Chapter 11: Making Ashley Mine

I knew of the grove and tree houses along Milford, but this was my first time looking past the road. The few times I had come out with friends, we had concentrated on the houses on the far side of the street. I scanned the trees ahead, watching for tree houses as Ashley and I moved away from the road.

At first I saw nothing more than a couple of wooden platforms in the branches of a few of the bigger trees. Most of the trees on this side of the road were young and lacked the branches to hold up a tree house. I was beginning to wonder if we had missed it when Ashley grabbed my arm.

I stopped. Ashley was pointing up into the branches of a large tree just to the right of our path. I looked up and realized that the leaves of the tree had kept me from noticing the large wood construction lying across the massive branches. We walked closer. The branches holding up the structure had to be almost two feet thick. There was a large gap between them that was completely blocked in by wood.

Ashley released my arm and ran over to look at everything. She had a puzzled expression on her face as she first looked at the wood above us and then at the tree itself.

"There's no way to get in," she complained. "I don't see a ladder anywhere."

I looked at the key fob again. Taking a chance I pressed the green button. We heard a loud click as if a latch had just disengaged. From right next to the far branch a rope ladder descended. The base of the ladder had two metal balls, giving the assembly some weight. As the ladder dropped a trap door slowly swung open next to it, revealing the entrance to the structure.

Ashley gave a squeal of glee. "Once we are inside, we close it up and no one can disturb us!" She tossed her bag on the ground and started to scramble up the rope ladder. It twisted some as she put weight on it, but she climbed the ten feet to the tree house and scurried inside. I could hear more squeals of joy as I picked up the bag and walked to the base of the ladder

"Come up quickly," Ashley commanded. "This is amazing."

I looped my right hand and arm through the bag containing Ashley's clothing and started climbing up the rope ladder. It fluttered a bit, but the weights at the bottom kept it from swinging, so I was able to drag myself upward. I was halfway up the ladder when I finally was able to toss the bag through the opening. Having both hands free made the climb much easier. Less than a minute later, I was using my arms to pull my legs up and into the room.

I had climbed in sideways from the ladder. To my right was the wall that ran over the branch on this side of the treehouse. The term house was definitely a misnomer. It was really one large room. I looked around and figured the room at about twelve feet by twelve feet. One corner was dominated by the foam pad and sleeping bags we had purchased the day before. A thick comforter of blue fabric sat in a neat folded pile at the foot of the makeshift bed, and there were four plush pillows in blue cases sitting at the head. The lantern we had selected hung from a rafter six feet above the floor. There was a cooler that looked like it could have barely fit through the trapdoor sitting in one corner next to the still boxed camp stove. Ashley was standing in the middle of the room, turning in a circle as she looked at everything.

I noticed that there were only two small windows. The room was a bit darker than I would have expected. It wasn't until I looked out one window that I understood that the canopy of leaves above us blocked a good deal of the light. I looked up at the lantern and smiled. We would still have light when we needed it.

Ashley was checking one corner. Several long shelves dominated this area. I could see that all the shelves were filled. She moved over to the corner and began taking an inventory. "The floor area is covered in little propane bottles. There are also a couple of large flashlights. The next shelf has snack foods, mostly Hostess baked goods. The next shelf has a couple of saucepans and then a ton of canned soups. The top shelf has three boxes of matches and then a bunch of strange brown bags. Oh, there's writing on the bags, this first one says Beef Ravioli with Meat Sauce. Another says Asian Style Beef. Mark, what are these?"

"It sounds like they are military rations. They call them MREs - meals, ready to eat. I've never had one, but they are supposedly not bad," I said. "How many are there?"

"At least twenty," Ashley said. "It's like Morgan set this up for us to camp out in. Oh, I didn't look at the floor. There are a bunch of one gallon jugs of water here, too. How did Morgan get all of this in here?"

I looked up and noticed that there was something dangling from the ceiling. It was a rope and carrysack assembly hanging from a pulley directly over the trap door. I stood up and examined the wall. I found a small motor bolted onto one of the rafters and holding the other end of the rope. Wires from the motor led down to a control panel on the wall. Next to the control panel was a cup, I could see another key fob sitting in it.

