{"sf1_id":868223,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Lady of the Lake","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":19319,"posted_at":"2015-06-01T18:46:00.000Z","tags":["Age Difference","Equine","Fellatio","First Time","Girl","Horse","Human","M/F","Man","Mythological Creature","Oral","Virgin","kelpie","lake","sex","teenager","underwater","water"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/868223-the-lady-of-the-lake","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/868223","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=868223\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#34 of Miscellany\n\nFirst off:\nThis story was suggested by  KateTheMarten\nSecondly, this story is fairly long; about 19,000 words and 40 pages.\nThirdly, I think it will be my last written work for a while. If I feel like giving an explanation, it will be in a forthcoming journal.\nLastly, because of its length and the amount of time it took me to write it, I cannot guarantee a great editing job, but I did do my best under the present circumstances.","content":"\n                There\nis a lonely lake, set far inland from any ocean shoreline, where peace and\ntranquility reigned over the quiet expanse of water. People used to come to\nthis place, despite the distance necessary to travel to it, but with this being\nthe Great Depression and all, very few folks had the money for such\nextravagance.\n                There\nwas still a small collection of cabins there, now nearly hidden by the growth\nof hedges and grasses.  Among them here\nwas one that still had the appearance of when it was first built a few decades\nago. It was clean, neat and tidy, with the roof in good repair, the porch\nmended, and the main path leading down to the lake cleared of weeds and snags.\n                But no\none ever noticed this idiosyncrasy, because people had quit coming here.\n                Until\none particular day.\n                The\nrespectable looking Packard bumped down the rugged trail leading to the\nforgotten resort. The new owner of both the automobile and the land over which\nit now traveled were one in the same. Not everyone in the nineteen thirties was\nflat broke. A few had managed to make money and this fellow was one of them. He\nhad visited this resort as a child, and when he found that the land surrounding\nthe lake was for sale, he jumped at purchasing it sight unseen.\n                The car\nreached a point where it could no longer navigate the overgrown drive, so the\nfamily got out and walked the rest of the way. \nThey ambled down to a clearing that had once been the site of many\ncampfires and looked out over the clear blue water. The father felt a sense of\npride in owning one of his favorite childhood memories. His wife was not as\ninfatuated with the place. She was city born and bred, and this little patch of\nwilderness was enough to give her the vapors. But her children ran forward with\neager glee, never before having been this close to nature.\n                \"I told\nyou Anna. The kids will love it here.\"\n                \"Well I\nhate it! There aren't even any houses standing!\"\n                \"The\ncabins are still here. The agent said they were, even if they're a little run\ndown.\"\n                \"I can just\nimagine what creatures have been living in them for the past ten years. This\ndump closed down for a reason!\"\n                \"Now\ndarling, don't get worked up. I'll have Leroy down here first thing, and he'll\nplot out a spot and build us a nice summer home.\"\n                She stuck\nout here tongue when he wasn't looking. She did like to make him happy, but\nthis idea of his was awful. The bugs were everywhere, and she wasn't a fan of\nany living thing that wasn't human, or came from the butcher. Animals were fine\nas long as she didn't have to touch them, or preferably, even see them.\n                The\nkids had struck for the shoreline, where a dilapidate dock stood on rickety\nlegs. There was an old boat sunk next to it, a once beautiful runabout now\nrotting and covered with snails. The oldest sibling, a girl of sixteen, ran out\nonto the wavering wharf and halted as her younger brother hit the planks too.\n                \"Bobby\nstop! I don't think this will take too much weight!\"\n                The boy\nscreeched to a halt and delicately backed up. She did the same.\n                \"Phew!\nI think we almost got wet!\"\n                \"Yeah!\nMom would have killed us. We only brought a few changes of clothing.\"\n                \"But\nshe did let us bring of swimming outfits. I don't think anyone has been to this\nlake in ages.\"\n                \"Dad\nsaid this used to be really busy when he was little. He says it's too far from\nany town to be a tourist spot anymore. That's why he got it cheap.\"\n                \"I know\nthat stupid. I can already tell mother is going to hate it. She hates anything\nthat isn't manicured and polished.\"\n                \"Hey!\"\n                \"What?\"\n                Bobby\nwas pointing out to a disturbance in the lake. There was something bobbing in\nthe water several  hundred yards from\nshore. At this distance it was too far to discern what it was, but it didn't\nmatch any of the animals they knew.\n                \"See\nthere!\" he said excitedly, jumping up and down and pointing. \"There's some\nanimal out there in the water.\"\n                \"I see\nit. Maybe it's an otter?\"\n                \"Stupid\ngirl! That has to be too big for an otter!\"\n                \"Don't\ncall me stupid, you little jerk. When have you ever seen an otter in real\nlife?\"\n                \"Well,\nI haven't. But I don't think they're that big.\"\n                They\nwatched it for a while until it seemed to sense that it was under scrutiny,\nwhen it then slipped beneath the waves and vanished.\n                Their\nfather listened to them with a calm face. \"There is a legend that this lake was\nhome to a strange creature,\" he began. His wife groaned. He ignored her and\ntold his brief tale. \"When I was a kid, the locals said that there was\nsomething that swam in these waters that didn't belong here.\"\n                Bobby\nwas immediately engrossed. \"Was it a monster?\"\n                \"No, I\ndon't think so. No one was ever bothered by it, nor did it ever show itself\nvery clearly. It was said to be seen mostly at night, so unless the full moon\nwas out, it was difficult to see.\"\n                \"Did\nyou ever see it father?\" asked Angelica, the older of the two.\n                \"No really,\"\nhe began hesitantly,\" but your aunt claimed she did.\"\n                \"But\neveryone thought she was crazy, didn't they?\"\n                At this\npoint mother interrupted. \"We'll not stand here discussing family blots. If\nthere isn't a place decent enough to stay in, we're driving back to the nearest\ntown with a boarding house and staying there. As it is, I can only imagine how\ndisgusting the accommodations are going to be.\"\n                Thus,\nit was a mild and slightly shocking surprise when one cabin had all the\nappearances of someone living in it. There was no food inside, but the floors\nwere swept and the furniture dusted.\n                Mother\nwas even more perturbed. \"I am not staying out here when there is some vagrant\nliving on the premises!\"\n                Father\nwas hardly alarmed. \"Who can blame him? The place is deserted. I suppose he\neats fish and wild greens, for there isn't much else out here. Strange though\nthat he doesn't bother cooking indoors. He must have a firepit somewhere\noutside.\"\n                \"And\nwho's to say he doesn't have a gun or a knife? I say we leave!\"\n                \"And I\nsay we look for him and tell him that this place has been sold. I don't like\nforcing out a squatter, so maybe I can hire him on as a handyman or something.\nHe obviously knows the layout of the land and he must be good with his hands,\nfor he has managed to keep this place in good condition...\"\n                He\nstopped talking and rubbed his hand over a notch in the doorway.\"Well holy\nhell!\"\n                \"What\nis it father?\"\n                \"This\nis the very cabin! The one we always stayed in when I came here. This was where\nmy dad chopped a mark to denote my height the one summer!\"\n                Just\nthen a sound came from outside. There was a footfall on the front porch and\nthen a knock. Everyone jumped a little, and Angelica felt shivers run down her\nspine.\n                Father\nopened the door and there stood a handsome young man, clad only in pants. His\nhair was wet, but it wasn't from sweat. It seemed pretty obvious that he had\nbeen swimming.\n                \"Excuse\nme, I'm sure, but might I ask what you folks are doing way out here?\"\n                \"I\nmight ask you the same thing!\" Father didn't sound angry, but he did seem\naffronted.\n                \"I take\ncare of this place, such as it is.\"\n                \"A\ncaretaker. The real estate agent never mentioned a caretaker!\"\n                \"Agent?\nDid the old man go and sell the place off?\" The young man sounded perturbed.\n                \"Yes.\nI'm the new owner now.\"\n                \"Oh.\"\nHe was crestfallen and his voice sounded dejected. \"I had no idea. I'll git up\nand go as quickly as I can.\"\n                \"Now wait\njust a minute! I'm not kicking you out! We just got here a short while ago and were\njust having a look around. We might not even be staying the night.\"\n                \"I see\nsir. Might I ask what your intentions are in the long run? It would be nice to\nsee this place opened back up to the public again. I rather miss people.\"\n                Angelica\nthought that was weird. Miss people? How long had he been living out here?\n                \"Public?\nOh no. I intend to build a summer place here, though I might keep a few of the original\nbuildings. You never know when you might have guests over. I'll be looking for\na little help to keep the place tiptop. The pay would be decent enough.\"\n                \"All\nthis just for one family?\"\n                \"Why\nnot? You've apparently had it to yourself for a while. Now it's time to share.\"\nFather's smile was part humor and part barb.\n                \"True\nenough! As for being caretaker, I can do it just as easily for one as I can for\nanother.\"\n                \"Then\nit's settled!\"\n                Mother\nwas still having fits. \"Does this place even have running water, or toilets, or\nanything?\"\n                The\nyoung man shook his head. \"Yes and no ma'am. I can fill up the main water\nbarrel. That'll give you water for flushing the toilets, but it'll hardly be\nfit for drinking.\"\n                She\nstamped her feet. \"What do you drink?\"\n                \"Spring\nwater ma'am, when it suits me. Me and nature get along just fine; we always\nhave.\"\n                Angelica\nsensed her eyes were hurting and realized that she hadn't been blinking. She\nfelt the heat rise to her cheeks as she was suddenly aware that she had been\nstaring at this man. He was tanned, well muscled, and looked to be a good ten\nyears older than she was. The bulge in the front of his pants seemed to be\ntotally obvious, and yet she seemed to be the only one noticing it.\n                \"Spring\nwater? Could you load some into the cottage for us?\"\n                Angelica\nspoke without thinking. \"But father, if we take over the cottage, where will he\nsleep?\"\n                The\nyoung man spoke kindly. \"Now don't you go worrying little miss. I'll be fine.\nIf there's anything I'm good at, it's rolling with the punches. I'll sleep just\nfine under the w...stars tonight. It's downright pleasant enough, and I've been\nknown to do it more than once.\"\n                That\nseemed to settle things for the moment.  He moved a few of his things into one of the\nmore derelict cottages and was gone.\n                Mother\nwas perturbed. \"He seems nice enough, but don't you think it's a little odd\nthat he lives out here all alone?\"\n                Father\nretorted with, \"Maybe, but perhaps he got fed up with city life. Still he looks\nand sounds very familiar to me. I wonder if he grew up here?\"\n                Bobby\nscowled a little. \"I think he sounds a bit foreign.\"\n                \"Yes,\" father\nsaid, \"he does have a touch of the brogue.\"\n                Angelica\nstill felt her heart racing. \"How could he have grown up here?\"\n                Father\nrubbed his chin. \"I seem to recall that one of the lifeguards had an accent,\nthough that was back when I was a kid. I don't remember his name anymore, but\nhe was well liked. That was a long time ago.\"\n                \"So\nmaybe this is his son?\"\n                \"It\ncould be darling. We can ask him come morning. For that matter, I never did get\nhis name.\"\n                That\nnight was cool and clear, and with the windows open, the breeze drifted through\nthe rooms bringing with it aromas and sounds alike. There was pine scent and\nflower perfume;  here and there crickets\nand frogs chorusing in the dark. All these sounds echoed in Angelica's head. So\nwhen she heard the splashing, she sat upright in her bed. Her ears caught the\nsound again, coupled with a slight bit of laughter that sounded very much like\na horse.\n                She\nslipped out of bed and stepped to the window. The angle was bad for seeing the\nlake, so she threw on a robe and tiptoed out into the darkness. There was a\npartial moon, hardly enough to see by, but with it being so far from city\nlights, it proved to be enough to allow her to make her way to the dock.