"Well, don't say things you don't mean," he growled, "It's too early in the day for fighting. What else has Ginny got to say?"
Arnie reminisced about his last – and only – trip to California, right after his brother Fred and Ginny were married. He and Flo had flown down for the ceremony; it was the only decent thing to do, especially since there'd be no other relatives there for the occasion. Mom and Pop were too sickly to make the flight, though Mom wouldn't have been dragged bodily on an airplane, regardless of her health. And Ginny's mother bowed out rather gracelessly, offering some lame excuse about the change in climate being so bad for her arthritis. Fred had written that she really refused to come because he and Ginny had been living together before they were married, and she considered that an unforgivable sin. He remembered what a pretty little number Ginny was, almost too pretty for the likes of Fred, with that gorgeous, just-blossoming figure of hers, and that silky auburn hair that splashed over her shoulders. Ah yes, that was one little piece he wouldn't mind giving a tumble…
"… Arnie? Arnie, were you listening to me?"
He snapped back to his chair in his living room in Norman Wells, and forgot, for the moment, about that tasty morsel stranded without her man five thousand miles away in warm, sunny California.
"… I said, why don't we invite Ginny up here? She could find something to do in the village for the summer, and maybe she'd feel more like making a go of it in Los Angeles by the time winter sets back in. Well, how about it?"
Arnie only looked at her, a slow widening grin spreading across his face.
"Now you cut that out, Arnie Dennison," teased Flo. "That's your sister-in-law, in case you don't remember. And you can just get those thoughts out of your dirty little mind right now."
"Sister-in-law, hell," answered Arnie, "she's a cunt, ain't she? That's all I need to know."
Flo tossed herself into his lap, her arms around his neck. "I can't fool you, can I honey? I guess you and me are just two beans in a pod. To tell you the truth, I was kinda making plans for you in that direction myself. That way I won't feel so bad when I spread my legs for that good-looking Swede foreman of yours, knowing you've got some on the side for yourself."
Arnie gave her a playful slap on her bottom, stinging her flesh through the thin robe. "Okay, slut, you've got yourself a deal… You get me into that sweet little bitch, and Gus is all yours. I'll make a present of him to ya."
"You mean I should invite Ginny? Do you really want me to?" asked Flo.
"Of course. Unless you plan for me to go down there."
Flo leaped up and began to scrounge for a pen and her box of writing stationery. "It's a deal, baby. I'll write her right now, and you can take it down to the postal drop this afternoon." She closed her eyes and ran her hands down between her thighs. "Mmmmmmm… I can just feel that big Swede's dick in me right now. You can start dropping a few hints… like you did with Benny Alexander… 'cause that gorgeous hunk of man is as good as mine."
Arnie laughed to himself – he liked Flo even more when she got like this. It was a part of her that made her that much more a real woman in his eyes – she felt no shame about her sex desires, never kept them bottled up inside like most women. And he didn't mind at all, as long as there was always plenty of that sweet pussy left for him, why should he mind if she spread it around a little. After all, he was quick to do the same thing, every chance he got.
But this was going to be one time when it really mattered… one time he really wanted to get into that little honey's pants… and he didn't aim to lose out, no matter what it took!
CHAPTER FIVE
Three weeks can be an awfully long time in the north country, where the nights are six months long, and the only television comes in over the government channel, and listening to the radio is something reserved for those late-night hours, provided the antenna is up and there's no interference from the Northern Lights. But these particular three weeks crept by unusually slowly, as if they would never end, and Arnie grew restless and jumpy like a pent-up animal. Flo did her best to stay away from him, dodging his razor-edged temper as it grew sharper and sharper.
"Arnie, I sometimes wonder if you've got all the sense you're supposed to have," said Flo finally. "You've been grumbling and muttering around here for days, and I'm about to lose my mind putting up with you… I don't know what you're more worked up about, Ginny coming or that damn dog of yours Gus' bringing back from Old Crow."
"Don't call Novlik any of your names," snapped Arnie. "You know his name… Use it! He's Goddamn important to me, Flo, and you know why."
Flo had been through this argument too many times to hold out any hope for winning. "Okay, okay. You don't have to tell me that whole story again. About how Novlik chewed through his harness and swam fifty yards in Telegraph Creek to pull you ashore when you and him went through the ice. I've heard it so many times I could recite it for you backwards if you'd like!"
Arnie stopped his restless pacing, the first time in nearly an hour. "Maybe you'd have liked it better if he'd just left me out there in that cold water, half-unconscious and all! Maybe you'd have liked that, huh?!"
Flo shook her head disgustedly. "Honestly, Arnie, sometimes you're just a little kid. You know I didn't even know you then. I was back in Montana when that happened. So how could it have made any difference to me one way or the other?"
"You know what I meant," grumbled Arnie. "And… and who else would have risked their life to save mine? Nobody, that's who! Novlik and I have been buddies a long time, and may be he's just a dog to you, but he's like a brother to me. And don't you forget it!"
Flo smiled and gave her husband a friendly peck on the cheek. "I'm sorry, honey. I guess you've got me a little worked up with all your worrying and pacing like a bitch in heat. Anyway, he's due back today, and you know Gus'll take good care of him coming from Old Crow. He'll feel a lot better after his trip to the vet, and so will you. Then maybe we can start making plans for Ginny's arrival… she's due in another week. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Arnie looked her straight in the eye, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Don't be ridiculous, woman," he laughed, "I'm thinking about that sweet little pussy almost as much as I am about Novlik… I'm going down to the airstrip and wait for Gus. He oughta be here soon. I'll give him your best."
Flo gave him a playful squeeze, tugging affectionately at his cock through his heavy work pants. "Don't worry about that… I'll give him my best… My very best!"
It was dark again, and the temperature had plummeted twenty degrees since Arnie left for the slow trudge through a half mile of melting ice and snow to the airstrip on the edge of the village, and she could hear them coming before they passed the general store and post office. Novlik had a distinctive bark that she could pick out over that of any of the dozens of dogs in town. And it carried for miles through the still sub-Arctic night, booming from his huge hairy chest like a cannon's report as he bounced along happily, sliding here and there on the freshly frozen ice while Arnie ran wearily along behind.
In a few minutes, they were pounding on the front door, then bursting in like a couple of carefree kids, slinging slush and snow all over the floor as Novlik shook his heavy fur clean.
"No! Not here! Outside, Novlik, outside!" she shrieked.