Chapter 1

Steve sighed. It looked like it was going to be another boring Saturday afternoon. There were a lot of places that a thirteen year old would rather be than stuck in the middle of nowhere. And nowhere was exactly where Steve was.

Steve's parents had divorced when he was seven, though it was an amicable divorce. His Mom was a high-powered attorney, his dad was a ranger/wildlife specialist. Their two worlds were simply incompatible.

So far most of the year, Steve lived with his Mom in Connecticut. But for two months out of the year, Steve lived with his father in a house that backed up to a national park in Missouri. Steve loved his Dad, but there was absolutely nothing to do and nobody to do it with. It was nothing like his life with his Mom.

And then there was the fact that his father's job took him away from the house for a few days every month. In previous summers, Steve had been put in the care of one of his Dad's co-workers during these times. This year, Steve was being allowed to stay on his own, with the understanding that one of his Dad's co-workers would pop in to check on him, and that Steve needed to stay close to the house.

So close to the house Steve stayed, and was absolutely bored. His Dad didn't have any type of video games and the content lock on his internet and satellite TV was impregnable. So Steve decided to go down to the lake.

Steve's Dad's house had a trail head behind it, which branched into different trails. One of them led to a camp spot two miles away, situated on the lake. Steve had actually come on a young couple having sex at the camp site one time, and watched in amazement. He had returned to the site several times later, but had never had a repeat performance. Still, it was slightly less boring to go check on the lake campsite rather than just sit around the house. So Steve grabbed his daypack and the hiking stick his Dad had carved for him, and headed for the lake.

It was a quick hike to the lake, and the weather was unseasonably cool, at least for an Ozark summer. As Steve got closer to the lake, he slowed down, on the off chance that he might be able to spy unnoticed on a young, amorous couple. True, he had only wandered up on one couple, but hope and lust spring eternal.

What he wandered up on made his heart leap up in his mouth. There was an attractive brunette who looked vaguely familiar, along with a large black man and a greasy small white guy in the clearing. Steve couldn't tell who the brunette was, though, because the black man had her bent face down over the hood of his car. It was obvious that the brunette wasn't happy with the situation, as she was kicking and fighting for all she was worth. But the black man had no problem keeping her under control.

Steve froze for a second, then dug into his daypack, pulling out a satellite phone. He pushed a few buttons, and got an answer, "Ranger Station Seven, Jackson."

"Mr. Jackson, this is Steve Miller. I'm at the lake clearing at the end of the trail that starts at my Dad's house."

"Steve, you know you're not suppose to be hiking out by yourself, Your Dad--"

"Mr. Jackson, there's a lady being raped by these two guys in the clearing."

There was a pause, then the voice said, "Steve, I want you to go back to your Dad's house. Do you understand? The authorities will be out there immediately, but I need you to go back to your Dad's house. Steve? Steve!"

Steve had dropped the phone. The smaller, greasier white man had yanked down the brunette's jeans and panties, exposing one of the most beautiful bottoms Steve had ever seen, more beautiful than the literally hundreds he had seen on the internet. The yanking down of the jeans had caused the brunette to redouble her efforts to break free, but to no avail. The black man holding her down was easily twice her size, and had the position on her as well.

What happened next was almost outside the realm of possibility. A thirteen year old boy who was just barely over five feet tall and weighed one hundred pounds simply could not take out two grown men, one of whom was easily two and half times his size. And video games to the contrary, thirteen year old boys do not go banzai on full grown men.

Except Steve did. The two men pinning the pretty brunette down never saw him coming, so intent were they on their victim. A couple of swings at accidentally strategic points on the two men temporarily incapacitated them. The brunette, suddenly released, pulled up her jeans and got into the car. As luck would have it, the keys were still in the ignition. She pushed the other door open and yelled at Steve to get in. Steve didn't argue, but dropped his stick and dived in. The brunette put the car in reverse as Steve closed his door. A quick turn around and the car was barrelling down the road, barely dodging the black man's attempt at blocking their escape.

Steve quickly buckled in as the brunette drove like a maniac down the forestry road, the car banging and rattling every few seconds. Steve wasn't sure where they were going or what they were doing until he saw three SUV's heading in their direction, one forest ranger green, the other two the rusty brown used by the local county sheriff's department.

"Stop! Stop! That's--that's my dad's friend. I called him."

The pretty brunette came to a screeching halt as the SUVs pulled up to the car. Steve saw Mr. Jackson pile out of his car as sheriff's deputies got out of the other two SUVs. The brunette rolled her window down and it was at that moment that Steve recognized her. It was April Scott!

Steve had fallen in love with April the first time he saw her in the "Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning" movie. Afterwards, he looked up every picture he could find of her on the internet, and there were plenty. But to actually have her mere inches away!

Steve listened intently as April described how the two men were supposed to be part of the advance team for a photo shoot that April was going to do. Unfortunately for April, the two men had other plans in mind and, once they had her isolated in the woods, had tried to put those plans into action. Then she described how Steve had appeared out of nowhere and distracted the men long enough for her and Steve to make their escape.

