Alan Cook - Honeymoon for Three

Gary didn’t want to be the bad guy. He knew that showing compassion for Alfred would reflect favorably in Penny’s eyes. It was only for one night. He felt a little better, knowing the number of points he would make with her.

The cot wasn’t that uncomfortable. It was definitely more comfortable than the front seat of his car. Alfred lay on his back with the blankets pulled up to his chin and grinned into the dark. He could see the stars shining brightly through the uncovered window. Stars were fine, just as long as they were outside and he was inside.

In spite of the primitiveness of this place-no electricity, no hot water, no indoor toilets-things had turned out a lot better than he could have anticipated when he was halfway up the trail, wondering whether he would make it to the chalet before dark, or perhaps get lost and eaten by bears.

He was finally warm, under five blankets, after having wet feet for most of the hike. His knee didn’t hurt. He had devoured a good dinner. He was feeling better than he had felt for a long time, even though he was exhausted. There were no lights in the bedroom. Since the only light was provided by a small flashlight that Penny and Gary had brought, they had all gone to bed as soon as they had come from the other building.

After dinner, Penny and Gary had played dominoes in the dining room. Alfred claimed he was too tired to play, but he watched them. Gary was merciless, beating Penny in every game. This was another reason she would be glad to get rid of him. He was dominating her. Alfred knew that Gary would probably beat him, too. He didn’t know whether this would be good or bad in Penny’s eyes, so he made the wise decision to stay out of it.

He listened for sounds of movement from the double bed. Aside from a few whispers when they first turned off the flashlight, there hadn’t been much noise forthcoming from that direction. They certainly weren’t doing anything of a sexual nature. That was one thing he was happy about.

He would never attempt a hike like this again. Why any sane person would engage in such misery on purpose, he didn’t know. He did have to hike down in the morning, but going down should be a lot easier than coming up.

During the few minutes he had been alone with Penny, he considered trying to win her over. There wasn’t time to do it, and he was too tired and too hungry. His brain wasn’t working. He didn’t want to negotiate from a position of weakness. Tomorrow he would have a much better opportunity. He had spent the last few minutes making a plan that he was sure would succeed. Now it was time to get some sleep.

Getting them down the trail wasn’t as difficult as Gary had been afraid it might be. He had Penny go first, then Alfred. He stayed close behind Alfred, hoping to be able to catch him if his slippery shoes betrayed him on the damp rocks. That was probably wishful thinking, and he certainly couldn’t prevent the klutz from getting wet feet. His shoes weren’t waterproof, and they had to wade through shallow streams.

Last night had been a pain, but it could have been worse. Gary and Penny had slept in most of their clothes under many blankets. Their sex life would have been restricted even if Alfred hadn’t been in the room, and they were all so tired they had gone to sleep rather quickly. In a little while they would see the last of him.

They went slowly, which required a lot of patience on Gary’s part. Their muscles were all sore from the ascent, but it was clear that Alfred had the biggest problems. He walked stiff-legged and had trouble stepping down, which is what they had to do for almost seven miles. His calves must be screaming. In addition, it was obvious that his knee bothered him at first, but it appeared to loosen up, and after a while, he stopped limping. But he had to rest frequently.

They arrived at the parking lot about noon and decided to eat their trail lunches in the meadow, ignoring the bees. Because they were concentrating on their steps on the way down, they hadn’t talked about anything else. Now Penny asked Alfred what his plans were.

Alfred swallowed a bite of his sandwich. “This place is so beautiful. Since I’ve come this far, I’d like to see a little more of it. Perhaps drive through the park today.”

“That’s what we’re going to do,” Penny said.

“You two have done so much for me, already. I hate to impose any more, but, uh, I don’t think I can drive today.”

Gary stared at him. Not drive? If he could walk, he could drive.

“The backs of my legs are so sore.” Alfred touched one of his calves and winced in pain. “And my knee is too. I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to put the brake on hard, and this road has so many hills and curves. If I can’t use the brakes…” His voice trailed off.

“What you should do is drive slowly back to the Kalispell area,” Penny said. “The road is easier going in that direction. Then rest for a day or so until you’re not so sore.”

The corners of Alfred’s mouth turned up. “If I had all the time in the world, I could do that. I have to get back to work in a few days. What I was thinking-and I know it’s a terrible imposition-well, since we’re going in the same direction, perhaps Penny could drive my car and follow Gary.”

Gary couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had to tread carefully because Penny appeared to be sympathetic to Alfred’s problems. “What kind of a car do you have?”

“It’s that Ford over there.”

Gary followed Alfred’s pointing finger and with a shock recognized the car. Where had he seen it? “Did you stop at Grand Coulee Dam two days ago?”

“Why yes.”

“We were there at the same time,” Penny said. “We saw your car. I remember it because it looks just like my car. I didn’t know it was yours.”

“Really? Where’s your car?” Alfred looked around the parking area.

“We didn’t bring it,” Penny said. “We brought Gary’s car.”

“What kind of a car do you have?” Alfred asked Gary.

“The green Beetle.” Gary indicated his car, parked thirty feet from Alfred’s.

“I remember your car,” Alfred said, beaming. “VW’s are so…cozy. As I recall, it was raining hard at the dam.”

“Speaking of the car, I need to get something from it.” Gary nodded to Penny to accompany him.

When they were out of earshot of Alfred, Gary said, “How much longer are we going to have to put up with this guy?” He was scowling, but he couldn’t help himself.

“He is becoming a pain. I tell you what. We’ll help him out today, and that’s it. Tomorrow he’s on his own. I’ll drive his car because I’m used to driving an automatic. You’re better with the VW in the mountains. This road is really tricky.”

“Where is Alfred going to ride?”

“I can tell by your tone of voice that you don’t want him riding with you. He can ride with me. It’s okay. He’s harmless.”

“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about being separated from you. After all, this is only the seventh day we’ve been married.”

“You’re so sweet.” Penny gave him a hug. “We’ll be together at all the viewpoints. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

When Penny talked like that, he would do anything for her. One day shouldn’t make that much difference out of a lifetime.

Penny drove the Ford from the parking lot onto the road behind Gary. He had promised to drive slowly in the mountains, so that she wouldn’t have any trouble keeping up with him. They would be stopping often.

The jagged peaks were gray on top, except for pockets of white snow. Lower down, blankets of green covered the hillsides where the evergreen trees ruled. Everything looked so sharp and fresh and clean. You could eat off the landscape. They headed uphill and would be going over the continental divide.