Mamalachgook did not resist. Rebecca could feel his left hand move across her shoulder

blade to the middle of her back. His right hand cradled her head gently. He pressed her

to him until her breasts touched her chest. As Mamalachgook stroked her back with his

hand, she tingled as the blood rushed through her body. The pleasure of Mamalachgook's

lips transformed her to a state of euphoria. Rebecca was aware of nothing else but

Mamalachgook and the sweet sensation of pleasure, which pulsed through her. Hers was

an experience like none she ever had felt before. Rebecca found her hands running up

and down the hard muscles of Mamalachgook's back. She instinctively felt that this man

had the power to protect her - to keep her safe.

As desire swelled within her, a sense of shame suddenly gripped her. What was she

doing? What was it she wanted to do? The strange arousal of her private most being

shocked her. She pushed herself away from Mamalachgook, panting heavily.

"1, I ... well it's the first time 1," Rebecca tried to speak.

She looked at Mamalachgook. He looked as though he were flushed, in spite of the

bronze tone of his body. Strangely enough, Rebecca noticed he was panting. Did she

have the sarne effect on him as he had on hefi The thought that she might have such

power over him filled her with pride. Mamalachgook now held her by the hands. Her

fingerc could feel his calloused palms.

'l liked that very much," Mamalachgook spoke.

"As did l,' Rebecca confessed. Mamalachgook said nothing more. lnstead he began to

pull Rebecca toward him again. She began to float toward him, mesmerized by those

dark native eyes. The feeling of shame took over this time. She pulled away.

"No, Mamalachgook, it's not right," she protested.

"V1/hat's not righf?" Mamalachgook responded.

'To kiss each other, to be intimate as we ju$t were," Rebecca explained.

"Why?" The single word question stung Rebecca.

"My mother taught me it is not right to kiss a man unless I be betrothed to him.'

"What does this'betrothed' mean?" "|t means that he has asked me to marry him and I

have accepted. That we have entered an engagement period." Rebecca explained.

'You are right. You are promised to another.'Mamalachgook answered, as he releases

her hands and straightened up.

$tillfeeling the bliss of the pastfew moments, Rebecca blurted out 'But if lwere to marry

you..."

"What are you tatking about? I cannot take you as a wife. I must take you to the sachem.

Come, lefs go." Mamalachgook responded gruffly taking Rebecca by the upper arm and

shoving her in the direction of their destination.

Rebecca picked up her bundle and turned toward the trail. Mamalachgook's sudden

roughness convinced her - he wanted her" lntuitively, Rebecca felt her destiny lay with

this man. As she walked along the trail she began to visualize what a life with

Mamalachgook might entail. Could she marry him? How? Would it be an lndian ceremony

or a proper church wflding? No, sfre couldn't marry him. He was a heathen. Surely, God

would not bless the unian af a Christian and a nonbeliever.

Her thoughts then turned to what lay ahead. tMhat would become of her if Mamalachgook

detivered her ta the sachem? Would he torture her until she submitted to him? Then what?

Would she be farced ta bear his children? Rebecca looked back at Mamalachgook. Right

now, the view behind looked infinitely more desirable than what she envisioned ahead.

The trail widened for a time and Mamalachgook came up abreast of her. Rebecca

reached over and took his hand.

"Mamalachgook," she began.

"Yes?"

"Why don't we become betrothed?" Rebecca suggested.

"You mean that I should take you as my wife?"

Mamalachgook responded. Rebecca could feelthe palm of his hand began to sweat. She

squeezed it to reassure him.

.Well we would have to have a proper period of engagement,' Rebecca continued.

Mamalachgook stared at her sternly but remained silent. Then he tumed back and stared

blankly down the trail as though wishing to ignore the words he'd just heard.

'Am I an unpleasant companion?' Rebecca probed.

"No."

"Ugly?"

"No."

"Do you like me?'

"Very much."

"Then why not ask me?'

"Ask you what?"

'lf lwill marry you?'

"Because I must do my duty to my sachem, or I cannot return to my people."

Mamalachgook explained.

"We could go to Fort Pitt - just the two of us. After a proper engagement we could get

maruied by a minister there.'

Rebecca, although uncertain whether she should really marry Mamalachgook, hoped she

could convince him to abandon the journey they now undertook. She decided to use her

feminine whiles to help convince Mamalachgook. Stopping, she tugged on his hand.

When Mamalachgook tumed to face her, Rebecca threw both her arms around his neck

and pulled him to her kissing him hard on the lips. As Rebecca released her grip,

Mamalachgook staggered back and nearly fell. Then he put one hand to his head in a

thoughtful gesture.

.l suppose I could ask the sachem if I could take you for my wife,'he said.

