Cherri rolled her eyes at me. They still insisted on using her given name.

I was starting to feel better. Cherri helped me up, leaning too close to be any real help but good to have her body pressed against mine as we made our way out. I saw some of the kids had been crying, almost starting me off too finding out they'd been worried about me. Mandy sat on her bed. She nodded to me as I went into the corridor and I nodded back, stopped stiffly as my head span.

Jeff Simmons drove his big Jeep up to our door. Jack sat up front, staring straight ahead. I climbed in back and Cherri slid in next to me. Chrissy Simmons closed the door then walked round and spoke to her husband, their voices too soft for me to overhear. I leaned back against the soft leather, headache thumping, and closed my eyes. Cherri found my hand and squeezed, left her fingers tangled with mine and I smiled sleepily as we pulled away and bounced down over the grass.

The trip into town took an hour and the whole way hardly anyone spoke. I wanted to talk to Jack, wanted to thank him for what he'd done. Impossible with Jeff Simmons sitting up front.

Cherri came into the doctor's surgery with me but wasn't allowed in the examining room. Jeff Simmons stayed outside, and I guessed he was making sure Jack got his bus.

Doc Peterson was great, gentle and quietly spoken. He checked me out, asked me a bunch of meaningless questions, shone a light in my eyes and examined my cheek.

"You're going to have one beaut of a shiner, Dani, but nothing's broken. Apart from looking like a prize fighter for a week you're going to be fine. I'll write you out a prescription for some painkillers. The pharmacy's open till ten so you can get them tonight. Don't take any if you don't need them."

I smiled. "I'll try not to, doc."

"You were lucky." He cocked his head to one side. "I understand the person who hit you is pretty big."

"Big asshole," I said.

He tried to mask a smile and failed. "Well, I wouldn't know about that. Take things easy for a couple of days, and try not to get in the way of someone else's fight again."

"My fight too," I said.

He made no comment, slapped his hands on his knees and stood. "Okay then." He handed me a scrawled prescription and escorted me back out to Cherri.

We walked out onto the street. Darkness had arrived while I was inside and the street lights had come on. Only with night cloaking me did I fully realize how long I'd been out. No wonder everyone was so worried. I waved the script at Cherri and she slipped her arm through mine as we crossed the street to the drugstore.

"So what's happening with Greg?" I asked. "Is he getting flung out too for whacking me?"

"Ha!" Cherri huffed. "Everyone thinks what happened was a pure accident. You just got in between them. Greg's the golden boy right now. Him and Sara. They'll be bagging their shit next and selling it."

I giggled. "Eugh. That's one image I don't need, Cherri."

She laughed back. "Yeah, I guess not. But he's not gonna get away with this, Dan. We'll find some way of getting him back."

"Let it go, Cherri."

She glanced at me, determination on her face.

"You don't mean that, honey."

"I do. Where's Jeff now?"

"I think he went to the store."

"And Jack?"

"Bus station. I saw Jeff march him down."

"Where is it?"

We stopped outside the pharmacy, windows splashing yellow light across the sidewalk. Cherri looked at me and nodded. "End of the street, turn right. About a hundred yards." She held her hand out to me. "You want me to fill your script?"

I smiled, shoved a fistful of tens into her hand, kissed her cheek and walked past her.

I found Jack sitting on a bench in the dark, on the edge of a pool of light cast from a single lamp. His head was down on his hands, elbows supported on his knees, rucksack between his legs, and he didn't hear me approaching from the side. I sat down next to him.

"Hi."

He turned his head, not surprised. Maybe he had heard me.

"Hi Dani."

I reached over and took his hand.

"Thanks Jack."

"For what? How are you?" He leaned close to examine my cheek. "That's gotta hurt, baby."

"A little, yeah. Thanks for taking the blame."

He laughed softly. "All mine to take, Dani. They were my pictures. My bad."

"But I knew about them."

"You didn't take them."

No, I thought, not those pictures. I thought of the secret rolls of negatives stuffed in my rucksack.

