by Allan Joyal
Steve and I shrugged. "Complex, but we'll have to watch one night. Although we have to be careful, we don't have much to bet," I said.
"Why are we doing this then?" Eddie moaned as Steve picked up the dice and rolled again. "There are girls just over there. Naked girls. Pretty naked girls. We should be looking at them, not kneeling in the dirt throwing dice."
Al smacked Eddie in the back of the head. "And if those ladies knew you were watching, they just might decide to test out the knives they carry. Why can't you be a man about the situation?"
Steve performed a facepalm. Al looked up in surprise as Hencktor's head spun to look at my friend. "What?"
Steve looked at me, but I waved for him to speak. "You don't know Eddie. His father was very much an old fashioned gentleman, but Eddie's mother was friends with some trophy wives. Beatrice was actually a rather chaste and caring woman, but many of her friends definitely qualified as easy and sleazy. Eddie grew up watching a procession of pool maintenance men, washing machine repairmen, and UPS delivery drivers enter the bedrooms of these ladies while his father and the other executives were at work. His idea of a man is someone who's scoring with any woman with a pulse."
"I've never been like that!" Eddie screamed. "Women just can't say no to me. They want me."
Steve and I said nothing. Steve had thrown a three for his second throw and continued. I kept an eye on Eddie, who tried a couple times to turn his head and look back at the pool. After his second attempt, I grabbed his ear and held it tightly, forcing him to keep his eyes on the dice Steve threw. Steve threw the dice six times without getting an eight, but finally threw a seven and passed the dice to Eddie.
Eddie's eyes lit up. "I've got it. I'll bet that I can win. If I do, you stop holding me here!" Before anyone could respond, he set the dice spinning in the bowl. There was a decided edge to his giggles as the dice danced. Finally they came to a halt.
Eddie's head dropped. Both dice were showing six pips. He was motionless for a moment, but then surged to his feet. "Shit! I hate this place! I want Muffy!" Al jumped up to try to control him, but Eddie shook him off and stormed away, following William in exiting the clearing and returning to the road.
"Muffy?" Al asked.
"His secretary. Actually I think her name is Mildred, but Eddie likes to pretend that she's a sorority girl. She hates him, and it shows, but she is also one of the few women he fears and respects."
"But?" Al muttered. "If he hasn't ... ."
I put a hand on Al's arm. "She's one of the few people he knows won't lie to him. She hates him and doesn't really respect him because of all the skirt-chasing, but she is also loyal to him. She even helps schedule his dates and advises him on how to conduct himself. Whenever he's feeling lost, he goes to her."
"Wow," Al said.
Hencktor had stood along with Al. He followed Eddie until he left the clearing and then returned. "Should we continue?" he asked.
I waved toward the bowl, but before we could kneel, screaming erupted out at the pool. "Stop treating me like I'm going to break!"
There was a loud cry of pain and a splash. I could see Al and Hencktor had already turned to the pool. Their eyes were a bit glazed as they stared. Before I could turn, I could hear feet crunching the moss. The steps were uneven. "I can walk! You said you see no infection! I may not be ready to run a marathon, but I'm fine! I don't need you acting like a nursemaid!" Natalie snapped out.
She walked past us and over to the packs. The young woman was gloriously naked and wet. I glanced down at her legs. No bandages covered her wounds. The skin around the stitches was a bit red, but the slashes themselves were already fading. They looked about two months old rather than something the coed suffered just the day before.
Natalie ignored us and grabbed one of the packs. She reached in and pulled out a bundle of cloth. She struggled for a moment while unwinding it, but eventually she just set it on the ground and stood in the middle. Gingerly she squatted down and then raised up the skirt, fastening it with the button Madam Wessera had described to Heather the day before. Then she pulled a cloak from the top of the pack and wrapped it around her body before coming over.
Al and Hencktor were blushing fiercely and Steve was studiously inspecting one of the dice we had been using.
"What?" Natalie snapped.
Hencktor tried to look away. "You...you..." he sputtered. "You walked by us naked!"
