“Well, all right,” Jack said as they turned off a different gravel road on the other side of the state road, onto a narrow two-rut with a fringe of grass up the center. “I think we’re safe now.”

“Good,” Alan agreed from the back seat, where he was sitting as close to Summer as he could, considering that they had a large cooler on the floor of the Jeep between them. “I sure hate this shit of having to look over my shoulder for Frenchy all the time.”

“Yeah, that sucks rocks,” Jack agreed. “How did we get into this mess, anyway?”

“If you want my opinion,” Summer commented, “the big reason is that joker Payne we have for a principal at the high school. He lets the jocks get away with absolutely everything. To look at him I’d doubt that he was ever an athlete himself, but he sure sucks up to them a lot. That lets Frenchy and his buddies think that they can get away with anything, anytime.”

“From what I hear, he doesn’t like cops very much,” Alan commented. “I wonder just how well the personal protection orders will work at the school. God, I don’t want to have to go through another year of ducking the jocks.”

“Yeah, that could be a big pain in the ass,” Jack nodded. “It sure would be nice if the cops could take them down a notch or two before school starts, but the way our luck has been running I’m not holding my breath.”

It was a depressing subject that they’d all been over much too often. There was really not much new to add. Jack drove on down the twisted network of two-ruts; some of them seemed familiar to Vixen, but Alan and Summer were thoroughly lost by the time they got to the pond that Jack and Vixen had been at a few days before. Jack pulled the Jeep to a stop under the shade of some trees and shut it off. “Well, this is the place,” he told his passengers.

“Yeah, I don’t think Frenchy is going to find us here,” Alan said. “I’m just glad I don’t have to find my way out of here by myself. What do you say if we go swimming for a bit? Then we can sit back in the shade of the trees, suck on some Cokes. You and Vixen can look for birds and maybe point out a few to us.”

“It sounds like a plan,” Summer agreed. “It’ll help to knock off some of the dust that we got hit with from riding in the back of the Jeep.”

It didn’t take the four of them long to get wet. Vixen had left her bikini in her backpack in the Jeep the day before, and Summer had picked hers up when she made the grocery run. All had put them on before they left, and were wearing T-shirts and shorts over the swimsuits. Summer had a rather tiny black bikini that made her blonde hair stand out, and Jack thought that Vixen looked about as good as she ever did in a bikini, although he sort of missed how she’d been dressed the last time they’d been out at this place.

As the afternoon progressed the beer started to wear off Frenchy, Larry, and Matt. They’d spent some time pulling their protective gear together, using dust masks, goggles, clear plastic bags and lots of duct tape. “Thank God for duct tape,” Matt had commented. “Don’t know what we could do without it.”

“Yeah, I don’t think these would work very well without it,” Larry agreed. “I just hope they work some. I don’t want to get another face full of that shit.”

“Now if we can just find the fuckers,” Frenchy said. “We can kick some ass.”

That proved to be a little more difficult than they anticipated. They drove all over town looking for Jack, Vixen, and the Jeep, but they were nowhere to be found. They drove past Jack’s house, but the Jeep wasn’t there and Jack’s dad’s truck was. “Don’t guess we can just go up and ask where they are,” Matt shook his head.

After an hour or more of searching around, they had found nothing more than they’d seen before. What’s more, they hadn’t seen any sign of Frankovich or Jahnke, who were also high on the list of people needing their ass kicked. Finally, Frenchy said, “Fuck it. All we’re doing is burning gas. The fucker is probably out in the woods somewhere looking at his goddamn birds.”

“Maybe we ought to go look in the woods,” Larry suggested.

“Where the fuck are you going to look in all the goddamn woods we have around here?” Frenchy asked icily. “There’s millions of fucking trees they could be hiding behind.”

“We ain’t getting nothing done just riding around looking,” Matt said. “What do you say we just go get something to eat, and then look around later? If they’re out in the woods, they may not get back until dark, or close to it.”

Out at the little lake, the day was fading. The four friends had spent an unmeasured amount of time swimming, then hanging out on the shore while Jack and Vixen pointed out the birds they saw to Alan and Summer. The birding was only fair, although Vixen added two more birds to her life list. When they weren’t looking at a bird they were talking as they sat on the beach. During that period, Jack had noticed that Alan and Summer had been working closer together, and now were snuggled up close to each other.

Finally, Alan had to comment, “This is actually pretty interesting, I guess, if you guys like it,” he grinned. “But I don’t think I’m ever going to be a fanatic birdwatcher.”

