Magic Mushrooms

Cassie Underwood loved the countryside; she had grown up there. Now she was at university, she was again looking for a way to introduce the countryside into her research. In her final year of her Pharmaceutical Chemistry Degree, she had to undertake a Research project, and she had been immediately drawn to work with Dr. Frank Matheson, a world-renowned expert on medicinal plants.

Cassie was particularly interested in investigating those 'old wives' tales about how different wild plants were effective in curing a variety of conditions.

Early in her first semester, Cassie had seen an advertisement on the internet for a two-day course being run by a popular media 'star' Mark Carpenter.

He had come to fame whilst in the SAS, when he had led his squad out of danger whilst carrying out an exercise in the Amazon jungle, as a result of his skills and knowledge of local plants. On leaving the Army he had set up an Adventure Skills company which had resulting him getting a TV program revealing how his squad had survived in the wild.

So about a month later Cassie found herself driving along the A83 towards Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre. However, before getting there she found herself taking a forestry track up into the hills heading for a small place called Gobagrennan on the shores of Lussa Loch. It was more or less just an old disused farmhouse which Mark had acquired and turned into his 'Adventure Centre', but it was in such a beautiful setting and almost miles from anywhere.

Drawing up outside the farmhouse, the place looked deserted, but Cassie noticed a piece of paper pinned to the door. It was a message from Mark, indicating that he had travelled into Campbeltown to pick up a couple of the other course participants and would be back by 16:00, so she should make herself comfortable.

Cassie tried the door, and to her surprise found it open, but entering the house she realised that it was kept rather spartanly furnished, so there really wasn't much to steal. A quick glance at her phone also revealed that mobile signal was also non-existent, a real wilderness get-away.

Cassie wandered around the house and found the kitchen, a dining room, a lounge area and what might be classed as a 'classroom' on the lower floor. Upstairs she found two big 'dorm' type bedrooms, each with three sets of bunks, thus accommodating a maximum of twelve people, but each dorm was en-suite, with showers, baths, toilets, all mod cons really.

It was also obvious from the signs on the doors that one dorm was for females and one for males. Cassie liked this degree of sex equality and she went back down to her car to collect her rucksack and began to unpack, selecting the bunk of her choice, her prerogative she felt, having got there first.

Glancing out of the bedroom window, she saw the loch shining in the September sunshine and grinned, it looked so inviting, she had to go for a swim after her long arduous drive. She had been aware of the loch nearby, and had packed her one-piece costume, just in case the weather and opportunity presented itself, and there was no time like the present.

She stripped off her clothes and donned her costume, replacing her t-shirt. Grabbing one of the towels lying in the en-suite, she wandered the couple of hundred yards down to the loch shore and to a small jetty that stuck out into the water. Walking out onto the jetty she dropped her towel, and without hesitation dived into the crystal-clear waters.

The shock of the cold water was amazing. She had been expecting it, but still she suddenly felt so alive and her whole body tingled, 'just like a really fantastic orgasm' she thought to herself. Leisurely, she freestyled a couple of hundred yards out into the loch, before turning and heading back to the jetty. She then floated around, lying on her back, relaxing, and letting the stress of the drive disappear. She was so lost in the moment that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching along the jetty.

"Good afternoon, Cassie!" said the husky, deep masculine voice, "Glad you're taking advantage of the amenities!"

Cassie started slightly, then turned to look at her new company. Squatting on the jetty was a sandy blonde-haired man, with a pair of piercing blue eyes, and the most devastating smile Cassie had ever seen. She felt herself blush, but hoped the coldness of the water would hide her embarrassment.

"Hi, I'm Mark," introduced the stranger, but Cassie was already aware of that, "Hope the water is not too cold?"

"No.... no, it's fine, lovely really," she stammered slightly, "Once you get over the shock!" and she smiled.

Mark grinned back, then offered her his hand. Cassie reached for it, anticipating an introductory handshake, but suddenly found herself being lifted clean out of the water and lowered down onto the jetty, by the most amazing demonstration of strength that Cassie had seen.

The surprise caused Cassie to stumble slightly, but she felt a strong arm encircle her waist and draw her towards his athletically lean body.

