Chapter 7

Jason and Linda heard the voices as they returned to camp. Hastening their steps they quickly walked from the woods.

At the center of camp, Frank stood, his face violet with anger, veins standing out on neck and forehead. He faced Bret and Karen. The young couple stood close together, holding each other's hands. Bret stared at the elder, his restraint more than apparent, while Karen's head was lowered, her eyes cast on the ground.

Glancing at each with uncertainty, Jason and Linda moved beside Liz and Mona, who stood nearby, watching the confrontation.

"You're wrong," Bret said, his voice quavering as he tried to control his rising anger. "You're so wrong!"

"Damn you! I know what I saw!" Frank shouted, his fists clenched, knuckles glowing white. "I saw you yesterday. And I damn well know where you two were going when I caught you trying to slip off from the rest of us!"

Neither Bret or Karen answered.

"Did you think I was stupid?" Frank continued to rage. "Did you think I was blind?"

"Frank, calm down," Jason interrupted. "Take hold of yourself and tell me what's going on here."

Frank twisted around, his eyes wide and wild. "It's your son, Jason! He's just like you and your wife! I caught these two trying to sneak out into the woods so that they could satisfy their carnal urges, like two rutting animals!"

His head jerked back to Karen. "My own daughter! I thought I raised you better than that. You little bitch, you're no better than a common slut! I saw you out there yesterday, flat on your back giving your body away. A whore! My own daughter is nothing better than a whore! How many men have you known, Karen? How much do they pay for your body?"

Jason saw the tears well in the young brunette's eyes and stream down her cheeks. "Frank, you've..."

Stay out of this, Jason!" Frank raged. "If you had raised your son better, this wouldn't have happened. But he takes after his mother and father, loose with their morals, no understanding of what is right and decent!"

"Hold on, Frank," Jason answered. "I think you've got this all wrong. Times have changed. People don't have the same standards they did when you were young. The world is freer, more understanding..."

"Loose is the word!" Frank's eyes glared. "No morals, young people today have lost all their morals. They can't even control the baser urges of their bodies!"

Jason shook his head. He had heard all this before, the same old tired arguments straight out of Victorian England. He thought of Mona and her suffering with this man. If that was Frank's idea of strong morals, he would have no part of it.

"Frank, Bret and Karen are young. Their bodies need sexual release. They aren't made of stone. They're flesh and blood and what happened between them was natural. It's the way we're created," Jason said. "There's nothing good or bad about sexual urges; they're just natural, which makes them right."

He knew as he said it there would be no understanding from the man. Frank was molded too tight into his rigid view of the relationship between man and woman. It was too late for him, he'd never change.