"I'm gonna miss you like hell," I said, squeezing Jack's hand.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Dani. Miss you a lot."

"Yeah? Really? Not just my tits?"

"Well, yeah, mostly those, of course." He'd held out pretty well, but his voice caught and he leaned into me and sighed. He pressed his face to my uninjured cheek and stroked my hair. "I wasn't gonna say this, Dani, but I'll probably never see you again, so what the fuck."

I waited. A minute passed. "Say what, Jack?"

He pulled away and looked into my eyes. "You know I love you, don't you."

I shook my head. "Summer camp, Jack, it's only summer camp."

"No. This is more than summer camp. But what the hell..." He shrugged.

I kissed him with one side of my mouth and Jack laughed.

"I'm gonna miss those, too."

"Me too," I said, speaking the truth. Jack was one of the good guys. All summer he'd only ever done whatever was best for me, only ever done what I wanted, never pushed for more, always accepting whatever role I put on him.

"If you want to meet up some time give me a call, Dani. No pressure. None at all."

I nodded, Jack so sweet there never would be any pressure. "What time's your bus?"

"An hour yet."

"I'd like to stay, Jack, but I can't."

"I understand. It's okay. You get back."

I stood, still holding his hand and he glanced up at me, a strong man, far stronger than Greg Hansen would ever be. I leaned down and kissed him, kissing through the pain.

"I love you too, Jack," I said, and turned away quickly before he caught my lie. He'd done so much for me today, a lie was the least I could offer in return.

Chapter 21.

Monday evening while the brats watched a movie Cherri and I once more walked the narrow track east to the barn. Cherri was quiet, and I didn't feel much like talking. My cheek ached, and as promised I had an impressive shiner that had drawn admiration all day. Pretty much everyone knew what happened, and why. A fewahell, more than a fewahad made a point of coming up to let me know they considered Greg and Sara were in the wrong for ratting Jack out. I nodded and smiled and said thanks, keeping my own guilt buried.

As the barn came into view I said, "How come you didn't invite Brian tonight?"

Cherri shrugged and walked on. "Wanted to spend some quality time with you, Dan. Thought we'd make this a girl's only night."

"Sure. But wasn't Brian, you know, pissed?"

"Brian does what he's told." Cherri grinned.

The day was cool and occasional showers had been scudding over the lake most of the day, obscuring the distant shore, but as evening came on the cloud broke and when we climbed the ladder to the loft sun shone directly in onto the hay, the upper space forming a heat trap. The air smelled fragrant with straw, earth and water, our feet raising clouds of dust which swirled in the rays of the sun. Cherri sat cross legged near the open doors, leaning against a bale we'd dragged across on a previous visit. I sat beside her and she reached across and took my hand, held it in her lap with the round plumpness of her mons against the back of my hand, and I was uncomfortable to find myself growing aroused. Again! Every time I was around Cherri now I grew aroused. If I wasn't so ecstatic I'd be exhausted.

"Another week, Dan, that's all we've got."

I sighed. "I know. It's been a great summer though."

Cherri squeezed my hand. I wasn't sure, but I thought she pressed me harder against herself, though I was probably mistaken.

"Fantastic. What are you doing when we leave? College?"

"Sure. How about you?" College wasn't on the agenda for Cherri, but I wasn't quite sure what was. "You going back home?"

"Uh-uh." She shook her head, the lowering sunlight haloing the blonde curls. "I'm going on the road."

"On the road? Like Jack Kerouac?"

She laughed and stood up, brushing hay from the back of her skirt.

"Yeah, if I can find someone called Neal Cassidy. No, I'm gonna give myself a year to see if I can make it as a singer." Cherri walked to the edge of the platform and peered down before glancing back at me, her face silhouetted with bright sunlight behind. "You wanna go swimming, Dan?"

I laughed. "God, Cherri, don't you ever stop?"

