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<1st attachment, "Kathy Carlson 2.txt" begin>

The following is a work of fiction regarding sexual
relationships.  If you feel that it is illegal, immoral, or
otherwise improper for you to read this, then *Don't Read It.*

*  *  *

*Kathy Carlson Part 2 of 9*

Copyright (c) 1993, 2001 by Morgan.  All Rights Reserved

Please note the original copyright date.  This story was
basically written eight years ago.  As a result, you will likely
find obsolete references.  I'm afraid you'll just have to live
with it; it's too tedious trying to keep up with the latest and
greatest.

This book is part of the Ali Clifford saga and in time parallels
_Allison_.  It's an illustration of the fact that stories -- and
characters -- often run away from their writers.  It's certainly
true in this one, if one wishes to compare Kathy Carlson's
position in this one compared to her appearance in _Allison_. 
Oh, well...

Incidentally, you will find occasional entries, _word_.  The
reason for this is that MS Word's Auto Format function puts a
word preceded and followed by an underscore in italics; that's my
intent.  Similarly, *word* results in the word appearing in bold
face.  If you use Word's Auto Format, it will take care of
things; if you don't, you at least know why it's there.

More of my works are posted on my site <www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Morgan/www> 
If you like it -- or if you don't -- please let me know at
<morg105829@aol.com.>  My books are now also posted on
<www.storiesonline.net>.

*  *  *

*Chapter 11*

Mike Higgins was a big man.  He was also a quiet man who
preferred to listen rather than to talk.  As they sat around the
table in the glass-enclosed top-floor lounge, he looked at Ken
and Kathy Carlson and marveled. _First,_ he thought, _they are a
perfectly-matched couple.  Second, they are obviously deeply in
love._  Being very observant, he noticed that they had an almost
visible need to touch each other and to be touched.  Now Kathy's
hand was just resting in Ken's and she seemed to draw something
from the contact.

Earlier, he had tried to explain his relationship to the Rossis.
His wife had died of bone cancer years earlier and they had been
childless.  As a result, Mike Rossi had become the son he had
never had and he loved him as much as if he were his own.  He
tried to explain to them what a marvelous thing they had done,
saving the lives of both Mike and his father.

Only then did a new thought cross his mind: These two people were
incredibly heroic!  Even though Mike Rossi had told him all the
stories of Carlson's Rangers, it had always been in terms of
telling jokes -- putting something over on the rear-area
commandos.  Suddenly it occurred to Mike that it was the standard
way in which men who live in great danger maintain their sanity:
by making light of it.

_But it's all true!_ he thought. _This man may be the greatest
military hero who has ever lived.  And this woman served as his
inspiration -- the Kathy-grams were anything but jokes -- and she
is unbelievably courageous in her own right._

Something else registered and he decided to speak.  "Ken," he
said softly, "I just realized that you don't see beautiful women
as women, do you?"  When Ken looked baffled and then started to
protest, Mike held up his hand and added, "Don't get me wrong. 
I'm not saying you're blind or anything.  What I am saying is
they register on your brain as people, but not as attractive
women.  You have eyes for only one: Kathy."  Turning to Kathy he
grinned and said, "And you're the same way with men.  They just
don't exist for you, do they?"

Ken gave her hand a light squeeze and then smiled ruefully at
Mike.  "I guess you're right, but I never thought of it quite
that way," he replied.  "Of course, when I wake up every morning
and see Kathy's head on my shoulder and feel her body molded
against my side...  She claims it's why she tries to stay so
limber: to better shape her body to mine.  Then, I have my hand
cupping the most perfect tit God ever put on a woman.  It's so
soft and warm, yet firm and wonderful.  Sometimes I'll move my
head just the slightest bit to get a whiff of her perfume... 
Don't get me wrong, though.  Kathy doesn't really use perfume. 
It's just that her body has the sweetest, most beautifully clean
smell.  I just love it.  Then I'll squeeze her tit in the
lightest way and her eyes instantly pop open.  Often, she's
sleeping with her head turned toward me with her cheek on my
shoulder, so she's looking right at me when her eyes open.  What
do I see?  I see the most incredibly bright, warm eyes looking at
me with her love shining in them.  Mr. Higgins, it is her love
for me that I see."

Then he smiled and said, "When you sleep with twenty-four carat
gold in your arms every night, why waste time with silver?"  Then
he turned toward Kathy.  As he did, her lips were moving towards
his -- almost by prearrangement, Mike thought -- and they met. 
It was the most beautiful kiss Mike had ever seen.  The only
things touching were their lips, yet he could almost see the
electricity flowing between them.

When they eased apart, he heard Kathy say softly, "Thank you,
darling.  That was so delicious!"  Then she looked at Mike and
said, "As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing better in life
than to feel Ken's strong arm around me just holding me close
every night.  He has the most marvelous man-smell, too.  When I'm
in his arms I feel so warm and snugly and safe...  I just adore
it."

Then she smiled warmly and added, "But you know what's really
great?  Often, in the morning, I'll just roll on top of Ken.  I
cross my arms on his chest and rest my chin on my hands.  I'm on
top of the most powerful body in the world.  He has a wonderfully
broad chest."  Then with a guilty little grin she added, "I
really love to raise my tits just enough so only my nipples touch
his wonderful hairy chest.  Then I just rotate and feel the
marvelous stimulation of his coarse hair on my nipples."  Then
she frowned and said, "Of course, I can only do it for a couple
of minutes.  By then I'm so desperate to have him inside me, I
have to stop."

Then she took one of Ken's hands in hers and said, "Look at this
hand.  It's so big and strong.  But at the same time, Ken has
become so sensitive, he can bring me to orgasm without ever
touching my cunt.  This hand moves on my body with the most
incredible feather-light touch!  It's absolutely unbelievable." 
Then she frowned and added, "Who would ever believe it?  And he's
a ditch digger, too."

Suddenly Kathy changed the subject completely.  She asked, "Mr.
Higgins, how's your company doing?"

"Before I answer, Mrs. Carlson, could you do me a tremendous
favor?  Please call me Mike?  No one ever calls me Mr. Higgins."

She grinned and stuck out her hand.  "It's a deal," she said,
"Provided you call us Ken and Kathy.  Okay?"

"It's a deal, Kathy," he replied.  Then his face fell as he said,
"In answer to your question, not well.  If only..."  Then an idea
occurred to him and he said, "My God!  How stupid can one man be?
 Ken, you're going into your last year of law school, right?" 
Ken said that was true.  Then Higgins continued, "Great!  When
you graduate, you can be my lawyer.  Will you?  I think we bill
about a million a year in legal fees."  Then he frowned and said,
"For what, I'm never sure, but that's what I pay."

Kathy swallowed hard and then said, "Mr. Higgins -- Mike -- if I
were a lawyer, what I'm about to say could get me hauled up in
front of the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Association... 
But since I'm not and never will be, here goes: Mike, who in hell
prepares your contracts?"

Higgins shook his head and said, "I guess it depends on which
one.  The fact is that we worked with a good lawyer for years. 
Unfortunately, he was a solo practitioner, so when he retired a
few years ago, we had no other relationship.  But why do you ask,
Kathy?"

"Because if our understanding is correct, you still don't even
have a signed contract for the job we've been working on.  You're
still exchanging drafts, right?"

Then remembering the contract she had redrafted, she pulled it
out from her purse.  Since it had been sitting there for weeks,
it was now badly crumpled, but Kathy didn't care.  She continued,
"Ken asked me to look over the most recent draft of the contract
applicable to our job.  He didn't like it, and frankly, neither
do I.  If you don't mind crumpled paper, would you please read
this one?"

She passed it to him.  After smoothing it out on the tabletop, he
began to read.  When he finished he said, "It's all there, Kathy,
but where's the contract?  I don't understand."

She grinned and said, "Mike, that _is_ a contract.  In spite of
what a lot of lawyers would like to have you believe, you don't
need a whole bunch of 'whereas', 'party of the first part', and
all that bullshit.  A contract is nothing more than an offer, an
acceptance, and a consideration, i.e., money.  That's really all
there is."

Mike looked at Kathy with new interest and asked, "I know what
Ken does, Kathy, but I don't know much about you.  What do you do
for a living -- besides cleaning out shit-houses, I mean."  Then,
with a shake of his head and a small grin, he pulled a folded
piece of paper from his coat pocket and passed it to her saying,
"This is yours.  I almost forgot I had it with me."

She looked at it, laughed, and passed it on to Ken.  It was a
commendation from the Los Angeles County Health Department for
operating and maintaining hygienic toilet facilities on a
construction job site.  The citation went on to state that the
facilities were at least as clean as any found in operating
office buildings, and Higgins Construction was to be commended
for its achievement.  Kathy cutely stuck out the tip of her pink
tongue in Ken's direction and said, "See?  Someone appreciates my
talent.  I am, too, good for something."

Mike said, "Kathy, Tony told me what he did to you and how you
responded.  The more I get to know you, the harder it is for me
to understand why you did it.  Those toilets were utterly filthy!
 Why, Kathy?"

She sat up straight in her chair and told Mike what she had
earlier told others: "Mike, my husband, Ken, is a real hero.  I
found out tonight a little bit of how courageous he really is. 
He's a natural-born leader, and he's brilliant.  He'll have
straight A's in law school this coming year, yet he's working as
a ditch digger."  Now her eyes were blazing as she said, "If my
husband is not too good to dig ditches, you better believe that
his wife isn't too good to clean up shit.  I can't match him for
strength, but it doesn't take a lot of strength to clean up a
mess -- just a strong stomach."

Then she grinned and added, "Besides, it may have saved Tony's
life.  If I hadn't been up to my elbows in shit for weeks, I
might not have been able to get into that sewage without
vomiting.  I guess I don't care anymore.  Does that answer it?"

Mike just slowly shook his head and said, "You know something?  I
think Tony's absolutely right.  In fact, I think he's even more
right than he knows.  You are the most incredibly beautiful young
woman I have ever seen.  He calls you "Madonna" -- my lady -- and
that's a fitting characterization.  Yet at the same time you..."
He didn't finish his thought.  Instead, he went back to the
contract and asked, "Kathy, you still didn't answer my question.
What _do_ you do?"

She grinned and replied, "As a matter of fact, we're sitting
almost exactly over my desk.  I work one floor down as a legal
secretary.  I see a lot of contracts, I guess."

"Then yours is a very informed judgment, isn't it?"  He
brightened and said, "I have an idea.  How about if you handle my
contract work until Ken gets placed?  Could you do that?"

She shook her head and said, "Mike, secretaries in law firms
don't have clients.  However, the firm has top-flight attorneys.
Would you like me to make an appointment for you?  For Monday,
maybe?"  He agreed and passed her his card.  Then she told him
she would call first thing Monday after she had a chance to check
the partners' schedules.

Earlier, while talking about the importance of the Rossis to him,
Mike had said that he would do anything in his power for the
Carlsons.  While they had been talking, Kathy had noticed what a
perfect night it was in Los Angeles.  There was a full moon and
there wasn't a cloud in the sky nor even a trace of the usual
smog.  The Pacific Ocean, miles to the west, was clearlyvisible.

With an innocent expression on her face she asked, "Mike, earlier
you said you would do anything at all within your power for Ken
and me.  Were you serious?"

"Of course I was," he replied.  "Why do you ask?  Do you have
something in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, yes!" she said with a salacious grin. 
"Could you have another drink or something and excuse Ken and me
for thirty minutes or so?  Tonight, he's going to fulfill a dream
of mine: he's going to fuck my ass off on my boss's desk.  You
see, her office is directly below us and has floor-to-ceiling
windows on two sides like these," indicating the lounge's
windows.

"I've had this dream, you see.  I want the blinds pulled open
wide and then have Ken take me..."  With a broad grin she
indicated a couple of nearby office towers and said, "You're
welcome to watch, Mike.  You'll be able to see us from almost
anywhere."  Then she said, "Really, though, do you mind?  It
wouldn't have been necessary if we had taken our own car over,
but since we left it at the hospital..."

Mike just shook his head, called over the waitress and
ostentatiously ordered a single drink.  Kathy grinned, winked,
and took Ken by the hand.

When they opened the Clifford & Jamison office, Kathy turned on
the lights in the reception area and then led the way back to
Ali's office.  Without turning on any other lights, she pulled
the vertical blinds back to their stops, then quickly shed her
clothes.  Turning to Ken, she helped him undress while he was
gently running his hands over her beautifully firm ass cheeks. 
She was fumbling because she appeared to be in such a hurry, so
he asked her about it.

She softly kissed him and said, "Darling, I have to rush!  My
cunt is so wet I'll be dripping on the carpet any second, and
then Ali will really have my head!"

When she had him bare, she lay back on Ali's desk with her legs
spread wide.  When he came close, she placed Ken's now-vibrating
cock at the entrance to her vagina, locked her ankles behind his
hips and pulled him into her.  In spite of the hardness of the
desk top, she reveled in the feeling as Ken drove inside her
soaking-wet sheath.  By now they were attuned to one another's
needs.  Again she used her incredible sensitivity to change tempo
slightly each time she could feel her husband about to release.

Finally, she could feel his cock begin to vibrate.  Reaching
under her legs she managed to get her fingers on his massive
balls and then squeezed.  With a scream, Ken let go.  Kathy felt
his hot cum flooding her uterus, then felt the most incredible
sensation that just rose to a crescendo and ultimately shorted
out her nervous system with an overload of sensation.  This time,
when she fainted, her head fell back and hit the desk top hard.

As she regained consciousness, she felt the most marvelous
sensation in her cunt.  Looking down, she saw in the moonlight
Ken's head at her slit and could feel his tongue probing into her
crevices.  Then she felt him harden his tongue, using it like a
small cock to probe up into her vagina.

"Eat me, Darling!" she whispered fiercely.  "Oh, God, Ken!  Eat
your wife's dirty cunt.  Bite me..."  Then she screamed as he bit
her sensitive clit, again causing her to black out.

When she regained consciousness again, she was being held in his
arm and she realized they were together on the leather sofa. 
Wriggling her ass, she enjoyed the feeling of the tanned leather
on her bare bottom.  Then she kissed Ken passionately, rose from
the sofa and pulled him up, too.  Taking him by the hand, she led
him to the corner of the room where they could just stand in the
window.  Since he was standing behind her, she backed into him
until she could feel the length of his body against her back. 
Meanwhile, Ken put his arms around her and cupped her beautiful
tits.  Twisting her head around, she managed to kiss him, feeling
as she did the magnificent electricity.  Then with a tiny grin on
her face she whispered, "Ken, you're cheating."

"Cheating?" he asked.  "What am I doing?"

"Darling, how can the people see my tits with your hands covering
them?  Is that fair?  If you want to do something, spread my
labia so they can see my clit...  I mean, Darling, they _did_ pay
their money, so..."

He spun her around and kissed her hard.  Then she dropped to her
knees, cupped his balls and now semi-erect cock in her two hands
and said, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, this is a cock.  Isn't
it beautiful?"  Then she carefully used her tongue to lick off
all of the juices now drying on it, and then to Ken's amazement,
used her hair to dry it off.

Because it was Saturday night, and the lounge was in a building
located in an area of office structures, it didn't do much
business on a night when all of the offices were closed.  Mike
Higgins was the only patron left when they returned.

As they approached the table, he rose to greet them.  Then he
took Kathy in his arms and kissed her.  When he did, he realized
how soft her lips were and then experienced the tenderness and
love in her kiss, although it was utterly lacking in passion. 
Then he held her close and smelled the fragrance that Ken had
earlier described.  She smelled so wonderfully young and fresh
and clean.

Holding her at arms length, he just said, "Wow!  Young lady, you
have just been very well fucked."

Kathy just grinned and said, "Sure have!  Did you see us?  It was
utterly spectacular."  Then she gingerly rubbed the back of her
head and said, "There's one thing I'll have to remember, though.
When I passed out and my head hit the desk top, it was hard. 
Next time I'll have to put down some magazines or something..." 
Mike Higgins just laughed and escorted them out to his waiting
car.

Because they had been at the lounge all evening, none saw the
evening news and its feature on the trench collapse and Kathy's
rescue of Tony.  However, a Channel 7 reporter who went to the
hospital to try to interview Tony met Mike Rossi instead.  Mike
explained at length how Kathy had saved his father.  Then he told
about Kathy and Ken, finally telling the story of Ken's exploits
in Vietnam.  Mickey was by his side, filling in still more
details.

The Eleven O'clock Eyewitness News featured the incredible
heroism of, first, Kathy Carlson and, then, that of her husband,
Ken.  The other network affiliates and the newspapers, scooped on
the story, all mobilized their resources to try to catch up.

* * *

The next day was one of the most perfect days Ken had ever spent.
 Except for a marvelous brunch and then a wonderful dinner, he
spent the entire day in bed with Kathy, just running his fingers
over her body.  They experimented with getting their partner to
cum in the shortest possible time without touching any primary
sex organs.  It was an utterly delightful day of kissing,
touching and making love.

On Monday morning, when Kathy got to the office at eight,
everyone ignored her.  It was as if she wasn't present.  Feeling
hurt, she got her own coffee and just sat at the table listening
to the girls chatter.  She really loved them and was feeling
hurt.  At eight-fifteen, Ali arrived.  She got her coffee,
brought it to where Kathy was sitting and sat down.

With her face impassive she said, "I hope you're satisfied, young
lady."  Kathy just looked at her, baffled.  She had no idea what
Ali was talking about.  "A trench collapse?  A secretary -- _our_
secretary -- goes swimming in a sewer?"  With her blue eyes
blazing, she said, "My God!  How incredibly unprofessional.  And
the phone's been ringing off the hook, we can't get any work
done..."  Glaring at Kathy, she demanded, "Young lady, what do
you have to say for yourself?"

Tears were flowing from Kathy's eyes.  She didn't really know
what Ali was talking about but she knew she was in trouble. 
Through her tears she said, "I'm terribly sorry, Ali.  I take
full responsibility.  I'll have my desk cleaned out in just a few
minutes and..."

"The hell you will!" Ali exclaimed.  "Of all the stinking nerve!
Do you think you can get away with it by just resigning?  Why..."
 Suddenly her expression changed to one of incredible warmth and
love.  She wrapped her arms around the younger woman and then
kissed her full on the lips.  It was similar to the earlier kiss
Ali had given her, but filled with so much more love.  Then Kathy
felt moisture on her cheek that was not her own.  Moving back,
she saw that Ali's face had crumpled and tears were pouring from
her eyes in a flood.

"But Ali, what's wrong?  Why are you crying like that?  And I'll
leave my stuff so you can be sure I'm not taking anything that
belongs to the Firm.  I would appreciate it, though, if you could
send me my things.  I think there are..."

Ali was just shaking her head in negation.  Finally she said,
"Kathy, please remember one thing about us: Both individually and
as a group we are the world's largest collection of hopeless
teasers.  We can't resist."

Then she held Kathy by the arms and looked into her eyes.  "What
do we learn yesterday?  We hear that you saved the life of the
foreman on a construction site -- and almost lost your own in the
process.  You swim in sewage, naked.  You give mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation, in spite of the fact that you're drinking sewage
to do it.  Somehow -- and no one knows how -- you set a broken
leg, and do it perfectly."

Ali stopped and now her face was transformed into the brightest
smile Kathy had ever seen.  It was what they called Ali's
sunshine smile and now it was shining brilliantly on her. 
"Darling, I have never been so thrilled and yet so scared at the
same time.  I learned that, if you had been in that trench just a
few more seconds you would have been buried alive."  She shook
her head slowly and said, "Lady, your bravery, courage and skill
are overwhelming!"

With that the rest of the girls crowded around.  Kathy felt she
was being buried in a mass of slim young bodies and wonderful
warm kisses.  With a big grin she said, "Oh, shit!  If you all
insist!"  With that she sprawled out flat on the carpet.  The
girls whooped with glee, and recognized the opportunity.  In an
instant they had stripped off all of her clothes and were
covering her face and body with their kisses while telling her
how much they loved her.  Finally, they let her up and she
dressed again.

It was almost nine o'clock before she was able to tell Ali about
Mike Higgins.  Ali said she could see him at any time.  When she
called Mike, they agreed on eleven o'clock.

Promptly at eleven, Judy called to announce a visitor and Kathy
went out to the reception room to greet him.  As she led Mike
back to Ali's office, she giggled as his head pivoted around to
be able to watch Judy until the door closed.  Then, when she
introduced him to Ali, his jaw dropped.  He extended his hand and
Ali took it in a firm grip, then seated him on the sofa.  She sat
in one flanking chair and Kathy sat in the one opposite.

Mike was still shaking his head.  Finally, he said, "Mrs.
Clifford, I am struck dumb.  When I met Kathy for the first time
on Saturday, I thought she was the most beautiful, most perfect
female alive.  Then I come in this morning and am greeted by a
blonde goddess at the reception desk.  Then I see you!"  His
forehead crinkled as he asked, "Is it contagious or something? 
Do you breed these girls specially?  Or..."

Ali laughed heartily and said, "First, the name is Ali.  As for
the rest...  They are beautiful girls, aren't they?  With no
modesty, I have to say that the only variation among them is a
little in height and in hair color.  Aside from that..."  She
just shrugged and then said, "But that's not why you're here. 
And please may I call you Mike?"

He agreed instantly and then got down to business.  First he
showed Ali the draft contract for the current job.  She went
through it carefully three times, frowning more each time.  When
she returned it to him, he gave her Kathy's draft without saying
a word.  Now Ali read it quickly, smiled and said, "This is more
like it.  I guess your attorney is finally learning how to draft
a contract."

Now it was Mike's turn to shake his head.  He said, "Wrong, Ali.
I'm certain now that he is beyond hope.  The second contract was
drafted by Kathy Carlson.  Is it any good?"

"With no modesty at all, Mike, it's outstanding.  I guess I
should have known.  You see, Kathy really does do it all for us.
I don't think Ginger or Sandy or I have drafted a contract
since..."  Ali looked up at the ceiling, thinking.  Then she
smiled her sunshine smile and finished her sentence: "...since
_ever!_  We just tell Kathy what we want the contract to do and
she does it."  Then with a grin she added, "Of course, we do have
a heavy investment in computer hardware, and computers are pretty
smart these days so..."

Mike then told her what he wanted to do.  He wanted to give all
his legal work to Ken Carlson when Ken graduated from law school
and was admitted to practice.  Until then, though, he wondered if
Kathy could handle his work on behalf of Clifford & Jamison.  "I
know she's not a lawyer," he finished, "but could you people sign
whatever needs signing, and bless it or something?  I was
thinking of a retainer of $100,000 a month.  Is that in your
ballpark?"

Ali's face was impassive.  She said, "If I understand you
correctly, Mike, you are asking Clifford & Jamison to represent
you with the private understanding that most of the work would be
done by Kathy.  Our fee would be $100,000 per month.  Is that
correct?"  He nodded and said it was exactly right.  Ali extended
her hand and said, "Welcome to Clifford & Jamison, Mike.  When
would you like Kathy to start?"

He looked embarrassed but replied, "Could she start today?  You
see, I got a call this morning from Jim Duffy.  Jim's the general
contractor on that building job, and we're in trouble.  He's my
oldest friend in the business, but we've been drifting apart.  I
told him I would meet him at our club at three today.  I would
very much like Kathy to be with me.  Is that possible?"

Ali said it was and ushered him out.  When he was gone, she
looked at Kathy carefully, frowned, and called in Ginger.  Kathy
had already discovered that Ginger had incredible fashion sense
and judgment.  The two women talked in whispers for a few minutes
and then Ginger grinned, nodded her head and left.  Kathy was
utterly bewildered.  Then Ali placed a phone call, talked for a
couple of minutes, then hung up and placed another even shorter
call.  Finally she said to Kathy, "Come on, Kath.  Get your ass
in gear."

Still baffled, Kathy allowed herself to be led to the elevator
and then out to the building's front door.

As they passed through, a familiar grey limousine smoothly pulled
up at the curb.  Fred Clark was around the car in an instant
holding open the door.  He greeted Kathy warmly and said, "Kathy,
that was a wonderful thing you did on Saturday.  I was so proud
for you, but so scared when I realized how close you came to
getting killed!"

It was apparent to Kathy, by now, that with the drinks and
lovemaking on Saturday night, along with their lovemaking all day
Sunday, she and Ken had missed what was obviously being played as
a big story.

As the car pulled away from the curb, Ali opened the bar in back.
 Leaning forward, she said, "Fred Clark, I love you!  Bloody
Marys.  Yum!"  She poured two drinks, gave one to Kathy and then
leaned back in her seat.  Touching glasses, she said, "To you,
Katherine Hughes Carlson!  Your ability and your accomplishments
never cease to amaze even those of us who think we know you. 
Lady, is there no limit to your talents?"

Kathy had a sip of her drink and found it was perfectly spiced
and even had horseradish that she loved.  She murmured, "Yum!"
and then said, "Ali, all that I have or ever hope to have I owe
to you and Ginger.  Even Saturday.  If you two hadn't beaten me
into shape, I never could have gotten Tony out, because I still
don't know how I did it as it is.  A doctor looked me over and
said what I did was physically impossible... but it happened. 
Thank you, Ali, for letting me work for Clifford & Jamison."

Ali's last word on the subject was just to shake her head and
say, "Lady, you are one of the very rare ones who is so good you
don't have the slightest idea how good you really are!"

The limousine moved through the gates of a film studio -- Kathy
realized with a start that it was Alliance -- and pulled up at a
door.  Ali led the way and then introduced Kathy to her
hairdresser, Henry Hall.  Kathy had heard about him from Ginger:
He had more Academy Awards for hairstyling than he could count.

Henry looked at Ali, grinned and said, "Ali, you've done it
again!  Where do you find these beauties, anyway?"  When Ali
explained that Kathy was the girl who handled the rescue on
Saturday, Hall whistled softly and murmured, "This one is
_strictly_ on the house.

Then Ali explained what she wanted Kathy's hairdo to be:
beautiful, chic, professional, but above all one that wouldn't
come apart while she was being loved.  When Kathy started to say
something, Ali just glared, so she shut up.  When Henry started
to work, her fatigue caught up with her and she fell asleep in
the chair.  She was awakened when he removed the hairdresser's
sheet he had spread over her.

Spinning the chair, he raised the chair back and left her facing
the wall mirror.  Kathy looked at her reflection and her hand
involuntarily came up to cover her mouth.  "My God!  Who is
that?" she asked.  Spinning on Henry she said, "Mr. Hall, that
can't be me!  That girl is beautiful."

Hall just beamed, and then kissed her full on the mouth.  When he
did, he tasted her soft lips and received the most loving kiss he
could imagine.  Withdrawing slowly, he just beamed and said,
"I've already been overpaid.  Kathy, I've heard a lot about your
husband in the last couple of days.  I think he may even be
worthy of you."

Kathy was utterly baffled by his comment and just thought about
it as Ali led the way back to the car.  When they returned to the
office, Kathy whipped together a lunch for the two of them in
minutes.

As they were finishing, Ginger reappeared, sniffed the air and
grumped, "Thanks a hell of a lot, Carlson!  Where's mine?"  Kathy
winked at Ali, grinned, and to Ginger's surprise, immediately
produced another plate for her.  When she had finished eating,
Ginger looked at Kathy and said, "Carlson, you should be declared
illegal!  With everything else you have going for you, you can
cook, too!  It's just not fair."

When they were finished and the dishes were put away -- washing
them was Ali's contribution -- Ginger just glared at Kathy and
said, "Strip down to your bikini.  I'll be right back."  Kathy
did, and just stood there, bare.

While she waited, Ali rose and walked around her studying her
body carefully.  Then she reached out and cupped one of Kathy's
tits and squeezed it gently.  Kathy just closed her eyes and
moaned softly.  Ali's hand and touch felt scrumptious on her
skin.

Her eyes were still closed when Ginger returned and dumped some
boxes on the conference table.  Opening the largest box, Ginger
said sharply, "Put this on."

Kathy looked at the dress and gasped.  It was the most elegant
thing she had ever seen -- and the most expensive.  Handling it
carefully, she slipped it on.  Ginger zipped it up, then stood
back, frowned, and said to Ali, "I guess it's as good as we can
do.  I mean...  Given the raw material, what can you expect?" 
Turning back the Kathy she said off-handedly, "The supporting
junk is in the smaller boxes.  Put it on, will you?"  Then she
just stalked out of the room and headed back towards her own
office.

Kathy opened the boxes and found a pair of sheer stockings that
she eased up on her legs, a pair of alligator shoes, and then
solid gold jewelry: a necklace, a bracelet, and earrings.  When
she was dressed, she went off to find Ali.

When she entered her office, Ali looked up impassively, then
shrugged and said, "Why don't you look at yourself?  There's a
full-length mirror behind the closet door."

Kathy did.  She looked at herself, gasped, and started to cry. 
In an instant Ali was at her side with a Kleenex, gumbling, "For
God's sake, don't you dare wreck that nice new dress with tear
stains before you've even worn it for five minutes.  I mean... 
Really!"

Kathy dried her eyes and realized that she looked utterly
spectacular, and at the same time, very professional.  Before she
could move, Ali had a comb in her hand and was carefully
smoothing out her hair.  Then she motioned Kathy to a chair and
went back behind her desk.

Kathy wriggled slightly and realized that the dress might as well
have been custom-made for her.  Ali reached into a desk drawer,
pulled out a small box and slid it across to Kathy saying, "This
is yours."