"Would you?" Rebecca responded, then quickly kissed him again as though trying to seal

that thought in his head.

"Alright, we shall return to the village,' Mamalachgook answered.

The trip back to the village seemed to take no time at all. Along the way back,

Mamalachgook talked of nature and hunting. He spoke the Lenape names for the plants

and birds they encountered and Rebecca did her best to repeat the words after him.

Mamalachgook laughed as Rebecca butchered his language; but seemed not at all

offended.

The sun had disappeared into the trees by the time they came upon the camp. At the

outskirts Rebecca could see the squaws busy with preparing the evening meal and a

group of men were erecting a new hut. By the time they had gone twenty paces within the

camp, however, they had drawn a crowd of curious spectators. Ahead, the Chief was

coming out of his hut, apparently to see what the commotion was about. When the chief

glanced their direction his face scowled and pace quickened. He made straight for

Mamalachgook.

"Why have you returned with the woman?" he asked.

"lwould like to take her as my own." Mamalachgook answered.

'And wlrat do you propose to gire me for her?" the chief asked.

"l have some 12 beaver skins from the hunt last winter," Mamalachgook answered.

Teaser

Cliff got the scrap of paper with his notes from the field trip on it. He studied it and the map intensely. There were enough trees on either side of the road that he couldn’t see far enough to pick up any landmarks. He decided he have to wait until they came to a clearing or hit the summit of this road - whichever came first. He sat back and watched Darlene. She totally concentrated on the road ahead now, her face showing a fierce determination. Cliff was glad she was driving. He wouldn’t have wanted to try to drive this road. Then he spotted a spot on the road where the trees thinned out.

“Stop up there for a moment,” Cliff ordered, then explained: “I’ve got see if can see our landmarks.”

Darlene pulled the SUV into the clearing and stopped. Cliff jumped out of the passenger’s side with the map and his notes. He held the map on the hood of the SUV and looked off into the distance. After several moments of checking and rechecking he’d reassured himself of their position, and got back in his seat.

“Well?” Darlene asked.

“Drive on, mon cheri,” I think we’re almost there.”

“I’m not even going to ask what that means; but use English from now on!”

About fifteen minutes later, Cliff ordered her to stop again. He went through the same routine to check his location. Moments later he came back.

“I believe we are almost as close as we can get. Do you want to find a better place to park this?” Cliff suggested.

“Okay”

Darlene then drove up a little farther to one of the areas where the road was wide enough for two vehicles. With a little maneuvering, she managed to turn it around facing the way they had come. She parked it. Then both Cliff and Darlene retrieved their knapsacks. Darlene dropped her cellular phone in hers.

“Which way?” she asked.

“Just follow me,” Cliff instructed as he began to make his way through the trees. A half hour later Cliff stopped to check his bearings again. From his present location both peaks were clearly visible. He pulled out his compass and checked the bearing to each peak.

“A little further this way,” Cliff directed.

“I see the entrance,” Darlene shouted excitedly and ran forward.

Darlene stopped, fished her flashlight out of her pack, and entered the crevice between the rocks. Cliff followed her. When they got to the chamber with the skeleton and armor, Darlene turned, grabbed Cliff’s head with one hand on each cheek, kissed him hard on the lips; then she turned to look around the room.

“You did it,” she exclaimed.

“You actually found it again!” she shouted, turned and kissed Cliff again, just as quick and hard as before.

Cliff, stunned with ecstasy, was speechless. For him, all the treasure in the cave wasn’t worth the two kisses he’d just received. Darlene stopped as though realizing what she’d just done and said:

“We’ve got a lot to do.”

With that she threw off her pack, dug in it and came up with a pen and notebook and handed it to Cliff.

“Here, make a list of anything that looks valuable. I’ll start taking pictures.”

Cliff did as ordered. He enjoyed seeing Darlene so excited. They first inventoried everything that was visible then went to work on the contents of the wooden chest. Darlene took everything out, while Cliff wrote a description of each as well as he could describe them. He was glad Darlene thought to photograph them because some he couldn’t identify some items.

When they had finished listing and photographing the contents of the chest, Darlene took everything out of her pack and started to fill her pack with gold objects. She turned to Cliff.

Let me have your pack so I can figure out what to put in it. Cliff pulled his off and handed it to her. She took out a brown bag, a couple of sodas and a hatchet.

“What’s this for?” she asked, holding up the hatchet.

“I thought we might have to cut our way through some brush,” Cliff answered her.

Darlene started loading Cliff’s pack. When she had both packs about three quarter’s full, she turned and looked up at Cliff.

“I think we’d better see if there’s anything in the other room we ought to take before we finish filling them. Grab your pack.” Darlene ordered.

