Chapter 1

Sally saw the small hike tent in the meadow as she drove down the dirt track from the small stone cottage she and Kat rented further up the hill. It was quite an isolated spot out in the country, not that either of them minded, they were both country girls and appreciated the peace and quiet of the countryside. The disadvantage was travelling two miles to get a pint of milk both of them had forgotten to pick up yesterday morning when they passed through the local village.

The lone tent stuck out like a sore thumb in the field and was remarkable in that she had never seen anyone camping in the field before. She wondered if Mr Owens, the landowner, knew someone was camping in the meadow. Sally drove past and soon forgot about the blue tent as she turned out onto the narrow road that led to the village.

She stopped at the village shop and purchased a newspaper and a couple of cartons of milk. "Have you met your new neighbour yet?" Mrs Jones the village shop owner asked. She was a plump, friendly woman who, typical for the rural area, knew everyone's business and all the comings and goings in the area.

"No, I didn't know anyone was camping there until I came down this morning."

"Arrived yesterday afternoon, he called in and picked-up a few provisions on his way through. He's a relative of Bill Owens'," She said conspiratorially, as if it were some great secret she was imparting. "He's studying ornithology at university and is visiting the area on a field-study — whatever a field-study is?"

"He's on his own?" Sally asked. Not wanting to raise Mrs Jones' curiosity, she quickly added, "I mean, why isn't he staying at the farmhouse?"

"Apparently he wanted to camp out on the meadow next to the lake, closer to the birds." Mrs Jones packed Sally's milk cartons into a bag. "I understand there are some rare breeds up there."

Mrs Jones watched Sally depart. Quietly she disapproved of the two young women in their early twenties living together out on their own. As far as she was concerned the two of them should be looking to settle down with any one of the bachelors available locally. She had heard rumours that the two of them were lesbians, but she had seen the women taking men back to their cottage; something else she disapproved of.

Sally slowed the car as she drove up the lane leading to the cottage, peering through the hedge to see if she could catch a glimpse of their visitor. The tent was pitched close to the tree line of the woodland that swept down the valley to border the grounds of Dingle Cottage Kat and Sally rented. There was no sign of the Ornithologist and Sally drove.

Kat had just finished in the shower when Sally arrived. She was drying her hair with a towel in the kitchen when Sally walked in. "Fancy some bird spotting?" Sally said cheerfully, plonking the cartons of milk on the table.

"Bird spotting!?" She replied with obvious distaste. She folded the towel over the back of a chair and put the kettle on.

Sally laughed at her friend's expression and then explained about their visitor camping in the meadow. Kat made them both a cup of tea and pulled up a chair, joining Sally at the table. "So you think we should give him a couple of birds to spot?"

"Why not — we could just take a walk over and introduce ourselves."

"He sounds like an anorak to me." Kat replied, quietly sipping her tea. "No harm in taking a look though."

Two hours later in jeans and t-shirts, armed with a pair of binoculars, just to look the part, the two young women set off. The walk through the woodland was mostly downhill and would take them a good half-an-hour as they followed the winding path.

They found his tent sitting quietly on the edge of the meadow. With no sign of their mysterious visitor, the pair set off to follow the tree-line toward the small lake. As they walked over the rise and headed down toward the lake they caught sight of a figure moving into the trees. Kat raised the binoculars and scanned the trees, saw colour and focused the lenses. "Oh my God!"

"What?" Sally stopped and turned, seeing her friend smile, a small enquiring frown fixed her own her face.

"He's taking a pee!" Kat replied keeping the binoculars trained.

"Can you see it?" Sally asked excitedly.

"Not quite."

"Let me look."

Kat passed her the binoculars and directed her. Sally scoured the tree-line, searching for him. Suddenly Kat pulled the glasses from her face and as Sally started to protest Kat told her that he was out of the trees. Sally lowered the binoculars and they headed down toward the lake.

He was still some distance from them, not far from the waters edge and with his back toward them, unaware of their approach. The two friends stopped dead in their tracks. Sally took hold of Kat by the arm and dragged her quickly into the trees as he kicked off his shoes and pulled down his shorts. From the safety of the trees they watched as he stripped off his shirt and headed into the water in his swimming trunks.