"Very nice to meet you Cassie. How about we head back to the house and meet everyone else. I bet you must be starving," suggested Mark, as his eyes swept over Cassie's body before focusing intently on her 34D breasts. Cassie immediately blushed again, as she felt her nipples stiffen obviously, through the thin material of her costume.

"Here, let me get your towel," offered Mark, as again he squatted before her, his eyes now level with, and boring into her crotch.

Cassie could almost feel the heat of his eyes on her pussy, and she shivered as she felt her juices begin to flow. 'Oh god!' she thought, 'I hope my costume hasn't slipped and I'm exposing anything to him!'

Mark stood back up and handed Cassie the towel, which she wrapped around her body, trying to make herself as modest as possible. Mark turned and held out an elbow for Cassie to take as they set off for the house.

"Do you do a lot of open water swimming?" asked Mark casually, as they walked.

"Yes, when I can, in the sea as well," replied Cassie, trying to regain some control.

"I love it too, I swim every morning, early, about 6:30. You could join me if you wished," explained Mark.

"Thanks for the offer," replied Cassie, unsure whether she should accept.

They were approaching the house now, and a minibus was now parked outside, alongside Cassie's little battered Honda.

"How many are on the course?" she enquired.

"Only four, Covid!" answered Mark, "Normally, I'd like about ten or eleven, fills the bunks, but I'm not allowed to have that many just now. And unfortunately you're the only woman. I hope that's not a problem?"

"Right, you run along and have a shower or whatever, and then join us in the lounge. The rest are having tea and coffee, and we can get introductions done," he suggested.

Cassie ran upstairs and into the female dorm. A quick shower, she slipped back into her jeans and a clean t-shirt and skipped down the stairs and followed the noise of conversation into the lounge.

Milling around in the room were four people, Mark, and three other males. All seemed to be chatting amiably, which Cassie assumed was partly due to them having met earlier and having been transported together from Campbeltown. All were holding a glass of wine, so perhaps that was also loosening tongues a little.

"Ah! Cassie, welcome!" said Mark, as she entered the room, and all eyes turned to look at her. She blushed slightly, "Now that we are all gathered, shall we go and eat?" suggested Mark, and he ushered the group through to the large kitchen where the table had been set for five, and a young woman was placing steaming dishes of food onto the table.

"Ladies and Gents, may I introduce Catriona, who has prepared our meal for us tonight. Unfortunately, from now on we are fending for ourselves!" he joked.

"Catriona has taken into account your dietary requirements and therefore we have both vegetarian and meat lasagnes!" explained Mark, "I hope that will be suitable?"

"It's actually Vegan, just in case anyone has any other requirements," added Catriona, before she left them to their meal.

As she laid the large dishes of food on the table Catriona looked directly at Cassie, and Cassie returned the stare.

This young woman, who Cassie thought must be similar ages with herself, was gorgeous, with long wavy dark hair which cascaded over her shoulders, the most piercing blue eyes Cassie had ever seen and full red lips just begging to be kissed. Although she was simply dressed, Cassie could also tell that she had a very sexy body, based on the way that she filled her jumper and her shapely legs were moulded into her skinny jeans.

As Catriona continued to look at her, Cassie began to colour slightly, getting the sense that this woman was trying to undress her with her eyes. She began to wonder if Mark had spoken to her about what had happened on the jetty. Was she jealous of the attention Mark was paying her?

They sat and tucked in, lasagne, salad, garlic bread, it was a delicious feast. Mark, being the perfect host, also got Cassie a glass of white wine, and the simple conversation continued to flow.

As they reached the end of the meal, Mark began to outline what the next couple of days would entail.

"Thank you all for coming, under these circumstances. As I have mentioned we would normally have a much bigger group, but we have had to reduce the numbers to comply with Covid regulations. But, still I hope you get from the course what you came for," he began, "I should also perhaps confirm that you are all here for the correct course, that you are here for the 'Herbivore' Course and not the 'Carnivore' course, only 'Hunting and Gathering' on this one, if you were expecting 'Hunting, Shooting and Fishing' then that's next week," he laughed, the others joining in.

