Turtle Dove: A Lesbian Romance

by Marian Stack

  “Well it does appear you are better at everything than I am.” Turtle sadly responded under her breath, ashamed to state her opinion aloud for fear her words of guarded truth would ignite another tirade.

  “What? Sorry, I didn’t hear you.” Blair had stopped yards ahead of her travelling companion to refresh herself with a huge drink of water. “Are you feeling alright?” She turned to offer Turtle a drink as she closed the gap.

  “Yes thank-you for asking.” Turtles’ response was sincere yet screening of her truth. “I was just contemplating over what the safest route will be to get off this side of the mountain and to get you home.”

  “Well this way silly…Clearly this way is the best. It appears we are walking the same path as the animals that travel through this area, so if it’s good enough for them then we most certainly can follow. Wouldn’t you think?” She stated with complete confidence then turned and proceeded to lead without confirmation if in fact this was their best direction to travel.

  Lost in her thoughts Turtle did not flinch with regards to their travelling route.

  After they had travelled for a few hours along the well-used path, Turtle began to take note that the path not only became harder to walk on with the large fallen trees impeding their route with every few steps but the landscape began to change dramatically.

  Suddenly and finally Turtle literally came out of her shell and instructed Blair to stop walking as she had begun to notice the area was filled with mushy extra soft and extremely wet moss floating just under the thin layer of earth.

  Standing triumphantly on one of the largest fallen trees, Blair once again decided to question her knowledgeable guide, “What…Why do you continue to tell me what to do? We are making good time and…”

  “Blair… the ground underneath these trees is extremely unstable. The moss is saturated and that means that if you step in the wrong place and fall off the tree and land in the moss it will act like quicksand and will suck you into the ground. Now for once just stop everything and give me a chance to catch up to you.”

  Intuitively Turtle scooped up the wolf pup and placed her in her backpack, allowing the pups head to peek out the top and then methodically proceeded to cautiously step on each fallen tree, only stopping long enough to secure her balance, then would rapidly survey the stability of each log movement before she would move to another. She could feel the slight movement of the logs as her weight settled on each as she either stood on or moved off. As she approached the fallen tree that Blair was standing on she instinctively and mindfully did not immediately step onto that log placing more weight onto an already unstable landing.

  Completely freaked out Blair had stood perfectly still and stared at the ground between the fallen trees as if waiting for a mossy green serpent to reach out and swallow her hole. Only when she noticed that Turtle was very close to her did she find the courage to look away for no longer than a few seconds from the forest floor and look up. “Well don’t stop there, come onto this tree.” Blair had extended both her arms to assist her guide.

  “No I will remain here so not to add more weight onto that tree. The ground is shifting and moving with the wet earth beneath it. This ground is extremely soggy and unstable and we should move with great caution and care. Blair, please let me lead and then you follow and only step on the logs that I step on. Are you ready?” Turtle forcefully inquired.

  She was both mad and scared. Mad… because of her own stupidity for not remaining in the present and scared because she had allowed her guest to control another situation which placed them in another dangerous predicament.

  As they cautiously stepped from one fallen tree to another it became increasingly clear to Turtle that they were in serious trouble. The area that they were attempting to escape from was heading in a downwards trajectory. Then suddenly and with relative ease all the logs began to slide downwards towards the, never before noticed until now, very clear drop off.

  Turtle screamed out as she rapidly began her escape, “Blair stay on top of the logs and run to your right! Blair, run as fast as you can to—your—right.” Turtle barked out the orders as she topped each moving tree with surprising grace.

  As Blair heard Turtle’s commands she felt the log she was standing on begin to move as if it had been pushed by some great force. “Holy shit.” She shouted out as she understood her guides’ commands and began to jump from one moving log to the other, demonstrating great agility.

  Turtle jumped from the last outside log first and immediately turned to witness Blair running for her life. “Run… Blair… Run.” Turtles’ last words rang out as if they were meant to lasso her prize and snatch her from the danger.

  Self-preservation overwhelmed Blair senses and her last leap of faith pushed her into the air and sent her flying into the waiting arms of her guide.

