trail she turned around for one last look at the six rafts and the river. She was sad to have to...