We were canoeing in Algonquin Park when we hooked up. It was mid-August; the ban on fires had been lifted and the hordes of bloodthirsty mosquitoes that haunt the warm dusk had vanished with the onset of cool nights.
Taralee was luscious -- a petite, vivacious brunette with hair down to her curvy breasts, and hips to stir fantasies in the most cynical of men. Despite her femininity, she could handle a canoe, pack a rucksack and set up a campsite with the best of them.
When our chance meeting turned into campfire meals and sharing a canoe, then a tent and then a sleeping bag, I was in heaven.
We really didn't know much about each other, or much care, for that matter. Under the burning stars and shimmering Northern Lights, it was mating season. We took morning dips in crystal lakes and the hot sun dried our naked bodies as we lay on the warm pink granite of the Canadian Shield.
Most days, we saw no other humans. There were glimpses of bears, eagles and hawks turned lazy circles in the blue sky, and we surprised the odd sun-loving turtle or lizard lazing on old logs. But we had the chain of lakes to ourselves. Rocky islands provided sheltered campsites, and solitude for the sex-filled nights.
One day on one of the larger lakes, we saw a flotilla of aluminum canoes, and paddled toward them. They turned out to be a group of soldiers on leave, who'd booked a week-long wilderness canoe trip to get the desert dust out of their lungs. They were strong, handsome men, and quite taken with Taralee's obvious charms.
The sun was getting low in the sky, the breeze was stirring the lake into whitecaps and we all headed for the shelter of a largish, well-treed island in the middle of the lake. There were several good spots to set up camp. Taralee picked the most sheltered and secluded one, and seemed delighted when the trippers asked if they could join us there since there was lots of room to pitch their three four-man tents.
Soon dinner aromas filled the air, then the silence of a good meal well enjoyed, followed by joking banter as we scrubbed our pots and dishes at the edge of the lake. Mugs of steaming tea were passed around, and one of the soldiers dug a flask out of a packsack and topped up several of the mugs. They laughed and nodded as Taralee helped herself.
After dinner, a couple of the men started a roaring bonfire in a good-sized clearing nearby. A large, flat-topped rock tood about waist-high a dozen feet from the fire.