They both picked up their packs. Cliff noted how heavy it was with the gold in it. He was glad the return trip was downhill. Once they entered the second chamber they started the process of inventorying and photographing again. They went around the nearly circular shaped room moving rocks from time to time so they wouldn’t miss anything. Darlene worked ahead of Cliff, shouting off items, then photographing them. They were now almost back to the tunnel entrance into this chamber when Darlene asked Cliff to help her move a heavy rock from the top of a pile so she could look under it. He got down beside her. They pulled together and the rock rolled off the pile. They could now see that nothing but rocks were under it.

“I guess that about does it,” Cliff said as he looked at Darlene. He was surprised to see she had a look of terror on her face and was staring in his direction, but a little beyond him. Cliff turned to see what she was looking at. When he turned, he discovered he was looking down the barrel of a 9 mm automatic pistol!

(book is available from Smashwords)

Chapter 1

Ralph Morgan ambled down the corridor of the 4th Floor of the building housing the North Dakota Department of Health. He was searching for the plaque that identified the Office of Water Quality. He ran his fingers through his rapidly graying mop of hair. At 59, nature was beginning to take its toll on him. Most days his knee joints ached, he was overweight, and his posture sagged from years of hard labor.

Ralph was having some difficulty reading the labels identifying the offices. His photo-gray glass lenses hadn’t quite adjusted from the bright sunlight outside to the dim lighting of the corridor.

“Damn energy saving lighting,” he quietly cursed to himself.

Then he spotted his objective, opened the glass door and walked in. Looking around Ralph noted a large open area with about half a dozen desks, all equipped with desktop computer work stations. Only one was occupied. Ralph glanced down at his watch. It was 12:10, apparently he’d arrived at lunchtime. A middle-aged, rounded face of a woman appeared from behind a computer monitor.

“May I help you?” she asked in a pleasant but somewhat intimidating voice.

“I’m looking for Denise McLaughlin.”

“Did you have an appointment?” the woman queried.

“Not exactly,” Ralph began, “I called yesterday. She said she’d be in the office all day. I suppose I caught her out to lunch?”

“Oh, I think she’s still here, her office is the middle one,” the woman responded, gesturing with her thumb toward a row of three closed doors. She then disappeared behind the computer monitor again, apparently preoccupied with what she was doing.

Ralph strode across the carpeted floor and knocked on the middle one.

“Come in,” a sweet sounding voice replied.

Ralph opened the door and stepped in. His eyes immediately fixed on the scene of a woman doing sit-ups on a sit-up board. Dazed, he slowly took in the figure in view. He scanned the body before him, from feet to head, noting a pair of firm, shapely legs, clad in running shoes and socks as well as a very brief pair of red running shorts. Her upper torso was bare except for a red halter top and a red sweatband kept her scarlet hair from falling over her eyes. A sensation of pleasure shot through his body at the sight of such a beautiful woman.

“I’ll be with you in a minute, I only have a few more to do,” the woman huffed. She continued with her exercise, not even attempting to look toward Ralph.

Ralph said nothing. He just stood there, mesmerized by the exquisite body before him. He mentally noted the well-defined abdominal muscles that protruded under a very thin layer of white flesh. In a few moments the lady stopped. She unbuckled the strap that restrained her feet, rotated nimbly 90 degrees and stood up. She reached for a towel draped over a nearby chair, and gently mopped her brow, face and arms, in that order.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, but I wanted to finish the set. I often fight the “Battle of the Bulge” at lunchtime.

“Not a problem,” Ralph responded. Then he added: “But I fail to see any bulge to worry about. Uncomfortable, Ralph immediately regretted the second statement.

“Thank you for the compliment,” The woman responded. “But I’d better put some proper clothes on.”

First she advanced to within an arm’s length of Ralph and extended her hand.

“I’m Denise,” she said as Ralph shook her hand.

“Ralph Morgan,” he replied noting she had the most inviting hazel eye.

“What can I do for you?” she asked as she released his hand and strode around to the rear of a large wooden desk. Behind the desk was a leather chair with a high back. Draped over the back of the chair were what appeared to Ralph to be women’s garments.

Denise pulled off a light gray blouse and started to put it on.

“Well I think my water well is being poisoned.”

“Really, what makes you think so?” she asked. She hesitated after buttoning the second button on her blouse.

“In the last month I lost a couple of chickens and a goat. I had a vet examine them to see if he could determine what killed them. He said they had all received lethal doses of cyanide.”

“Wow!” Denise responded. She plopped down in her chair, apparently stunned enough that she stopped dressing. She looked at Ralph observing the flannel shirt and blue jeans and smelling what seemed to be an odor of manure and stale cigar smoke. The she questioned:

“Are you a farmer? Where do you live?

