Huldah's Two Hikers

Excerpt

Sample Chapter For HULDAH'S TWO HIKERS by Berengaria Brown

Huldah Anderson sat on her living room floor checking her hiking pack one last time. Very early the next day she would be leaving to walk the Blue Ridge Trail in Haggity National Park with her hiking club.

Huldah loved walking. She wasn’t much into sports but hiking suited her long legs and athletic style. And even when she was walking with the group she could still be essentially alone with her thoughts to admire the scenery and pace herself in her own competitive way.

This three-day hike was the most ambitious she’d ever been on and Huldah had planned for it carefully. At each night’s camping place there’d be water but she’d need to carry some for the day’s walk, and water was comparatively heavy to carry. She also had to carry her sleeping bag and one-man tent, all her food and clothing, yet the pack couldn’t weigh more than one third of her body weight so there was no space for inessentials. A waterproof jacket, a spare pair of jeans, three sets of underwear and three t-shirts—but six pairs of socks because the feet were the most important part of a hiker’s kit.

It had taken her days to decide on what food she’d take. She needed plenty of energy as the walk was a demanding one, but again the issue of weight and space had to be considered. So rice and pasta for the evening meals, with dehydrated soup; oranges, chocolate and trail mix for snacks; porridge for breakfast. But the midday meal had been the hard decision and finally she had purchased three MREs—US Army-style meals ready to eat.

A towel and washcloth, hairbrush, toothbrush, deodorant, insect repellant, sunhat. And Huldah tucked three condoms into her pack as well—just in case.

Derek Nelson and Corey Turner. Two totally yummy men in her hiking club. Despite being constantly pursued by two young women Huldah mentally termed “the blonde bimbos,” Derek and Corey remained immune to their skinny, plastic charm and completely unattached. She’d wondered if they were gay, but they definitely seemed to like women and had given her some quite hot looks, so her gut feeling was that they were bisexual.

Hell, a woman can hope. She packed the condoms. The men were very easy on the eyes and the conversations she’d shared with them had proven them to be intelligent and interesting company.

At five foot ten in her bare feet, which translated to an even six foot in hiking boots, Huldah had spent a lifetime being told she was too tall, too manly, not a real woman. At the age of ten she’d been as tall as her mother and the poor woman had given up trying to force her into white lace dresses and let her wear jeans. Her only long-term relationship had ended when she realized Perry would never take her anywhere involving them standing side by side or dancing, as even in flat-soled shoes she was taller than him.

Derek’s taller than Corey, but I reckon Corey’s still a good three inches taller than me. And his golden-blond hair and dark eyes are to die for. And Derek’s dark good looks are equally attractive. Like dark and light chocolate. A perfectly balanced diet! She giggled.

But would they want a woman each? Or would they share a woman the way they seemed to share so many things—a car, their meals, their backpacks?

Oh well, maybe one of the other women will attract one of them and I’ll get the other. I don’t mind which!

More likely they’ll go off with the blonde bimbos though.

Huldah sighed.

* * * *

Huldah was surprised to find only two other cars in the parking lot at West Haggity, the starting point for the Blue Ridge Trail, at five a.m. the next day.

Howard Clegg, the administrator of the club, was relieved to see her.

“ Thank God you came, Huldah. I thought I might have to call the walk off as there’s a minimum of three hikers permitted in the group for this trail.”

“ But I thought—”

“ Yeah—Bryce had to work and Jenny wouldn’t come without him, and Sara and Cathy decided a three-day walk was a bit ambitious for them.”

Sara and Cathy were the blonde bimbos, so their not coming didn’t surprise her. They always seemed to disappear on the physically demanding walks, preferring the simpler ones. But she hadn’t realized so few had intended to walk. The club had around a dozen regular participants.

“ Don’t worry, Huldah. We’ll look after you,” said Corey, loping over from beside his SUV.

“ Absolutely,” Derek added, who was right behind him.

Howard busied himself giving them each a map of the track and repeating the national park regulations.

“ I’ll be waiting for you in the East Haggity parking lot from noon Sunday and I’ll drive you back here to pick up your vehicles. The drive’s only a couple of hours so you should all be home by dark. Derek, I’m giving you the emergency beacon to carry. You’re the most experienced walker. But none of you are to go off the track or out of the camping grounds alone. Okay? This is an advanced walk and while you may meet some other walkers on the track you can’t expect to. It’s quite likely you’ll be up there alone the entire time. So you have to be careful. Understand?”

Huldah was still assimilating the idea that only three of them were doing the hike. Just her and the two hunkiest men she’d ever met.

And most likely not another soul around for three full days. And nights. Well hell, if can’t get into their pants on this trip I never will!