Julie was a country girl. She knew it. She was also the daughter of the local minister. That she also knew. "And you the Minister's daughter" was a common refrain whenever she got into mischief. Not that she ever had much chance to get into mischief.
But she was eighteen now. In a few weeks, college would begin for the year and she'd be moving to the city to attend. She had to stay with her Aunt and Uncle, but she'd be in the city. The city, where there were places to go and things to do and see.
As opposed to this place. You couldn't even call it a one horse town, because they didn't have any horses. The only place she got to go to this week was to old Johanson's place to pick up some magazines that he thought the minister might like. And a fair old smirk he'd given her when he'd passed them over. The man was decidedly creepy.
Instead of going home through the town, or what there was of it, Julie cut through the woods, ambling home, bored out of her skull. She was just approaching her back yard when things took a turn for the better. At least, they took a turn. For better or worse she'd decide later.
A young man was approaching from the other direction. He brightened slightly on seeing her.
"Hi," he said. "I'm Paul."
"Hi, yourself," Julie said softly. "I'm Julie. I haven't seen you around before?"
She let the question lie there. He could answer or not as he chose. He chose yes. A pretty girl and a chance to chat and ease his boredom for a while.
"My parents have rented a place up here for a couple of weeks. They reckon I deserve a holiday before I go back to college next month. I'd rather they'd picked a place on the beach."
"College? I start college next month as well. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a complete change to living here."
"You'll enjoy it. It's great. You actually live here? How come you haven't died of boredom, already?"
Julie found herself bridling slightly. OK, it wasn't much of a place but it was her home town. She didn't need some stranger running it down.
"Oh, we keep busy," she said airily. "We're not exactly out of touch with the city, you know. We get all the latest magazines delivered and we're right up with what's going on where news and our hobbies are concerned."
She gestured with the small stack of magazines that Mr Johanson had given her.
Paul reached out and took the magazines to glance through them.
"These for your hobbies, are they?" he asked casually.
"Not the gun ones," said Julie, remembering the Shotgun & Rifle magazine that had been on top of the stack. "The others are mine."
"Naturalism?" said Paul with a note of surprise in his voice. "You're into naturalism?"
"Why not?" asked Julie defensively. What was wrong with studying nature, after all?
"Oh, no reason. I just didn't think you were the type."
"Well, you thought wrong then," said Julie, taking the magazines back. "It wouldn't hurt you to try it sometimes."
Then she took her first look at the naturalist magazine that was now on top of the pile, showing a naked couple walking hand in hand through the woods. Facing the camera, of all things. She froze for a second. Bloody Johanson. You dirty old man. And sending them over for her father to give away? You evil and dirty old man. And oh god. What had she just claimed to do? Take naked walks?
"It's good healthy exercise," said Julie, deciding that she would not make a fool of herself by backing down. She'd stick to her guns and damn what he thought.
"You mean that you just get undressed and take a walk in the woods when you feel like it?" asked Paul.
"Not exactly," said Julie, with a little laugh. "Some of the town people would be shocked at the very idea. No, we have to get a little privacy. We go into the woods and undress in a little clearing further in. Then we go for our walks. We keep our shoes on," she added.
"When you say we?" asked Paul.
"Oh, a couple of my girlfriends sometimes come along. One of their brothers has been a couple of times, too."
I can lie with the best of them, thought Julie smugly. We're not such unsophisticated hicks as he thinks. Well, we probably are, but he doesn't have to know it.
"When did you last go for a naturalist walk," asked Paul.
"Oh, a couple of weeks back. The weather hasn't really been suitable."
"Yeah, well it's a nice day today. If you're not doing anything else why not go for one now? I'm free so I can come with you and see what it's like. Hey, it'll be fun. First fun thing that's happened for me since getting here."
"Ah, I've got to take these magazines home to my father first," Julie temporised.
"Hell, just stick them on that rock for the time being. There's no wind so they won't blow away and it's not as though there's anyone around to steal them."
Julie's smile felt as though it was painted on. What the hell did she do? Admit that she'd been making a fool of herself or go and make a naked fool of herself? The hell with it. It might actually be fun to go for a naked hike. The chances were that he was bluffing and he'd back out.
"Actually, now that you mention it, it is a nice day. Let's do it."
Julie put the magazines down on a nearby rock, resting another stone on top of them in case a breeze did come up. Then she turned and headed back into the woods.
Paul followed along, slightly bemused. Was she serious or not? A couple of minutes into the woods and they came to a small clearing.
"This is where we get undressed," said Julie. "Fold your clothes into each other so you have them all in a single item. We can then put them in this hole in the tree for safekeeping."
Julie stripped off quickly. She had to or she wouldn't be able to do it at all. Naked she rolled up her things into her dress and slipped them into the hollow in the tree. Turning, she saw that Paul was still stripping. She blushed slightly as his trousers came down and looked elsewhere.
With Paul naked and his clothes stowed, Julie indicated the path that they would be taking.
"This is the best path for us," she announced, not stating that it was best because it didn't really lead anywhere and no-one used it at this time of the year. There was a small rangers hut at the end of the path, but that was only used during the bushfire season.
They strolled along, Julie quite enjoying her nakedness, but making sure she didn't look too closely at Paul's. A glimpse out of the corner of her eye showed that he wasn't quite as blasé as she was pretending to be. In other words, he had an erection. Or semi-erect, she decided with a fleeting glance.
Paul was also enjoying the walk. He wished that his erection would make up its mind, but for the time being non-erect was probably best. He talked about college and city life to Julie, answering her eager questions. It turned out that they'd both be on the same campus, but Julie was following a legal career where Paul was more interested in maths and physics.
To Julie the time seemed to fly. She was actually surprised when they turned a corner and the little rangers hut was there.
"We keep a few supplies in here," she told Paul, because she actually did. It was a useful hideaway when she wanted to get lost for a while.