“Oh, I only have about 20 acres, about 30 miles west of here, in a place known as Skunk Hollow.” Ralph began to explain, then resumed. “I’ve lived there about 10 years. I was a plumber that worked construction projects mostly. I made good money; but when I took a fall about 10 years ago, I injured my back. The Doc said recovery would take at least 6 months, so I took some of the money I’d saved up, bought the place in Skunk Hollow, some chickens and goats, and invested the rest in the stock market. The livestock and a vegetable garden, together with money gained by manipulating my stock investments, allow me to be my own boss; but my income is pretty modest.”

“I’d like to see what records we have on ground water resources in your area,” Denise interrupted. “Do you have a legal description or an address?”

“I don’t have a legal description with me; but, since all the rural areas now have street addresses, I can give you that.”

“Good,” Denise responded. She seemed intensely interested in Ralph’s problem. Then she stood up and started around the desk toward him. “I have access to the necessary records on my computer; but when it comes to maps, my screen in inconveniently small. Let’s go find a computer with a bigger screen.”

The appearance of Denise’s sexy legs protruding from the shirttails of her partially buttoned blouse caused Ralph to stare downward. Of course Denise noticed this. She glanced at her bare legs, rotated her knees together and pulled on the bottom of her blouse in a gesture of embarrassment.

“Oops, I’d better put my skirt on. We do have an office dress code.” She chuckled. Then she went back to the chair, retrieved her skirt and pulled it on. All buttoned and zipped up she headed toward Ralph again. Ralph mentally noted she looked very sharp in that outfit; but he was more pleased he had seen what was underneath.

Denise led Ralph out of her office past the open office area and into the hall. One door down was a closed wooden door with the label “Conference Room”. Denise opened the door and with a sigh of relief announced: “Good it isn’t being used right now.”

Ralph followed her into the room, noting the lights automatically switched on. “Personnel detection,” he thought. “Energy savings again.”

The room was longer that it was wide, with a long conference table aligned with chairs in the middle. At the far end was the largest TV screen Ralph had ever seen. Off to one side of the screen, was a menagerie of equipment which Ralph concluded were high-tech controls.

Denise moved rapidly to the controls and sat in a chair apparently set aside for an control operator.

“Pull up a chair,” she entreated.

As Denise performed the process of logging on and selecting the appropriate software application, Ralph pulled over one of the high backed conference room chairs.

He adjusted his position to get a good view of the screen, while staying near Denise. He watched as the big screen came to life and Denise began clicking her way through a series of menus. Then she stopped and asked: “I’m ready for the address.”

Ralph gave his address to her and was soon amazed that an aerial photograph appeared in which he could make out the top of his house. Denise continued to zoom in on the image showing more and more detail. When she stopped, Ralph could make out not only his house but the chicken coop, fencing and even count the number of goats.

“Wow, that is amazing,” he said.

“Look familiar?” Denise prodded.

“That’s my place alright.”

“Good, now we’ll see what sorta data we have.”

Denise then brought up a smaller screen containing a menu with a number of labels, and selected one identified as water well data. This opened a third screen with a table containing a lot of data most of which Ralph couldn’t identify. Denise studied the data for what must have been 20 minutes. Ralph sat silently fantasizing on what it would be like to kiss the precious lips of gorgeous redhead before him. Then he thought back to Ruth, another redhead he’d known many years ago.

It was when Ralph was working a remodeling job for a high school. His boss sent him to the administration office to see if anyone at the high school had received some working drawings on the plumbing system being modified. The prime contractor was supposed to have sent them directly to the mechanical subcontractor; but the secretary who mailed the drawings mailed them to the high school’s address by mistake. Ralph, being an apprentice plumber at the time always got the “gofer” jobs. Ruth happened to be the receptionist at the principal’s office at the time.

Ralph was infatuated the minute he spoke to her. First, it was the gentle, polite greeting she gave him. Then, as she spoke, Ralph observed her angelic face. It was round and dotted with a few light freckles. Her azure eyes seemed to beckon and were surrounded by charming natural eye lashes. She wore no make-up, projecting an image of pure innocence. Oddly though her crimson hair was short and curly unlike the more popular long locks most women wore at that time.

Ruth obediently searched through the recent incoming mail, but reported she couldn’t find anything that looked like a packet of drawings. She also informed him that it was early and the next mail delivery wasn’t expected for several hours. Could he come back later?

Ralph was delighted. It would give him time to summon the courage to ask her out. He returned to the job site, hoping his boss wouldn’t send anyone else to retrieve the drawings.

Ralph’s boss was miffed when he heard the news. The boss was forced to send his plumbing crew to a different job; but kept Ralph there and assigned him the task of cleaning some existing piping and straightening up the work area. The boss told Ralph to check on the drawings again later. Then the boss left. Glad to be free of observing eyes, Ralph went to work. As the day progressed he kept going over and over what he might say to Ruth that would convince her to date him.