Natalie stared at Hencktor, saying nothing. The cloak had fallen open, and her bare breasts were visible. Absently she lifted her right hand and brushed an imaginary lock of hair from her face. "I don't see why that should be a problem, unless you want it to be. It's only for tonight anyways."
"Why?" I asked. As I did, Lydia walked by. Like Natalie, she was naked. I strove to look at the treeline as out of the corner of my eye I could see Lydia grab a number of cloaks and bedrolls and then turn back towards the pool.
She strode by again, holding the bundles in front of her breasts. "You guys should bathe too," she said as she passed. "You're starting to smell rather ripe."
The casual way Lydia walked by had me shaking my head. I turned to look Natalie in the eye. "There has to be some story behind this," I mused.
Natalie nodded and a spark of anger crossed her eyes. "There is, that bitch Esme wouldn't leave me alone. She acts like I'm some fragile doll. I kept telling her that even though my leg is a bit sore, she didn't need to do everything for me."
I pointedly let my eyes drop until I was looking directly at Natalie's breasts. She gasped and pulled the cloak closed over them. "No. I was asking for the story about..." I began.
Just then Lydia returned. She was wearing one of the cloaks around an otherwise naked body. She blushed slightly when I looked at her, but shook her head. "It's not that complex," she said as she put a hand on Natalie's shoulder. "We also washed the outfits we were wearing, and it's not like we had other outfits to change into. Until our clothes dry, we just have the cloaks and bedrolls. So we're rather cold. Henck, dear, could you get the fire going?"
"Drying your clothes?" Al asked.
Natalie reached up and pointed off towards the stream. I looked and could see the ladies' outfits lying on some rocks that were still receiving the late afternoon sunlight. She then shrugged and turned to walk over to the others. I glanced over there, and they were all wearing cloaks and sitting with their backs to us. The group appeared to be involved in some light and obviously humorous conversation.
"Damn," Al said. "I mean, I knew they weren't shy, but for Natalie to just walk up like that."
Steve was shaking his head. "I'm more surprised by Lydia. She's had a hard time trusting men. Walking by us with nothing on had to be a trial."
"Not really," Lydia said. We all turned and realized that she was still standing next to Hencktor. "Steve, I trust you and Ron more than I'd trust my own father. You've both earned the right to see me like this. Al has been sweet to all the girls, and we decided he deserved a treat." She paused then, blushing.
"What about me?" Hencktor asked.
Lydia looked at him. She stood next to him, her eyes gazing into his. For several moments neither spoke, and then Lydia put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
"I thought I'd claim you before any of the others tried," Lydia said as they broke the kiss. "You can be my protector in this land."
Lydia stepped away and put her right hand on his arm. Hencktor followed silently as she led him to the edge of the clearing and sat down in the shade, her arms again around his neck.
"Shit!" Al shouted. "Now who will get the fire started?"
We looked over at the fire pit to find that Kariy had a pyramid of wood set up. Underneath was a nest of dry grasses and strips of bark. Steve and I knelt down to look at it. Finally I shrugged. "Well, it looks like it will light."
Steve nodded. Without getting to his feet, he turned towards the women. "Victoria, can you bring your lighter over to start this fire?"
"It's
in my blue bag!" Victoria shouted back. "Check the small side pocket. The fuel is low so don't play with it."
Steve got up and wandered over to the packs. He had to pick up three before finding Victoria's bag. He dug around in the pouches. I could see that his hand had closed on something, when he jumped up and rushed back to the fire pit.
He knelt next to the pile of wood and carefully pulled out one of the strips of bark. Victoria said the lighter was low on fuel, but it produced an immediate flame and in seconds Steve had the tinder burning. He thrust it back into the nest of kindling and backed away.
Smoke started rising from the wood. I looked up in thought. The sun still had about a handspan to go before it dropped below the trees. Looking over at the pool, I made a decision. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to bathe."
With that, I walked over by the pool. One end was still in sunlight. I pulled my dirty polo shirt off, feeling it peel away from my back. The cool afternoon air raised immediate goosebumps as I moved to place the shirt on the ground.
