Out in the swamp south of Spearfish Lake, the sun was beating down heavily on Jack and Vixen. Stas had taken the wise course, finding some shade on the side of the Jeep, where he was peacefully asleep. Well, not peacefully; he was again snoring lightly, but the little bit of noise that he made didn’t seem to slow the birding down any.

Jack was starting to get bored and he suspected that Vixen was, too. While there was still a lot of bird activity around – this was, after all, one of Jack’s favorite hot spots – Vixen had only added one new bird to her life list in the last hour. Jack was feeling very warm in the morning sun and would have liked something to drink, but the coffee was all gone now. With visions of iced tea and Diet Coke filling his mind, he wondered if maybe the time had come to head back.

Once again, he looked over at Vixen, who was sitting on the far side of the Jeep, busy scanning around the area with her binoculars and bare eyes. Her top and the way she filled it out again drew his attention. Just then it would have taken a rare bird indeed to top that sight. How could he have overlooked it for so long?

She put down the binoculars and glanced over at him. “What’re you thinking about so intently?” she asked.

He didn’t dare say what he really was thinking, which involved peeling that top back, glorying in the sight, and playing with and licking those lovely breasts that she had been waving around for an hour or more. The ones he’d played with the night before, loving every minute of it. “To tell the truth,” he lied, “I’m thinking about how cold all those drinks in the cooler down at the Qwik Stop are.”

“Why there?” she smiled, knowing that he was checking out her chest and enjoying the fact that he was doing it.

Jack smiled. “Because it’s the closest cooler full of drinks to where we are now. Think of how good that would taste right now.”

“You’re saying you want to hang it up for the morning?” she grinned. “Actually, I think it sounds pretty good myself.”

“Then, my dear, as soon as I can wake my faithful hound, let us be off,” he laughed. “Low temperature liquid awaits!”

“Hey, I’m the one who reads all that fantasy stuff,” she grinned. “You don’t need to lay it on that thick.”

“Yeah, but it’s fun,” he said, leaning out the door of the Jeep and saying, “Hey, Stas, hop aboard or get left behind.” It would be hard to say that Stas sprang to his feet; he stood up slowly, stretched from one end to the other in that special waking-dog way, and jumped up over the side of the Jeep, settling into his position in the back seat. With that done, Jack started the Jeep and dropped it into gear. “Well, that was pretty good,” he said. “How many new birds did you wind up with?”

“Twenty-eight, I think,” she replied. “I’ll have to go back over my notes to be sure. I’m catching up with you, Jack.”

“You’re going to be a while catching up with me,” he smiled as the Jeep eased into the shade of the trees on the far side of the slough. It was a relief to have the sun off of him, even if it was only for a minute. “But,” he added, “you seem to be catching on to this pretty well.”

“I think so,” she smiled. “That was more fun than I expected.”

“It isn’t always like it was this morning,” he warned her. “Sometimes you sit someplace that’s very uncomfortable and don’t see a thing, or at least anything new or odd. It isn’t often that I see much that I can add to my life list anymore, but still, it’s fun to go out and see what you can find.”

“How do you keep track of everything?”

“You work at it,” he smiled. “Your field notes are important, although usually it’s a good idea to go through and transcribe them into a journal. You want to keep up with that, if you get behind and you’re going out a lot you can lose detail that doesn’t appear in your field notes. As far as keeping up your life and other lists, there are database programs. I’ll help you get set up on one sometime in the next few days.”

“Good,” she smiled. “I knew computers had to play a part somewhere.”

“They do just about everywhere else, why not there? Oh, shit, that’s a Red- tail. Did you get one earlier?”

“Up ahead there on that limb? I got one earlier, but that’s pretty neat.”

It took them several minutes to get back out to the state road, mostly talking about birds and the morning they’d just shared. “That was fun!” she summarized. “I can’t wait till we go out and do it again.”

“Well, maybe this afternoon or this evening,” he replied. “There’s a couple other things we need to get out of the way, like dinner at your place.”

“Where do you think we’ll go?”

“Hard to say,” he said. “Depends on the time and the conditions. There’s lots of places; the trick is to see something good when you get there.”