When the time came to check the mail again, he returned to the administrative office. He was happy to see Ruth was still at the reception desk. She saw him approaching. By the time Ralph arrived at the desk, Ruth had extended her arm to him with large manila envelope in her hand.

“I believe this is what you are looking for,” she announced.

Ralph took the package. He examined the address and verified it contained the name of the subcontractor they were working for. With a “thank you” Ralph turned to leave. He took a few steps, hesitated, and turned back. Ruth asked:

“Is there something else?”

“Would you like go to a movie with me?” he asked.

Ruth blushed a little and looked down.

“Well …. I don’t know …when?”

“How about tonight?” he asked.

“No, I’m afraid not. I’m taking some college courses and have to study.” She replied.

“How about Friday? Nobody studies on Friday nights.” Ralph pressed.

“I guess so,” Ruth responded. Ralph was disheartened by the reluctance in her voice.

She gave Ralph her phone number and told him to call her the night before to arrange a time. This was discouraging. Ralph strongly suspected she was buying time to come up with an excuse to cancel for Friday night.

Ruth did keep her date. They went to see Summer of ’42. Ralph was embarrassed he chosen that movie as he thought it a little risqué for girl like Ruth. When the time came to say good-night at her apartment, Ralph leaned forward to kiss her. She responded with a cold “Good night, Ralph” and turned to open the door.

Ralph said “Good Night” and headed for his car. He was depressed. The only girls he’d dated before were Australian girls he’d met while on R&R from Vietnam. They had shown much more affection.

He didn’t give up though. He called her again a few days later to discover she agreed to a second date. This courtship lasted several months. In that time they went a variety of places together. Ralph introduced her to his family and she hers. Her family consisted of three sisters, two older ones and one younger one. Both her parents were deceased. On one occasion Ruth invited Ralph to her apartment to enjoy the swimming pool there. To Ralph’s surprise he learned Ruth didn’t know how to swim. Furthermore, she shared an apartment with her next older sister who couldn’t swim either. Ralph offered to give them a lesson. The three went down to the pool. During the course of giving the lessons, both girls managed to slip off the wall into the deep end and Ralph found himself frantically trying to tread water while holding a girl up in each hand. He managed to get them back to the wall; but that was the end of the swimming.

He continued to date Ruth that summer; but then he made what he now looks back on as the fatal mistake. He asked her to marry him. She put him off saying:

“We’ll see.”

After the proposal, the relationship began to drift. While on one of their dates, Ruth mentioned something about one male high school teacher taking her on a trip on his motorcycle. Ralph tried dropping in to see her once in a while at work; but she was hesitant to talk to him on the job. The day finally came when Ralph called Ruth for a date and she announced she had “other plans.” Ralph took that to be the “death blow” to their relationship. Before the job ended at the high school, Ralph noticed that Ruth often sat with the same male companion at a picnic table on the school grounds at lunch time. He had lost Ruth to a more mature man.

He dated several girls after that; but none seem to measure up to Ruth. Over the years, he decided to become a confirmed bachelor. Now, his rural life with the attendant chores kept him busy. For companionship he had two ageing horses, his goats, and a brown and white Cocker Spaniel named Freckles. He’d drop in to a bar now and then; but the women who frequented these places clustered around both ends of the age spectrum he considered out of his range. Now this Denise ….

“There’s not a lot of well data in your area, and no reports of cyanide.” Denise announced.

Denise’s voice brought him mind back to the present.

“What’s my next move?” Ralph asked.

“Well the lack of reported cyanide doesn’t mean it isn’t there.” Denise began to explain. “Usually water quality samples are only tested for suspected contaminants, like certain pesticides or nitrates. Our office usually determines the most probable contaminants for a given water sample and tests for those. There are many chemicals which could be in a water sample but it would be prohibitively expensive to test for them all. Samples are required for all new wells; but what we test for varies significantly with the location of the well. When your well was installed we didn’t test for cyanide.”

“So what’s the next step?” Ralph pressed.

“You bring in a sample from your well and we’ll test for cyanide. Of course you will have to pay for the test. If the tests show cyanide concentrations above Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), my office will conduct further investigation.”

“What should I do while I’m waiting for the test results?”

“Drink bottled water.”

“That’s fine for me, and I probably can afford it for the chickens. But my goats consume 1 gallon a day each and I have 11 of them. My two horses each need 6 gallons a day. That’s 23 gallons.” Ralph protested.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what to tell you,” Denise responded.

