Allender's Hunt-Big Game

"I'll pack them tomorrow and send them to wherever you are," he said. He turned slowly and went back in the house.

Allender put the Browning in its case and carried it to her car. She got the box she had come after, took it back upstairs and packed her personal items. When she was through she carried all her things down and put them in the car. She made one last trip to her office and got her laptop and a picture of her and Brian. She locked the front door behind her and headed west.

She had no idea where she was going, but she knew it would be far away. She called Brian after a couple of hours, and told him to pack her things in shipping boxes and store them in the garage until she decided where she was going.

Three days later she was in Winthrop, Washington. She saw a sign with the town name, Conconully, on it and she felt a connection. She turned and drove. It was a quaint little town, accessible only by snowmobile during the winter, and Allender fell in love with it. There was a store front for lease with an apartment above it and she got settled. She sent Brian her address and in two weeks her things arrived. Allender was quite comfortable, financially, and she spent a month just becoming acquainted with the area and the locals. She discovered that she could lease large tracts of land for hunting and fishing, and there were vast areas of state and federal land accessible, also. She opened a guiding service, and by the time summer arrived she began to get her first clients. They were trout fisherman, and she was enjoying the work very much. Physically, she was doing well but she felt dead inside. Her heart was damaged, and she spent her time alone whenever possible. She cried at night, every night, and she was beginning to think she was never going to be happy again. She was amazed that one six hour span of a lifetime could cause such destruction. She texted Brian once a week and he always answered.

*****

When Brian watched Allender leave the house it was all he could do not to run after her and beg her to stay. She looked so little and broken and lonely that it tore at his heart. He managed to restrain himself. This was the only way forward. Allender needed to rediscover her own inner strength and she needed to do that on her own. They would deal with the issues between them when she was whole and healthy. He feared desperately that she would forget her promise in her despair and take her own life, but he knew that she kept her promises. She always had, except for one, and it was that broken promise that had left her a shell of herself. He hoped that time could heal her.

When she called him and asked for her things to be shipped to her, he knew that she was mending. With that load of care removed from his mind, he soon turned to other thoughts. He knew how this had happened. Extreme circumstances had taken her outside her normal reactions. He knew that men constantly hit on her. It had always been that way and he had watched her deal with it on numerous occasions. He had even seen her become violent when a couple of guys had refused to take no for an answer. Allender could be a tiger when pushed, and he had watched her break a man's arm in the hall of a club outside the restroom when he groped her.

Had she changed so much that she would just now allow something like what had happened? Was all it took for her character to crumble the right set of circumstances? If that were the case, they had no future together. How would he know? The foremost question in his mind was what was he going to do about Raines? What would Allender do if she encountered the man again? His first reaction was that Raines needed to be punished. He was unsure how he would accomplish that, but the man had been unscrupulous, unprofessional and he had, in Brian's view, basically taken advantage of Allender's vulnerable state and raped her. Yes, she had been an active participant, but in her debilitated condition it had probably been impossible for her to act as she normally would. He cursed himself for failing to protect her. If he had only been just a little cautious and gone with her, none of this would have happened. He took no blame for the actual deed, but he had been less than vigilant.

He felt no doubt in his ability to exact payment from Raines. The man was big and tough, but he lacked discipline and Brian was big and tough himself. He had been a high school and collegiate wrestler, and he knew his physical capabilities. He also knew that he could go to jail if he assaulted Raines. It would have to be something drastic that would allow no blowback.

Soon, Allender's father was coming for a visit. How would he explain to Thomas? "Your daughter isn't here because I kicked her out? She's a cheater and I can't live with her? She was freezing to death and a man took advantage of her and had sex with her, so I sent her away?" None of that was anything he wanted to tell Thomas. Thomas was very much old school, and he was not going to be pleased with either of them. He was a retired aerospace engineer and the man Brian respected most in the world. Brian desperately craved his approval, and he wasn't looking forward to explaining the situation. He decided honesty was the best policy and tried to craft his explanation. He knew that Allender hadn't been in touch with her father, and it was going to be quite a shock to the man.