Once they got out on the highway the wind noise kept them from talking comfortably, so they just sat there as the miles rolled along, holding hands. Though they’d been up and down the road hundreds if not thousands of times, it seemed a long way until they got to the Qwik Stop, which sits right next to the Spearfish Lake Café along the state road. Jack pulled in to a parking place near the door, shut the Jeep off, and told Stas to stay. The two of them hopped out of the Jeep and walked toward the front.

“Thanks again, Jack,” Vixen smiled as they met in front of the Jeep. On impulse, she threw her arms around him and pulled him down to kiss her, something she’d been wanting to do for a while. It was a long kiss and a serious one, with hands roaming over each other’s bodies. Once they broke it up, they turned for the door, with Vixen’s arm around Jack’s hip and his hand resting on her bare waist. It felt good to walk side by side into the store like that.

“Let’s get some iced tea,” Jack suggested.

“Oh, that’s OK, I guess,” Vixen said, “but think how good a Diet Coke would taste.”

“It’d taste fine,” Jack smiled, “but you can drink iced tea quicker. You upend a twenty-ounce Diet Coke and guzzle it down, the next thing you know you’re letting off a burp they’d hear in Camden.”

“I thought guys were into burping,” she giggled.

“Nah, guys aren’t into burping. Women are, at least when they get around babies. They keep encouraging babies to burp. When the kids get big enough to enjoy it all women can do is bitch about it. Go figure.” Jack reached for a couple of iced teas, and Vixen, figuring he had a point, reached for one of her own. Jack also grabbed a bottle of water; Stas was probably getting a little dry too, he thought.

Jack proved that he was thirsty, by downing a whole bottle of iced tea while they were standing in line at the checkout, and Vixen finished about half of hers in the same time. “You’re right,” she said. “At least it goes down quickly.”

After he paid, they headed back out to the Jeep, their arms still around each other. Jack broke free long enough to dig out a disposable aluminum pie pan and dump about half the bottle of water into it, with Stas hovering with his nose inches away, lapping up the water as soon as his way was clear. While the lapping was going on, he and Vixen made good use of their time with another long kiss.

Heather Callahan’s family had long had the habit of going out for an early lunch on Sunday, and of course she went along. It was partly family duty, and partly a chance to eat something different. She and her family were sitting in the Spearfish Lake Café, along the window that faced the Qwik Stop, so she saw the whole thing – Jack and Vixen pulling in, with her wearing her very tight camisole. She saw the kiss, the wandering hands, the walking into the store with their arms around each other, coming out the same way, and the long kiss next to the Jeep. She had no idea where they’d been, but it sure looked like they’d been having a good time, wherever it was. “Wow,” she thought. “They’re getting serious.”

Heather had her phone with her, but it was shut off – her parents didn’t appreciate her gossiping on her cell during meals – but she had some more calls to make as soon as she could.

“Where to now?” Vixen asked as they settled themselves in the Jeep again and fastened their belts. “It’s a little early to head over to my place, I think.”

“Yeah, me too,” Jack agreed. “How about if we go over and check in on Alan? It’s not that far.”

“Probably not a bad idea,” she replied. “I’ll bet he’s feeling a little alone right now.”

It was only a few blocks to the Jahnke home. Jack found a shady spot to park, told Stas to stay with the Jeep, then he and Vixen walked hand and hand up to the door.

“Hi, Alan,” Jack said when he came to the door. “Vixen and I decided to drop over and see how you were doing.”

“Quite a bit better,” Alan smiled. “Somebody took a shot back at Frenchy last night. I don’t know who it was, but it was beautiful.”

“What happened?”

“Looks like someone flattened his tires,” Alan grinned. “Come on in. Somebody took a picture and put it on the message board.”

“Well, that’s news,” Jack laughed as he held the door for Vixen. “I mean, it’s not as if he didn’t deserve it.”

“Boy, that’s for sure,” Alan said, leading his guests toward his room.

Jack had never been in Alan’s room, or his house, for that matter. It was surprisingly neat, nothing like the mess that Jack’s room was usually in. His computer was on, with an unfamiliar web page on the screen. As Jack and Vixen looked on, Alan plopped down in the chair in front of the computer and clicked on a bookmark. The Spearfish Lake Message Board sprang up, with the photo of Frenchy’s car on it. “Looks sort of silly like that, doesn’t it?” Alan grinned.