\n                The\nwater was calm, preternaturally so. And yet, there was a ring of ripples coming\nfrom somewhere near the middle. They lapped at the shoreline before fading out.\nShe looked out of the water and shivered again. Whatever they had seen earlier\nmust be frolicking about in the water. But she was no more enlightened now as\nto what it was then she had been before.\n                She\nstood out there on the decaying planks, feeling them sway as one under her feet.\nIt was almost imperceptible at first, but then the motion began to pick up,\nthough there seemed to be no reason for it. Then, all of a sudden and out of\nthe blackness that was the midnight water, a head rose up, its eyes fiercely\nglowing with an inner fire. From its nose up to the tips of its dark ears, the\nface was long and frightening. The hair, or mane rather, cascaded water down\nthe sides of its neck.\n                She\nwent to scream, but it stuck in her throat. It took her a few brief seconds to\nrealize she was having a dream, for there was no horse in the world that lived\nin the water. For that matter, there was no horse with glowing eyes. So she\nheld her ground and stared back. \n                It\nseemed to float in the water, buoyed up by some power of levitation. Even if it\nwas somehow managing to stand on the bottom, if didn't explain how it was able\nto sneak up on her like this. But then, in a dream anything can happen. Despite\nthe fierceness of its looks, she felt that it meant her no harm. As she reached\nout to touch it, droplets of water fell onto her arm. She recoiled and ran a\nfinger through the moisture with a finger.\n                \"This\nis real!\"\n                A low\nvoice boomed from the haunting figure. \"As surely as your eyes can see little\none.\"\n                \"You -\nyou - you can talk?\"\n                \"Yes,\nbut can you listen?\"\n                \"I can\nlisten, but how can you talk? You're a horse...with a bit in his mouth!\"\n                She\nheard a sigh, and realized that it was mental. \"Little girl, I can do a great\nmany things. Not all of them are nice. I mean you no ill will, but your\npresence here might be a mistake. I think you would be best suited to leave.\"\n                Despite\nthe seemingly strength of will behind the voice, it seemed to falter just a\nlittle.\n                \"I\ncan't leave. Father has bought this land. He intends to build a house here.\"\nThen she suddenly remembered what she was talking to. \"What are you?\"\n                \"Nothing\nyou need concern yourself with.  Heed my\nwarning. There are many dangers in this lake, and not all of them will appear\nas overtly as this form. Some will be quite pleasing to the eye.\"\n                \"But\nyou're not displeasing to me. I've rarely seen a horse this close up before.\"\n                \"I AM\nNO HORSE!\"\n                \"But\nyou look like one!\"\n                She heard\nthe sigh again.\"What is this world coming too? Do they teach you nothing in\nyour schools today?\"\n                \"They\ndo! And you are a horse, unless you have a better term for yourself.\"\n                \"Girl,\nI am a kelpie, a member of a very ancient race.\"\n                \"Kel-pie?\nThat sounds a lot like Kewpie. I have some Kewpie dolls.\"\n                The\nsigh became a groan. \"Such ignorance. I will leave you now. Tell no one what\nyou have seen, not that I think it will matter, for who would believe you?\"\n                Without\nanother word, the figure sank below the surface and vanished without leaving\neven the tiniest of waves. She stood there for a few moments before deciding it\nwas safe to move. She turned around and was standing face to face with the\nyoung man from earlier. She jumped back a foot and swallowed another scream. It\nwould do no good alerting her parents to her presence out-of-doors, and\nbesides, she was at a loss for words.\n                Not\nonly was this guy handsome, he was presently naked and dripping water. He was\npretty ballsy for being in the water at night, and she immediately wondered if\nhe knew anything about the creature she had just seen.\n                \"Uh,\nhi!\" she said shyly.\n                \"Hello.\nWhat are you doing out here by yourself?\"\n                She was\ntrying to stare him in the face, but his manhood was the first she had seen\never, and while it was hard to see clearly, she wasn't about to let it out of\nher sight while she had the chance.\n                \"I\nheard a noise in the water. I came down to investigate.\"\n                \"I see.\nThere are old stories about some creature that lives in the waters hereabouts.\nI can truthfully say that I have never-ever seen it for myself.\"\n                \"Well I\ndid. It's a water horse.\"\n                \"A\nwhat?\"\n                \"A\nwater horse. What did he call himself; oh yes - a kelpie.\"\n                \"So you\nstood out here on this old dock; at night, talking to a mythological creature?\"\n                \"He was\nreal!\"\n                \"Look\ngirl, I just came out of the water from a swim, and I saw nothing like you\ndescribe.\"\n                \"That's\nyour problem. I know what I saw.\"\n                He shut\nup. It was obvious she knew her mind. He wasn't lying though, and he knew she\nknew he spoke truthfully. It still didn't shake her resolve. He was impressed\nwith this. Females were often timid and caved in to whatever they were told to\ndo or believe. This girl hadn't had the spunk driven out of her yet. She\nreminded him very much of someone else he had once known.\n                His\ntone changed. \"Yes, there is a kelpie that lives here. He doesn't belong here,\nand yet here is where he lives. And I have yet to lay eyes on him, so consider\nyourself lucky.\"\n                \"So you\ndo believe me, don't you?\"\n                \"I do,\nbut you must not speak of this to anyone else. They will either have to witness\nit for themselves, or forgo any knowledge of it whatsoever.\" \n                \"Not\neven my little brother?\"\n                 \"Not even him.\"\n                She was\nstaring hard at his midsection, wondering what his touch felt like. She was\nfeeling the heat in her cheeks again as she imagined all sorts of fun things\nshe and he could do. It was dark, they were alone, and she had the sudden\ndesire to throw off her clothing right then and there.\n                It was\nher turn for sighing. \"OK. But where are you staying? I might want to find you\nsometime.\"\n                His\nsmile showed both kindness and just a hint of lewdness. \"I'll show you\ntomorrow. Tonight you had best hie off to bed. You'll hardly live it down if\nyou're caught out and about.\"\n                She\nfelt a little groggy all of the sudden, and with a shrug of her shoulders,\nturned back towards the cabin. She had gone a few yards when she turned in time\nto see him stooped at the side of the dock. The next instant he was upright and\nwaving her off. In his profile, she saw his manhood was much more obvious than\nit had been before. She felt a pang of desire that was alien to her, and felt a\nbit of moisture from where it rarely had had reason to form before. She went to\nbed completely out of sorts.\n                Her\ndreams made her even damper.\n                In the\nmorning she grabbed a change of underwear, stuffing her old pair deep inside\nher suitcase. She went out to the kitchen and was surprised by the smell of\ncoffee and toasting bread.\n                Mother\nlooked a little happier than she expected. Apparently father had gone out\nearly, drove to the nearest town and purchased a few things. The fact that the\nelectricity was on was equally surprising, but apparently had only needed the\nquick flip of a breaker to have ready for use. The toaster was an old open\nmodel, marked as coming from the Edison company, and while it seemed quaint,\nthe toast smelled all the better for the quirkiness of it.\n                Mother\nwas also cooking some fresh eggs, and father had brought back a jar of local\nhoney. It wasn't the normal morning affair, but under the circumstances, it was\nproving to be more exotic thanks to their present locale.\n                \"Mother,\ndid anyone think to invite the caretaker?\"\n                \"Yes\ndear, but we haven't seen him yet this morning. I have no intention of trying\nto find him. He knows where we're at, so I will let him find us if he's\ninterested.\"\n                He\nshowed up a short while later, carrying a few fish on a stringer. \"Here! I\nthought you folks might like to sample the bounty of the lake. These trout are\nas fresh as you'll ever get them.\"\n                Father\ngrinned. \"I'll have to bring my fishing poles next time we come.\" He took the\nproffered fish and put them in the old Monitor-top refrigerator that was now\nhumming along like nothing had changed in the past decade. \"Thank you son. Now,\nI don't think I got your name yesterday, with all that was going on.\"\n                \"Douglas.\nDouglas Ewart sir.\"\n                \"Ewart?\nLike the former tenant hereabouts?\"\n                The\nyoung man smiled. \"Just like that yes. An Ewart has lived in these parts for a\nlong while. We're not so easily shaken off.\"\n                \"So\nthat's why you look familiar. I remember your...father?\"\n                \"Aye,\nperhaps you do. It has been said that I take to resembling him when he was my\nage.\"\n                \"I take\nhe has passed?\"\n                \"Father?\nYes, he passed a while back.\"\n                \"Well,\nyou have my condolences. But it's down to business I'm afraid. Since you know\nthe layout of the land, I'd like to get your opinion on where to build, prior\nto the contractors arriving. I'd like to have some sense of the ground and the\nlake. I don't want to disturb this place too much, but I'd love to have a view of\nthe water from the porch.\"\n                The two\nmales walked out and down the path. Angelica abandoned her breakfast long\nenough to watch them disappeared around a corner. Bobby followed her, then\nreturned to stuffing his face.\n                She\ncame back and picked at her own food for a few minutes before idly stuffing it\ninto her mouth.\n                \"What's\nwrong with you?\"\n                \"Nothing.\"\n                \"Sure\nthere is. You like Douglas, don't you?\"\n                \"What?\nNo!\"\n                \"Sure\nyou do. He is pretty neat. I'd love to live out here all by myself. I bet he\nhas a pretty cool life.\"\n                \"Yeah,\nthat's it exactly,\" she said, covering over her embarrassment by actually\nagreeing with her sib.\n                \"I bet\nhe has some great stories to tell. I can't wait until father gets the new house\nbuilt. I think it would be cool to live out here all the time.\"\n                Mother\nheard and shushed him. \"This is no place to raise a family. Just because some\nvagrant lives a rent free life doesn't make this place idyllic.\"\n                \"Oh, I\ndon't know,\" mumbled Angelica. \"I think it has possibilities!\"\n                She\nremembered her dreams from the night before and in no time flat was in a state.\nShe quickly excused herself to the bathroom. Another pair of panties was in\norder. At this rate she was going to have to secretly wash them and hang them\nout to dry.\n                She\npulled herself together and went outside to search for her father. Well, father\nisn't who she was looking for. But she knew that where one was, the other would\nbe. Her mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts, and despite her strict\nhousehold and her religious upbringing, she was overcome with a desire to lay\nwith this stranger. She knew a little about that, despite what her mother\nbelieved about her. Her fingers had found that there was pleasure to be with\nthe right touch in the right place. She knew her secret place was meant to be\nfilled by the stiff organ of the opposite sex. She had been told some very\nvivid stories concerning that.\n                She had\nnow found such a male and was intent to pursue him until she got what she\nwanted.\n                She\nheard voices in the clearing ahead, and stopped to spy on them, though she felt\nfoolish for acting in such a clandestine manner. She really wanted to get a\ngood look at Douglas' body, now that she had an interest in it. He was dressed\nin old-fashioned trouser's and a cotton workshirt, but she was able to\ntranspose what she had seen last night in the near dark onto his present self\nstanding in full view, and was rewarded with yet another dose of moisture from\nher crotch.\n                Instead\nof running home however, she crouched down in the brush and slipped her fingers\ninto the top of her panties, making good use of the lubrication. Between\nwatching him and the naughtiness of her situation, she came quickly, making a\nsqueal as she tumbled backwards onto the ground. She barely had time to flatten\ndown her dress before the males where to her.\n                \"Good\ngod Angel, what happened?\" father asked.\n                She\nlooked suitably embarrassed. \"Sorry Father, but I wasn't watching where I was\ngoing and tripped. I'll be alright.\"\n                Douglas\nextended his hand to help her up, but she reluctantly tried to dismiss it.\n\"I'll be fine. I just need a moment to get myself collected.\" In truth, her\nfingers were sticky and coated with dirt and debris from her tumble to the\nground.\n                He\nignored her plea, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to her feet. She nearly\nswooned at his touch. She grabbed his arms to steady herself, and found that he\nwas staring right into her eyes.