Ralph noticed as Denise’s face contracted in a frown. She stood up, took Ralph’s left hand and touched his back in a gesture of consolation. Then she continued:

“From what little I know, I think the goats are the most susceptible. If you mix say a gallon of bottled water with their other water is will reduce the risk as it will lower the concentration.”

“Yes, I’ll do that,” Ralph responded. Then he continued. “I’ll bring in that water sample tomorrow.”

Denise released his hand and the two walked into the hall from the conference room. Ralph took a couple of steps down the hall, but stopped when Denise spoke again.

“Oh, I probably won’t be available when you come tomorrow … lot’s of meetings. But you can leave the sample with anyone in the office. They’ll see it gets to the lab. I’ll call you when we receive the results.”

Ralph gave a short wave of the hand and continued down the hall. As he was leaving the building, he thought about how pleasurable it was to feel Denise’s hand on his back. He had forgotten how good the touch of a woman felt. He was also disappointed that he might not see Denise again.

On the drive home in his old blue pick-up truck with over 100,000 miles on it, Ralph pondered upon the chances he could get a date with Denise. “Slim and none,” he laughed to himself. There was the age difference, and, of course, he was nothing to look at with his large belly and all.

The traffic on the highway was moderate; but Ralph got stuck behind a semi-trailer truck. Being on a two-lane road, he had to wait for an opportunity to pass. Unfortunately, the vehicles in the opposite lane were coming at intervals that wouldn’t allow him to pass the semi.

“Damn,” Ralph cursed. Then he saw the truck’s right turn signal start blinking. The truck was turning off on a gravel road that led up into the hills above his homestead.

“What would a truck like that be doing on that road?” Ralph wondered to himself.

Ralph had no idea that there was a connection between that truck and his cyanide problem.

Teaser

Mamalachgook did not resist. Rebecca could feel his left hand move across her shoulder blade to the middle of her back. His right hand cradled her head gently. He pressed her to him until her breasts touched his chest. As Mamalachgook stroked her back with his hand, she tingled as the blood rushed through her body. The pleasure of Mamalachgook’s lips transformed her to a state of euphoria. Rebecca was aware of nothing else but Mamalachgook and the sweet sensation of pleasure, which pulsed through her. Hers was an experience like none she ever had felt before. Rebecca found her hands running up and down the hard muscles of Mamalachgook’s back. She instinctively felt that this man had the power to protect her – to keep her safe.

As desire swelled within her, a sense of shame suddenly gripped her. What was she doing? What was it she wanted to do? The strange arousal of her private most being shocked her. She pushed herself away from Mamalachgook, panting heavily.

“I, I … well it’s the first time I,” Rebecca tried to speak.

She looked at Mamalachgook. He looked as though he were flushed, in spite of the bronze tone of his body. Strangely enough, Rebecca noticed he was panting. Did she have the same effect on him as he had on her? The thought that she might have such power over him filled her with pride. Mamalachgook now held her by the hands. Her fingers could feel his calloused palms.

“I liked that very much,” Mamalachgook spoke.

“As did I,” Rebecca confessed. Mamalachgook said nothing more. Instead he began to pull Rebecca toward him again. She began to float toward him, mesmerized by those dark native eyes. The feeling of shame took over this time. She pulled away.

“No, Mamalachgook, it’s not right,” she protested.

“What’s not right?” Mamalachgook responded.

“To kiss each other, to be intimate as we just were,” Rebecca explained.

“Why?” The single word question stung Rebecca.

“My mother taught me it is not right to kiss a man unless I be betrothed to him.”

“What does this ‘betrothed’ mean?” “It means that he has asked me to marry him and I have accepted. That we have entered an engagement period.” Rebecca explained.

“You are right. You are promised to another.” Mamalachgook answered, as he releases her hands and straightened up.

Still feeling the bliss of the past few moments, Rebecca blurted out: “But if I were to marry you…”

“What are you talking about? I cannot take you as a wife. I must take you to the sachem. Come, let’s go.” Mamalachgook responded gruffly taking Rebecca by the upper arm and shoving her in the direction of their destination.

Rebecca picked up her bundle and turned toward the trail. Mamalachgook’s sudden roughness convinced her – he wanted her. Intuitively, Rebecca felt her destiny lay with this man. As she walked along the trail she began to visualize what a life with Mamalachgook might entail. Could she marry him? How? Would it be an Indian ceremony or a proper church wedding? No, she couldn’t marry him. He was a heathen. Surely, God would not bless the union of a Christian and a nonbeliever.

Her thoughts then turned to what lay ahead. What would become of her if Mamalachgook delivered her to the sachem? Would he torture her until she submitted to him? Then what? Would she be forced to bear his children? Rebecca looked back at Mamalachgook. Right now, the view behind looked infinitely more desirable than what she envisioned ahead. The trail widened for a time and Mamalachgook came up abreast of her. Rebecca reached over and took his hand.

