The Tutor

Chapter 33

Amy was floored when she got the news and the invitation to be Cora's Maid of honor. She really didn't know what to think the whole thing was going to be a fairly simple affair. Cora and Marcus and the whole police force, at least the police force that had survived the cull of the FBI. Andy and Trina would be there too, as well as a few of Marcus' friends. But the Ceremony was going to be simple. Just the Bride and her Maid of honor. A month away, Cora's parents were glad for that because it allowed them to spend more on their wedding gift. She was glad to be back writing even though her visits with James had been short and to the point. She found herself heading towards his house, she had yet to get her own new house even though the insurance company had paid out. The good thing was she did have a new car. Well new to her she had bought a pre-owned car, whatever the hell that meant. Used, she thought as she turned down the street leading up to James's house. She had pages, which was good, she had managed to bring pages the last two times she had been there. The bad part, James had made no move on her, he remained attentive but aloof. She wondered what it was about his past that kept him so bottled up.

Pulling up to the drive she turned off the car and walked up the drive. She knocked on the door and after a few minutes, James came out and inspected her briefly and frowned. He let her in and took her pages and set them on the desk. He walked back to the back of the house and picked up a bundle and handed it to her.

"What's this?" Amy asked James just leaned against the counter. Inside the package was a pair of well-worn blue jeans with leather patches on the insides of the thighs and on the knees. A pair of medium top boots her size and a light cotton shirt, blue. "Not exactly what I was expecting," she said finally pulling a pair of socks from the boots.

"Let's take a walk," James said softly.

Amy looked up at him as if to ask are you serious? James turned and pulled on a pair of old worn boots. Amy quickly stripped out of her clothes, half hoping that James would notice the high cut panties and the matching bra she was wearing but he was focused on a pack on the kitchen counter. She pulled on the shirt, which was a little tight across her bust and the jeans fit like a glove. She got the socks on and then the boots that felt comfortable. James shouldered the pack and Amy hurried to catch him before he walked out the door.

"Where are we going"

"I don't know, I guess we will find out"

"But..."

"You don't have to come, I'm perfectly happy letting you go home."

"No" she hesitated, "I'll come".

"Bill come," James said loudly. The big hound loped across the yard and took up a position a few steps ahead of his master. He picked up a quiver of arrows and a simple bow. James set a grueling pace somewhere between a walk and a jog and very quickly Amy was hot and sweaty despite the cool breeze of early spring. She hurried to keep up with James as he moved swiftly through the tall grass. To her it was almost like watching a ghost, she felt like at any second he would disappear. They followed a trail if it could be called that there didn't appear to be any rhyme or reason to it.

Amy wanted to check her watch but she was hurrying so fast and the ground was so uneven that she didn't dare slow down or stop looking at the ground. James didn't seem to look at the ground at all he just seemed to walk with ease over the broken ground. It was as if he was at ease with the world around him. She crested a hill and she found James waiting for her. He handed her a bottle of water. She opened the steel container and drank. The cold water felt so good as it ran down her throat and out of the corners of her mouth cooling her sweat-soaked shirt. She didn't even remember when she started sweating only that it had seemed like hours.