Kathy opened it and found it was a solid-gold lady's Rolex,
identical to Ali's own.  It was so exquisite, Kathy touched it
fearfully, but Ali told her it wasn't at all breakable.  "In
fact," she said, "It would even survive immersion in sewage... 
It's for the next time you decide to go swimming."

Kathy giggled and then turned the watch over.  She looked at it
and gasped when she read the engraving: _To Kathy: The best
secretary and the most courageous person I have ever met, with
all my love, Ali._

Before she could say or do anything Ali exclaimed, "Don't you
even _think_ about crying, young lady!  There has been enough
water flowing around this place today to irrigate the Imperial
Valley for a week!"  Kathy laughed and just grinned.  In
addition, Ali presented her with a magnificent woman's attache
case, completely fitted out.

Then Ali said, "Kathy, we've been getting complaints from the
garage operators downstairs.  You see, we have the spaces right
at the entrance, and...  Well, it seems they think your car is a
refugee from a car crusher.  Anyhow, since your space is so
visible... and now you're going to need a car during the day to
see Mike...  Well, anyway, your car has been towed home.  Here
are the keys to its replacement."

Her eyes gleamed as she added, "Now you can't even get away -- it
has a car phone in it, too."  Kathy looked at the keys and
realized they were for a BMW.

Just then Ginger walked in and saw the keys on the desk.  "You
finally managed to find someone to unload that piece of shit on,
I see."  Then she looked thoughtful and then brightened.  "You
found the right person!  I learned today that Kathy has been up
to her elbows in shit for the last six weeks or so, every
Saturday."  She smiled brightly and said, "She'll feel right at
home!"

Ali glanced at her watch and told Kathy to get going.  She had
just enough time to get to Mike's club on time.

When she got down to the garage and went to her parking space,
she gasped.  The car was a BMW 750iL, the largest and most
powerful model BMW made, painted in a very conservative gunmetal
grey.  She opened the door, started it up, and heard the throaty
rumble as its twelve-cylinder engine came to life.  She drove to
the club in a daze -- she had never been in a car this good in
her life, let alone driven one, least of all ever thinking of
owning one.  At the club, a valet attendant ran to open the door
and then park the car for her.

She went in and was about to ask for Mike Higgins when he came up
to her and gave her a kiss.  Then he stood back holding her hands
in his, and just looked at her.  He slowly shook his head and
murmured, "I don't believe it."  Kathy was puzzled and asked him
what he didn't believe.  He replied, "Kathy, I thought you were
the most beautiful girl in the world this morning.  What
happened?  Your hair is changed, your dress is changed..."  Then
he just nodded and said, "Okay, let's go, Princess."  They went
up the stairs to the members' lounge where they were to meet Jim
Duffy.

Moving across the large room, a man who looked a lot like Mike
rose to greet them.  Kathy took his hand in a firm grip while he
looked at her -- and looked like he had been hit by a truck.

When they were seated, Duffy looked at Mike and said, "Damn it,
Higgins, I've heard of sneaky, underhanded stunts in my time, but
this has got to take the cake!"

Mike was dumbfounded, and his face fell.  Duffy explained, "You
produce this... this goddess, and tell me she's your attorney. 
Higgins, you have one hell of a nerve.  You know damned well I'll
sign any piece of paper she sticks in front of me...  And if she
smiles at me, I'll just dissolve into a mass of warm mush!  See,
there she goes!" he exclaimed as Kathy smiled warmly at him and
he pretended to slide off the sofa onto the floor.

Then he sat up straight again and said, "Mrs. Carlson, I have
heard a great deal about you over the last couple of days." 
Shaking his head he continued, "Now that I have the chance to
meet you, I'm certain that the stories were nothing but the truth
toned down in the interests of believability.  Anyway, forget
Higgins.  What can _I_ do for you?"

Kathy smiled warmly and said, "Mr. Duffy..."

"It's Jim!" he interrupted and then asked, "May I please call you
Kathy?"

Again she smiled her brilliant smile that did melt him on the
sofa.  "Of course, Jim.  I would be delighted."  Then she began
and said, "I know you and Mike have done business for years. 
First of all, I would like to apologize for Mike and on behalf of
the legal profession.  The contracts he has been giving you to
sign have been horrors.  They make it sound like you do
everything, he does nothing, and by the way, Duffy, you're a
crook!"  She grinned and said, "Am I right?"

Duffy just shook his head, looked at Mike and said, "The world's
not fair.  She has incredible beauty, unbelievable courage,
physical strength...  And a brain, too?  Higgins, knock it off!"
Then, turning back to Kathy as if nothing had been said, he
replied, "You're right, of course.  But what now?"

She reached into her attache case and took out three copies of
the letter Mike had reviewed.  She passed out the copies and
asked, "Jim, please read this one and tell me if we're getting
warmer.  You see, Mike considers you to be his oldest friend as
well as his best customer in the business.  Jim, we don't want to
lose you.  We will not lose you, if there's anything we can do to
keep the relationship.  Am I making our position clear?"  Duffy
nodded as he read the letter.  When he got to the end, he took a
pen from his pocket and scrawled his signature on the bottom. 
Then he reached for Mike's copy and signed that.  Mike grinned,
and signed and dated the two copies.

Duffy then looked at Kathy, grinned, and shook his head saying,
"One thing I can't stand about lawyers is all the damned time
they waste.  Hell, that must have taken... nearly a minute.  Now
what's next?"  Then he added, "You may wonder why I signed it on
the spot instead of giving it to my attorneys first.  The answer
is simple.  The way you say it is absolutely perfect!  They would
have just fucked it up!"

Suddenly he turned beet red and apologized saying, "Kathy, please
forgive me!  I... I guess I've been around construction sites too
long."

"I have, too, Jim," Kathy replied.  "Every Saturday I'm up to my
elbows in shit working on one, and every night my husband Ken
fucks my ass off.  It's utterly delicious!  I don't mind your
language a bit," she concluded, "assuming mine doesn't frighten
you, of course?

"But, Jim, to answer your question," Kathy continued, "We want
the foundation business on the Pacific Center contract you just
closed."  Out of the corner of her eye she could see Mike's jaw
drop.  Pacific Center, a massive, multi-building development, had
come into the conversation Saturday night as an illustration of
the kind of job that Higgins used to do but didn't get any more,
nor did it have any chance of getting.  Kathy continued, "You
know our work.  I think you know the dedication we bring to a
job.  Moreover, you and Mike have known each other and have been
friends for years.  Now, Jim, what will it take for Higgins to
get that contract?"

Jim Duffy had been amused and flattered when Mike told him he was
bringing Kathy Carlson over to meet him.  He had been truly
devastated by her charm and beauty when he met her.  Like Mike,
Jim was also a widower, living alone without feminine
companionship.  But now this lovely girl was talking business --
and more important, talking sense.  Listening to her, he realized
the degree to which he and Mike, two men with everything in
common, had been drifting apart.  Thinking about it, he realized
his earlier comment had also been very accurate: the lawyers --
on both sides -- had screwed up a longstanding relationship.

Now Kathy was exposed to the solid businessman that Jim Duffy
was.  He started talking about requirements and Mike responded. 
She took a leather-covered lined pad out of her case and began to
make careful notes.  Occasionally, she would interject a legal
question and it would be quickly answered.  Remarkably, it was
all done in less than thirty minutes.

She glanced at her watch and found it was only three forty-five,
and her office was only minutes away from the club.  With a grin
she said, "Could I trust you two Irishmen to stay out of trouble
for about thirty minutes?  I'll be back by then, if it's okay
with you?"  They both amiably agreed while thinking that thirty
minutes was a long time to spend in the ladies' room.

The two ordered drinks from a passing waiter and began to
reminisce about the old days when they were both starting out in
the construction business.

Kathy found out that in Los Angeles there was an advantage to
driving an impressive car: Rather than driving it back to the
garage, the valet had it parked at the curb right in front of the
club.  She gave the attendant five dollars and her brightest
smile as he held the door for her.  He almost melted on thespot.

Returning to the office, she winked at Judy and went to her desk.
 Ali had already left for the day and Sandy was in Seattle;
Ginger was asleep leaning back in her chair with her bare feet,
as usual, resting on her desk top.  Sitting down at her keyboard,
Kathy consulted her notes, organized her thoughts, and began to
type.  With her nimble fingers flying over the keys, the
three-page letter was completed in less than fifteen minutes. 
She thought about putting contract bond paper into the printer
but rejected the idea.  This was, after all, only the first draft
of a contract with a value of roughly $50 million.

She was going to ask Ginger to review it quickly and went to her
office.  She saw her friend had a lovely little smile on her
sleeping face while her long fingers were slowly running up and
down her crotch.  Ginger was obviously dreaming about Charley so
Kathy let her sleep.

Racing back to the club she realized that it had been only
twenty-five minutes.  As she strode across the sitting room, all
the male heads turned to follow her progress.  When she saw the
men together, she was delighted.  It was clear that they had been
renewing their longstanding friendship.

When she was again in her seat, she passed out copies of the
draft contract and said, "Gentlemen, this is only a first draft.
But I wanted to see if it's at all close, and if it correctly
reflects our discussion."  She watched as each man carefully read
it through.  When they finished reading, Kathy's jaw dropped as
each man reached into his pocket in unison, pulled out his pen
and signed.  Still without a word, they exchanged copies and
signed the other's.

Then Mike took Kathy's copy from her nerveless hand, signed it
and passed it to Jim who signed it too.  Then he said, "Kathy, I
guess you should sign at the bottom as a witness, shouldn't you?"
 He passed all three copies to her and, with her hand shaking,
she signed all three copies, keeping one and giving each of the
men one.

Jim Duffy smiled warmly at her and said, "Kathy, I certainly hope
I'll be seeing more of you -- a lot more."  Then he frowned and
said, "Higgins, why do you let your damned lawyer waste so much
of our time.  Hell, it's only a contract for fifty mil and she
took..."  He glanced at his watch and continued, "...nearly an
hour."

Then he reflected for a minute, smiled and said, "I apologize,
Kathy.  I just remembered that the hour started when you first
brought up Pacific Center...  And we did get in about thirty
minutes of great reminiscing...  Oh, shit, I guess you're not so
bad, after all."  He reached out his hand to Mike Higgins.  The
two crushed each other's hands and then embraced.

Then Duffy rose, grinned broadly and said, "Come on, folks!  For
a couple of Irishmen, there's only one place to close a deal and
that's at the bar."  When Mike pointed out that it was a men's
bar, Jim only replied, "I want to meet the guy who thinks he's
tough enough to throw Kathy Carlson out of a bar.  I really do!"

They went to the bar where Mike loudly announced who was with
them, "Gentlemen, I am very proud to have here with me this
afternoon Katherine Carlson.  I'm sure you all heard about what
she did over the weekend.  Jim and I want to buy her a drink, and
I hope none of you mind."  Instead of objections, there was a
cheer and Jim and Mike proudly introduced Kathy to the members as
they crowded around.

At five o'clock, she looked at her watch and said, "Gentlemen, I
hope you'll excuse me.  It's five o'clock already, and I have to
go home and feed a hungry bear."  When they tried to get her to
join them for dinner, she politely but firmly refused.

When she arrived home, Ken was already there -- there had been
nothing to do at the job because the sewer had not yet been
repaired.  He looked at her and whistled softly, "Darling, I have
never seen you look so lovely!  You are unbelievable!"

She kissed him warmly and whispered, "Darling, this hairdo is
guaranteed not to come apart even after violent lovemaking.  And
I can't wait to try it out."*Chapter 12*

Driving in to work the next morning, Kathy felt wonderful. 
Reflecting on her life with Ken it seemed that each night was
better than the one before.  Last night had been the very best. 
Gently, she ran her fingers up her sore crotch and softly moaned,
remembering.  Ginger had certainly been right: The more she
worked to increase Ken's enjoyment, the greater was her own
pleasure.  Going up in the elevator she realized she was a little
late: it was already eight-fifteen.  Entering the office, she saw
Judy looking grim.  She was told that Mrs. Clifford wanted to see
her immediately.

Filled with foreboding -- Judy never referred to Ali as Mrs.
Clifford -- she went to Ali's office and found the door closed. 
After knocking, she went in and found Ginger sitting there along
with Sandy.  Ali was behind her desk, glaring at her.  Her first
words were, "Mrs. Carlson, what, in hell have you been doing?"

"Ma'am?" she replied with a question in her voice.  "I... I met
with Mike and Jim Duffy at their club.  We finished up at five
and I went home...  I don't understand."

"Young lady, do you know what your clients did last night? _Do
you?"_ Ali demanded.  Kathy just stood there in front of the desk
and realized her knees were shaking.  She just shook her head. 
"Those two idiots left the club after dinner and went to the most
expensive whorehouse in Los Angeles.  After inspecting every girl
there, they selected the closest two and spent the whole night
fucking them -- at fifteen-hundred dollars _each._  That's what
they did!

"You may have heard the quotes around 'the closest two,' and
wondered, closest to what?  The answer, of course?  The closest
to Kathy Carlson!  And you know what else?  None were close. 
Woman, what did you do to them last night to drive them into the
arms of whores?"

Kathy just shook her head.  Although she wanted to sit down
because her knees were feeling so weak, she realized that would
be the worst thing she could possibly do.  Now, although she was
truly frightened, she straightened her back and stood up
straight.

While she was talking, Ali's eyes had been flashing blue fire. 
Now she continued, "You may have noticed I said clients --
plural.  If you can believe it, those two idiots called me while
they're still naked in bed with the girls -- they claimed both
girls were knocked out, anyway.

"We have been retained as counsel by Pacific Construction on a
special basis: we represent them on all contract matters except
those involving Higgins Construction.  It is mutually agreed --
_both_ of those idiots were on the phone together -- that if
Higgins is involved, it is our client.  Our fee is $200,000 per
month..." 

Just then there was a quiet knock on the door.  Judy almost
tiptoed in and gave Ali an envelope murmuring, "This was just
delivered by special messenger, ma'am."  Leaving just as quietly
as she entered, she silently closed the door while Ali opened the
envelope, peered inside, shook her head sadly and just placed it
on her desk.  She had not removed whatever was inside.

"Do you know what this is?" she asked caustically.  Again Kathy
merely shook her head.  "It's a fucking cashier's check on Bank
of America for two-hundred grand."  She checked her watch and
shook her head again.  "How Duffy ever got a cashier's check at
eight-thirty in the morning is beyond me."

Now she was really glaring.  As she was about to speak, her phone
buzzed.  Kathy knew that Judy would not disturb the meeting for
anything but the most important matters.  Ali punched the
intercom button, listened for a moment and then punched a
flashing line button.

"This is Ali Clifford.  How may I help you?"  As she spoke she
punched another button turning on the phone's speaker.

Everyone heard a furious male voice say, "Clifford, you have one
hell of a nerve!"

"I beg your pardon," Ali interrupted politely.  "To whom am I
speaking?"

The voice identified himself as Homer Biggs, managing partner of
one of the largest law firms in town.  He had just gotten off the
phone with Jim Duffy, the firm's largest client, having been told
that the firm was dismissed forthwith and all Pacific
Construction files were to be immediately transferred to Clifford
& Jamison.  With her voice very calm, Ali merely thanked him and
said they would make appropriate arrangements to handle the files
when they were delivered.  Then Biggs blew his stack completely,
accusing Ali of pirating clients and grossly unethical conduct.

"In what way was our firm's conduct unethical?" she innocently
inquired.

"Why... why... why in taking advantage of our client.  Getting
him to sign a contract without even giving us a chance to review
it.  I'll seek your disbarment!"

"Mr. Duffy tells me that Mrs. Carlson's 'getting him to sign it'
consisted of giving him a copy of a first draft to read.  As a
matter of fact, Jim was teasing me earlier that it wasn't even on
contract bond paper, so he wants a reduction, at least in our
expense billing.  He claims that he was sitting beside Mr.
Higgins.  Mrs. Carlson gave copies to each of them to read. 
Earlier, they had discussions on the Pacific Center project --
the first discussions they had ever had, as a matter of fact. 
Mrs. Carlson asked a few questions and left them alone for
twenty-five minutes.  Frankly, they thought she had gone to the
ladies' room.  When she returned, she handed them the copies and
asked if the words were consistent with their earlier discussion.
 Each man read his copy.  Then each man took out his pen, signed,
and exchanged copies with the other.

"Now, Mr. Biggs, both Mr. Higgins and Mr. Duffy will swear to the
accuracy of what I have just told you.  In fact, they are the
ones who told me.  I have not even spoken to Mrs. Carlson about
the matter.

"Furthermore, as you may know, we have Sandra Harris on our
staff.  I suspect you know her, or at least know of her.  She is
conceded by experts to be the finest trial lawyer in the State of
California.  It seems Mr. Duffy anticipated your call.  I have
been instructed to file for slander and defamation of character
against both your firm and you personally if one word of this
discussion leaks out.  Furthermore, we will be representing
ourselves as well as Higgins Construction and Pacific
Construction in any such action."

There was steel in Ali's voice as she concluded, "Am I making
myself clear, sir?"

It was obvious to everyone that Biggs was defeated.  In a dead
tone of voice he said, "Please forget everything I just said,
Mrs. Clifford.  I apologize.  We will make arrangements to have
all files delivered to your office no later than the close of
business next Monday.  Will that be satisfactory, ma'am?"

Apparently he thought it wasn't fully, so he added, "I will also
send you by special messenger a letter from me stating that the
new relationship between Clifford & Jamison and Pacific
Construction was entered into following the highest ethical
standards of the legal profession."

"Thank you, Mr. Biggs," Ali replied sweetly.  "That's very kind
of you and it is a very nice thing for you to say.  I will pass
on your comments to Mrs. Carlson.  I'm sure she will be pleased."
 She hung up the phone and glared at Kathy.  The steel was back
in her voice as she said, "Consider it passed on."

Then she shook her head more in sorrow than in anger and asked,
"What in the name of God is wrong with you, woman?  Do you know
what you did?  Do you?" Ali demanded.  Kathy just shook her head.
 "You closed a fifty-million dollar deal, starting from scratch,
in less than one hour!  Mike Higgins even said that the entire
idea was yours.  He was just interested in trying to get a
contract on the job you've been working on.  He didn't even know
you knew anything about it, but then he remembered mentioning
Pacific Center in passing as illustrative of the kind of contract
that Higgins didn't have a chance of getting.  And you get it --
signed, sealed and delivered -- in less than _one hour!"_

Ali looked down at her desk top in what appeared to be a visible
effort to regain control.  When she looked up, she spoke in a
more reasonable tone of voice.  "Mrs. Carlson, did any
professional in Clifford & Jamison review your proposed contract?
 Anyone at all?"

For the first time Kathy spoke.  "No, ma'am.  You had already
left for the day and Miss Harris was in Seattle.  Mrs. Conrad was
in her office, but she was sleeping... dreaming, I guess.  I saw
the most beautiful little smile on her face and she was
unconsciously running her finger up and down her slit.  So I
didn't awaken her."  Standing up even straighter than before, she
finished, "No, ma'am.  No one reviewed it."

"Carlson, law firms would be out of business by the thousands if
we all did what you did last night.  Of course, you're not a
lawyer, but you have certainly worked in law offices.  Woman, we
bill _for time!_  Where in hell would we be if every lawyer
handled a fifty-million-dollar project in less than an hour?  My
God!  I shudder to think."

Then she shook her head and said, "There's nothing else to do. 
You're out of here for three weeks -- minimum!"  As she said it,
she turned her chair slightly and pointed her finger toward the
west.

Suddenly Kathy heard a gasp from Ginger, and her friend
exclaimed, "Oh, God, Ali!  No!  Please no!  Oh please!..."  Her
friends words died off in a flood of uncontrolled sobbing. 
Turning her body on the sofa, she put her head on her arm and
just cried with her back to the room.

Now Kathy was genuinely frightened.  She asked tremulously what
Ali meant.  Sandy, although visibly pale beneath her tan, asked,
"Ali, do you mean... _Kapalua?"_  Her voiced was hushed as she
spoke the last word.  When Ali just nodded, the girl really
turned pale.

Looking at Kathy she said, "You've heard of France's Devil's
Island?"  Kathy nodded once.  "The Soviet's Siberian Gulag?" 
Again a nod.  Sandy was so upset she could scarcely talk.  Even
as she spoke, her voice kept breaking and her words were
intermixed with sobs.  She said, "Kathy, Kapalua is at the
northwest corner of one of the most out-of-the-way islands in the
Hawaiian chain.  I guess you could call it the northwest corner
of nowhere.  It's well-guarded, and is surrounded by countless
miles of trackless pineapple plantations."

Then she shook her head and asked, "Kathy, do you remember
hearing of a leper colony years ago in Hawaii?"  The girl vaguely
remembered hearing of one and said so.  Sandy just nodded and
said, "The island's in sight of Kapalua.  Does that give you a
hint about the kind of place it is?"

Then she turned to Ali and pleaded, "But does it have to be three
weeks?  Ali, I know a number of people have survived one week,
and some have even survived two...  But three?  Have you no mercy
in your heart?  My God, the things this girl went through on
Saturday... Don't they count for anything?  Three weeks!? 
Please, Ali, no!"

Ali just glared at Sandy and said, "Look lady, you aren't a
partner here, yet.  Or are you asking to go, too?"

Sandy just collapsed, weeping.  Like Ginger, she turned her back
to the room, buried her face in her arms and just bawled.  Now
Kathy was so frightened she could scarcely talk.  Nevertheless,
she asked with her voice cracking, "Mrs. Clifford, could... could
Ken come with me?  I will accept the punishment if you will allow
that."

Instead of answering, Ali picked up her phone, buzzed Judy and
said, "Miss Jeffries, make it two tickets.  Mr. Carlson will be
going, too."  Then turning to Kathy she just pointed to a phone
and said, "Call him.  If he's willing, he will be picked up
in..."  Glancing at her watch, she estimated the driving time and
said, "...thirty minutes.  He need bring nothing with him except
the clothes on his back.  They will be returned to him when the
time is up...  Assuming you're still alive."

Glaring at Kathy, who was wearing the lovely dress from the night
before, Ali demanded, "Do you have a pair of jeans and a work
shirt here at the office?"  Kathy nodded.  "A pair of moccasins?"
 Again a nod.  "Okay.  You have five minutes to change.  A car
will be downstairs to meet you then.  Don't talk to the driver,
He knows nothing."

Just then there was another soft knock on the door.  Judy came in
looking terribly frightened.  She said, "Mrs. Clifford, as you
instructed, I tried to get the cheapest seats they had, but it's
very late and... and you said today's flight to Maui was a must,
so... so all they had was first class."  Kathy saw terror visible
in Judy's eyes as the badly frightened girl was waiting for the
roof to fall in.

All Ali said was, "Oh, shit!  Well, nothing else has gone right
this morning so how could I expect that this would?"  Then with a
sardonic grin she flipped the ticket folders to Kathy and said,
"I guess you might as well have some fun.  And eat well.  You'll
need the energy."

Kathy quickly changed, carefully hung up her beautiful clothes,
and then put on her Levi's and work shirt.  She picked up her
lovely jewelry -- she had found out the night before that it was
all 18-carat gold -- and softly knocked on Ali's door.

This time Ali was alone.  Putting the jewelry on Ali's desk, she
started to unfasten her watch bracelet but Ali stopped her. 
"Keep it.  Because it's engraved it can't be returned anyway." 
In a gesture of dismissal, Ali spun her chair around so its back
was to Kathy.  The girl left the office and went down in the
elevator.

Going out the door, she looked around and only then realized that
she had no idea what sort of transportation she should be looking
for.  Just then a uniformed chauffeur saluted and asked, "Mrs.
Carlson?"  She smiled and said she was and he opened the door of
a black limousine at the curb.  When she was seated, the driver
ran around to his door, got in, and smoothly pulled away.

No words were exchanged.  Clearly, the driver knew where he was
to take her.  Kathy was surprised when he stopped at the VIP
drop-off at United Airlines.  When he opened the door and she
stepped out, she was greeted by a senior passenger services
representative.  "Mrs. Carlson?"  Again she nodded, and the girl
said, "Welcome to United Airlines.  Mr. Carlson has already
arrived and is waiting for you in our VIP lounge.  Will you
please come with me?"

Kathy was then exposed to a facet of airline service she never
knew even existed.  Of course, she knew of first-class travel,
although she had never done any herself. _As a matter of fact,_
she thought, _this is the very first flight of my life._  Then
she added a silent prayer that it wouldn't be the last. 
Moreover, Kathy knew of the existence of passenger clubs such as
United's Red Carpet Club.  But she was taken to a special suite
of rooms adjacent to the Red Carpet Club, but not a part of it. 
The representative introduced Kathy to a woman who was a special
hostess who, in turn, took her to a private room.  It was like a
small sitting room with a floor-to-ceiling window opening out on
the flight line.

Ken had his back to the door watching the aircraft operations
when Kathy entered.  Replying to the hostess that she wanted
nothing while they waited, she ran to his arms, explained what
was happening to them and then broke down in uncontrollable
weeping.  Ken scooped her up in his strong arms, carried her to
the sofa and sat down with Kathy sitting across his lap.  He just
held her tightly and listened to her cry with her face buried in
his shoulder.

As he held her, she quickly quieted down.  She remembered her
words of weeks earlier.  She really didn't care where she was, as
long as Ken could be with her.  Now she realized it was true.  It
really didn't matter where she was or what they might do to her
as long as Ken could be there.  Finally regaining control, she
quickly told Ken what had happened that morning.

Then she just looked at him and he could see the pleading in her
eyes.  He lowered his mouth to hers and melted her with a kiss. 
Again she felt the wonderful electricity flowing between them. 
Everything was fine again.  She was in her husband's arms.

When they boarded the plane, a trans-Pacific Boeing 747, they
were shown to seats far forward in the first-class section.  The
seats were spacious with foldout leg rests and seat-backs that
reclined almost to the horizontal to become like beds.  With the
need for all the between-rows space to accommodate the reclining
backs, Kathy found she could not even reach the back of the seat
in front of her.  She was in the window seat and enjoyed watching
all the ground activity.  While she did, she sipped on champagne
that the airline provided while they were waiting to push back
from the gate.

The flight itself was very comfortable and they enjoyed the food
and the service.  Instead of watching the movie, Kathy reclined
her seat and went to sleep.  Since it was a war movie, and Ken
had had a great deal more sleep than Kathy anyway, he watched it.
 After landing on Maui, since they had no luggage, they were the
first passengers to leave the arrivals area.

They looked around not knowing what to expect.  This time they
saw a uniformed man with a neatly printed sign that said, "Mr. &
Mrs. Carlson".  After identifying themselves, he greeted them and
escorted them to a limousine parked at the curb with its motor
running.  He did not act at all surprised by their lack of
baggage, but just got in and pulled away.

Although they had no idea of where they were going, they talked
about it quietly and concluded that they were being taken to a
boat or a light-plane airfield in order to get to whatever island
Kapalua was on.  They reached the west coast of the island and
turned north, driving past an array of hotels and condos.  Ken
commented that it looked like Miami Beach with grass.  When the
road started to pass between pineapple fields that just seemed to
extend forever, Kathy wondered, _Could Kapalua possibly be on
Maui?  I doubt it._

Then the car passed through a gate-house where a guard saluted. 
Suddenly, the whole vista changed.  From unbroken acres of
pineapple fields, they found themselves in the most beautiful
setting either had ever seen.  There were manicured golf courses
and what appeared to be small groups of condos beautifully sited
to least intrude on the setting.

The car drove slowly past what seemed to be a small village and
then continued up a driveway that swept them into a covered hotel
entrance.  The car had no sooner stopped when the door was opened
and a tall brown-haired man wearing a blue blazer and grey slacks
greeted them He appeared to be in his mid-thirties.  On his
blazer pocket was a strange emblem: a fuchsia butterfly -- a
Kapalua.  "Mr. and Mrs. Carlson?"

They got out of the car and shook hands.  He said, "Welcome to
Kapalua.  I'm Henry Wellington, the general manager of the
property.  It is my personal pleasure for me to welcome you
both."

Turning to Ken he said, "Captain Carlson, I never thought I would
have the privilege of meeting you.  I was over there, too, with
the 101st Airborne.  We all heard of Carlson's Rangers.  All the
stories -- and there were dozens -- were told in hushed and
reverent tones."

Turning to Kathy he said, "Mrs. Carlson, even out here in the far
corner of nowhere, we heard about the incredible rescue you made
last Saturday.  Ma'am, I have heard of some brave actions in my
time, but I have never heard a story like yours!  You swim and
dive in a sewer.  You cut a man out of his boot that's trapped by
shoring timber and somehow get his foot clear.  You're underwater
with him while the whole trench is about to collapse.  You get
him out, resuscitate him, and somehow set his broken leg."  He
shook his head and said, "Ma'am, I know what you did.  Airborne
troops always do dumb things, starting with jumping out of flying
aircraft.  Broken legs are an occupational hazard.  It happened
to one of my guys and with five of us together we weren't strong
enough to pull the bone back far enough to get it into alignment.
 And we like to think that we're big, tough and very strong.  Yet
you did it by yourself!"  With that he gave Kathy a meticulous
salute.

Then he said, "The whole staff has been alerted.  I can't tell
you how happy we are that you chose to spend your honeymoon with
us."  Turning to Kathy he said, "Mrs. Clifford is holding on the
phone in my office, ma'am.  She needs to talk with youurgently."

By this time it was clear to Kathy what had happened.  She winked
at Ken and followed Wellington.  He sat her in his chair and
handed her the phone.  One line was just winking steadily.  She
punched it and said, "Damn it, Clifford, you did it to me again!
That's twice in just two days.  When am I going to learn?"