“Me, either,” Summer agreed. “I mean, I can see how you could get to like bird watching, but I guess you have to like it. Alan, what do you say we go for a walk, and leave these two to their birding?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” he said. “Let me just get on my sandals. Where do you want to go?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she grinned lustily. “Maybe down to the end of the lake, somewhere where we can be alone for a while.”

“Don’t be too long,” Jack smiled, reading between the lines. “The sun will be setting before too much longer, and we’ll want to get the fire going.”

“Oh, we won’t be that long,” Summer grinned. “Besides, I’m getting a little hungry, too.”

It only took them a few minutes to get organized. Alan pulled on a small backpack he’d brought, and the two of them set out into the woods. Once they seemed likely to be out of hearing, Jack turned to Vixen and said, “Do you have any doubt that there’s going to be some serious making out going on in their immediate future? ”

“Not in the slightest,” Vixen smiled. “In fact, if there were any way to prove it I’ll bet that bikini top of hers is going to be coming off before they’re back.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly how I read it,” Jack agreed. “They probably won’t be back real soon, so I suppose they wouldn’t know if yours came off, too.”

“Jack, you’re reading my mind this afternoon,” Vixen giggled. “Would you like to do the honors?”

The lake was small enough that it didn’t take a long time for the two to hike down toward the end, where they found a small sandy, open spot back away from the water, but still in view of it. It seemed likely that Jack and Vixen would be unable to see them. “This ought to do,” Alan said.

“We probably won’t find much better in what time we have,” Alan agreed. “I just hope they don’t find us.”

“I doubt they will,” Summer grinned. “How much would you like to bet that Vixen’s bikini top is off by now and they’re wrapped up in some serious making out? I’ll bet that’s what they think we’re doing.”

“Yeah, you sure gave them a broad enough hint,” Alan grinned. “You still want to go through with this?”

“The more I think about it, the more I think it’s the right thing to do,” she told him, “and I don’t think we’re stepping out of line to do it.”

“Me, either,” he said. “In fact, I think about the only way we can work around your Circle being so secretive is to form our own, just you and me right now.”

“Who knows?” she said. “Maybe we can add on to it in the future. I really doubt Jack and Vixen would be open to it, but we may come across others sometime. Let’s not talk about that, since we don’t really have all that much time. Let’s get started.”

“Still skyclad?” he asked.

“That’s what we agreed,” she smiled. “It only seems logical to be skyclad if we’re forming a Circle of our own.”

Alan couldn’t help but be a little nervous as he peeled out of his swimsuit. After all, it was the first time he’d been naked in front of a woman, or been in the presence of a naked woman, for that matter. That it was ritual, rather than something else, made him outwardly calm and businesslike, but he couldn’t help but steal a glance at Summer as she untied her bikini top and let it fall to the ground, then took off the bottoms. She was a natural blonde, he noted, and hoped to be able to explore that fact a little sometime when ritual wasn’t involved.

Nude now – even his sandals were off – he reached into his backpack and pulled out the towel that had both sheathed athames wrapped in it. He opened it, and handed Summer hers. “Do you wish to lay the pentacle?” he said formally.

“Yes,” she replied, just as formally. “Will you light the incense? ”

Summer took her athame and used it to draw a circle in the sand, perhaps eight feet across, then picked out the five points and connected them, while Alan lit sticks of incense at the four cardinal directions from the center. In a few minutes, they were done with that and their other preparations, so each stepped skyclad into the pentacle and together raised their athames toward the Goddess asking for her blessing and sending ancient words toward her.

Jack and Vixen lay snuggled together on the beat-up old blanket that they’d brought to sit on to keep from getting too sandy. They were indeed making out. They’d gone a bit further than they’d ever gone before.

“My God, Jack,” she said while they were pulling themselves back together. “That was wonderful. I know it’s still two months, but I can hardly wait.”

“I think we should be able to pass the two months adequately like that,” he said, glancing at the sun sinking lower in the sky. “You know, I really hate to say this, but maybe we’d better get our swimsuits back on before Alan and Summer get back here.”

“Aw, do we have to?” she grinned. “We could just invite them to go skinny dipping.”

“It would be fun,” Jack laughed, reminding himself that he’d already seen Summer in the nude and couldn’t say anything about it. “But I don’t know if they’d be up for it yet. They’re still pretty new with each other.”