\n                \"You\nneed to be careful miss. There are all sorts of dangers here, and not all of\nthem are immediately apparent. Watch your step from now on. No point in\ntwisting a pretty ankle on a root or something.\"\n                Of all\nthose words, all she heard was pretty.\nHe thought she was pretty! Or maybe just her ankles, but who looked at those?\nHe had to mean her face, didn't he? Then he did notice her, and so just\npossibly he had an interest in her!\n                \"I'll\ntry. I guess I have a lot to learn about living out in the wilderness. If I could\nonly find someone to teach me.\"\n                Father\nseemed to be oblivious to her tone. \"I'm sure Douglas here would be happy to\nshow you around.\"\n                \"Aye,\nif you wish for me to, I can do that.\"\n                \"Good!\nLook Angel, I have to head into town again, and I suppose your mother will want\nto come with me. You can come with us or you can stay. Your choice.\"\n                \"What\nabout Bobby?\"\n                \"I'm\nsure he'll want to come with me, but if not, he can stick with you two. I'm\nsure he'll love exploring this place as much as I did when I was younger.\"\n                Angelica\nfelt her heart drop to her toes. She had so wanted to be alone with Douglas, to\ntalk with him, and walk with him and...to do unmentionable things with him. She\nwas sure he was lonely after living out here for a few years all by his\nlonesome. She could hardly understand how he lived out here with no one else,\neven if the region was beautiful and mysterious. The memory of her dockside\nexperience still haunted her, and though she would never call him a liar, she\nfailed to see how she could have seen such an apparition on her first visit to\nthis place, and he, a inhabitant for who-knew-how-long had yet to see it ever.\n                She was\nlost in her thoughts, staring at the dock and only snapped out of it when her\nfather kissed her on the forehead.\n                \"Come\non up to the cabin with me, and we'll see what your brother is going to do.\"\n                As it\nturned out, he was torn between staying and going. But he knew that they would\nbe spending time back here so he opted to hop in the car for the trip to town.\nThat left Angelica and Douglas alone. Her heart was skipping beats as she\npictured so many different things; erotic things they could do in the time they\nhad. But when she turned to find him, he was gone.\n                Not\nabout to be denied her desires, she raced down to the water's edge. Her heart\njumped again when she saw his meager clothing folded neatly and sitting on a\nstump. Looking out into the water she saw his head bobbing, a smile splitting\nhis features from ear to ear.\n                She\nstamped her feet and balled up her fists. She had no bathing suit with her, and\nthus no way of getting into the water to swim. Her dress would get ruined and\nmother would have a fit for multiple reasons..\n                He swam\ncloser to shore and rose a little, calling to her as he did. \"Little cailin og,\nwhy the consternation? The water is fine, and I don't see a horse in sight.\"\n                \"I\ndon't have any means of swimming!\" she cried plaintively. \n                His laughter\nechoed across the water. \"If you have arms and legs then what more do you\nneed?\"\n                \"A\nsuit. Like you have!\"\n                He\nsmirked before standing up in the shallow water, showing that in actuality, he was\nnude. His cock hung between his legs and Angelica thought her heart was going\nto burst from her chest. He was standing there totally unashamed of his\ncondition. She knew he had been living out here too long for him to expose\nhimself so openly to a girl. And even as she felt she should be angered and\nembarrassed by it, she felt that sudden warmth in her belly, and a sudden\nwetness that belied her true feelings.\n                She had\nspirit, and not to be outdone, she stripped down, leaving her dress, stockings,\nbra and panties in a pile, with her petite shoes on the top. She felt a chill\nat being openly nude, for she had never even thought of doing such a thing\nbefore. She looked for a good place to step into the water, and then, with a\nsudden burst of bravado, chose to dive into the water at the end of the dock.\n                She\nnearly hit the bottom. Even as she surfaced, she wondered how a horse would\nhave managed to rise from such a shallow depth. Maybe she had been dreaming.\n                She\nstood, wiping the water from her eyes. As she got them cleared, she was\nstartled to see him standing only a few feet away. Between her mixed emotions\nand the cool water, her nipples were hard little mounds sitting atop her pale\nbreasts. She was suddenly aware of the complete difference between her and him.\nHe was tanned; and by that I mean there wasn't a single line to indicate that\nhe ever wore clothing in the sunlight.\nShe on the other hand had the\ncomplexion of a porcelain doll.\n                She had\nrarely ever stood in front of a full length mirror in the nude for fear of\nsomeone discovering her, and here she was, standing in the water mere feet away\nfrom a handsome man, equipped with a cock (dare she even use that word?) fit\nfor a horse. She even said so.\n                \"Not\nthat I have anything for comparison, but are all men carrying such a thing\nhidden in their trousers?\"\n                His\nmirth was palpable. \"I can't say about other men lass. I only know about me. As\nfor it being fit fer a horse, well, that might be truer than you think.\"\n                She\nsuddenly remembered the horse again. It was weird how it's image flitted in and\nout of her brain like a butterfly on a windy day. She was suddenly fearful it\nmight make an appearance.\n                \"You've\nsaid you've never seen the horse. Why did you bring it up?\"\n                \"I\ndidn't me wee small one.\" His accent was getting thicker as the seconds ticked\naway.\n                \"No, I\nguess I sort of did. How can you have lived her so long and never seen it? Do\nyou even know what it looks like?\"\n                \"Aye,\nthat I do. He be big, dark, with fiery red eyes.\"\n                \"Ah ha!\nThen you have seen him!\" She seemed blissfully unaware that she was holding\nthis conversation while stark naked, with the top half of her body totally\nexposed.\n                \"No, I\nhave not. For me to see him would be impossible, but I have seen his reflection.\"\n                \"That\ndoesn't make any sense.\"\n                \"Many\nthings don't when you're blind to the truth little miss. How could I see yon\nhorse in reflection only?\"\n                \"I\ndon't know. I guess by looking into the water, but avoiding looking directly at\nhim?\"\n                \"True,\nbut why would I bother with the reflection when the beastie itself would be\nmuch more awe inspiring to gaze upon?\"\n                \"I\ndon't know!\"\n                He\nsighed, a long drawn out breath that seemed to come from some hidden reserves\ntucked away in his chest. \"Would you like to see the beastie again my pet?\"\n                \"How?\"\n                \"How is\nindeed the question. You however, have yet to answer me.\"\n                \"Yes!\"\nShe suddenly forgot about being nude and horny and standing waist deep in the\nwater.\n                Douglas\nwaded over to the sunken boat, reached in through a shattered window and withdrew\nsomething shiny. He brought it over to her and set it in her hands. She turned\nit over and over, feeling a thrill of electricity run through her as she did.\n                \"This\nis a bit!\"\n                \"Aye,\nthat it is. It belongs to me, and without it, I would not be who I am.\"\n                \"But\nwhat does this have to do with the horse I saw?\"\n                He said\nno more, but walked into the deeper water before lowering himself until he\nvanished from sight. Angelia thought that he was just playing a joke on her,\nbut as the seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, she began to fret. When\nit became obvious that he had to have drowned, she splashed to where she had\nlast seen him. As she arrived, a spray of long black hairs came to the surface,\nfollowed by the impossibly fearsome head.\n                She was\nstaring into eyes that held all the promise of the ocean; the secrets of hidden\npools, and filled with a raging desire to go wherever they led.\n                \"So\nlittle one, you find me a mere curiosity?\"\n                She was\nas awestruck of this strange horse as she was of Douglas. \"What are you? And\nwhere is Douglas?! Has he drowned just to make you appear?\"\n                The\nhorse sighed. \"You are young, and therefore ill informed about the world around\nyou. Did he not tell you that he has never laid eyes on me?\"\n                \"He\ndid.\"\n                \"Have\nyou ever seen yourself?\"\n                \"Yes. I\nsee myself in the mirror all the time.\"\n                \"And so\nyou see only your reflection, for how could you see yourself with your own\neyes?\"\n                \"That's\njust getting technical.\"\n                \"Your\nterminology is unusual, but essentially correct. Technology depends on precise facts,\nand the fact is, you cannot see yourself as a whole. You might see parts of\nyourself, such as your arms or legs, but never once have you seen your face\nwith your own beautiful two eyes.\"\n                She\nthought for a moment. \"Fine. I see your point.\"\n                \"Do you?\nI have never laid eyes upon him either. We are in the same boat, so to speak.\"\n                \"Why is\nthat?\"\n                The\nhorse sighed again. \"Because we are one in the same little female. He is I, and\nI am he.\"\n                \"That\ndoesn't make any sense.\"\n                The\nhorse went to sigh again, and instead opted to lean forward. \"Grab this bit.\"\n                She did\nas she was told, noting that the ornately engraved accessory was more intricate\nthan she had first noticed. As she held it in her hand, the horse, and all that\nhe was, seemed to fall apart into the water. It was like watching sugar\ndissolve in a hot cup of tea. In its place was Douglas, looking both\nsatisfactorily grim and mildly amused.\n                \"I\ncannot see myself, not in any form I happen to inhabit.\" He carefully took the\nbit from her hand.\n                \"You!\nYou're both you and that thing?\"\n                \"It\ntook you long enough. The last time I had a girl that took my eye, she was much\nquicker about it.\"\n                \"Girl!\nLast time? What kind of philanderer are you?\"\n                \"Careful\nwith the accusations my wee lass. For one, I am not to be trifled with.\nSecondly, it was a long time ago, probably before you were born.\"\n                \"So how\nold are you?\"\n                Douglas\nstopped for a moment. \"Older than you would care to know. I think it pleases\nthe eye and the mind to think of me as you see me. Anything more tends to be\ntoo much for those who proclaim to have rational minds.\"\n                \"That\nsounds creepy.\"\n                \"To\nsomeone like you, I suppose it does. Just know this small one; not everything\nyou see is what you see, and everything you feel may not be real. Life is often\nmore how you wish it would be than how it really is.\"\n                She\nsuddenly remembered that she was naked, but instead of making her feel\nembarrassed, she felt a thrill of being so free. Clothing did nothing but hide\nwho you were, just like all the makeup and hair curlers disguised what she\nreally looked like when she refrains from trying to look like this or that\nactress. She blinked in the sunlight, have expecting everything, even the glistening\nlake to be nothing more than an illusion, but all remain solid and real.\n                \"Are\nyou saying that most of life is imaginary?\"\n                \"I am\nsaying that life has become twisted; surreal. You make and follow rules hoping\nthey will lead you to something better, within the guidelines you yourselves have\nmade. But such rules are often broken, and then when one profits from this\naberration, another is penalized for it. Out here in the wilds, the rules are\nharsher and clearer. You live, you die, but in between those inevitabilities\nyou can accomplish so much.\"\n                \"That\nsounds like a load of... Hey! Who was that other girl?\"\n                Douglas\neased down into the water from his standing position and gazed at the\nshoreline. \"It was a long time ago as you would reckon it, but not so far back\nas I can't remember. I can still see her standing on the shoreline, watching me\nswim in the moonlight. No one ever paid me any heed, mind you, except for her.\nPeople would dismiss the lake monster as being some sort of known creature, and\nI was never one to dissuade them. They had encroached on my home, though I hold\nno claim over it. They were few here when I arrived, and then there were many,\nand then there were none. And now I have you.\"\n                \"Have\nme?\" She felt shocked that he felt she was that easy, and yet, she wanted him\nwith a burning passion.\n                \"Ahhh.\nI see. You both desire me and fear me.\"\n                \"I do\nnot fear you! But you seem to be ready to take great liberty with my honor.\"\n                \"Your honor? Have you forgotten that\nyou're in the water naked, with a man much older than yourself, and you entered\nthis place of your own volition? Do you even know who you are?\"\n                He had\na point.  \"It's true. Since seeing you, I\nhave had nothing else on my mind. It's disgraceful.\" Then she stopped,\nstartled. \"Of course I know who I am!