It was getting on to late afternoon. Not that you could tell from the sun because at this time of year - the last week of June - the sun didn't go down until quite late. But it was nearly five thirty and I had been clearing the trail in back of the cabin all day. During the morning I had taken the chain saw and ax all along the trail until the point it left my property - nearly a half mile - and cut any fallen trees which were blocking the path. After lunch I started back, cutting the fallen trees nearest the cabin into fireplace length and stacking them alongside the trail to be moved later. Now I was hot, tired and only wanted a shower, supper, and some time to goof off. Well, maybe I also wanted to get laid, but that didn't seem a very likely prospect.
Let me explain a little. I'm a new - very new - assistant professor of history. I had just completed the my third year and, as everyone knows, had to write and publish to get promoted. Last year and this I had come up to a mountain place which I had inherited from my grandfather. It's fairly high up in the Rockies but still has electricity, a well for water, and a septic system. There are other cabins and cottages up here, but not many. My closest neighbor is almost a half mile down the road - and he's not there very often. My place is about four hundred acres but is located deep in forested land. The Little Divide hiking trail passes within two miles of it. Anyway, the isolation lets me get a lot of research and writing done. Research, you ask? Remember all it takes today is a computer and a cell phone.I had been up in the high country for about two and a half weeks and had made one trip to town for supplies three days before. Otherwise I hadn't seen another person and had the whole world, or so it seemed, to myself. I spent some of the time - like this day - clearing and tending the land, and the rest in my academic work.
As I stretched and picked up my shirt and other stuff, I thought I heard voices coming from down the trail. I put the chain saw back down and peered along the shaded path. Suddenly a saw a backpacker round a turn, coming towards me. She was looking over her shoulder and talking and all I could see was short blonde hair, a large green and black backpack and a long, bare pair of legs emerging from cutoff jeans. She turned back in the direction she was walking and I could see she was about twenty or twenty-two - several years younger than my own twenty-eight. She was very pretty with dark lashed eyes and a wide smile and she waved and called a hello as she kept on coming. As she neared I could see she was tall, about five nine. Then a second hiker came around the turn. I did a quick double take and decided I was right the first time: this second hiker was identical except that she was wearing a blue and black pack and had a blue striped tee shirt instead of green.
As they came up, the first girl said, "Hi. Maybe you can help us. I'm afraid we may have made a wrong turn somewhere. We're supposed to be on the Little Divide trail and I thought we should have gotten to the Lodgepole Campground by now."
I smiled back at them - they were definitely worth smiling at. Now that they were close I could see both had deep green eyes and very white teeth. They also filled the tee shirts nicely and it was obvious neither wore, nor needed, a bra. Full, firm breasts and hard points of nipples pressed against the stretched fabric of their shirts, both of which ended several inches before the tops of their short cutoffs, exposing tanned, flat stomachs. Long, smooth legs seemed to stretch forever before ending in small hiking boots. Before I made a fool of myself staring, I said, "Hi. I'm Dave Ryan. And I guess you must have missed a turn. The trail is about four or five miles back the way you came. And the campground would be another four or five from there."
They looked crestfallen. The first girl turned to the second and said, "That's too far to make it today."
She nodded and turned towards me. "I'm Kristie and..."
"I'm Katie," the first girl put in. "We're hiking the whole trail. This is our third week."
"Since we can't get to Lodgepole this afternoon," the second continued, "we were wondering if there's some place around here where we could camp until tomorrow."
I wasn't sure how she could say they both were wondering - maybe telepathy - but no matter. "I suppose you could camp somewhere, but I've got a better idea. The house over there" - I pointed - "is mine. How about I let you have a room for the night. I'll even give you supper."
"You don't have to do that," Katie said. "We probably smell too bad to even come inside."
"No worse than I do at the moment. Tell you what, I'll throw in a hot shower and you can use the washer and drier."
"In that case, Dave, we would probably consider you a lifesaver," Kristie said. "We were hoping there would be a laundry at the campground."
I picked up my tools again and said, "Then let's head over there." They moved so one was on each side of me and we started to walk the couple of hundred yards to the house. "Let's see. I'll bet after a couple of weeks on the trail you might feel up to a steak and salad and some fresh fruit."
Kristie looked across at her sister. "He can't be for real, can he? He must be a ..."
"Mind reader," Katie finished. "After two weeks of freeze dried we'd love it. I doubt if we can repay you enough."
"Or maybe," Kristie added, cryptically, exchanging a look with Katie.
This day was definitely looking up. Dinner and conversation with two beautiful young women. Even though, with two it probably wouldn't go any further than maybe a kiss or so. But that seemed pretty good, too.
I set the tools in a shed out back and led the girls up onto the screened back porch and through the back door. We went through the kitchen and I pointed down a hall to the right. "You two can use the room on the left down there. There's a bathroom next to it and I think there's a hair drier in the closet with the towels. You can go ahead while I get cleaned up, too. I'll use the bath in my room." They thanked me again and disappeared into the spare bedroom while I went on into mine.
Twenty minutes later, dressed in a clean pair of shorts and a short sleeved shirt I went out and started the grill and then back into the kitchen to begin getting some of the meat from the refrigerator. Because it had only been a couple of days since my trip to town I didn't have to thaw any and I still had fresh lettuce and stuff for salads. I had been working about five minutes when the twins appeared in the doorway. They were now dressed in different matching shorts and sleeveless shirts, except the shirts were once again two different colors, yellow and light green this time. Their neck length hair had been washed, dried, and brushed so it shone in the sun coming through the windows. "Anything we can do to help?" Yellow asked.
"If you'd like to eat on the porch I guess you can carry out some plates, ...Katie?"