"Why would I want to stop? We've only got a week, Dan, let's make the most of our time." She began unbuttoning her cream cotton blouse, wrinkled and creased after all these weeks but still looking good. She let it drop carelessly on the barn floor, reached down and unclipped her skirt, holding it for a moment before allowing it to pool at her feet. She glanced at me, waiting, dressed only in the dusky pink bra and panties she'd worn on the day we arrived. She was stunning. Unbelievably beautiful.

Cherri cocked her head to one side. "So, you coming, or what?" Waiting for me again.

"I'm coming." I sat on one of the bales the guys had dragged to the platform and untied my boots, pulled off my socks and stood, still uncomfortable to be undressing in front of Cherri but she'd changed me enough to play along with this game. I unzipped my pants first and kicked them away, slipped from the fishing vest and pulled my t-shirt over my head. My own blue bra and panties hugged my figure and I was aware of Cherri's gaze taking everything in.

She stepped to the edge of the platform and looked down. Glanced back over her shoulder. She curled her arm behind and slid her finger up beneath the dark pink strap of her bra, pulled it away from her body, released it with a snap.

"Unclip me, Dan?"

I swallowed, took two steps to stand close behind her, enveloped in her scent. My fingers shook when I lifted them and it took me a couple of tried to work the two eyes loose on the catch of her bra. When the back strap fell away Cherri half turned toward me, waiting again. I stepped sideways, slid my fingers under the arms of her bra straps and drew them forward from her shoulders, lifted the cups free of her breasts exposing them to the air and my sight. Sun splashed her skin, her nipples as pale pink as the surrounding areola, the down on her body glowing.

I breathed hard, the air suddenly too thin, then turned around and waited. Nothing happened. I reached back, repeated the same gesture Cherri'd made and waited again. Her fingers touched my skin, sliding beneath my bra strap, hesitating and then loosening me. My breasts sagged a little as they came free but, as Cherri had I waited, turning back to her. She came close, the heat of our bodies filling the gap between us and her hands drew on my straps. The cups of my bra held against my breasts, filling them more than Cherri's had, resisting and she drew again until they succumbed to her pressure and she tossed my bra aside. Her hand came up, hesitated, almost touching my nipple which strained against the air. Then she dropped her hand and repeated the gesture she had made but with her panties, sliding her fingers inside the front and snapping the waist against her skin with a soft slup.

I knelt in front of her and drew her panties down. For a moment they caught between her legs and I tugged to pull them free, slid the sheer cotton down her legs and Cherri lifted one foot then the other and I dropped her panties to one side, remaining on my knees in front of her, the aroma of arousal wafting around me. Then I stood. My hand went to my panties and I drew them away and released. It was Cherri's turn to kneel, coming so close her hair brushed my hip and then her fingers worked beneath the sides of my panties and they slid down my legs. I did as she had, left foot, right, stood naked before her wondering if she could smell me as I had her. She sighed, her warm breath brushing through my fine pubic hair and again her hand rose as though to touch me, rose and hesitated and moved away.

As Cherri stood I turned back to the lake. Coming to stand beside me her hand circled my waist and she leaned over.

"You still wanna swim, Dan? It looks awful cold."

"It is cold, you know it is."

She nodded. "We could just lie in the sun for a while instead."

"You want to do that?"

She shook her head as though, no, that wasn't what she really wanted to do, but said, "I guess." Cherri smiled and leaned on the heavy beam rising vertically at the side of the opening, crossing her ankles, folding her arms, her body relaxed in display. I noticed once more how her pubic hair didn't match the blonde on her head, reddish in the sunlight, and without knowing why I said, "D'you dye your hair, Cher?"

She laughed and leaned forward to look down at her bush. "Does it give me away, you think? I guess I ought to dye 'em too, but hey, who's gonna see? I could always shave everything off down there."

"Shave..."

Cherri grinned at my shock. "Sure. I've seen girls who've done that, haven't you? It's kinda hot."

I shook my head. This was the late eighties, I was innocent, and back then a brazilian was someone played soccer. Cherri's eyes tracked down my body, hesitated on my breasts, moved on.

"Well, at least your drapes match the carpet.

I laughed hard with a sudden release of tension. "I guess," and stepped across to stand in the doorway.