Chapter 15
Troy awoke just after the sun had risen over the next mountain, and he felt rested for the first time in days. Angela was ready and waiting for him to start. Janey Daybird had contributed her sturdy walking shoes to Angela's trip, and Lorena had lent her a cute hat with a sun visor. Both loans would come in handy on the thirty-five to forty-five mile jaunt ahead.
Troy hurried through a meager breakfast, and Jay handed him a small, flat package of food. Troy wanted to protest that it was scarcely enough, but he didn't want to face Jay on his first day of command. He was going to say something about it when Angela pressed close to whisper to him that Helene had provided her with a few things that would help out.
Their leave-taking was done without much of a farewell, and damned few of the people wished them luck. Troy did insist on an extra bottle of water, and he also insisted that the bottle be one of those which had come with the original lunch. It was tin-encased with a lining of insulating material, and Troy wanted it in case he or Angela fell with it. It wasn't so likely to break and leave them without water.
Troy was a little disgusted with the lack of interest in their leaving, and he didn't look back. Angela did though. She halted on the last turn and stared back at the camp. She had to hurry to catch up to him, and there was a wide smile on her face.
"I wonder if they know that if we fail, their chances of getting out are pretty dim. You didn't explain that to them."
"Didn't want to scare them. I thought some of them would have figured it out. I know that Janey and Lorena have some idea, but...."
"Maybe it's better this way."
He quickly found out that he didn't have to shorten his stride for her to keep up, but he did slow his pace after about an hour when he noticed her chest laboring for breath. He called a halt after the second straight hour, and he made it a long one. From now on they would rest every half hour or so until fatigue or darkness made them stop.
He wanted to cover as much ground as possible with their initial strength. It was a touchy judgment, in that they couldn't afford a sprint at the start of the race, but tomorrow would see a lessening of energy, and he wanted to be beyond halfway then.
Instead of cutting directly upward to intersect the road, he chose to circle around the mountain and let the road join them. In this way he saved a strength-sapping climb. They met the road, and the going was easier with a smooth surface to pace. There were a lot of downed trees still smoldering and these had to be circled or stepped over. He kept his head down and concentrated on the walk until his shadow startled him into the realization that it was past noon. He glanced back at Angela and saw the flush of begging strain on her cheeks. She nodded assent to a halt.
"I thought you'd never stop for lunch. I've been hungry since the rest stop before last. Mind if I catch my breath before we eat?"
Troy grinned. She was one helluva lot of woman. "Hell, no. Pull up a chair and be comfortable."
He examined their meager food supply, and they each settled on a meaty chunk of venison that had been broiled in the early morning over hot coals. It was chewy and damned tasty, and it filled up the hole in their bellies. He noticed that she drank sparingly, and that was another mark to her credit. If she could keep this up, they had it made.
He saw that her legs were marked with little scabs where the branches had whipped her skin. The dried blood was drawing flies and he knew of the discomfort it must be causing her.
He squandered some of their precious water over her protest to soak his handkerchief and wash the blood off. Her skin was warm in his hands, and he caught himself wanting to wash thighs that had not been exposed to the tearing branches. She thanked him and repacked for the march ahead.
They had little conversation during the next few hours. He found himself spending the rest periods studying her, and the more he saw of her the more he liked her. He found out something else about her in the late afternoon. She pretended not to notice his stare during the rest stops, but he was well aware that she was studying him on the march. It was as though they had just met and were curious about each other, but each didn't want the other to know of the curiosity.
The desire for sex reentered his mind, and he tried to find something about her that he didn't like. He thought that if a fault or two were found it would take away some of the edge of his growing need, but try as he would, he discovered nothing to carp about.
He called for a conference, and she agreed with him to walk until dark and then eat their dinner. His stomach was rebelling at the lack of food, and he knew that she was suffering also, but they stuck it out and dropped to the ground out of breath when the sun's rim sank below the horizon.