"Tomorrow morning, we are going on a small trip, down onto the farmlands nearer the tip of the Mull. We have the farmer's permissions to scour their hedgerows and fields looking for whatever we can find, and we will discuss what we can and can't use and also the best way of preparing some of our foraged morsels. Then in the afternoon, we will be back here, as we drove along the road, I hoped you noticed that we are ideally situated between some lovely deciduous woodland, and some old coniferous forests. We will spend some time searching these for nature's glories at this time of year, the Fungi," he continued.

There was a very satisfied murmur went around those listening, it sounded as if Mark had hit the spot.

"Sunday, we will start off with a little trip to the seaside and we will look at some of the plants that are found there, then finish off with a little more time looking at the theory of what we can and can't do, or eat, and preparation, which again I hope, will finish off your learning," there were nods all round.

"Now, so that we can get a little better acquainted, especially in the case of Cassie, I would like you all to spend a couple of minutes to introduce yourself to us, and why you decided to come on this course. But I'll start us all off, just so you know a little more about me."

'Oh no! Here we go, time to blow my own trumpet!" thought Cassie.

"I'm Mark Carpenter. I'm forty-eight years old, formerly a Captain in the SAS, who managed to lead my group of men through part of the Amazon jungle after our extraction got 'cancelled'. We had been supposed to be on deployment for ten days, but we eventually managed to get to 'civilisation' and were picked up three weeks later. We had to survive for about seven days, living off what we could find as our rations had run out. But, I had done my research, and knew which plants and animals we could and couldn't eat. So that was why I got singled out for the attention when we got back, and the rest they say is history."

Cassie had to admit she was impressed, much more modest than she had expected, and at forty-eight, in very good shape, and her body tingled slightly as she remembered just how easily her had lifted her out of the water and then devoured her with his eyes.

Sitting opposite Mark was a very smart looking middle-aged man, who obviously thought quite highly of himself.

"Shall I go next?" suggested this man, which made Cassie smile slightly.

"Sure, why not," agreed Mark.

"Very well. My name is James Richardson. I'm forty-two years old and single," he began, and Cassie thought 'I wonder why!', "And have been a stockbroker in London for the past fifteen years. I've been pretty good at it and have amassed quite a nice little fortune. But it's lost some of its excitement these days, so now I am looking to add a little bit of alternative excitement to my life, and have begun taking part in Extreme Sports," he was grinning like a little schoolboy now, obviously getting a rush just thinking about it, "My next one is a five day trek through the Amazon with no kit or support. So, I've come to get some advice from the best!"

Mark was looking at him in dismay, not believing what he had just heard.

Next to go was the young man who was sitting next to Penny.

"Hi I'm David Jamieson, and I'm thirty-two," he started, again a bit of a waver in his voice as if he was extremely embarrassed, "I live near Inverness, and in conjunction with a local Distillery, I have begun to make a series of flavoured Gins, which are also doing quite well. I'm sure you're all aware of the famous 'Botanist' Gin from Islay, well I'm thinking of trying to come up with my own version using other plants from around my area, The Black Isle. So, I'm here to learn what I can and can't use."

Again, there were sounds of congratulations from those around the table.

"You didn't bring any free samples with you?" enquired Mark, jokingly.

"Yes, I have actually," David replied, "Would you like to try them?"

His reply was met with several very positive responses.

"Save them for tomorrow night," suggested Mark, "It's not always good to mix the 'grain' and the 'grape'," he suggested, holding up his wine glass.

Cassie was next, she'd had time to think of what she was going to say and felt it wouldn't be too out of place.

"Hi everyone, I'm Cassie Underwood, I'm twenty-two and a final year student at Edinburgh University studying Pharmaceutical Chemistry. As part of my final year studies, I'm undertaking a project on Medicinal Plants, looking at some of the 'old wives tales' and trying to identify if they really work and to see if we can actually identify the active ingredients in some of these old remedies. So, I too am here to try and gain what knowledge I can, about what might be the best plants to focus my research on.

"Wow!" responded Mark, "That sound fantastic, I completely concur with you that these 'old wives' tales' that are bandied about have much more substance than many give them credit for."

