Threading the Needle

Thank you Terry, careythomas and snow for all your help in editing and improving this chapter. I couldn't have done it without you.

Like almost all of my series, this one will only be understood if you have read the chapters before it. Thank you to my readers for going along this journey with me.

Threading the Needle

Chapter 4

Rikki carefully pushed one of the buckets used to bail out the raft into the water that splashed back and forth in the bottom of the boat. On its side, the bucket began to fill up. When it was a quarter full, she sat it up. She looked around the raft. Indigo was busy explaining a detail about reading the river to Winnie. The Wenatchee was a very different river from the Skykomish. Things that were true last week were no longer relevant and there were new things to consider.

"She is totally distracted," Rikki thought to herself. A little part of her felt bad. While not as cold as last weekend, Eastern Washington still didn't have the hot weather people typically expected. It was still early spring with overcast skies. It was better than Seattle was where it was raining, but still in the mid-40s. When she threw this water on Winnie, it was going to be bracing. "Serves her right," Rikki thought. While guiding earlier, Winnie maneuvered the raft right into a big wave and turned it so that it drenched Rikki. She could still feel the cold water that ran down the front of her wetsuit and pooled in her crotch.

Stealthily, Rikki grasped the bucket and tested the feel. "Just right," she thought. "Not too much so it will fly." She got ready. Just as she turned and started to lift the bucket, a stream of water hit her head and chest. Slightly off balance already from holding the bucket, Rikki fell backwards into the raft pontoon, dropping the bucket. Without her foot in a strap, her momentum kept her going. She slid backwards off the pontoon and into the river. The shock from the cold water made her open her mouth in a big gasp, and she swallowed a mouthful of water.

Popping up in the water, Rikki sputtered and looked around. Almost everyone was laughing, but Liz most of all. She had a bucket of her own in her hand. "I couldn't let you get poor defenseless Winnie, could I?" Liz called to her.

"Goddamn you, Elizabeth!" Rikki shouted. "It's fucking cold!" She turned over on her belly and swam back to her raft. Jasper grabbed her life jacket and hoisted her into the boat. She avoided the indignity of falling into the bottom of the raft. As she regained her spot on the raft, she glared at her best friend. "When you least expect it, I'm getting you back!"

Shaking her head to get some of the water out of it, Rikki heard the rest of her raft snickering. She looked around and glared at them too, except Winnie. Rikki found that she couldn't glare at her intended victim. Winnie's sky blue eyes stared at her with a hint of being hurt at the thought that Rikki wanted to ambush her in the way that Liz just did. As her lip slowly extended into a pout, she became even cuter. For a moment, Rikki almost felt like she should be the one to apologize. Then she shook her head, remembering how it all started.

"Don't try your innocent act on me. You deliberately put me into that wave!" Rikki said. "Just like with Liz, I'll get you!"

Her innocent look turning mischievous, Winnie smiled at Rikki. "Ohhh! And what will you do with me when you get me?" Winnie asked. Her voice was seductive in a way none of them had heard before. Rikki's jaw dropped and she turned red with embarrassment. She couldn't tell if the rest of the raft was laughing more at how Winnie zinged her back or from how red her face got from Winnie's mock flirtation.

Even as she tried to stop blushing, Rikki thought about how far Winnie had come over the last couple of weeks. Her natural shyness was disappearing, replaced with a feeling of comfort and confidence. Two weeks ago, she never would have teased Rikki, especially with a come on. The exposure to a wider world was changing her for the better. Rikki even saw it at work, where Winnie was more likely to express her opinion and then defend it. "I'm glad that she wanted to do this," Rikki thought.

Still, that did not stop Rikki from plotting her revenge. As they made their way down the river, Rikki considered her options. The water levels were low enough that everything happened at a much slower pace than when they were guiding with customers. In any case, Rikki knew the Wenatchee well. Including all of the times as either a guest or a paying customer, this was probably her fifteenth trip down it. The Wenatchee was the most popular river in the state because of the big rolling rapids. About two hours away from Seattle, it was an easy day trip over the mountains to run the river and then head home. Having watched Liz so many times, Rikki already knew how to set up and run every rapid.