\"\n                \"Tis\nnot disgraceful! Tis the way of nature. You see what you desire and you pursue\nit! I have done this in the past and I will not have it held against me!\"\n                \"So\nwhat was her name?\"\n                \"Who?\"\nHe was startled by her abrupt question.\n                \"The\ngirl before me.\"\n                \"Oh.\nYou remind me some of her; same features, same fire, same attitude. Her name\nwas Ophelia.\"\n                Angelica\nwas struck for a moment, but only a moment. \"You can't mean my father's sister Lia\ncan you?\"\n                Douglas\nlooked into her eyes. \"I suppose that I could, though to shorten such a name be\nas criminal as matters go.\"\n                \"They say\nshe's crazy!\"\n                \"Who\nsays this? People who pack themselves into rooms hundreds of feet off the\nground in buildings you call skyscrapers? The same people who pack into your\nsubway trains to work for someone else, to make money to spend on goods you may\nor may not need? People who live out their lives telling themselves that it\nwill eventually get better?\"\n                \"You\nsound a lot like her!\"\n                \"You\nmean she sounds a lot like me. I taught her well, and if your aunt learned\nanything from me, it was to be her own person. I have missed her you know.\"\n                \"She\nhas never mentioned you once.\"\n                \"As it\nshould be. The truth is a strong thing, and not everyone has the ability to\nhandle it. There is no taming it to your own use. Once you tame the truth, it\nbecomes a lie. Anyone can handle a lie.\"\n                \"And\nyou think I can handle the truth?\"\n                \"That\nremains to be seen. When dealing with me, there is a lot you need to handle.\nStripping off your clothing and diving in to meet me in some girlish fantasy is\nnot what you seek. I know you think your heart directs you so, but I know\nbetter. I could take you now and you would melt at my touch, but in the end, it\nwould not fulfill what it you are looking for.\"\n                \"And\nwhat is that?\"\n                \"That\nis what we must find out.\"\n                She had\nbeen moving ever so slightly, inching closer to him. He had to have noticed,\nbut he restrained himself from doing anything brash. He was far too old for\nacting like an impulsive youngster, at least in a manner that most land folk\nconsidered to be brash.\n                \"How?\"\nShe was speaking and feeling around with her hands, looking for any part of him\nshe could find and touch.\n                He\nrolled out of reach and slipped the bit into his mouth. \"Climb on my back.\"\n                She\nthought he meant like a water game, but even as she moved toward his rear, he\nwas changing. In a matter of seconds his form had shifted from human to equine.\nHer hand had touched his shoulder even as this was taking place, and now she\nfound she could no longer remove it. Somehow, it was stuck fast to his dark,\nsleet hide.\n                With\nlittle else she could do, she mounted him and clung to his back, finding her\nhand free for just that moment. Then again, her butt and legs now seemed firmly\nanchored onto his hot, massive frame. Whatever the cause, she was assured of\nnever falling off. On the other hand, the close proximity of her tender flesh\nnext to his, even if he was now a horse, was driving her absolutely insane.\n                He must\nhave known this, for he whinnied loudly and churned the water, heading out into\nthe deepest part of the lake. She felt the water grow a little chilled as they\nleft the safety of the shoreline, but the temperature was tolerable. What she\ndidn't expect and it therefore came as something totally unexpected, was when\nhe suddenly dived under the gently undulating waves.\n                She was\nterrified. She gulped a breath before he dove and held it for as long as she\ncould. When at last she gave up, the air escaped her lungs and scampered up\ntowards the surface leaving her devoid of oxygen. Her last exhalation broke the\nsurface, making small points of disturbance as they embraced the atmosphere\nfrom which they had originated.\n                Under\nthe water, Angelica found that she wasn't drowning. Instead, she seemed to\nexist without air, or maybe she was living like the fishes did. She had no idea\nhow she was still alive, for this wasn't something they taught you about in\nschool. People who spent too long underwater drowned. That was the way of\nthings in the real world.\n                Douglas,\nas the horse, snickered in a way that made her angry. He had known all along\nbut hadn't told her about it. If he had...\n                If he\nhad, she would never have believed him, and thus never had gone on this totally\nunreal journey. Now that she wasn't thinking about breathing she found her\nsurroundings to be quite amazing. The water was as clear as a crystal bowl, and\nevery fish, turtle and frog were visible in the streaks of sunlight penetrating\nthe lake. The liquid seemed to absorb the glow and illuminate everything below.\n                His\nmane flowed around her face, looking every bit like some strange seaweed. It\nalmost seemed to have a life of its own as it undulated while they moved\neffortlessly through the water. She didn't even feel wet. It was the strangest sensation\nto have. If this were above the water, she'd have said she was flying in slow\nmotion. It felt a little like the time she had cracked her ribs and the doctor\nhad given her morphine pills to ease the pain. She was feeling a little like\nshe was in some kind of drug induced stupor, only with a full clarity of her\nmind.\n                The\nhorse shook his head and continued to move around the lake; happy to finally have\nsomeone to share his abilities with once again. This girl resembled her aunt,\nand her aunt had been a girl to remember. It was too bad he couldn't do more to\nopen the eyes of all land creatures, but humans, while intelligent, were\nsteeped in their own beliefs and tainted with so many biases. One had to get\nthem at just the right stage to affect them in any way. The girl called her\naunt crazy, but what did normal people know or understand or the world? They\nignored so much just to lead a life that they were told was the way it should\nbe lived. Why would you live your life as someone else chooses? That is a\ngreater folly than most of the dogmatic garbage they swore by.\n                This\ngirl; she was truly spectacular. True, he had been alone for a long time, so\nhis hormones were in a rage, but she had a pale porcelain artistry to her that\nwas so reminiscent of his original home that he burst into tears. She would\nnever known them  for what they were here\nin the water, and coupled with his conflicting emotions, he couldn't help but\nfeel her own inner heat radiating into his flesh from her fixed perch on his\nback.\n                He\nlaughed inside; a dark and mirthless feeling. They had said that he drowned his\nriders; that anyone going with him would die and be eaten. Such nonsense,\nspouted by priests and deacons to a gullible-minded flock of stupid sheep. He\nhad saved so many lives over the years, never once allowing even a suicidal man\nor woman a chance of dying until he had set down and talked with them. The fact\nthat many never returned to those who caused them such grief, or in the cases\nof those who had come close to accidentally drowning who had gone away with\nstories of their savior; those tales clashed with their preferred religion. The\nfriction grew between he and the land folk until he felt no other choice but to\nleave his beloved Scotland, as those two-legged simple folk often referred to\nit.  He had his own name for it, but he\ndid rather like the name Albien, as some of the ancients called the land. They\ncould have it, for all he cared. His place was primarily in the water, but\nbeing nearly driven from it from persistent persecution, he had done the only\nthing her knew how and had managed to escape across the great salt sea.\n                He\nshifted his thoughts to less disconsolate matters as they continued to explore\nhis present home. That her natural reaction was to desire him for his body,\neven now that he was a horse was expected. Such things were not done, not with\nsuch a young and obviously untried female as she was. It was in fact the\nultimate consummation, and had only happened with one female during his entire\nlife. His human form was more readily acceptable for her present state, though\nhe had serious misgivings about jumping right into a physical\nrelationship.  He had none of the qualms\nmost typical humans relied upon to live out their lives, but he did have a\nstrong degree of moral fiber. He felt in his heart that they should grow to\nknow each other before they went too far.  He was well versed in matters of the heart,\nespecially those of an impressionable young girl. She had the right to know\nmore about him before he took from her that which was the doorway between being\na mere girl and becoming a true woman.\n                His\nthoughts buoyed him, and he brought himself to the surface, where the water\nflowed off of her in a normal manner; no different than if she had been\nswimming underwater on her own. She made a quick gasp for air and found that\nshe had no difficulty in taking in a lungful. Part of her mind was a hundred\npercent positive her chest was going to be full of water. She clung to him as\nthey made for shore, quite willing to slide off but still held fast by some\nstrange force. Once the water was shallow enough to stand upright in, the hold\nwas released and she slipped off, feeling the mud squish between her toes.\n                \"That\nwas so absolutely amazing! But how - what are you?\"\n                The\nhorse spit out the bit and carefully watched where it sank. In the next instant\nthe now-human figure reached down and retrieved it from the mud. \"I am me, and\nI do tend to detest what others call me, but if you need something rational,\nyou may call me as I said before, a kelpie. It is not my name for my kind, but\nsomething  the Scots thought up.\"\n                \"Yes, you\ndid mention that name.\"\n                \"I am\nnot quite human and I am not really an equine, so while I can identify with\nboth aspects of my being, I have never come to terms with what I really am.\"\n                \"How\nold are you?\" Her voice rose a little in consternation as she began to see past\nhis appearance and instead concentrated on his inner self.\n                \"Very\nold my dear. Does that bother you?\"\n                \"It\nshould, I think, but it doesn't. If anything else, it makes me more curious to\nknow more about you. As far as I know, something like you shouldn't exist.\"\n                \"But\nhere I am and you have seen me for what I am. In your quest for knowledge, I\nfind  you are very much like your aunt. I\nhave a perfect place we can go. You can find out anything you wish to know\nthere, and I think you might very well discover me to be a pleasant surprise.\"\n                When\nthe family returned, Angelica was nowhere to be found.  Father slapped himself for so willingly\nleaving his daughter with a strange man, and immediately began searching the\ngrounds. He found footprints down by the water, some leading to it and others\nleading away. If they were doing something immoral, he had every intention of\ncatching them in the act. He held his voice as he followed the pair of prints\nleading to the brush where the rest of the cabins were located.\n                He\npeered in through a dirty window and saw nothing in the room, so he worked\nhimself around to another.  There, in the\nmain room, he could hear faint voices, but this window was hung with tattered\ncurtains and his view was obstructed. He stepped around to the door, grasped\nthe knob and on the mental count of three, flung it open.\n                There\nwere his daughter on the floor with the stranger. His heart was racing, and a\nfew dozen unkind words were on the tip of his tongue. He stared at them, and\nthey in turn stared back up at him.\n                \"Father!\"  the girl cried, jumping up and hugging him.\nHe stood there in total mental disarray. She was fully clothed, as was the\nyoung man. On the floor in  front of them\nwere several boxes, and a collection of faded scrapbooks.\n                \"Uh,\nwhat's all this?\" He was coming to grips with the fact that they had in fact,\nnot been engaged in any lewd conduct.\n                \"Douglas\nhas kept up all of these memories of the camp before it was abandoned. Look!\"\nShe reached down and plucked a postcard from one of the open pages. \"See! This\nis what it looked like before it fell to ruin. Is it just like you remember\nit?\"\n                He held\nthe linen card and gazed at the colorized and grainy image thereupon. It showed\na collection of white paint cabins with red roofs, here and there marked with a\nfew of the visitors that had made this place their summer home. The memories\nseemed to flood back to him of all the fun he had had here. It wasn't that the\nmemories were new, only that they seemed so much fresher in his mind now. There\nwas one that flashed before his eyes, and he stood there stunned that he had\nforgotten it.\n                He\nlooked up, a tear in his eye, and placed his gaze on the boxes. He could see a\nfew books in them, and loose newspaper articles cut or carefully ripped from\nthe local newspaper. On old crate looked familiar to him, for it was one that\nhad once arrived at camp filled with apples. Sure enough, on the side, there\nwas scribbled in a handwriting he knew quite well, the name Ophelia. \n                \"Where\ndid you get that?