She heard Ali's laughter on the phone and then she said,
"Darling, I'm so sorry!  But look: I'm supposed to be an actress,
and I have to practice on _somebody!"_

"But why does it always have to be _me?"_ Kathy wailed.  Then she
said, "Now it's becoming clear: I teach cooking; Judy handles the
workouts; Ginger handles the fashions, while you teach acting. 
Look, Clifford, I know you're a great actress, but how in hell
did you get Conrad, Harris and Jeffries to go along?"

"It wasn't a complete success," Ali grumped.  "There was
absolutely no way we could get Joan to keep a straight face.  She
was just hopeless so she lost her part in the play."

She paused and then said, "Sandy had the best role.  Of course,
I've always maintained -- and she agrees -- that you have to have
a lot of ham in you to be a trial lawyer, anyway.  Ginger found
out that shoulders shaking from weeping or from laughter shake
pretty much the same way.  Incidentally, Carlson, you played
right into our hand.  If you hadn't asked for Ken to go, too, the
jig was up right there.  Ginger was certain you would ask for
him, though, and she was right.

"By the way, do you know what those two idiots have done now?  I
told you about last night and the whorehouse?  Well, this
afternoon, Jim Duffy's phone rings.  It's Kimberly Moyer, one of
their bed partners from last evening.  She wants to see him. 
Expecting a shakedown, Mike is with him in his office when two
women are announced.  It's Kimberly and her friend, Kristin
Callahan.  Do you know what they want?  They gave back the three
thousand that the guys had spent and asked them out tonight. 
That is, the girls are taking the guys out!  Would you believe
it?

"They're still fighting about a thousand of it, though.  It seems
that the house takes a third, so one thousand of the refund was
the girls' own money.  They claim they didn't know there were any
real men left in Los Angeles.  They had given up hope.  In spite
of both being in their late twenties, they said they never had
such an experience in their lives, and it was utterly thrilling
to get laid side by side.  Anyway, the two idiots give you credit
for doing that, too.

"Incidentally, after you left, the idiots brought over their
copies of the contract you executed for them.  Kathy, it was the
finest piece of contract work I have ever seen!  It could be a
model for how it should be done.  Actually, we had fun.  First,
yours is the tightest drafting I have ever seen.  There's not so
much as a single superfluous word that any of us could find --
and that includes Sandy and Ginger.

"Then we went on a little treasure hunt.  The guys would pick on
a word or phrase and we would tell them what it meant. 
Inevitably, they would compare notes and it would take care of
some point that they had mentioned in passing during their
discussion, but weren't even aware that you had heard.  Darling,
it is simply super!  And completed end-to-end from a standing
start in less than an hour.  Kath, they think you walk on water.
And you know something else?  I think so, too."

"Ali," Kath asked, "I know you're a good actress, but I've never
seen anything like the way you looked this morning.  You were so
mad, blue sparks were flashing from your eyes.  How did you do
it?"

Kathy could hear Ali giggling girlishly as she replied, "Because
I wasn't acting -- I was mad."  She paused and then corrected
herself.  "Actually I wasn't mad, I was scared, but the two
emotions are fairly close."

Now her voice took on its normal warmth as she continued, "Honey,
you know I'm married to Bill Clifford, but you might not know who
he is.  He's one of the wealthiest men in the world, with a net
worth in ten digits.  Anyway, the last thing we need is more
money.  Bill says it creates nothing but tax problems and we
don't have the foggiest idea what to do with what we already
have.

"You see, it was only on our honeymoon that I found out why Bill
was so enthusiastic about our law office and insisted on its
palatial furnishings: he saw it as a great opportunity to spend
some money.  He almost died when I got Boeing as a client. 
Higgins and Duffy combined are _six times_ Boeing."

With the time difference it was now nine-thirty in Los Angeles so
Kathy said, "Well, I guess he knows now.  What did he say?"

"The bum absolutely howled with laughter," Ali grumped.  "In fact
you might even be able to hear him in the background.  Every time
he thinks of it, he starts to giggle again."  She sounded
disgusted as she added, "Christ, can you imagine a grown man
giggling?"

"What did he think was so funny?" Kathy asked.

"The bum!" Ali responded.  "He has the unmitigated gall to say
that it confirms something he claims to have known all along: one
good secretary is better than any ten lawyers any day.  And ten
times more productive, too.  Then he has the nerve to tell me
that, as much as he loves me, he's coming to love you every bit
as much."

Then Ali shifted gears and became both serious and warm.  "Kath,
this is your honeymoon, even if it is over a year late.  Ginger
told me that you spent your wedding night in a cheap motel on the
road down to Los Angeles.  She says you have never traveled
anywhere in your life.  Honey, Kapalua is where Bill and I spent
our honeymoon.  I really think you'll love it."

Then her voice became strong again as she added, _"However,_ if I
hear of you or Ken spending so much as _one cent_ of your own
money, I'm sending you both to Devil's Island!  Understand?"

"Oh, yes, Allison McGrath Clifford, your highness, ma'am," Kathy
replied with a giggle.  "It's too bad my lady can't see me.  I am
on my knees with my forehead touching the floor while my body is
aimed towards Los Angeles, your worship."

"Look, bitch!  Most of it was okay, but 'your worship' is only
used to address a bishop!  Now get the lines down, damn it!" 
Then her voice changed again and she said, "Darling, have a
wonderful time.  There have never been two people who deserved it
more.  Now, do you have any questions?"

"Not a question, an order!" Kathy grated.  "Look _bitch!_  In the
future I will thank you to stop referring to my clients as 'those
two idiots'!  They are supporting the firm, after all."  Kathy
could still hear Ali howling with laughter as the connection was
broken.  She shook her head and went off to find Ken and Mr.
Wellington.

She found them sitting in lounge chairs off the lobby.  It was
obvious that they were comparing war stories from Vietnam and had
already become good friends.  Kathy wanted to pull up another
chair and just sit down to listen.  However, as soon as the men
saw her coming, they both rose.

Wellington retrieved a chair and seated her, then said, "I guess
this is as good a place as any to fill you in.  I think you
deserve a little advance warning.  First, everything is covered
in advance.  And I mean _everything!_  First, Ali called to make
all the arrangements."  Looking at Ken he said, "I saw her
entertain the troops over there one time, and I've been madly in
love with her ever since, so what she says goes.  But then I get
a call from her husband, Bill.  In spite of having more money
than anyone can count, he's a wonderful guy.  He says he's
personally covering any expenses _without limit!_  I asked him,
'What if they want to charter a jet and fly to Australia?' His
reply?  'What's the problem?  Charter the damned jet!'

"Then I get a call this morning from the owner of the property. 
I gather, Kathy, he only met you last night.  You see, the place
is owned by Pacific Properties which is another of Jim Duffy's
operations.  Bill Clifford has been negotiating to buy it from
him.  Anyway, he says he learned you were coming out.  He says
you are to be treated like royalty.  What does that mean?  It
means that the suites over you, under you, and the rooms on each
side have been emptied and will remain vacant for the duration of
your stay.  I have assigned personal maids to service you
twenty-four hours a day.

"At Ali's insistence, the bed is brand-new, even though we had to
charter a plane to fly one over from Oahu this morning."  He
reddened and added, "She says that bedroom exercise is hard on a
bed, and since you're in the same suite they were in, Ali was
certain they had already worn the other one out.

"You will find a case of Dom Perignon champagne on ice in the
room.  We couldn't find a place for the caviar, but the maids can
get it for you.  There are fresh flowers -- _some_ fresh
flowers."  He looked a little embarrassed as he added, "Honestly,
there was no way we could put all the flowers that have been
ordered for you in the suite.  It's big, but even if we could
have physically fit them all in, it would have looked like a
funeral.  Anyway, you'll be here for three weeks and we have
enough orders we can replace them every day.  Of course, I will
be happy to provide you with all the cards at once so you can
acknowledge them now, if you wish.

"Finally, clothing: The maids have sorted and hung up all of the
clothes that are here for you two.  They sort of fill up all the
drawers and closets."  Wellington looked up in the air as he
mentally reviewed all the points he wanted to cover.  He
remembered one and jerked out of his reverie: "My gosh, I almost
forgot: your golf and tennis gear -- stuff like that.  There are
loaded lockers in both places.  As you heard, though, if there's
anything else you want, just mention it.  We'll get it,
regardless of what it is."

Then he rose to his feet and grinned broadly saying, "You know,
this is really turning out to be fun!  Mrs. Carlson, with the
possible exception of Mrs. Clifford herself, you are the most
beautiful woman it has ever been my good fortune to meet.  As far
as Mr. Carlson is concerned, as I said earlier, we all heard
about Captain Kenneth Carlson.  He's probably the greatest
military hero in the history of our country.  In other words, you
are people who deserve every honor, and I am absolutely delighted
that all of the powers have decreed, that, by damn, you will get
them."  He stuck out his hand and said, "Once again, welcome!"

Ken gripped his hand and then Kathy did, too.  He was startled by
the strength in her grip.  Then she gave him a sunshine smile and
asked, "You did say that you would do absolutely anything for us,
didn't you, Mr. Wellington?"

"I certainly did, Mrs. Carlson.  It sounds like there's something
on your mind.  What is it?"

With another brilliant smile she said, "Great!  It is therefore
decreed that henceforth we are Ken and Kathy!  We are _not_ Mr.
and Mrs. Carlson.  Clear?"  When he quickly nodded, she gave him
a shy smile and asked, "And may I call you Henry?"

He grinned and shook her hand again saying, "Hell, no, you can't
call me Henry!"  Her face fell and then brightened into a grin
when he continued, "The name is Hank, damn it!"*Chapter 13*

Wellington escorted them to a corner suite and unlocked the door.
 Their room was utterly magnificent with a view through the palm
trees to the Pacific with the island of Molokai across the
channel in the distance.  Kathy thought the vista was utterly
breathtaking.

Then Hank called, "Marie?  Celeste?  Are you here?"  Two lovely
Asian girls appeared from the bedroom wearing identical
immaculate uniforms.  Kathy gasped as she realized they were
identical twins with no apparent difference between them.

Hank grinned and said, "We never know which is which, either.  If
there's a way to tell them apart, we've never found it.  But they
are our very best."  Turning to the girls, he said, "It's my
pleasure to introduce Kathy and Ken Carlson.  They are the
honored guests for whom we've been preparing."

The girls looked up at Ken -- they were scarcely over five feet
in height -- and gasped.  What happened next astounded everybody.
 The girls dropped to their knees and kissed his shoes.  They
remained with their faces on the floor, apparently worshiping
him, or praying.  Ken was red with embarrassment and Hank didn't
know what to do.

Suddenly the two girls jumped to their feet and asked, "Mr.
Wellington, are these the people we are to serve?"

"They sure are," he replied, still amazed at their behavior.

Then Kathy noticed something about the girls.  It was as if they
shared a brain.  When they were talking -- and their voices were
identical -- it seemed as if they almost took turns with words. 
Although they were both speaking, only one was.  They said, "May
we take an immediate leave of absence?  Without pay, of course. 
We will stay here in the suite to serve these people -- the other
bedroom is empty.  There will be no pay, of course, but we will
not leave them.  Is that all right with you?"

Wellington was absolutely baffled.  He said, "If I understand you
two correctly, you will serve the Carlsons but you will not
accept any money.  And instead of alternating between you, you
will both be on duty twenty-four hours a day.  Did I hear you
right?"

Two heads nodded in unison.  The two girls were now side by side
on their knees with their weight back on their heels.  As they
knelt on the floor, Kathy noticed that their figures were
diminutive, but utterly perfect.

Then they said, "We owe you an explanation.  You see, Captain
Carlson is our savior.  We lived in a small village in Vietnam
and we were relatively rich.  Our father was the mayor of our
little town.  Then, one day, the North Vietnamese troops overran
us.  Only because he was the mayor, they took our father out to
the town square, made him kneel down, and then shot him in the
head.  Our mother broke free from the guards and ran to him to
hold him in her arms as he died.  For breaking away, they shot
her in the head, too.  Then they seized us, tied us up and made
us watch as they brought our schoolmates out to the square in
front of us -- we were in a girl's high school then.  They raped
them one by one and made us watch as our friends were bleeding in
the dirt.  Sooner or later, they all died, too.

"Then they turned their attention to us.  They erected a sort of
scaffold in the middle of the square.  They tied us together face
to face and then suspended us by our wrists from the center of
the scaffold.  Then two men began to whip us from each side as we
slowly turned in the air.  They laughed and joked about what they
were going to do to us and how long we would last.

"The next thing was to take us down, tie us back to back and whip
our breasts and loins.  Then they would rape us and torture us in
every way they could conceive.  One of the things they were
looking forward to was slicing off our breasts, cauterizing our
chests, and cooking them.  The betting was that we could absorb
at least two full days of torture before we died.  Then they were
getting ready to brand us both in different places to be able to
tell us apart for purposes of their betting: which one would live
longer.

"They had a branding iron getting red hot in a charcoal brazier
when suddenly they disappeared in a hail of bullets.  Even though
we were now far beyond Allied lines, it was Carlson's Rangers. 
We were half dead when an incredibly strong man took us in his
arms, lifted us up, and with a stroke of his knife cut us down
from the scaffold."

They looked up at Ken reverently and said softly, "It was you,
Captain.  Do you remember?  Do you remember carrying us into the
jungle?  Do you remember laying us on a clean tarp and treating
our lacerated backs while your men stood guard?  Do you?  Do you
remember two girls who said they would love you forever?  Do you,
sir?"

Kathy was overwhelmed.  She had just learned about Ken in Vietnam
from Mike and Mickey Higgins.  She claimed to owe her life to
Ken's inspiration.  These girls, on the other hand, claimed to
owe him their lives as a result of his direct action.  She looked
at him now and saw his head nodding.

There were tears in his eyes as he said, "Yes, darlings, I
remember.  I remember two indomitable young girls, tortured
beyond human endurance, walking with me out of the jungle.  I
remember two girls who insisted on cooking for me, washing me...
loving me."

Then they asked, "Is this... Kathy?  Of the Kathy-grams?"  Ken
just nodded and they moved in front of Kathy and looked up at
her.  They shook their heads and said, "He was right and we were
wrong, we regret to say.  You are so beautiful...  Exactly the
way he described you.  And you love him so much...  God knows, he
loves you, and always has.  Mrs. Carlson," they pleaded, "Will
you do us the great honor of allowing us to serve you?  Please?"
Tears were flowing from their beautiful grey eyes as they said,
"He saved our lives, Mrs. Carlson.  And, since you inspired both
him and his troops, you did, too.  Please, ma'am, we beg you! 
Will you permit it?"

Kathy smiled warmly and held out her arms.  Instantly the two
girls were in her arms, smothering her with kisses and thanking
her at the same time.  With their arms still around Kathy's neck,
they turned to Hank and said, "Mr. Wellington, we have everything
under control now.  And please, sir, don't forget to sign us out
for our leave of absence."

Hank dried his eyes and Ken escorted him to the door.  At the
door, he turned to Ken and said, "I guess it is really a pretty
small world, isn't it.  Ken, those girls are truly remarkable
young women.  I hope you learn a little of how remarkable they
really are.  As far as I'm concerned, all I can say is you
certainly saved a couple of lives that were very much worth
saving.  I am sure they'll take very good care of you both."  So
saying, he let himself out and Ken bolted the door behind him.

Returning to the sitting room, he saw the two girls with their
eyes gleaming.  They said, "We were told this is your honeymoon.
But you don't act like you were only married today."

Kathy smiled and explained that they had been married over a year
earlier but had never had a honeymoon.  The girls looked at each
other, grinned, and said, "In that case, we're in the wrong
uniform.  We must get into our honeymoon uniforms."  They
disappeared into the suite's second bedroom.

Moments later they reappeared, stark naked.  Each went to a
Carlson and started loosening his clothing.  The one in front of
Kathy unbuttoned her shirt and pulled out its tails.  Only then
did she realize Kathy was not wearing a bra.  For her part, Kathy
studied the girl and realized she was perfectly formed and shaped
but only about five feet tall.  Except for their the dark hair on
their heads the two girls were hairless.

Kathy reached out and touched the girl's nipple and gently
tweaked it, bringing it instantly to a full erection.  The girl
just leaned her head back and closed her eyes, murmuring, "Thank
you, Mrs. Carlson.  That feels so wonderful!"

Kathy spoke up and said, "There is one rule, effective right now!
 We are Ken and Kathy!  We are _not_ Mr. and Mrs. Carlson. 
Hear?"

The two girls looked at her and shook their heads.  "We're sorry,
but we can't do that.  We will compromise, though.  You are Lady
Kathy -- or Our Lady -- and he is Sir Ken.  He is, after all, our
knight in shining armor who rescued us from the dragon, and you
are his lady fair."  Together they grinned and added, "Although,
to be honest, his armor was a little tarnished that day.  It's
awfully hard to keep armor polished in the jungle, you see.  It
tends to get sort of grubby, and it rusts."

Ken was feeling a little embarrassed seeing the beautiful
feminine figures, fully exposed.  "Could I persuade you two to
put on some clothes, though.  You can't believe what you're doing
to me!"

"Yes, we can," they replied.  "We're getting your cock in shape
to make love to Our Lady -- to consummate your marriage.  And the
answer is no.  This is our working uniform."

As they turned away to serve, Kathy saw their backs and said,
"Come back here, please.  Down on your knees with your backs to
us."  The girls fearfully complied, kneeling on the floor right
in front of the sofa.  Kathy looked at the beautiful girls' backs
and became almost physically ill.  Both girls still carried the
very visible scars of what must have been the whipping they
described.  Then she said, "Stand up, please.  Right where you
are."  Again they complied.  Now she could see scars
crisscrossing their buttocks and the backs of their thighs.

While the girls' backs were turned, she looked meaningfully at
Ken.  She said, "Thank you.  Now just sit down here between us."
Again there was compliance.  Kathy turned to the girl closest to
her, slipped off her own shirt, and folded the girl against her
bare body just holding her tight.

The girl's first reaction was to pull away, but then she just
relaxed in Kathy's arms, while she kissed her all over and just
stroked her hair.  As she kissed her ear, she could feel the girl
burrow, and then kiss her body.  Finally she searched for Kathy's
closest nipple, took it into her mouth and alternately sucked and
lightly bit it.  Kathy pulled the girl's head tightly against her
tits and could feel a wetness that she was virtually certain was
caused by the small girl's tears.  At the same time, Kathy was
delighted to see that Ken had done exactly the same thing to the
other twin, and was murmuring endearments in her dainty ear. 
From the way the girl's back moved, it was obvious that she was
chafing her tits against Ken's chest.

As he held the girl, he looked over her head at Kathy and said,
"Darling, I lied to you.  I remember telling you that you were
the first woman I ever slept with.  Well, it's not true.  You
were the third.  The first and second were these two.

"Honey, it happened the first night after their torture.  You can
see how badly they were beaten.  Try to imagine what it was like
that night.  These were all open cuts, and most were still
bleeding.  I got in my sleeping bag and these two got in with
me."  With a small smile he added, "Then, as now, they didn't
take up much space.  Anyway, in spite of their terrible ordeal,
they lay on my chest and insisted that I hold them tight.  Kath,
you can see there was no possible place to touch them without
having my hand on a number of cuts across each of them.  They
didn't even whimper.  Do you know what they did?  They kissed me
everywhere they could.  I have never seen two people endure such
pain without a whimper.

"But, honey, that wasn't even the end.  You can see how small
they are.  When we're in the jungle, we don't carry much in the
way of clothes other than a spare pair of socks or two, plus what
we're wearing.  These two girls were naked and walked barefoot
for five days through the jungle.  By the time we got out, their
footprints were outlined in blood."  Looking down at the girl in
his arms, he could see that the soles of her feet were still
scarred.  "Look at their feet.  You will see what I mean..." 
Kathy eased the girl in her arms away, lifted her chin and kissed
her full on the lips.

It was clear that Kathy's kiss was totally unexpected and the
girl's lips were tight.  An instant later, when she felt the
softness in Kathy's lips along with the warmth and tasted the
sweetness of her lips, she melted.  It was the most beautifully
loving kiss she had ever had.  Then the girl finally pulled back
and looked up into Kathy's eyes, and slowly shook her head.

"What's wrong, darling?" Kathy asked.

The girl's eyes were still filled with tears as she replied, "No
one has ever kissed me the way you just did, My Lady.  Never! 
Not even my mother or father."  Then she just shook her head,
looking chagrined and added, "It never would have worked,
anyway..."

"What wouldn't have worked?" Kathy asked, puzzled.

"My Lady, all our savior could talk about, even when my sister
and I were crushing our tits against his broad chest, was you. 
You were his reason for being.  My sister and I knew that his sex
was so huge it would utterly rip us apart.  Nevertheless, and in
view of our condition, we thought it would be a wonderful way to
die."

With a hint of a smile she added, "Even then, and in spite of
being two against one, we were overmatched.  Your kiss, My Lady,
carries the least hint of what it must be like for Sir Ken." 
Then she asked, "Would you kiss him please?  Just once?"

With a warm smile and with the girl still on her lap, Kathy slid
over towards Ken, who, having heard the exchange, was already
moving in her direction.  Then, with their bare shoulders
touching and with a twin in each of their arms, their mouths came
together.

Kathy's lips were as soft as she could make them at first contact
with Ken's.  Her tongue probed into his mouth and immediately
contacted his.  This time the electricity almost caused Kathy to
pass out and she was nearly deafened by the bells she could hear
ringing in her head.  Involuntarily, she squeezed the girl in her
arms tightly, while her lips just fused to Ken's.

When they slowly parted, Kathy murmured, "Wow!" and winked at
Ken.

He just winked back as he relaxed his pressure on the girl in his
arms.  When he did, the girl turned her head, looked at her
sister and said, "Sister, it would never have worked.  I think
Sir Ken may have accidentally cracked at least four of my ribs
just now.  We're just not big enough or strong enough to be able
to live with him.  And that's disregarding the fact that our two
cunts joined together could not accommodate his sex which, in
spite of his pants, almost drove through my bottom when he was
melting Milady with his kiss."

She shook her head and said, "Dear sister, as much as it pains me
to say it, she can take him; we cannot."  Then with a wonderfully
warm smile she said, "But can you possibly imagine a more
perfectly matched couple?"  Then with a grin she wriggled out of
Ken's arms and said, "Come on, sister.  We're being paid to serve
them, not to soak up their love."

The other girl grinned back and wriggled out of Kathy's arms. 
Going to their knees, they said, "Do Sir Ken and Our Lady wish
dinner this evening?  If so, would you rather eat in the dining
room, or here, or where?"  Ken and Kathy looked at each other and
just shook their heads.  "In that case," they said, "why don't we
serve a light snack while you decide?"  The girls disappeared
into a small serving pantry and came back almost immediately. 
One was carrying a large tray while the other had two champagne
flutes and a bottle of Dom Perignon.  The bottle was quickly
opened and two glasses were poured.

When Kathy was served, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Aren't
you two going to drink to our health or something?  Get two more
glasses.  Now!"

The girl jumped to her feet and was back almost immediately with
two more glasses.  She poured a glass for her sister and then one
for herself.  The two girls, now on their knees in front of the
married couple, raised their glasses and said, "To Sir Ken and
Lady Kathy: Without both of them -- his courage and her
inspiration -- we would not be alive today.  To the most
beautiful and the most loving couple in the world, Kenneth and
Katherine Carlson: May you have all the blessings of God on your
marriage now and forever."  Then she murmured, "Amen."  With that
she tipped the glass in unison with her sister.

Raising his glass, Ken offered a toast, "To the Trang sisters,
Marie and Celeste: My one regret is that we bailed out and left
wonderful people defenseless against naked aggression.  On the
other hand, by rescuing you and getting you to the United States,
we managed to save the very best of a very fine people, the
Vietnamese.  Thank you.  May God bless you and keep you, guide
you and protect you, until you achieve the happiness you so
richly deserve."

Kathy murmured, "Amen!" while the girls were struck utterly
speechless.

"But, Sir Ken!" they exclaimed.  "You can't say that, let alone
pray it -- and that was a prayer, not a toast.  How could you say
such a thing?  It's not right."

"Because," Ken and Kathy said in unison, exactly like the girls,
"it's the truth!  You make us feel humble in the presence of such
courage and bravery under unspeakable conditions."

The girls then asked how they liked their caviar.  Since neither
Ken nor Kathy could ever afford it, they had never eaten it and
couldn't answer the question.  The girls quickly prepared canapes
and then knelt on the sofa feeding them.  When Kathy protested
that she was capable of feeding herself, the girl replied
haughtily that, of course she was able to, but was not allowed
to.  The girls insisted they were going to do as many things for
the Carlsons as they possibly could.

When the phone rang one of the girls scampered to answer it,
saying, "The Carlson suite.  May I help you?"  Whatever the
caller said brought a brief look of dismay to her face.  Then she
just said, "Make it ten o'clock at the Bay Course, sir," and hung
up.  When asked, she said it had been the director of golf
operations.  No one had been allowed to book a tee time for the
following day until the Carlsons had chosen theirs, so she did.

After eating the rich caviar and having another glass of
champagne, Kathy looked at Ken who just shook his head.  Then he
looked at her and said with a leer, "Woman, I want you where you
belong: naked in my bed with your legs spread wide!"

Kathy just replied, stifling a grin, "But sir...  I'm so
innocent.  How... How do I know you will not hurt me?"

Ken just grinned and winked.

The girls then escorted the two to the bedrooms, with Kathy going
into their own while Ken was taken to the other.  While the girl
was undressing her, Kathy noticed a wedge-shaped scar on her
shoulder that was not on her sister's.  Kathy concluded that the
whip had peeled a wedge of skin which had subsequently reattached
itself, leaving the scar.

When she was naked, the girl was on her knees and just put her
weight back on her heels looking up at Kathy carefully, while
slowly shaking her head.  Finally she said, "My Lady, you are
utterly exquisite!  Never have I seen such a perfect female body.
 You are a fitting consort for Sir Ken.  Now, if you will come
with me..."  She led the way into the bathroom.

She ran the shower -- the suite had both a tub and a separate
stall shower -- tested the water temperature, then got into it
with Kathy.  She scrubbed her body with a terry wash cloth,
concentrating on her back and loins.  When she was satisfied, she
asked Kathy to kneel and then shampooed her hair.  After
conditioning it, she carefully rinsed her off and shut off the
water.

Instead of getting dried off, though, Kathy was surprised to see
the girl start to run water into the bathtub.  As the water
filled the tub, the girl nearly emptied a bottle of musk oil in
it, then helped Kathy in.  While Kathy felt her body soak
luxuriously, the girl was drying her hair and then styling it
exactly the way Henry had done it the day before.  The water was
uncomfortably hot, but when Kathy complained, she was told that
it was necessary to open her pores to absorb the expensive oil
into her skin.  Then ethe girl got to her knees and began to
manipulate Kathy's labia, and used a very soft cloth carefully to
wash and perfume her sex.  The heat of the water coupled with her
fatigue -- the tensions of the day were now catching up with her
-- and the girl's ministrations almost put her to sleep.  Finally
the girl drained the tub, helped her out and carefully dried her
off.

Then she was led back to the bedroom.  The girl -- Kathy was
thinking of her as Marie, but, of course, she could have been
Celeste -- opened a door which Kathy realized connected to the
next room beyond the suite.  She disappeared, but moments later
reappeared pushing a massage table.  Putting it into position,
she set the wheel brakes so it could no longer roll, then
motioned Kathy to lay on it, face down.  She opened a large
bottle of oil and began to work on Kathy's arms and shoulders,
massaging the oil in.  When she asked, Kathy was told it was musk
oil, an expensive perfume base which enhanced natural odors.

As Marie worked -- in fact, she was the girl -- she was utterly
astonished.  With her strong fingers she encountered something
unique in her experience.  Instead of easily moving the muscles
beneath Kathy's skin, she found nothing but solid muscle mass
covered by the smoothest, softest skin.  Nevertheless, she found
some knotted muscles that still remained from the morning's
tension and carefully kneaded out the knots.  She continued down
the woman's body and found that the sensation just repeated: soft
skin over smooth but very powerful muscles.  Finishing with her
calf muscles, she managed to roll Kathy over on her back.

By this time the woman was sound asleep.  Beginning with her arms
and shoulders, she rubbed the oil into Kathy's skin.  When she
moved down to her breasts, she used very soft motions to work the
oil into the very firm tits.  At her slit, she just poured the
oil down its length and used her small fingers to slicken every
surface she could reach.  Then she took a small rouge pot and
using the greatest care, darkened the red of her lips, then
teased the nipples into full erection and rouged them as well. 
Finally, as she was about to redden her nether lips, she stopped,
smiled to herself and scampered back to the other bedroom.

Her sister, Celeste, was licking her lips.  She was using a body
oil on Ken, who was also on his back, asleep.  "Sister, is he not
luscious?  Have you ever seen a larger weapon of love?  And look
how full his balls are.  Is Kathy worthy of him?" she asked in a
whisper.

Marie quickly answered yes, and explained what she had found. 
"Kathy is a fitting consort, sister.  Her sheath is already wet
with her juices."  Then she explained what she was going to do
and her sister just grinned and nodded.

