A Dark Autumn Read online

  “I have to admit,” said Amanda, puffing on a cigarette, “I’m excited about this weekend.”

  Lucy laughed, keeping both hands on the steering wheel as she took a sharp curve five miles lower than the recommended limit. “Sounds like your life’s been as exciting as mine lately.”

  “Hardly,” she said, and flicked her cigarette out the window. It disappeared somewhere over the mountain’s edge.

  “That’s a good way to start a forest fire,” said Helen from the backseat. She lay stretched out, her feet bare even on such a cool day. Her bronzed, sporty legs had a glossy sheen to them from frequent trips to a tanning bed. “Don’t you remember what Smokey told you?”

  “Who?”

  Lucy shot a surprised glance Amanda’s way. “Smokey the Bear. Remember when we were kids, someone dressed up as him would come to the school?”

  “Oh, that guy.”

  “That bear,” corrected Helen.

  “Whatever. Yeah, I remember him. He passed out all those pamphlets.” Sitting up straight, Amanda placed a hand over her heart as if about to say a pledge. In her best Smokey voice, she said, “Only I can prevent forest fires.”

  “You just probably started one by flicking your cigarette out the window like that. Real good, you know. Hot ashes and dry leaves equal a combustible combination.”

  Amanda rolled her eyes. “Sorry, Mama.” She shook her head. “I haven’t seen you in how long and you’re already giving me shit?”

  “Wouldn’t be Helen if she wasn’t,” said Lucy.

  Helen tilted back her head and released a single laugh. “The girl knows me too well.”

  Amanda leaned closer to Lucy. “You’re on my side, right?”

  “I know better than to side with either of you.” Though she was joking, it was really a lighthearted admittance of the truth. Helen and Amanda could be trouble separately, but getting them together was borderline catastrophic. She had been excited about this trip, but couldn’t stop the nervous tingles in her stomach about where it might lead. “How long has it been since we’ve been to the cabin?” Lucy said, trying to divert the conversation.

  “God,” said Helen. Pursing her lips together, she made a hissing noise as she exhaled. “We’d just graduated high school…”

  “Thirteen years?” asked Amanda.

  “Yeah,” said Helen. “I’m thirty now, was almost eighteen the last time. Now I’m depressed. Point me to the nearest gallon of ice cream. I want to get fat, again.”

  “Oh please,” said Lucy. “You couldn’t if you tried.”

  I’m the fat one, she thought. Hardly large enough to be considered obese, she was much heavier and shorter than her two passengers, who made the excess weight seem like it was that much more. Their taut shapes were augmented with curves where she had gullies in her doughy skin. Their breasts were round and compact, and hers were loose, hefty and oval. Their skin was golden in tint, and hers was white, as if bleached. She had much to be envious of. They’d always tried convincing her otherwise, even back in school, but she’d never believed them.

  “The hell I couldn’t,” said Helen. “I gained forty pounds when I was pregnant.”

  “Which time?” asked Amanda.

  “Both. But I didn’t give myself time to lose the weight from the previous pregnancy. I just packed it on top of the rest.”

  “Bullshit,” said Lucy. “I call total bullshit.”

  “Ah,” she said, sitting up. “I thought that someone might. So, I brought a picture. I knew if I told this story, no one would believe me. So, I brought proof.” Leaning up, she dug her pocket book out from under the seat of Lucy’s car. She sifted through it, pulled out a photo and passed it to Amanda. “There I am, in all of my overweight glory.”

  Amanda squealed, “Oh my god!! That can’t be real.” She glanced back at her, then back to the picture, comparing and contrasting. “It’s unbelievable.”

  “Believe it, sister.”

  “Oh my God, no way…”

  Lucy tried getting a glimpse the picture from where she sat, but couldn’t take her eyes off the winding road long enough. She was afraid if she did she’d steer them to their deaths. “Let me see.”

  “You might want to pull over for this one,” Amanda declared.

  “Just hold it up.”

  Helen leaned forward, resting her head on Lucy’s seat next to her ear. “You at least will want to slow down.”