“So are we, Jack,” she smiled. “Granted, we’ve been together a few days longer, but it’s only a few days. Tell you what – let’s wait till after dark and tease them about it a bit. If they protest too much, we don’t have to push on with it. Maybe you and I could do it, even if they don’t, just to tease them a little.”

“Vixen, you are well named,” Jack grinned. “You really like yanking people’s chains, don’t you?”

“Oh, just a little, and all in fun,” she grinned. “You with me? ”

“Of course I’m with you,” he laughed. “We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

There was a glorious sunset brewing on the far side of the little lake when Alan and Summer started back to join their friends. The two of them had of course gotten their swimsuits back on after the completion of their ritual, but they were in a very good mood indeed, and walked up the faint path they found hand in hand. “Let’s be real quiet,” Summer whispered. “Six will get you two we’ll find Vixen with her top off.”

Alan grinned, fighting to hold back a laugh. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they were doing a lot more than that.”

“Well, me either,” she smiled. “I don’t think they’re to quite that point, but I’ll bet they aren’t far from it.”

“Summer,” he said. “Are we?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I admit to feeling the urge to consecrate that Circle back there, and I hadn’t expected that. It wouldn’t surprise me, Alan, but this has all come on so suddenly I think I need to think about it a bit.”

“Me, too,” he said, “but I’ll tell you, Summer, I’m looking forward to when we’re both ready.”

“Yes,” she smiled. “I think I am, too. We need to talk about this, but I don’t think right now is the right time or we could find ourselves doing something we don’t want to do just yet.”

“Fine, I can wait. But kiss me, anyway.”

They hadn’t kissed since getting to the lake, but now they did. Perhaps it was the Goddess, perhaps it was the ritual, perhaps it was just being alone in the woods, but it seemed more powerful than ever before, even though their previous kisses had been powerful indeed. Without telling the other, each of them found themselves reconsidering their decision to not let things go further just yet. The kiss went on for a long time, and then they broke apart and stepped back just a little, so they could look at each other’s face.

Summer broke the silence. “I suppose we ought to be heading back,” she said in a whisper that was tortured out of her by her desire to stay and experience more of the power she’d just enjoyed.

“Yeah,” Alan agreed somberly.

They found Jack and Vixen huddled together, just looking at the sunset. A little to their surprise they found Vixen wearing her bikini top, although there was no telling if it had been off. “Hi, we’re back,” Summer said to alert the two of them.

“Good,” Jack said. “I was just beginning to wish I had Stas with us so we could set out after you. I was beginning to wonder if you were lost or something.”

“We had a neat time,” Alan grinned, as if to let his friends imagine what had happened out there. Alan couldn’t believe they could have imagined what had really happened. Thinking back a week, he wouldn’t have believed it himself.

“Well, let’s gather some firewood,” Jack said. “Just small stuff, dead branches we can break. We don’t want a big fire or one that will last a long time, but I’m getting hungry.”

The sun had set in a glorious show by the time they got around to building a fire, but the long northern twilight gave them plenty of light to find some wood. It took a little to get the fire going, but not much as the wood they found was fairly dry, and soon they had a pleasant, cheery campfire going in the sand just a few feet away. Like almost anyone, they enjoyed watching the magic of it, with the warmth on the evening as it cooled, and the hypnotizing dance of the flames.

The fire was so intoxicating that it took them a while to get out the hot dogs and wire skewers that Jack had brought from home, and roasting them took a while longer. It was a wonderful time to talk, to enjoy each other, and to laugh. What had started out as a pretty crappy day for Jack and Vixen had turned into a pretty good one, and the warmth of having their friends with them just made the evening all the more entrancing.

In the rush to get on the road toward the pond, the makings for S’mores had been left behind, but they decided that it could wait for another time. There was still some summer left, and they’d already agreed that they’d be out here again before it was over.

They sat, talked, roasted hot dogs, and dreamed at the fire until the sun was gone, and stars filled the skies. “You know,” Jack said finally, “we really ought to be heading back or we’re going to be out here all night.”

“What if I don’t want to go?” Vixen replied. “Can’t we just spend the night like this?”

“Afraid not,” Jack shook his head. “Although I can’t say as I’m real excited about heading back, I’m just a little worried that Frenchy and his buddies are going to be lying in wait for us.”

“That makes me want to head back even less,” Vixen shook her head. “I’m not ready to quit yet. We ought to at least make use of the fact that it’s dark, and we’re alone by a lake before we head home.”

“What do you mean?” Summer asked.

“Aw, let’s go skinny dipping,” Vixen laughed. “You’ll never find a better place to do it, and we’ll never find better company.”