Marie retrieved a very small bottle from her things and returned
to Kathy.  With the greatest care she put the tiniest amount on
her finger tip and carefully applied it inside Kathy's labia and
then at the mouth of her vagina.  Before she put it away, it was
already doing its work.  Even though she was still asleep, Kathy
began slowly to roll her hips in a sexual motion.  Then Marie
took the rouge and reddened the cunt lips just as the new warmth
in her loins awakened Kathy.

Marie stepped back for a moment just to look.  Then she took the
bottle of musk oil and applied it full strength behind Kathy's
ears, between her breasts, and then carefully poured it the
length of the woman's slit.  Finally, she took a beautiful white
carnation and put it behind Kathy's ear, helped her off the
massage table and led her to bed.  The bed linen was the most
luxurious percale money could buy.  It was pure white for bridal
virginity.  Kathy's head was eased back onto firm pillows placed
behind her head, and then Marie took a tiny white carnation and
worked its stem into her dense and curly patch of pubic hair.

When Kathy awakened, she could feel a wonderful heat -- almost a
burning sensation -- in her cunt.  She was led to the bed and
could feel the wonderfully crisp sheets against her back.  Almost
against her will, she began to writhe her hips.  She was still
moving them when Celeste led Ken by the hand into the bedroom.

While Marie had finished Kathy by working on her cunt, Celeste
finished oiling Ken's body by working on his cock and balls. 
Using her two small hands together, she had it in a raging
erection when she led him to his wife.  His cock was aiming
upward and was as rigid as a piece of pipe.

Kathy looked at Ken and cried, "My darling!  I need you so much.
I need that raging cock inside me...  Split your wife, darling. 
Open me up...  Please!"

When Ken was on his knees between her widespread legs, she took
his cock and placed it at the mouth of her gaping vagina.  When
he eased in, the combination of her love juices and the oils the
girls had used on both of them caused him just to slide in to
nearly two-thirds of his length.

With a cry of happiness Kathy swung her legs up high then wrapped
them loosely around his neck and linked her ankles.  In another
movement, he eased in to his full length.  His balls banging on
her ass was enough to trigger Kathy's first orgasm.  Her loins
jerked and bucked beneath him as she achieved her first release.

"Kiss me, darling," Kathy pleaded.  "Bite my tits!  Oh God, Ken,
I love you so..."

Still embedded to his full length, Ken leaned forward and met her
lips rising to meet his.  As good as their kisses had been, this
was in a class by itself as the electricity flowed between them.
Then he lowered his head and kissed each tit in turn while Kathy
screamed, telling him to bite off her nipples.  Then he raised
himself and began to move his cock in and out, withdrawing until
it was almost free, then slowly driving in to its full length.

Although Ken and Kathy were oblivious to them, the girls were
kneeling side by side on the edge of the bed, watching.  They
found it incredible that Kathy could so easily accommodate his
huge length and size.  Furthermore, his cock seemed to become
even longer and bigger every time he withdrew it.  They just
shook their heads in wonderment.

Kathy began to use the skill she didn't know she had and could
not even consciously control to vary her internal movements just
enough to keep Ken from releasing.  At the same time, she knew
she was screaming obscenities, telling him to fuck his wife --
fuck her ass off.  Her head began to involuntarily flop back and
forth and her loins had a life of their own.  Now she was in
continuous orgasm with all the muscles in her lower body in
convulsion.  Still, somehow she kept Ken from releasing.

While she jerked, Marie whispered to her sister, pointing out
Kathy's incredible muscle development, now visible as the muscles
convulsed and stood out under her smooth skin.  Anyone smaller or
weaker than Ken would have been flipped onto the floor.

Everyone lost track of time, but it had been over fifteen minutes
since Kathy began cuming continuously.  Her body was just pumping
out floods of vaginal juices that managed to work past Ken's
massive organ and spill out on the bed.  Finally, with a massive
thrust Ken buried his rod in her wet sheath and released.  Now
Kathy was just screaming in a continuous wordless cry which
reached a crescendo when he came.

He could feel himself releasing his supply of cum and was
startled when he felt small hands gently but firmly kneading his
balls to empty them as much as possible.  In spite of being in a
dead faint, Kathy's vaginal muscles were still involuntarily
contracting rhythmically to assist in his milking.  When it
slowed, Ken lowered himself on Kathy's unconscious body and just
rested while he tried to regain his breath.  He could feel her
chest heaving beneath him as her body tried to refill its
nearly-exhausted supply of oxygen.  Then, with his last bit of
energy, he rolled off her body and lay on his back beside her.

When his chest had stopped heaving and his heartbeat had returned
towards normal, he opened his eyes and saw one of the girls
lowering her head towards Kathy's cunt from which a mixture of
her juices and his was beginning to flow.  He told her with a
grin to get away -- it was his supper.  Then he managed to get up
again, move down the bed and began to run his tongue in her
tender slit.  He found that their fluids were so copious he could
almost drink at her cunt -- a vessel filled to overflowing with
his sexual fluids.

After probing up her vagina as far as he could reach with his
tongue, he returned to his position beside her.  Lying on his
back with his eyes closed, he became aware of a wonderful wet
sensation from his cock.  Opening his eyes, he grinned as he saw
the two girls kneeling on each side using their tongues to lick
off the fluids that were still on his cock and balls.  When they
sat back on their heels, he told them what he wanted to do, and
they eagerly nodded their heads.

Marie ran the bathtub while Ken easily lifted Kathy from the bed
and carried her into the bathroom.  Marie just shook her head as
she realized that Kathy's hair, so beautifully groomed less than
an hour earlier, was now sweat-soaked and sticky.  After
carefully washing Kathy's body, Ken held his wife upright while
Marie carefully shampooed and conditioned her hair.  Then, when
Ken lifted her from the tub, she carefully dried off the
magnificent body.  Now Ken seated her on a makeup stool and
continued to hold her upright while Marie dried her hair and
restyled it.

By the time he carried Kathy back to the bedroom, Celeste had
completely changed the bed down to its mattress with another set
of bed linen.  Finally, Marie got two more carnations and again
put one behind Kathy's ear and the other one in her pubic bush.

Celeste, with a shy grin, showed them the other small carnation,
now mashed flat, that she had rescued from the wreckage of the
bed when she changed it.  Then she said shyly that his pubic area
smelled of the carnation when they were cleaning him off.

Finally, Ken got in bed beside her, carefully placed her head on
his shoulder and cupped her tit in his hand.  Then the girls
scrambled up on the bed, gave him a tender goodnight kiss, and
then kissed Kathy's still lips tenderly as well.  Realizing she
had forgotten something, Marie quickly retrieved the rouge and
Ken watched in fascination as she carefully rouged Kathy's lips,
then her nipples and finally her cunt lips.  Finally, she
adjusted the position of the tiny carnation in Kathy's pubic hair
and then carefully spread the bedcovers over them.  Leaving only
one small light burning on the bed table, the two girlswithdrew.

A short time later Kathy began to stir and finally awakened.  She
stretched and then looked puzzled.  Feeling beneath her,
expecting the bed to be soaking wet, she found it was crisp and
dry.  Feeling an odd sensation in her groin, she reached down and
found the small flower where Marie had placed it.  Only then did
she look around and realize the girls were gone.  Lifting her
face towards him, Ken, seeing the wanting in her eyes, moved his
lips down to meet hers.  It was as beautiful a kiss as the last
one, but totally different.  This one was just loaded with their
love for each other, but as devoid of passion as any kiss between
these two people could ever be.

When the kiss ended, Kathy asked softly, "Ken, what happened? 
Where are the girls?"

With his eyes wide and guileless, he replied, "Nothing happened,
darling.  As for the girls, they just got tired of waiting and
went to bed.  Honey, you must have been terribly tired, because
when I entered the room, you just fell asleep."

Meantime, Kathy had reached down and felt his nearly-empty balls.
 With a wonderfully warm little grin, she just shook her head
slowly and said, "Yeah!  I'm sure..."

With that she nestled her head more comfortably in his shoulder
and snuggled as close to him as she could.  With a soft sigh, her
eyes closed and her lips formed a wonderful little smile as the
recollection of their wonderful lovemaking came back to her.

Ken turned out the lights, kissed her softly on the lips again
and almost instantly fell asleep.*Chapter 14*

The next morning, Kathy was the first to awaken.  She lay in the
bed with her eyes closed just enjoying the wonderful feeling of
Ken's hand still cupping her tit, while her body was molded to
his.  Then she just wriggled a little and enjoyed the crispness
of the sheets against her bare skin.  She gently squeezed his
hand and looked up at his face.  Instantly, his eyes opened, and
instinctively he moved his head towards hers.  Their first kiss
of the morning was like the last kiss the night before: a tribute
to their incredible love for each other, but lacking in passion.

When she eased away, she said softly with love in her voice,
"Good morning, my husband.  Did you sleep well?"

Ken was going to pretend to grumble, but instead replied, "My
darling, it could not have been better.  The bed is so wonderful
for sleeping and you are exquisite in my arms.  Darling Kathy, it
was perfect!"  Then he asked, "Did you sleep well?"

He realized it must have been the right thing to say when she
released her sunshine smile, lighting up the room, and then
leaning towards him to kiss him again.  She replied, "It could
not possibly have been any better."  Then she grinned ruefully
and gently rubbed her crotch.  "Of course, you have utterly
destroyed my cunt..."  Then she looked at him, rolled over so she
was lying on top of him with her chin resting on the back of her
hands, and said, "Darling, do you realize that if your cock were
a hollow tube with the same length and breadth, I would catch
stomach pneumonia if there is such a thing?  You are so big, my
darling, and you penetrate so deep..."

Just then the girls said, "Good morning, Mistress and Master. 
Would you like your coffee or your morning lovemaking first?" 
Kathy thought for an instant and then rolled off him.  When she
did, she found that a girl had already piled up pillows behind
her.  When she reached out her hand, a cup of coffee was placed
in it.  Then she looked at Ken, grinned, and touched her cup to
his in a salute.  After taking her first sip and finding it
perfect, she just leaned back onto the pillows with a sigh and
closed her eyes for a moment.

When she reopened them, she looked at Ken, grinned and said,
"Darling, don't feel badly.  It's just that this is a luxury we
don't have at home.  In order to have coffee at home I first have
to get out of my snugly warm bed and make it.  Here, we only need
to reach out a hand."  Then with concern in her eyes she asked,
"You don't mind, do you, darling?"

Ken just shook his head and said, "Not at all.  It is pretty
neat, isn't it?"  They sipped their coffee and had refills.  Then
Kathy climbed back on Ken's chest and said, "Twins, you have
beautiful skin but except for your heads, you are hairless.  I
hear that Asians don't have much body hair.  If that's true, here
is one of the great joys you won't experience."

The girls watched as she raised her body from his chest just
enough so that only her nipples were in contact with the hair on
his chest.  Slowly she began to rotate her torso.  As she did,
her nipples engorged and she raised her body slightly higher so
that only her nipples made contact with his coarse hair. 
Normally, Kathy could do this for only a minute or two before the
stimulation, coupled with her need for him, forced her to stop. 
This morning, though, Kathy forced herself to ignore the
self-induced torment and kept it up.  Now she lowered her body
slightly so the tips of her nipples were now contacting his chest
itself.

The contact of her pebble-hard nipples on his chest created a
sexual stimulation the likes of which Ken had never experienced.
In spite of his massive orgasm of the night before, he could feel
his cock rising in response to the incredible sensation.  In
spite of her resolve, Kathy could not completely control her
passion and began to moan and grind her pelvis and her pubic
mound against his lower body.  Because of his size, though, her
vagina was still well above his now-throbbing cock.  Now Ken
could feel his body hair becoming wet from the love juices
flowing from her cunt.

Finally Kathy could take it no longer.  With a wordless cry, she
jerked upright while kneeling astride his body, sliddownward to
reach his cock and, rising as high on her knees as she could, was
just able to get high enough to put his cock into her vaginal
opening.

With a cry she dropped her entire weight and impaled herself on
his sex.  She leaned forward, feeling as she did the huge pole
inside her.  When she kissed him this time, in addition to her
love, there was all the passion she could communicate.  Finally
she rose up again and delighted in the fact that Ken was now
holding one of her tits in each hand while squeezing them and
tweaking her nipples.  When he did, her nipples were now so
sensitive from her earlier activities, she screamed from a
combination of the pleasure and pain.

She was moving up and down on him now, rising as high as she
could to maximize the length of her stroke.  It was as if she was
climbing a mountain.  She would reach a peak, have an orgasmic
seizure, stop for a moment and resume, climbing another,
still-higher peak.  This continued until she brought herself to
the point of continuous orgasm, but while still varying her
movements enough to prevent Ken from achieving the release that
he was striving to obtain.

Finally he let go inside her.  As she felt his cock start to
throb, Kathy again dropped with her full weight on him to impale
herself as deeply as possible.  Then his cum began spurting in a
series of spasms.  With a near-superhuman effort, she willed
herself to retain consciousness -- and did.  For the first time
she felt her body work to pump him dry.  At the same time, she
reached down behind and squeezed his balls in the same rhythm as
her vaginal muscles were squeezing his buried cock.

This time it was Ken who screamed and then passed out from the
incredible combination of sensations.  As she felt his cock start
to shrink in size inside her, she collapsed face down on his
chest and just caressed and kissed any part of his body within
reach of her fingers and lips.

When Ken's eyes fluttered open, she was back to resting her chin
on the back of her hands and just looking at him.  When his eyes
focused on her, she grinned and moved up far enough to kiss him
warmly.  Returning to her former position she said, "I won!  For
the first damned time in our life together, I remained conscious!
 And this time, I knocked _you_ out!"

Taking a deep breath, Ken grinned and responded, "You sure as
hell did!  What now?"

"Now, my darling, you have breakfast at my cunt while I clean off
your cock.  Then we take a shower while these loafing urchins
clean up the mess we just made and produce some food for us."

Looking over at the girls she said, "Order two whole horses!  I
am utterly starving to death.  And poor Ken...  I think he passed
out from starvation, not from sex."  With that, she reversed her
position on the bed and began to lick the cum and vaginal fluids
that were drying on Ken's now-flaccid prick.  Meanwhile she
moaned in pleasure as she could feel his lips and tongue working
on her cunt.  Remarkably, she just giggled as she felt another
small orgasm when his teeth lightly bit her clit.

When they went towards the bathroom, she ordered the girl who was
coming in with them to clean up or something, adding that this
time she was going to have the fun of washing her husband
herself.  She reminded the girl to get a big table and to be sure
to order enough food for four people since she and her sister
would be eating with them, too.  Then she finished by telling the
girl that if she wanted to take a shower with a man to get one of
her own, but she laughed when the girl reminded her, with a very
straight face, "But Lady Kathy, didn't you pay attention in
school?  They were always telling us about sharing, and I
mean..."  Kathy just firmly closed the bathroom door.

After a joyful shower with Ken, they dried one another off, put
on terry robes and went out to the sitting room.  The sisters
were looking embarrassed as they stood there, waiting.  Their
breakfast of large sirloin steaks with eggs had already arrived.
By this time, Kathy and Ken were so famished they ate every bite,
including every piece of toast.  When they finally pushed away
from the table, they felt restored and ready to take on the
world.  After asking what was scheduled, Marie reminded them of
their golf tee time at ten o'clock.

Suddenly, Kathy felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her
stomach.  The fact was that she had never set foot on a real golf
course in her life.  Her only exposure to the game was on a
computerized golf trainer at the health club.  There a player
used a real club to hit a real golf ball into a screen showing
the projected image of a real golf hole.  Somehow the computer
"read" the shot and then displayed the hole from the location
where it calculated the player's ball would be lying.

When she explained her problem to Ken, he only grinned and said
it might give him a chance to actually win at something.  Then
there was the problem of what to wear.  It turned out to be
easily resolved as the girls showed them a small part of their
clothing collection: all brand-new and all perfectly sized.  Ken
wore a pair of Bermuda shorts and a golf shirt while Kathy wore a
pair of shorter shorts that the girls assured her were just
within the limits of the course clothing rules.  "Of course,"
they added, "The rules do not apply to you.  None of them!" 
Nevertheless, she wore the shorts with a sleeveless shirt with
two pockets placed strategically to help conceal her bare
nipples.  There was no way, she said, that she would wear a bra
-- in fact, she no longer owned any.

The Trangs disappeared into their room and reappeared moments
later wearing their uniforms.  Then the girls escorted them to
the golf shop and introduced the professional, Jim Conroy.  After
quickly excusing themselves they returned to the hotel while
Conroy took charge.

He was as tall as Ken -- six feet three -- but with a much more
slender build.  Ken's shoulders would have made two of Jim's.

Jim stood in front of Ken with a strange smile on his face and
asked, "Mr. Carlson, is my face familiar?"  Ken looked at him and
there was a flash of recognition but he couldn't bring it into
focus.  Then Conroy added, "A helicopter pilot?  Vietnam?"

Suddenly Ken's face lighted up and he exclaimed, "Of course!  My
God!"  He took Conroy into his arms and almost crushed him in a
bear hug, while they pounded each other on the back.  When Ken
let go, he just shook his head and grinned saying, "You sure look
one hell of a lot better now than you did the last time I saw
you!"

Turning to Kathy, he explained, "Hon, we were on one of our
deep-penetration missions behind enemy lines.  Then we got a call
that one of our special choppers had been shot down and aircraft,
trying to rescue the crew, had been driven off by ground fire. 
Well, we were in the area, so we picked him up and brought him
out.  Jim, here, had been pretty badly shot up."

Conroy was just slowly shaking his head.  When Ken finished, Jim
said, "Mrs. Carlson -- I assume it is Mrs. Carlson, isn't it?"

Kathy quickly nodded but said, "It's Kathy.  And may I call you
Jim?"

He grinned, said he wished she would and then told his story.  As
he was telling it a beautiful tall blonde woman with blue eyes
came up and stood beside him.  He said, "Kathy, what Ken said
was, I guess, strictly speaking, accurate.  However, there are a
couple of things he left out.  For example, my leg had been
pretty badly shot up.  The North Vietnamese didn't have any
stretchers, and I don't think they felt much like carrying me if
they did.  So I was looking up from the ground as the officer in
charge of the unit cocked his automatic, aimed it at my head and
started to squeeze the trigger.

"Suddenly, his whole hand, and the gun in it, disappeared; he
just stared stupidly at a stump, now gushing blood.  A moment
later, a hole appeared in his forehead right between his eyes. 
An instant later, I hear the sounds of the shots.  Later, I found
out that the gunner was your husband -- he did all the long-range
shooting in his unit.  Anyway, simultaneously all hell breaks
loose.  In only an instant, what had been an enemy infantry
platoon was just a bunch of dead bodies.

"I guess just about then I passed out.  The next thing I know I'm
on the ground in a hidden campsite, stretched out on a tarp. 
Your husband is practicing his carving on my leg.  What he's
really doing, you see -- having already saved my life -- is
saving my leg by expertly taking out all the metal."

He shook his head and said, "At least, that's what the docs, both
at Clark Field in the Philippines, and at Hickam, here, said. 
Anyway, I pass out again.  Perhaps I should have mentioned that
we were about 150 miles behind enemy lines while all this was
happening.  At any rate, for the next ten days your husband
literally carries me out of the place on his back!"

There were tears showing at the corners of his eyes when he
finished by saying, "What can you say to the man who saved your
life?  I really don't know.  But your husband certainly saved
mine."  Suddenly he had a flash of memory and asked, "Mrs.
Carlson, you _did_ say your name is Kathy, didn't you?"  She
nodded, and he asked, "Kathy, of the Kathy-grams?"

"Jim," she replied, "I only heard the term for the first time
less than a week ago, but I guess so.  I assume you mean some
girlish scribbles on blue paper written with blue ink?"

"No, Kathy, I don't," he answered, shaking his head.  "I saw this
when we got out of the jungle.  Ken was seen coming out, and a
guy came running up with a little stack of these blue envelopes.
After seeing that I was taken care of, Ken just dropped his gear
on the ground, sat on his pack, and started opening and reading
them, one after the other.  I saw a man literally come back to
life before my eyes.  Keep in mind we had just walked 150 miles
through enemy-controlled jungle.  The guys were just shot to shit
-- utterly exhausted -- and not a soul could fault them for it
after what they had been through.

"What happens?  I see your husband reading and it was like
watching a battery recharge.  By the time he read the last
letter, it was as if he had just had ten days of R&R.  Then he
charged up the troops, and after replenishing their food and
ammo, they just melted back into the jungle."  Then he stuck out
his hand and said, "Thank you, Kathy, for saving my life.  It's
clear that you, and you alone, were the inspiration that enabled
Ken to routinely perform such superhuman feats."

Kathy was shaken.  She had warmly stated to her friends before
that Ken was her hero, regardless of what others might think. 
Now she found that he was a hero against any conceivable standard
of measurement.  Moreover, in less than twenty-four hours she had
met three people whose lives Ken had personally saved.

Before Kathy could think of an appropriate response, Jim turned
to the woman beside him and said, "Kathy and Ken, I would like to
introduce you to the love of my life, Hank Conroy.  Hank, this is
Kathy and Ken Carlson.  I guess you know the rest of it, though,
because, God knows, I've told you the story thousands of times."

Hank Conroy appeared to be about Kathy's age.  She had golden
blonde hair, brilliant blue eyes, and a beautifully slim figure
with a golden tan.  Without saying a word, she went up to Ken,
stood on tiptoe, put her arms around his neck and kissed him. 
Her kiss, Ken realized, was exactly like Kathy's but lacking her
passion.  What it lacked in passion, though, it more than made up
in pure love.  When she slowly relaxed her hold, she said, "Thank
you, Ken Carlson, for saving Jim's life!"

Before he could say a word in reply, Hank had taken Kathy in her
arms and was hugging and kissing her in the same way.  Kathy was
startled for an instant and initially resisted, but then just
melted in this beautiful woman's embrace.  She realized that, if
anything, there was even more love in her kiss than in Ali's and
she didn't think that was possible.

When Hank slowly released her, she said softly, "And thank you,
Kathy, for providing the inspiration that enabled Ken to do the
things he did!"  Then with a small smile she added, "And Kathy,
you have the most kissable lips ever put on a woman.  Ken is a
very lucky man, indeed, to have your love."

Then she said, "I heard that you two would be down this morning.
I'm sorry to intrude, but this is something I just had to do." 
With her eyes downcast, she concluded, "Please forgive me for any
embarrassment I may have caused."  With that she headed toward
the door.

Before she had gone more than a few steps, though, Kathy
exclaimed, "Hank, please stay!"  Then turning to Jim she asked,
"Was I mistaken, or were you planning on coming out on a round
with us?"  He replied that he had been instructed to ride around
the course with them and show them how best to play each hole. 
Then Kathy asked, "Am I correct in assuming Hank plays golf?  God
knows, she looks coordinated enough, and she certainly moves like
an athlete."

Jim didn't know what to say, except to say that his wife was a
good golfer.  Hearing that, Kathy beamed her sunshine smile and
asked, "Hank, could you play a round with us?  How about if the
women play the men?  Will you, Hank?  Please?  Your kiss told me
that you are a woman I would very much like to get to know.  It
would mean a great deal to me if you would say yes."

Hank Conroy's jaw dropped.  Then she asked, "Mrs. Carlson, are
you saying that _I_ would be doing _you_ a favor by playing a
round of golf with you?  Did I hear you right?"

Kathy replied with a grin, "You sure did!  Except the name is
Kathy to you, Hank Conroy -- it is never Mrs. Carlson.  Okay? 
And I hope you don't mind me calling you Hank."

Hank just shook her head and said, "The woman who is responsible
for saving my husband's life asks me if I would do her a great
favor by playing a round of golf with her."

Then she looked deep into Kathy's eyes and said, "Lady, I sure in
hell hope you know my husband's life is utterly priceless to me.
If you had said you wanted my right arm in repayment, my answer
would have been, 'Of course!', and I would have gone for a sharp
knife and a meat saw.  Are you getting my message, Kathy?  Good
God, of course I'll play golf with you!  In fact, I'll carry you
around on my back, if you'd like."  Then with a broad grin, she
said, "Now come on, woman!  We're tying up the whole damned
course!"

She led the way to the women's locker room after picking up
Kathy's locker key.  It turned out that their two lockers were
close together and Hank opened Kathy's.  When she did, she let
out a low whistle and said, "Lady, you certainly go firstclass!"

Everything imaginable was inside it, including three pairs of
golf shoes.  Since Kathy had never worn a pair of golf spikes,
she took a white pair that looked like leather athletic shoes. 
Hank pointed out that there were socks to wear that came up only
slightly higher than the low tops of the shoes themselves.  Since
Kathy didn't have the slightest idea what she would need, she
just left the rest of the gear in the locker when Hank assured
her that her golf bag would be loaded with golf balls.  Her new
friend put on a similar pair of shoes and then led the way out to
the golf carts.

Kathy was following behind and was trying to analyze her
feelings.  Knowing that she tended to be shy and retiring, Kathy
couldn't understand why she was so forward with this lovely tall
blonde.  Watching her move, she suddenly realized that Hank
looked like her!  She moved with the same athletic grace and had
the same proud carriage.  Moreover, she seemed to feel the same
way toward Jim that she felt toward Ken.

When she caught up with Hank at the golf carts, the woman was
already supervising a switch in bags.  She told Kathy that on the
Bay Course women had a significant advantage resulting from the
placement of the women's tees -- sometimes almost 100 yards in
front of the men's.  When they rejoined the men at the first tee,
Jim was already giving Ken some pointers on his grip.

When the women joined, Kathy asked, "Since Hank and I are playing
you two, and Jim's the club pro, how many strokes do we get?" 
Looking at Jim she asked, "How many strokes do you give Hank when
you play alone?"

He grinned and replied, "As many as she can con me out of.  It
usually ends up about twenty-seven.  Why?  Do you want us to give
you two that many on a best-ball game?"  Kathy nodded and smiled.
 Then he asked, "What are we playing for?"

Before she could answer, Hank said, "Ten-dollar Nassau.  We get a
stroke a hole plus another stroke on the each of next nine
toughest holes on the women's card.  Okay?"  Jim just shook his
head sadly but agreed.

Hank explained that with the tee placements often it was
necessary for the women to wait for the men to drive and then go
out to their own tees.  That was the case on the first hole.  Ken
led off and hit a towering drive that must have gone nearly three
hundred yards.  Unfortunately the ball sliced and landed in deep
rough on the right side of the fairway.  When Jim drove, Kathy
admired the smoothness of his swing.  Although his drive wasn't
as long as Ken's, it had a little draw on it so when it landed in
the middle of the fairway it continued to roll.  It ended up
almost 275 yards from the tee in perfect position for his next
shot.

They drove out to the women's tee, and Kathy led off.  Only then
did she realize that she didn't even know what sort of clubs she
was playing with.  Although she had looked at her golf bag, she
hadn't even thought to look at the clubs in it.  Swallowing hard,
she took the driver out of the bag along with some tees and a
couple of golf balls.

Walking up to the tee she looked at the club in her hand and
realized it was one of the very best with a graphite shaft and a
boron-composite head.  Hank motioned for her to go first so Kathy
teed up her ball.  After taking a deep breath, she addressed it
the way Judy had taught her to and imagined that she was back at
the computer golf unit at the health club.  All she wanted to do
was hit the ball and get it off the tee.  She swung and the ball
went off the club head with a wonderful-sounding click.  Having
been taught to keep her head still, she lifted it and saw the
ball sailing straight down the fairway and was astonished when it
went beyond Jim's ball.

Hank let out a whoop and said, "That-a-way, partner! Beautiful!"

Kathy felt great.  It was the first time she had ever hit a golf
ball outside the little cage in her life.

Hank had a lovely straight drive too, but it was not as long as
Kathy's.  As they walked back to their cart, it was obvious to
Kathy that something was on Hank's mind, so she said, "Out with
it, Hank.  I can tell you have some evil thought in your mind."

The girl looked at Kathy quickly and blushed and said, "I guess
I'm about as open as a book, aren't I?  Plotting and scheming
were never my strong suits."  Then she grinned and added,
"Besides, it's not evil... it's just dirty!"  Then she asked
softly, "Kathy, you have a beautiful body, don't you?"

To Kathy, that was a novel thought.  All she could think to say
was, "Ken likes it, I guess.  And it is much nicer than it used
to be.  But why do you ask?"

"Because I was watching you carefully when you were on the tee. 
I have never seen such muscles on a woman as you have.  You are
the most perfectly-conditioned female it's ever been my good
fortune to lay eyes on."  Then she stopped suddenly, looked at
Kathy while she began to blush brick red and said, "How about
taking off our clothes?  Just playing in our bikinis?  That's all
you're wearing under your shorts, isn't it?"

Then with a little smile she said, "It will give us an advantage,
too.  Jim is a tit man.  Mine are pretty good, and I'll bet yours
are magnificent.  Want to try?  We're out of sight from the
clubhouse now, and we'll stay that way, at least most of the
time."

Kathy's initial reaction was one of shock, but then she felt her
cunt moisten with anticipation.  To her amazement, she heard
herself say, "Great idea!  Let's do it."  Then she looked puzzled
and asked, "When?  Do we do it now?"  Hank grinned, nodded
rapidly, and shed her top and shorts.  Now all she was wearing
was a tiny string bikini that covered her pubes but nothingelse.

While Kathy was stripping, Hank went to her bag and retrieved
some suntan lotion.  Coming back she said, "Kathy, one thing I
learned -- painfully -- a long time ago: Hawaii is in the
tropics; we're south of the Tropic of Capricorn.  Because the
trade winds blow almost all the time, a person doesn't feel hot
but the sun is very strong."

