Chapter 17: The Wonders of Zion

RANGER JACQUELINE SET A MEAN pace as she led us up the tiny canyon, one you'd never notice even if you walked past the entrance looking for it. Persephone struggled. Hebe and Rick did OK. Nothing ever stopped Oscar. He had only two gears, fast and slow, and the slow was one he would keep up all day and all night if he had to. The fast gear, well, more than one obstreperous customer at Hebe's bar had learned it was just that, fast. And for a big guy, Oscar was surprisingly agile.

I watched Jacqueline's buttocks move in her tailored shorts and her braid swing as she climbed, and wondered if she liked having her braid pulled while someone took her from behind. From the way Oscar held her hand in both of his a little longer than needed when Persephone introduced them this morning, I suspected he was interested in that question as well.

By the time we'd climbed for an hour we were more than ready for a break. Jacqueline was barely breathing hard, it looked like, and she apparently didn't sweat. With the air so dry sweat evaporated pretty fast, true, but still I expected to see some evidence of exertion. I certainly felt it on myself, and Hebe's knit shirt had interesting patterns. Oscar was dripping, and Rick was somewhere in between, Persephone the same.

"Where are we, Jacqueline?" Persephone was studying her map of the park. Jacqueline laughed.

"Not on that map, Persephone."

Hebe came closer to look over Persephone's shoulder.

"Wait a minute," she said, pointing at a corner of the map. "Isn't that the rock formation we passed a half-hour ago?"

I joined them. "Yeah, Jacqueline, we saw that over to the west, didn't we?"

Jacqueline smiled.

"OK, guys, you got me." She took the map from Persephone. "Look, promise you won't tell anyone else about this?"

She looked from one to the other of us and waited until we'd all nodded agreement.

"See this arroyo here?" She pointed to a squiggle I could barely see.

"You turn when you get just past here. No one ever looks, because that side canyon doesn't seem to go anywhere. Everyone walks by. Except that it does go somewhere. It leads to the trail we're on now. I found it one day about a year ago when I was wandering around on my day off. I've never seen anyone else on this trail, ever."

"How much further, Jacqueline?" asked Hebe.

"Another half-hour, more or less."

She laughed.

"You'll like where we're going. You'll see."

That was the understatement of the year. The Emerald Pools at Zion are gorgeous, I've seen them, but there's too many people there and you can't swim. Not so at Jacqueline's secret spot, a stream- and spring-fed pool. When we'd all had a drink of water and washed our faces at the little waterfall, Jacqueline stood up and started to unbutton her shirt.

"I'm going in. Anyone else care to join me?"

Tall, with the rounded powerful shoulders of a swimmer, her breasts high and proud, glorious in the freedom they'd sought and won, her taut buttocks smooth and muscled, she was magnificent in her nudity.

Whether to join her was a no-brainer, and in a moment we'd all lost our clothes and were splashing in the largest of the pools. It was already a scorcher, but the walls of this little canyon were such that we had sun on the pool and on the flat smooth rock on one side and shade on the other where a couple of cottonwoods were growing out of what appeared to be solid rock. Moss and decayed ferns plus some sand and leaves mounded by the breeze provided enough cushion for comfort.

No one bothered to get dressed before we devoured the lunches the resort had packed for us. There wasn't any real doubt about what was coming next. I could feel it in the air and I could see it in the frequent glances Hebe and Persephone gave our guide. Jacqueline entertained us with stories about her efforts and those of her colleagues to rescue park visitors from the consequences of their follies. Persephone's adventure, as bizarre as it appeared, wasn't even going to place very near the top of the list of stupid things visitors did.

When he finished his last sandwich, Oscar stood up. The hose between his legs got Jacqueline's attention, and she licked her lips. Hebe and Persephone saw her reaction and had to stop themselves from laughing out loud. They'd seen him before, close up and personal, and they'd been on the receiving end of Oscar's cock, so they knew what Jacqueline was in for if she wanted to be.

I reached over and touched Jacqueline on her shoulder. She jumped.

"Sorry, Jacqueline. Didn't mean to startle you."

She relaxed when she saw it was me. She shrugged, a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, Sam. You surprised me."

I took a chance and leaned closer to her.

"He's something, isn't he?"

She turned to stare at me, and for a moment I thought I'd gone too far, something I do all too often.

"Why, yes he is." With that she stood up and moved over to sit down beside Persephone and whisper urgently in her ear. I saw Persephone grin. In a moment she nodded and gestured to Oscar.

"Hey, sweetie, come over here for a second, OK?"

Oscar stepped over, his dick swinging easily, both girls' eyes fixed on it as he sat down. Persephone rose to her knees and leaned over him and kissed him. She held his face in her hands.

"Oscar, Jacqueline would like a backrub. You up for that?"

Oscar grinned.

"Sure."

Jacqueline grabbed a small bag from the pile to use as a pillow and stretched out in the shade using as much of the sand and leaves as she could to cushion herself. Oscar loomed over her, the way he looms over everyone, and straddled her bottom. Jacqueline groaned as he started in on her shoulders and made long strokes on her back.

"Wait a sec, Oscar." Hebe pulled a bottle of massage oil out of her pack. "Use this."

I like a girl who comes prepared.

Jacqueline purred, her eyes closed, as Oscar's oiled hands moved slowly. He worked silently, his own eyes closed, while his fingers found knots and undid them. After a few minutes Oscar repositioned himself lower on Jacqueline's legs and gripped her buttocks, one massive hand covering each one. Jacqueline groaned as Oscar kneaded her, and her legs parted a little. It was an invitation I was pretty sure Oscar was going to accept, but to my surprise he didn't. He gave Jacqueline a pat on her right buttock and stood up.

"You're done, Jacqueline." Oscar's cock, now half-erect, suggested that he wasn't done at all. He gestured to Persephone. "Your turn."

This time when Oscar settled himself a little below Persephone's rear end his cock fit nicely between her buttocks. I saw him give a little push, one that Persephone responded to, but her "Uh uh, Oscar" slowed him down. He'd finished her back and seemed a little uncertain about what to do next when Jacqueline tapped him on the shoulder and said, "My turn, Oscar."