"I dunno," Emma said. "It's a long way down."
"How about if we hold hands and do it together?" I said.
Emma looked at me uncertainly for a moment, then nodded and edged closer to me. Then she held out her hand and I clasped it gently. I could feel her hand shaking, and I squeezed it to build her confidence.
"On the count of three, okay?" I said.
Emma nodded as I began the count.
"One...two...three!" I yelled as Emma and I leaped off the cliff together into the bracing water below.
That wasn't the only leap that Emma and I would take over the next few days.
2
Night Whispers
We swam for a few minutes in the warm water of the lake below the waterfall, then retrieved our gear and completed our portage down to the shore. The experience of paddling the canoes across the quiet lake was sublime. There was virtually no noise other than the occasional cry of a bird and the soft sloshing sound of our paddles dipping in and out of the water. Little black bugs skittered over the surface as the bows of our canoes sliced through the shimmering liquid. Every now and then I'd hear a droplet sound near our boat followed by little concentric ripples in the water.
"What's that sound?" I asked Lilly, who'd taken up the stern position in my canoe. "It sounds like someone throwing pebbles in the water."
"It's fish feasting on all those water skeeters," she said. "They're a pretty tempting snack just sitting there on the surface."
"What kind of fish?" Hannah asked, peering over the gunwale into the dark water from her squatted position in the middle of our canoe. "Should we be worried about us being fish food for some kind of monster dwelling under the surface? It's pretty dark down there. I can barely see two feet below the surface."
Lilly chuckled as she dragged her paddle in the water to steer our canoe gently to the starboard side.
"The water's actually remarkably clear when you're underneath it. But you needn't worry about any Jaws-like predator under the surface. It's mostly filled with Walleye, Pike, Bass, and Yellow Perch. Though some of the Muskies do grow to five or six feet in length, they only have teeth big enough to eat smaller fish."
Hannah peered over to the other canoe knifing through the water a few feet away.
"What about Emma?" she said, smiling at the cute girl next to us. "By those standards, I'd say she qualifies as 'smaller fish'. You better watch out you don't get gobbled up by one of those things, Emma!"
Emma turned her head in Hannah's direction and peered over her sunglasses, then continued quietly paddling the front of her canoe. I watched her toned arms rippling and her little breasts shaking on her chest as her ass wiggled on her seat from the paddling motion.
"Where's a good place to set up camp?" I asked Lilly.
She looked around the lake and saw a small rocky outcropping about half a mile to our northeast.
"There's an island over that way," she said pointing to the peninsula. "We should have it all to ourselves, and if I remember correctly, there's a quiet little bay behind it that should make for perfect bass fishing. We can all give it a try later and see if we can catch something fresh for dinner."
"When you say all to ourselves, do you mean no bears?" I asked.
Lilly chuckled at my first-time camping trepidation.
"I meant in terms of other campers. We probably won't run into anybody else this far from civilization, but I did notice another car in the parking lot at our trailhead. As for bears, they're pretty good swimmers, but as long as we keep our food locked up and sealed, they should leave us alone."
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the should part of that statement," I said.
When we got to the island, we found a small beach and pulled our canoes ashore. We unpacked the boats and located a flat mossy section in the center of the island to pitch our three tents. There were six girls, with each tent comfortably accommodating two air mattresses and two sleeping bags. We contemplated drawing straws to see who would sleep with whom, then we all just giggled and threw our gear in whichever tent was closest. Hannah joined me, Maddie and Lilly took the next, and Emma and Bonnie took the last. I peered over at Emma's tent as she got down on her knees and wiggled her ass through the front canopy, suddenly wishing I'd joined her.
After we set up camp, we set out in pairs to collect kindling and driftwood for a fire, then we had a refreshing swim in our bikinis to cool off. I was surprised how hot it got by mid-afternoon, and the water, though still warm, provided a handy respite from the heat. Soon after, Lilly collected the fishing rods and tackle, and we all walked over to the far end of the island overlooking a small bay filled with water lilies.