For the first time Hank realized that, although she had a much
deeper tan than Kathy, Kathy's was an all-over tan, too -- there
were no suit marks anywhere.  Clearly, she was also used to
sunning herself in the nude.  Hank began applying the lotion to
Kathy, beginning at her forehead and working down her body.  When
she began to rub the lotion into Kathy's shoulders, she
discovered what the Trang sisters had found the night before: she
was nothing but satin-smooth skin over incredibly powerful
muscles.  Hank let out a low whistle and Kathy looked at her with
a question in her eyes.  She said, "Kathy, you are unbelievable!
I have never seen a woman so..."

Suddenly she stopped talking and looked at Kathy in awe, "My God!
 You're the woman who saved that man in LA on Saturday, aren't
you?"  Kathy reddened, but nodded.  "The story got a big play,
even out here.  No one could figure out how you were physically
able to do what you did.  But now I can!  Woman, you are
incredibly powerful, aren't you?"

"Knock it off, Hank," Kathy protested.  "I guess I'm in average
shape for a woman..."

She was stopped by Hank's howl of laughter.  "Lady, if you're
average I guess an Olympic gymnast would rate as just a little
below average."  Then glaring at Kathy she added, "You _do know,_
I hope, that any virtue if taken to excess becomes a vice? 
Modesty, for example?"

Hank just shook her head in simulated disgust and went back to
spreading lotion on Kathy.  When she reached her loins, she was
on her knees and looked up saying, "Kath, why don't you take off
your bikini for a minute?  Then I'll put the stuff all over so
all you will need to do is move the strings a little whenever you
think about it to try to keep from getting marked."  With a
little grin she added, "I guess you don't have any suit marks
either, do you?"

Kathy returned the grin and stepped out of her bikini.  When she
did, Hank just sat back on her heels and let out another low,
appreciative whistle.  Then she said, as if to herself,
"Henrietta, you don't know the half of it!"

With that she began to work the lotion into Kathy's loins and
slit.  When she reached around to spread it on Kathy's buns, her
face was almost in Kathy's bush.  Suddenly Hank buried her face
in it and gripped Kathy's ass cheeks.  After softly kissing the
cuntal hair, she moved her lips lower and tongued Kathy's
now-moist slit.

Rocking back on her heels again, she looked up and said, "I'm so
sorry, Kathy!  I don't know what happened.  It's just that...
that... I wanted to kiss the loins that nurture the man who saved
my husband's life...  The loins that will bear his beautiful
children..."  There were tears in the corners of her eyes as she
begged, "Please forgive me, Kathy?  But you are so exquisite! 
Even your cunt is so fragrant and wonderful."

"For what am I forgiving you now, dear Hank?  For creating the
most lovely sensation in my cunt since Ken was in me?  For what?"
 Then she grinned and asked, "Did I hear Henrietta?  Is that
you?"

Now Hank grinned and dried her eyes saying, "Sure is!  Isn't it
just the most awful name?  It sort of sounds like a maiden
librarian, doesn't it?  Maybe that's what I was meant to be." 
She quickly finished with the lotion and Kathy pulled up her
bikini as Hank turned towards the golf cart.

Before she could even take a step Kathy demanded, "And where do
you think you're going?  I think I heard something, somewhere,
about a hot tropical sun?  Stand still, lady, and drop your
pants!"

Hank was startled for a moment but then did what Kathy had asked.
 Now it was Kathy's turn to spread the lotion over a beautiful
body.  When she did Hank's tits, she went around behind her so
she could cup them as she worked the lotion in.  The woman's
breasts were full and beautifully formed with small brown
nipples.  Kathy thought the brown color must be due to the sun. 
While still behind her, she worked on the woman's back and then
down to her buns which were small and very tight.  Going around
in front, she went to her knees and did her beautiful legs,
working up to her crotch.

Before doing her loins, Kathy was on her knees.  Holding Hank's
buns, she did something that first occurred to her when she had
been kissed.  Using her tongue, she licked the woman's slit and
then gently bit her clit.  Instantly Hank's loins bucked in a
surprising orgasm.  Gently, Kathy licked up the sweetness that
discharged from her cunt, then quickly applied the lotion all
over her loins including her small dense pubic bush of blonde
hair that was bleached a golden white by the sun.

Jumping to her feet, she found that Hank was still standing
stock-still in a state of shock.  Kathy took the girl in her
arms, hugged her tightly and kissed her sweetly full on the lips.
 At first Hank's lips were tight, but then she melted under
Kathy's kiss and mashed their tits together in a close embrace.

When they released, Hank's eyes were glazed and she whispered,
"Why did you do that, Kathy?  Why?"

There was great love in Kathy's eyes as she replied softly, "I
really don't know, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.  I
guess I just wanted to see what a beautiful Hawaiian blonde would
taste like.  The answer, by the way, is scrumptious!"

Then she just shook her head and said, "Lady, you are sinfully
orgasmic, aren't you?  When you're with Jim, do you ever stop
cuming?  Does he ever eat your cunt?  My bet is that he does."

Hank just shook her golden head and said, "Oh shit, I guess it's
all over now.  The answer is I can get off just staring at Jim,
and yes, he loves to eat my cunt."  Then with a warm smile she
said, "And thank you, Kathy.  That felt wonderful!"

Then she looked at Kathy suspiciously and asked, "But what am I
going to have to do for you, lady?  After all we owe you
already..."  Then her eyes filled with tears as she added, "All
we owe you is our life together, our happiness, our very
existence on this earth..."

"Come on, lady, move it."  Kathy interjected.  "Besides, don't
you know that tears are salty and salt water can destroy a golf
course?"  As they went back to their cart, now carrying their
clothes and only wearing tiny bikinis, each was thinking what a
wonderful woman the other was.*Chapter 15*

When the women reached Hank's ball, the men had been waiting and
had started to wonder what had happened to them.  Jim started to
make a crack to his wife about getting lost when his jaw just
dropped, realizing that both women were now nearly nude.  Then he
just grinned at Hank whose naked blonde beauty was overwhelming.
She was a vision in shades of gold with her golden tan, brilliant
golden blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.

After motioning to Kathy to put sun protection on Ken, she spoke
in low tones to her husband.  Without saying a word about their
nakedness, she said, "Hon, could you help Kathy?  Believe it or
not, this was the first time she _ever_ hit a golf ball except in
a computerized golf trainer.  The girl who taught her is a
general physical education graduate with no golf experience at
all.  Kathy really doesn't even know how to hold a golf club."

Then she smiled warmly and said, "Darling, I love her.  I really
do, and it has nothing to do with the fact that we owe our lives
to her and Ken.  Honest!  It's something else... something I
can't put my finger on.  But really, she's got the potential to
be a really good golfer.  You saw how far she hit the damned
ball!"

Jim just shook his head and waited for Kathy to finish with the
suntan cream.  When she did, she grinned and wiped her forehead
saying, "Good grief!  Have you ever tried to oil a brown bear? 
That's Ken."

While Hank looked over her own ball lie and got ready to take her
shot, Jim took Kathy out of earshot and gave her a club to hold.
When she did, he frowned.  The way she held it made it remarkable
that she could hit the ball at all.  He showed her the correct
grip for her, and she took a couple of practice swings.

Even her practice swings caused Jim's eyes to widen.  As a
professional athlete, he got a hint of Kathy's hidden muscle
development.  He gave her a couple of other suggestions while
Hank hit her second shot to a position short of the green but on
the fairway.  When they reached Jim's ball, he just glanced at
the flag-stick, selected a club and smoothly lofted a shot that
landed to the right of the pin and rolled about thirty feet
beyond.  He was in perfect position to make his par.

Ken's ball was found, but it was in rough so dense that he had no
possible shot.  Claiming an unplayable lie, he took a penalty
stroke and dropped his ball out on the fairway.  He hooked his
next shot which carried beyond the hole and into more rough.  Jim
watched his swing, was troubled by what he saw, but couldn't
figure out what the problem was.

When the girls reached Kathy's ball, Hank looked at it, then at
the green, selected a club from Kathy's bag, and then gave it to
her saying, "Just hold it the way Jim told you and swing the way
you did on the tee."

Kathy positioned herself, carefully gripped the club lightly with
her hands on the grip the way she had just been taught, and then
took an easy swing.  The ball soared in a high trajectory in a
line straight for the pin.  It landed on the green about twenty
feet past the flag, but its backspin brought it back to within
six feet of the cup.

When Kathy saw what she had done, she leaped joyously into the
air and then hugged Hank tight.  As she did she felt the odd but
pleasant sensation of feeling her bare tits crushed by another
pair nearly as firm as her own.  Jim missed his first putt but
the ball stopped only inches beyond the cup, leaving him a tap-in
par.  Then Kathy lined up her putt carefully, assessed the roll
of the green, and firmly stroked the ball.  It followed the green
contour that she had accurately read and dropped in the hole for
a birdie three.  This time it was Hank who leaped up in the air
while Kathy, still unsure of herself, asked, "Was that good?"

Her friend grinned and replied, "Let's put it this way, Kath.  We
get a stroke a hole.  In addition we get a stroke on the women's
handicap holes one through nine.  This is nine.  You scored a
three, minus two strokes for a net _one!_  Hell yes!  it's good.
Sweetheart, a one beats a four almost every time," she finished
with a grin.  When Kathy apologized for being so stupid, Hank
took her in her arms and kissed her solidly again, murmuring,
"Kathy Carlson, I love you like the sister I always wanted but
never had.  You are just great!"

For his part, Ken was having problems with his game.  Although he
hit very powerful shots, they were going all over the course. 
Nevertheless, he was having a wonderful time talking with Jim and
just watching his wife's body move so gracefully.  She had an
apparent total disregard for her nudity.

Then he watched Hank and commented to Jim, "You're a very lucky
guy, Jim.  Hank is an incredibly beautiful woman."  When he said
it, he was reminded of Mike Higgins comment Saturday night.  He
really didn't normally see women as women; rather, he just saw
them as people.  From his reaction, Ken thought Jim was the same
way.  His eyes were locked on his wife's beautiful body and he
seemed to delight in just watching her move.

The match settled into a pattern.  Hank was just hitting her ball
for the hell of it but having fun.  She was never in serious
scoring contention.  Instead, she was concentrating on coaching
Kathy.  On each shot she would select Kathy's club, show her
where to aim and then watch the ball fly off her clubhead toward
the pin.  She just shook her head in amazement when she realized
that her new friend was regularly hitting the ball nearly 200
yards off the tee, and her irons proportionately as far.

After just a few holes all the rough edges were off Kathy's swing
and she was playing as if she had been born with a golf club in
her hand.  Jim was playing his usual conservative game and
shooting par golf, while Ken continued to be all over the course,
yet he was still hitting the ball a mile.  Unfortunately his
balls were sailing off in all directions.  The result was that
the men were down five holes by the time they reached the sixth.
Moreover, they were down by one hole without considering the
handicap.

The sixth hole on the Bay Course does the sixteenth at Pebble
Beach one better.  While the Pebble Beach hole has the Pacific on
one side, the Kapalua sixth uses the Pacific as a water hazard --
a player shoots over it.  The tee is on the north side of a
narrow, rocky defile with the Pacific waves breaking inside,
while the green is on the south side.  With the waves breaking
below, there is no such thing as trying to retrieve a ball that
lands in the water.

As she stood on the tee looking at the green across the water,
Kathy looked like a goddess standing nearly naked against the
wild backdrop of volcanic cliffs and the breaking waves.  Hank
put a club in her hand, winked and said, "Kathy, do your thing!"
Kathy winked back, deciding that Hank was a great coach and a
wonderful friend.  Moreover, in spite of finding it so easy,
Kathy found she loved the game of golf.

Teeing her ball very low the way Hank told her to do for an iron
shot off the tee, she swung the short iron with a smooth, easy
swing.  Completing her follow-through, she looked up in time to
see the ball in a mile-high trajectory coming down headed right
for the pin.  This time it landed three feet beyond, but the
backspin on the ball walked it back towards the hole.  It stopped
almost on the lip of the cup.

This time everyone cheered, and Kathy jumped up and down.  Ken
swept her into his arms and kissed her for luck, but then,
tasting her lips, kissed her again seriously.  Kathy wrapped her
arms around his neck and hung on as her knees turned to rubber
and the electricity flowed between them.  She was still wobbly
when he released her.

She yelled, "Director!  Where in hell is the tournament
director?"  Then looking at Hank she asked, "Isn't that against
the rules or something?  This big bear knows damn well that every
time he kisses me like that my knees turn to water and I end up
as just a glob of warm mush."

Hank, who had seen the passion and electricity in their kiss,
thought, _Just like Jim and me!_  In response to Kathy's
complaint, though, she tried to appear sympathetic and said,
"Kath, it certainly ought to be.  On the other hand, given a
choice of a hole-in-one or one of Ken's kisses, which would you
take?"

"Damn it, Conroy!  That's an unfair question.  Of course, I'll
take the kiss...  But why should I have to choose?"  Hank just
stuck out the tip of her tongue and grinned.  Kathy, feeling warm
and wonderful, just grinned back.  Her tap-in birdie won the hole
outright, although Jim just missed a birdie himself to tie --
gross -- when his putt rimmed the cup, but didn't fall.

When they reached the tenth green -- Kathy had refused to put on
a shirt on the tenth tee in spite of being in sight of the
clubhouse -- she looked at Hank and asked with a mischievous
grin, "Are your pants as wet as mine?  You know, wet pants can
cause chafing and irritation and..."  With that she just slid her
bikini off and stood up, proudly naked.  Hank just grinned and
slipped hers off, too.  When the men saw their wives, they
grinned at each other and just shook their heads but didn't say a
word.

Finally, on the seventeenth hole Kathy had a very make-able
twenty-foot putt.  As she was standing lining it up, Ken came up
behind her, put his arms around her, gently ran his fingers over
her bush and into her slit, and then gently teased her clit.  The
instant orgasm she experienced resulted in her vaginal juices
dripping onto the ground, while Kathy just leaned back against
him and moaned softly.  Then he raised his hands, cupped her
sweat-slickened tits, and gently pinched her nipples.

When Kathy took her putt, her knees were still wobbly and she
wasn't close.  At that, she started to cry and Ken took her in
his arms to comfort her.  Actually, it was all an act.  When she
was in his arms, she started to pound on his chest with her
fists, exclaiming, "Kenneth Carlson, I hate you!  You are a
brute, a bully, a... an... an attacker of defenseless women..."

Ken howled with laughter and exclaimed, "Defenseless?  You? 
Kathy Carlson, why do you think I work to stay in shape?  If I
didn't, I'd be killed!  Defenseless, indeed!"  Although she tried
to act mad, Kathy couldn't control her grin.

It was with the greatest reluctance that the girls put on their
clothes after teeing off on eighteen.  In defiance, they refused
to put on their bikinis -- they were wearing their shorts and
shirts and nothing else.  When the match was finally over, the
men had been devastated.  Although Jim had shot a two-under-par
70, Kathy had finished with an astounding score for the first
round of golf of her life -- a one-over-par 73.

Kathy was utterly ecstatic and kissed everyone.  When she kissed
Jim, it was the most loving, yet the most passionless kiss, he
had ever experienced.  He held her in his arms after the kiss was
ended and looked at her.  He could see her eyes dancing with
delight when he said, "See?  Aren't I a great pro?  One lesson
and you shoot a 73!"  Then he kissed her again.

Hank tapped him on the shoulder and pretended to frown.  "Conroy,
remember me?  Henrietta?  Referred to by some as your wife?" 
They winked at each other and he folded her into his arms.  Their
kiss had all the fire and passion that Kathy's lacked.

Kathy watched as the electricity flowed between them and Hank
wrapped her arms around Jim's neck to keep from falling.  She
giggled when she heard Hank whisper, "Darling, don't we have time
for even a quickie?"  Then she understood the woman completely
when Hank continued in a whisper, "Jim Conroy, I love you
desperately, my darling.  You are my love and my life!"  With
that, she kissed him again, totally oblivious to the people
watching from the nearby terrace.  Kathy now knew why she felt so
close to Hank: They saw things the same way and loved their
husbands the same way, too.

The guys were bleeding about having to pay their bets, but the
girls showed no mercy.  Hank said, "James, pay me now or pay me
later.  And I'm not sure you would survive 'later'."  Jim
complained that his wife kept him penniless but she just stuck
out her tongue.

When Ken tried to renege on the basis of Ali's threat to ship
them to Devil's Island if they spent any of their own money,
Kathy told him it didn't include his dumb bets.  He caused his
eyes to tear as he appeared reluctant to give her thirty dollars.
 Kathy grinned and then melted him with a kiss.  Then she said
caustically, "Stop your bitching.  That kiss alone was worth at
least thirty bucks!"  Ken just laughed and kissed her again.

Jim said he was going to take Ken out to the practice tee and
make a videotape of his swing.  The girls headed towards the
locker room and found Marie and Celeste there waiting for them.

"Good afternoon, Lady Kathy.  Good afternoon, Mrs. Conroy," they
said.  Hank just stood there and looked at them with one eyebrow
raised saying nothing.  Then Marie said, "Oh pooh, Hank!  You're
not fair.  We're trying to be on our very best behavior for the
hotel's most honored guests -- and our saviors."  Quickly they
explained how they had first encountered Ken Carlson, and how he
had saved their lives.  Hank was crying when they finished the
story and said that she never knew.

Entering the locker room, the Trangs began to undress the women.
When they did, they expressed surprise that their clothes were so
dry on such a hot day.  Hank commented to Kathy that this was an
advantage of nude golf she hadn't even considered: no sweaty
clothes to wash.  The Trang girls quickly undressed also and then
led them to the shower room.

On the way, they passed an exercise room.  Glancing inside, Kathy
saw a weight machine that was the same type she used at her
health club.  Although she told the others to go ahead and
shower, they elected to see what Kathy was going to do.  At the
back of the unit, a series of levers controlled the amount of
weight being used.  It was obvious that most women used the
machine at between five and twenty percent of its weight
capacity.  After connecting all the weight, Kathy lay on her back
on the platform and began to work out.

The other women just watched in utter amazement as she appeared
to move the weights effortlessly.  Clearly, it was not effortless
as they saw her working muscles bulge from the strain.  After
twenty-five quick reps, she sat up with her back to the weights
and with her arms outstretched, held the handles and, by swinging
her still-outstretched arms, touched her hands in front of her. 
By the time she was finished with her workout, Hank was watching
in utter amazement.  She had never seen any person as strong as
Kathy, let alone a woman.

Now sweat was dripping off Kathy's naked body as they went into
the shower room.  When Hank asked her about her workout, instead
of answering directly Kathy asked, "Hank, did you take a good
look at Ken?  That was purely self-defense.  If I'm not in good
shape I could accidentally get killed in bed with that man!" 
Then she winked and went into the shower.

The Trang girls got under the showers with the women and began
carefully to wash them with soft wash cloths.  Kathy thought that
the cool water felt delicious on her skin as she just reveled in
the sensations caused by Marie's hands.  When they were rinsed
off, the girls asked them to kneel and carefully shampooed and
conditioned their hair.  When Marie went to lead Kathy by the
hand, Kathy stood still and instead pulled the girl back into the
shower.

Hank watched and grinned, following Kathy's lead with Celeste. 
Just as carefully, they washed the small Vietnamese girls, in
spite of their protests that it was not right.  Because Kathy and
Hank were so much taller than they were, it wasn't necessary for
the girls to kneel for the women to wash their hair and condition
it.  While they were working, Kathy pointed out the terrible
scars both girls carried on their bodies and explained in greater
detail what had happened on that terrible day and in the days
following, as they escaped through the jungle.

Kathy finished by saying, "Hank, the one bright spot is that all
of those butchers are dead.  Ken turned out to be a tidy
housekeeper.  His men checked and _all_ of the enemy were dead. 
The ones that weren't killed in the initial assault were later
hung."  Then she told the girls, "Ken told me something that you
may not know, because you were unconscious.  He and his men dug
graves for your parents and buried them side by side in the
church cemetery.  He said some prayers for the repose of their
souls, and he made sure they were buried in a marked grave in
consecrated ground."  Tears were in her eyes as she finished, "I
thought you might like to know."

Marie just dove into Kathy's arms and bawled while Kathy held her
wet body and just stroked her head and shoulders.  With tears
still in her eyes the girl looked up and said softly, "Lady
Kathy, we owe you a debt we can never repay.  How did you know
that it still bothers us thinking of our parents just left lying
in the mud?"

Leaving the showers, the girls carefully dried off Kathy and
Hank, then led them into a massage room.  The women lay on the
tables face down, but then received a surprise.  Before beginning
to work on them, Celeste left the room and came back moments
later with two Bloody Marys.

Hank just shook her head and asked Kathy, "Aren't you really
leaning pretty hard?  I mean, you asked me to play golf with you
and I did.  I take a shower with you and allow these two urchins
to wash me and give me a shampoo.  I even get on the massage
table to humor you.  But do I really have to drink a Bloody Mary,
too?  Is there no end to your demands?"

Kathy saw the gleam in her eyes and pretended to look thoughtful.
 Finally she replied, "Hank, that's a very interesting question.
Philosophically, I would have to say there must be some finite
limit."  Then frowning, she added, "Of course, wherever the limit
might be, I am sure that I'm not even close."

Hank chuckled at her reply.  Then they propped themselves on
their elbows and sipped the drinks while the girls began at their
feet and started working up their bodies, massaging with very
strong fingers.  Hank saw one of the girls refilling a plastic
bottle containing the massage oil from a gallon jug.  When she
asked what the oil was, the girl blushed and said it was musk
oil.  Although priced and sold like the finest perfumes -- by the
quarter ounce -- in Kathy's case, the hotel had received a case
of six one-gallon jugs.  It was just a quantity to get started
on.

For her part, Kathy relished the wonderful sensation created by
the girl's fingers and the feeling of the oil being worked into
her body.  Marie took the remains of the drink from her hand as
she reached her shoulders.  When she had to lie flat, she
promptly fell asleep.  When Kathy awakened, she found herself
lying on her back.  Lifting herself up on her elbows, she found
that her whole body glistened with the oil which was still
soaking into her pores.

She had been awakened as Marie poured a thin stream of the
precious oil the length of her slit and was gently spreading it
and working it into the crevices behind her labia.  Looking over
at Hank, she saw that her friend was still sound asleep, although
Celeste was working on her cunt in the same way.

When Marie helped her off the table, Kathy was surprised to find
she felt almost groggy.  Then she realized that it was just the
effects of the massage itself and the way it had relaxed all of
her muscles.

She giggled at the sight of poor Celeste having a terrible time
trying to awaken Hank.  The woman just muttered, "Just le' me
sleep...  Feels so great..."

The girl persisted and Hank slowly sat up on the table and then
swung her beautiful legs to the side.  It seemed like she was
giving serious thought to the process of standing up, and finally
did.  When she was standing, she yawned and stretched, then
rolled her torso on her hips.  When she did, Kathy could see her
friend's muscles expand and contract.  She, too, was in marvelous
physical condition.

While they were still naked, the girls sat them down at makeup
tables and began to style their hair.  Kathy's was restored to
Henry Hall's style, but Celeste created an entirely new style for
Hank that took advantage of her hair's greater length.  Looking
at herself in the mirror, Kathy was almost sure that her tan had
noticeably darkened and was now only a lighter shade of the same
gold as Hank's.

After slipping on a fresh bikini, Marie slipped a white
sleeveless silk dress over her head and smoothed it out.  With
her golden complexion it looked beautiful.  Hank was about to put
her shorts and top back on when Celeste produced a dress for her,
too.

"Where in hell did this come from?" Hank asked.  "And what's
wrong with what I was wearing?"  Celeste explained that there was
a lovely luncheon planned, and she saw the dress in a shop, so...
 Realizing it was a near-duplicate of the dress Kathy was
wearing, Hank said, "There's no way I can afford a dress like
this!  My God, it costs more than Jim makes in a month!"

Celeste just smiled and said it was just added to the Carlson's
bill, along with the cost of the jewelry she had bought for her
to wear with it.

When the girls were finally satisfied with the effect they had
achieved, they each took a small white carnation and put it
behind each woman's right ear.  Then Marie asked, "Would you look
in the mirror, please.  I think you both look marvelous!  Of
course, you both always do."

Hank looked at her reflection and gasped.  Her skin glowed and
the dress featured her golden skin.  When she looked at the gold
jewelry she protested, "Now wait a stinking minute!  Carlson,
this stuff is all 14-carat.  What, in hell, are you doing tome?"

Kathy's face fell and she started to cry.  "Hank, I'm so sorry!"
she sobbed.  "It's all my fault, too.  Celeste told me, but I
just wouldn't listen.  When she said they had nothing in
18-carat, I told her to just make do.  Can... Will... Could you
find it your heart ever to forgive me?"

Hank just glared at Kathy, then raised and eyebrow, and finally
shook her head slowly with a quirky smile on her face saying,
"Okay, Carlson.  I give up this time.  But sometime, somewhere,
I'm going to get even."

Then she reached out and Kathy dove into her arms.  The two women
embraced and then kissed.  When they did, their mutual love just
flowed between them.  When they released, Hank looked and saw
that all traces of Kathy's phony tears were gone and the woman
was smiling at her warmly.  She whispered, "Kathy Carlson, I hope
you know that I love you very much?"

Kathy just grinned and winked.  "Come on, Conroy.  Get your tired
ass in gear."

The girls led the way to a private dining room that was set up
for them.  Unlike the typical function room, this one looked like
a family dining room complete with a lovely chandelier, a
sideboard, and very comfortable chairs.  At the end of the room
there was a sitting area with chairs arranged around a round
coffee table.  The dining table was set for four.  Since the
Trang sisters had only slipped on terry robes to lead them to
their private room, after serving more Bloody Marys when they
were seated at the coffee table, the girls disappeared to get
dressed.

After a short time Ken joined them, with Jim following moments
later.  He was grinning from ear to ear and claimed to have
located and solved Ken's control problem.  He put a video tape
into a player, turned on a small TV set and then ran the tape. 
The first scene showed Ken on the practice tee hitting balls. 
Although his swing looked good, the balls were spraying in all
directions.  "Now look," he said.  "The next shots were taken in
ultra-slow-motion.  Watch!"

The tape continued to run.  Now it was apparent that Ken's sheer
strength was bending his club's shaft to an incredible degree. 
The problem was it was also twisting the shaft at the same time.
As a result, at the time the clubhead hit the ball, it was either
still twisted or had rebounded beyond its normal plane.

"In Ken's hands that shaft has all the stability -- and
usefulness -- of a piece of overcooked spaghetti."

Then, with a big grin, he said, "Now watch this.  I gave him a
club we've had around for months.  We call it the gorilla club. 
It's got a metal head with an ultra-stiff titanium shaft."

He left the room for a moment and returned with a driver in his
hand and passed it to Hank.  She tried to flex it but couldn't. 
When Kathy tried, she could flex it but her muscles were standing
out from the strain.  Hank now had another glimpse of the power
in her friend's muscles and gasped.

Then Jim ran the tape again.  As it started to roll he said,
"This is Ken's first shot with this club.  Just watch!"  Again it
was ultra-slow-motion.  Now the club was substantially flexed but
no more than a club should be at the same point in a good swing.
The clubhead was correctly aligned at the point of ball contact.
Jim fast-forwarded a bit and found the shot he was looking for.

Before running the tape he said, "Remember one thing: the
practice range is 325 yards deep.  Now watch.  This section of
tape was recorded at normal speed."  Ken addressed his ball, and
then took a swing.  The ball went off the clubhead like a rocket.
 It seemed still to be climbing as it went beyond the far edge of
the practice range.

Then Jim asked, "Now, can we have a rematch tomorrow?  By
tee-time, Ken will have a full set of clubs with shafts like
that."

"Of course, darling," Hank replied.  "And we won't even ask for
more than our normal 27-stroke handicap."  She grinned and stuck
out the tip of her pink tongue at him.

Having been talking about golf club shafts, Jim had an idea. 
Looking at Kathy he said, "I would like you to try a different
set of clubs tomorrow, too.  I saw what you did with that
titanium shaft, lady!  On the course today, I don't think you
used a fraction of the power you can develop.  In fact, I
remember being amazed at the distance you were getting with a
very easy swing.  Now I think I know why:  You have to use an
easy swing or you would be doing to your clubs what Ken was doing
to his -- and for the same reason."  He smiled and asked, "Does
that make sense?"

Kathy just shook her head slowly, then stuck out her tongue
saying, "Jim Conroy, I think I hate you.  You discovered my
secret."  Then she chuckled and said, "Actually, I had the same
experience playing on the golf machine.  I guess you noticed
that, as much as Judy helped me, she doesn't know much about the
game.

"Anyway, since I don't have any clubs of my own, when I use the
machine at the club, I use the clubs they have.  I guess they
must be women's standard or something.  Anyway, once I learned to
swing, I started to do on the machine exactly what Ken was doing
on the course today.  Although neither of us knew what we were
doing, by trial and error we discovered that the only way I could
control the ball was to take a real easy swing.  Since the
machine indicated that the theoretical distance was still pretty
good, that's what I did."

Shaking his head, Jim said, "Okay, Kath.  Tomorrow I'm going to
try you out with a set of stiff-shafted men's clubs.  Then we'll
see."  Then he grinned broadly and said, "Hell, you may end up
with a set of gorilla clubs in a woman's length."

The foursome sat and chatted.  Then Ken looked at Kathy and told
her he had never seen her look more beautiful, and Jim said a
similar thing to Hank.  Each woman just basked in her husband's
admiration.