“Mamalachgook,” she began.

“Yes?”

“Why don’t we become betrothed?” Rebecca suggested.

“You mean that I should take you as my wife?”

Mamalachgook responded. Rebecca could feel the palm of his hand began to sweat. She squeezed it to reassure him.

“Well we would have to have a proper period of engagement,” Rebecca continued.

Mamalachgook stared at her sternly but remained silent. Then he turned back and stared blankly down the trail as though wishing to ignore the words he’d just heard.

“Am I an unpleasant companion?” Rebecca probed.

“No.”

“Ugly?”

“No.”

“Do you like me?”

“Very much.”

“Then why not ask me?”

“Ask you what?”

“If I will marry you?”

“Because I must do my duty to my sachem, or I cannot return to my people.” Mamalachgook explained.

“We could go to Fort Pitt – just the two of us. After a proper engagement we could get married by a minister there.”

Rebecca, although uncertain whether she should really marry Mamalachgook, hoped she could convince him to abandon the journey they now undertook. She decided to use her feminine whiles to help convince Mamalachgook. Stopping, she tugged on his hand. When Mamalachgook turned to face her, Rebecca threw both her arms around his neck and pulled him to her kissing him hard on the lips. As Rebecca released her grip, Mamalachgook staggered back and nearly fell. Then he put one hand to his head in a thoughtful gesture.

“I suppose I could ask the sachem if I could take you for my wife,” he said.

“Would you?” Rebecca responded, then quickly kissed him again as though trying to seal that thought in his head.

“Alright, we shall return to the village.” Mamalachgook answered.

(book is available as eBook or paperback at Amazon.com)

Chapter 2

Frank Reasoner – 1st Marine Medal of Honor Winner

Camp Reasoner, located about 3 miles north of Danang, Republic of Vietnam, was the base camp for many of the reconnaissance Marines who served in Vietnam. At Camp Reasoner the Marines enjoyed many of the comforts associated with being stationed in the United States: hot food, cots to sleep on, buildings called hootches with corrugated metal roofs to shed the rain and screens to keep out the mosquitoes. Other amenities available to the Marines at Camp Reasoner included an outdoor amphitheater, a handball court, a laundry, and two clubs, one for the enlisted men, the other for Staff Non-commissioned Officers, and Commissioned Officers. The clubs mainly served beverages, beer for instance, and varieties of soft drinks. The purpose of this chapter is not to talk about the camp; but the man who gave it his name.

Frank Reasoner came from Kellogg, Idaho. He was a very ambitious youngster. At the age of nine he started earning his own way with a paper route. In spite of only growing to 5 foot 7 inches tall, he played football, baseball, and basketball in high school. Frank liked boxing the best. To excel at this sport, worked out with weights and trained incessantly. By the time he graduated from high school, he had a new ambition, The United States Marine Corps.

After enlisting at the age of seventeen and completing boot camp, Frank sought a new goal, to be an officer. Without a college education, however, it wasn’t possible to get those lieutenant’s bars. College cost money and enlisted Marines didn’t make that much, so Frank decided to try for an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Frank didn’t have the best educational background to compete for an academy appointment. Congressmen and senators appoint candidates to the Army, Navy and Air Force academies. Since each member of Congress can only have 5 constituents in an academy at one time, only one out of the 10 they are allowed to nominate each year to West Point is actually chosen. Naturally this makes the competition among applicants keen.

Frank had a poor academic background. In high school he had taken mostly shop courses and bypassed most mathematics, science, English and social science classes. In order to score well on the entrance exams, the young Marine attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School at Bainbridge, Maryland. Here he got the necessary training to win an appointment to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point.

At West Point, all freshmen or first year students are called plebes. As plebes, they are subjected to tremendous harassment by their upperclassmen. This harassment is actually part of their military training. The plebes learn to perform well while being harassed, a preparation for the days ahead when they may be called on to perform difficult duties while enduring the chaos and confusion of battle. Cadet Reasoner did so well his first that he was honored as the “Outstanding Plebe”.

Frank’s sports interests followed him to the academy. He was too short and light to play football, but played baseball his plebe year and wrestled and boxed all four years.

Cadet Reasoner excelled at boxing. He was the brigade open boxing champion three of his four years at West Point. A broken nose prevented him from gaining the title his fourth year. Graduating from West Point in 1962, Frank left the Army to return to the Marines where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

By the Spring of 1965, America’s involvement in Vietnam had gone beyond providing military “advisors”. The United States was now deploying combat units. Frank Reasoner’s battalion, the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, was ordered from Hawaii to Chu Lai, in the then Republic of Vietnam.