This reminded me that the trapdoor was still open. I pressed the red button on my key fob. Immediately, I could hear gears turn as the trapdoor started to swing closed. I looked through the opening and could see the rope ladder rising from the ground.

"Neat!" Ashley said. "How is all this powered?"

I put my key fob into the cup and looked around. I was about to claim a lack of knowledge, when I noticed an envelope in the center of the makeshift bed.

I slipped my shoes off; set them in the one free corner; sat down on the bed; and picked up the envelope. "This might have the answers," I said. "How about you sit on my lap, and we can read it together?"

Ashley giggled. She grabbed her bag of clothing and moved to the corner where I had placed my shoes. She set the bag against the wall and then sat on the wooden floor with her feet facing me. She pulled her legs in and then pulled her skirt up to her raised knees. I groaned and tried to see her pussy as she slowly removed her shoes. Both shoes joined mine, and then she crawled slowly across the floor to join me on the mattress. "Read to me," she said as she put her legs over mine and leaned against me.

The envelope was not sealed. There were two pieces of paper inside. I opened them and found a printed note from Morgan.

"Mark, Ashley. I know I haven't met you, but Beatrice has told me so much about both of you. In case you are wondering, my great-grandfather and my grandfather build this tree house originally. It's hidden from the road and almost invisible during the summer, so most people forget about it. It's been a family tradition to maintain and upgrade the house. Last summer I thought I might regain custody of my son, so I put in a number of upgrades, including the powered trapdoor, ladder, and hoist. They are all electrical and run on power from a series of lead acid batteries hidden in a box built up against the trunk of the tree. The units recharge from a pair of windmills built into the upper branches of the tree. Unless you are going in and out several times a day, the power should never fail," the letter began. You'll also notice two large vents in the ceiling. The wind powers fans in those vents which will drag out any carbon monoxide created by running the stove and lantern."

"Wow," Ashley said. "That setup cannot be cheap."

I nodded and kept reading. "I guess most townspeople forget about the contests to build the tree houses long ago. The land here was city parkland at one time. Now, the city tries to pretend they don't own the land because of the dangers of lawsuits. They should remove the tree houses, but the police consider them to be a great way to keep children entertained in some safety. So far, they have been lucky. The reason I tell you this is that you might realize there is no bathroom in the tree house. However, when the tree houses were first built, the townspeople put in three outhouses on the ground in the grove. The nearest one to this house is about one hundred yards to the north. The ladder to this tree house is set up so you are facing north when you climb it. Just step around it when you are on the ground and walk forward. I checked the outhouse when I put in the upgrades last summer. It's in good repair and doesn't smell. I think it's been more than a decade since anyone used it."

"It's almost like we are camping," Ashley said. "And with that, we could spend all weekend here. What will we do?"

I started kissing Ashley's neck, using my tongue to teasingly lick her. "You can read the rest," I whispered as I nibbled her ear.

"If I can concentrate," Ashley said with a long sigh. "That is turning me on, and I was already excited."

She plucked the letter from my hand. I had finished the first page, so she flipped the pages and looked at what was said. "I made sure the house is fully stocked. The one danger is fire. The water seal that my family used does not burn easily, but the house is wood. There is an electric lighter on the top shelf. Use this to light the stove and lantern. Just place the metal tip near the unit when you turn the propane on and activate the trigger. There is also a fire extinguisher there; hopefully you'll never need it."

I paused in my nibbling of Ashley's ear and looked toward the corner. The fire extinguisher was hanging from a hook next to the shelves. "Well, I'm not sure how we missed it earlier," I said pointing to the extinguisher.

Ashley giggled. "We had more important things to think about. There's just one more short section."

"I'm really looking forward to meeting both of you. Enjoy your interlude. I expect the future will be quite interesting. Morgan."

She folded the letter back up and slipped it down between the wall and the mattress. Once it was out of her hands she turned, grabbed me by my shoulders, and pushed me so my back was against the mattress. She straddled my groin and leaned forward.