\"\n                \"It was\nunder one of the cabins sir. Something that belonged to your sister, no doubt?\"\n                \"What\ndo you know of her?\"\n                \"Only what\nI have pieced together,\" he said, politely lying like it was second nature to\nhim. \"Your daughter has informed me that this box most assuredly belonged to\nher aunt.\"\n                \"Yes,\nit did. It was supposed to be burned. My sister went off the deep end out here\nat this camp. Father wanted everything she had from here destroyed.\"\n                Douglas\nlooked a bit sour and his voice was flat. \"Do you wish me to burn it now?\"\n                His\naccent had also diminished from earlier in the day. There seemed little point\nin not keeping up his charade.\n                Father\nsteepled his fingers and frowned. \"No, there's no point in it now.\"\n                \"Father,\nwhat happened to Aunt Lia?\"\n                The man\nsighed. \"Everyone said that she lost her wits. They say it had something to do\nwith seeing the monster that lives under the lake.\"\n                \"Monster?\"\n                Father\nshook his head and stared at the two of them. \"Yes, there is a legend, and I\nthink you already know about it. If you have Lia's papers, that was all she\ncould talk about; that damned creature.\"\n                \"Did\nyou ever see it?\"\n                \"No.\nYes.\" He shivered. \"Maybe. It is hard to tell one thing from another at night,\nand during the day, this thing never made an appearance. But I will say I had\nan experience.\"\n                Angelica\nsmiled. \"You called it a monster. Did it ever kill anyone?\"\n                \"No\ndear, not that I know of. Tales tell of a few swimmers who made it back to\nshore when they thought all was lost. They couldn't remember how they made it,\nonly that it had to be some unseen force. But to my knowledge, no one has ever\ndied here.\"\n                \"That's\nwhat Douglas was telling me. Look! This article tells of a couple of ladies who\nlost their oars in the middle of the lake. Their boat made it back to shore\nsafely; against the wind!\"\n                Father\npulled up a chair and sat down, heedless of the dust marring his good pants. \"I\nknow the tales. They are part of the reason I bought this place. Lia was always\nso intense when describing that creature. But everything she talked of was\nabsolutely insane. She would tell us of traveling underwater, and of reaching\nout and touching fish as they swam by. It was crazy, for no one can breathe\nunderwater!\"\n                Douglas\nwas wisely keeping his mouth shut. The gentleman was very nice and all, but if\nhe discovered, or remembered that the lifeguard at the resort back when he was\na child was the same \"man\" his daughter had been spending the last few hours\nwith would have driven him over the edge. It was a bit amazing how people would\ndismiss the obvious; to turn away the facts that their eyes showed them, only\nbecause they could not comprehend such truths that were contrary to what they\nthought they knew.\n                \"I seem\nto have forgotten a lot of those stories, though they were common enough in the\nday.\" He looked up at Douglas. \"Son, thank you from the bottom of my heart for\nsalvaging all of this material. You two have fun looking through it all.\"\n                He got\nup to go.\n                \"Where\nare you going father?\"\n                \"I'm\ngoing to go down to the water and see what else I can remember. I bought this\nplace for the memories it held, and thanks to you two, those memories are\nflooding back. When I was a kid, I spent hours looking out over the water to\nsee the fabled creature. I don't know why I ever gave up on it.\"\n                He\nstepped out of the cabin and wandered back down to the dock, took his shoes and\nsocks off and dangled his feet in the cool water. He didn't even seem to mind\nthat his pant legs were getting soaked.\n                Angelica\nturned to her paramour. \"So do you think father will approve of us?\"\n                \"I\ncannot say. That is why I wanted to wait before we did anything too physical.\nYour aunt didn't lose her mind; she gained it. Females of your kind are often\nsubjugated, whether that be intentional or not. You can have minds as canny as\nthe men, and in some cases, more so. Your aunt was one of them. What does she\ndo now, if I might ask?\"\n                \"She\nlives happily in a small bungalow where she spends her days painting and\nsculpting. She writes poetry, and when the mood strikes her, I have been told\nshe goes swimming in the nude.\"\n                Douglas\nsmiled. \"Did she ever marry?\"\n                \"No.\nShe said she gave her heart away once, and she never got it back.\"\n                He\nsighed. \"Yes, there are downsides to cavorting with the likes of me. It is one\nof the reasons I have remained without a partner for so long.  It is difficult to find the right person to\nhave the strength to hold their own. Your dear aunt was the closest I ever came\nto having a mate. Her father took her away and that was the last I ever saw of\nher.\"\n                There\nwas anger and sadness in his voice.\n                \"I\nsorry about that.\"\n                \"Tis\nnot your fault little one,\" he replied, a bit of the accent returning to his\nvoice. \"What is done is done.\"\n                \"I\nwould be willing...\"\n                \"I know\nyou are; perhaps too much. Tis a good thing to have spirit. Indeed a heart can\nmake the most unbreakable of bonds. At the same time, it upon itself can be\nbroken quite easily. Tis a fine line to tread when dealing with such a fragile\npart of the anatomy.\"\n                \"And if\nI said that I loved you?\"\n                He\nstopped and stared at her. \"Then I would \nsay you were foolish.\"\n                \"Do you\nlove me?\"\n                \"No.\"\n                Instead\nof being crestfallen, the fire seemed to rise to her eyes. \"Do you think I'm\ncapable of loving you?\"\n                \"Yes.\"\n                \"That\nis a better answer.\"\n                \"You\nasked a better question!\"\n                \"Douglas?\"\n                \"Yes?\"\n                \"Did\nyou and my aunt...you know...ever make love?\"\n                \"Are\nyou sure you wish to hear the truth?\"\n                \"Yes.\"\n                He let\nout a long breath. \"Yes, many times. We swam naked, and we make love in the\nwater, under the trees, on top of the mosses, even in the mud. She was a lover\nlike I had not found in decades.\"\n                \"So it\nwas you then.\"\n                \"Who\nwas?\"\n                \"When I\nwould spend time with her, she would tell me stories that would have\nscandalized mother to no end. She told me about her lover, and how no man had\never compared after him. I think that's why she gave up looking. She referred\nto you as her Casanova.\"\n                He\nchuckled. \"It makes for a good lover when you understand what your partner\nneeds.\"\n                \"And\nwhat do I need?\"\n                His\nchuckle was cut off. \"Companionship. Trust. Someone to take an interest in who\nyou are and what you desire. Someone to give you freedom before your desire for\nit is trampled underfoot.\"\n                Her\neyes welled up with tears. \"Couldn't you just have made love to me and not have\nsaid all of that?\"\n                \"No.\nYou asked and I spoke. If you wish to have someone take your virginity from you\nand then leave you hanging, then find some boy your own age. I think you would\nfind most will be thrilled with the prospect, though the magnificence of it\nwould be wasted on them. Tis not the physical act that is important, but how\nyou emotionally feel about it. You will remember your first time for the rest\nof your life, and it will set the mood for all future experiences.\"\n                \"You're\nrather forthcoming in your manner of speaking, you know that?\"\n                \"Yes. I\nwill not tell you what I do not think to be true.\"\n                \"Douglas?\"\n                \"Yes\nAngelica?\"\n                \"Can we\nmake love in the lake tonight? Just you and I?\"\n                \"Are\nyou sure that is what you truly desire?\"\n                \"My\nbody tells me so, my mind tells me so, and my heart is in agreement. When I\nfirst saw you, I was taken in. I felt it was a foolish girlish crush, though\npart me still feels that it very well may be just that. But you have shown me\nthings that you didn't have to, and you have taken care not to take advantage\nof me, and for that I thank you with all of my fiber. I wanted you before, and\nI want you even more now. I would love to strip here and have to take me, but I\nthink that doing it in your lake would have much more meaning.\"\n                \"You have\nyour family's traits to you my young beauty. Your aunt was very much the same\nway.\"\n                \"Why\ndidn't you go after her?\"\n                \"Because\nI cannot leave here, not with any ease. \nCrossing the ocean was no small task.\"\n                \"How\ndid you do it?\"\n                He got\na wry look on his face. \"In the freshwater tank of an ocean liner. Had the crew\nand passengers ever found out, I have a feeling they would have torn me to\nshreds.\"\n                She\nlooked confused for a moment before the facts of such a stowaway plan hit her.\nEveryone used the bathroom. Everyone. And people were using that water. For\neverything.\n                She\nburst out in merriment at the thought of such a situation. Even drinking the clearest\nstream water meant that each mouthful was going to have the tiniest bits of\nexcrement from fishes and such. It was truly better then to be ignorant of such\nthings then to understand just what was going on in the world around you. She\nwas beginning to grasp why her kind seemed so obtuse about so many things. It\nyou couldn't control it, you strove to ignore it. It made her think of the\nauthor Upton Sinclair and his early books, which she had managed to read\ndespite her parents disapproval of such stark realities.  The author was quoted as say that it is difficult to get a man to understand\nsomething, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. Father\noften ignored much to make his money.\n                Douglas\nwas under no one's sway. He took no pay, unless he truly was here under the\nemploy of the previous owner. It hardly mattered, for he seemed to cherish nothing\nmore than his lake and his memories. He only had his relics that were spread\nout on the floor and seemingly little else. Though she did remember his silver\nbit.\n                \"Douglas,\ncan I ask a question?\"\n                \"Aye,\nyou may lass.\"\n                \"What's\nthe story with your mouthpiece? You know, that silver bit that you seem to need\nto go from one body to another?\"\n                His look\nbecame grim. \"Aye, tis necessary for me to go from one form to another.\"\n                \"But I\ndon't understand the meaning behind it.\"\n                \"Aye\nchild, and perhaps it would be better if you did not. There are some things in\nthis world best left to the imagination.\"\n                \"It\ncan't be all that bad can it? I mean, someone had to make it in the first\nplace, correct?\"\n                \"Aye\nchild, that they did. And that is where we will leave it for the moment.\"\n                She\nheard the pain in his voice and wanted to desist in asking, but she had to know\nmore. \"Douglas, if you won't tell me who made it and why, can you answer me\nsomething else?\"\n                \"What?\"\ncame his heavy hearted reply.\n                \"What\nwould happen if you lost it?\"\n                He\ninhaled deeply and held it before letting the breath return to the outside air.\n                \"I will\ncease to exist.\"\n                \"You'll\ndie?\"\n                \"Pretty\nmuch the same thing lass.\"\n                \"Oh.\nWill you die immediately?\"\n                \"No. I\nhave a day's respite before that happens. Why do you ask?\"\n                \"I wish\nto understand you better. If you were either just a horse, or just a man, it\nwould be easier. I think I must understand everything that binds you together.\"\n                He\nactually smiled. \"Curiosity and compassion; never let those traits fade my\ndear. They will take you farther in your life than you can ever begin to\nfathom.  As for what binds me together, I\nwill not speak of that now. But what I am you are free to discover for\nyourself.\"\n                \"I'll\nhold you to that Douglas. I'll meet you down by the water tonight after it\nturns dark. I will have to slip away unnoticed. Thankfully I have a room to\nmyself.\"\n                \"And\nI'll be there, you may be assured, whether you make it or not. The lake is my\nhome, and is when I am nowhere else, that is where I will be.\"\n                They\nparted ways. Angelica was very quiet, lost in thought as her mind tried to\ngrasp all that she had learned. Douglas was not as young as he seemed, even\nthough he looked only a good ten years her senior. Whatever his appearance, she\ncould feel his age in his words. She could only imagine how many decades he had\nlived here, away from his birthplace, if indeed he had been born in the normal\nsense. \n                She\nknew she should feel fear in his presence, and yet, all she felt was a growing\nemotion she could only call love. Infatuation was the one that her logical side\nkept throwing up at her, but she refused to accept it. Whatever he was, she was\nthe match for him, she knew it. Her poor aunt had her shot, and her family had\nruined it for her. Angelica wasn't going to let that happen, no matter what. \n                Supper\nwas nice, if a bit simple. Mother just didn't have the ingredients available to\nher that she had at home, but her cooking was wonderful nonetheless. Father\nnoted her self-absorbed musing and poked her with his finger.