The Blue Mountain Affair

What's your plan?

What's your plan?

Peter spent most of the morning trying to focus his attention on every other part of his body but his arm. Joe had woken him a few hours near dawn unable to keep his eyes open anymore. Peter thought his brother should have woken him up sooner, but understood why he waited and was grateful for that decision, as he was able to sleep through a lot of the piercing pain. While he sat there keeping watch, the hours seemed to go by fairly quickly. Now Peter could see pieces of the morning sun peeking through small gaps amongst the leaves covering the cave entrance.

Not being able to sit still any longer, he slowly pushed himself up with his right arm. He was a bit stiff through his legs as staying in one position for so long was something he hadn't done since solitary confinement back in Sydney. He shuffled past his brother, who was lying on his side along the wall and stopped at the opening, cautiously pulling back some of the leaves to check for anything or anyone. Scanning the surrounding area he saw nothing unusual. He heard nothing out if place too, so he continued to make an opening in the branches he could fit through. Once clear of the cave he rose to his full height and stretched out his legs and arms, then slowly tried to roll his left shoulder but of course it hurt too much for that right now. He ran his hand over his face and then rested it on his hip. Deciding to stay clear of the cave entrance for things like relieving ones self he walked over to a group of trees not far away.

When finished, he went back to the cave and sat down on a rock which jutted out from the side of the hill and tried to think through what they should do now. He looked back to the cave and contemplated how lucky Lane was to stumble upon them. He was surprised to learn she was much older than she appeared. He had overheard their overseer, and who he now thinks was Lanes' Pa, talking earlier in the week. That's how he knew her name. It was actually a guess yesterday but seriously how many women were in these parts? Lane and her Mother were the only ones he had heard of.

His arm was throbbing but at least he could handle it now. As he licked his lips trying to relieve them of the dry feeling, he was reminded that they needed water. Peter looked around to try and get his barrings he knew which direction they came from but was more focused on keeping up with Lane yesterday rather than taking note of where they were headed. He knew Joe would know where they were. Peter heard leaves rustling to his side and turned to the cave entrance just as Lane emerge.

"Morning." He said while watching her stumble out, dusting her skirt and pulling leaves from her hair, she tripped with each step so she stopped after a few. She looked terrible right now and here in the day light without chaos surrounding them he couldn't see how he had mistaken her as a youth. She was taller than he remembered and looked quite delicate. He knew for sure she was a woman now though, noticing her shapely hips while she smoothed her dress over them, and saw that she actually had a bosom when she pulled on her shirt to straighten it. When she let out her long, thick brown hair to finger brush it he became slightly enchanted. Finally, he got to see her dark eyes which she suddenly directed at him.

"Morning." She replied resting her hands on those hips. He watched her look around just as he did when he came out, not looking at him again until she said. "Um, I'm just going to go, over there for a moment, i'll be back." Peter chuckled as he realized what she wanted to do.

"I'll turn my head." He listened to her scampering away to the other side of the trees. He hadn't been around a decent female for an awful long time and realized he needed to be more observant of her needs, especially if they were to be spending more time together.

"Thank you Peter." Lane said when she returned. Peter turned his head back around to face her.

"You seem as though, you slept alright." He chuckled. "How are you feeling?"