At the current levels, it wasn't much of a challenge, even for the trainees like Winnie who had no experience with it. In some instances, Indigo just told them where rapids would appear at higher water. In others, the trick was staying in the channel where there was enough water. Indigo mostly focused on their form and how they read the river. The same was true for Liz and Bear. Those were both things they would need on every river.

As they approached the lunch spot the company used, the clouds began to break up and a patchwork of blue began to appear. The group broke out in cheers. Having a bit of warmth from the sun would make the lunch break more enjoyable. Rikki broke out in a wolfish smile. "So much the better," she thought.

It was a hard pull to get into the eddy by the lunch spot. The water was too low for the big wave above it to appear. During the season, it was a fun wave to hit and get a little wet before pulling off in the baking sun. Today, there was a strong eddy line where slow water pooled behind the rock that would create the wave and the fast current of the river rushed downstream.

It was Rikki's turn to guide and she brought the raft into the eddy without much problem. Lena was guiding Liz's raft and had more difficulty. She didn't have the angle and almost missed it. At the last second, Indigo waded out and grabbed the front of Lena's raft. With that help, Lena managed to make it into shore. Bohdi's run was more like Rikki's, although slightly less pretty. Still, he made it without needing any help.

While Bear opened the dry bag and got out everyone's lunch, Liz talked with Lena. Once again, she had troubles throughout her run. She misread where the channel was and was generally late in setting up. Occasionally Bear looked over at them, as if he wanted to step in on Lena's behalf. Rikki watched the interplay between them. She wished Bear would. The way Liz came down so hard on Lena did not seem to be working. Maybe a lighter approach would be more productive.

Grabbing her lunch bag, Rikki ate it as quickly as she could. Once she finished, she went back to the raft and started getting things in order for leaving. Winnie was resting on the tube of another raft that had more sun in it. She looked over at Rikki and smiled at her. Rikki gave her a little wave and went back to what she was doing.

Winnie watched for a little bit and then put her head back against the raft to enjoy the sun. It was her first winter in Seattle and the constant grey skies were hard to take at times. Even when it was not raining, the clouds were usually solid. It felt good to feel the sun on her face. She was almost asleep when she felt a shadow fall across her eyes. She opened up them just in time to see a bucket of water tipping over onto her face.

"Ahhhhhggg!" Winnie screamed as the ice-cold water splashed all over her. Freezing trickles of water ran down the inside of her wetsuit and collected in spots that were warm moments before. Rikki stepped back laughing with the bucket dangling from her fingers. Almost everyone else was laughing too.

"I told you that I would get you back," Rikki smugly said. She laughed again as Winnie shook her hair to rid it of excess water and then stood up. For the expression on her face, that was a mistake. The cold water drained down her wetsuit to find new places to chill her.

"Rikki!" yelled Winnie. "God, that was cold!" She paused as she lifted one leg and shook it to get the water to drain off her pussy. "That is fucking cold right there," she thought to herself. Looking at her friend, her blue eyes were wide and made her adorable. "That was mean," she said in a little voice.

Rikki walked up close to her and nodded. "Yup! So was the wave up river. At least I did it in the sun where you can warm up," she told Winnie. They were both standing in the shallows of the river.

As Rikki turned to look over at Liz, Winnie smiled and put both of her hands on Rikki's shoulders and pushed hard. Starting to fall back, Rikki grabbed Winnie and pulled her along as she went into the pool of water. They both shrieked, first from then the cold and then from laughing. Winnie was on top of Rikki, using her body to stay out of the water as much as she could. It worked for a moment or two, but then Rikki rolled and ended up being the one on top.

Looking down on Winnie, Rikki couldn't help noticing how cute she was. Her sky-blue eyes sparkled while her blonde hair spread out in a halo in the river. She suddenly felt Winnie's supple body against her own. Rikki was straddling the younger woman with her hips right over Winnie's. Despite being around Liz and her friends for years, Rikki was intensely aware of another woman in an almost sexual way for the first time. Sitting up, she looked at Winnie and tried to ignore the feelings.

"Okay, okay! Are we even?" Rikki asked.

With a smile that made her even cuter, Winnie nodded. "Even!" she said. When Rikki got off her, she stood up, covered in mud from the river bottom.

"Oh, mud wrestling," Bear called out. "Keep going!" He looked at Winnie. "This time, try to undo her wetsuit!"

