Chapter 12

Ron gathered the gear and loaded it on the sled. He decided to get rid of some of the gear that he felt they no longer needed and all of the gear fit on the sled. The sled needed a few repairs before they could start. He repaired the sled and rechecked the gear.

Ron and Brenda checked the horizon to see if they could find the smoke that Ron had seen yesterday. Brenda almost immediately found it.

"There it is, over there," she cried out excitedly.

Ron grabbed his compass and took a heading. The morning was cool and the air was still and the smoke rose lazily into the air about 100 feet before it started to dissipate.

Ron hugged Brenda, "Woman, I think we might get out of here soon. That smoke is only about 2 or 3 miles from here. As lazy as the smoke is rising it must be a wood stove."

Ron and Brenda started toward the smoke. About an hour after they started out they came to a gravel road and Ron realized that they had been traveling almost parallel to the road the past few days. The road seemed to be leading right to the smoke. The going was much easier than walking through the woods. They were making much better time now. Ron, because of the sled, was the one holding them back now. Brenda seemed to be in high spirits and would occasionally come up and hug Ron's arm.

The smell of the smoke started to get stronger and Ron cautioned Brenda to keep quiet. Ron saw a clearing up ahead and put the sled down. He motioned to Brenda to stay put and to crouch down low at the edge of the woods. Ron started toward the clearing. The gravel road led right past the clearing. Ron could not see a cabin yet.

As he reached the edge of the woods he saw that there was a cabin and a larger building with a cross on top of it. The smoke came from the chimney of the cabin. There was no smoke coming from the chimney of the larger building with the cross on top. Ron could see no signs of life around the cabin. As he got nearer to the cabin he saw another building hidden by the cabin and heard a horse whinny. A man came out of the cabin and headed for the small building which was apparently a barn. Ron dropped to the grass. The man had not seen him. After the man had gone into the barn Ron got up and continued toward the cabin. After he reached the cabin. Ron checked the cabin to see if anyone was inside. The cabin was neat as a pin and was sparsely furnished. Ron continued around the cabin and approached the barn. He had the pistol in his hand ready for use.

As Ron looked through the door of the barn he saw a man with his back to him and the man had a bucket in his hand. The man was starting the give the horse fresh water. The man was humming an old time spiritual to himself.

"Put your hands in the air and don't try anything or I'll shoot you," Ron hollered.

The man turned around and Ron saw that he had a clerical collar on.

"No need for that gun mister," the man said putting down the bucket, "You wouldn't be one of those people the Howell company is looking for, would you?"

The man walked over to Ron with his hand extended. Ron was amazed that the man seemed to just ignore the gun. Ron shook his hand.

""I'm the Reverend John Priest," the man said, "I know, a wilderness minister named Priest. I've heard all of the jokes. Now are you one of the people that Howell is looking for?"

Ron couldn't speak. He shook his head yes. The minister started rambling on how the Howell Company still had aerial searches going on and that Sam Howell was offering $100,000 to anyone who found them and got them out alive. He told Ron that the searches were concentrated north of here and no one was looking in this area. Ron finally got his voice.

"The woman is at the edge of the woods," he blurted out, "I have to go get her."

Ron ran back to where he had left Brenda. As he got to her he grabbed her and started hugging and kissing her. Brenda finally pushed him away.

"What did you find," she asked.

As they walked toward the clearing, Ron told her about the cabin and how they had stumbled onto a wilderness church. He told her about the minister and that Howell had search parties out for them and a big reward for their safe return. When they walked up to the cabin the minister shook Brenda's hand and she was like Ron, speechless.

When they regain the ability to speak, John Priest took them in the cabin and started to prepare them something to eat. He questioned them about how they had made it through the woods and asked where the plane had crashed. He set the food before them and they ate as if they hadn't eaten in days. After they had eaten Ron and the minister studied the map and located the lake where they had crashed. When John heard that two men were still in the plane he bowed his head and asked Ron and Brenda to join him in a prayer for their souls.

"Do you have a radio so that we can let Howell know where we are?" Ron asked.

"Well, a mouse decided to call his mother and crawled into the radio and fried himself and the printed circuit board," John said with a chuckle, "But there's a Ranger station about three miles down the road and I can make a call from there."

John went on to explain that the Ranger station was closed after Labor Day but that they always left him a key in case of emergency. He told them that his wife was in Valdez and that he usually stayed in the area until October 15^th and then went to Valdez with her. They had a parish in Valdez that they took care of in the winter.

