The mid-December afternoon was perfect for hikers and for hiking. Bright and sunny with just a few high clouds it was a little warmer than usual for the time of year but a light jacket still felt pretty comfortable along the shady parts of the trail. Katherine was a little surprised that there were not more hikers out today, there had only been one other vehicle at the parking lot where the trail began, but it was nearing Christmas and she thought they might all be out shopping. But not her! She would have considered it almost criminal to waste such a lovely day by spending it in the malls. Shopping could wait until it was raining. She loved being out on the trail far too much to let the holidays interfere with her weekends. She sometimes thought she might have made a poor career choice by having a job which required her to be indoors all the time. But it was too late to worry about that now and besides, only being able to hike on the weekends and holidays probably made her appreciate it all the more.
Katherine Wilson and her companion Fizzy, an eight year old Golden Lab with the imposing name of Felicity, hence the abbreviation, were on a four mile round trip hike in the southern Appalachian Mountains on one of her favorite trails. It was rather remote and not well known to the casual hikers but Katherine was not a casual hiker. She had been reared in another part of the country altogether but for the past sixteen years had been researching the trails in the area where she now lived and probably knew more about them than almost any of the native residents of the community. Excepting, of course, the inevitable brotherhood of deer and bear hunters. She didn't expect to encounter any of them today as the hunting season had just ended.
As she came to the top of a rise she saw two other hikers, likely the owners of the SUV she had seen at the parking lot, coming up the trail towards her. She called to Fizzy to come and clipped a leash to her collar in case the other hikers might be nervous about dogs. Fizzy had never met a stranger and as a guard dog would probably befriend any would be attackers with her tail wagging before trying to provide any protection. As they neared she saw that it was two men who she did not know.
"Are you going all the way up to the top?" asked one of the men.
"Yes," answered Katherine.
"Have you been up here before?" This from the other of the two men. Both men appeared to be in their mid thirties and were nice looking men. One of them had a mustache while the other was clean shaven. They were dressed for the trail and Katherine took them to be experienced hikers.
"Oh, yes. Many times," she answered. "This is one of my favorite trails. I don't think I have ever seen either of you here. My name is Katherine." She held out her hand in greeting.
The larger of the two men took her hand and said, "I am Kenneth and this is Lewis. We're happy to meet you. This is our first trip up along this particular trail but we like it."
"Pleased to meet you both. Enjoy the hike," she answered, and turned to go. As she walked away she resisted the urge to turn to see if they were watching her.
Katherine was an attractive woman in her mid-forties, trim and athletic in build, and she didn't do all of the things most women did to make themselves alluring. But she was aware of her sexuality and knew when men found her appealing. She had recently been experiencing at work the knowledge that one of the English professors had been paying more than passing attention to her and she found that she liked that. Her job as the head librarian at a university library didn't provide much in the way of intimate relationships. At least on the surface. But she knew her way around and she liked it when men gave second glances at her trim behind. She smiled as she thought of the English professor and let her mind wander as she walked. She might have to give him an extra smile the next time he came to the library.
She went on to the top of the trail and took a few minutes to enjoy the fantastic view. She had been here many times but she never tired of it. "Why don't more people come to enjoy this?" she wondered aloud. She was proud of the fact that she could identify almost every mountain peak visible to her from where she stood. She called to Fizzy to come and prepared to start the hike back to the car. She knew when the sun would set and as experienced as she was, she preferred not to be caught in the woods after dark. She had in her back pack everything she would need to even stay overnight but she still wanted to be back to her car well before dark. She and Fizzy started walking briskly back the way they had come.
