"That would be lovely," she called to him. "In fact, I was hoping to stay the whole weekend. Would that be all right?"

"That would be fine! We'd love to have you. And you'll enjoy it."

"You know," she said smiling, "I think I will, Moses."

He watched as she waved happily to him, and turned to climb the steep path. His eyes devoured her perfectly formed hips as they swung sensuously, enticingly from side to side.

"I know you will, Ann," he whispered under his breath, an almost leering grin twisting his face under his huge beard, "I know you will!"

It was a hard climb up the narrow, rock-filled path, and Ann had to stop two or three times to catch her breath. Whew, I'm really out of shape! she panted to herself silently, standing about fifty feet below the crest of the hill. Well, one last pull… and she started again, slowly, forcing one foot ahead of the other.

She had been pleasantly surprised at the reception Moses had given her back at the meeting house. She could admit to herself now just how frightened she had been to come to the commune, frightened of people who seemed so very much different from herself. But Moses, despite his long hair and strange ways, had seemed genuinely friendly, and Ann had been pleased. She had also been impressed with the cleanliness and order of the commune. There was nothing in it that was new, of course, and all the buildings seemed to be hanging together only with chewing gum and rubber bands, but despite its very makedo character, it was clean. Most of the houses sported a fairly new coat of dark green or brown paint, the yards around them were raked clean, and Ann could see absolutely no litter or trash cluttering the place up at all. She didn't really know what she'd expected, perhaps a rural slum of tarpaper shacks with garbage and junked cars providing occasional touches of impoverished color, but the rustic beauty of "The Zodiac" as the commune was called, quickly dissolved all her preconceptions.