He made her rest while he built a small fire, and he let her help with the meal only when she insisted. They went overboard with their food supply, but it was food well spent in that comfort of a full stomach overrode the discomfort of stiff muscles. Troy spread the single blanket they carried for her and prepared to curl around the fire. She looked at his preparations with disgust.
"What the hell does that mean, Troy? I know damned well that you're not that prissy. We both sleep under the blanket or we both sit up all night. Which is it going to be?"
He didn't argue with her, and they were both glad of the other's body heat. They both dropped off to sleep without even bothering to say good night, and Troy slept soundly until he awakened around midnight with the bitter cold. He forced himself from the small warmth of the blanket and the girl's body and shivered as he laid and lit three more small fires to encircle them. He went back to bed and was almost uncomfortable with the extra heat.
He awoke again a few hours later and again replenished the fires. He discovered that he wasn't particularly sleepy, and he sat for a while studying the girl's peaceful face. Her lips curled, and he knew that she was also awake. She laughed and opened her eyes.
"You're nothing but a damned window peeper. What in the world were you thinking just now?"
"I really don't know. I guess I was thinking how peaceful you looked. It was a good thing to see, Angela."
"Thanks for the fire. It's almost cozy, isn't it?"
He laughed then. "It doesn't take very much to make you happy, does it? Where were you when I was spending all that money dating? I've known some girls who complained after a twenty-dollar dinner, a show, and a nightclub or two."
"But you got what you went after with them, didn't you? And was it worth it? Life is funny, isn't it? I mean the things that cost you the most are really free. Am I making sense?"
"Hell, I don't know. Roll over and let's go back to sleep. We've got a hard day ahead of us tomorrow."
She rolled over obediently, but she didn't go back to sleep. He couldn't sleep either, and both of them pretended to the point of silliness before she turned to face him.
"What are you going to do if we get out of this, Troy? I mean, are you going on driving a tour bus?"
He laughed. "I don't think I could go on in this job even if I wanted to. Hell, I'll bet I've been fired since that first night when I didn't bring the bus back to town."
"You shouldn't lose your job on account of the fire. I'll tell them that it wasn't your fault that the bus is wrecked."
"Don't bother, Angie. It was just a phase to go through. I came out of the Army, and I didn't want to go to work. Real work, that is. This wasn't a job really. It was a kind of vacation. I got a big kick out of driving up and down old Virgin's Breast, and I liked having something to do that didn't cost much effort."
"And now?"
"I'm done with the mountain, if that's what you're talking about. I'll find something to do for a living. I've never yet worried about the future. Maybe someday I'll go back and work in my father's factory. I was trained for it. He spent a lot of money getting me educated enough to handle it."
"I'll bet he misses you."
"Probably. He doesn't have anyone now that he can boss around. We used to have some goo clean fights. What about you? What are you going back to?"
"I don't really know. Like you, I'm no afraid of the future. I can get a job almost any where. I was running from something when signed up for this tour. I ... I was in love wit a married man, and it didn't work out. I think I got over him the first time you drove us through the fire. I was hoping that we'd be burned up and then he'd be sorry. Isn't that childish? He probably couldn't care less what happens to me. He's the real loser, I think. He had a good thing going with me for a long time."
"Hell, honey, the guy's a real sap. A real clunker. I'll go poke him in the nose for you, if it'll make you feel any better."
"It's me now-who couldn't care less what happens to him. I buried him somewhere up there on the top of Virgin's Breast. Why do they call it Virgin's Breast when so many men have climbed all over her?"
"That's funny. I've always thought of the mountain as being feminine too. She never gave out her secrets to the miners who grubbed holes in her. Maybe she is still virginal? Anyway, virgins are pretty useless things, aren't they? God preserve me from virgins and righteous Christians!"
"Would it make any difference to you whether or not I was a virgin? Don't answer that, Troy that was unfair of me. I'm not a virgin. I lived as that man's mistress, and I've-"
"Whoa! Who the hell asked for your life history? If we're not going back to sleep, I can think of a lot better things to do than talk about a lot of useless past. For instance, I've been wanting to kiss you all day."
