In spite of complete sexual satiety – for the time being – it was the pangs of hunger, which finally brought them all downstairs to the evening meal, served piping hot, buffet style by Nancy Barber and Charlotte Harding.
Jim hobbled down the stairs, assuring everyone that he was fit and feeling fine. They ate in relative silence, ravenously, seated in the living room, where there was a roaring fire in the fireplace, giving them all a warm glow of home-like amenity.
Frank sat near Cheryl, and although he said very little to his wife, his attitude and the way he looked at her told her more plainly than words that he knew all about it… already – or at least, he might have guessed. As she looked about, seeing Nancy, vivacious and fawning over Jim Harding, still acting more or less as his self-appointed nurse, Charlotte, tolerant of Nancy, shooting lascivious glances at Frank, she shuddered with the knowledge that almost everyone in the room had had some sexual congress with most of the others. In her mind, it was a bizarre situation. And, later on, tonight, they're all going to do it… openly… if I understand what Charlotte was saying. Ugh! I really don't want to have any part of it! I don't see how they could do it… with other people watching! She hadn't promised that she would take part in their open swinging. I could just watch I suppose… There was Frank, her husband; he would be champing at the bit, she knew now, wanting to be a part of it all, and some of her newfound knowledge helped her to understand him a little better. But, it has to be evened out, I suppose! Id be a real wet blanket and spoil it for everybody… if I didn't go along with it. It was a difficult decision to make; she thought it kind of a cold-blooded thing… to just make up one's mind to have sexual intercourse in a group where everybody would be expected to do it with everybody else. Somehow, it seemed to detract from the real meaning of sex.
Then Charlotte was mixing after dinner drinks, and Cheryl decided to have a martini. She didn't like to drink; it was not a part of her bringing-up, but she did drink occasionally as a social gesture. Now, she saw in the alcohol an escape. Maybe… if I drank two or three, and got to feeling relaxed enough so that I didn't care, I could stand to do it.
Sipping at her drink, Cheryl heard music coming from a small transistor radio which Nancy had brought down from their room. It added a cheery note to things, and as her drink warmed her, she swung her leg in time to the tune coming through the tiny speaker.
Suddenly, Jim was all alert, calling for silence, he told them, "Listen! Here's something on the news about us!"
All six crowded about. "THE LATEST WORD ON A GROUP OF HUNTERS STRANDED IN A LODGE NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER BY THE SNOWSTORM BLANKETING MOST OF NORTHERN MONTANA…" the announcer's voice intoned, "ACCORDING TO HUNTING GUIDE JONOTHAN LONGWALK, EMPLOYED BY JAMES HARDING, OWNER OF THE LODGE, THE MEMBERS OF THE HUNTING PARTY ARE IN NO IMMEDIATE DANGER. THEY ARE ALL SAFE IN THE LODGE WHERE THERE IS ADEQUATE FOOD AND SHELTER. LONGWALK, WHO RODE OUT OF THE SNOWBOUND AREA ON HORSEBACK, SAID THAT THE PARTY BECAME STRANDED WHEN HARDING'S PLANE CRASHED ON LANDING ON A PRIMITIVE AIRSTRIP AT THE LODGE. PLANS ARE NOW BEING MADE TO RESCUE THE STRANDED PARTY. A SKI-EQUIPPED AIRPLANE IS BEING READIED TO FLY INTO THE RUGGED AREA; HOWEVER IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO POSTPONE THE FLIGHT UNTIL AFTER THE STORM HAS LIFTED…"
"Damn! If they only knew…!" Gene Barber chortled.