  “If you say so.” She eased her foot off the gas, slowing the speed down to twenty. “Slow enough for you?”

  Helen groaned. “Just show her the damn picture.”

  “Fine.” She leaned over and held the photo above the steering wheel.

  Lucy gasped. Caught on film was someone that resembled Helen, but not the girl in the backseat, nor the one she’d grown up knowing. The features were similar, the same boyish dark brown hair, the same wide curving mouth, the big eyes, the large breasts, the mole above the top lip, but expanded versions of them. The hips were wider, the stomach pudgier. Lucy recognized the gloss on her skin as sweat. Instead of laughing, she felt sad. She hoped to God she would never look like that, and prayed she wasn’t already there. “I saw it…”

  Amanda sat back.

  “No cheap shots?” said Helen, disappointed.

  “Like I have room to take cheap shots.”

  Amanda stirred uncomfortably in her seat. “Do you remember how to get there, Lucy?”

  “Yeah, we’re close now. Probably another half hour.”

  “Really?” She sounded over-enthused.

  Lucy knew she was pretending in hopes of changing the subject.

  “Should we stop and eat first,” asked Lucy.

  “I don’t know, it’s up to you, I guess.” Helen said, leaning back in the seat.

  “Don’t leave it to the heavy girl to make decisions on when we eat.”

  Sighing, Amanda passed the picture back to Helen. “Shouldn’t have shown you the damn picture anyway. Now you think you’re fat.”

  “I don’t think.”

  “You could lose weight if you feel so self-conscious about it.”

  “Oh, sure.”

  Helen chimed in, “I did. You saw how heavy I was. I lost the weight. And, you’re nothing at all like I was.”

  “What am I?”

  “Do you really want to do this?” she asked.

  Lucy shrugged. She saw Amanda twisting even more in her seat. If she kept it up, she might roll right through the opened window.

  Helen sighed. “You’re not fat.”

  “I’m something.”

  “You’re right. You’re not fat, but you’re not skinny. You’ve got some extra cushioning there that you could stand to lose. That’s all. You’re neither skinny nor overweight. Just thick.”

  “Guys like thick girls,” added Amanda.

  “That’s true,” agreed Helen. “They don’t always go for the boney blondes like Amanda up there.”

  “Ain’t that the truth,” she agreed with a sigh. “It’s been three months since I’ve gotten laid.”

  Lucy snorted.

  “And it was a hook up at a bar. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “You weren’t,” said Helen. “That’s your problem.”

  “I thought I was going home with Prince Charming. When I woke up the next morning I realized he was the toad. Except, he didn’t turn into a luscious prince after I kissed him.”

  “Or sucked him off,” added Helen.

  “Shut up!”

  Sitting up in her seat, Lucy ignored Helen and Amanda and squinted her eyes as she gazed through the windshield. “Amanda, help me out. Does that sign say Bannister?” She slowed the car down nearly to a stop as Amanda leaned her head out her window.

  “Yep. This is it.”

  “I guess we’ll skip stopping to eat.”

  Lucy spoke with noticeable disappointment in her voice. She was hungry and didn’t care how much flack she got from the others. I want a sandwich. Maybe Michelle wou
ld have a nice lunch waiting for them when they arrived. She checked the map on her smart phone. “We’re just a little over ten miles away.”

  “Hallelujah,” said Helen, lying back and folding her hands behind her head. She closed her eyes, smiling. “Can’t wait to see Michelle. And that beautiful lake.”

  Amanda smiled. “I can’t wait to have some drinks.”

  “Eat,” said Lucy.

  Amanda and Helen erupted with laughter as Lucy turned the car onto Bannister Road, growing steadily closer to their destination. Rolling her eyes, Lucy flipped them the bird which only caused them to laugh harder.

  Amanda’s eyes rounded as she turned to face them both. “Think we’ll run into any hot guys like we did the last time?”

  “Doubtful,” said Helen. “But we can still hope.”

  “God, can you believe what we did? Seducing them like that. We acted like a couple of bitches in heat.”

