The Reckoning

If you have a squeamish stomach, or don't like "reluctance" sex, this probably isn't for you. Also, if you want characters that are either all good or all evil - sorry!

This story is told by Betsy Thorsten, a business associate and friend of the main character Zach Walton. Betsy is not omnipotent and doesn't have all of the answers or details; she can only report what she sees and hears, and Zach's not saying much.

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Zach Walton is notorious in the closest wilderness area to Portland, Oregon. Even though with his long blond hair and blue eyes he didn't look like it, everyone who knew him was convinced that he had to have a good deal of Native American blood coursing through his veins. There didn't seem to be anything about the wilderness that he either hadn't learned, or intuitively knew by the time that he was twenty. He was the perfect person to work as a wilderness guide and trainer while also serving as manager and part owner of Wilderness Challenge, a more hard core version of Outward Bound. Even at the relatively young age of twenty nine, Zach had done more living than most wilderness gurus thrice his age.

Some of the many notches on twenty nine-year-old Zach's belt were: single-handedly recusing an entire party of tenderfeet who stupidly went out on their own in the late fall and got caught in a snowstorm; talking two potential suicides, in separate instances, out of jumping to their death off the largest rock outcrop around; recusing, or participating in the rescue, of at least three dozen hikers or picnickers who got lost, including three unaccompanied children; stopping a forest fire before it got destructive; and the coup de grace, single-handedly capturing two escaped murderers and rescuing their female heiress hostage.

Zach's life outside of work, however, especially his female relationships, was "complicated" to say the least. After several failed romances he found the woman of his dreams when he was twenty three. Anadyomene (named by her proud rich and pretentious parents for the Greek Goddess of love, aka Aphrodite) had arrived early one summer with a group of other lawyers for a wilderness bonding experience and ended up staying three months almost never leaving Zach's side - and certainly never at bedtime, where their mutual moans and grunts of pleasure could often be heard above the sounds of frogs, crickets, and coyotes in wilderness camps or Zach's cabin.

Anadyomene was almost as tall as six foot four inch Zach, and had an athletic body like you would expect of a former college volleyball wing striker. She also seemed to enjoy the wilderness - at least if Zach was around - and the fact that she was three years older than he was seemed not to make a difference to either.

The relationship between Anadyomene and Zach was a puzzle to most of his friends (both male and female) and business associates, including me, however. While everyone could readily understand the sexual attraction since it would be the understatement of the decade to call them both the epitome of sleek, muscular, and handsome people who exuded sexuality, they were like the proverbial "city mouse and country mouse," Anadyomene cultured and urbane, Zach earthy and unsophisticated.

When Anadyomene left Zach's wilderness cabin for Portland at the end of the summer everyone assumed that that was the end of the relationship. It surprised me, and everyone else, when at the beginning of October Anadyomene showed back up, and shortly after that she and Zach were married. Although Anadyomene's father Winston just tolerated Zach because he didn't fulfill Winston's idea of a perfect son-in-law since he wasn't an attorney, banker, or successful businessman, Anadyomene's elegant mother Cecil was smitten with him. At the wedding reception in Portland, the most ostentatious event that I have ever attended, on more than one occasion I heard a visibly drunk Cecil say (slurs removed), when bemoaning the long distance relationship her daughter and son-in-law were contemplating, "If I was married to that stud I'd never leave his bed." Some of her other comments about Zach were less than lady-like (ha, ha) and as I recall were liberally dosed with the words "cock," "pussy," and "fuck."

The marriage was only made possible because of the flexibility that Anadyomene enjoyed in her work, the fact that she was an excellent licensed pilot and her wealthy parents bought her and maintained (as their wedding gift) a Robinson R22 helicopter (cheap at $270,000), and the willingness of both of them to commute between Zach's upgraded wilderness cabin and Anadyomene's condo in Portland to see the other whenever possible. Zach gave me every indication that he had adjusted to Portland life when he visited there for weeks at a time during the winter, or on slow weekends in the spring and fall. Anadyomene could be found in the neighborhood of Wilderness Challenge during much of the spring and fall, and all summer except when Zach had trips that it was too dangerous for her to accompany him on.