"Now I see why you like to come here," Hannah chuckled, scanning the idyllic scene. "It's filled with your favorite type of flowers."
"Yeah, well those lilies also provide perfect cover for bass and perch. We've got our own little seafood restaurant hiding under those pretty flowers."
She reached down onto the ground and picked up a fishing rod.
"Who knows how to use these things?"
We all just looked at her dumbfounded.
"No worries," she said. "Let me show you how it's done."
She connected the loose pieces of the shaft then attached a red and white striped metal lure to the end of the fishing line. Then she stepped about ten feet back from our group and looked out over the shore.
"Okay," she said. "The most important thing is that you don't snare yourself or anyone else as you're casting your line into the water. Which is why you'll need to separate yourself from your next nearest fisherwoman by at least ten to fifteen feet."
"Fisherwoman?" I teased. "Is that what your grandpappy used to call you?"
"Not exactly. But hey, there's no guys out here, so I'm improvising. Fisherperson, fisherman, angler, whatever. Now listen up. After I get your rods and lures assembled, you hold the rod like this."
Lilly held the rod out firmly in front of her, gripping the cork handle.
"Like you're giving it a firm handshake, with your middle and forefingers threaded under the handle of the reel."
"Or like you’re giving it a firm hand job," Hannah snickered.
"Now…" Lilly continued, rolling her eyes. "Hold the rod out beside you and make sure you've got about two feet of line hanging down from the tip of the rod, like this."
"Like a horny cock dripper..." Hannah said, continuing the metaphor.
"Behave, Hannah," Lilly admonished her friend, "or I'm gonna slap your ass. Now, press and hold this little release button on your reel, then turn your body sideways, holding the rod out in front of you. Then swing your arm quickly out in the direction you want your lure to land and release the button just before you get to the end, like this."
Lilly deftly swung the rod with her wrist and we watched her lure sail about forty feet over the water and plop just short of a bunch of water lilies.
"I'm attaching bobbers to the ends of your lines so you shouldn't have to worry about your line getting caught on rocks underwater."
"Bobbers? Rods? Swinging?" Hannah joked. "You gotta admit it sounds a bit like—"
"Put your dick in your pants, Hannah," Lilly said. "Try to concentrate, will you, so we all don't starve out here?
"When you cast your lure," she continued, "try not to get too close to the flowers or your line will get caught up there too. You may need to practice a few times to get the hang of it, but after a few swings, you should be casting like a champ. After your lure lands in the water, start turning the crank on the reel counterclockwise slowly so your lure will swim through the water looking like a real fish."
"What if we catch something?" Bonnie asked.
"You'll feel a tug on your line and some sudden tension in your reel. Just steady your rod and crank the fish in slowly toward shore. Give me a shout if you need any help. Once your fish gets close to shore, I'll use my net to land him. Then I'll tie him up to this little stringer to keep him fresh underwater until w
e eat."
"Until you chop off his head and gut and cook him, you mean," Hannah joked.
Emma hunched her shoulders and winced.
"Poor little fishes," she said. "They'll just be going about minding their own business when suddenly a hook tears into their flesh. Then we'll yank them by their mouth out of their element and tie them up while they wait to be guillotined. How barbaric!"
"Hey, it's a fish-eat-fish world out there, Emms," Lilly chuckled. "We just happen to be the biggest fish at the top of the food chain. If I remember correctly, we don't have any vegetarians among us, do we?"
Lilly paused for a moment to make sure everybody was on board.
"Right, let's get started then. If anybody wants to sit this one out and just watch the rest of us, that's cool. If we're feeling generous, we might share some of our catch with you later."
Lilly proceeded to assemble each of our rods, then we separated along the bank and awkwardly practiced casting into the bay. It didn't take me too long to get the hang of it, and after five or six casts I was able to fling my lure almost as far as Lilly with similar accuracy. I glanced over at Emma standing fifteen feet to my right and noticed her huffing and cursing as her lure jerked and plopped into the water only a few feet in front of her.