“Yeah, I’ll bet Frenchy is laughing his guts out,” Jack replied sarcastically; he knew Frenchy well enough to know that the bully was doing anything but laughing at it. “Somebody just let the air out, or did they get slashed?”

“Slashed, I think,” Alan smiled. “There’s a whole bunch of comments on the board, all in the last hour or two. Somebody was saying that Frenchy was swearing about his tires being ruined, and that he was going to pound the living hell out of whoever did it.”

“I can imagine Frenchy would want to do that,” Jack laughed. “Any idea who it is?”

“No idea,” Alan grinned. “I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes if Frenchy found out, though.”

“Me either,” Jack said. “I almost hate to say it, but do you think that after the deal the other night that Frenchy is going to think you did it?”

“Christ, I hope not,” Alan said. “Whoever did it could have had a better sense of timing, that’s for sure.”

“Well, maybe whoever did it figured that Frenchy would think it was you,” Jack replied thoughtfully.

“In a way, I sort of hope he does,” Alan said. “I’m not going out of the house until we go see a lawyer in the morning. Dad is going to file for a personal protection order, and after that I hope Frenchy does come around because his butt is going to be in jail so quick he won’t know what happened to him. I did a little research on the net, ninety days for contempt of court sounds pretty fair to me.”

“Yeah, if you don’t get hurt too bad in the process,” Jack pointed out.

“There is that,” Alan said, without a great deal of enthusiasm, then brightened. “It might teach him a lesson though. We can hope.” He changed the subject. “So what have you guys been doing this morning? It sure seems strange to see the two of you together.”

“We’re starting to get used to it a little,” Vixen said before Jack could say anything. “Jack and I have been out birding since before dawn. We saw a bunch of neat birds.”

“Out in the swamp past where I found you yesterday,” Jack explained. “Since yesterday morning got loused up, Vixen and I decided to try the place today.”

“Vixen, I didn’t know you were a bird crazy like Jack,” Alan grinned.

“I wasn’t,” she smiled, “Until Jack got me interested.”

Alan turned away from the comments on the computer screen and looked at the two of them; they had been standing behind him, arms around each other. Alan took special notice of Jack’s hand on her bare waist, and the way the tight camouflage top made her breasts and nipples stand out. “Yeah,” he said sadly. “It looks good on you. Both of you. Congratulations.”

“Alan?” Vixen said, detecting the sadness in his voice.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he replied. “I’m happy for the both of you. Let’s face it, we’re misfits in this place. You guys, me, some others like Summer Trevetheck and Nancy Halifax, along with some others I could name. We’re smart, we have other interests besides school shit, but we’re pretty much alone. We’re counting the days until we can leave this town behind us, getting away from all the LeDroits and Effinghams and the buddies they can find. They’re welcome to it, so long as we can survive to get out of here. At least now the two of you have each other for support. I just hope I can find someone like that some day.”

“It’s not quite that bad,” Jack said. “There are some good people here.”

“Yeah, there are, but it’s the bad ones who stick out,” Alan said acidly. “They’re the ones who make it hell for the misfits like the rest of us. Sure, I’d like to have friends, I’d like to be lucky enough to find a girlfriend like you apparently have, Jack. But the bastards like LeDroit aren’t happy unless they make everyone who wants to make something of themselves miserable. Shit, you know what the gossip is like in this town. I’ll bet you right now that there’s somebody who’s saying, ‘I can’t see what she sees in a loser like him,’ or ‘I can’t see what he sees in a loser like her.’ They’ll do their damnedest to break you up because they can’t stand to see one of us misfits enjoying him or herself, much less two of us together and happy. God, I can’t wait until I can get out of this town and start over without LeDroit and his buddies and all the fucking gossips around.”

Jack shook his head. “Alan, I don’t know what to tell you, but I don’t think it’s hopeless. I know that there have been times when I’ve thought it was hopeless too, but hang in there. Don’t think you don’t have people on your side. You do.”

“Yeah, Alan,” Vixen said, reaching out to put her hand on his shoulder. “I’ve felt pretty alone at times too. I don’t like being called ugly, being called homely, being called lots of things. Mostly I’ve been called that by people who think they’re better than I am, but really aren’t good enough to wipe my butt. I know it now, and in the long run they’ll be the ones to find out the hard way. In the meantime, maybe if us misfits learn to support each other we can survive until we can get out of this town.”