While undoubtedly Zach and Anadyomene had the ups-and-downs of many young couples, their obvious passion when they were around each other never seemed to waver. In fact, the Anadyomene-Zach union worked very well - at least until it didn't.

After Zach and Anadyomene had been married for almost three years, I, Betsy Thorsten, one of the other co-owners of Wilderness Challenge with Zach, and others associated with Wilderness Challenge, noticed that Anadyomene wasn't around as much in the summer as she had been the previous years. Although Zach only actually confided in me (he is a very private person and normally one of few words) somehow the word leaked out (it wasn't me who leaked it) that when Zach went to Portland one weekend in September to surprise Anadyomene the surprise was on him. He found her in bed with Justin Grimes, one of the attorneys that she worked with, and apparently someone higher on Winston's desirable son-in-law scale than Zach was.

While the fact that Anadyomene had cheated on Zach was mildly surprising to me, the fact that Justin survived with his balls still attached gobsmacked me and almost everyone else who knew Zach. We were less shocked when a week later Anadyomene came to see Zach but left in tears since it was totally predictable that Zach never even said a word to her but instead took off into the wilderness with a backpack and rifle at a pace in excess of eight mph, something that no one else that I've ever known could sustain through the wilderness for even an hour, let alone days as in Zach's case.

Zach changed as the divorce proceeded; except for some interludes becoming more withdrawn and morose. When I got up the courage to ask him what caused the collapse of his relationship he tersely replied "Her daddy thought that we had no future and she apparently agreed." When I followed that up with "How about Cecil?" he instantly responded "She thought that they both were stupid and evil and plead my case." When I inquired why Anadyomene didn't just ask for a divorce instead of cheating on him he snarled "That's the million dollar question, isn't it?" and after that response it was obvious that the subject was not to be brought up again.

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As the divorce proceeded the only time that I saw any real semblance of the old Zach occurred when his soon-to-be ex-mother-in-law Cecil came to see him one Monday at noon. She came into the office of Wilderness Challenge before she got to see Zach and expressed her purpose of the visit to me as an attempt to get Zach and Anadyomene back together. Zach actually smiled when he saw Cecil even though he knew her purpose, perhaps because although he knew that she would be unsuccessful he was happy that she cared enough to intervene.

I should mention that Cecil obviously had Anadyomene when she was quite young and clearly worked hard to maintain her body. Although likely in her mid-fifties Cecil had no visible fat, a shapely ass, large mammaries, and a beautiful face that likely had been enhanced somewhat by a top notch plastic surgeon. She was probably the sultriest fifty-plus woman that I had ever seen, in addition to being elegant.

Given Cecil's drunken comments at the wedding reception I guess that I should not have been surprised that Cecil virtually never left Zach's cabin from early afternoon Monday until Thursday morning. Curiosity overwhelmed me and without putting anyone else on notice on Tuesday night I snuck by Zach's cabin and quietly peered into his bedroom window. The curtains were not completely drawn, although I didn't really need visual acuity to know what was going on. I did find it exceptionally erotic, however, when I peeked through a gap in the curtains to see Cecil on her knees on Zach's bed, with her hands tied to his headboard, as his predictably large cock reciprocated in and out of her anxious pussy while he fingered her rosebud with one hand and manipulated the nipple on one of her swinging oversized mammaries with the other as she continuously cried out "yes, yes, yes - oh fuck yes," like a broken record.

The scene was so intense that I had to immediately go home and finger myself to orgasm - twice - before I passed out more than fell asleep wondering how many times a day Zach was laying pipe in Cecil.

Cecil was definitely walking bowlegged with a satisfied smirk on her face as Zach carried her suitcases to her waiting piloted helicopter Thursday morning. Zach was all smiles as he performed this menial task. He must have really enjoyed - on many levels - fucking his mother-in-law (his traitorous father-in-law's wife) the better part of 72 hours. In fact, he seemed to be the old Zach again, at least until the final divorce decree arrived by email a month or so later.

Over the next few years Zach did not seem to be as chipper as previously. The exception was the winter the year after his divorce became final when he took off for a ten day Caribbean vacation. When he returned he had a tan and a big grin.

