Deep into the woods, Julia had finally arrived at the tent that she and Lara had slept in. It was laying on the ground by some blackberry bushes, right where the two girls had dropped it to collect fruit for breakfast.
Ellen picked up the tent and tent rods, wedged it under her arm, and continued to help Julia hobble into the dense, dark part of the woods.
About an hour later, the girls came to the place where Julia and Lara had originally set up the tent.
"Here." Julia said. "Set up the tent right here."
"Right here?" Ellen asked.
"Yeah, this is where Lara and I slept."
"I think we need to keep going. Once Sheriff finds you're gone, he'll probably send a search party into these woods. I know a better place we can go."
Ellen continued helping Julia walk. She lead her into a direction that Julia and Lara had not traveled, towards a cropping of large boulders partially up a hillside. It was a very difficult climb for Julia with a sore ankle.
Julia grimaced and moaned being forced to put more weight on her bad leg as she attempted to take steep steps up boulders and rocks.
"It's not that much further, just take your time." Ellen encouraged.
Julia reached the top, she found a small pond surrounded by several large boulders.
"This is actually the pool for a waterfall. When the water's running, it runs down all them boulders and creates the creek that goes by the Home. Right now, all we got is this pool."
The water was stagnant and mossy. Hardly something anyone would want to wade in. It also smelled bad.
"But look over there to your left. You see them big boulders over there? There's a cave in there." Ellen pointed.
When the girls reached the cave, Julia realized it wasn't actually a cave at all. It was just several massive boulders that had fallen on top of each other thousands of years ago, creating a large space underneath. Julia would have to squeeze herself through a narrow gap between two of the boulders to get inside.
"Uhh!" She whined, wincing in pain over her ankle.
Ellen handed the tent and tent rods to Julia inside, then squeezed her way through.
"We can set up the tent here for the night." She said.
"Can you help me out of these clothes?" Julia asked.
Ellen giggled.
"Well girl, you just don't waste time do you?"
***Sunrise couldn't have come any sooner for Lara who had trouble sleeping through the night. She remained laying on the couch, naked with no covers, feeling warm from the heat of the potbellied stove.
Lucy was in bed snoring away, and apparently, snored much too loud for Lara.
Lara quietly stepped outside of the house and walked around the corner to pee. The sunrise cast its orange red colors across the lake. Lara stood to admire its beauty.
The concept of working to earn her stay at the house actually seemed admirable to Lara. Growing up, her mother rarely made her and her brothers work, allowing much of the house to remain cluttered and unkempt. There were times she washed dishes and did laundry, but it never felt like it was her duty. For the most part, living at home was just being a daughter.
Lara walked towards the back of the house and looked around the junk left cluttered around. There was a water pump that looked like it was still in use. There was also a clothesline with new clothespins and a galvanized wash tub. Several yards away was a set of patio chairs arranged around a fire pit underneath a large oak tree.
But amidst all this there was absolute quiet here aside from the gentle sounds of breeze blowing through the trees and a distant sound of birds. The smell of oaks, grasses and wildflowers in the morning filled the air and Lara relished the sense, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath.
She realized that this is exactly the place where she wanted to be, out in the middle of nowhere, naked, living simply and at one with Nature. Suddenly, she found herself happy.
Later in the afternoon, Lara was in the same place, but helping Lucy with the laundry. Lara learned how to pump water into the galvanized wash bin and then scrub the clothes on the washboard. After each item she scrubbed, Lucy hung it up on the clothesline.
"How long have you been living here?" Lara asked.
"Since I was sixteen." Lucy replied.
"Wow, sixteen?"
"We used to have a house over there." Lucy pointed in the direction of the hills. "Yeah, that's when I got married, sixteen."
"Sixteen!"
Lucy laughed. "Back then, every girl got married at 16. At least the pretty ones anyway!"
Lara laughed too. "I bet you were really very pretty back then!"
"Well what do you mean? I'm still pretty aren't I?"
Lara laughed again and blushed.
"So what happened to that house?" Lara asked.
"It burned down a few years ago. Fred, my husband, was drunk, and knocked over a lantern and the whole place caught fire. I had daughter who didn't make it. He ended up going to prison for manslaughter. So, my son helped me build this little place. I thought this was a better location."
"Oh, I'm sorry about your daughter."
"Yes, she was a real sweetheart."
"Annette said that you're Angela's uncle's ex. So are you divorced now?"
"Yeah, that would be right. I divorced him after that."
Lara nodded her head, and continued washing clothes, handing over each item to Lucy as she finished.
"I think this is a great place you have. I really love it out here." Lara said.
"Well thank you, I like it very much too. So how old are you anyways? Lucy said to Lara.
Lara handed a pair of jeans to Lucy, and replied, "Eighteen".
Lucy laughed. "Well you're just a spring chicken! And to think, you made it out here from Charleston butt naked."
Lara giggled. "So how about you? How old are you?"
"Old enough, trust me! That's all you need to know."
Lucy was Fifty-nine years old. She was of normal height, still built strong and in good shape for her age. She had dark hair, cut short, but was very well salted with gray. She clearly looked aged and weathered, but didn't look like an "old lady".
Her face, arms and shoulders were tanned from working outside much of her life. She preferred to wear jeans and a tank top on most days because she liked the toughness and durability of jeans, while a tank top seemed to emphasize her femininity. Lucy never lost sight of the fact that she was a woman, but felt she had to maintain her toughness living in the wilderness.
"OK, well now that we're finished with the laundry, how about we make some lunch?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, that sounds great!"