Brian picked Thomas up at the airport and the old man kept looking around, obviously expecting to see his daughter. It broke Brian's heart that this kind old gentleman was going to be disappointed. He took Thomas to lunch at Cheddar's and told him that Allender was gone.

"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Thomas asked. "Where is she, and why didn't either of you bother to call me and tell me she wasn't going to be here?"

"To tell you the truth, it's probably because we didn't want you to know," Brian said. "It's a long story, so brace yourself." The long, torturous story came tumbling out and Thomas listened in shock as the sordid tale was revealed. When Brian finished, there was silence. The tension was relieved by the arrival of their waiter, and Thomas ordered them both a bourbon.

"I don't know about you, but I could use a drink, badly," he said. They sipped in silence for a moment, and finally Thomas spoke. "Brian, I can't begin to tell you how badly I'm disappointed in my daughter. I'm very sorry I failed you both as a father. I can't imagine what you must be feeling and I'll do anything I can to help you. You also need to understand that she is my daughter and I love her with all my heart. I always will. I'll express my disappointment to her the first time I see her. Then I'm going to forgive her and love her just the same. My love for her doesn't depend on her being perfect or even good. I don't love her because she makes me proud or because she's perfect. I love her because she's my daughter. I love her because of who she is, not what she does."

"I completely understand, sir," Brian said. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

"So, what are you going to do?" Thomas asked. "This situation is intolerable. You need to resolve this."

"I was hoping you might give me some idea about how to do that," Brian said.

"Take me home and let me sleep on it," Thomas said.

They had a very somber dinner together and very few words passed between them. They went to bed with a dark cloud over them and Thomas lay awake, thinking through the night. He got up at six and prepared breakfast. When Brian got up at seven, it was ready and the two men talked over coffee.

"As I see it," Thomas explained, "you have very few options. You don't know what Allender is thinking. You may be thinking that you don't know her at all. I believe that what happened is so out of character for her that she's a bit broken inside because of it. It's been five months and maybe she's found her way back. She hasn't told you so, but she may be waiting for something neither of us understands. I've decided the only way back or forward for the two of you is a test. She'll either pass or fail. Either way, you'll both know. Do you think she's ready?"

"I have no idea," Brian said. "What kind of a test?"

"Let's see, I've sort of thought this out," Thomas said. "From the way you've described this Raines character and from what you've told me Allender said about him, I think he would jump at the opportunity to get a second shot at her. I think we need to arrange for that to happen."

"Jesus Christ, Thomas," Brian burst out. "Are you crazy? That's the last thing I want. You have no idea how many times I've dreamed about killing that bastard. I don't want her near him."

"Yes, I understand," Thomas said. "But the real problem is that you have no idea how she'll react if she gets in a sticky situation again. That's the crux of the problem. I think you should get word to him through some third party that the two of you are split up. If he's the kind of predator we think he is, he'll jump at the chance. If he doesn't react, we've misjudged him. If he does, he's fair game. He'll find Allender and we'll see how she reacts. If she shuts him down, we'll know that this was an aberration. If she doesn't, we'll know she has some deeper character flaw and you need to move on with your life and leave her to me."

Brian thought for a while. "It's damned risky," he said. "What if he stalks her or something?"

"Brian, I've hunted on five continents. You're very good yourself. We're going to be watching over her like hawks. I'll kill the bastard myself if he harms her in any way. You figure out how you're going to get word to him and I'll plan everything else."

*****

Two weeks later, Peter Thompson and Raines Parker were eating dinner together at their base camp. "Say Parker," Peter spoke up. "You remember that nice couple that were here about six months ago? Their names were Brian and Allender Saline. They both took elk and you got stranded for a while with her. She was smoking hot. You remember?"

Parker looked at Peter but didn't comment. "The boss said they broke up," Peter said. "That's a real shame. I thought they really loved each other. You know anything about that, Parker?"