"You must have really gotten your pipes cleaned out, dude," I teased him.

"Yeah, I sure did," he laughed; and then as he sauntered away I swear that under his breath he mumbled "How can that fifty six year old sex machine fuck like a mink?" but of course I could have misheard.

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I thought that it was extremely crass of Anadyomene to show up in the same wilderness area where Zach and I were located roughly three and one-half years after he caught her fucking Justin Grimes - who she subsequently married. She was with her daughter Ambrosia; a little girl who had just turned three and who except for her coloring looked like she would ultimately be a combination of Cecil and Anadyomene. This was at the time Zach was twenty nine, as indicated at the start of this narrative

I first became aware of Anadyomene's arrival when I visited a nearby business that I had a good relationship with (because they were not competitors) by the name of City Slicker Experiences; they catered to tenderfeet and/or risk-averse individuals and groups while we catered to experienced wilderness individuals and groups and/or risk takers.

Anadyomene was cordial when I ran into her, and I tried my best to be cordial too. However, when she told me that Ambrosia had just turned three, and I combined that with the fact that her present husband Justin and Ambrosia both had brown hair and brown eyes while Anadyomene and Zach both had blond hair and blue eyes, I didn't need to be a genius to figure out that she had been pregnant with Justin's kid when Zach caught her. It was all that I could do to hold it together - but I was able to by keeping the conversation short. I did find out that her family planned to be at City Slicker Experiences for three more days.

Of course I didn't tell Zach about the encounter when he returned the next morning from one of our most advanced wilderness experiences; the last thing that he would want to hear was that his ex was nearby with her bastard (as far as Zach was concerned) child.

The day after Zach returned, however, he - and everyone else within a fifty mile radius - knew that Anadyomene was visiting because Ambrosia disappeared. The already high anxiety level was ramped up even more when it because known that there was a sex offender that had escaped a medium-security prison not too far away, and whose whereabouts were unknown.

I was surprised that it took almost a whole day of fruitless searching before the authorities approached Zach to help in the search. As far as the local sheriff, state park rangers, and other business owners, were concerned Zach was not only the best option, but maybe the only option after she had been gone 24 hours. Zach was in our office with me - I never brought up the Anadyomene/Ambrosia situation although Zach had obviously heard about it and never volunteered - when the sheriff and supervisory state park ranger came in.

"Zach, we're glad that we found you. Have you heard about the little three year old girl whose been missing for a day now?" the sheriff asked.

"Yeah, I heard," was Zach's deadpan reply.

"We really need your help," the park ranger injected; "I'm surprised that you haven't volunteered especially after you volunteered to bring in those two murderers and their hostage."

"This is different," Zach responded.

"Why..." the park ranger started to ask when Zach cut him off.

"The little girl is the bastard child of my cheating ex-wife; I have no inclination whatsoever to help her; Anadyomene's suffering actually brings joy to my heart," was Zach's vicious retort.

It probably was not until that moment that I realized exactly how much Zach had been hurt. He had been one of the most compassionate people that I knew - but in this case his heart was as hard as stone.

After making his stunning comment Zach simply walked out of the office.

The flabbergasted sheriff and park ranger turned to me with "What the fuck?" expressions on their faces.

"You don't understand how bad he was hurt," I started to say and when they tried to interrupt I held up my hand. "However, as you know he is a truly compassionate man, and I will try my best to convince him to help."

After we talked a few minutes more they left. While we had been talking a thought had bounced around my head. I looked through my telephone book on my computer and found Cecil's name and cell phone number. I called her. She was, of course, frantic about Ambrosia's disappearance. When I told her about the situation with Zach she said that she'd give him a call. About an hour later, a tearful Anadyomene came into the office followed by her distraught husband Justin.

"Can...we...please...see...Zach?" she stammered.

I called him. He told me "Send the bitch to my cabin, but if the asshole comes with her they'll never get my help."

I relayed the message to Anadyomene without the colorful descriptors and told her that I'd escort her to Zach's cabin. Zach had moved since she was there last and giving verbal directions wouldn't be effective.