I stepped behind her and reached around, grasping her rod with my two hands.
"Hey, Emma," I said. "Let me see if I can help you. The key is in timing the button release at the right moment."
I positioned Emma's thumb over the button on the reel, then placed my thumb over hers. Then I pulled the rod gently behind us a few feet and swung her arms forward in a sudden jerk.
"Release!" I yelled as we watched her lure go sailing twenty feet into the bay.
"Yayyyy!" Emma squealed with delight.
Then she turned around and kissed me on the cheek.
"Thanks, Jade. You're an awesome fisherwoman. Don't go too far away. I still might need you to show me how to wiggle my hips properly to make this work."
I looked into Emma's eyes and smiled as I felt my cheeks warm with a gentle flush.
"You got it, girl," I said. "I'll keep one eye on you from my perch right over there."
Truth was, I kept more than one eye on her wiggling ass in her tight bikini as she continued casting her rod. After about ten minutes of quiet casting into the still waters of the bay, Emma suddenly began hyperventilating.
"I think I've got something!" she squealed, as we watched the tip of her rod twitch and bend in frenetic tugs.
"Okay, Emm," Lilly said, rushing over. "Just hold your rod steady and slowly crank the handle of your reel away from you. There's no rush—let him tucker himself out for a bit before you try to outmuscle him."
She looked at the deep bend in Lilly's rod and nodded.
"It looks like a big one, maybe a five-pounder. That might be enough to feed all of us tonight. Be cool, girl—take your time. Just remember, you're stronger than he is."
We all cheered Emma on as she struggled to control her fluttering rod and awkwardly reel in the fish. When it got close to shore, it jumped two feet out of the water and waved twice rapidly in the air before diving back under the surface.
Lilly stepped down onto the bank with a fishnet and stepped into the water as the fish neared shore, then swung the net underwater and lifted it up for us to see. As the bass flapped wildly in the tangled rope, Lilly calmly reached down and removed the hook from its mouth. Then she threaded her fingers under its gills and held the fish up for everybody to see.
"Woo-hoo!" Emma yelped, proud that she'd caught the first fish of the day.
"Good job, Emm," Hannah said, and we all clapped and smiled to acknowledge her accomplishment.
Lilly attached Emma's catch to the stringer chain underwater, then the group fished for another thirty minutes until we'd caught three more bass.
"That should do it if you guys want to take a breather," Lilly said, placing the stringer of fish in a metal pail filled with water. "Time to cook these fellas up and see what real Canadian food tastes like."
The sun was beginning to lower on the horizon, and after taking another short swim to cool off, we all got dressed in cargo pants and polar fleeces to protect ourselves against the mosquitos and evening chill. I watched Lilly deftly cut off the head of each fish then expertly fillet the flesh to remove it from the thin skeleton underneath.
"Looks like you've done this before," I said, marveling at her skill.
"A few hundred times maybe," she said.
I stood mesmerized as she sliced the fish under its belly and removed its entrails, then carefully pulled the flanks away from the spiny skeleton inside.
"Kind of messy, huh?"
"Yeah, it's a bit gross at first, but you get used to it pretty quick. My mouth is already watering thinking about the taste."
While Lilly filleted the fish, the other girls collected some small logs and rocks from around the shore and placed them in concentric circles in the middle of our campsite to build a fire pit. Then they placed some twigs and driftwood inside the rocky pit and started a small fire. After it quieted down a bit, Lilly placed a steel grate and a cast iron pan over the hole and slapped a few slivers of butter in the pan along with the fillets. Before long, the aroma of fresh pan-seared fish wafted into the air.
"That smells exquisite, Lilly," Hannah said, suddenly emerging from her tent. "Do you need us to help prepare any sides?"
Lilly shook her head.
"For our first night together, I just want you to savor this, straight-up. All we need to finish it off is some lemon slices cut up and some paper plates and forks."