\n                \"So\nAngel, why so quiet?\"\n                \"Sorry\nfather. I was thinking about all the stories Douglas told me today. He seems to\nknow an awful lot about this place.\"\n                \"Yes, I\nkeep meaning to ask him if his father was the lifeguard back when I was a\nchild. It would make sense, for the two of them look nearly identical. Of\ncourse, that was a long time ago and my memories of events here are rather\ntilted towards being more gilt than they probably should be.\"\n                \"As a\nmatter of fact, he did grow up here. I didn't ask him when his father died,\nbecause I thought it would be callous and rude. \"\n                Mother\nspoke up. \"As you well know better. It is impolite to ask such things.\" Then\nshe got a look of horror on her face. \"Is there a cemetery nearby? I don't want\nto live near a cemetery!\"\n                Father\nbrushed her question aside. \"There is no cemetery within five miles of here I\nthink. I explored for miles around the lake when I was young, and I can assure\nyou that it was nothing but wilderness as far as I could walk.\"\n                That\nended that, though she could hear a tone in his voice that made her look at him\nintently. He had a dreamy look in his eyes. She was beginning to wonder if he\nhad lied to her about seeing the creature. Douglas might have great power, but\nshe doubted he could keep track of everyone at all times., so it was possible\nhe had been seen and not known about it.\n                She got\nup and kissed him on the cheek. \"Good night father. Maybe you can tell me some\nstories in the morning.\"\n                He\nblinked and sat up straighter.  \"Stories?\nI don't know. I was told to never mention them to anyone.\"\n                \"By\nwhom?\"\n                \"Father.\"\n                She\nkept quiet. Her grandfather was dead, but he had been a kind, if no-nonsense\nChristian man. She could piece together the strife that would have been caused\nby Aunt Lia and her tendency to do things her own way. If her own father had\nwitnessed something, then he either had repressed it, or valued keeping the\npeace by withholding any information he had. Her mother would likely be\nscandalized hearing about naked frolicking in the water.\n                She\nturned and went to her room, closed and locked the door and opened the window\ndespite the evening insects flying about. She stripped off her clothes and\nlooked at herself in the mirror. She thought she was too pale, too skinny and\ntoo girlish. But as she rotated to get a side view, she was struck by how much\nshe had filled out recently. It came so gradually that she had hardly noticed.\nHer breasts were the size of cut grapefruit, with the nipples standing to\nattention in cherry red. Her pubic hair, once sparse and wispy, was now a\ntriangular patch of brown.  The hair on\nher head matched it, though it was of course longer, reaching her shoulders in\nthe fashion of the day.\n                She ran\nher fingers through her crotch, wondering if he would approve of her. He had\nseen her of course, but his reluctance to bed her could be taken as an insult. Still,\nshe believed him and his reasons. In a few hours she would know one way or\nanother. \n                A\nfinger strayed into her damp hole. With a little touch, she found herself weak\nin the knees. She looked around the room, grabbed a spare pillowcase and set in\non the bed. She lay herself out on the comforter and closed her eyes. She\nwanted him so badly she could nearly feel what he was going to be like. \n                Her\nfinger played with that little pink protuberance that had a name that no one\never talked about. But her aunt had told her what it was, and how it worked.\nShe told her of other things to, things that had made her cheeks flush with\nembarrassment. Those words came back to her now, and they seemed some of the\nwisest that had ever had spoken to her. \n                Her\naunt had told her of the ways of a man and a woman, but more than that, she had\ntold her of things you could do that weren't acceptable to the morally\nrighteous folks, but that were pleasurable beyond all reason. One of them was a\nmanner in which a woman pleased a man by taking his organ into her mouth and\nsucking.\n                Angelica\nhad found the idea repulsive at the time, but now... She imagined what it was\nlike. She placed her middle finger of her left hand in her mouth and sucked on\nit. Her other hand was busy down below, making her leg twitch as her fingertip\nrubbed herself into a frenzy.  She came\nquickly, biting down on her finger until it hurt. But keeping quiet was\nparamount when mother and father were around. Bobby, well he was less of a\nproblem, but still, she did her best to keep the noise to a minimum. \n                She\nthought about his manhood in her mouth and remembered her teeth. She was going\nto have to be careful what she did tonight, for his cock was farther larger\nthan her finger. And she had a feeling it was a lot more sensitive than her\ndigit.\n                She\npictured him on the dock, and that sidelong view she got of him. She had seen\nhim naked again later, and the thought of having him inside her was nearly all\nconsuming.  She wanted him like her mother\ncraved chocolate.  No; she doubted mother\nhad a craving that all-consuming. But then, she knew her parents made love, for\nthere were times when she had snuck up to their bedroom door. And besides,\nwhere did she and Bobby come from, if not from the act of having sex?\n                Her\nfinger returned to her crotch, forcing into the tight little opening she knew\nwas a hymen. Her aunt's doing, that little bit of knowledge. She was very open\nabout all things, especially those things others considered dirty and low. But\nher aunt had apprised her that without that act, there would be very few living\ncreatures on this earth. Birds did it, sheep did it, dogs did it; cats, rats\nand bats did it. \n                More\nimportantly, if one watched them, it was obvious that they enjoyed it. There\nwas nothing dirty about it. It was a necessary part of life, and it was one\nmade enjoyable just to make sure that those who needed to do it did it as they\nshould. \n                Would\nshe, Angelica get to be with child? She wasn't certain how she felt about that.\nThe idea scared her to no ends, and yet if she were to ever have a child, how\ncould it not be with him?\n                Her\nfinger worked her insides, at one point getting vigorous enough to make her\nyelp. She had torn the membrane a little in her enthusiasm. She would be glad\nto be rid of the damn thing, for all of the trouble it caused her. Her aunt had\nmade herself some \"toys\" that would never have penetrated Angelica's hole in its\npresent near-pristine state. She had been told to save herself for her future\nhusband, whoever he might end up being. Douglas hardly seemed the marrying\nkind, but he was going to be her choice, regardless of what anyone else thought\nof it.\n                The\nidea that her aunt had made out with the same man she was about to sent a\nthrill through her. A girl was supposed to look up to her husband (lover?) and\nhe was supposed to be older, but this was pushing that boundary to new heights.\n                As\nthese thoughts flitted through her head, her finger found that spot inside that\nfelt great when prodded properly. After having satiated herself once, a little\nslow buildup was in order. Her tissues inside convulsed gently as she stroked\nthat spot with a firm but gentle touch.  She was already edgy, so she slowed her\nmotions down and thought about Douglas.\n                She had\nnever considered losing her virginity in the water, but then again, her aunt\nhad mentioned the efficiency of it. Water washed away the blood, leaving behind\nno evidence for anyone to find. There was wisdom in it, when one wanted to make\ntheir first time a clandestine tryst. \n                She\nstroked herself until she couldn't take it anymore. Her fingering got vigorous\nand her body began shuddering until she stopped and grabbed the sides of the\nmattress.  She relaxed and let the\nfeeling wash over her.\n                When\nshe awoke a little while later, the sky was dark and the cabin quiet.  She threw on her robe only, deciding that the\nless she took with her, the less she had to remember to bring back. She even\nwent in bare feet, though she was careful to take a roundabout way down to the\nwater to throw off anyone who might decide to follow her.\n                Sure\nenough, as she came to the dock, there was Douglas in human form.  He was sitting there, much like her father\nhad been, dangling his bare legs in the water. She undid the robe and carefully\nfolded it. Taking a position beside him, she leaned in and kissed his shoulder.\n                \"Hello\nmy dear kelpie.\"\n                \"Hello\nmy sweet aingeala\"\n                It\nsounded a lot like her name, but with his accent thrown in. \"What was that?\"\n                \"Aingeala.\nThat is the equivalent of your name in the language used by the land dwellers\nfrom where I come. Are you unaware of what you are named after?\"\n                \"Father\ncalls me his angel.\"\n                \"As he\nshould, but Angelica is a plant, known to be sweet smelling, aromatic and\npleasing to all of the senses. Just like you.\"\n                The\nblush in her cheeks became maddeningly hot.  Even her feet felt warm, despite the cool\nwater they were sloshing in.  Worse of\nall, her crotch sudden went into a fit of itchiness.  She wanted nothing more than to put her finger\nback down there, but was embarrassed to express such an open sexuality in front\nof him. However, the thought of throwing herself at him was equally repugnant.\nShe had to retain a small amount of her dignity to prove what sort of person\nshe really was. She didn't want him to think she was wanton in her ways. \n                \"Did\nyou spend the past few hours thinking that one up?\"\n                \"Do you\nmean my words? No. They just came to me now.\"\n                The\nblush grew stronger.\n                \"You\nmean what you say?\"\n                \"Why\nwould I say something I do not mean?\"\n                \"People\nlie all the time.\"\n                \"Yes, I\nunderstand that. But what is the use of it, except when the information they\nseek will do more harm than good? I therefore say what I mean, and I mean what\nI say. I am not above lying, but I do so when the truth would prove to be\npainful.\"\n                \"Do you\nreally think I'm special?\"\n                He\nleaned over and put his arm around her shoulder. \"That remains to be seen. You\nare beautiful and full of vitality. In this you share a common bond with your\naunt. But whether or not you prove to be what I am looking for, that remains to\nbe seen.\"\n                \"What\nare you looking for?\"\n                \"A\ncompanion.\"\n                \"Do you\nmean a wife?\"\n                \"No.\nThat is a human concept. You make rules, draw up papers, have someone say a few\nwords before you speak your agreement to love and cherish, have and hold, and\nall those other things that need not be said. If you have feelings for one\nanother, those words are only dim echoes of what is felt deep inside.\"\n                \"True.\nI know of people getting a divorce after only a few years. That always makes me\nfeel sad. But you forgot a few things about weddings; the flowers, the dress,\nthe rings that a man and a woman exchange.\"\n                \"Rings?\nYes, they are a mere symbol too. If your heart is not pure; if your mind is not\nset, then all the words and all the symbols will mean naught. Two hearts become\none and nothing will ever tear them asunder if the meld is complete.\"\n                \"Meld?\nPeople don't meld!\"\n                \"Sure\nthey do, if the love is strong enough.\"\n                \"So you\nthink father and mother have melded?\"\n                He was\nsilent for a moment. \"I think your mother loves your father, and your father\nloves your mother, but I think that under duress; when put to the test, their\nlove would fail. It is well and good to say you love a person and another to\nshow it.\"\n                \"Well,\nmother accepted his desire to buy this land and build a house here.\"\n                \"That\nis nothing, for it is his money, is\nit not? Therefore, she is losing nothing in this endeavor except perhaps some\ncomfort from her daily routines. What will she say when he sits down by the water\nnight after night trying to find something he thinks he has lost?\"\n                \"I\ndon't understand!\"\n                \"Of\ncourse not. You have lost nothing yet little one.\"\n                She\ngiggled nervously. \"I will be losing my virginity soon. I certainly won't be\ncoming back to look for it.\"\n                He\nleaned down and kissed her head. \"The physical things we lose are rarely the\nones we miss the most. If you drop a coin, you can get another. A piece of\njewelry - the same. But what of your innocence? What of your lost love? What of\nyour will to live? These things hold more value to them than all of the gold in\nthe world, but you never value them until they are gone.\"\n                \"So you\ndon't think that my upcoming loss will be memorable for me?