"Damn it — I thought he might take the lot off and do a bit of skinny-dipping. Just our luck he'd keep his trunks on!" Sally trained the binoculars on him and watched for a moment. He turned to face her and she refocused the glasses, letting out a gasp of surprise.

"What is it?" Kat asked, staring at the lone figure knee deep in water.

"By the size of that lump in his trunks I'd swear he had a hard-on!"

"Don't be daft!" Kat replied, squinting through the undergrowth. "Here, give me the binoculars and let me see."

Sally passed her the binoculars with a giggle and waited for her friend to fix him in the lens. "Oh wow!" She leapt to her feet, "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" Sally grinned, trotting out after her friend.

"For a closer inspection of course!" Kat replied, smoothing out her t-shirt and looping her arm through the strap of the binoculars. "It's time to introduce ourselves — act calm, like we have just arrived."

He saw the two women approach as he pushed himself backwards into the water. He surfaced and stared at them somewhat surprised to see anyone out here, especially two good looking women. When it became apparent that they were heading directly toward him he swam back to the shore.

"Hi." Sally, the dark haired, slightly shorter of the two, greeted him.

"Hi." He answered, wading out of the water.

"Is that your tent over the rise?" Sally enquired, sneaking a peek at the front of his trunks as he turned to follow her gesture.

"Oh — yeah. My Dad is a cousin of the farmer..." He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence, seeing the two women grinning at him — What was that about? "He-err, let me camp up there. Are you local?"

"Sure... I'm sorry — My name is Kat," The black haired woman introduced herself. "and this is Sally. We live in the little cottage on the other side of the woods."

"I'm Mark." He told them, moving toward his clothes, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in just his swimming trunks.

"So what brings you out here?" Kat enquired, staring at his tight pert bottom as he bent over to pick-up his clothes.

"I'm studying birds."

"In the lake?" Sally said with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Well it's hot, and I thought I'd take a dip." He pulled his t-shirt on. "What brings you out here?"

"Oh we were just out, taking a walk."

"With binoculars?"

"You never know what you might see out here."

"So Mark, what kind of birds are you looking for?" Kat asked with a sly grin on her face that seemed to fly right over his head.

"The rare kind, Redstart, Wood Warbler, Buzzards, or even a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker if I'm lucky."

"I wouldn't mind seeing a pecker myself." Kat replied in feigned innocence. Sally snorted, and then did her best to disguise it with a fake coughing fit.

"Don't let us interrupt your swim." Kat told him when her previous comment gained no reply. "We swim here all the time, only I guess we had better make sure we wear our costumes while you are around."

"You do... Oh, right, I see... Well just let me know and I'll keep a respectful distance."

This guy is seriously hard work. Kat thought as they turned to follow him back up the rise.

"Do you see many rare birds around here?" Mark enquired when it seemed they were obviously going to follow him back to his tent.

"We see buzzards all the time. They're pretty common around here." Sally informed him, stepping into stride beside him.

"Anywhere in particular?"

"All over really, I'm surprised you haven't seen any! When did you arrive?"

"Late yesterday afternoon, so I haven't really made a proper start."

"Well, you know what they say..." Kat jibed, "the early bird catches the worm!"

"That's right!" He answered never skipping a beat. "I only arrived yesterday and slept in late this morning, long drive yesterday, but tomorrow I plan to be up before dawn."

"Who's Dawn?" Sally giggled at her own joke.

"Dawn? Oh, I see — joke! I missed that one!"

Kat rolled her eyes as they arrived at his tent. "Where's your car?"

"I left it at the farm."

"Is that where you are eating your meals and stuff?"

"No, I've got a small stove. Roughing it I'm afraid."

"Why don't you come over to our place tonight for dinner?"

"Yeah — great idea." Kat offered her support with less enthusiasm. "Great!"

"I don't know..."

"Oh go on. We don't get much company out here, and you sound like a really interesting guy with all this bird watching stuff — we might learn something."

