I was driving through Queensland on my way to the Gold Coast. Baxter lay four or five miles behind me when I came to a crossroad. My way lay straight ahead and I had right-of-way so normally I'd have breezed straight through the crossroad without bothering to stop. Today, I stopped.
The reason I stopped was the young lady by the side of the road, hitch-hiking. She couldn't have been a day over twenty from what I could see. She was dressed in short white hiking shorts and an abbreviated top. Terrific to look at, and suited her figure superbly, if not the wisest outfit to wear while hitching a ride.
I pulled up alongside and she ran over to the window.
"Evening," I said smiling. "I'm heading up to the Gold Coast. If you want a lift, hop in."
"I'm not going quite that far," she said, returning my smile. "Just a few miles down the road. If I walked I'd still be out after dark, so I'd appreciate the lift."
She piled in, tossing her backpack onto the back seat, and I drove off.
She talked as we drove along. Her name was Naomi, she was eighteen, and on her way to stay with friends.
Now from where I picked her up there was quite a distance to the next town. Something around fifty miles or so. Between here and there was forest with the road cutting a line dead straight through it. I had noticed in the past that there were a few side tracks leading away from the main road, but they were mainly driveways for a couple of houses out in the bush.
My assumption was that Naomi would want to be dropped off at one of these little side tracks and I was hoping she'd give me ample warning. Generally you didn't even see the tracks until you were passing them. We'd been travelling for about fifteen minutes, which gave the lie to her few miles, when I topped a hill.
This particular part of the drive I always tended to put my foot down a little. We were on one side of a very large valley, driving across it, down one side and up the other. You could see the far side from where we were and you could also see the trees rolling off into the distance on either side of us. From our height I would estimate you could see from ten to fifteen miles ahead of us, with nary a dwelling in site.
Naomi seemed a little agitated.
"Ah, just how far is it to Baxter from here?" she asked.
At the top of the hill there was a lay-by area. I also know that there weren't any more until you reached the top of the hill on the far side. Who wants to climb those hills from a standing start? Build up your speed going down and that would take you up the other side effortlessly.
I pulled into the lay-by and turned to face Naomi?
"Baxter?" I asked. "You're on your way to Baxter?"
She nodded, looking worried. She knew something was wrong. Maybe she was starting to doubt her wisdom in getting into a car with a young man driving it. About time she considered that. She'd acted in a rather silly manner.
"It's a pity you didn't mention that when you got in the car," I told her. "I'd have told you then and there that Baxter was about four or five miles away, in the opposite direction. You were hitching away from Baxter."
"What?" she said with a squeal. "You're kidding."
"You're not kidding," she added, seeing the look on my face. "Oh my gosh, it'll take me ages to get back there. You'll have to turn around."
I laughed at that. She had made a mistake so I'd have to turn around. I didn't think so.
"Sorry, love," I said. "You have two options. You can hop out here and start hitching a ride in the other direction or you can stay in the car until the next town and try to get a lift from there back to Baxter."
She looked around at the miles and miles of trees and gave a delicate little shudder.
"There's no way I can get out and hitch hike from here," she said. "How far is it to the next town?"
"About twenty five miles, maybe thirty. This is a rather long and lonely stretch I'm afraid."
"How far?" she asked. "I can't go that far. I have to go to Baxter."
"Well, they're your choices," I said. "If I were you I'd stay in the car until the next town. Probably be safer."
"Why can't you turn around and take me back to Baxter?"
"Because I don't want to. I don't mind giving you a lift, but turning back will mean I have a half hour drive to Baxter and another half hour just to get back to where I am now. I can use that hour to be a good fifty plus miles further down the road."
"I can pay you for your petrol," she said, although I could hear the reluctance to do so. Tight budget I guessed.
"Not an issue," I said. "I just don't want the hassle of having to backtrack for a half hour, especially when the mistake was not mine. Shall we get moving?"
"Wait, wait, wait," she said with a squeak, flapping her hands, not wanting me to go yet, obviously.
"Is there any place to drop me before the next town?"
I looked pointedly at the long stretch of road surrounded by trees. She already knew what lay behind us.
"Sorry, girl, but it looks like you're stuck for a while. As Confucius said, relax and enjoy the ride."
"If I remember correctly, and I do, Confucius was talking about rape. And that's what this feels like. Taking me somewhere against my will."
"You can always hop out and hitch a ride the other way. You could be lucky. There again, seeing as how you mentioned rape, you can always take your panties off and offer me a decent bribe."
She turned a few different shades of colour, red from embarrassment, I think, followed by a nice pale colour as the shock of the suggestion hit her, and then red again, from temper.
"Are you threatening to rape me?" she asked, her voice ice cold.
"Certainly not," I protested. "You mentioned rape, not me. I just mentioned you taking off your panties and offering to bribe me. I'm very susceptible to some types of bribes. A sad character failing, I know."
"But I don't want to have sex with you."
"Well that makes us even. I don't want to drive for an hour to just finish up where I am right now."
"You don't understand. I just don't do that sort of thing."
A virgin? Probably. She was definitely naïve enough to be one.
"Why not? No, don't tell me. That's your own affair. However, if you care to start, I don't mind helping you out."