Raines flushed. "What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything," Peter said. "I'm flat out asking you, did you have anything to do with them breaking up? You can fess up like a man or wimp out like a big fucking pussy. I guess your face tells the tale."

"You speak like that to me again and I'll break you in two," Raines growled.

"Ha," Peter laughed. "You make a move at me and I'll kill you like the dog you are. Fucking a client! What, did you get her drunk? Was she freezing and you offered to warm her up? Look at you, you fucking weasel; that was it, wasn't it? She was freezing and you fucked her. You son-of-a-bitch!" He drew his pistol. "No, you sit the fuck back down! I'm leaving. I won't work with a dog like you. Thank God your Daddy isn't around to see what a piece of shit he raised. I'll be telling the boss what happened."

He backed out of camp and Raines heard the sound of his horse heading down the trail. He didn't give a damn what Thompson thought. His mind had only caught that Brian and Allender had broken up. He still thought every day about her. Her gorgeous face, the way those big breasts felt against his chest, the tight silkiness of her pussy around his member, the look of ecstasy on her face as she came, the sound of her voice and the impact of her personality. He had never wanted a woman so much in his life. He had been with hundreds in his football glory days, but he had never seen a woman who made the impact on him that Allender had. He was going to find her and claim her.

*****

Allender was working on her longbow. She had made a laminated bow using a hickory backing and bois d'arc for the belly wood. It was a huge weapon, 79 inches long and it had a huge draw weight. She was doing art work on it. She wanted it not only functional but beautiful. She was quite proud of it, and she had been practicing religiously. Someone was knocking downstairs and she went to answer the door. It was one of her neighbors. Lars was a nature boy. That was the only way to describe him. She felt as if he was a free spirit, kind of a throwback to the hippies, and she liked him. What she didn't like were his persistent attempts to get her to go out with him.

"Hi, Allender," he greeted her. "I was wondering if you might like to go and get something to eat," he said.

"I'm busy, Lars," she said. "I'm working on my bow."

"You have to eat," he said. "Why do you always tell me you're busy? When are you not busy?"

"Look, Lars," she was impatient. "I like you, okay? You're a very good looking guy. You should have no trouble getting dates. Why do you keep asking me? I'm always going to be busy. It has nothing to do with you. Have you seen me go out with men? You haven't and you won't. I'm not going out with you and if you don't stop asking me, we aren't even going to be friends. Do you understand?"

"Why won't you go out with me?" he began to argue and Allender heard her phone ringing upstairs.

"I have to answer my phone," she closed the door in his face. Her phone had gone to voicemail when she found it. It was under the coat she had been wearing earlier and she didn't recognize the number. Her blood froze when she heard Raines voice.

"Hello, Allender," he said. "I know I promised you would never hear from me again. I heard that you and Brian are no longer together. I'm very sorry if that had anything to do with me. The thing is, if you're not with Brian I'd like to see you. I don't know where you are but I got this number. Please call me. I need to see you."

Allender dropped her phone. The memory of what they had done swept over her like a wave. She remembered the excitement and the agonizing pleasure. She also felt the shame and guilt rush over her as if it had all been yesterday. Damn the man! She was just sorting her life out and now this. She had no intention of returning his call. She had come to terms with the weakness that had overcome her, and the way her body had reacted to him. It was difficult to accept, but she realized that she had a deep character flaw that she needed to constantly guard against. She didn't fully understand how she could lose control like that, but she knew how to prevent it from ever happening again. Now Raines had intruded in her life again, unwelcome and hostile to everything she had ever hoped to have in her life. She went back to her bow.

A million thoughts ran through her mind as she sorted through ideas. She reached a tentative conclusion and set her bow aside. She had some planning to do. A good night's sleep would be a perfect start, and Allender went to bed at peace with her plan.

The next morning she got up early, had a good breakfast and packed what she intended to take in her truck. She had traded her car for a four wheel drive truck when she passed through Yakima. Her longbow was in a case along with her arrows. It had a draw length of 30 inches and the arrows were two inches longer. She was going to use 125 grain Woodman broad heads and she had those in a case as well. She packed her gear and headed southeast for Colorado.

