Turtle Dove: A Lesbian Romance

by Marian Stack

  “Who cares what kind of money she has, we live here and many of our homes and business were badly damaged, so unless she has enough money to repair everything in this town and surrounding area…go back to your big city and…”

  Startled by the hostility the stranger remained standing, but for only a few more seconds as the well-dressed man sitting beside her placed his hand on her exposed hand and indicated by a light pulling downwards action to be seated and to remain quiet until after all the information was given to the small group of anxious locals.

  “Ok that’s enough.” The police chief stood to gain control again. “You there,” her finger pointed to the two strangers, “I will talk to you after this meeting to get more information but for now everyone just needs to settle down and listen to what your mayor has to say. We know you are all frightened but give us a chance. We seem to be dealing with what many would call ‘the perfect storm.’” She animated with her four fingers that offer quotations.

  Someone yelled out. “Well it was your idea to open the flood gates!”

  “Yes it was, with a unanimous vote, and that is why you are still standing here with a town that only took a small amount of damage. But what many of you do not realize is that the mountain, our mountain took a huge hit, frankly from three different directions. We have lost sections of the main road leading to and from this area cutting us off completely. Now we have contacted the proper authorities and they will deal with us as soon as they can. But what many of you do not understand is that this flood damage has gone further inland than anticipated and has affected hundreds of miles. Now many of our residents that left after our first meeting to evacuate, well because of that, thankfully the lower numbers will give us more time enabling us to wait for help a little longer, given our limited supplies. Now for those remaining, well you will have to rely on each other for supplies.”

  “Rely on each other for how long…exactly?” The booming question filled the room.

  “The answer to that question will only be speculation, but day’s maybe weeks.” Her voice stayed strong but empathetic. Then she continued, “this building will remain our command centre and we will ensure that someone will always be on site until we deem that all is safe. So ladies and gentlemen go home and survey your situation and then inform this office as to your needs and your supply status.”

  Turning towards her wife, “Mayor, is there anything you want to add?”

  “Not at this time… you expressed all our worries and sympathies. Stay safe everyone and keep in touch with your neighbours.” She stood up, indicating to the group that the informative meeting had concluded.

  As the room slowly began to empty, only the two strangers remained seated.

  After the niceties of the formal introduction the police chief stood next to the tall well build gentleman and listened to his worry.

  “I sent my sister out to teach her a lesson about life and now I believe I have gone and got her killed.” The sentence spilled from his lips as if he could not seem to control his grief.

  “What the fuck? She’s not dead. What are you talking about? She can’t be dead. What am I supposed to do now that she is dead?” The angry words shocked all those standing within ear shot.

  “This isn’t about you. This is my sister we are talking about not your wellbeing. What is wrong with you? All you have been talking about is you and your future.” The brother’s angry words were about to continue however the police chief decided to stop the noticeable long standing argument, that frankly she had no time for.

  “Okay enough. Clearly the fear of not knowing has lit this disagreement but I do not have time for this. I need more information about where and when.” Looking directly at the man, “you start.”

  “Please forgive me, yes she was travelling with the Dove’s White Water rafting group and now…well, we have not heard anything as to her whereabouts or frankly anything about the groups’ safety. It’s been several days now and we still cannot get hold of the person we booked the trip through, a Miss Susan Joy.” Once he finished he took a handkerchief from his suit jacket vest pocket and wiped his eyes that clearly had filled with tears.

  “First of all I want to sincerely apologize to you for the lack of information, but please let me start with the most obvious question from me. How in god’s name did you get here? There has been a military no fly over this area from the first sign of trouble, and most roads are not useable...” Then as if a bomb had gone off, a loud BOOM sounded that rattled every window, door and picture that hung on the walls, and then instantly all the lights went out.

  “Everyone stop moving. The emergency generator will kick on soon and we will all be fine.” The chief shouted as she reached for her flash light that was part of her uniform belt inventory.

  “Chief come in.” Crackle… crackle. “Do you hear me?” Crackle…crackle. “Chief come in.”

  She reached for her radio and could only hear the popping and hissing sounds from her caller. “This is Chief English, come in caller. You are breaking up.” No response. She repeated the message but offers an alternative. “If you can hear this transmission go to the emergency channel two.”

  Everyone in the room remained deathly quiet waiting for an answer and for the lights to come back on. And then as the message came across the words were very disturbing. “Transport van carrying several female prisoners, hit by mud slid. Can’t find all… Driver found dead. Guard in bad condition. Six out of eight prisoners remained with van, two missing. Raining so hard can’t see, over.”

  Instantly the emergency light illuminated the room and the facial expressions that the darkness hid.

  “Okay… all those who do not need to be here, please go home. Stella and you two” her eyes pointed to the strangers, “Come with me.” Her commanding voice left little doubt this was not up for debate.

  As they entered her office she immediately turned around to confront the strangers. “How did you get here again?”

  “By private helicopter, we landed in a large field just outside of town. My pilot didn’t want to come to close to the main town site. My law firm…” He was not only surprised by the blunt interruption, and the plain fact that he was not used to being treated with such disrespect that he was about to firmly respond, however his years of experience being a barrister told him to stop talking and wait for additional information by way of another question.