\"\n                \"That\ndepends. Why do you think of it as a loss? Will you not be gaining something in\nreturn?\"\n                She\nremembered earlier, how the membrane was more trouble than it was worth. Once\nit was gone, she could play with herself to her heart's content. And with it\ngone, there was no longer any need to \"save\" herself. She had no plans of going\nout and playing the slut, but it was nice to not have to worry about the whole\nthing anymore. And Douglas, whatever he was, seemed as perfect a match for her\nas any boy she had met up to this point. \"\n                \"You\nmake a good argument. I was thinking earlier how much of a burden my present position\nis to me. Aunt Lia was very open about her private life, at least with me she\nwas.\"\n                \"There\nis so much more to concentrate on than the particulars of sex and mating. While\nI will readily admit that I enjoy the company of a female, finding one that\nwill provide the proper match is very important. That is why you must be here\nof your own free will.\"\n                \"I came\ndidn't I?\" She splashed the water with her feet. \"Can we do it now?\"\n                \"We\ncan, if you like. I'd suggest somewhere to the side, where we at least won't be\nimmediately spotted from the cabin.\"\n                She\nslid into the water, and on a lark, leaned down into the opening in the sunken\nboat and rummaged around. She came up a moment later with the silver bit. \n                \"Shall\nwe bring this with us?\"\n                His\neyes went wide before narrowing to dark points. \"Yes, please do.\"\n                She\nhung it around her neck and waded until the water was chest high before\nbreaking into a swim. He followed right behind her. They worked their way to an\narea thick with reeds and when they found it just the right depth, stopped. \n                He\nturned to face her as she still bobbed along in the water. She smiled and then\ngrinned as she sank beneath the surface of the lake. He was mystified for a\nmoment until he felt her hands on his hips, and the unexpectedly, her mouth on\nhis manhood. She had certainly learned a few things from her aunt! Ophelia had\nknown nothing of such things when they had first met! She must have taken her\nnewfound freedom and explored much on her own!\n                Such an\naction was unheard of, and yet, he found the sensation to be very enjoyable. As\nit was, she would come to no harm underwater, for she had the protection of the\nbit, though she likely knew this not.  She would assume that he had some sort of\nmagic that would protect her, and for now, that little error would be best\nserved if left uncorrected.\n                Angelica\nwas thrilled to touch his organ. It was large, much larger than her finger and\nof a size that made her think for a moment if she was truly ready for the\nexperience of having it penetrate her innermost sanctum. The answer in her\nchest was a speeding up of her heartbeat, followed by a rush of blood to her\nloins, which despite the cool water threatened to burst into flame.\n                Remembering\nto restrain her teeth, she sucked in the tip, ran her tongue over it, and then\npulled it in a little at a time. She knew there was no way she was going to\nengulf the whole thing with her mouth, not like Aunt Lia said an experienced\nlady could, but she was going to do her best. \nThere was no taste, not that she expected one precisely. Still, she was\nconscious of his aroma, his warmth and his manliness. She also had seen his\nother side, and that made her present action even more daring. The thought of\ndoing anything sexual with a horse was much more forbidden than her present\nsituation. \n                She\npushed that picture out of her head and opened her eyes to see what she could\nsee of his body. The night was dark, but she seemed to be able to visualize her\nsurroundings, and his pubic hair was a darker mass against his tanned skin. Her\nhands went to his testicles, more out of curiosity than the sexual thrill of\nit. She was interested in what made a man a man. She had played with her own\nbody; now it was time to play with someone else's.\n                Douglas\ninstinctively put his hands down into the water and found her head, the dark curls\nswaying gently in the water as her head moved in and out, her mouth working\nover his manhood with a skill that seemed innate. She certainly could not have\nlearned it by experience, not from what he knew of her. Like her aunt, she\nseemed to pick up on those things that were basal to the link that bonded a\nmale with a female. One of them was learning to be comfortable with the other.\nHe knew plenty of tricks of his own, so finding that his new partner was quick\nto adapt to their unfolding relationship proved to him that his impression of\nher was right on the money.\n                He\nclosed his eyes and groaned as she ran her lithe tongue across his flesh,\nmaking him ache for all of the unfulfilled years he had spent here, residing in\nthis lonely lake once filled with so much life. He had thought to lose hope;\nthe sounds of laughter and joy had often been the only solace he had in his exile.\nAnd then there had been Ophelia. But he had lost her to the unkindness of an\ninterfering father. Would Angelica's father be the same, or would he come\naround to his wits before he managed to muddle up this, perhaps his last chance\nat happiness.\n                There was\nsomething to be said for repaying old debts, but not everyone understood the\nsignificance of that.\n                Angelica\nrubbed her fingers over his scrotum, feeling his testicles inside, and becoming\nintrigued as they seemed to move with a life of their own. She had such little\nknowledge of the human body, it being something that had to be stumbled upon in\nthis day and age, for few people even discussed it much less allowed it to be\ntaught. Even her aunt's information was limited to what she had discovered on\nher own.\n                His\ncock was a good eight inches long, she was sure, and try though she might, she\ncould not managed to take it all in without gagging. She was so wrapped up in\nwhat she was doing that it never once dawned on her that she had been\nunderwater for many minutes without taking a breath. Or perhaps she assumed his\nmagic was going to work for her whenever he willed it, as he had assumed that\nshe was assuming. Either way, she was focusing on the task at hand, and was\nsoon sucking on his erection for all she was worth.\n                She was\nrewarded with his fingers clamping down on her head, firmly but without undo\nforce. This simple action was all she needed to know that what she was doing\nwas something that made him feel good. It took only a few more minutes before\nshe could feel him tense up, and then in the next instant her mouth was flooded\nwith a warm and slightly salty fluid.\n                It\ncaught her by surprise, so she let go of him and spit it out, watching his seed\ndissipate in a milky cloud of white. With a hesitant start, she surfaced with\njust her head down to her eyes exposed. He was standing there, chest heaving\nand eyes closed, his fingers still entwined in her hair. He parted his eyelids\nand spoke, in a low, quiet tone.\n                \"Aye,\nif you not be the one, then there is no one at all in the world for me.\"\n                She\nstood tall, allowing the water to roll off her bare skin in tiny rivulets of\nclear, star-bespeckled drops.\n                \"And if\nyou'll have me, I'll be yours forever.\"\n                \"Be\ncareful what you say girl; forever is a real possibility.\"\n                \"You\ncan't be that old!\"\n                \"No,\nbut time has yet to end.\"\n                She ran\nthat through her mind. Some of her relatives had lived long lives, but a\nhundred years wasn't really forever, even if it might feel that way.\n                \"I'll\nbe willing to stay by your side until you die.\"\n                \"And if\nI never do?\"\n                \"Then I\nguess you're stuck with me for a very long time!\"\n                \"Stuck?\nThat is nothing like the term I would find more proper to describe a future\nlife with you.\"\n                \"And\nwhat might that be?\"\n                \"Privileged\nmight be a starter.\"\n                \"So you\nsay.\" Because of his words her eyes sparkled and her chest heaved, shifting the\nsilver bit where it rested between her breasts. She still was unclear if this\nwas all a play to get her to lay with him, or if he really did have such strong\nfeelings for her. She had heard of love at first sight, and was unsure how to\ntell it from an imposter.\n                \"Yes, I\ndo say. Know this, Angelica; I have to assume that my previous encounter with\nyour aunt was not meant to be culminated as I thought it should be, or else you\nwould not be here now.\"\n                \"Did\nyou love her?\"\n                \"I like\nto think I did. I think I still do. Does that bother you?\"\n                \"I'm\nnot sure Douglas. Can a person love more than one at a time?\"\n\"Does your father love you?\"\n\"Of course he does!\"\n\"Does he love your brother as\nwell?\"\n\"Yes!\"\n\"And your mother? Does he love\nher?\"\n\"Fine. I see your point. Would you\nmarry her if you could?\"\n\"Marry is what your kind does among\nthemselves. I think I told you that. Do I still care for her? Yes I do. But we\nhave been separated, so no good would ever come from being together again.\"\nShe looked into his eyes and saw\nnothing but the truth there. \n\"Do you consider me a second best\nchoice?\"\n\"I consider you a second chance;\nbut not a second best choice. Fate interrupted one, and perhaps they have seen\nfit to give me another. Or perhaps the first was merely setting the stage for\nthis.\"\nShe mulled over that. \"So you're\nsaying that meeting my aunt was just preparation for meeting me?\"\n\"I'm sure I couldn't say lass. But\nI'd like to think that's the case.\"\n\"Hmmm. I could go with that I\nguess.\"\nShe leaned up and put her arms\naround his neck. He hardly faltered in his position as she pulled herself up\nand kissed him on the lips. He braced his feet in the bottom mud, finding the\nlayer of clay just underneath it.  Firm\nhands found her rounded buttocks as he supported her with his muscular arms.\nHis mouth met hers and returned her kiss with more passion than he had allowed\nhimself to express in many a long year.\nHis blood caught fire, setting\nloose a raging inferno inside. He sensed a similar condition in the girl. If\ntonight was to prove as he hoped, they had to let down any and all barriers.\nThere was a risk in doing that, but what was life without risks? The answer was\nsimple enough. \nUnbearable\nUnbearable is what his life was; as\nit had been for most of it after fleeing the persistent persecution back home.\nAnd now it seemed that the circle was going to be finally closed. It was truly\na matter that involved the fates and those who directed them.\nAngelica compressed herself against\nhim, her nipples pressing sharply into his flesh as the tip of his cock\nsnuggled carefully at the entrance of the antechamber to her womb. She had to\nfight the urge to push down and get the waiting over with. She was already so\ntwitchy that she was trembling with expectation. \nHe pulled back just a little and\nstared into her eyes. \"There will be no turning back. Once we do this, it is\ndone. What happens afterwards remains to be seen.\"\n\"Seen? Felt is more like it. Why do\nyou wait? Can't you tell I'm ready?\"\n\"I can tell you're ready, but I\nfeel it is honorable to give you a last chance to avoid what may come as a\nresult of our dalliance.\"\n\"I wish to avoid nothing that\ninvolves you.\"\n\"So be it then.\"\nHe lowered her until his cock was\npressing tightly against the last remnant of her childhood. His hands relaxed,\nallowing her to settle down on her own, which she did. She could feel the\nwarmth of his body concentrated there at the tip of his organ. Her toes dug\ninto the back of his legs as she bore down. For a moment there was nothing, and\nthen a flash of searing pain that blinded her.\nAs her eyesight cleared, she\nshuddered as that organ of his slipped into her, spreading that which made her\na female and filling her in a manner she could never have dreamed of. Her\nfinger had merely been fun. This was phenomenal! Never had she considered that\na man could touch off the fireworks that were exploding inside. Her fingernails\ndug into his back as her head arched backwards, dipping her hair into the water\nonce again.\nFrom her vocal cords came a groan;\nhalf pleasure and half pure, unadulterated, animalistic sexual instinct.  Something inside snapped. Any reservations\nshe had fled like mice before a cat in that moment. If he was not the one, then\nshe wanted no one else - ever.\nDouglas closed his eyes as they\nmerged their bodies. Sex was sex, so the act in itself was not new to him. What\nhe was waiting for was the sudden charge of energy that he was hoping was going\nto hit them. It had happened only once, and sadly it not had been with this\ngirl's wonderful aunt. No, it had happened a very long time ago. It should have\nonly been a once in a lifetime event.\nThanks to ignorant people that bond\nhad been broken. It was ironic how it was seemingly going to be somewhat\nrestored, though in this case, a full repair was impossible. But reparations\ncame in forms not often foreseeable at the outset of a problem. \nThe jolt hit him. It hit him hard.\nIt wasn't just sex. It was one life force joining with another. The electricity\nbuilt up until her hair, despite being wet, arced through the air as though it\nwere still in the water. He could feel the energy running through his hands\nwhere they touched her skin, and her felt a thrumming in his bones that rattled\nhis teeth.