Chapter 10

Because Axorie used induced sensation, it always felt like she was touching

Freaky's skin directly, and not through his clothing. Freaky tried to concentrate on controling his off-road dirt bike, but the feeling of Axorie's firm, hard soft, warm, resiliant er body pressed against his back, her arms eroticaly entwined about his chest, made it har- er, made it difficult. He manfuly struggled to soldier on, however. They headed up the trails into the hills, a small stock of food, and a large bedroll their only equiptment. Freaky could always find water, even in a desert. He had canned peaches for dessert, the first night, and used the empty can for a drinking cup.

"What are we hunting for, Freaky?" wondered Axorie as they wandered the empty canyons.

"I stressed my credit card too much for my father to ignore." quoth Freaky.

"What with buying beds, a fully stocked kitchen, a forklift, a hydroelectric plant, and all the rest of it. I need to pay down the balance to something a bit more reasonable, so we are looking for somthing of value."

"Would three pounds of gold double eagles work?" inquired Axorie minkishly.

"There are some old bones with the loot in rotted leather saddlebags, where an outlaw got snakebit after his horse broke it's leg, and he managed to crawl into a crevass before he died."

"Perfect, you are yourself such a treasure!" Freaky gushed. "Where is it?"

It turned out to be three miles away, in a heap of boulders. They carefuly drove off a distant decendant of the outlaw killer, who buzzed it's tail in displeasure, and carefuly robbed the unmarked grave, trying not to disturb the mortal remains.

"I guess we will never know who this gold really belongs to." pondered Freaky.

"Well, actualy-" began Axorie

"Hush," interupted Freaky "I said, I guess we will never know. Besides, finders keepers, and noone alive ever had any original claim on it."

"That is true." conceded Axorie.

So, their mission accomplished, they spent much of the remaining time in the desert discovering just how hard the ground was, and why Freaky so prefered the cowgirl position. (Because Axorie just induced the sensations of touch, she couldn't support Freaky's weight. Ah-ha, the sharper reader might note, then how could she help Steetch shovel iron sand and coke? It truely is a mystery. What I want to know, is how Freaky "asks" water and rocks to disobey the laws of physics. Yet aother mystery.oops, I couldn't help it, sorry.)

After Freaky had sold a few of the coins on E-bay, and had payed down the credit card to something which would pass his father's notice, he checked in with Steetch. "Superb!" enthused Freaky, on seeing the elegant lines of the raw blades. He noted the full tangs, still bare of the hilt furnishings.

"What is this mark you have stamped here at the top of the tang?" he puzzled.

"That is the Maker's Mark, it is a stylized hummingbird." Steetch said gently.

"Part of the tradition, you see." The blades were almost perfectly balanced, the weight of the hilt furnishings would make that almost in to absolutely.