  “Okay, give me a minute to think.” She forcefully sat into her noticeably well used leather office chair, secured her elbows on the desk top and firmly placed her fingers on her forehead and gently rubbed as if rubbing out her next strategic move. Then looking up at the three sets of eyes staring at her she interlocked her hands and fingers together and stated, “Okay, here is my plan, when the storm subsides and the rain lightens I will give you permission to fly all over this mountain looking for your sister, but in the meantime I’m going to commission your helicopter to look for the escapes as long as the skies remain lightning free.”

  “I don’t fucking think so.” Blair’s fiancée screamed out. “If you can fly then so can we.”

  “Well Miss. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it. I understand your fear and worry but I now have two escaped prisoners hiding on my mountain and I would prefer for them to get back to their homey confinement so we all can feel safe.” The chiefs’ unwavering voice remained strong and convincing against the rapidly changing set of circumstances.

  “Fine, it’s not like we have much of a choice.” Megan stormed off and walked towards the doorway expecting to be followed by Blair’s only brother Joe, confirming her commanding position.

  Instead Joe Foster reached out for the Chief’s hand to offer a heartfelt respectful handshake. “Please keep in touch. We are staying at your local hotel, I will be in 618, my pilot, whose name is Mr. Bill Weeds will be in room 619 and Miss Megan Post will be staying in room 620. So please if you need anything or if anything changes, and thank-you again.” He reached for another confirming ha
ndshake, with respect he first reached for the mayors’ hand and then the police chiefs’, and then offers another plea. “And please do not hesitate regardless of hour to contact me if you hear anything about my sister, Blair…Blair Foster… Good night.” And then without offering his sister’s fiancée any more room to be rude he linked his arm in hers and proceeded to guide her out of the hall.

  The Sandy River Hospital

  “Well look who’s finally awake.” The relatively new employed nurse moved the medical tray that rested on a movable table to get a better look at her patient. “Now don’t try to move too quickly. You took a nasty hit to the head when you fell out of your raft.” She stated as she gently touched Susan’s wrist confirming steady and strong rhythm of her pulse. “Do you remember anything?” She softly asked. “Can we start with something simply like your name, perhaps?”

  Susan blankly stared at the nurse and voiced, “Turtle, Turtle Dove.”

  The nurse was fully aware that her patient’s name was Susan Joy, but played along anyway. “Okay Turtle, do you remember what happened to you?”

  Susan stared towards the nurse with a blank look on her face with her voice sounding as if she was locked between two realities as she spoke aloud to no one in particular “Mountain collapsed, other guests fell into water. Need to get a hold of mayor and chief of police from town of Carterville, Turtle missing with another guest, went down gauntlet, and the another raft full of guests, where are they, and are they all okay?”

  “So if this person Turtle is missing who are you and what is your name?” The nurse gently asked.

  “What?” Susan voice questioned the question.

  “What is your name?” The nurse noted the humour but remained professional, as she required the patient to respond correctly.

  “Oh, my name, yes of course, my name is Susan Joy and I was rafting with another boat being piloted by Sky Grayson. Nine women in all were between the two rafts, and the one that is missing is Turtle Dove and her only guest, Blair…something or other… like Forest…yes or something like that. I can’t seem to remember the woman’s last name but I do remember she is of great importance. You have to call the police chief in Carterville she will verify who I am, we’ve been friends for years.” Susan’s suddenly felt completely exhausted after her short but strongly voiced plea.

  “Okay. I will call the police chief in Carterville. Lay back and try to rest, I’ll let you know the results.” Picking up her tray of medical supplies the nurse silently left the room.

  Lying back on the bed now that the room went complete silent, but for the normal hospital noise from the hallway, she paused to breath. Unable to empty her mind, she desperately tried to push out the uninvited panic feeling that her dear friend might be dead, so instead she began to mindfully take stock of her injuries.

  She seemed to hurt all over. Her pounding head and noticeable loss of memory was a sure giveaway for a concussion, but as she continued to do a full body scan she concluded that her right leg, ankle and left shoulder were in serious trouble.

  Carterville Town Hall

  “Hello Chief. I know you have a lot on the go but, well I have a patient here that is extremely agitated regarding her group that was running the river just as the mountain came down on them. She’s pretty banged up but she insists that her friend had no choice but to run the gauntlet. You know who we are talking about. It’s the Dove outfitters. Well my patient Susan Joy strongly believes if anyone can survive that run it’s her friend and you need to start looking for them. Oh, chief there was another person with Miss Dove, her name is Miss Blair F.”

  “Foster, Miss Blair Foster. Thanks a lot… you have just made two people very happy.” The chief concludes and then professional states, “Keep in touch.”

  The Sandy River Hospital

  “Could have sworn she said Forest, oh well close enough to tell me that she’s going to be fine.”