"Washington wouldn't be too happy knowing that I have a key so we don't tell them," John went on. "I won't make it there until dark, so I'll stay there overnight and come back in the morning. You two use the cabin like it was your own. The bed is mighty comfortable and there's a hot tub out back if you need to relax.

Ron and Brenda looked at each other with a grin and asked John to show them the hot tub. John took them around back and started a fire to heat the water and showed them the thermometer so they wouldn't make the water too hot. He started a gasoline pump under the tub and the water started to churn.

"Just throw this steel plate over the fire and it will choke the fire back and keep the water hot until you want to get out. I'll crank up the fire in the wood stove before I go so that the cabin will be warm for you when you get out of the hot tub," he explained.

John showed them where the towels and washcloths were and told them to cook their own breakfast in the morning as he was going to stay at the Ranger station until he was sure that help was on the way. John saddled up the horse and started for the Ranger station.

Ron and Brenda walked back to the hot tub and checked the water temperature. Ron threw the steel plate on the fire and they undressed and got in the tub. The water was perfect and they luxuriated in the swirling water. The combination of the hot water and the motion of the water relaxed them and they just sat next to each other silently holding hands.

Ron looked at Brenda and saw that she was trying hard not to cry. Her hand was clutching his hand harder and harder. When she saw Ron looking at her she turned her head away. Ron reached out and turned her face to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "We made it."

She pulled away from him and turned her head away. Ron turned her face to him again and saw that the tears were flowing now. Ron put his arms around her and held her tight.

"We'll be back in Seattle soon, what about us then?" she sobbed, "Will you still feel the same way about me or will we go back to the way we were?"

Ron started kissing her face trying to dry her tears, "When we get to Seattle I want you to stop by your condo and pick up some clothes and stay with me for a while. I want you to see the way I live and I can't even think about you not sleeping next to me at night. I want to get to know everything about you and I want you to know everything about me. I'm not about to let you get away."

Ron thought as he held her that she was much more fragile than she let on.

Brenda continued crying but the tears were tears of happiness. She held him tightly until the water started to cool.

"We'd better go inside before it gets too cold," She said.

They got out of the hot tub and Ron turned off the pump and made sure the fire was safe. He held her hand as they walked naked back into the cabin. Brenda walked over to the bed and turned down the covers and got in. Ron checked that the windows and door were locked and lit the kerosene lantern and turned it down low. He got into bed with Brenda and pulled her to him.

Brenda moved to him and pressed her full length to him and kissed him. She felt his hardness against her and moved until he was between her legs and rubbing her against her lips. He started caressing her back and kissing her with passion. Brenda started moving and his hardness caressed her wetness. Ron turned her on her back and moved over her and got between her legs. He started kissing her breasts and sucked a nipple into his mouth. He started alternating between both breaths and using his teeth to gently rake her nipples. Brenda started moaning and she rose slightly to give him better access to her nipples. He started kissing down her stomach and moved to her mound. He licked the length of her slit and Brenda gasped and rose to meet his tongue. Ron moved to her clit and licked it and sucked it gently into his lips. Brenda increased the movement of her hips and suddenly grabbed his head and held him to her as her orgasm swept over her and she fought to regain control of her breathing and her body. Ron put his head on her stomach until she started breathing again. She pulled him up to her and kissed him, her tongue fighting his and taking her breath away again. She broke away and grabbed his cock guiding it to her entrance. As Ron entered her she thrust up to meet him with an urgency that was contagious. He started thrusting into her harder and she matched every one of his thrusts. Brenda let out a scream as Ron emptied himself into her and shook as the orgasm swept into every cell of her body. Ron rolled off of her and they lay side by side on the bed.

"I don't think I could stand another session like that," she panted.

Ron squeezed her hand, "Oh, you'll get used to it."

She punched him in his ribs gently and hugged him.

"You have started something," she said, "I hope you can finish it."

"What makes you think it will ever be finished," he replied, "I'm new at this and I think that I'll just have to keep working at it until I get it right."

Brenda smiled and kept her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Within minutes she was sleeping. Ron held her and stared at the ceiling. He knew that the Alaskan State Police would want to question him after they learned that he had killed two men. And he knew that the National Transportation and Safety Board would grill him about the fatal plane wreck. Ron dreaded having to face Edna and tell her how Cal had died. He hoped that Sam had not lost an account because of the plane crash. Ron stared at the ceiling for over an hour before he went to sleep wondering what awaited him when they were picked up.

Tallorder64

Chapter 13