"Are you really interested in birds?" Mark asked, picking up interest. Kat feigned a yawn behind his back as he faced Sally.

"Of course we are." Sally smiled at Kat. "Aren't we Kat."

"Love 'em!" Kat replied with little passion.

"Well if you're sure it's no trouble..."

"No trouble at all." Sally gave him directions, they were simple enough, just follow the path through the wood to their cottage.

"Idiot!" Kat scolded her when the two of them were safely out of earshot. "That guy's an anorak — what the American's call a Geek — what did you go and invite him over for? I mean, he's devoid of any humour and his interest in birds is obviously restricted to the feathered kind. And he's not even that good looking!"

"True," Sally agreed happily, "but you saw the size of that bulge in his trunks and that has got to be worth investigating don't you think?"

"Fat chance — unless you could convince him there was a Wood Warbler in his pants!"

Sally walked back to their cottage deep in thought. When they got back she told Kat she would have to do the cooking. "I have an idea and need to spend some time on the internet."

"Tell me more?" Kat's spirit's lifted in anticipation.

"Later!" Sally smiled mischievously.

It was early evening when Sally revealed her plans to Kat. Kat was sceptical about the plan, but it seemed like their best bet and so she agreed to give it a go. The two of them dressed, casually, but fairly provocatively. Low, revealing tops, and tight jeans, just the thing to turn a guy's head.

Mark arrived a little early, not that it mattered as they were ready for him. He apologised for not bringing a bottle of wine, but waved a couple of Ornithology Books at them. Kat sighed miserably at the prospect of browsing endless pictures of birds and trying to maintain an air of interest. If Mark noticed the curvy figures of either of his hosts, he made no reference to it.

Sally pushed a glass of wine into his hand and led him through to the living room where she spent the next hour trying to ply him with wine as she sat through a lecture on birds and their habits. Kat hid away in the kitchen. Mark was obviously enthusiastic about his subject and Sally had a hard time trying to get a word in edge ways, never mind trying to keep the wine flowing. Eventually Kat came to the rescue when she called them through for dinner and again the conversation centred round his feathered friends.

It wasn't until after dinner, when Kat opened the third bottle of wine that Mark suddenly realised that he knew almost nothing about the two women. "So do you mind if I ask what you two do for a living?"

"Oh nothing," Sally answered with a dismissive wave, "besides, you wouldn't be interested."

"Yeah I am." He allowed Kat to pour him another glass, peering straight down her top as she leaned over the table at him. "So what do you do?"

"Seriously — most guys just get embarrassed about it and we wouldn't want to embarrass you, you're our guest after all?"

"What is it, are you strippers or something?" He smiled, half afraid they might say yes.

"No, nothing so glamorous." Kat told him, pouring another glass for herself. "Actually it's pretty boring."

"So — what is it?" He chuckled despite the insistency in his voice. They had raised his curiosity now and he wasn't prepared to let the matter drop.

"Are you going to tell him, or shall I?" Kat asked Sally.

"He's not going to let it pass until we tell him is he?" Sally replied, setting her glass back on the table.

"I don't think so."

"We're Anatomical Researchers. There, how boring is that?"

"What's an anatomical researcher do?" He looked bemused.

"I was afraid you'd ask that — you promise you won't get embarrassed will you?"

"No, seriously, I'm interested."

"In our case, we study male reproductive organs."

He sat back in his chair for a moment and glanced between the two attractive young women sitting opposite him. "Really — no kidding?"

"Really — drink your wine. Does that embarrass you?"

Mark sipped his wine. "Not really, but then I'm not sure I really understand you."

"We take measurements of penis size, sperm quantity on ejaculation, testicle size and measure comparisons etc." Kat said matter-of-factly. "All pretty boring stuff actually."

He stared at them incredulously for a moment. "You actually measure a man's penis — they let you do that?"

Sally and Kat looked at each other and nodded their heads without a trace of a smirk on their faces. "Yeah, in both the flaccid and erect state." Sally replied in a measured tone.