"I also agree wholeheartedly," enthused the elderly man who was sitting between Cassie and Mark. Cassie had noticed him become more and more animated as she had spoken.

"My name is Albert Macfie, but everyone calls me Bert. I'm retired now, I'm sixty-eight, but before I did, I also worked in Pharmaceutical Research for over forty years. I've worked for many of the biggest drug companies over that time, reaching the heady heights of Director of Research for a company called Synthex, they don't exist any longer, they were bought up a few years ago. But that was one of my passions as well, looking at these old remedies and trying to find out if there was some way of identifying the active products and turning them into marketable drugs," he explained, then turning to Cassie he added, "I'd love to spend some time with you over the next couple of days to talk about your research."

Cassie just stared at him in disbelief, she'd heard of Bert Macfie from her tutor Frank, and now she was actually here with him. The whole weekend was just getting better and better.

"Well, thank you all for your contributions," enthused Mark, "I think we are going to have a very productive couple of days. You've also made my next task very easy," he indicated, "I always like to split the group up into 'pairs' who are sort of looking for the same sort of thing, and I think we can do that quite easily."

"I think it would make perfect sense if you and Albert teamed up," suggested Mark, turning towards Cassie, and she nodded excitedly in agreement.

"Which would leave David and James, who I'll work with to try and prevent you from getting yourself killed," continued Mark, again making it obvious that perhaps James was making a bad decision.

"So, why don't we move back through to the lounge, to more comfortable seats and start to become acquainted and see how we can help each other out," he finished, rising from his seat and ushering the others to the lounge.

For the next hour or so Cassie and Bert chatted away like long lost friends. Cassie was amazed to hear that Frank, her supervisor, had once worked for Bert, and picked his brains for any information he could supply.

But it wasn't one-way traffic and Bert was particularly keen to find out from Cassie just what new analytical techniques she would be using to identify any possible therapeutic agents. As he explained, he had spent too many of his latter years more as an administrator rather than a scientist.

While they chatted, Cassie tried to keep an ear on what the other groups were discussing. It wasn't hard to realise that things had got rather heated between Mark and James, who seemed to be adamant that he would be doing this challenge whether he got Mark's help or not, and he would certainly let everyone know about it.

Eventually, tiredness and their long journeys began to catch up with everyone and they began to make their way up to the Dorms and Cassie found her self alone.

Quickly stripping off she went into the bathroom and finished her ablutions before getting into her bunk and the light was switched off.

Sometime later, a noise woke Cassie, and as she opened her eyes she saw that daylight was beginning to lighten the room. She grabbed for her watch and breathed a sigh of relief as it showed six-twenty. She now assumed that the noise she had heard was Mark heading out for his morning swim, she smiled, time she was up.

As quietly as she could, Cassie rose and slipped into her costume, it was still a little damp from the previous day. Grabbing a towel, she slipped out of the room and made her way outside and down towards the jetty. As she approached, she could see Mark standing at the end of the jetty, looking out over the perfectly still water, doing a few yoga stretches.

Quietly she padded along the jetty, then stopped in surprise.

"Morning Cassie! How are you today," he grinned, as he turned to face her, and she got to see his naked chest and tight abs. Again, she thought to herself that he was in very good condition for someone his age.

"I'm very well thank you," she replied, setting her towel down on the side of the jetty.

"Shall we head to the island?" suggested Mark, as he pointed to a small outcrop of rock, with a solitary pine tree standing on it, "It's about six hundred yards, is that OK?"

"Perfect," replied Cassie. It was actually a bit shorter than she would normally do, but it would set her up well for the rest of the day.

With that she stepped past Mark and dived into the cool calm waters. As she broke the surface she heard the splash as Mark joined her in the water. A few strokes later and he was beside her and the two of them powered their way towards the small island, matching each other stroke for stroke. There was no competition between them, just a mutual enjoyment of the situation and Cassie felt herself come alive.

As they approached the island, Cassie allowed Mark to take the lead. She didn't want to find herself crashing into a rock just beneath the surface. On the far side, Mark headed in towards a large flat rock that stuck about a foot out of the water. They were able to swim right in beside it, and Cassie discovered that she still could not touch the bottom and held on to the rock.