*****

Brian and Thomas watched her drive away. They had been watching her for a week, not knowing whether or not Parker would call her. When they saw her begin packing, their hearts fell. Brian watched her carefully through his binoculars and he saw the case she packed in the cab of her truck. It appeared to be a fishing rod, but he couldn't imagine why she would take it with her. He and Thomas followed in the car they had rented and took turns sleeping and driving. Allender was pushing hard and when she finally stopped they took turns sleeping in the car. She slept for ten hours, and drove through a McDonalds for breakfast. It became clear where she was going and Brian wanted to quit.

"She's going to him, Thomas," he argued. "I don't want to see it. I've had enough."

"Stop being such a little pussy," Thomas told him. "Grow some balls, man. I'm going to cripple the son-of-a-bitch and you're going to help me."

They were somewhat surprised when Allender turned off the highway and drove into the trees. They watched as she concealed her truck with shrubbery and took out a pack. She had the strange case with her and the two men quickly packed up the camping supplies they had brought with them. Thomas had packed rifles, and they took to the woods, following Allender's progress. She was heading back to the site where the nightmare began, and she was pushing hard. They spent two days getting there and when they did, there was no sign of life.

Allender cautiously approached the camp and checked around. It had been used very recently and she supposed that Peter and Raines were out scouting. She went up the trail she had used before and she saw where a horse had turned off along a bluff. She was moving with caution now, stopping to scan the terrain with her glasses before proceeding. She made five miles along the trail of the horse and smelled smoke. As she approached, she caught sight of it and made her was carefully forward.

Brian and Thomas became aware that she was stalking something and crept silently closer. They watched as Allender took her bow out of the case and strung it. She put tips on four arrows and nocked one to the string.

"Shit!" Brian whispered to Thomas. "She's going to shoot the son-of-a-bitch!"

They could see Raines sitting with his back against a large pine tree eating an apple. They crept closer as Allender made her way within range. She was keeping cover between herself and Raines until she had a sure shot.

"Should we stop her?" Brian whispered.

"Let her play it out," Thomas said. "This is her show. She needs to resolve it."

Allender stood slowly and loosed.

Raines heard a sound like a bird flying and felt a tremendous impact in his right shoulder. An agonizing pain erupted through his body and he realized he was pinned to the pine tree by the longest arrow he had ever seen. He heard the sound again and before he could react his other shoulder was pinned. His vision darkened and the world went black.

Water splashed over his face and he sputtered into consciousness. He was in agony! When his eyes focused he saw Allender pouring water from a bottle over his head. He sputtered and she knelt in front of him.

"Hello, Raines," she said.

"You shot me!" All he could manage was a croak.

"Yes," she smiled a humorless smile, "twice. I'm going to shoot you again."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he croaked. "You're killing me?"

"I am, I promised you that I would," she said. Her voice was flat. "You destroyed my life, Raines. You destroyed me. I helped you do it, but I'm better now. I realized that you weren't going to let me move on. You were always going to be there like a snake, slithering around in my garden and keeping me from ever being what I once was. I was a snake, too, for six hours. Then I realized that I'm not a snake. I'm taking my life back, Raines. You're dropping out."

He looked into her eyes and saw his death. "Please," he managed to choke out. "I'll never contact you again."

"I've never like the word 'contact' used as a verb," a male voice spoke. "Another strike against you. I also believe that is a promise we've heard before. It was empty then and, I suspect, empty now."

Allender was rolling off to the side and when she came up she was holding a very nasty looking .40 caliber pistol. It was trained on the man who had come up behind her. "Daddy!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing... how did you find..." she flew to him, throwing her arms around him and sobbing into his coat.

"I brought someone with me," he murmured.

Allender's head snapped up and she saw Brian emerge from behind a rock. "Oh, my God," she sobbed. She was running and she felt like it was miles. She was running to her husband, all other thoughts were gone. Brian was here! He moved toward her and wrapped her in his arms as she wept hysterically into his chest.