“Sounds good,” Alan shook his head, “but I can’t believe it’s ever going to happen. Do you know that this is the first time in years that I’ve had something resembling friends in this room?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “It’s been a long time for me too.” He thought about it for a moment. “Look, I don’t know you well enough, but being the computer whiz that you are, I’d guess that you’re into computer games, right?”

“Not as much as you might think,” Alan said. “I do like to play them sometimes. I’ve got a few that aren’t too bad.”

“I’ve never had much chance to fart around with them,” Jack smiled. “I’ve got to go to Sunday dinner over at Vixen’s but maybe this evening I could come over and you could shoot my ass off.”

“I could come along,” Vixen said. “We could take turns letting you shoot our asses off.”

“I’d kind of like that,” Alan said, “but I don’t want you guys doing it because you pity me.”

“Pity, nothing,” Jack said. “People get to be friends by doing things together while they learn to like and respect each other. I suppose we can’t do it tomorrow because of all the lawyer shit, but later this week, you can come out before dawn with Vixen and me and learn something about birding. I mean, fair’s fair.”

“Yeah, but I don’t care that much about birds,” Alan protested.

“Like I said, fair’s fair. I don’t much care about computer games. In fact, if you can think of something to do besides computer games it won’t break my heart.”

“All right,” Alan said. “Let’s give it a try. I’m getting pretty damn bored with having no one to talk to except my reflection in the mirror.”

“We got a deal, then,” Jack said. “Vixen and I really need to be hitting the road pretty quick. I’ve got Stas out watching the Jeep, but he won’t do it for long. If no one’s there he gets bored and starts exploring. I’ve got to drop him off at the house and then head on over to Vixen’s for dinner and spend some time with her folks. Do you want us to just drop by in the late afternoon or evening, or should we call first?”

“I’ll be here,” Alan said. “Drop by when you get the time.”

“You know,” Vixen said as they rode down the street in the Jeep after leaving Alan’s place. “That’s pretty sad.”

“Yeah, it is,” Jack agreed. “The hell of it is, though, that you and I were in the same damn boat just a few days ago. Alone, bored stiff, no one to talk to.”

“At least we didn’t have Frenchy trying to blow a hole in the bottom of the boat,” she pointed out.

“No, we still have that,” Jack said. “He just hasn’t gotten around to us yet, which is part of the reason we’ve been staying out of town when we’re out and around. Sooner or later, he’s going to get over being pissed about someone slashing his tires and remember that you beat up his girlfriend. If he doesn’t remember it, she’ll remind him. Maybe it’ll blow over, but I doubt it. Lying low will only work for so long, and then I’m not sure what will happen or how to prepare for it.”

“Boy, you’re being cheerful all of a sudden.”

“No, just realistic,” he shrugged. “I suppose I’ve taken up Alan’s outlook a little. When you get right down to it, we are misfits, and we misfits haven’t done too good a job of sticking together. You and I are just starting to get used to the idea of being together, and it makes the fact that the rest of us need to do a better job really clear.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” she replied thoughtfully. “I think maybe we ought to work on that a little before school starts, and there’s no place better to start than with Alan. You know what I was thinking while we were talking to him? ”

“What?”

“There’s a guy who really needs a girlfriend,” she smiled. “He really isn’t a bad guy. He’s actually kind of sweet and non-threatening. He’d make some girl a good boyfriend if she was to take the trouble to find it out.”

“Don’t tell me you’re volunteering,” he shook his head.

“No,” she said. “I think I’ve already got a boyfriend. I mean, if that’s all right with you.”

“It is,” he smiled. “If that means that I’ve got a girlfriend.”

“You do,” she smiled with a touch of evil in her eye. “I only let real boyfriends grope my boobs.”

“Consider them groped,” he laughed. “We’re getting too close to my house, and I wouldn’t want to give my mother ideas. We’ll get down to the real thing later.”

“Oh, goody!” she giggled. “You have no idea how much I like that. I probably will like some of the things we’re probably going to do later even more, at least if we stay boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Time will tell, but I think there’s a good chance of it,” he grinned. “But let’s not cross that bridge until we get a little closer to it, shall we? ”

“I guess,” she smiled, “but I can still think about it, can’t I?”

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.