When the fish was done, we all sat around the campfire on the wooden logs while Lilly served us our plates.
"Oh my God, Lilly," Bonnie said, placing the first morsel in her mouth, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. "This is to die for! Now I don't feel nearly as bad about yanking those little critters out of their cozy lily garden."
"What about you, Emma?" Lilly said, glancing in her direction. "Are you comfortable with eating your catch?"
"Um, yeah," Emma said, as she gobbled the fish down.
"Mmmm," Hannah chimed in. "What is it exactly that makes this so good? This tastes even better than at the top-rated seafood restaurant in the city."
"Who knows?" Emma said, shaking her head. "It could just be because we're eating it truly fresh-caught. Maybe it's the lemon and butter seasoning."
"Or maybe it's just that pristine freshwater Canadian goodness coming through," I joked.
After we finished eating, Lilly placed the entrails and fish heads back in the water, then we washed our cutlery and bagged up our plates and hung our trash from a rope over a high tree branch to keep the bears away. As dusk set in, we built our fire back up and huddled around the pit in a circle.
"What now?" Hannah said. "What do six girls do for fun after dark on a lonely island in the middle of nowhere? Tell spooky stories?"
"Stories could be fun," Maddie said. "But they don't have to be spooky. I'm already creeped out enough about the idea of sleeping in that flimsy tent with so many bears within swimming distance. How about some fun stories?"
"I know!" Bonnie said. "Let play Truth or Dare. That outta get our juices going. Who wants to go first?"
"Truth, or dare?" Hannah asked.
"Truth," Bonnie said. "Tell us something daring about yourself that none of us know."
"Hmmm," Hannah said, looking up trying to think of some sordid detail from her past that she was willing to share. "Well—I once spent a night in jail."
"No way!" Emma said, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"Way," Hannah said. "Though granted it was only for a couple of hours. I was sixteen and got caught for shoplifting. I think the sheriff in my small town wanted to make an example of me to scare the shit out of me."
"Did it work?" Lilly asked.
"I wasn't really scared, because I was all alone in my cell and I kind of knew what they were trying
to do. I was more scared about what my father was going to do to me when he bailed me out."
"And?" I said.
"Grounded for three months. Which is like three years when you're sixteen. So yeah, I guess it worked insofar as discouraging me from doing something like that again."
"What did you steal?" Bonnie asked.
"A vibrator from the local sex shop. I was too embarrassed to actually buy it, so I tried to sneak it out under my coat instead."
"That'll teach you to play with naughty things before your time," Lilly winked at Hannah.
"What about you, Lil?" Hannah said. "What naughty things have you done that we don't know about?"
"Welll," Lilly said, stretching out the word for dramatic effect. "I engaged in some technically illegal sex not too long ago...."
"Mmmm, yummy," Hannah said. "Do tell. There's not many things that are illegal anymore in that area."
"It was an underage boy. Sixteen to be exact. The captain of my son's football team. We were at the boy's parents' house celebrating their championship and he and I were alone having a chat, and one thing led to another. We slipped into the ravine behind his yard and had a quickie."
"A quickie?" Hannah teased. "That hardly sounds like fun. Was he nicely hung at least?"
"He definitely came equipped with a decent package. But you know boys at that age. They can't last very long—"
"What exactly did you two do?" I probed for more details.
"I just gave him a quick blowjob. I was too terrified we'd be found out. But it was fun and definitely satisfying."
"For at least one of you!" Madison said.
"I suppose," Lilly said. "How about you, Maddie? What kinky things have you gotten into that we don't know about?"
Maddie paused for a moment trying to conjure up a sufficiently juicy story.
"Well, my husband and I just had anal sex for the first time last week—"
"Which one?" Hannah said. "You or him?"
"Hannah!" Bonnie scolded, shooting Hannah a disapproving look. "That's prying a little too deep. Let Maddie tell the story."
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