In the meantime, the Trangs had returned with more drinks.  When
lunch was served, they took their places at the table and enjoyed
a magnificent meal.  As they were nearing the end, Hank looked at
Kathy, raised her wine glass and said, "I would like to offer a
toast.  To the Carlsons: Without them, we would not be here at
all.  But with them, we are spending one of the most enjoyable
days of our lives.  Kathy and Ken, beyond anything else I
sincerely hope you will consider us to be your good friends -- at
the very least."

Jim drank the toast with his wife and then Kathy asked how they
had met and married in the first place.

"That's an easy one to answer," Hank replied.  "I was young and
innocent and then made a terrible mistake: I thought it would be
nice to learn how to play golf.  I went out to a public course
where the assistant pro had just earned his tour card. 
Nevertheless, he agreed to give me a lesson.  Well, he showed me
how to grip the club and all that good stuff.  Then he stood
behind me to show me the position of the club against the body."

Hank looked at Kathy and asked, "You know how the grip of the
club is supposed to be down in your crotch?"  Kathy nodded and
Hank continued, "Yeah, right...  Well, Jim's behind me with his
arms around me and pushes my hands down.  The next thing I know,
he's fingering my slit.  I suddenly stand up straight in shock
and almost knock him down."

With her eyes gleaming she continued, "Then he grabs me to keep
from falling over backwards.  At least, that's what he claims. 
Of course, what does he grab?  My tits, of course -- and my tits
have always been sinfully sensitive.  When I turn my head to
complain, his mouth is right there.  The next thing I know, his
lips are melting against mine, enough electricity is flowing
between us to supply the Islands for a year, and I'm deafened by
the ringing of bells."

She smiled warmly, shook her head and said, "We were married
three days later."

Then a voice behind her interjected, "Yeah, and nine months later
_to the day,_ I appear."

Kathy spun around and saw a beautiful girl standing in the
doorway.  She was barefoot and wearing Levi's cut off as short
shorts along with a white tank-top.  Her legs were beautifully
shaped, flowing from slim but very womanly hips.  Suddenly, Kathy
was stunned.  The girl appeared to be about fourteen and was the
image of Hank.  In just a couple of years, they would look like
twins.  The girl had Hank's golden blonde hair, blue eyes and
height -- she, too, appeared to be about five feet eight.  She
was a picture of budding womanhood, with her tits just starting
to develop.

The girl said, "Hi, folks.  Can I join the party?  I'm Mom's
first mistake and my name is Sam."  Kathy was puzzled and asked
what she meant by being a mistake.

Before the girl could reply, Hank did.  "Kathy, it's simple. 
First of all, I guess you ought to know that Jim and I play
Vatican roulette -- otherwise known as using the rhythm method. 
Anyway, we're married and he takes me to bed.  The first time
hurt because he was the first man I ever had."

Then she looked thoughtful and added, "As a matter of fact, he
was the first guy I ever even kissed.  But then I was the first
for him, too."  She grinned and asked, "Can you believe it?  Two
people doing it for the first time?  Anyway, I find I can really
get into this sex thing.  Well, after we were married a few
months the idea crossed my mind to do something about controlling
the population, so I read up on rhythm.  There was a problem
though, you see, because I was late for my period.

"After a couple of months more, Jim asked if maybe I could be?...
 I told him it was the dumbest thing I had ever heard.  Everyone
knows that pregnant women blow up like balloons, are sick every
morning...  You know -- pregnant.  None of this applied to me. 
Anyway, I decided that the only way rhythm would work was if
there were some safe release for him during my dangerous days. 
That's how I learned to take him in my mouth and in my ass."

Looking at Jim, she said with a very serious expression on her
face, "And that's the truth, too, James Conroy.  It's not what
you think: I _am not_ an oversexed nymphomaniac!"

Then she picked up the thread of her story.  "Anyway, time passed
and finally I did notice that my tits were getting larger -- that
was pretty good, though.  Then I had trouble buttoning my Levi's
-- my belly was spreading a bit.  Anyway, Jim was getting to be a
bit of a pest, so one day when I had these strange sensations in
my cunt -- sort of contractions, or something -- I figured, what
the hell, I'll talk to a doctor.  As I drive in to see him, I'm
beginning to think it might be a good idea.  The damned pains are
coming more frequently now.  Anyway, I check in with his nurse
and pick up a magazine.  You know how late doctors always are? 
Finally, he calls me in and examines me.

"Well, now I am concerned.  The damned pains are coming about
every minute or so, so I don't fight it at all when he says I
better get to the hospital next door."

Hank's face was very serious as she told of her experience.  "I
go, check in, they put me in a gown, and wheel me right into
surgery.  At least I thought it was surgery.  Anyway, I feel
stupid and exposed with my legs spread wide, waiting for the
anaesthesia or whatever.  Then this clown says, 'Push!' Well, I
thought that was a pretty dumb thing to say, but what did I know?
 So I pushed.

"Well, damned if that didn't take care of things.  You've been
constipated, Kathy, haven't you?  Well, you know how great it
feels when the blockage gives way?  Well that's how it felt."

Kathy had been listening to Hank's story in disbelief.  Jim
Conroy had been trying his best to keep from laughing out loud. 
When he saw the skepticism on Kathy's face, he said, "Kathy,
honest to God, every word you just heard is true!  She goes to
see the doctor for the first time when she's having labor pains.
But do you know what's really funny?  When I brought her home
from the hospital, she was wearing her favorite skin-tight
Levi's.  And you know what else?  They were loose on her because
of the weight she lost!"  Kathy just shook her head.

Hank picked up the story.  "Anyway, having gotten rid of the
constipation, or whatever it was, I was nice and relaxed and went
to sleep.  When I woke up, I'm in this stupid hospital bed.  Just
as I realize some idiot put the dumb hospital gown on me
backwards -- the ties were in the front and I was getting cold --
a nurse comes in with a bundle of rags or something.  Then she
starts to untie the ties on the gown and then spreads it wide,
baring my tits!  I was wondering what kind of place this was -- I
was thinking about lesbian rape -- when she dumps the bundle on
my lap and leaves."

Hank shook her head remembering.  "Anyway, I'm wondering what to
do with the rags, when a tiny hand waves at me.  I look and find
there's a little thing in there with hands...  Hell, it was
almost human.  Anyway, this thing waves its hand towards my tit.
Well, what do I know?  I put the thing there and the next thing I
know I'm feeling this strange but wonderful sensation at mytit."

Hank looked around with her remembered surprise on her face as
she continued, "It had a mouth!  Anyway, I'm resting in bed
watching this strange thing suckle and seeing my left tit shrink.
 Then it waves its little hand.  Well, I can take a hint, so I
shift it to my right and feel that strange sensation again.

"Well, I decided that maybe it was a baby.  But that would mean I
was a mother and that was flat-out impossible.  I mean, you can't
be a mother without studying Dr. Spock, right?  You have to go to
those classes and practice breathing and all that other good
stuff.  And hell, you have to blow up like a balloon and be sick
every day.  All of that's training to be a mother."

Then she pouted and said, "Besides, I'm sure they threw out the
instructions, the warranty card, and all that other stuff.  How
could I keep her?"  She looked thoughtful and added, "You know,
it's like buying a VCR.  You can't wait to see the tape you
bought at the same time you bought the unit, so when you get the
thing home, you rip it out of the box, wire it up, plug it in,
and watch.  Of course, you chuck out the box and packing
materials.  Later, when you decide you want to tape something,
you find that you don't know how to do it.  Why?  Because,
stupid, you threw out the instructions with the box!"

Now she pretended to be serious as she continued, "I'm sure it's
the same thing here.  Just because the dumb doctors don't want to
get their hands dirty, they refuse to go through the packing
material these things come in to retrieve the instructions.  I
think they're all dumped with the afterbirth, or whatever the
packaging is called."

By now everyone in the room was laughing, even the Trang sisters.
 Seeing them laughing made Kathy realize what it was that she had
been aware of about the sisters but had not quite been able to
bring into focus: They had an aura of sadness about them all the
time.  Right then, she decided to do something about it if she
could.

Hank picked up her story.  "Well, I have this thing, but I'm not
a mother.  What do I do?  The answer's very simple: I will put
her out for adoption and go home to Jim.  Hell, what did he know,
anyway.  I mean he had fucked my ass off just that morning.  He
would never even know the difference."

Again, Jim was rapidly nodding his head while trying to control
his laughter.  She continued, "But you know what happened?  I
sort of got into the nursing thing.  It felt so good to hold this
little thing and feel it bite my nipples with its gums."  Hank
shrugged and said, "So what the hell!  I'll put it out in a month
or so.  Anyway, the month stretched out to a couple of years and
then I got distracted and forgot all about it.  But anyway, this
is our daughter, Samantha."

Sam grinned and said, "Mom, that distraction is named Thomas --
referred to by some as your son?  Anyway, Mom is right.  Of
course, she's not telling the whole story.  For example, we have
to walk softly and be good at home.  Otherwise..."

Sam made a throat-slitting motion and then looked thoughtful. 
"Actually, it isn't so bad.  Heck, I don't think Mom ever made a
really _serious_ attempt to get rid of me.  I mean, she does run
an ad every once in a while..."

By now Sam was sitting on the sideboard with her bare feet
dangling.  Looking around the table, she looked thoughtful as she
remembered, "Of course, awhile ago she ran an ad in one of those
classified papers.  You know the ones?  Where you only pay if you
make a sale -- otherwise the ad is free?"

She shook her head and grimaced, saying, "Well, one day I saw
myself listed under 'Sell, Swap or Trade'.  The ad said, 'No
reasonable offer refused.'" The girl shook her head and said,
"That ad produced the only real offer I know about.  A guy wanted
to swap a windsurfer for me and Mom shook on the deal.  It fell
apart, though, when she found out the rudder post was broken and
a new part cost ten bucks.  The guy wouldn't pay for the part and
Mom wouldn't take the surfer as it was, so the deal fell
through..."

Sam shook her head sadly and said, "Isn't it one hell of a note,
though?  Swapping her firstborn child for a used windsurfer?  And
it wasn't even a good one, either!"  Everyone around the table
cracked up with laughter.  Kathy realized that Sam was an
incredible natural comedienne with great timing and delivery. 
Moreover, she was going to be an incredibly beautiful woman, the
image of her mother.

Then Sam smiled warmly, remembering.  "You know, Mom talked about
nursing.  Well let me tell you about it.  I mean, heck...  Who
knows more about it, the calf or the cow?  The cow just stands
there..."

Sam smiled warmly and said, "My mom told how I nursed for a
couple of years.  Let me tell you how she abused me.  When she
was trying to get me on solid food, she would tease me with her
tit to get me to eat some of the most God-awful yucky stuff in
the world!"  Looking at her mother she said, "It seems to me that
at least a couple of times you vomited just looking at it, didn't
you?"

Hank was giggling so hard she couldn't talk, but she nodded her
head rapidly up and down.

"Shit, lady, what was your problem?  You got sick just looking at
it.  I had to eat it!"  Sam grinned at her mother and winked.

"I thought I remembered that," Sam continued.  "But do you know
how it worked?  I would do anything -- and I mean _anything_ --
to get that luscious nipple in my mouth.  Mom has the most
beautiful golden tits in the world.  She would just dangle that
nipple and I would gobble up _anything!_  But she didn't cheat. 
When I cleaned my plate, she gave me what I wanted most of all in
the world: The most luscious nipple that gave the warmest,
sweetest, most wonderfully nourishing milk in the world.

"Not only did I get the nipple, but I got to pat and play with
her gorgeous tit with its satin-smooth skin that was so warm and
fine to touch."

Looking around she said, "You know something?  I think her tit
was smoother than my skin and I was only one year old!"  She
shook her head slowly, seeming to remember.  "But that wasn't
all.  There was also the wonderful smell of clean and of love...
Finally I drained her left tit and she would put me on her right.
 Know something?  I don't think I _ever_ drained Mom's right
tit...  Wait a minute!  Mom, did you give the rest of your milk
to Dad for his coffee?  Did he steal it from me?"

"Of course, darling," Hank replied blandly.  "You didn't want it
to go to waste, did you?  Was it my fault that you always fell
asleep before you could finish?"

"Guess what?" the girl asked rhetorically.  "Today, in a stupid
family course I have to take, the teacher was talking about
'quality time' with infants, and 'parenting'.  What garbage! 
'Quality time' was when I woke up and was hungry.  I think I
cooed or gurgled or something; Mom said I never cried.  Anyway,
she would pick me up, and then change and powder me so I was nice
and dry and sweet.  Then of course, she hugged me and cradled me
and made silly faces."

Sam shook her head, looking puzzled, and then with a sigh said,
"Babies have to humor their mothers, I guess.  If mothers want to
act silly, I guess we have to go along."  She just shook her head
as the people all laughed.

Continuing her narrative she said, "Anyway, I had an advantage
over most babies.  You see, since Mom spends most of the time
naked, the rest was easy.  Sooner or later I would get my hand on
that luscious golden globe.  Then I would get that wonderful
nipple in my mouth and I would be in heaven!  Mom would hold me,
rock me and sing to me, while I lived on a baby's perfect food:
my mother's wonderful sweet, fresh, warm, delicious milk.
_That's_ quality time.  It's responding to the baby's needs, not
the mother's.  My whole babyhood was quality time.

"Parenting?  What bullshit!  As much as I adore my dad -- and I
worship the ground he walks on -- there's no milk in his breasts,
so..."  She shook her head and said, "In spite of the libbers, I
guess we're still back where we started: with mothering.

"Anyway," the girl said, "That's my mom, and that's who I am."

"That's very interesting, dear," Hank interjected, "But to what
do we owe the rare privilege of your presence?...  Looking like
something washed up on the beach, as usual."

"That's easy.  As soon as I got home from school, the word was
all over about two women playing golf wearing next to nothing. 
It could only be you, but I wondered who you had conned into
stripping with you."  The girl appeared to be chagrined at her
mother's behavior, but Kathy could see her eyes dancing with
delight.

Hank replied with studied disdain, "My dear, your information
sources aren't as accurate as they once were.  Since you said
'nearly naked', whoever it was must have seen us on the front
nine.  We were completely naked playing the back."  She grinned
and added, "And I wasn't the first to take off my pants,either!"

Sam looked at Kathy and Ken and said, "It can only be you two,
aiding and abetting my mother's worst instincts.  I know Marie
and Celeste, of course, and I'm sure it wasn't them.  Now who are
you two?"*Chapter 16*

Hank smiled warmly at her daughter and replied, "I was wondering
if you were ever going to stop your monologue long enough to
pretend to be civilized.  Samantha Conroy, I am very happy to
introduce our host and hostess at luncheon today, Mr. and Mrs.
Kenneth Carlson."

When the girl heard the name, her jaw dropped and she slid off
the sideboard.  Suddenly, she was embarrassed by her appearance
and was obviously torn between fleeing the room and meeting the
people she had heard about all her life.  She asked very softly,
"Mommy, is this the Kenneth Carlson who saved Daddy's life?"

"He sure is, darling.  And his wife's name is Kathy.  Remember
hearing about Kathy-grams?"

Moving swiftly, Sam darted around to table to where Ken was
sitting.  She stood in front of him for a moment, then sat down
across his lap.  Then she held his face in her two hands while
staring into his eyes.  Moving slowly, she tipped his head to one
side and placed her lips on his.  It was the most unbelievable
kiss Ken had ever experienced in his life.  Her lips were soft
and the girl was a vibrant presence on his lap.  At the same time
her kiss was a mixture of the childlike and the womanly, but
totally devoid of passion while loaded with pure love.  When her
lips were glued to his, she put her arms around his neck, hugged
him tightly and just continued the kiss.

For his part, Ken was initially taken aback, but feeling the love
flowing from her lips, when she put her arms around his neck, he
put his around her slim body and just held her tight.  Kathy
could see the girl's lips moving on Ken's and could feel the love
flowing from her to him.

Finally, she eased away slowly just far enough to be able to
study Ken's eyes.  Then she said with all the love she could
manage in her voice, "Thank you, Captain Carlson.  Thank you for
saving my daddy's life!"  There was nothing Ken could think to
say as she jumped off his lap and went to Kathy.

Kathy didn't know what to expect as the girl dropped to her knees
and just stared into her eyes.  Then, moving almost as if in a
trance, she rose and sat across Kathy's lap.  She repeated almost
exactly what she had done with Ken.  When the girl held Kathy's
face in her hands, she was immediately struck by the smoothness
of her skin.  Then she tipped Kathy's head and fused her lips to
hers.  Her arms went around Kathy's neck while Kathy held the
slim girl tightly around her waist.  Almost automatically,
Kathy's hands ran lightly over the girl's back.

Kathy was totally unaware of what her hands were doing because of
the impact of the girl's kiss.  It was a kiss of the purest love
that just flowed between the women.  Finally, Sam eased away but
remained in the circle of Kathy's arms.  Then she continued to
stare into Kathy's eyes while Kathy just looked steadily back
into the girl's brilliant blue ones.  Sam was breathing hard when
she ended her kiss, but now her respiration was back to normal.

While still looking into Kathy's eyes the girl said, "Mom, you
know how all human characteristics are distributed on a normal
curve?  The bell curve?"

Hank knew what a normal curve was but had no idea what her
daughter was driving at, so she replied with a very noncommittal,
"Yes, dear."

"Well, Mom, all the action in a bell curve -- all the studies --
are focused on the center, plus or minus a deviation or two,
right?"

"I guess so, dear," Hank replied with her voice still
noncommital.  The behavior she was seeing was totally different
from anything she had ever seen in Sam before.

Still staring into Kathy eyes, Sam continued, "But, Mom, what
about the ends?  The completely off-standard behavior, the
strange physical characteristics."  This time, Hank said nothing,
but Sam just continued, "How about good and evil?  Why shouldn't
that also be normally distributed?  Let's face it: we're told in
church that we are all sinners.  We try to get our good elements
to control our bad.  But there are extremes: Charles Manson, for
example, is pure evil incarnate; he is a walking, talking
argument for the death penalty.  As the personification of evil,
you want to destroy him.

"But Mom, that's one far end of the spectrum.  If Manson is the
personification of evil, Mrs. Carlson is the personification of
goodness and love."  When she said it, Kathy's jaw dropped and
she released her hold on the girl.  Unconcerned, Sam rose from
Kathy's lap and then dropped to her knees in front of her. 
Sitting back on her heels with her back up straight, her
shoulders back, and her immature tits thrusting proudly upward,
she continued, "You are, you know."

Then she turned to look at her mother and said, "Mom, I love you
more than anyone alive.  The reason I know that what I am saying
about Mrs. Carlson is true is you.  She has everything you have
but in limitless quantities.  The kiss she just gave me was the
purest love that exists.  I look through her eyes to her soul,
and all I see is goodness." 

As she said it, she popped to her feet and began to pace.  Her
face was strangely solemn.

Then wheeling on her mother, she brightened like a light coming
on and exclaimed, "I got it!  Oh God, Mom, I got it!  Now I know
how the Kathy-grams worked."  She went to her mother and just
reached out to take Hank's hands in hers.

Sam said, "Mom, what did Dad tell us?  He told us -- and he saw
this with his own eyes, it's not just some story -- how Captain
Carlson came out of the jungle dead tired and beaten after
I-don't-know-how-many days of misery and danger.  After receiving
a stack of Kathy-grams, what happened?  He sat down on his pack
and began to read.  Dad has told us dozens of times how the
captain just came back to life.  His words were, 'It was like
watching a battery being recharged.'"

Squeezing her mother's hands she exclaimed, "That's it, Mom! 
That's exactly what happened but we never understood it."

Hank had been stunned by her daughter's behavior.  Yet she
couldn't dismiss it because the girl was making so much sense. 
Nevertheless, she did not fully understand it.  Shaking her head,
Hank said softly, "Sam, I heard what you said, sweetheart, but
honestly, I still don't understand.  Could you explain it?" she
asked with her eyes locked on her daughter's.

"Mom, it's Mrs. Carlson and her power of love and her goodness. 
You see, she has so much, that even what little there is on a
piece of paper is enough.  It recharged the Captain.  What else?
There was a residual action: it wasn't used up, you see.  It
still worked weeks and months later when he reread them." 
Wheeling on Ken, she demanded, "You always carried them with you
and reread them when you were deep behind enemy lines on a
mission, didn't you?"

Ken was stunned.  What this young girl was saying was exactly
what happened.  Everyone knew he saved Kathy's letters, but not
even his men knew how many of them he always carried with him to
reread for inspiration when the unit was in the greatest danger.
He looked up at Sam and just slowly nodded his head and replied
very softly, "Yes, Sam, I did.  But how could you possibly know?
No one knew!  Not even Kathy."

Sam went to him, took his hands in hers, and then stared into his
eyes.  Ken looked back into hers and realized he was doing what
she had been talking about with Kathy: he was looking into her
soul and seeing nothing but purity and goodness.  He swallowed
hard, feeling humble in the presence of this remarkable young
woman.  He could say nothing more.

Samantha continued staring into his eyes, but then grinned and
quickly shook her head saying, "Captain Carlson, I don't know if
I envy you or if I feel sorry for you."  Ken recoiled in
surprise, dropping her hands.  Her grin just broadened as she
continued, "I guess I should explain that comment, shouldn't I? 
It's simple, really.  The envy is obvious: you are the
beneficiary of all of the love of the most remarkable woman on
the face of the earth, Kathy Carlson.  She just drowns you in
it."

Then her grin became a smile as she continued, "The pity, I
guess, is not so obvious.  You see, she will drive you...  No! 
Never that!  She will _inspire_ you to do things and achieve
things that will amaze you as well as everybody else.

"In the Middle Ages when knighthood was in flower, the knights
set out to do great deeds for their ladies fair.  Captain, that's
_exactly_ what you do."  When Ken shook his head in denial, she
insisted.  "Don't deny it, Captain.  It's true and you can't deny
it.  You see, your entire record in Vietnam supports what I just
said."

Now she was again on her knees in front of him, holding his hands
and looking into his eyes.  With a wonderfully warm smile on her
beautiful face she continued, "Now just think!  If Mrs. Carlson
could do that at a distance of 6,000 miles _before you were
married,_ how much more will she inspire you with your cock
inside her wonderfully inviting sheath, where her love is
communicated so much more strongly and directly."

This time Ken's jaw did drop as Sam gracefully rose to her feet
and began to pace the floor again.  Then she smiled the warmest
smile he had ever seen and said, "Captain, I apologize for
upsetting you.  It is the very last thing I ever want to do.  The
reason is, you see, when you saved my father's life, to a very
significant degree, you saved mine, too."

Kathy's eyes were locked on the beautiful girl's.  Unconsciously,
she reached out and took Ken's hand and just held it as the girl
continued, "I owe you an explanation."  Then she smiled broadly
and said, "I'm not a mystic or a mind-reader or anything.  You
see, all I'm doing is comparing my mother's incredible degree of
love for my father with her capacity to give love.  You see, you
two are exactly like my parents.  For example, Mrs. Carlson is
holding your hand, but I don't think she even knows it.  Why? 
Because she needs to, in the same way my parents do.  Justlook!"

Hank Conroy jerked up with a start, realizing that she was
gripping Jim's hand hard. _My God!  Sam's right.  I do need to
hold him._  She was going to self-consciously let go of it, but
instead went to him and sat down across his lap.  Jim gave her a
hug around the waist as she just snuggled as close to him as she
could.

"I guess this is as good a place to start as any," Sam began. 
"You see my mother on my father's lap and you see her snuggling
as close to him as she can get.  Why?  Because as I said earlier,
she needs to.  On the top of her priority scale -- the very top
-- is having Dad's raging cock in her wet cunt, emptying his love
juices into her vagina."

She grinned and interjected, "Since I'm a product of those juices
joined with one of her perfect eggs, I can't complain too much.

"Next on the scale is taking him anywhere else: in her mouth, in
her ass, between her tits...  Anywhere.  Below that is having him
eat her cunt.  Then there's his caressing her body -- the more
intimately, the better; then kissing...  But you get the idea. 
Why does she do it?"

The girl's smile was like sunshine as she answered her own
question: "To live, is the simple answer.  Mom needs Dad's
physical expression of his love for her in exactly the same way
and to the same degree that she needs air to breathe.  I think my
comparison is exact.  She needs his physical love more than she
needs food, for example."  Again she grinned and said, "In fact,
I think Mom could live for weeks on just Dad's spend."

Then her face grew serious.  "But back to what you did and how
you saved her life -- and mine.  If that man had pulled the
trigger, Dad would have been dead.  And Mom would have been dead
within a month -- two, at the outside.  Why?  Can a clock
continue to run if it's never wound?  Of course not.  Well,
Captain, Mom is the mainspring of our family while Dad is the
winding key.  You see, she absorbs his love for her and then
somehow rebroadcasts that love, amplified manyfold, to everyone
else in the family.  There's more, though.  Mom provides the
family with its direction.  She is our guiding light."

Then she shook her head.  It appeared to Kathy that Sam was not
happy with the explanation she was giving.  She said, "Let me try
it a little differently.  Let me tell you how my family works and
how we relate to Mom's scale of values.  At the very top, in a
class totally by himself, is Dad.  To say that, to Mom, the sun
rises and sets in him is true but not nearly enough.  You see, he
_is_ her life.  I said she would be dead if anything happened to
him.  Why?  Because do you know what heaven is?  For myself, I
sure don't, but I know what it is and will be for them: it is
spending eternity in each other's arms naked and making love. 
That's all there is: they will be making love through all
eternity.  So if Dad had been killed, Mom would have joined him
in heaven as soon as she could, to be coupled with him forever."

The look on the girl's face was one of the warmest love as she
amplified her remarks one more level.  "You see, it is an
indisputable fact that my parents will go straight to Heaven. 
Why?  Because their overwhelming goodness dominates everything. 
They are as morally pure as humans can ever be.  Their eternal
salvation is assured."

Hank slowly shook her head.  She was hearing things from her
young daughter that utterly amazed her and yet everything she
said -- except for the goodness, of course, which Hank couldn't
accept -- was true.  Certainly her feeling for Jim and her scale
of happiness was exactly right.

Sam continued, "Let me illustrate my mother's love for Dad by
telling a story.  I swore to her I would never tell a soul, but
that was almost two years ago, so I'll consider the statute of
limitations to have expired."

Sam had stopped her pacing and was again sitting on the
sideboard.  Everyone else in the room was totally silent, just
hanging on her words.  "First, I guess you need to know that Mom
and Dad are naked at home far more than they are dressed.  They
make love in every imaginable way, everywhere."

She grinned and interjected, "It's really kind of funny, I guess,
when you think about it.  Can you imagine a kid coming home from
school having to walk around the bodies of her parents while her
Dad is fucking the ass off her mother?  That's happened to me
more times than I can count."

She sighed and shook her head, then continued her story. 
"Anyway, we had just sat down to dinner one night and we started
with soup.  Dad kidded Mom by asking, 'Why can't I ever get what
I really like to eat?'  When Mom bit and asked him what that was,
he grinned and replied, 'Your cunt, of course.'

"Well, Mom would normally have replied something like, 'It's too
rich for you,' or 'Please, darling, not in front of the
children,' or some similar bullshit.  That night, though, all she
did was strip off all her clothes -- Mom is so practiced that it
only takes about three seconds."

Sam shook her head and smiled to herself, remembering.  "Anyway,
then she goes to Dad's end of the table and carefully removes,
not only his soup plate, but all his silverware, too.  Dad is
sitting there with his mouth open, not knowing what to say.  Then
she comes back and sits on the table in front of him with her
hands braced behind her.  Then she puts her legs on his shoulders
and uses one of her hands to spread her cunt lips.

"Then, just as Dad's head is coming forward to start to feast on
her glorious cunt, she takes her feet off him and sits up,
appearing the think.  Then she says, 'Jim, it's not right.  It
needs some preparation...  Something...' Then she snaps her
fingers and reaches behind her for the salt and pepper shakers. 
Then, using incredible muscle control, she leans backward,
spreads her legs, uses one hand to spread her labia while with
the other she sprinkles salt and pepper the length of her cunt.

"Dad is dumbstruck!  He doesn't know what to do.  Finally he asks
her what, in hell, she's doing.?  She replies as sweetly as
possible, 'But darling, you put salt and pepper on everything,
and this is part of your dinner, so...'  Then she snaps her
fingers, exclaims, 'That's it!' and asks me to get the ketchup
from the kitchen.  I bring back the bottle, again she spread her
legs and lips, then carefully pours ketchup the full length of
her slit.  Then she braces herself with one hand back on the
table, puts her legs on his shoulders, and uses the other hand to
pull Dad's head toward her cunt.  As she does she says, 'Now
we're there!  Jim, you put ketchup on everything, so why not in
my cunt?'

"Well, Dad spends the next twenty minutes feasting on her cunt. 
Can you imagine?  Here I am trying to eat my soup while less than
a foot away my mom is being eaten and constantly cuming, too." 
The girl slowly shook her head and interjected, "Every damned
time she came, it shook the table.  Once, it even spilled my
milk.  It was like a series of earthquakes, so every time I saw
she was about to cum, I would lift my plate and glass off the
table.  Is this any way to act around impressionable children?  I
ask you?  Is it?"

She smiled and said, "Well, back to the story.  Finally, Dad
finishes and Mom casually gets off the table and serves the rest
of the dinner.  Then she excuses herself while the rest of us
start to eat.  I excused myself, too, and followed her.  But
first, I went to the kitchen and, being sure not to make any
noise Dad could hear, I got a bowl of ice cubes and went up to my
parents' bedroom.