After she went into Zach's cabin I turned to leave - but my curiosity overwhelmed my need to respect their privacy. Therefore I circled around through the woods a little and quietly snuck up to the East side of the structure and stood just outside of the open kitchen window. By the time that I got there apparently the begging and recriminations had ceased because they seemed to be negotiating.

"What has happened to you to make such a demand, Zach?" Anadyomene cried.

"Your cheating - that should be no surprise to you," he snarled. As Anadyomene cried he apparently repeated what he had told her earlier. "As much as I like your mother - even if it means her cutting me out of her life just like you did yours - you either will agree to one week that your dickhead husband knows about where you will be my sex slave - or you can find Ambrosia yourself."

I was stunned; so much so that I really didn't hear what they were saying for the next minute or so. I finally snapped out of my stupor long enough to hear him say "Your agreement here better mean more to you than our wedding vows meant to you otherwise you'll be the sorriest bitch in history."

"I...I...I'll follow through. I'm not the evil sorceress you believe me to be," Anadyomene sobbed.

"Alright - regain your composure. It will take me about ten minutes to get all my gear together; then, assuming that you're no longer weeping, we'll go to the office and I'll have Betsy notify everyone that I'm on the case," Zach announced.

I thought that I heard a weak "OK" from Anadyomene, and then I got my ass out of there and back to the office double-time.

I warned Justin not to be around when Zach and Anadyomene got back. After minimal grousing he left. I acted surprised that Zach would be helping when the negotiators returned and promised to take Anadyomene back to City Slicker Experiences and to notify the other searchers while Zach took off with his classic purposeful face - the same one I saw when he went after the two murderers and hostage. Zach disappeared into the woods so quickly it was like he was a ghost.

On the drive back to City Slicker Experiences about 7:00 p. m. Anadyomene sobbed to me "Do you really think that he'll find her?"

I hesitated for a second and then honestly replied "I know that he will; I just hope that he finds her alive," which resulted in a series of more intense sobs from Anadyomene.

The sheriff and park ranger supervisor had set up an office at Wilderness Challenge shortly after I told them that Zach was on the case and that he would bring Ambrosia there "when," not "if," he found her. They had some sort of high level communication system set up, and Anadyomene, Justin, and the owner of City Slicker Experiences, were in a corner of our lobby a long time. Anadyomene actually slept in a chair there all night as other park rangers took turns monitoring the communications while Justin went to sleep for a while in one of our rental cabins and the owner of City Slicker Experiences left about midnight.

It couldn't have been later than 1:00 p. m. the next day, a mere 18 hours after Zach left, when all of us in the office heard what sounded like the co-mingled laughter of a man and a little girl. We all rushed outside. There, not more than fifty feet away, was Zach with Ambrosia riding on his shoulders and laughing "No don't turn in circles," followed by "be a good horsey," as Zach made neighing sounds.

As Anadyomene raced toward Ambrosia crying hysterically the little girl yelled "Mommy," and Zach lifted her into Anadyomene's arms once she was close enough. As Anadyomene cried Ambrosia protested "I'm all right Mommy, I'm all right," although she was dirty and mildly scraped up. Zach surprisingly kept a smile on his face as he watched the mother-daughter reunion, The smile disappeared, however, when Justin approached Zach to thank him and held out his hand. Zach snarled "Fuck you," although not loud enough for Ambrosia to hear, spit on Justin's hand, and then walked away.

The sheriff and park ranger ran after Zach yelling "Wait, wait - you have to debrief us."

Zach reluctantly went into the office with the two lawmen while the owner of City Slicker Experiences drove the reunited Grimes family back to City Slicker Experiences. The tranquility of the forest was interrupted by a loud cheer about the time that Ambrosia would have gotten back to her camp.

I eavesdropped as the sheriff and park ranger grilled Zach about the details of his rescue. His answers were terse, and if he could get by with one word responses he did.

"Did you ever see that sexual deviant who supposedly was in the area?" the sheriff got around to asking.

"Just saw Ambrosia," Zach replied.

All further questions about the sex offender were turned away by Zach, and no more than fifteen minutes after the interrogation started it ended.