Looking at each other, Winnie and Rikki grabbed partially full buckets and doused Bear with two streams of water. Being Bear, he just laughed. Making fun of himself was one of his best seduction techniques. With Rikki married and Liz's best friend, she was off limits. Winnie on the other hand was a definite possibility, despite being half his age. Shaking out his curls, Bear lay back on his raft and dismissed the thought. "Something to consider after training, if she is interested," he thought. "Taking advantage of opportunities presented," he thought as he closed his eyes.

Rikki walked over to Liz. "You. I still need to get you back." She grinned evilly. "It won't be today. I'm taking my time, Elizabeth." She turned and walked back to her raft.

Although she tried, Liz wasn't able to stop her eyes dropping and checking out Rikki's ass as she went over to the boat. The way the neoprene hugged her curves was irresistible, as was how the wet suit unzipped a bit during her tussle with Winnie. Liz shook her head as if to dispel some thoughts, and then turned away. "At least she is getting some fun in. That's all I really wanted when I recruited her," Liz said to herself. It was nice to see a genuine happy smile on Rikki's face.

The second half of the trip was not much different from the first half. With the low water levels from being so early, the river was slower and without too many really fun waves. Still it was a good place to practice their river reading skills. It just took a while to get down the river. They were ready by the time they got off the river.

"At least the sun stayed out some," Rikki said to Winnie, as they were carrying gear to the van. "Just think how much longer it would have seemed if it stayed so cold and dreary!"

"Especially at lunch," Winnie said with a grin and bumped her hip against Rikki's. From the lunch stop on down, they had joked with each other. While they followed every command given, both of them were in playful moods. It infected the entire raft and it was clear they had more fun than any another boat. Even with Indigo trying to be a tough professional, she broke down and joined in the joking. She didn't want to disappoint Liz, but her style was different. She was more encouraging than biting. "As long as they learn, that's all Liz cares about," Indigo told herself.

After everything was put away, Liz called the group together. "Okay, good job. As you know, this is our first overnight. We have a group site reserved at the second campground up Icicle Creek." She looked over where Rikki was standing. "Rikki knows where it is and she is heading there straight from here. Follow her if you want to get there and set up camp. Indigo and I have to fill up the van so we'll be along in a little bit. Once we get there, our site will be easy to see."

Everybody was still in their river gear, so it took a little bit of time before they were ready to go. As a long time rafter, any shyness Rikki once had was long gone. After dropping the shorts she wore over her wetsuit, she pulled off her wetsuit and booties and got into her SUV. Pulling her t-shirt on, she undid her bikini top and pulled it out. With the t-shirt barely down to her hips, she quickly stripped off her bottoms and equally quickly pulled on some underwear. The car door was open and anyone looking might have seen how the t-shirt slid up and exposed her as she lifted her hips up each time. "Let them," Rikki thought. She had nothing to be ashamed of when it came to her body.

As she stepped back out of the car, Rikki only had on her t-shirt and panties. When it was raining, she would get fully dressed in the car. Otherwise, it was much easier outside. Standing on a little mat she brought just for that purpose, Rikki put on a comfortable pair of jeans and then a pair of sneakers. Rikki noticed a few of the guys watching her as she slipped her long legs into her jeans and then jumped a couple of times to get them pulled up. Without a bra on, her breasts bounced and jiggled from the jumping. Even Lena was watching her with a hint of interest.

Remembering the moment at the river with Winnie, Rikki found Lena's interest the only one that affected her. Having a guy check her out was usual. Even with all of her time knowing Liz, the atmosphere around the rafting group was a little looser than Rikki was used to. Lena, Indigo and Liz were all very comfortable with themselves, after whatever they went through in coming out was in the past. While not being pushy, their sexuality was apparent. As she checked out her hair and face in the window of her SUV, Rikki thought about it. Slowly she smiled. "I kind of like it, don't I? Guys think I'm attractive, I know that, but it is kind of flattering that a young lesbian does too!"

With that thought, Rikki spent a little more time primping that she normally would after rafting. She brushed out her hair and put on a little muted shade of lipstick. With Samuel paying her progressively less attention, she felt like she deserved the ego boost.