"You can wash the clothes too!" Heather shouted.
"How?" I called back as I sat on the ground and untied my shoes. "We don't have a washing machine here."
"Men!" I heard Elizabeth snort. "Can you see the white potato like root sitting there?"
I looked down to find what she shouted about. There was a strange white root lying on the ground. One end had been sliced with a knife. The knife was resting on the ground, and experimentally I used it to remove another slice. I lifted the slice up and looked at it closely.
The slice did not seem special. I have little understanding of botany, but to me, it looked little different from a freshly sliced potato. The skin was white instead of brown, and perhaps the center was honeycombed rather than smooth, but I had no idea why Elizabeth pointed it out to me.
"It acts like soap!" Elizabeth shouted scornfully. "Just get your dirty clothes wet and rub that over them. It will form a lather. Rinse off the lather and your clothes will be clean."
"Cleaner," Jennifer shouted. "It doesn't take out stains, but at least the sweat should come out."
"And the same stuff works on bodies, just make sure you rinse well," Lisa Little volunteered.
Moments later my pants, socks and underwear joined my shirt in a pile on the rocks. The coeds offered more than a few wolf whistles as I shed the last of my clothing and carefully negotiated the slippery stones lining the bank. With the slice of root in my hand, I slipped into the water.
"Nice ass, Ron!" Lydia shouted from the far side of the clearing as I blushed.
The water was actually rather warm. By the rocks, the pool was deep enough that, standing, the water came up just above my bellybutton. I turned back to the rocks and pulled my shirt into the water, soaking it. With the root, I scrubbed the shirt.
As the girls had said, the root slowly dissolved, forming a lather on the fabric. The lather was thin as I scrubbed the shirt. Once I had the fabric covered in foam, I shoved it under the water and twirled it to remove the lather. It took only a few moments and then I removed the shirt and lay it down on the rocks in the sun.
I continued my efforts to use the root on my clothing. As I did, Steve, Al and finally a blushing Hencktor came over, stripping and jumping into the water. The fire had caught, and once the other men joined me in the water, the girls quickly surrounded the fire, huddling in their cloaks.
My clothing was all drying in the sun, when I noticed movement by the entrance. I had been using the root to try to clean off the dried sweat and dirt from my torso and dunked my body immediately. Releasing the small piece of remaining root, I rose out of the water. Droplets of water were streaming from my naked body as I grabbed the spear and stalked towards the entrance to the clearing.
There was a squawk of outrage and Eddie appeared at the entrance. "What the fuck are you doing? Have you turned into some kind of barbarian?" he shouted as I approached.
"Protecting everyone," I hissed. "I had no idea where you were and couldn't see who was approaching."
"Well, put something on! I don't need to see... what I'm seeing," Eddie whined. "Why are you naked anyways?'
"It's called bathing," Lydia shouted from the fire. "Reduces the smell. You should try it. There's still enough sun for you to dry off."
Eddie looked rebellious. He glared over at the fire and then over to the pool. Behind me, I could hear Steve and Al dunking their bodies. I tensed and gripped the spear tightly, but Eddie's shoulders slumped. With shuffling steps, he made his way to the edge of the pool.
I watched Eddie sit down on the rocks. He was slowly removing his clothing. Steve had waded to the edge of the pool and put his hands on the rocks. I was expecting him to jump out of the water when I felt something drop on my back. In shock, I reached up with my left hand and found the heavy cloth of a cloak.
"Put it around your body," Heather said softly. "It will help keep you warm and we won't have to look at your naked body."
"It can't be that bad," I muttered as I fought the cloak, trying to get it fastened around my neck.
"You are a good thirty pounds overweight, and it's all at your waist," Heather said. "Not exactly attractive. But the big thing is that Kariy, Lydia and Lisa Little are all a bit distressed to see..."
"So I'm no Fabio," I said with a groan. "I never claimed to be."
Heather giggled. "Oh, it's not like that. But let's admit that men should be naked in the bedroom for sex, not wandering around a campsite."
"This isn't a campsite," I replied. "We don't have the marshmallows. Unless you brought some, and I haven't heard about it."