\nAngelica looked quite, how do I say\nthis without sounding flippant? She looked like an angel. Her hair formed a\nhalo around her head, and her skin glowed like in the biblical tales of old. If\nnot for her present position of being impaled on his cock, she might very well\nhave been mistaken for being a messenger from the lord of above.\nThe look on her face was pure\nrapture, and her eyes were filled with nothing but the sight of him. To her, he\nlooked as glorious as she felt, and in that moment, she knew she was meant to\nbe with him. The duration of time from her family entering this forgotten\nresort to this point now was too short to be real, and yet there was no denying\nthat whatever had brought them together had done so with a majestic purpose to\nit.\nShe stared into his eyes even as\nshe moved her hips, pressing down tightly to put as much of him into her as her\npresent, inexperienced form would allow. The smile that crossed her face was quite\nlascivious, and the pressure from her nails was threatening to tear his flesh\nin the shape of little crescent moons. She suddenly and fully understood why\nher aunt was the way she was. She could also see why society might try to rein\nin such extravagance. This was something money simply could not buy, and in the\nright hands, such pleasure could eclipse all other forms of enjoyment and\nentertainment.\nShe ground her hips down harder and\nharder, and Douglas held her firmly in his grip, but the force she was exerting\nwas driving his feet deeper and deeper into the bottom. It was hardly what he\nwould have called romantic, so with an effort he pulled his feet loose and\nbegan wading towards the deeper water. A trail of swirling muddy water followed\nuntil he was far enough out to drop and swim.\nWell, swim might not be the correct\nword. They floated; they made love and they knew nothing else but the liquid\nthat surrounded them.  It was as if the\nwater supplied all of her needs. Whereas above the surface she would have been\ngasping for air due to her exertions, underneath all was calm.\nCalm with the exception of their\nhearts, which beat as one. Calm with the exception of their amour, which flamed\nand rose like an inferno; calm except for the two bodies which thrashed and\nrolled in the waters of a lake long forgotten. Calm was a disguise the lake\ngave them, hiding their entwined bodies below its mirrored surface.\nAngelica clung to him as a drowning\nswimmer clings to a life preserver. She had only just met this man, for he was\na man whether he wished to think of himself as one or not. And she was a lady.\nShe had come here as a girl, and was now well past that immature stage of\nwomanhood. And if this was how her new life was going to start, she couldn't\nwait to see how it was going to progress. The adventures that awaited her had\nto be too numerous to imagine!\nHis manhood was part of her now,\nand the throbbing length of it found places inside her she didn't know existed.\nThat spot where it rubbed something firm, something that made her insides move,\nshe just knew that was her womb it was caressing. If she could open it up to\nhim, she would have gladly done it. As it was, the thought of conceiving was no\nlonger terrifying. \nIt was a welcome thought.\nDouglas, for his part in this was\nas thrilled as the day he had connected with his very first mate, a heart-achingly\nlong time ago. He missed her still, but was wise enough to know that dwelling\non it was a poor substitute for finding another partner. That Ophelia had been\nwithin his grasp and then lost still burned his moral self-righteousness, but\nthe males in that line were steadfast in their desire to protect what they\nthought was theirs. So too had been Douglas, and when his mate had been taken\naway, much destruction had occurred that day.\nThose memories were more palatable\nto him now, as his body swaying under the movements of his newfound love. The fates,\nnay the eldritch creatures that looked over the lands had heard his pleas so\nlong ago and had taken it to heart. While it had taken such a long time in being\nfulfilled mattered not now. It was only important that it was fulfilled. \nAngelica let out a cry, albeit a\nsilent one, as for the first time ever she didn't have to try and stifle her\nnatural reaction to the pleasure that coursed through her body. The fact that\nher ears heard nothing didn't matter. She was finally able to release the pent\nup energy that had been building in her body since the transformation from\nchild to teen had been progressing.\nNow she was filled with a passion\nwhich seemed to know no bounds. Her soul was suddenly overflowing with so many things,\nand while most were difficult to understand, she recognized that they were\nfeelings and memories that belonged to Douglas. She saw faces, among them her\naunt when she was the same age as Angelica was now. She saw other faces, angry\ndark faces that were filled with hate and distrust.\nShe would have to ask him about\nthem. She had a feeling that had something to do with her, though for the life\nof her, she had no idea what that would be.\nDouglas felt a wash of clean\nfeelings and desires brighten his own darkened soul. It was like a blind person\nsuddenly seeing for the very first time. It was as though the sun had come out\nafter a lengthy and terrible storm.\nShe was the one. He could have\nsearch a hundred years, and yet here was his chance at being happy right before\nhim. Having a female come to him once was a fluke; having a related female show\nup on his doorstep was not a matter of chance, despite how it looked. He only\nhoped that her father wasn't one to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. Those\nScots were a tough bunch, but they were stupidly stubborn. As one of the kinder\nones had told him, after the minor war had been waged between him and them; they be nothing more than boggin bassas me\nfriend. I am so sorry any of this happened.\" He had referred to the\nvillagers as smelly idiots. Even in his distress, Douglas had managed a laugh.\nNow the laugh was on them.\nThe girl dug into his flesh with a\nmighty, joint wrenching conclusion as her body war torn by a terrific orgasm. Her\neyes were wide open, and her mouth as well, but no sound came out and there was\nnothing for her eyes to see except the red of her blood as it rushed through\nher body with the pressure to burst the vessels meant to contain it.\n It was mind-numbingly awesome.\nShe lost her grip on him and\nfloated gently, still attached at the hip to him. He took her relaxation as a\ncue to take over. Snagging her shoulder and holding her close, he felt her\nrapidly beating heat booming in her chest. He kicked his feet, driving them\ndeeper into the depths.\nThere, he enveloped her and drove\nhis manhood into her with repeated blows. Her eyes went wide again, and her\nnails found purchase in his sides, but the pain was muted by the pleasure they\nwere engaged in. He had dealt with enough pleasure and pain to know which of\nthe two to ignore.\nTheir bodies thrashed and rolled in\nthe darkened arena of their choice; thrashed until his seed came pouring out\nagain, this time to fill her nether regions to overflowing. His entire body\nseemed consumed with the act, and his crushing strength held tightly onto her\nuntil the pumping faded away.\nThey clung to each other, falling\nasleep for a while in the captivating stillness. Angelica woke first and\nlooking upwards, she could see the dim glow of a partial moon as it hung over\nthe lake. She wondered what time it was and if she had been missed. In her\nheart she was sorry for any distress she might have caused, but given the\nchance, she would do this all over again without alteration.\nHe opened an eye and watched her\nstaring upwards. She turned her attention to him, and with a tired but\nsatisfied look on his face, he kicked his legs, sending them to the top. Their heads\nbroke the surface as one. She looked about her, seeing the dock barely discernible\nin the distance. There seemed to be someone on it, but for the moment she cared\nnot a bit as to who it was. She had the only man she needed here in her arms.\nShe leaned in and hugged him\nfiercely, pulling back when the pressure from the bit that lay on her chest\nbecame unbearable. She pulled away, grabbed the metal object and held it in\nfront of her eyes, all the while watching Douglas too. Then, with a sudden wave\nof mischievousness, she opened her mouth and placed the bit inside, just like\nhe had done.\nDouglas was motionless. This was\nthe telltale moment.\nElectricity ran through her,\nilluminating her hair from the brownish black it had been to a brilliant white.\nShe went to scream but the bit held her mouth tightly closed. It was like\nriding his back in horse form. She was powerless to move against it.\nThe water around her began to glow\nand froth. Douglas shook his head and power-stroked back to shore. Some situations\nwhere better to not be around when they happened. He too saw the lone figure on\nthe dock and made his way there. As he got to the shoreline and turned, the\nlight and the bubbles were fading from sight. Angelica was nowhere to be seen.\nHer father was sitting on the old\nwooden boards, staring out to where the recent disruption had been. He turned\nto Douglas and in an even voice said, \"I have lost my daughter. You are the\nmonster you were once declared to be.\"\n\"No.\"\n\"Are you sure?\"\n\"Has anyone ever died here?\"\n\"No. I almost did once.\"\nDouglas sat down beside him. \"I\nknow lad. You were a wee boy then. And your sister a pale beauty just like your\ndaughter.\"\nFather sat up straighter. \"I had\nforgotten about almost drowning. It was you who saved me, wasn't it?\"\n\"Aye, that it was.\"\n\"I can hardly be angry at losing my\ndaughter then, can I? If you had not saved me, I would never have married.\"\n\"True enough. But why do you human's\nalways look at what you think you lose? Look at what you gain!\"\n\"What? You? I like you Douglas, but\nI would prefer my own flesh and blood over someone else's.\"\n\"Nay, you stupid man. You aren't quite\nas ignorant as your kinfolk, but you're close enough to it to raise my ire.\"\n\"Kinfolk?\"\n\"You are Ian Macgregor, son of\nSean, son of Cormag. Your family owed me a debt. Did your father never mention\nit?\"\nFather turned to him. \"There was\ntalk of it, yes. But I was a child and I never understood what it all meant. IT\nwas why the family moved her to America.\"\n\"Your clan killed my mate. While\nsome might consider it an accident, it was done with willful ignorance.\" \n\"Murder? My family?\"\n\"Yes. And I prayed to those powers\nthat could hear me to give me a suitable revenge. It was a long time coming,\nbut I think I have had the slate cleared.\"\n\"By killing my daughter?\"\n\"You thick-skulled idiot! She is\nnot dead!\"\n\"Something happened out there, and\nshe sank below the waves. You left her there.\"\nAt that moment, lightning struck\nthe middle of the lake, raising a cloud of steam and every hair on father's\nhead. He was blinded temporarily and his hearing buzzed. When both had cleared,\nDouglas was back in the water, leaning into that old rotting hull. He pulled\nsomething out and turned.\nFather stared at what he held. It\nwas a silver bit. He had heard a few of the stories, but he had dismissed them\nas supernatural and therefore impossible. He held it for a moment and looked at\nthe undecipherable inscriptions.\n\"Is this for her now?\"\n\"Of course not. She has her own\nalready.\"\n\"What?\"\n\"This one is mine. The other was\nthe one your ancestor stole from my mate. With it we can live for a very long\ntime. Without it we fade in a day's time. It is not something you lightly pilfer\nfrom my kind.  I fought your kin to\nrecover it. To this day I have waited for someone of the Macgregor clan to come\nto me. Your sister came so very close, but now it is done. Your daughter is now\nthe owner of the other bit, and with it she will be as I am. \"\n\"So she can never leave this lake?\"\n\"Leave it? If you mean can she come\nonto dry land, why of course she can. And since you intend to build a house\nhere, what difference does it make? She will be close to you all the days of\nyour life.\"\n\"She won't age, will she?\"\n\"Nay. She will be like me. It is no\nbad thing, living endlessly, when you have someone to share your life with.\nOut in the middle of the lake the\nlight and bubbles returned. Douglas patted father on the back. He placed the\nbit into his mouth and waded from shore, shifting as he did. The dark horse\nthat took his place turned and spoke mentally, mind to mind. \n\"Ian Macgregor, I feel that you are\na good and kind man. Accept what has happened as being destiny, and do nothing\nto try and alter it. You have lost nothing this day. What you have gained is\nnear-immortality for your daughter, and with any luck, grandchildren fit for\nany man of noble birth.\"\n\"Children? Or colts?\"\n              The\nhorse actually laughed. \"They will be one in the same my friend. You will see.\"\n              With\nthat he made off to the middle of the lake, where a white form had risen from\nthe water. The alabaster head still glowed like some heavenly body pulled down\nfrom the night sky above. In her human form she would never have suffered\nthrough making love being unmatched as they were, but the playing field had\nbeen leveled. She had not known there were two bits, his and a match. Her blind\ngrab had gotten her the one she was destined for, and everything fell into place.\nWith any luck, this property; the lake and all that surrounded it, would remain\nin the family for generations to come. In kelpie terms, that was a very long\ntime indeed."}