Chapter 2

At home I hooked a small box trailer to the back of the SUV and we headed to town. Our first stop was the hospital, for Mindy’s nose. It wasn’t broken. The swelling would go down and she’d be fine in a few days.

We ended up nearly filling the trailer, since we were getting a winter’s worth of food for six people. We got cigarettes and groceries to last at least three months. I also got the girls some clothes. Just before the place closed I ran into an adult store. I grabbed a bunch of small sex toys and a few other fun things.

My house is on top a small hill in a valley between two mountains. It’s a great spot, because most of the wind is blocked by one mountain or the other. I have a good water well, septic system, and a generator for the few times a year the power lines go down. There’s a huge amount of space to park my company’s construction equipment, and I got the property very cheaply. There’s the 3-bedroom house, two car garage, and large machine shed. Of the thousand acres, maybe thirty are flat enough to use for anything but timber and mountain climbing. Since it’s so remote and rocky, I got it all for a quarter the cost of decent farmland. There are a lot of trees on the property, more than enough to provide firewood all the time, if I wanted. The closest neighbor is two miles away, so it’s very quiet. I mostly love it.

There are only two BIG problems. I had looked into getting reliable phone service and decent internet connectivity. There was only one solution, and the price wasn’t practical at all. I kept scolding myself for spending so much, but I had to have it. My excuse was I needed a reliable phone for business. The truth is I’m a horndog. I gotta have either sex or porn.

I paid nearly five thousand for the hardware, two thousand for half a day of helicopter time, and another ten thousand a year in access fees. Oh, plus two cases of beer and two steak dinners, for two of my guys who helped me put the pole and antennas near the top of the mountain. Now I have my own microwave relay and cell station, with only one user! I can use my laptop, tv, and cell phone for ‘only’ eight hundred a month! What a bargain! I figured that it was still cheaper than weekly hookers or a wife and kids, though.

The even bigger problem is, my four-mile-long driveway is next to the creek, at the bottom of the valley. The wind changes direction when it hits either of the mountains, making the snow collect RIGHT ON TOP the driveway. Two winters ago, I learned my lesson. After a major storm in December, I was stuck at home for three months. I was down to eating one cup of rice and one can of vegetables or soup a day. I have bulldozers and a truck with a plow, but fifteen feet is far too much snow for either. I lost twenty pounds and only had half a bag of rice and four cans of beets left when I could finally get out. As you can probably guess, I don’t like beets.

I bought three months’ worth of dehydrated emergency food in pails. I stowed most of it in the attic, but eat it once a month to remind myself. It tastes slightly better than wet cardboard, but it’ll keep a person alive awhile. It’s still better than beets!

The last winter was pretty good. I kept up and plowed each time it snowed, until there was no space for more. I was only snowbound a month and a half.

Once we were home, the girls helped me put away the groceries and I played a funny movie as we ate. When the movie was done and the girls were calmer and more relaxed, I said; “There are just a few simple rules here. Don’t hurt anybody, and try not to make a mess, that’s pretty much all. If you want to stay up late, or drink, or smoke, that’s fine. Just don’t drink too much and get sick or start a fire by accident. You can smoke in the living room, in the garage, or outside. No smoking upstairs or in the kitchen.

With the big storm starting tomorrow, it looks like we’ll be stuck here at least a week. We’ll be ok. We have plenty of food and supplies. Mindy and Blair agreed to have some grown-up fun with me, in exchange for letting you live here. You don’t have much to worry about. I’m not mean and I won’t hurt anybody. I think we can be a happy family, if everybody tries a little. I see the three young ones are getting sleepy. Let’s get them to bed.”

They were a little shy, but didn’t resist as I helped them change into their pajamas. I tucked them into bed and went back downstairs.

I handed Mindy and Blair each a beer and a pack of cigarettes. “So, ladies, what kind of porn do you like? Orgies? Watersports? S and M?”

It was obvious that sixteen-year-old blonde Blair didn’t know what I was talking about. Cute redhead Mindy was a little more experienced, at fifteen. “I don’t like S and M, and watersports is really gross! What’s an orgy?”

I explained, “Two people being romantic or having sex are a couple. Three make a threesome, and four are a foursome. More than four people is an orgy. Or sometimes one girl will do it with a bunch of guys, that’s called a gangbang.”

Both had shocked looks on their faces and their eyes were huge. Blair shyly asked, “Do you have something with a couple?”