  “Yeah, but they loved it.” Lucy smiled, remembering. Not only had they seduced them, it had turned into a full-scale orgy. They’d shared men, teamed up on the same guys, and even tried each other. It had been a lot of fun, but afterward their friendships had suffered. Lucy had often wondered if it was because of what happened at the campsite that night.

  “We loved it too,” said Amanda.

  Helen crossed her legs at the ankles, and propped her feet on the window ledge, wiggling her toes in the nipping breeze. “God help them if we do run into someone out there. Mama is on the prowl and needs some meat.”

  Resounding with laughter, the car traveled onward on the isolated road.

  Chapter Four

  The path was used mostly by deer, so it was only a small and narrow line that snaked through the woods. When Michelle had finished getting the cabin ready, she’d thrown on a jacket and headed for the woods. She walked along the trail with her hands burrowed in her hooded jacket’s pockets, letting the breeze stroke her face. She hadn’t stopped smiling, even as she approached the campsite. This is where it happened. Standing at the launch of the camping area, she looked around. The picnic tables were no longer there and there also used to be an outhouse sitting atop the slight incline and away from the vicinity, but it was gone too. All that remained from her memories were the log benches, and the circle of stones to contain the campfires.

  Everything else had changed.

  In the years since graduation, she had been to the cabin quite often with her family, but hadn’t once ventured to the campsite. She’d been tempted a time or two, but had never actually gone through with it. So, she had no idea when the area had begun to change. It was kind of sad, how it looked as if the camping area had been left to decompose. Even the log benches were rotting. No longer brown, they had turned grey from years of abuse from the weather and possibly even the local animals.

  Although Michelle liked to pretend that one night with the campers had been harmless fun and experimentation, she knew deep down that those sorts of things were bound to happen whenever the girls got together. A tugging dread in her bowels seemed to be trying to tell her this weekend wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe she should have only invited Lucy. The two of them could have caught up, gone on hikes, or whatever else they decided to do. But it was too late now. She would have to trust that they would stay out of trouble.

  Whatever.

  Michelle became a different person when she was around them. All of them did. Alone, or even in pairs, they were normal, typically good girls, but once the four of them were together it was as if all the bets were off.

  She hoped no one would bring up that night, but understood that it was impossible for them not to talk about it.

  Twigs snapped behind her, announcing footsteps of someone approaching.

  Chills scurried up Michelle’s neck. She fought the urge to whip around and gasp, but instead she turned calmly, and with a smile on her face.

  A man, probably in his early thirties, was approaching the camping area. He was tall, thin, a dark complexion and even darker hair. He wore glasses, a beanie on top of his head, and a grey sweater with light brown pants. A jacket was tied around his waist.

  He was gorgeous.

  Michelle wondered if she’d fallen asleep and was dreaming this guy. He was just too good looking to be real. Her stomach fluttered. Stop it. You’re taken. Remember Britt, the guy who would be taking this walk with you if he could have been here. But he wasn’t here, she realized. Maybe that was how it was supposed to have worked out.

  Michelle wanted to slap the back of her head to jar those thoughts, but the stranger’s smile froze her in her spot.

  “Hi there,” he said.

  “Huh-hi,” she stuttered.

  He stopped on the other side of the rock circle, took a deep breath, and let it slowly out as if savoring the feel of it. “Wonderful day, isn’t it?”

  Michelle nodded.

  He looked her in the eyes. “I have never seen something so beautiful.”

  Heat rushed up from Michelle’s hips making her armpits immediately sweat. She hoped her cheeks weren’t turning red, but if they were, she was going to blame it on the chilly air.

  His smile was crescent-shaped and white, with perfectly rowed teeth. She had never seen a smile so perfect, except in movies.

  “The trees I mean…” He looked up. “Such beautiful colors. They almost seem unreal.”

  Feeling like a dope, Michelle nodded. She finally found her voice. “It always is. I love coming out here this time of the year.”

  “You’re from here?”

