The young man’s head vanished under the folds of the skirt. The Amazon cried out. After a little while she reached down and pulled him forcibly out into the open. She yanked his face to hers and kissed him urgently. Her hands slid down from her breasts, over her hips until they’d reached the juncture where he pressed against her. Both her hands fumbled with the zipper to his pants. The sound of the zipper being jerked down was audible. Both her hands then worked at the material of his jockey shorts until it was out of the way. She drew forth the object of her fumblings and gasped as it proudly speared the air. Penny, impressed, also gasped . . .
He slid down the length of her body, petting, kissing, squeezing. Then, when the hem of her skirt was hooked where he wanted it, he slid back up again. She cried aloud as he struck his target. Their bodies thrashed over the hillock together in a wild, primitive rhythm. They were, for the most part, still fully clothed. Only the crucial parts of their bodies had been bared to allow contact.
It was enough. There could be no doubt of the ferocity and joy of their coupling. Watching them, Penny forgot for the duration that she had problems which needed solving. Penny was caught up in their strange, clothed lovemaking. It lasted a long time, but there was no impatience on Penny’s part . . .
Finally it was over. Discreetly, Penny waited for them to compose themselves before venturing forth to ask directions. Alas! Once again the waiting proved to be self-defeating.
They lay on their backs awhile, embracing each other lightly, until their breathing became regular. Then the Amazon sat up slowly, adjusted her bra, smoothed out her skirt and turned around so the young man might button the back of her dress. She combed her hair while he arranged his own clothing. They both put on their shoes. They kissed again, one last kiss, and got to their feet.
Penny started to move toward them-—too slowly.
Fairly quickly, yet with no sense of undue hurry, they had both started to undress again. Calmly, but with practiced dexterity, he was undoing the buttons at the back of her dress again. As she pulled the dress off, he removed his jacket and neatly untied his necktie. Bewildered, Penny stepped back to the cover of the trees . . .
It didn’t take them long to remove all their clothes. When they were completely naked, the Amazon produced it picnic basket and spread a cloth over the grassy knoll. They ate what to the watching Penny seemed a sparse repast. Then they carefully removed the remains of the meal down to the last crumb and neatly buried it. They dressed again, made love again, undressed again -- in that puzzling order. Penny watched . . .
This time after they undressed, they folded their garments neatly and stashed them in a hollow of the tree at the base of the knoll. Laughing, they kissed once lightly and joined hands. The young man pointed to the ground, indicating the bread crumbs there. The Amazon nodded, and they started out, obviously following the bread crumbs. Penny shrank well back into the foliage, realizing that the crumbs would lead directly past the hiding place. Penny was still simply too shy to accost the pair of them in their naked state.
When they were well past, Penny fell in behind them and followed their path. They were going back the way Penny had come. Penny could only hope that by retracing steps the bread crumbs would lead back to some sort of civilization.
It wasn’t long before they came to the spot where Penny had intercepted the trail of bread crumbs in the first place. From there they took a turn and continued following the crumbs in a different direction from the one Penny had come. Penny continued to follow the naked twosome.
They flitted between the trees. Their bare toes squeezed bright green dew from grassy slopes as they traversed them. Gaily, they climbed small hills and descended them, squealing happily. They paused to pick wildflowers and entwine them in their hair and about their glowing, healthy bodies. And all the time they stayed on the trail of the bread crumbs with Penny following at a distance. Until —
Until they came to the brook. It was a small rivulet winding among the trees. A jagged line of stepping-stones led across it. A spattering of bread crumbs on each of the stones marked out the route. And each of the stones was slippery, polished by the water and rendered treacherous by a fine green moss creeping over its surface from the water.
The Amazon skipped surefootedly over the stones and had no trouble landing with an entrechat on the opposite bank of the brook. The young man tried to emulate her grace. He almost succeeded. Almost, but not quite!
As he danced over the stones, halfway across the brook, one of his feet landed lightly on a patch of moss and slid out from under him. The rest of his body continued forward. There was the sound of snapping bone. The young man emitted a loud, agonized cry and plunged headfirst into the water.
His head came up-—once. “Help!” he yelled. “I’m drowning!” Then his head fell back into the water and he thrashed about helplessly.
The Amazon stood on the bank wringing her hands. “Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” she wailed to no one in particular. “What can I do? Oh, dear! I can’t swim! Oh, dear! Help! Somebody help! Oh, dear!”
Male or female, Penny was basically a humanist at heart. Yes, male or female, Penny couldn’t turn a deaf ear to the plea for help. Penny couldn’t just stand by idly and watch the naked young man drown.
So Penny hopped over the stepping-stones, pulled the young man’s head from the water, and dragged him sputtering to the bank of the brook. Here the Amazon took over and helped drag her male companion onto the safety of the shore. Penny got up beside him and started administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“Why are you doing that?” the naked Amazon asked suspiciously.
“It’s what . . .” InIhale. “the first aid . . .” Exhale. “book says . . .” Inhale. “to do in.” Exhale. “cases of drown . . .” Inhale. “ing . . .” Exhale. Penny explained.
“You sure you’re not some kind of queer or something?” the Amazon demanded.
“I’m not . . .” Inhale. “sure of anything . . .” Exhale. Even under stress Penny was truthful.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, mac?” The young man spluttered back to consciousness.
“I just saved your life,” Penny told him.
“Yeah? Well, thanks. I’m grateful. I really am.” The young man pushed Penny forcibly away. “But I’m not that grateful.”
“Yeah. You can stop kissing him now,” the Amazon insisted.
“I’m not kissing him. I’m only -”
“OUCH!” The young man had tried to move and the effort had wrenched the cry of pain from him.
“What is it?” The Amazon was concerned.
“My leg. I think it’s broken.”
“Let’s see.” Penny examined the leg.
“What’s wrong with it?” the Amazon asked.
“It’s broken.” Penny confirmed the self-diagnosis.
“How can you be sure?”
“You see this hunk of bone sticking out here?”
“Yes.”
“And you see this other piece of bone sticking out here?”
“Yes.”
“Well, either they’re supposed to be joined, or this young man has the most remarkable bone structure I’ve ever seen,” Penny told the Amazon. “If they are and they’re not, then I’d deduce they’re two parts of a broken bone. Wouldn’t you?”
“I guess so,” the Amazon admitted reluctantly.
“Ergo! The leg is broken,” Penny concluded logically.
“What are we going to do?” The Amazon wrung her hands.