Chapter 17

That night was very warm and Stephanie was bored so she decided to go for a drive. Her destination was nowhere in particular, wherever her nose took her so she headed out of town at about nine o'clock She had driven in a south by south westerly direction for about an hour and a half, heading at a relatively slow speed towards a sparsely populated region where there were a lot of lakes.

There was a full moon and it was so warm that all Stephanie had on was a shirt with no bra, levis and a pair of flip flops.

There weren't many towns in the area where she was driving and the road was narrow and twisting. At any rate she wasn't in a hurry. She had a few things on her mind and this was a good way for her to think about them and relax at the same time.

She had just put out a cigarette in the ashtray when the high beams of her head lights picked up the figure of a hitch hiker.

Stephanie slowed down cautiously. The hitch hiker was a young woman, probably in her middle twenties. Stephanie pulled over and the woman gratefully got in.

"Thanks," she said as she closed the door and snapped her seat belt shut.

"Where are you headed?"

"Tylersville."

"That's fifty miles from here!"

"I know. My car broke down and I had to push it off the road so I wouldn't cause an accident. You're the first car that's passed in two hours.

They were on a back road, one that was used very infrequently. Stephanie glanced at the woman who wore a blue tank top, very tight and short cut off blue jeans and a pair of sneakers.

She had nice legs, small but firm looking breasts and short blonde hair.

"What's your name?" asked Stephanie.

"Alice."

"I'm Stephanie. How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

"You must be cold."

"No, I'm not."

"Is your family or boyfriend expecting you? I mean they must be getting worried by now."

"I live with another woman. I don't care for men all that much if you know what I mean."

Stephanie knew exactly what she meant. "I think so," she said.

"What about you?" asked Alice as she glanced over at Stephanie, taking as much in as she could without being obvious about it.

"My closest and dearest friend is a woman. We share everything and we like it, too."

Alice was already tanned and Stephanie could see the tiny, bleached hairs on her thighs. Stephanie began to get some interesting ideas.

"If you're hungry maybe we could stop and get a bit to eat," she suggested.

"There's nothing around here," said Alice.

"You're right about that."

Stephanie began to weigh the pleasures against the possible penalties. In all likelihood she would never see this woman again in her life.

Also, Tylersville was quite a distance from where she lived and she rarely had any reason to go anywhere near the place.

She started to drive just a little slower so she could buy herself some more time in which to think. Alice had a very appealing figure, of that there was not doubt in Stephanie's mind.

The girl was clearly up the creek. The road was rarely traveled, especially late at night and Alice was obviously anxious to get home as anybody would under the same circumstances. Also, she was not dressed to spend a night out in the woods, no matter how warm it was.

"I'm really glad you picked me up," said Alice.

"I imagine you are."

"I mean, if you were a man... well, you've probably heard the same horror stories I have."

"About girls getting molested?"

"Yes."

"I'm sure they're all true," said Stephanie.

"We should be there soon."

It was at that point that Stephanie decided to play her hand. After all, she had everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose.

"I wasn't planning on going all the way to Tylersville," she said.

"You mean you'd stop and leave me out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"It's not my fault that your car broke down. I mean I certainly sympathize with you but you're asking an awful lot, don't you think?"

"Well... "

"It's late. I have to get up early in the morning and I also have to make a fairly long drive back home. If it were just a couple of miles I could see it but fifty equals one hundred for me plus at least an extra hour's driving time," said Stephanie.

"I know it's asking a lot."

"It certainly is."

"And I think you're being very sweet to take me this far but I really don't want to spend the night out in the middle of the woods."

"I don't blame you. Bears get active in the night not to mention the fact that it'll probably get a little colder and you're practically naked as it is."

"I've already thought of that," said Alice.

"Well, you have a problem, then, don't you?"

"I think I do."

They drove in silence for a while before Stephanie finally spoke again.

"I'd be willing to take you to Tylersville but to be honest with you, you would have to make it worth it for me. I hate to put it that way but that's the way it is."

"Gee, I don't have that much money with me."

"I wasn't thinking of money."

"Oh, I see. Well then, in that case, I think we can work something out. Pull off the road the next chance you get," said Alice.