Heather merely laughed. She dropped four more cloaks at my feet and then turned and walked back to the fire. I picked up the cloaks and headed to the pool. Steve and Al were both standing on the shore in the sun, shivering slightly.
"The water isn't as cold as I expected, but the air isn't exactly warm," Al said as his teeth chattered.
"Take one," I suggested, holding up the cloaks in my right hand. "It will help a bit."
Steve laughed as he came up and took the cloaks away from me. He threw one to Al and then set two more by the pool. The final one he flourished like a matador's cape and then flipped it around his body before fastening the brooch to hold it closed. "I always wanted to do that," he enthused.
Al was a bit more careful, but he also quickly donned the cloak before turning around and gazing at the pool. "I don't need the girls seeing..." he said with a blush.
Steve laughed and also turned to face the pool. "I can agree with that," he said.
We stood, watching Eddie and Hencktor. Behind us the girls continued their cheerful chatter. Hencktor was blushing fiercely at this time. It was clear he had finished with the soap, but he seemed unwilling to exit the water. Seeing him in some kind of distress, I knelt down. "What's the problem?"
"It's not right for the womenfolk to see me," Hencktor replied sadly. "They aren't kin."
Steve looked puzzled. "You didn't seem upset when the rest of us exited the water. And you went with Lydia."
"Lydia is a nice lady," he said. "It would have been very wrong to say no, even though I should have. It wasn't right that she did that."
I looked at Steve. He shrugged and turned back to Hencktor. "Well, I know Lydia wasn't upset about it. We are a bit puzzled that the ladies haven't been more upset. Usually a woman will only allow a few very trusted men to see them naked."
"Can't you understand that all us girls talked about that while bathing?" Lydia shouted. "William is a complete ass, and Eddie is a perv, but we trust the rest of you. Just don't push the boundaries, and it should work out."
"Besides," Elizabeth shouted, "from what Kariy has told us, most travelers will use only one room at an inn rather than splitting up. So we are probably going to end up seeing a lot of each other in the future."
Steve and I glanced at each other as Hencktor finally made his way to the shore. We each offered a hand and pulled the man from the water. As soo
n as his feet touched the rocks, we turned away as Al handed him one of the cloaks. This left Eddie in the water, and he quickly dunked his body and started wading to the shore.
I noticed Al running his fingers through his hair. "It itches and feels greasy," he complained. "But that soap didn't work as shampoo."
"As what?" Hencktor asked.
"It's a liquid that works similar to that root we used to lather up the clothes and our bodies, but you use it to clean hair," Steve said as Eddie reached the rocks. None of us moved to help the man, and he groaned loudly as he had to lever his body onto the shore without assistance.
"Oh," Hencktor said. He stood thinking for a moment and then looked over at the fire. "Kariy, do you know a way to clean hair?"
There was silence in the clearing, broken only by Eddie jumping and complaining about the cold air as he wrapped his body in the cloak. The man seemed to understand that his presence annoyed the women because he dashed over to the packs, found a rolled up blanket and headed for a sunny spot near the entrance to the clearing, where he lay down.
"Use a brush," Lisa Little shouted to us once Eddie was lying down. "If you brush your hair enough times, the tangles will come out and most of the dirt will be pulled away."
Al groaned. I glanced at Steve and we exchanged shrugs. "Do we have brushes to use?" I asked.
"Oh, don't be a baby," Martha snapped. "Yes, we have some brushes. You think I could have my hair as long as I do and not keep a brush around? Come sit by the fire, but keep the cloak wrapped around your body."
"That goes for all of you," Lydia called out. "We've already done what brushing we can here."
I turned to Steve, but he merely gave a bemused smirk before heading towards the fire. Al and Hencktor joined him in the slow walk. I wrapped the cloak tightly around my body and followed.
When I reached the fire, Kariy grabbed me and pulled me down next to her. It took her only a couple of strokes with a brush through my short hair before she was satisfied, but then she merely closed the cloak with her hands and leaned against me. I was tempted to reach out.