Mr. Jackson admonished Steve for not waiting for Mr. Jackson and the sheriff's deputies, but there was also a glint of admiration in Mr. Jackson's eyes. What went unsaid was that Mr. Jackson probably would have arrived too late to have prevented the rape. Leaving one of the deputies to stay with April and Steve, Mr. Jackson and the other SVU tore down the road in the direction that Steve and April had come from.

Nodding at the deputy, April leaned back in her car seat as she rolled up the tinted windows. She took a deep breath, and looked at Steve, who was still in a state of semi-shock from everything that had happened. Steve thought he had never seen anything as deep or as beautiful as April's brown eyes looking directly at him.

"Your friend Mr. Jackson was right. You should have waited. But I'm so glad you didn't."

As with that April grabbed Steve's head and pulled it to her chest, holding him tightly. Now Steve was in complete shock. Here was the most beautiful woman in the world, holding his face tightly against her breasts, as she stroked his hair and repeated "Thank you" over and over again. Steve had never felt anything as soft or as wonderful as April Scott's breasts pressed against his face.

The feeling was over too soon for Steve, when Mr. Jackson returned, with the two men in custody. April released Steve and got out of her car. Steve stayed put, trying to will his erection to go down.

Mr. Jackson told April that she and Steve would need to go down to the ranger's station to make a statement. Since the attempted rape had happened on federal property, the FBI was on its way to take the two men into custody. Apprehending them had not been a problem. When April had escaped, the two men had started blaming the other for the situation. When Mr. Parker and the deputies had arrived, the black man was in the process of beating the smaller white man senseless.

Steve had gotten his erection under control and joined April and Mr. Jackson. April ran her fingers fondly through Steve's dark blonde hair, making Steve blush. "Well, Mr. Jackson, I owe a big thanks to you and to my hero here."

Mr. Jackson tried to look sternly at Steve. "Your father plans to have a long talk with you when he gets back in three days. Until then, after we take yours and Ms. Scott's statements, you're going to have to stay at the station. I'd make you stay with me, except I have to oversee maintenance on the fire roads starting tomorrow."

Steve groaned. There was a spare room at the ranger station that served as a sleep room for ranger's pulling extra duty, but it was even more boring than his Dad's house.

April looked at Steve sympathetically. "Mr. Jackson, if you're looking for a babysitter for Steve, I'm more than willing to volunteer."

Mr. Jackson shook his head. "I couldn't make you do that, Ms. Scott. You've been through enough already."

April laughed. "It's the least I could do for the U.S. Forestry Department, as well as my new hero." April tousled Steve's hair again. Steve wasn't fond of having to have a babysitter, but the prospect of spending a weekend with April Scott, even if it was completely innocent, was mind-blowing.

Mr. Jackson, however, didn't seem enthused with entrusting the thirteen year old son of one of his friends and co-workers to a complete stranger. "Why don't we talk about it at the ranger station?"

Once they got to the ranger station, Mr. Jackson's position on April babysitting Steve shifted favorably. For one thing, April was nothing but polite and pleasant to the rangers, the deputies and the arriving F.B.I. agents. Once she got on the phone though, she was anything but polite to the parties she was calling, which included her agent and the head photographer who had hired her would-be rapists. One tirade earned her the applause of all the law enforcement officers listening when April hung up. April blushed and once again thanked everyone present for all their help, especially her hero. Steve blushed at this detail.

April couldn't help but smile at Steve. He was maybe five or six inches shorter than her, and looked like he was all bones and gawkiness. He had guileless green eyes, a medium tan and the most open smile she could remember ever seeing. April decided he was just absolutely the cutest kid she could ever remember meeting.

Once the statements were taken, the F.B.I. agents got April's cell phone number, and told her they would be in touch. It probably wouldn't be necessary for her to testify, as they were fairly sure they could get the men to plead out. Since both men had priors, they were looking at fifteen to twenty years minimum.

Jackson had problems of his own. Two of his fellow rangers had called in sick with an upper respiratory infection, and minor emergencies had drawn the others away. With Jackson gone, nobody would be left to watch Steve at the station. Jackson thought about leaving Steve with the sheriff's department, but was fairly sure that wouldn't be appreciated by anybody involved. Jackson watched how Steve and April were interacting. April was treating Steve as a favorite little brother. It was obvious that Steve had a crush on April and would do anything she said, giving her no trouble as a babysitter. Jackson made a quick call to Steve's Dad on the phone, assuring him it wasn't necessary for him to come in early. He had a solution.

"Ms. Scott?" April looked away from her discussion with Steve. "Does your offer still stand to watch our young delinquent here? His father has a spare bedroom at his house that you're more than welcome to for the next few days."

"Of course!" April reached out and ran her fingers through Steve's hair, bringing another blush to his face. "I'm free for the foreseeable future. In fact, if you don't have anything else for me to do, I'll run the two of us over to my hotel room, pack my things up, and then take Steve to his house."

April exchanged a few last words with the F.B.I. agents, then literally took Steve by the hand out to the car. Steve of course was in heaven with every touch she bestowed upon him.

A ten minute drive brought the pair to the motel on the edge of the national forest that April was staying at. She led Steve into her bedroom, smiled at him, and then began packing her clothes. Steve took special notice when she folded and packed her underwear. Nothing fancy or sexy, but just the fact that it was hers made his pulse quicken.