"I find Mom writhing in agony on the bed with a wooden stacking
ring in her mouth.  Later, when I looked at it, I found that she
had damned near bitten the thing in half.  Why?  Because the hot
spices spread in the most sensitive part of her body were nearly
killing her.

"Well, I get on the bed and she spreads her legs.  When I put the
first ice cube in her slit she said, 'Oh, Sam!  Thank you, my
darling, but why aren't you eating your dinner?'  That's a point
I'll come back to later.  Anyway, I use the cubes to ease the
pain, then I go down on her, working much more carefully than Dad
did to get rid of the last of the salt, but particularly the
pepper.  I can still remember Mom's hand lightly stroking my hair
as I lapped at her cunt while she made the most loving noises I
have ever heard.  I teased her clit and made her cum myself. 
When I finished licking up her succulent juices, she took me in
her arms and kissed me in a way she never had before.  Her tongue
darted into mine and she tried to take back all of her love
juices that were in my mouth.

"Is this story over?  Almost.  Then I got some painkilling
ointment to spread in her cunt.  But before she would allow me to
apply it, though, I had to convince her that there would be no
way of Dad ever knowing she used any.  Why?  Because he might not
fuck her that night if he knew how painful her cunt was, and
nothing was going to permit that to happen."  Samantha shook her
head and said, "That's my mom."

Then she added, "I almost forgot: The message of this story: You
see, Mom knew damned well that the spices would hurt like hell. 
Well, why did she do it then?  Is she a masochist?  Not hardly. 
It was because she thought Dad would derive some amusement from
it -- and he sure did.  He laughed about it for days.  Was it
important to him?  Hell, no!  But to Mom, that's not the point. 
The point is she will do anything -- _anything!_  -- to increase
Dad's enjoyment.  What it may cost her to do it has nothing to do
with anything.  You see the night was a smashing success from
Mom's point of view, too.  She had increased his fun.  The price
she paid in agonizing pain just did not get on the scale."

She looked at her parents and asked, "Do you remember, Dad?"

Jim replied, "I sure do, pumpkin.  And thank you, darling, for
helping your mother even if I was too damned dumb to know she
needed it."  Hank turned and utterly melted him with a loving
kiss.

Then Sam said, "I'll talk about one thing more: physical
appearance.  I think my mother is a magnificently beautiful
woman.  Do you think she cares?  Not really -- and certainly not
in the way one would normally think.  Why does she remain so
young, so vibrant and so incredibly beautiful?  Two reasons:
First, she thinks Dad likes her this way, and she certainly has
that right.  Second, because she thinks Dad gets a thrill when he
introduces a friend or acquaintance to Mom.

"Inevitably, their jaws drop, their tongues hang out and they
tell Dad he's the luckiest man alive.  Dad loves it!  He wooed
and won one of the most beautiful women in the world.  It makes
him feel good about himself. _That's_ why Mom does it: because it
makes _Dad_ feel good."  She shook her head and said, "Thank God!
 Because if Dad thought 300-pound women were beautiful, you could
bet your last cent that Mom would be at least 325!"  Everyone
giggled at Sam's wisecrack which relieved the tension that had
been gathering in the room.

Then she said, "Let me talk about roles for a moment.  Dad is the
provider.  He is also Mom's passion, inspiration, and both
driving and motivating force.  Then, as I said before, she takes
his love, amplifies it and extends it to everyone else.  To Dad,
she is his best friend, his confidant, his mistress, his whore,
his playmate, his nurse, his accountant, his financial
councilor...  She is his everything.  Most of all, though, she is
his direction and moderator.  When Dad is down, she lifts him up.
 If he's euphoric, she gently brings him back down to earth.  If
he's mad, she calms him, but if he's being walked over, she
stiffens his backbone.  What is Henrietta Conroy to James Conroy?
 Not much.  Just his whole life in the same way he is the whole
of hers.  She is his helpmate -- a term that's fallen into
desuetude.

"Damn it, Hank Conroy is Jim's _wife!_  That says it all."

Sam had been pacing but was now just standing defiantly with her
legs spread.  While she was finishing her speech, the door opened
and a boy of about twelve had come in silently.  Kathy saw that
he was going to be the image of his father, Jim Conroy, but with
his mother's brilliant blue eyes.  When she stopped speaking, the
boy's hand reached out and he pinched Sam's ass.

Without turning or moving, Sam said, "Damn it, Tommy, that's not
the way you pinch a girl's ass.  You should know better by now!"

To Kathy's amazement, the girl unbuttoned her shorts and dropped
them, along with her bikini, to the floor.  It didn't surprise
Kathy at all to see that the girl's golden tan was over every
inch of her body.  Her pubic patch was fully developed and was
golden-blonde, dense and curly.  Then the girl added -- to
Kathy's utter amazement, "Besides, Tommy, you have to tell me so
I can soften my buns as much as possible.  You know damned well
by now that not many girls are as tight as Mom and me."

So saying, she relaxed her ass cheeks as much as possible, and
the boy did try again...  And again...  And again.  Finally, Sam
said, "Okay.  That last one was pretty good."  When his hand went
up to her tit, Sam just slipped off the tank-top, now fully
revealing her golden body.  Using her own hand, she positioned
his on her breast and reminded him how to tweak her nipple. 
Kathy watched as the girl's nipples quickly hardened.  Her tits
were already perfectly formed, but not yet completely filledout.

After rubbing her back against her brother who was standing
behind her, she spun around kissed him lightly and said, "You're
getting better, Brother.  It really felt good today."  So saying,
she slipped her tank top over her head, and then lifted up her
bikini and shorts as if nothing had happened.

While she was dressing, the boy said, "I suppose Sam's been
holding forth.  If she has, I'm sure she referred to herself as
Mom's first mistake.  If so, I'm Tommy.  I'm her second.  And I
guess I owe an explanation for that action a moment ago.  You
see, one day I came up behind Mom and tried to cup her tits in my
hands the way Dad always does.  She just gently removed my hands
and said, 'Tom, you know very well that my tits belong to your
father; you only get the nipples.'

"Then do you know what she did?" he asked.  "Do you think for one
moment Mom would allow me to go away feeling put down?  Never! 
She drew me close, so my face was cradled between her tits.  Then
she kisses me the way she always does with a flow of purest love
and says that a mother always has a very special feeling for and
relationship with her firstborn son.  She kissed me again and I
just floated out of the room, feeling ten feet tall.

"Anyway, Sam is concerned about her reputation.  The last thing
she's going to live with is having some girl come up and say that
her brother is a crude lover.  Since we've been raised with our
parents' sex, we are sort of a living sex-education lab.  Anyway,
as you could see, Sam has been giving me lessons."

Then he grinned and added, "Of course, what's the use of being an
older sister if you can't put down a younger brother?  So when I
complained that her tits aren't yet fully developed, she just
raised an eyebrow and asked, 'And who in hell do you think you'll
be feeling, Turkey?  The fact is, for the next few years at
least, any girl you see will just have nipples with no tits at
all to go with them.'"  Then he frowned and said, "And hell,
she's mean!  She won't even let me play with her clit at all,
yet!"

Then Tommy grinned broadly, stood up straight and adjusted his
clothes -- he was wearing khaki pants, a short-sleeved blue shirt
with a solid navy tie -- and went up to Kathy.  Extending his
hand in greeting, he smiled and said, "How do you do, ma'am?  My
name is Thomas Conroy, and I don't believe I have ever had the
pleasure of meeting you before."  As he recited his little
speech, Hank wriggled on Jim's lap and squeezed his hand.  The
parents were so proud of their twelve-year-old son.

Kathy took his hand and squeezed it firmly saying, "I am very
pleased to meet you, Thomas Conroy.  My name is Kathy Carlson,
and this is my husband, Ken."  Turning to Ken she said, "Ken,
this is Thomas Conroy."  Ken stood up to greet the boy.

When Tommy heard the name, Kathy Carlson, he looked startled. 
When he heard it coupled with Ken Carlson, his jaw dropped
completely.  Nevertheless, looking up at him, he extended his
still-small hand to Ken who enveloped it in his huge one.  Then,
while still looking up at Ken, the boy began to cry.

Effortlessly, Ken picked him up and sat the boy on his lap.  When
he did, Tommy wrapped his arms around Ken's neck and hugged him
as tightly as he could.  To Ken, it was one of the warmest, most
wonderful feelings in the world to comfort this handsome young
man.  Then Ken went down on one knee and gently put the boy back
on his feet.

Meanwhile, poor Tommy was valiantly trying to bring his crying
under control and finally did, but tears were still flowing as he
looked into Ken's eyes, now on a level with his own, and said,
"Thank you, sir, for saving my father's life.  Because you did,
you have made possible what I am and all that I will ever be.  I
owe you my life, Captain Carlson.  I know it, and I want you to
know it, too."

With tears still flowing from his eyes he went to Kathy, who went
down on her knees.  When she reached out her arms, the boy ran to
them and hugged her, then kissed her full on the lips.  Kathy
returned the kiss with all the love she could transmit, and that
was a very great deal.  When she felt him relax his arms that
were around his neck, she gently released him.  Tommy moved back
just a step and looked deep into her eyes.  As he did, Kathy was
gazing into his, as well.

Tommy murmured a soft, "Wow!" and then said, "Mrs. Carlson, you
have so much love to give...  You are so good and pure -- I can
see it in your eyes.  No wonder the Kathy-grams inspired Captain
Carlson the way they did.  And if he hadn't been inspired, he
never could have done what he did to save my father's life."  The
boy tried to smile through his tears and almost made it, as he
added, "This means, Mrs. Carlson, that I owe my life to you,
too."

Hank was still sitting on Jim's lap but now had her arms
outstretched in Tommy's direction.  Kathy gently turned him so he
could see his mother and when he did, he ran to her arms.  Kathy
watched in awe as Hank wrapped her arms around the boy, hugged
him, kissed him and stroked his hair.  She could see the mother
almost literally wiping her son's stress away.

Samantha had been watching her brother and now said, "That's my
mother.  I want to tell you a couple of more things about her. 
First, how we arrived in Hawaii.  You see, when Mom first learned
that Dad had been wounded, he had already been evacuated back to
the Philippines and was about to be transferred to a military
hospital on Oahu.  That was all she needed to know.  She got rid
of everything she could, put the rest in storage and loaded us
all on a plane for Hawaii.

"When she first saw Dad in the hospital, they said he would never
walk again.  Incidentally, Dad claimed that he was in better
shape after Captain Carlson worked on him than he was after the
doctors got their hands on him.  As soon as she could swing it,
she got him discharged from the hospital, promising to bring him
back every day for therapy and all that other good stuff."

Sam shook her head and said, "They didn't know my mother very
well!  Fat chance that she would let them get their hands on him
again."

Tears began to flow from the girl's eyes as she remembered and
said, "What followed were the most painful days of my life. 
Every day, Mom would work on Dad's leg.  He would scream and
begin to cry from the terrible pain, as she kept ripping apart
the scar tissue in his thigh to free up the muscles.  Tommy and I
could hear Mom crying like her heart would break, begging his
forgiveness for hurting him the way she was but she didn't stop.
Then she would come out of the bedroom where he was sleeping with
tear streaks down her face and break down and bawl.

"There were two things, though.  First, bad leg or no, he was
going to be in her cunt -- and was, at least daily.  Second, she
slept in the same hospital bed with him every night.  I could
hear her crooning to him, kissing him and telling him everything
would be all right."

Sam wiped her tears with the back of her hand and asked, "Do you
think Dad can walk, now?  You bet he can.  Mom finally allowed
him to go back to the hospital to be signed out permanently -- he
was taking his discharge in Hawaii.  Although I guess technically
he wasn't discharged, he was retired.  Would you believe that
after the retirement ceremony, Mom and Dad were skipping together
down the front walk?  They were."

Then the girl smiled and added, "Mom still works on the scar
tissue.  She massages it, puts oil on it and kisses it.  Then, of
course, she continues kissing him and usually ends up taking him
in her mouth.

"But there's a lesson here.  It absolutely killed Mom to hurt
Daddy, but she did it by the hour.  I know she felt far more
physical as well as mental pain than even he did, but she would
not quit."

The girl grinned and said, "Mom also decided that Hawaii wasn't a
bad place to raise kids.  She had earlier activated her network
of professional golfing buddies and alerted them to Dad's
situation so we were the first to hear of the opening here at
Kapalua.  Mom did all the applications and everything, even
before Dad could walk.  She was certain he would.  Anyway,
everything was all set, so the first thing Dad knew was when she
sent him over here the day after his retirement.  He got the job
and we've been here ever since.

"Finally," Samantha said, "I want to tell you about Mom and
aging.  I think I finally figured it out.  You see, it relates to
her scale of values I mentioned earlier: Dad is on top, followed
by the rest of us.  Mom?"  Sam just shook her head and grimaced,
saying, "She doesn't make the list.  Nowhere.  You remember, when
she's in agony because of the pepper in her cunt, all she could
think of was that my dinner was getting cold.  That's Mom.

"Anyway, birthdays?  Ours are always celebrated, big time.  Dad's
is a Conroy national holiday.  Mom's?  I don't even know when it
is."  Looking at her mother she asked, "Mom, when is your
birthday, anyhow?"

Hank just shook her head and replied, "Sam, I have no idea.  I
think it's on my driver's license but I can't even be bothered to
look."

"That's my mom," Sam declared.  "But you know what?  I think it
keeps her young.  Hell, I really think she thinks she's only
twenty-two or something.  Honest!"

Then the girl grinned broadly and said, "It does get pretty
funny, though.  Awhile ago Mom took me shopping.  As usual, she
was wearing her ratty Levi's..."

Sam looked thoughtful and said, "You know what?  I'll bet they
were the same pants she was wearing when she went to the hospital
to deliver me."  The girl looked up at the ceiling and started
nodding her head.  Then she said, "As I think about it, they
almost have to be.  Why?  Well, for a number of reasons: First,
there are few things Mom hates more than breaking in a new pair
of Levi's.  Second, she never throws anything out.  Third, her
measurements haven't changed a fraction of an inch since she was
married, so if they hadn't disintegrated they would still fit. 
Finally, they look ratty enough to be that old."

Hank was giggling but then nodded and admitted that they could
be.  Then she said, "Sam, if they weren't the identical pair,
they were certainly a pair just as old."

"Anyway," Sam said, "back to my story.  We had been shopping and
Mom had her hair tied back in a ponytail.  After wandering around
the stores all morning, we go into this place for lunch.  All Mom
had been talking about for the previous hour was how she was
looking forward to having an ice-cold beer.  Well, we're seated
and the waiter came over.  We ordered and Mom ordered her beer. 
The waiter looked skeptical and carded her.

"When she produced her license, the waiter looked at it, laughed,
and said, 'Kid, get serious!  If you're going to falsify a
license, don't be ridiculous about it!  I mean, if you showed me
one that said you were twenty-two, I wouldn't believe it but I
would probably serve you anyway.  But kid, this is insulting!' 
He almost kept the license, too.  Mom was furious when we got our
lunch and two Cokes."

Sam shook her head and grinned, "Of course, I guess it didn't
help a hell of a lot when I whispered, just loud enough to be
sure the waiter heard, 'Sis, I told you he would never believe
you.'"

Then her grin broadened and she said, "Of course, I learned
something else, too.  I learned not to make cracks like that when
I'm sitting next to Mom."  Shrugging her shoulders she said, "But
what the hell...  The cracked rib I got when she slammed me with
her elbow was worth it for the laugh -- even if it did hurt
whenever I laughed for the next three weeks."  By this time the
people were all laughing uproariously.

Then Sam snapped her fingers as an idea occurred to her.  "Of
course!" she exclaimed.  "How stupid of me.  I guess that was
just before that 'Sell, Swap or Trade' ad appeared in the
paper..."  Sam looked pensive and said softly, "I guess I'll have
to be more careful..."

Then she said, "One more thing I suppose I should mention: Mom's
milk.  You remember I accused her of giving Dad the rest of mine
for his coffee?  Well, I guess it was true.  What's also true is
that now I know what sibling rivalry is: It's jockeying for
position for Mother's milk."

Now Sam smiled warmly as she continued, "You all know kids who
come running to lick out the bowl after a cake has been iced?  In
our house, we all come running to have the last of her breast
milk after the baby's been fed.  You see, as I've said, Mom is
really bountiful.  No baby can ever drink her dry.  But since she
always wants the freshest milk for the baby, it helps to drain
her tits each time."

Now Sam's smile was the warmest Kathy had ever seen.  She said,
"How do I know how warm and sweet and nourishing Mom's milk is? 
The truth of the matter is I last had it only a few months ago."

She shook her head and smiled warmly at the memory.  "You see,
Mom goes the whole hog, too.  First, it's always her right tit
that has the milk left.  Well, she sits on the right side of the
sofa and I lay across her lap with my head on the sofa arm and my
mouth sucking her beautiful nipple.  What do I mean by 'going the
whole hog'?  First of all, my mouth is fully occupied so I can't
talk.  Mom caresses my hair, strokes my skin...  Last time, she
even caressed my tits and tweaked my nipples..."  Sam grinned and
said, "Is that one for you?  You're nursing at your mother's tit
when you're old enough to be nursing a baby of your own?  Good
grief!"

Shaking her head, she continued, "Mom quietly told me how proud
she was of certain things I had done, talked to me about her
hopes for me..."  The girl then smiled a sunshine smile and said,
"What was I doing?  I was taking on a recharge of her incredible
love.  When she went dry, I licked off the last drops and then
she kissed me on the lips.  When I got off the sofa, my feet
didn't even touch the ground, I was so high on her love.  And, I
hasten to add, she's exactly the same with the others.

Just then Kathy asked Hank how many children she had.  Hank
grimaced, shrugged and held up four fingers.  Kathy was stunned.
Then Hank said, "I told you we play Vatican roulette..."  Then
looking thoughtful she shook her head and said, "Damn it!  I've
got to be more careful about going to cocktail parties on my
dangerous days.  I guess I just can't resist Jim's cock in my
cunt."

Then she grinned broadly and said, "I am getting better about
giving birth, though, Katherine Carlson.  For the last one I even
went to the doctor before labor even started."

Then she frowned and said disdainfully, "What a stinking waste of
time!  First, I go with Sam, here.  The dumb doctor, thinking I'm
unmarried, asks if my sister will be my Lamaze partner.  I ask
him what in hell that is.  He explains the partner helps in
delivering the baby, and helps take care of it.  Then he babbles
on about preparing for delivery, exercise classes, breathing
classes, and no end of bullshit.

"Finally, I had it up to here," she said reaching as high over
her head as she could.  "I said, 'Doctor, I've got news for you:
First, I'll be delivering within a week.  Second, this is my
daughter.  She just came along for the ride.  Third, you can take
the exercises, breathing, and the rest of that garbage and stick
it.  Finally, I'm late for my tee time,' and I stalked out."

At that point, Sam was laughing so hard she was doubled up. 
Finally she regained control and with tears of laughter still
running down her cheeks she said, "Mom absolutely terrorized the
poor man.  She was pissed, though.  Would you believe she
successfully defended her women's state amateur golf title,
received the trophy, sipped some champagne, and then went to the
hospital to deliver the baby?  She did, after her usual
horrendous labor -- a minute or so."

Then Sam became thoughtful and said, "What is my mother to me? 
She's my best friend, my buddy, my confidante...  She is the
person to whom I confide my innermost hopes and dreams and fears.
 She's the foil for my jokes and I'm the butt of hers.  She swims
with me, golfs with me, surfs with me...  There's nothing I do
that Mom can't or won't do with me.  If I'm playing soccer, she's
always cheering.  If I'm in a play, she's in the front row,
applauding...  If I'm sick..."

Sam looked up and interrupted her narrative.  "Once, years ago --
when Dad was in Vietnam, in fact -- I came down with a very
serious fever.  Mom took me to the doctor who wanted to put me in
the hospital.  She asked why.  He told her to run tests and all
sorts of things.  Mom persisted, and it was soon obvious that
first, the doctor wasn't used to having to explain things, and
second, there was no treatment for whatever I had.

"Well, Mom flat refused.  She took me home and I'll never forget
what happened then.  She got us both undressed and put me in her
bed.  Then she got in beside me, put my head on her shoulder and
began to put cold cloths on my forehead.  While she was doing
that, she was stroking my face and my body, telling me how much
she loved me..."  Tears were once again rolling down her cheeks
as she continued, "She was just making soft, reassuring sounds
that sounded so good.  The touch of her fingers was so cool and
soothing on my body that was burning with fever.  She kept it up
for hours...

"I guess I dozed off and she took care of Tommy then, but she was
always back in bed with me whenever I was aware of anything.  She
was just always there.  That night the fever turned to chills,
and I was freezing to death.  Mom lifted me up and lay me over
her body, then pulled the covers over us both.  She rested my
head in the valley between her breasts and I used her left for a
pillow while I sucked on her right nipple.  She just stroked my
hair."

The girl looked at her mother and said, "Mom, I used your
glorious body as a mattress that night and your tit for a pillow.
 It was the best night of my life.  All night long I could feel
your heart beating beneath me.  I can remember waking up.  Your
eyes were always open and you would stroke my hair again.  When I
woke up late the next morning, you were still stroking my hair
but the fever was all gone."

With a question in her eyes she asked, "Mom, do you ever sleep? 
Ever at all?  You really can't and do all the things you do, and
know everything you know..."

Then Tommy interjected, "To me Mom is my best friend, my
confidante, my teacher, my booster.  She's always there to pitch
a ball if I want to hit, or bat if I want to pitch.  If I need
someone to play with, she's my playmate."

Now tears were running down his cheeks as he said, "You know, I
guess we're pretty good kids.  Why?  Because if we were anything
else, it would disappoint Mom.  She wants so much for us.  She
never wants anything for herself -- it's always for us.  As Sam
said, it's Dad first, followed by the rest of us.  What does she
do?  She just makes it all go."  Now his tears were running so
hard he could hardly talk, but he said, "I could go on and on. 
But what does it all mean?  It means that she's our mommy!"

Hank slipped off Jim's lap and spread her arms as her two
children ran to her and tried to smother her with kisses.

Finally, they eased away and Sam asked, "Mom, what are you
wearing?  You look so utterly fabulous and you smell... smell
like my mother: fresh, clean and smelling of sweetness and love."
 She admired the dress and said, "That's the first new dress
you've had in years, isn't it?"  Hank was embarrassed and just
shrugged.  "It's about time!"  Turning to Kathy she asked, "Mrs.
Carlson, what do you think?"

"What do I think?  I think your mother is one of the most
remarkable people alive.  She also has two of the most wonderful
children God ever put on this earth, and I can tell how proud she
and your father are of you two.  I can see the joy they feel when
you do so well."

She smiled her warmest smile and said, "Sam and Tommy, it's
exactly like the way you described your mother being beautiful
because your father likes her that way.  They want you to be good
because they know _you will like yourselves better_ that way. 
It's not for them, it's for you.  They are sharing in and
reflecting your happiness and goodness.  Personally, I think you
two are the greatest tributes any parents could possibly have."

Now tears were really rolling down Kathy's cheeks as she
continued, "Sam, you talk about goodness.  Let me tell you, young
lady, and you, young man, that when I look through your eyes into
your souls, all I see is purity and goodness in limitless
quantities.  You see, kids, that's really what your parents have
given you...  And it's one hell of a lot."

Then Kathy whispered something to Marie and started chatting with
the others while the girl left the room.  She had been enormously
moved by what she had just heard.

When Marie came back and just nodded, Kathy invited the Conroys
to join them for dinner and dancing at the hotel that night. 
Hank raised an eyebrow and Kathy just shrugged and said, "Look,
Conroy, we've already been over this.  You asked if there was no
limit to my demands.  I agreed philosophically that there was,
but we weren't even close..."

She shook her head as Hank was about to speak and finished,
"...and we _still_ aren't!  Clear?"  She told Hank there would be
cocktails in their suite at six.

* * *

When Marie Trang told Hank Wellington that Kathy would like to
have a dance band play in the dining room that night, he just
nodded and said there would be one.  That was before he glanced
at his watch and found it was already three o'clock.  Normally
band bookings were handled by the functions manager, but Hank
knew there was no way she could handle the job of getting a good
band on three hours notice.  It would require his horsepower to
be able to commit the hotel to reciprocate in any way needed to
obtain such a favor.

Swallowing hard, Hank called Jerry Smith.  He grinned when a girl
answered, "Mr. Smith's office.  May I help you?"  The fact was
that Jerry Smith was also the senior vice president and senior
resident officer of the Bank of Hawaii on the island of Maui.  In
addition, he was the founder and leader of a group called The
Swing Band, a large group of business and professional men, all
outstanding musicians, who played together in the Big Band
tradition.  Hank knew that the waiting list for seats numbered
nearly one hundred, and it was acknowledged to be the finest band
in the Islands.

When he identified himself and Jerry picked up his phone, he
grinned as Jerry asked, "What's the problem, Hank?  Need a few
bucks 'til payday?  Let me check, but I think we may still have a
hundred or so uncommitted..."

"Jerry," Hank interrupted, "I need a dance band -- _for
tonight!"_  He knew all about Jerry's group: They were all senior
business executives and professionals with tight personal
schedules.  Moreover, the band was booked solid for its available
dates at least six months ahead -- normally they would play only
a few nights a month and then only on weekends -- and already had
bookings going forward eighteen months.

"Hank," Jerry responded, "have you folks completely lost it? 
Have you had the Kapalua water checked recently?  My God, man, do
you realize it's already three o'clock?  You're trying to round
up a dance band to be there in _three hours?_  What's the
occasion, by the way?"

Hank quickly explained that the hotel had extra-special guests
who wanted a dance band playing in the main dining room that
night.  For reasons he wouldn't go into, there would be a band of
some kind, even if he had to play himself.  Then Jerry asked who
these VIPs were.

Hank replied, "Good question.  In fact, Jerry, you were in 'Nam.
You might have heard of him.  The guests are Ken Carlson and his
wife, Kathy.  Did you ever hear of Carlson's Rangers?  He's
Carlson."

There was silence on the phone for such a long period of time
that Hank was about to hang up and redial.  Then Jerry replied in
a tone of voice that Hank, who thought he knew him well, had
never heard.  He just asked softly, "Hank, did you say six
o'clock?  I'll be there with the full band, if that's allright."

Wellington was utterly stunned.  He asked, "Jerry, did I hear
what I thought I heard? _You_ will be out _here_ with your entire
band?  My God, man, what do I have to pay to make that happen? 
Hand over the deed to the whole resort?"

"It will be affordable," Smith replied.  "I'll tell you what I'll
do.  Tonight, I'll tell you what our fee is.  If you think it's
too high, you pay us nothing -- nothing at all.  Is that fair? 
Of course, Hank, you will be the sole judge of fairness. 
Agreed?"

Hank Wellington was utterly stunned but agreed instantly.  He
hung up the phone and just looked at the receiver in puzzled
amazement.*Chapter 17*

Promptly at six, the doorbell rang in the suite and Marie went to
answer it.  The girl looked very cute with her beautiful nude
body while she wore only a large white silk bow pinned to the
back of her head.  After looking though the peephole to ensure it
was the Conroys and her sister, Celeste, she opened the door
wide.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Conroy," she said politely. 
"Welcome!"  They entered, but Hank stopped as soon as she had
come in far enough to allow the girl to close the door.  After
she did, she saw Hank glaring at her with one eyebrow archly
raised.  "I'm sorry, Mrs. Conroy, but those are my instructions
from Lady Kathy."

"Miss Trang," Hank said firmly, "Let me remind you that the
Carlsons will be leaving.  I _will not!_  Do you get mymessage?"

"But Hank," Marie protested, "I'll be punished!"

Hank lightly pinched the girl's firm but scarred bottom and said,
"That won't be so bad, will it?"

Resignedly, Marie said softly, "No, Hank.  I guess it won't."

Hank wasn't finished.  When she entered the sitting room, Ken,
who had already greeted Jim, took her into his arms.  He kissed
her full on the lips and was rewarded with her arms wrapping
around his neck while she softly worked her lips on his while the
purest love flowed to him.  When she gently released her hold,
she smiled the most beautifully warm smile he had ever seen and
said softly, "Thank you again, Ken.  I'll never be able to thank
you enough."

Then she turned to Kathy who was on her feet waiting to greet
her.  Hank just folded her arms, raised an eyebrow and glared
daggers at her new friend.

For her part, Kathy appeared completely unconcerned.  Then,
appearing to notice her friend's expression, she said petulantly,
"Henrietta, I really don't know what you're looking so unhappy
about.  I mean...  My dear, we have been over this ground twice
today, already.  And the answer is the same as it was both times
earlier.  I will state it only once more: There is some finite
limit to the demands I make on you.  At least there is in a
philosophical sense. _However, my dear, you are not even close!_
Besides, Darling, what's the sense of tanning nude if you can't
show off the absence of strap marks?"

Then, with an exasperated look on her face, Kathy finished by
saying, "Now that the subject is closed, may we move on to more
pleasant things?"