Frank first served as a platoon commander with Company B, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion. After this unit was transferred to the 3rd Recon command post at Danang, Lt. Reasoner requested and was given command of Alpha Company, 3rd Recon. During a training exercise at China Beach, Frank intimated to a friend, Lieutenant Meyers, that he didn’t expect to go home alive. While many men with a premonition might seek safer duties, it was not the case with Frank. As company commander, he no longer had any obligation to take reconnaissance teams on patrol.

Nevertheless, on July 12, 1965, Lt. Reasoner and 1st Platoon, Company A, boarded helicopters at Danang for a ride to the town of Dai Loc. The platoon commander was 2nd Lt. Bill Henderson. Other members of the platoon included sixteen enlisted Marines, one Navy Corpsman, and a Vietnamese dog handler with his German Shepard. The mission of the platoon was to scout an area south of Danang where elements of the 9th Marine Regiment had encountered the enemy.

Arriving at Dai Loc, the platoon set up a relay station at the little fort manned and maintained by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Leaving behind two Marines to man the radio relay, the rest of the platoon moved up a dirt road out of the town. The road would take them through villages and rice fields, first to the west, then to the north.

As they were leaving town, Reasoner’s platoon passed about fifty uniformed and armed Vietnamese, which the Marines took to be a local militia. The ARVN dog handler, however, tried to convince the Marines those troops were actually Viet Cong.

This was not a normal recon patrol. These men were used to being able to conceal themselves in heavy foliage. On this mission, however, they had to walk in the open, in daylight and through some not too friendly looking villages.

Approximately three hours into the patrol, while approaching the small village of An My, the platoon started receiving sniper fire. Lieutenant Henderson took half the platoon and went off in search of the sniper. Lt. Reasoner led the other half of the platoon into An My. As they entered, they noted that some villagers appeared to be hiding and some of the population missing. The team pushed on as a rainstorm hit and drenched the team. They passed a barrier fence of bamboo and cactus, crossing a ditch and came upon a graveyard with low, rounded grave mounds. Beyond the graveyard was a grave of trees and a small hill to the left.

Two of Reasoner’s men spotted three Vietnamese in ponchos wearing helmets. These three Viet Cong spotted the Marines and ran toward the small hill. The Marines began to fire at them. The Viet Cong answered with a hail of machine gun fire from a fixed Soviet-made machine gun mounted on a tripod at the position on the hill. Soon additional fire poured in from the area near the machine gun. There were apparently more than three VC! The only cover the Marines had were the circular graves.

Since the enemy had the high ground, they were able to keep the Marines pinned down. Enjoying this advantage, the VC attempted to surround the Marines on the right and left flanks. The enemy began to inflict casualties. First they wounded the platoon sergeant, then Lance Corporal Hall, who had the M-79, which the team needed badly.

As the sun sank towards the horizon, Henderson’s team reached Reasoner’s. The Marines were now receiving fire from three directions, from an enemy that outnumbered them six or seven to one. The most formidable was the VC machine gunner who held the advantage of a superior position. Lt. Reasoner ordered Lt. Henderson to withdraw to the helicopter landing zone. As the Marines withdrew, assisting the wounded, Lt. Reasoner directed covering fire.

LCpl Shockley, seeing that the other radioman’s antenna had been shot off, realized Lt. Reasoner had no communications. Shockley scurried through the machine gun fire and managed to land next to the lieutenant without being hit. Unfortunately a VC bullet then found Shockley’s elbow.

In an attempt to suppress the murderous fire from the well-placed, tripod-mounted machine gun, Lt. Reasoner repeatedly exposed himself to attack and killed at least two Viet Cong. One of Reasoner’s men finally took out the deadly tripod-mounted gun with the M-79 grenade launcher; but the Viet Cong continued the assault with other automatic weapons. LCpl Shockley was then wounded a second time. Lt. Reasoner ran for the wounded Marine; but Viet Cong bullets struck him, and he fell dead.

Five Marines traveling across the ground in a low crawl managed to reach the Lieutenant and recovered his body. Then they retrieved the wounded Shockley.

For his action, “In face of almost certain death…”, Lt. Frank Reasoner was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Medal of was not the only recognition Lt. Reasoner received. The Marine Corps named the main home of the Reconnaissance Marines, Camp Reasoner. The Navy built and commissioned a frigate as the USS Reasoner. This ship served the Navy as part of the active fleet for 23 years. Back home, Kellogg High School honored their distinguished graduate with a wall mural of him, and establishing the McCoy-Reasoner Award. This award, named after Lt. Reasoner and an Air Force serviceman is presented each year to an outstanding athlete from the high school. Kootenai County, Idaho also maintains a picture of him in the courthouse at Coeur d’Alene.