  “Well…I’m from Charlotte actually, but my family owns the cabin right over there.” She pointed to the trees over his left shoulder.

  The handsome stranger turned around as if he could actually see it from where they stood in the woods. “Oh yeah?”

  Michelle nodded, again.

  “I passed it a little ways back. It’s nice.”

  “Are you from here?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “No, I’m only visiting. My name’s Rick Myers. You can call me Ricky, everyone else does.” He extended his hand over the circle pit.

  Michelle even liked his name. Ricky. She smiled as she reached out and took his hand. They shook. His hand was soft and warm. “I’m Michelle Hopkins.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “You too.”

  “Well, Michelle Hopkins, I will leave you be.” He smiled that faultless smile again. “I’m going to keep walking and take as much of this place in as I can.”

  She couldn’t reply. Her voice had snagged in her throat. Michelle didn’t want him to leave, but couldn’t tell him to stay. As he walked around the rocks, smiling a farewell, she mouthed words that wouldn’t articulate. Finally, something like a cough or gag shot from between her lips.

  It was enough to stop him. “Are you all right?”

  Smiling, she managed to produce a sentence. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Okay,” he smiled again.

  He was about to leave when she stopped him. “Listen, Ricky, if you don’t mind, I could walk with you, and…give you the tour, so to speak. I was taking a walk myself, and would sure love the company.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  Ask my wet panties that. She smiled. “Not at all.”

  “I would love the tour, Michelle. It sounds great.”

  “Okay.”

  Yes, it sounds perfect.

  She joined him at his side. She almost put her arm around his, but caught herself. As they began to walk, Michelle tried to comprehend what she was doing, why she was acting like this. She hadn’t acted so juvenile since she was…well…a juvenile. But all it had taken was one dreamy guy and she was right back to acting like a bitch in heat. She wanted to feel guilty about it. Picturing Britt stuck in horrible traffic on his way to Raleigh, cursing from behind the wheel, and wishing he was with Michelle, she still couldn’t make herself feel bad about this.

  “Where are you from?” she asked, hoping to keep her mind distracted.<
br />
  “Georgia.”

  “Wow,” she said. “So far away?” She felt something like depression in her chest.

  “It’s not so far. Just a five hour drive.”

  Again, Britt frowning in his car flashed in her mind. “Yeah, but five hours is still five hours.”

  He laughed. It was soft, ear pleasing. “True, but once I got here, I realized how it was all worth it.”

  Another flurry of heat shot up her neck. She could feel her forehead beginning to perspire. Is he talking about me? Probably not, but she liked to think that he was. “Is this your first time here?”

  “Yep. But it won’t be the last, that’s for sure.”

  “You should see it during the summer.”

  He groaned as if savoring a wonderful taste. “I bet it is fabulous. Green, warm, and I bet that lake is great to swim in.”

  Something about the way he’d reacted threw up a red flag. She had never once heard a man use the word fabulous to describe anything. But Michelle chose to ignore it and keep the conversation going. “Yeah, it is. Skinny dipping is a lot of fun too.” She nudged him with her elbow.

  Laughing, Ricky rubbed the back of his neck. It was obviously a nervous habit of his. Michelle found it adorable. “Oh, please. You hardly seem like the type of girl that would do something like that.”

  “Are you serious?” She laughed. “I’m a skinny dipping pro.”

  “Oh?”

  Michelle could have kicked herself. Now she sounded like a whore. “I mean—it’s not that I just go to any body of water and throw my clothes off and jump in…”

  Ricky laughed. “Well, that’s good. It would be awkward at a family pool party.

  “Or, a kid’s birthday party.”

  “Depending on the kid’s age, I suppose.”

  Michelle laughed, then continued. “But I do enjoy it…have ever since I was a teenager.”

  “So, you should be a pro.”

  “Exactly. I’ve got moves that will knock you out.”

  Ricky’s laugh reverberated through the trees. “I don’t doubt you for one second.”

  “Have you ever skinny-dipped?”

  “Me? Yeah, right. I’m too much of a nervous ninny to do something like that.”