The reason for Hank's imitation anger was that earlier Kathy had
sent Celeste over to the Conroy house with another new dress for
her.  Again it was white, and again it was very similar to the
one that Kathy herself was wearing.  The dress was white silk
with a neckline that plunged nearly to her navel while it was
also backless, plunging down to the crease of her buttocks.  It
was supported by only the thinnest halter cord around Hank's
neck.  Hank's perfect tanned body was highlighted by its color
and featured by all of her exposed skin.  The skirt was short,
ending a couple of inches above her knees and was multiple layers
of silk chiffon.  If Hank were to spin, the skirt was full enough
that it would float out straight.  Against such an eventuality,
Kathy had also provided her with a beautiful white lace bikini. 
She was also wearing a double strand of pearls and pearl
earrings.  The only note of color was a crimson carnation Celeste
had worked into her hairdo behind her left ear.

With the joking over, Kathy took her friend in her arms and
kissed her.  It was the most remarkable kiss either woman had
ever had, as the same pure love that had flowed from Hank to Ken
now flowed in both directions between the two women who had
quickly become best friends.

When Kathy released her hold she murmured, "Wow!"  Then she asked
with a big grin, "Did you try out your dress?  It's great fun!" 
With that she spun in a circle.  Her skirt flew out straight
revealing Kathy's perfect body covered only with the skimpiest
lace bikini.  Neither girl was even wearing stockings -- below
there were just beautifully-tanned, perfect legs.  When she
stopped her spin, she said, "Hank, seriously, you look
spectacular!"  Then she looked at her friend thoughtfully and
added, "And you know something else?  It's at least an even-money
bet they won't even card you!  You can really look remarkably
grown up when you want to."  In response, Hank just stuck out her
tongue.

When the women were seated on the sofa and the men joined them,
Marie took their drink orders.  Kathy, pretending boredom,
suggested champagne because they were being overrun with it. 
Hank and Jim savored the magnificent champagne when it was served
-- again it was Dom Perignon.

Then Celeste appeared and passed hors d'oeuvres.  When Hank saw
the tray, her eyes widened.  "Where did these come from?" she
asked.  When Kathy replied the hotel's kitchen, Hank's eyebrows
raised.  "That's flat-out impossible," she stated emphatically.

"They came from the hotel's kitchen," Marie interjected, "but
Lady Kathy made them."

"Marie!" Kathy exclaimed.

Marie stood up as straight as she could, with her shoulders back
causing her tits to thrust out and said, "It's true, Lady Kathy!
I was with you when you made them.  Hank has eaten enough hors
d'oeuvres from this kitchen to know what they can and cannot do.
And there's no way any cook in our kitchen could possibly make
these."

Shaking her head and raising an eyebrow Kathy said menacingly,
"Marie, you know what's going to happen, don't you?"

"If you mean do I know I will be faced with the choice of being
beaten or leaving your service, yes, I do know."

With tears starting to flow down her cheeks she said softly,
"Lady Kathy, Celeste and I talked about it.  Although, as I know
you guessed, we each feel any pain suffered by the other, we
could not remain silent.  These are the most remarkable things to
come out of that kitchen since the day it first opened."  Now,
with her head held up even straighter, she declared, "I'm sorry,
Lady Kathy, but it's true!"

Hank looked at her friend and started to cry.  Kathy's face fell
and she drew Hank to her and just held her tightly.  Softly she
asked, "What's wrong, Hank?  Why are you crying?"

"Because I can't cook!"  the older woman wailed.  "Why in hell do
you think I let Jim feed on my cunt at the dinner table?  Because
the soup was awful!  That's why."  The woman just dissolved in
tears saying, "I can't even boil water..."

"You poor thing," Kathy said softly.  "I guess that explains why
your two children looked so undernourished this afternoon.

"Maybe you can't cook," Kathy said with her voice taking on a
softer tone, "But I'll tell you what: I will guarantee to make
you a star cook before I leave this island, if you will try to
teach me to be a marginally acceptable mother."  Now her voice
became stronger as she said, "Henrietta Conroy, you should be
ashamed of yourself!"

Hank's head was on Kathy's shoulder, but hearing the words she
jerked up straight.  "You are the most incredible mother on the
face of this earth," Kathy continued, "yet you worry about
something as stupid as cooking.  I watched in awe this afternoon
while the two finest young people alive in the world today paid
tribute to their mother: you!"  Suddenly Kathy started to cry and
she could scarcely finish what she wanted to say.

"My God!" she sobbed, "Anyone who can earn the love of those two
kids is very special.  You can't cook.  Big fucking deal!"  Then
Kathy just dissolved in tears, reached out her arms and was taken
into Hank's.  Then she just cried with her head on Hank's
shoulder.  For her part, Hank was dumbstruck.  She just held
Kathy close and then began to stroke her beautiful hair.

After a few minutes Kathy lifted her head and tried to smile in
spite of her tears.  She said, "There you go again!  Hank Conroy,
no wonder your children love you so much!  You have to give
comfort, don't you?  Comforting the afflicted comes as naturally
to you as breathing, doesn't it?"

Hank, not knowing how to respond, said nothing.  In no time the
hors d'oeuvres that Kathy had prepared evaporated, so the girls
began to serve other food, including caviar.  When Celeste
offered some to Jim Conroy, he replied, "I don't want that.  I
want your tit."

Celeste just acknowledged his request and went out to the serving
pantry.  A moment later she was back kneeling in front of Jim
holding a small plate with a sprig of parsley under her nipple. 
Then remembering the stories told in the afternoon, she carefully
sprinkled salt and pepper on her tit and then carefully poured
some ketchup on her nipple.

Before Jim could move -- he was initially dumbstruck -- Kathy
exclaimed, "Celeste!"

The girl jerked up straight, but still held the small plate under
her tit.  "Lady Kathy?  Did I do something wrong?"

"Celeste, dear," Kathy replied, "how many times must I tell you?
When serving a tit to a guest, you must always give them a
cocktail napkin first.  And for that matter, you didn't ask Mr.
Conroy if he wanted to eat your whole tit or just the nipple."

Celeste looked at Jim with a question in her eyes, and he replied
that he just wanted the nipple.  When the girl passed the
information on to Kathy while trying to keep a straight face, she
just shook her head and said, "Dear, that's both the wrong plate
and the wrong garnish for serving a virgin nipple.  You know
that!  Now please!  Get the correct one -- and remember, a nipple
is _never_ served with parsley.  It's... It's much too coarse a
garnish."

The girl muffled a grin but left the room and came back with a
smaller saucer.  By this time everyone else was giggling and
laughing.  Now the men had moved to the sofa to sit beside their
women.

What followed was great fun for everyone, including the Trang
sisters.  Kathy was delighted to see that the sorrow always
surrounding the sisters had evaporated.  Marie knelt between
Kathy and Ken, while Celeste was between Hank and Jim.  They
experimented with every kind of dip imaginable, ranging from
caviar to celery dip.  Jim began by carefully licking the ketchup
from Celeste's nipple.

After Kathy carefully balanced a little caviar and chopped onion
on Marie's now-erect nipple, she saw that the girl was holding
her thighs tightly together.  Suspecting what was happening,
Kathy reached down and forced the girl to separate her legs.  As
Kathy suspected, the girl's cunt was dripping with love juices
flowing due to the erotic stimulation.  Kathy played with the
girl and felt a flow onto her hand.  Then she just raised her wet
hand to Marie's mouth with the comment, "I think this is yours."
With her tongue darting like a cat's, Marie licked Kathy's hand.

Seeing what Kathy did, whenever Hank changed toppings for
Celeste's tit, she casually held out her hand for Celeste to lick
clean.  In spite of the fact that both girls could barely control
their laughter, they never allowed the plates they were holding
under each breast to move at all.

Finally, the girls' torture ended when Kathy told them to clean
up and change.  They were going to be serving them in the dining
room.  Just as they returned to the sitting room wearing their
uniforms, Hank said in a haughty tone, "Katherine, what a fine,
traditional idea!  I can scarcely remember the last time breast
of virgin was served at a cocktail party.  I can still remember,
though, when it was quite the rage."  With her face falling she
concluded, "I suppose, like so many other things, it was just
overdone to the point of becoming tiresome.  You know, Katherine?
 Like the chip dip made from dry onion soup?"

"Oh gracious, no!" Kathy protested.  Then her voice dropped to a
very confidential tone as she said softly, "Henrietta, it is
nothing like that at all!  Rather -- and it's why we only dare
serve it at an intimate gathering like this -- you _do_ know,
darling, that female human virgins are now on the
endangered-species list?  They are, you know."  Kathy's eyes
widened as she said, "Good heavens!  If the environmentalists
were to hear about this...  I don't know what we would do!"

"Screw the environmentalists!" Hank exclaimed.  "But call me
Henrietta one more time, Katherine Carlson, and you'll need a new
head!"  Glaring at her Hank said, "Understand?"

Everyone laughed including the sisters, as they left the suite
and went to the dining room for dinner.*Chapter 18*

During the dinner hours Jerry Smith just played soft music that
complimented the food and table conversation.  When the tables
were cleared following the main course, he changed tempo and went
into the band's dance music.  His eyes had been locked on the
large table directly across the dance floor from where he was
conducting, and he had recognized Ken Carlson the instant he
appeared.  Jerry silently whistled as he got a good look at Hank
Conroy.  He had never seen her look so beautiful.  Then he looked
at the other woman and just shook his head.  If anything, she was
even more beautiful than Hank, who Jerry had always considered to
be the most beautiful woman alive. _Clearly,_ he thought, _this
must be Kathy of the Kathy-grams._

As he watched them sit down at their table, he realized how much
alike the two women -- indeed the two couples -- were.  The women
seemed to have eyes only for their husbands and seemed to have a
need to touch them in some way.  He had been amused as he watched
them enter the dining room and be shown to their table.  It
seemed like every pair of eyes in the room was locked on the two
women.  the men drooled at the revealed beauty -- and with the
dresses they were wearing, a great deal was revealed -- while the
women just looked with ill-concealed envy at their perfect
bodies.  But the two women, if they cared at all, only did
because it made their husbands feel better to have such exquisite
women on their arms.

When the band swung into Glen Miller's _String of Pearls,_ Hank
and Jim Conroy came out on the dance floor.  The two were
jitterbugging and whenever Hank was turned out, her spin would
send her skirt flying out straight revealing the most beautiful
female legs Jerry had ever seen, along with her tiny lace bikini.
 The bank leader marveled -- and rejoiced -- at how beautifully
they moved together on the dance floor.  He knew of Jim's wounds
and had also heard the story of the doctors saying he would never
walk again.  When that number ended, Jerry slowed the tempo for
the next number and was delighted to see the Carlsons come out on
the floor.  When they did, he signaled the band and they smoothly
shifted into Glen Miller's signature, _Moonlight Serenade._

For Kathy and Ken this was a first.  Never in their entire lives
had they danced together -- not even at their wedding.  Because
of lack of money and time, there had been no formal reception,
just wedding cake served to the guests in the church basement. 
Kathy teased Ken about being as big as a bear and that's exactly
what he felt like as he escorted her out onto the dance floor. 
She kissed him lightly and teased him about getting up on his
hind legs and showing the people what he could do.

Actually Ken was scared.  He knew he didn't know how to dance and
was scared of stepping on one of Kathy's feet and crushing it. 
When he mentioned his fear, she had merely pointed out that as
long as it wasn't her cunt, she couldn't care less.  To his utter
amazement, Kathy just floated in his arms with her cheek against
his while his hand was on her bare back.  She just murmured
happily at the feel of his big hand on her bare back.  When the
music ended, she tipped her head up and he saw the wanting in her
eyes.  Still holding her in his arms, he lowered his lips to hers
and the two pairs of lips fused together while the electricity
flowed between them.

Jerry was standing on the bandstand which was only about a foot
above the dance floor.  When the Carlsons embraced, he could see
the electricity flowing.  Picking up a cordless microphone, he
waited for their kiss to end and then asked them quietly to
please remain where they were.  Kathy and Ken were puzzled, but
did as he asked.

Using the mike for the first time, Jerry said, "Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Kapalua resort.  First,
I have been asked to make a special announcement.  Tonight, we
are having a private party with all of the guests in the hotel
invited -- all of you people.  The occasion?  To honor the couple
standing here on the dance floor beside me, Kenneth and Katherine
Carlson, who arrived yesterday for their honeymoon.

"Why, you may wonder, would the hotel have a party like this for
a honeymooning couple?  They are hardly the first couple to come
out here on their honeymoon and management certainly hopes they
won't be the last.  Well, why then?"

Jerry stood up even straighter as he continued, "It is to honor
probably the greatest military hero in the history of the United
States, Kenneth Carlson.  You see, in Vietnam a few years ago
there was an interesting military unit: Alpha Company of the
First Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army.  However, it was known to
everyone as Carlson's Rangers.  I was over there, too, you see. 
Because I get interested in strange things from time to time, I
always wondered why it was a company.  After all, it only had
about forty men; in size it was sort of a heavyweight platoon. 
Why, then, call it a company?  Well -- and I found this out
firsthand -- it has the combat power and force of a reinforced
battalion.  So anyway, I guess the brass split the difference and
called it a company.

"There's more, you see.  In this room tonight are three people
whose lives were saved by Captain Ken Carlson.  And I mean
personally saved.  First, we have twin sisters, Marie and Celeste
Trang."

Jerry's eyes became icy and his voice hardened.  "For those of
you here who thought we were wasting our time in Vietnam
persecuting a bunch of poor agrarian reformers, I would like you
to talk to the Trangs.  These girls were in high school when the
North Vietnamese hit their village.  The first thing they did was
take their father out to the square.  All of the villagers had
been rounded up and were made to stand around under guard while
they made their father kneel and then shot him in the head!

"His crime?  He was the mayor of the village.  That's all.  Their
mother broke free of the guards and ran to her husband to hold
him in her arms as he died.  They shot her in the head, too. 
Then they tied these two girls to a frame they erected and made
them watch as, one after another, all of the girls from their
Catholic girl's high school were taken to the middle of the
square and raped repeatedly until they died.  Then all the
attention was focused on the two girls.  They were tied together,
face to face, and suspended from the frame by their wrists.  As
they slowly turned in the air, two men began to whip them until
their backs, buttocks and legs were nothing but bloody lacerated
strips.  They were heating an iron red hot.  Why?  So they could
brand the girls in different places to be able to tell them apart
for purposes of their betting."

Now Jerry's voice was ringing around the room and he couldn't any
longer conceal his anger.  "Betting?  Yes, betting!  Betting on
which of the two would live longer.  You see, while they had
raped and quickly killed the other girls, because of the Trang's
surpassing beauty, they wanted to stretch their deaths out.  The
betting was that they could survive at least two full days. 
Anyway, they were about to cut them down in order to repeat the
whipping with the girls ties back-to-back, when there was a
fusillade of bullets coming from all sides of the square. 
Remember, all of the villagers were present.  Nevertheless, most
of the enemy were killed while no villager suffered even a
scratch.  The few survivors surrendered.  In spite of the fact
that the village was over one hundred miles away from the nearest
Allied position, it was Carlson's Rangers.  Ken Carlson
personally cut down those two girls and brought them back.  We're
delighted that they are here with us tonight."

Looking up, he motioned for a spotlight to be trained on the
girls who were wearing their uniforms while still wearing the big
white bows that had been their entire uniform while they were
serving cocktails.  The spotlight picked out the two girls who
smiled and waved at the crowd.  Everyone in the room got to his
feet, applauded, and then cheered.

"I have just introduced two of the people Ken Carlson saved. 
there is another, sitting at the table with the Carlsons, our own
head golf professional here at Kapalua.  Will Major James Conroy,
U.S. Air Force (retired), please rise?"

Although he was embarrassed, it was a small enough price to pay
tribute to the man who had saved his life.  Jim stood up and the
spotlight picked him out.  After waving to the crowd he sat down
again.

Jerry continued, "I have gotten to know Jim very well over the
years.  You see, he is another authentic hero.  He has the Air
Force Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal with two
clusters and the Purple Heart."  His face grew serious when he
added, "Please believe me when I tell you that the AFC _is not_
obtained for fifty cents and a boxtop.  Rather, it ranks
immediately below the Medal of Honor -- and Jim has _two of
them!"_

Then he grinned and added, "You saw how crippled up Jim is, I
hope?  That's why he's retired: medical disability.  Of course, I
have it on good authority that after he was retired at a ceremony
at the Hickam Field Air Force Hospital, he and his wife, Hank,
went skipping together down the front walk.  Then, after a short
time Jim went to the Air Force and wanted to get rid of his
fifty-percent disability pension on the
not-completely-unreasonable basis that he wasn't disabled.  After
receiving a sympathetic hearing he did as he was told: he filed
an appeal with the Armed Forces Disability Review Board.

"Well, he had his hearing and a few weeks later received a letter
that said, 'Dear Major Conroy: After carefully reviewing your
file and hearing testimony, we are pleased to inform you that we
agree with your position.  You are absolutely correct that a
fifty-percent disability in your case is inappropriate. 
Accordingly, we are awarding you a 75 percent disability pension,
to be paid retroactively to your date of retirement.'"  Jerry
grinned and said, "How's that for a successful appeal?

"Incidentally, he appealed again about a year later and they
increased it to 85 percent.  He's afraid to file another appeal,
though.  The next step is to declare him dead, pay off on his
insurance, and bury him... with full military honors, of course!"
 At this, the crowd broke up in laughter, while Jim, grinning
broadly, put his face on the table and covered his head with his
hands.

"At any rate," Jerry continued, "Regardless of the disability,
there's no question that first, Jim Conroy is a great hero, and
second, he was seriously wounded in action.  You see, it happened
on his last mission flying a special chopper on a classified
mission deep behind enemy lines.  His helicopter was badly hit
and all of his crew were killed.  Somehow he managed to get it on
the ground, more or less in one piece, and get clear just before
its fuel ignited and it blew up.  Jim's leg was a mess.  It was a
combination of a bullet wound and a shrapnel hit that shredded
his left thigh -- he wasn't going anywhere in a hurry.

"An enemy patrol finally found him.  Since he was deep in the
jungle -- somehow Jim had found the only clearing for miles and
put his chopper down in it -- the only way they were going to get
him out was to carry him.  The officer in charge didn't go for
that idea in a big way, so he drew his sidearm, cocked it, and
aimed it at Jim's head.  As he was squeezing the trigger, his gun
hand seemed to explode.  Just then Jim heard the sound of a shot.
 While the officer was staring stupidly at the bleeding stump
where his right hand had been, a hole appeared in the middle of
his forehead, right between his eyes.  Then all hell broke loose,
and the enemy patrol suddenly ceased to exist."

Shaking his head, Smith asked rhetorically, "Who was it?  Who
else could it be, deep behind enemy lines?  Carlson's Rangers. 
And, of course, doing the shooting was Ken Carlson himself.  He
did all the long-range shooting in the outfit.  Anyway, Ken
operated on Jim's leg and removed the bullet and the shrapnel --
putting the pieces in a pocket in his flight suit, by the way,
where they were found days later when he was finally in the
hospital."  Jerry grinned and interjected, "That's another nice
thing about Carlson's -- they even provide souvenirs."

He shook his head and continued the narrative.  "What now?  Oh,
not much.  Ken Carlson _personally_ carried Jim Conroy over 150
_miles_ through the jungle to get him back to Allied lines." 
Jerry then looked puzzled and scratched his head.  Then he shook
it with a bewildered look on his face and mused, "For some reason
or other, Jim seems to think he owes his life to Ken Carlson.  I
really can't understand it.  Can you?"

His rhetorical question was answered again by everyone rising and
applauding, then cheering Ken to the rafters.  Then Jerry Smith
held up his arms for quiet.  Now his voice became very serious as
he said, "I said at the outset that there are three people here
tonight who owe their lives to Ken Carlson.  But I lied."

There was an audible gasp from the crowd as he paused and looked
around.  "You see, I only learned about this party at three
o'clock this afternoon, when I got a call from Hank Wellington,
the general manger of Kapalua.  It seems that Hank had only
learned of it a moment before calling me.  He was looking for a
band to play here tonight.  I'm sure he didn't expect us to come
out, but, when he said it was to honor Captain Kenneth Carlson, I
told him I would round up the boys and we would be here."

Looking around the room, he found Hank Wellington standing in the
corner and said, "Hank, you asked me what our fee would be for
playing tonight.  Well, the answer is that I would like you to
stand the boys to a round of beers when we finish.  Do you think
you can handle that?"

Wellington was utterly stunned.  He could only nod his head in
agreement.  Then he motioned to a waiter, whispered to him, and
then spoke to Jerry while the waiter hurried off.  Raising his
voice to be heard across the room, Hank replied, "Jerry, to show
you what big spenders we are out her, I'm springing for _two
rounds..._  And we're serving the first round right now since it
looks like you're sort of taking a break."

Even at the distance Jerry could see his face take on a puzzled
look when he asked, "But Jerry, why?"

"That's a good question, Hank," Jerry replied.  "You see, I
thought about it and it seemed to be a fair charge for us to play
in honor of Kenneth Carlson... _the man who saved my life!"_

Everyone in the room was stunned including the members of the
band.  When Jerry had rounded them up he had said only that it
was absolutely imperative that The Swing Band play at Kapalua,
but had not told them why.  Having made his electrifying
statement, he jumped off the bandstand, took Ken in his arms, and
embraced him.  He said softly in Ken's ear, "Captain, I never had
a chance even to thank you!  Would you believe it?"  Then he
gripped Ken's hand tightly and jumped back up on the stand he had
come down from.

"I guess I owe you all an explanation.  No one here knows what I
am going to tell you now...  Excuse me!  No one but Ken Carlson
and me.  You see, we have some real hero types here.  I told you
about Jim Conroy, and you're hearing about Ken Carlson.  Hell!  I
was just a dumb infantryman -- a dog-face -- trying to keep my
head down..."

Jim Conroy rose to his feet and speaking in a voice loud enough
to carry to the corners of the room said, "Bullshit!  He is First
Lieutenant Gerald Smith, U.S. Army; he holds the Silver Star, the
Bronze Star with two oak-leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart,
with cluster, along with the Combat Infantry Badge with six
battle stars!"

Glaring at Jerry he continued, "Look, fellah, I said I would keep
your secret, but now the cat's out of the bag.  You see, folks,
many of us who live here on the Island know about this band, but
I'm sure most of the rest of you don't."  Making an encompassing
motion with his hand, including the entire band, he said, "This
is The Swing Band, who most think is the finest band in the
Islands.  However, there's not a single honest starving musician
in the whole group.  Would you believe we have lawyers, surgeons,
accountants, business executives...  And Jerry?  He's a senior
vice president of The Bank of Hawaii!"

Pointing his finger at Jerry, Jim said, "This time I've fixed you
good!  Everyone know that bankers are all dedicated cowards. 
When the word reaches Honolulu that you're a certified hero..." 
Jim just shook his head, grinned, and said, "I apologize for the
interruption, but I just wanted to set the record straight. 
Jerry, please continue telling us how you were just trying to
keep your head down."

Jerry provoked a gale of laughter when he turned to the band and
said, "See what happens when you try to do a favor for a friend?
You try to be nice to people and they walk all over you!"

With that he turned back to the audience and shook his head. 
Then he continued his narrative: "As I was saying when I was so
rudely interrupted...  My unit was the wing platoon on the
extreme left flank of the battalion.  We were being hit hard by
regulars in the enemy army and frankly, we were being rolled up.
I had been hit by a stray slug but was still functioning, when I
was hit again with grenade fragments.  That put me down and
ruined my M-16.  I had a sidearm, but I couldn't draw it with my
ruined arm.

"Just then an enemy soldier comes at me with his bayonet aimed
right for my gut.  He's in his lunge which would have put me
away, when he's stopped in his tracks."  Jerry shook his head and
said, "That's when I learned firsthand about the stopping power
of a Colt .45 automatic.  He took three rounds in the chest
centered on his heart in less than two seconds.  They not only
killed him, but they stopped him and knocked him over backwards.

"The next thing I know, the whole enemy regiment that was
attacking our flank was hit on its own flank and was rolled up
itself.

"That's when I learned abut the hitting power of Carlson's
Rangers.  That's who it was, of course.  Moreover, that's all it
was.  Can you imagine a unit of just forty men rolling over an
infantry regiment?  I can, because I saw it happen."  Again Jerry
shook his head and continued, "Anyway, Carlson stopped them and
sent them reeling.  Just then, my battalion counterattacked. 
Being hit from two directions at once, they just disintegrated. 
End of an enemy infantry regiment.  Anyway, I had a ringside seat
from my foxhole.  Hell, I couldn't move with the shrapnel in my
leg anyhow, so I might as well enjoy the show.  The whole thing
was over in a matter of minutes anyway, and then I guess I passed
out.  I remember coming to, at least a bit, when I felt myself
lifted out of my foxhole and carried in a giant's arms."

Gesturing toward Ken he said, "That giant!  Unlike Jim Conroy,
Carlson only had to carry me less than a mile to the battalion
aid station.  When we got there, though, medics were bringing
wounded in from all over and they seemed to have some system --
and we weren't in the system.

"Well, Carlson just shrugged, laid me out on a tarp, opens out a
huge medical kit and goes to work.  First, he checks my dog-tags,
then goes and swipes three units of the right type of blood. 
Then he scrubs the wounds -- a bullet in my shoulder, and
shrapnel in my leg.  All he says when he picks up a surgical
probe is, 'I'm afraid this is going to hurt, lieutenant.  I'm not
an anesthesiologist.'  At any rate, he eases a probe down the
track of the bullet and locates it.  Then he uses a pair of
forceps and, using the probe, guides it down to where the bullet
was embedded.  Then as gently as could be, he eases the bullet
back up the track it had taken going in, gets it out, and drops
it on my tunic.  He goes back in, locks on something else and
again withdraws.  This time there's a heavy flow of blood and
some pus.  What he recovered were bits of uniform driven into my
body ahead of the slug.  He watches it drain for a few minutes,
then stitches up the bullet hole, puts a powdered antibiotic on,
and then bandages it."

Jerry just shook his head and said, "If you want to do something
interesting, try watching yourself being operated on."  He shook
his head and added, "I guess 'interesting' is the right word,
too.

"Well, then he turned his attention to the shrapnel in my leg. 
the nicest thing anyone could say about my leg was that it was a
mess.  I got hit hard in the thigh.  This time, though, he gave
me a couple of morphine injections and waited a few minutes while
they worked.  A strange thing happened while he was waiting,
though.  He went into his pack and took out a bundle of blue
notepaper.  These were what I had heard about: Kathy-grams. 
Keeping one eye on me, he read a few and I could see a dead-tired
guy come back to life.

"Then, when he thought I was ready, he grinned, introduced
himself as Ken Carlson, and proceeded to work.  Now shrapnel is
very different from a bullet.  It is irregular in shape and comes
from any direction.  Well, Ken had already cut my pants leg
almost off.  Now he carefully studied each shrapnel piece,
figured out how it had been moving when I got hit, and then as
carefully and smoothly as can be, he backed it out the same way
it went in.  There were six separate pieces that he worked on. 
Again he cleaned me up, stitched up the wounds, and bandaged the
area.

"This time he drives his bayonet with his M-16 into the ground to
use as a holder for the blood bottles.  Again he goes back to his
Kathy-grams while he watches the blood run into my veins.  When I
had taken the full three units, I was almost feeling alive again.
 Having read a bunch of his letters, Ken was now feeling great.

"Anyway, as carefully as can be, he carries me to the aid station
and lays me on an empty stretcher with other casualties.  Of
course, he had put the bullet and the shrapnel in my tunic where
the nurse found them later.  He shook my hand, wished me luck,
and then faded away.  I guess I went to sleep.  To finish the
story, the next time I awakened I was at Clark Air Force Base in
the Philippines where I was getting all kinds of hell for losing
my medical history and the treatment records.

"I didn't know what the idiot was talking about, so the guy
screams about the surgeon who operated on me.  When I told them
what had happened, they didn't believe me.  Later when they
checked and found that the battalion aid station had no surgeons,
they still didn't believe me."

Again Jerry jumped off the stage taking the cordless mike with
him.  Sticking out his hand to Ken he said, "Captain, there are
no words I can say to the man who saved my life once for sure,
and probably twice.  All I can say is, thank God you were there!"
 Then turning to Kathy he said, "Am I correct in assuming you
were the author of the Kathy-grams?"  She just smiled warmly and
nodded.  Then he took her in his arms and kissed her.

Kathy was startled for an instant, but then kissed this hero with
all the love she could muster.  Her lips moved slowly on his
while her arms were around his neck.  When she slowly released
him, Jerry's eyes were as big as saucers.  Then he just said,
"Wow!  No wonder Ken Carlson was moved to perform miracles!  With
a woman like this..."

Then he looked out at the audience and said, "I just received a
kiss the likes of which I never even knew existed.  Suffice it to
say, I feel like a glob of warm mush...  Very happy warm mush, I
hasten to add."  Then he shook his head and said, "You know
something?  That kiss had no sex in it...  None!  It was just a
flow of the purest love."

Then he whistled and added, "No wonder Ken Carlson is so big. 
You take that love and couple it with the passion that these two
share for each other, and a lesser guy would be just a spot on
the floor."  He shook his head and said, "I was right, too. 
Kathy, you have so much love to give, you could -- and did --
motivate this guy at a range of 6,000 miles!"  Smith shook his
head in feigned disbelief.

To be continued...

* * *

Comments and constructive criticism are sincerely welcome.  Let
me hear from you.  morg105829@aol.com

*Kathy Carlson* Copyright (c) 1993, 2001 by Morgan. 
<morg105829@aol.com>

All rights reserved.  No part may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any electronic means, including photocopying,
recording or by any information and retrieval system, without the
written permission of the author. <1st attachment end>


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