"I've got to go!" he announced abruptly, and no one seemed to notice but Karen. She stood, pausing long enough to drain her glass, and then she ran off to the tent only to emerge a second later with a flashlight.

"Mother, I'm going to walk back with Rick… I'll be gone for awhile."

Only then did Valerie stop the animated conversation of the two men long enough for a short and meaningful comment of her own. "See you soon, Rick, and do take your time!"

"Thank you for the drink, Mrs. Boyd," he answered, and with quick nods to Ray and Bob, he took Karen by the arm and headed back toward the trail. Karen had the flashlight on, and they followed the circle of light, not stopping until they were at the edge of the slope. Then she pointed the light down the trail to the first level area.

"There! Just on the other side of that pine…" She started down the trail, Rick anxiously following close behind.

"What? What's there?" he said.

She laughed, devilishly, "A blanket… I put a blanket there earlier, in case it got cold."

Just off the trail, on the far side of a large pine tree, there was a flat and level space covered with fallen pine needles. And next to the base of the tree was a bunched up dark green blanket that Karen unhesitatingly picked up and began unfolding.

"Shine this down here while I spread this out," she said handing Rick the flashlight. Her rushing made him more excited than ever, and while holding the flashlight in one hand, he started unbuckling his belt with the other. In the process he couldn't help shining the light on Karen's sensual young body. Just like her mother, he thought, but younger and less experienced. Her dark eyes, wide with a heated arousal, glowed as the light shone on her pretty face; her long auburn hair, a shade lighter than her mother's fell in bright contrast around her white shoulders as she pulled off her sweater.