  “Excuse me. I’m looking for a Susan Joy. My name is…”

  “Sky Grayson” The nurse knew exactly who was standing in front of her, with a traumatized looking group of women standing behind her. The scene was obvious. “Wow, what a lucky group of women. Come with me. She’s in a private room so if you are all quiet and only stay for a short time, you can all visit at once. As I’m sure you will need too!”

  Then Sky meekly asked, “Excuse me, but there were two more women. Are they here?” Somehow knowing the answer but needed to ask in case of god’s blessings.

  “No.” she responded with equal care.” I believe information like that should come from your friend. It’s not my place.” As she heard the silent cries of gratitude towards the woman lying in the bed from the group and to each other she exited the room, the nurse insured the extra-large door was closed keeping the extra voice noise contained and away from the few extra patients now resting in the small hospital.

  “Yes, thank you all for being so understanding.” Susan softly spoke to the group as they began departing for the awaiting vans that would take the group back to the city of Carterville and away from the direct mountain devastation.

  “You know you saved that young woman’s life. I can’t believe any of those women will sue the company. You should receive an award for getting them all back in one piece, and look at you… oh my god, what a mess. Are you in much pain or have they taken care of that?” Sky’s nervous banter proved her state of mind and that she herself was not feeling or acting balanced.

  Noticing the devastating look on Susan’s face Sky tried to console her mentor stating that if any one person could survive the gauntlet it would be Turtle.

  “But that’s the problem, Sky. She was not alone. She was with a very important, not to mention completely inexperienced guest, with a raft that was overloaded… and we rushed on ahead without waiting. We should all be here.” Susan leaned back onto her perfectly arranged pillows and allowed her hot tears to stream down her face.

  Sky put her head down to remove herself from the private moment that her friend needed to go through and then out of nowhere a thought popped to her head. “Susan, if they did survive where would they go? I mean this is her mountain. She knows this mountain better than anyone. Where would she take this guest? Which way would they travel?” Sky stated as she attempted to get Susan back into the planning stage of their friends rescue, rather than their body recovery for burial.

  Knowing the level of pain she was in and the condition of her shoulder, and leg she did not rapidly attempt to move but she did voice with absolute power, “Sky, you’re a genius! If we go along these lines of thinking of where they would go for shelter, well there is only one place I can think of and that is the hot springs cave that she and her father would go to for a retreat at least once a year. They kept survival supplies there. Yes… that would make perfect sense to Turtle to get her guest to the cave. Sky you have to get in contact with the mayor and chief of Carterville with this new information immediately.” Susan’s entire body language and tone of voice commanded her friend to become her agent.

  Chapter Eight - Rain

  “Good morning.” Turtle softly greeted her guest as she walked up behind her as she was standing at the entrance of the cave with the blanket wrapped around her naked body.

  She leaned backwards into the body of her new sex toy and sarcastically voiced, “For a mountain woman you seem to be a late sleeper.”

  As Turtle stepped into the lean her response offered true honesty, “I never use to be, maybe I’m still suffering from the crack on the head. I still have a small bump and the wound remains a bit tender.”

  “Good sympathy ploy… I like it.” Blair turned her body but remained very close and reached to touch Turtles’ head for a satisfying inspection, then stated. “Then it’s decided. We will remain here one more day to ensure that you are well enough to travel. I…We need to get out of this situation but we need to do this together, do you agree?” Blair purposely touched her nose to Turtles’ nose to drive home the point of team.


  Disengaging her body from the close proximity of a very desirable naked female body of a very unpredictable person, Turtle believed she should bring some wilderness experience into the conversation. “Blair I think we need to consider a few more details that if ignored could develop into a dangerous blunder, especially if we go off and decide to leave the comfort of this cave and to travel in these conditions.” Turtles’ voice entered into a voice of requests, as she immediately witnessed the complete facial and body change of her guest. “Blair, please listen to me regarding this.”

  Blair stepped away from the entrance, walked deeper into the cave then began to walk in a decisive square pattern before beginning her rebuttal. “Turtle did you not state that no one that you are aware of has ever successfully completed the gauntlet run.”

  “Well yes but…”

  “Okay. So then is it correct to state that there will be little interest in looking for two live bodies.”

  “Well yes but…”

  “And if there was interest in looking for two live bodies, where will they be looking? So if I may answer my own question, most certainly not this area… Correct? So again, I believe that if there is a search party out looking for us they will be looking down river and over the falls not up the mountain.”

  “Well yes but…”

  “One last question,” she stated as she stopped her walking pattern and walked directly over to her guide who had not moved an inch. “What would our would-be rescuers find or not find at the bottom of the falls? Answer me that, please.”

  Turtle reluctantly answered both questions truthfully as she very much felt like she was standing in a witness box fighting for her life, and that the wrong answer to either of these last two questions would seal her fate. “They possibly would find some gear from our over turned and assuredly damaged raft.” And then she paused for the dramatic ending, and then spoke, “yet…they would not find two dead bodies.”

  “Correct.” The volume from Blair’s voice reverberated throughout the cave that sent one small wolf pup struggling to find safety between Turtles’ legs.