"Then why didn't you? I was beginning to think that there was something wrong with me. I know you kissed the other girls on the tour. Well, go ahead and kiss me."
Troy hesitated. There was something very serious behind her flippant demand. He had the sinking feeling that standard, everyday things were going to go to hell in a minute, and he didn't want to be the one that rocked the boat. It was something like pulling the bottom can out of a carefully stacked grocery-store display. He guessed that a kiss from her would wreak pandemonium.
She took the option and placed her soft, full lips squarely on his own. The result was a good deal the same as reaching out to touch some familiar object, only to have a terrific spark of static electricity shock hell out of you. The electricity they generated was not static. It was volatile, and it lit up a conflagration that was almost unquenchable.
He knew now why he had restrained himself from seeking out sex with the girls in camp. His subconscious mind had had the sense to store up his potential for this. The kiss was just a mere pressing together of lips, but he saw the shock in her eyes as she drew back.
"Did we bite off more than we can chew, Angela?"
"I don't know. I'm scared now, Troy. Terribly scared. I didn't want it to be like this. I won't have it! I won't be hurt again. That's too much in one lifetime."
His arms enveloped her. "Shut up, you damned little fool! In a minute you'll be saying thing's you don't mean."
She looked up at him, and her eyes softened with the certain knowledge that destiny faced her. He was her destiny, and this was what she had been born for. She knew that she was his then and for all time. She was more than enough woman to know that this surrender to him was total and complete. She raised her lips to his and the world spun around in a mad, exciting whirl. One touch of his lips, and she was roused as she had never thought possible. The two halves of a perfect whole had come together, and they lacked only a simple mechanical joining to become supreme.
They knew what was coming, and they were adult enough to refrain from hurrying. There was a long life ahead to spend together, and they wanted the start of it to be unblemished by haste. There was so much to learn about each other. There were a lot of pages to turn before their story would be told.
Troy opened the flyleaf of their book when he shakily unbuttoned her blouse. He hesitated over the last button, and it was almost sacrilege to bare her lacy brassiere. He shied away from the fastenings of the brassiere with the thought that he could not bear the naked loveliness of her breasts. She understood something of what was going through his mind, and she raised herself to do it for him. Her shoulders came forward, and she let the constricting garment fall in her lap.
The firelight danced on the glorious wonder of her nude torso, and Troy's throat ached with the beauty of her. She had to cup them and hold them out to offer them to him before he could tear himself out of his beauty-inspired trance. He could not, at first, bring himself to touch them with what he considered to be soiled hands. He bent far forward and placed a reverent kiss on the pert nipple. She sighed, and her hand went to the back of his neck to press his face close.
She had to carry one of his hands to a breast before he dared to touch her. The feel of that perfectly rounded mound shook his sensibility, and he caressed it as though it was extremely fragile and precious.
She smiled at his tenderness. "I won't break, darling. You don't have to be so careful with me. I thank you for your gentleness, but this thing can be carried too far. Hold it tightly, darling. Crush me. Squeeze me. Hold me."
Crush? Squeeze? Hold, maybe, but carefully. It would be a long time before he could think of her as being anything other than his goddess. She was his religion, his reason for existence. Except for the strident urge in him, sex with her seemed a blasphemy. She understood this also, and while she adored his reverence of her body, she was practical enough to know that sex would hold him long after this initial awe faded.
She kicked off the blanket and busied her fingers at her belt. Her actions were the epitome of feminine grace as she freed her legs of skirt and panties. He groaned aloud with crying need as she bared her wonderful body. His hands became independent of his mind as they reached to sense the smoothness of knee and thigh. He had little or no control over the wandering of his palms, and they insisted on touching every part of her.
She broke through his reverie with another foray at sensibility when she reached for the blanket to cover them both. He didn't realize until then that the skin he touched was cool and shivering. He cursed fate for forcing their honeymoon here.