Mud larks
I had my two-week fishing trip planned. Two weeks away on the west coast, six hundred and fifty kilometres away. A long way, but the scenery and fishing made it more than worthwhile. A few people at work knew what I had planned but it wasn't something I spoke about until just a couple of weeks before departure when full of excitement I chatted with anyone who would listen.
There was a girl in the office, Barbara a rather attractive woman in her mid to late thirties who I got on with reasonably well approached me and asked was I indeed going over to the west coast fishing? I confirmed that indeed I was. She then asked me if I was going to go through Chinaman's Wells about three quarters of the way there. The most direct route included passing through this small town so I said that yes, I was. She asked me would I like to perhaps have a passenger and that she would share the cost of the fuel. I wasn't really sure about having a passenger as I do enjoy being on my own when driving. She went on to say that Chinaman's Wells was where she grew up and would love to visit her parents and some of her childhood friends there, and that she wasn't comfortable driving long distances particularly on her own. What could I say? I didn't feel I could deny her a lift as it would seem a bit mean. After a minute or two I said it would be OK and I presumed she would need a lift back as well. We arranged to pick her up at her house on the Saturday at eight in the morning due to the long drive.
The Saturday morning of the trip came around and I made my way to Barbara's house. She opened the door immediately after my knock. She must have seen me pull up outside. She was wearing a short thin summer style sleeveless dress in keeping with the weather. Certainly, more casual than I was accustomed to seeing her at work. The neckline of her dress wasn't particularly low but very loose so I might get a view of cleavage if I kept my eyes open. Maybe she would pop a press stud or two down the front of her dress.
"Hi Carl." She greeted me. "I have a couple of travel mugs ready to fill. How do you like your coffee, or would you prefer tea?
"Milk and one sugar in either tea or coffee whatever you are having." She had a nice house, neat as a pin. "Where are your bags?"I asked. "I will drop them in the car while you make the drinks."
"Just in the bedroom along the hall." she said.
I went along the hall and went in the first door. A real girlie boudoir greeted me, "Very sexy and feminine". I thought.
I loaded the 4wd with her bags and we were almost ready for the off.
"I will just check the boat and its trailer before we go." I said.
She climbed in the passenger seat revealing an ample amount of bare thigh.
We set off at 8:20, almost on time. The journey started well; I could almost taste her excitement at revisiting the town of her upbringing. She smelled nice. This was going to be a pleasant drive.
We had been going about three hours and passing though a small town she asked "Want an early lunch? My treat."
"Why not."
"Stop at the petrol station and fill up first" She said.
"That's OK." I said "I filled up before we left."
We stopped at the diner and had a light meal. I was enjoying this trip. Pretty girl, smells nice, relaxed conversation and a free lunch!
We had left the town only ten minutes when I got a puncture.
"No problems, it shouldn't take long" I said. How wrong was I? The spare was slung underneath the 4wd and to get it out I had first to unload everything from the rear compartment to access the release mechanism. Barbara helped me unpack and as I had hoped earlier got some nice views of cleavage as she put stuff on the ground. When I finally got the spare out, I realised there wasn't much pressure in it. I fitted the tyre anyway hoping to limp back into the town. I soon as I let the jack down, I knew it wouldn't make it. I took it back off again and leaned it up against the car. "I'll call the RAA"I said.
"I don't think we will get a signal out here" Barbara said. She was right.
"Rather than roll this wheel back into town, I will walk back, get a taxi and come back for the wheel. Hopefully it just needs air".
I was hoping to thumb a ride but nothing passed me the same way I was walking. Ten minutes of driving at one hundred kilometres per hour equates to a lot longer at walking pace. A couple of hours later I was approaching the town petrol station.
The operator was good enough to get the local RAA mechanic who picked me up, drove the short way to my car, pumped up the tyre and fitted it. It took longer to repack the gear in the car. I drove back to the mechanic's garage where he fixed my puncture and we were on our way again. I was planning on arriving at the caravan park well before dark but now it was looking unlikely.
Another hour after setting off again I heard an ominous rumbling sound coming from the boat trailer. "Oh no, it can't be." I said.
Sure enough one of the trailer bearings had collapsed! "Sorry Barbara, another delay and this one is going to be a long one as well."
"Don't worry, perhaps you can stay overnight at mum and dad's place and carry on in the morning"
Luckily, I carry a spare hub and bearings with me whenever I tow the boat. Even so it is not a five-minute job to fix. By the time I finished it was already getting dark. It darkened earlier as it was a new moon which meant no light from the moon and the sky was overcast so there wasn't even any starlight. As we got going, I switched on my headlights. Was it my imagination or were they a bit dim?
After fifteen minutes I began to worry they were very dim and the engine gave an occasional misfire.
"Is there a problem?" Barbara asked.
"Yes, but I don't know what it could be, electrical probably." As I spoke the lights went out altogether and the engine died. In that short space of time, it went from gloom to almost pitch black and would only get darker.
"What will we do?" Said Barbara.
"There is not much we can do." I replied. "I have a torch somewhere on the boat but with all the gear loaded on there I have no chance of finding it. We will just have to wait for daylight before I can even think to investigate. At least it's a warm night so we won't get cold. I'll see if I can untie the boat cover tie downs then at least we can sleep laying down instead of in our seats"
I felt my way along the car then the boat trailer and managed to undo all of the tie downs on the passenger side. I climbed in the boat and started dropping stowed gear onto the roadside. I cleared enough space for the both of us. I walked to the front of the car and opened the passenger door.
Barbara screamed and I said "It's OK it's only me."
Everything was pitch black. I couldn't even see her silhouette. I led her to the boat trailer feeling my way along the car then the trailer. When we got to the boat, I stopped at the wheel arch and told her to put her foot up on the mudguard and swing her leg over the gunwale.
"What's a gunwale?" She asked.
"The side of the boat" I replied.
"I don't think I can do that."
"It's like mounting a horse'. Give me your left foot." I felt around and touched her knee, sliding my hand down to her foot which I put on the mudguard. "Now grasp the top edge of the gunwale with both hands. I heard her hand flapping around and reached out and found her right wrist which I guided to the gunwale. "Have you got both hands on the gunwale?" I said.
"Yes"
"OK I'll boost you up and over." With that I put my left hand on her butt and my right hand under her knee and lifted her up until she straddled the gunwale. "OK the boat is pretty clear of gear so move over to the other side of the boat and I will get in."
I had managed to find my sleeping bag in the boat when I was clearing gear but unzipping it was a problem in itself. I finally managed to unzip it and spread it out.
We lay down and tried to sleep, waiting for the dawn. In close proximity to a body like hers made it difficult for me to sleep, especially in her sleep she snuggled up to me, her body scent causing me to have erotic thoughts. I must have drifted off because she woke me and said she needed to pee.
I helped her down in reverse to how I had helped her up.
"If you go in the field on this side, don't go too far, because I know that before we broke down, I saw that there is a river on this side. I think it's over a hundred metres away but I can't be sure." With your back to the boat walk straight ahead, do what you need to do and walk back. Call out to me if you need the sound of my voice to guide you back"
She had gone about twenty seconds when I heard her scream. I headed for the sound of her scream. "Are you hurt?" I called out.