Chapter 6
When Lisa returned to camp, Susan and Ron were standing outside of the camper, looking in the direction of the camper full of men.
Lisa set the bucketful of firewood down.
"What kept ya?" Ron asked, disguising any hint of the lewd act he had just performed with his mother's best friend.
"I had to go way into the forest," Lisa lied, "the other campers seemed to have picked up all the loose wood lying close to camp."
Suddenly one of the men from the giant motor-home camper came stumbling into Ron, Lisa, and Susan's camp. The man was partially bald, rough-looking, and unshaven. Susan felt uneasy as the man stood there, a beer can in his hand, a cigar in his mouth; the burley-looking man's eyes were firmly riveted on the flaring, blatant femininity of her pelvis, and during the entire time the man spoke to Lisa, Ron and Susan, he never took his eyes off of Susan's delicious swells.
"You girls need any help?" the man asked, his speech slightly slurred by a morning of heavy drinking.
Lisa, trying to be diplomatic, said:
"I think we've got everything under control, but thank you for being so kind."
A huge black man, wearing no shirt, his bulging, tight muscles shining in the sun, came from the motor home and approached the group. He caught Ron's uneasy stare and instantly there was an uneasy electricity pervading the group.
"Well, hello, ladies," the black man said. "My name's "Bull," this here's Fred. Would you care to join us for a beer or two this afternoon? That good 'ole brew sure makes the sun feel better."
"No thanks," Susan said, beginning to feel the uneasy pressure of the situation begin to build up.
"Aw, c'mon," Bull said, "just for a sip."
"We have other plans," Ron said, trying to command the situation.
The giant Bull caught the gaze of Ron. Ron recognized an instant fret of violence in the black man's eyes, and Ron decided to remain silent.
"As a matter-of-fact," Susan replied, "we were just leaving."
"That don't make too much sense!" Bull said, "You just got here."
"I know," Susan lied, "but you see, my friend Lisa here isn't feeling well and we've decided to go home."
"She looked pretty healthy when she was luggin' that wood up the path," Fred replied, still not taking his eyes off of Susan's curving hips.
Lisa realized that the men were aware that her and Susan were lying. She knew that continuing the conversation any further would result in a scene and a scene with these men was exactly what they didn't need.
"We'll be over in a little while," Lisa replied, "Just give us a few minutes to get cleaned up. We've got to run down to the store for a few things, and then we'll be right back. It shouldn't be any longer than an hour." She smiled invitingly into the dark, lusty eyes of Bull.
Lisa and Ron both realized, of course, that Susan was lying, was trying to make an excuse so that the three of them would have time to get away. There was a moment of uneasy, raw tension as the three of them waited for Bull or Fred to speak.
"Sound o.k. to you, Fred?" Bull asked.
"Yeah, I mean, after all, things worth waiting for are worth waiting for," he said, and suddenly stared greedily into Susan's eyes.
Susan almost winced as she eyed his tobacco-stained teeth and protruding beer-belly. The thought of such a bestial-looking man anywhere near her made her extremely nervous.
Fred grinned lewdly at the voluptuous young wife.
"O.K. ladies," Bull said, "see you in an hour." Lisa, Ron and Susan watched nervously as the two men walked back to their friend's camp. When the two men joined the other men, there was a brief session of huddled whispers, then suddenly the entire group burst forth with obscene, humiliating catcalls.
"Let's get out of here," Lisa said to Susan and Ron.
The three of them piled quickly in the cab of the camper.
As they pulled out, Lisa and Susan enthusiastically waved to the group of men who stared glaringly at them as they pulled out.
"Whew!" Susan said, as Lisa pulled onto the main road. "I thought we were stuck there for a minute!"
"Me too!" Lisa said.
'That was pretty quick thinking, Mom," Ron replied. What are we going to do now?"
Lisa realized that it would seem very strange if she suggested that they return home now. After all, as far as Susan and Ron were concerned the problem at hand had been eliminated; both of their suspicions might be aroused if she wanted to go home so soon.
"I think we should go on up the mountain," Lisa said, as smoothly as possible. "We'll go where we were going to go tomorrow night."
"Sounds fine," Susan said.
"Great!" Ron replied, "We'll be in a real wilderness up there!"
Indeed they would; Lisa was going to take them on a back road that very few people even knew existed.
"It'll take about five hours to get there," Ron said.
"If we drive straight through, we should be able to get there before nightfall," Lisa replied.
And so they began the winding, perilous journey up the back road of the rugged Catspaw Mountains. The road became rough and ragged, and the camper whirled up clouds of dust as it rocked from side to side.
"Can't see a thing out the rear window," Lisa replied, as she eyed the beige-colored billows of powdery earth flying in the air behind her. "That's not too important, though," she continued, "at least I've got a good view ahead."
The sun was already hidden in the deep valleys and sloping peaks of the monstrous, jagged rock. The foliage was becoming increasingly thick as it slapped and banged against the sides of the camper.
It was as if the three passengers in the cab were riding in a time machine, traveling back through the eons as they plunged headwards through the thick forest.
Four and a half hours of grueling driving and bumpy riding passed. The path (for it was much too narrow to be called a road) was barely wide enough for the camper to fit on.
"We're gettin' pretty close to the spot, ain't we, Mom?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Lisa replied. "I think it's just up here."
Lisa spied a rounded clearing in the road ahead and knew that she was close to the spot where she, her husband and her son had come many times to escape the clamoring roar of the city.
It was twilight now; the stars were beginning to appear with crystal clarity against the deep, rich blue of the evening sky.
Lisa pulled into a small dirt "cul-de-sac" and cut off the engine.
There was a look of absolute fear and shock on the faces of Ron, Lisa, and Susan as they heard the deep, powerful purring of another engine, a big engine.
As the dust cloud disappeared, Susan was appalled to see the rectangular form of the huge motor home coming into view.
Suddenly the leering, bulbous face of Fred emerged from the dust and peered into Lisa's window.
"Nice try, ladies," he said. "But that dust cloud your 'ole camper stirred up was a helluva trail and a helluva camouflage!"