They sat around the fire as heat of the day left the air and a chill took its place. The stars came out one by one, then in the hundreds, then thousands until the swish of the Milky Way could be seen as if painted with a stroke of a brush. The hikers had finished with dinner and gathered for a chat before heading off to sleep. The tents were arranged around them, and could barely be made out in the light from the fire. Everyone felt a bit achy, sore legs, after a long day of hiking. It was nice to sit down and just do nothing.
Colin sat on a large branch to get his bottom off the ground and scanned around the group. There were three couples Bridgette and Colin, Yvonne and Dave, Katie and Eric. They were off on a two week hike through the wilderness. It was day four. Everyone's legs and feet were slowly getting used to the daily routine now. A few of them had taped up feet where blisters had formed. Overall though everyone was happy, felt alive, and were enjoying the adventure.
They traded some stories of things seen along the trail that day, what to expect tomorrow. Then some good natured jesting and teasing about each other's faults and weaknesses. Katie for instance didn't seem to be able to go more than a few hours before having to take a nature break. Everyone had to walk slowly or stop, waiting for her to catch up. Dave seemed to be always eating. Everyone was a little concerned he was going to go through all his food well before the trips end.
When the conversation died down a bit, someone asked if anyone had a good story. No one said anything for at first, then Eric said that actually he had an interesting ghost story and that it took place not far from here.
The story goes that there was once a prosperous, vibrant town out in forest near here about 150 years ago. It was a community built on the lumber industry. There were saw mills on the river and everyone made a good living. It was a highly religious and god fearing community. No bars or other businesses that could in any way be considered sinful were allowed.
One day a traveling salesman came to town. He had a very large wagon full of useful tools and also extremely unusual things that many of the townsfolk had never seen before. He went from house to house selling his wares. Now during the day, and often for many, many days at a time, the men were off in the woods cutting trees so the wives were left alone. As it turned out the traveling salesman was much more than he appeared. He in fact was extremely charismatic man, the devil himself in disguise, many said later. The women were totally enchanted by him and found it impossible to say no to anything he asked. Not only did they buy a lot of things they had no use for, but also fell to his charm and found themselves before too long with their clothes off and he having his way with them in the intense and ungodly fashion. Though after he left, all they could think of was how wonderful it had been compared to what their husbands did to them and dreaming and fantasizing about the next time he would come around. His sexual desires seemed to be unquenchable, and his stamina infinite, as he made his rounds, and did every woman in town more than once.
Eventually the men in town sniffed out something was going on. Their wives floated around the houses all day in a dream, neglected the housework, and essentially lay like inert objects when they made love to them. They got together and decided to figure out what was going on. Several of them stayed behind one day while the other men went out to work as usual. The men who stayed behind positioned themselves so they could watch the town, but not be seen themselves. It wasn't too long before they saw the salesman wagon pull up in front of a house and he disappeared inside for a good hour or more. Once coming out, he moved his wagon to another house, and repeated the same thing. Once they got confident that the salesman would be inside an hour or so, the men snuck up to the house he was in, and peeked into the windows. They were astonished to find one of the wives spread out face down on the kitchen table, completely naked while the salesman pounded away at her. They went back into hiding, then after the salesman moved to the next house, again went for a look. This time they found another wife on her knees in front of the salesman with his cock In her mouth. She was bobbing on it in a frenzy and only seem satisfied when he filled her mouth with his cum, which she swallowed down with a smile. The salesman went from house to house the rest of the day, repeating sex act after sex act with the women of the town. Only in the late afternoon did he stop, well before the men were due back in town after a long day's work.
The men were beside themselves with anger. They gathered together one night and surrounded the salesman's wagon and demanded he come out. They eventually had to break the door to the wagon in and drag him out. They threw a rope over the nearest big tree limb and hung him up until he was dead. Then before the dawn they hastily dug a hole near the tree, rolled his body into it and filled it in. The men all agreed that was the end of it, and none of them would speak of it again.
However, it wasn't long before the men noticed things were strange again. The wives once again seemed to be in a dreamland. The husband pressed them but the wives insisted nothing was going on. Then finally one of them broke. She said that at night, when the husbands were all away in their remote lumber camps the ghost of the salesman came to her and made love to her, and if anything it was more intense than ever. The men decided that a few of them would have to remain in town at all times and check each other's houses. Things however did not go as planned. When the men stayed, the ghost would still come, and when the men confronted him, he flew into a rage, accusing them of hanging him, and would roar at them to the point the men would run in terror. His vision would haunt them for days and they shook, and cried, and refused to stay in town at night unless they were all there together.
It seemed the only choice was to let the ghost of the salesman have his way with their wives or they all stay in town, which was of course impossible, they had to work to make a living. Eventually things got so bad, people started moving away. First a few, then more, and finally everyone gave up and the town was abandoned. And so it has been the last 150 years.
Eric finished the story with, "the town actually is along the path we will be taking. We will camp there for two nights to rest. There is a good water supply and flat ground. Of course the story is just that, a story. No one believes it's real, just fun, and a way to explain why the town was abandoned. In truth the lumber business just gave out."
Everyone was quiet for a while, thinking over the story. Then wishing each other a good night, they went over to their tents and went to sleep. But not a few of them lie there for a while running the ghost story through their minds.
The rest of the week they did a lot of hard hiking, up and down steep mountain sides, and along river channels filled with large boulders, roaring with the sound of white water. They walked through dark forests of towering pine trees, and along narrow rocky trails at the edge of sheer drop offs. The occasional summit view where they could look in any direction and see endless forest and mountains in any direction they looked. They were both exhilarated and tired. It was time for a rest day.