Looking inside her SUV, Rikki smiled. Clearly, not everyone was as comfortable with being exposed as she was. Winnie had a towel hanging from her door and another covering herself while she struggled to get dressed. She still had a way to go to be fully dressed. "So much easier, my way," Rikki thought. While she waited, she gathered up both Winnie's gear and her own and put it away. She felt her breasts sway under her top. With her full breasts, she rarely went without a bra. For any length of time, it just wasn't comfortable. Today, it felt nice and freeing. "If it gets me a little attention from the guys, that's okay," she thought. "Or the gals," she added, while giggling aloud. It was harmless and it did feel good to be noticed. Samuel hadn't made her feel desirable in a long time.

Leaning against her car, Rikki watched as Liz drove the van out of the parking lot, taking Indigo and Bear along with her. Most of the other rafters were almost ready. She heard Winnie get out of the car. As she came around the front end, Winnie caught a look of the t-shirt clinging to Rikki's body.

"Look at the hot momma! You decided to tease the boys tonight," Winnie teased.

Determined not to let Winnie get the better of her, Rikki grinned. "And the girls too!" she said in a husky voice. When she winked at Winnie, she was rewarded with seeing Winnie lose her mocking smile for a moment. It didn't last, especially when Rikki giggled.

"Poor Indigo, Lena and Liz," Winnie said, recapturing her tone.

"Liz is like my sister, so ewwww!" Rikki exclaimed. "And Indigo is an instructor, so inappropriate." Her smile got a bit more wicked. "Poor Lena!" Once again, her teasing back caught Winnie by surprise, even more so when Rikki walked over to where Lena rested against the bumper of her car.

Rikki put a little wiggle in her walk over to Lena, wanting to prolong giving Winnie a bad time. She resisted looking back to see if Winnie was watching. As she caught Lena's eye, Rikki tossed her head a little and ran her fingers through her hair. Despite brushing it earlier, she still found a few more tangles.

"How you doing, Lena?" Rikki asked as she reached Lena's car. For the briefest moments, she saw Lena's eyes still looking at her breasts. It was a testament to how okay Lena was with her sexuality that she showed no embarrassment when she met Rikki's gaze. There was only appreciation.

"Good, I guess. I just hope tomorrow goes better! I'm tired of being the worst guide of the bunch." She glanced over at where Julie was talking with Don. Lena seemed to glare a bit. "Even she is doing better than me," Lena said dejectedly.

Rikki looked over too. At first, she wasn't sure why Lena resented Julie. Even in their first trip, she guided fairly well. Her doing well today shouldn't be a surprise. As Julie's laugh at something Don said carried over, Rikki could tell Julie was flirting again. She seemed to flirt with each of the guys. In carpooling with her and Winnie last week, they all got along. Suddenly Rikki realized why Julie wasn't Lena's favorite person.

"Does Julie have a problem with you because you're gay?" Rikki asked.

Lena looked at her. She didn't like to talk about others behind their back. Plus, she knew that Rikki was Liz's best friend. "I don't want to cause problems for anyone," Lena said. "It's all good. Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah, looks like everyone is done," Rikki replied. She took a couple of steps back towards her car, before turning halfway around. "I get it, but if it is really a problem, she won't last. Women like Liz and Indigo guide for Weston for a reason. He could care less about that, as long as they can guide. You'll get it, Lena." Rikki gave her a smile before continuing back to her SUV. Lena smiled a little as she thought about how nice Rikki was, then her eyes dropped down to watch Rikki's ass. The exaggerated wiggle was gone, but her natural walk was actually more enticing.

"What a waste," Lena thought with a grin as she got into her car to join in the caravan to the campsite.

It was about 40 minutes to the Forest Service campground. Rikki took her time to make sure she didn't lose anyone along the way. Along the way, Rikki saw the van filling up in the quaint little Bavarian town from which they started that morning. It was kitschy and less friendly to the rafters as it became more oriented towards the tourists and the blue-hairs bussed in from retirement communities on the Westside of the state. There were still a couple of bars that didn't mind the rowdier rafting crowds, but tonight they were staying in camp.

Winnie's eyes got big as she watched the mountains grow up around her as they drove on the little road up Icicle Creek. There was nothing like this in Oklahoma. Even the drive over the Pass wasn't quite like it. The steep slopes were right next to the road. At a spot that widened, Rikki pulled into the campground and found the group site. As she parked, Winnie made sure that all the other cars left space for the van with the rafts.