“Skinny dipping?” Alan said, surprised at Vixen’s suggestion, more than anything.

“Sure, why not?” she giggled. “I’ll do it if anyone else will. Summer are you in on it with me?”

Summer thought about it for an instant. Normally she was a pretty modest girl, but she’d been nude with Alan that afternoon – and Jack had seen her in the nude once, although she hadn’t known it at the time. “Yeah, why not?” she said, getting to her feet and untying her top. “Jack, you in?”

“Sure, might as well,” he laughed as he got up and peeled off his T-shirt, then his swimsuit. “Alan, you’re not going to chicken out on us, are you? ”

“What, and give up the chance to go swimmin’ with bare-naked wimmin?” he grinned as a line from an old cartoon came to mind.

In only seconds the four were totally nude, heading to the lake. It was dark out there, darker than it had been out of the fading light of the fire, and there really wasn’t much to see, although the excitement levels were high. They stayed at it for a while, having splash wars, tickle fights, and all the other grab-ass and horseplay that four teenagers can have in a normal swimming party, but the nudity just raised the excitement level.

Finally, without discussion and by mutual consent, they’d had enough. They slowly walked out of the water up to the dying fire.

“Damn, that was fun,” Vixen said.

“We ought to build up the fire a little,” Summer suggested. “We need to dry off some before we get dressed, and my towel is still damp from earlier.”

“Might as well,” Jack smiled. “We’ve still got a little wood.”

He and Alan gathered the odd sticks that they still had left and piled them on the fire. It took a few minutes before they had the fire blazing merrily, warming them up in the cool of the evening. The fire put out enough light to see each other a little, but no one seemed to feel like getting dressed yet.

Somehow, the four of them wound up in a close circle, with their hands around each other’s backs, holding each other close, each nude body pressed up against a couple others of the opposite sex, but not feeling much lust – just closeness and comradeship. “God, it’s good to have friends like you,” Alan said. “All of you.”

“Yeah, no fooling,” Summer said. “This may be one of the best days I ever spent.”

“Fuck,” Frenchy said. “This may be one of the worst days I ever spent. This day has just plain fuckin’ sucked.”

The three of them hadn’t been continuously riding around town looking for Jack and Vixen, but they’d spent a large part of the afternoon and evening doing it, with no results whatever. The Jeep was nowhere to be found.

“It’s awful fuckin’ late for them to still be out in the woods,” Matt observed.

“Yeah, but maybe they found themselves a good spot to tear off a piece,” Frenchy observed sourly. “Shit, I ain’t had none since before that Hvalchek bitch beat the fuck out of Mary Lou.”

“You been over to see her yet?” Larry asked.

“Naw, I’ve been too fuckin’ busy with everything else,” Frenchy snorted. “Shit, you know what’s gone down. First things first, after all. Besides, I ain’t getting’ no head off of her with her jaw wired shut.”

“Yeah, that would sort of shut things down,” Matt laughed.

“I’ll fuckin’ tell you what,” Frenchy snorted. “If we can fuckin’ find that fuckin’ Hvalchek bitch, I ain’t gonna have to wait no longer to get me a piece, and you guys can have as much of it as you want, too.”

“We got to find them first,” Matt pointed out.

“Well, let’s give it a little longer,” Frenchy replied. “They may be hanging out outside of town, waiting till they think we won’t be looking for them. I’ll bet if we find them tonight, it’ll be late.”

It had been hard to kick sand and water over what was left of the fire, to get dressed and get back in the Jeep and head for town, but the four friends were very relaxed when they started the ride out. Jack kept it slow to keep the dust down for the people in back, although it was pretty clear they were still going to have to take showers when they got home.

It was just as long a drive through the woods and over the two-ruts to get back to the state road as it had been to get back to the lake. Jack was feeling pretty laid back; it had been a good day indeed. Only as he neared the state road did he start to think about Frenchy; he felt safe on the back roads since Frenchy rarely took his low-slung Eagle Talon out on gravel, and was even less likely to take it on two-ruts. For the last four miles or so they were going to be exposed, and he knew it.

He was a couple miles north of the turn onto Central Avenue, checking out the oncoming traffic, when he saw a disturbing sight. “Shit!” he cried. “That’s Frenchy and his buddies!”

“Aw, shit,” Vixen said from the right seat. “Where?”

“Behind us now,” Jack said, checking the rear view mirrors. “Shit, they saw us! They’re turning around!”

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