  Thankfully before the impact Turtle had the presence of mind to remove her backpack and placed it on the ground allowing Rain to escape her confinement.

  Lying on her back with Blair’s full body weight resting on hers, “Are you hurt?” She asked as she stared into the screaming scared eyes of her guest.

  After a very long moment had silently passed, “How many times are you going to save my life before this trip is over?” And with the ending of her acknowledgement she rolled off of Turtle’s body and rolled directly onto the resting wolf pup, who immediately voiced her disapproval. “Oh, Rain I’m sorry for you too. Are you ok?” she cooed as she reached for the pup who willingly allowed her pack-mate to pick her up and cradle her in her warm and secure arms.

  “Holy fuck!” Feeling the very real and tiny body of the pup in her arms she pathetically cried out, “I almost got us killed, again. What’s wrong with me? Turtle I promise I will try to do better. You don’t deserve this. If I haven’t already said this to you, I’m so sorry.”

  Understanding that they had just dodged a bullet, she abruptly stood, threw her gear bag over her shoulders and voiced in a knowing voice “We have to keep moving in this direction.” Turtle had indicated that the east was the correct direction for now. “We need to get as far away from this unstable ground as possible.” She completed her message with confidence as she slapped the side of her leg which sparked the pups’ attention.

  As she took the lead she kept a steady pace for her guest to manage but also ensured that there was a reasonable distance between them to allow Turtle to keep an emotional space between them. She now perfectly understood that her mountain had gone wild and they needed to keep engaged with their surroundings. Falling into a rhythmic pace she looked back only to ensure her guest was close enough behind and then turned facing forwards. She knew by Blair’s face that she was feeling shame. And knew that Blair needed a different response than this after her heartfelt apology but she had to get her head back into this very real game of survival. Turtle knew that the cave experience was over and that her mountain was now controlling their destiny.

  Blair on the other hand as she slowly trudged along behind her guide, sent her mind into the depths of her confusion. “I thought I could control this. I thought it would be easy. Enjoy some weekend get-a-way sex with a complete stranger in one of the most inhospitable events in my life, but I can’t. She is everything I want in a woman and everything that she is, is wrong according to my beliefs. She challenges me. She allows me to fail and then offers only help in return. Her love making is real and honest and she allows me to feel what no other person in my life has ever allowed me to feel or was willing to give to me unconditionally. “Shit” She spoke aloud as her thoughts fell out onto the ground, understanding that her game was over, and that she never imagined this outcome, she was falling in love.

  Hearing the small sound of exasperation Turtle immediately turned her body around preparing her mind for another verbal battle with her unhinged travelling partner. However instead of being struck by abuse she was surprised to have her follower smile at her with genuine value. Surprised, Turtle immediately turned to look forwar
d and as she did she tripped over a large root that sent her flying into the air and forced her to hit the ground hard, slightly twisting her ankle.

  Blair without hesitation ran to her rescue. “Oh My God, honey are you hurt? Can I help you up?” She asked as she managed to get her arm around Turtle’s waist, to assist her to stand.

  The poorly preformed acrobatic fall seem to pull both women out of their thoughts as they remained in the awkward hug and then they began to laugh, and laugh as if they needed to let all of the fear release from their bodies. Tears rolled down their cheeks as they held tight to each other’s bodies.

  Blair was the first to gain control, and then as she stood looking into Turtle’s eyes she ever so gently leaned in for a much wanted kiss. “I don’t want to fight anymore. Turtle I promise I will become the best lost partner you will ever have.” She leaned in for another kiss and ensured it was as gentle as the first. She did not seem to want stimulation but activation. Then pulling her body slightly away from their embrace she peered down towards the ground and Turtle’s feet.” Do you need to rest your ankle? How bad is it hurt?”

  Turtle released a slight breathy laugh and stated, “It’s fine. And we need to keep moving. We still have plenty of hiking to complete before we find a place to camp for the night, but not here.” And then she did the most unexpected thing. “Blair you are the most amazing person I have ever met. And I just wanted you to know that. We have gotten this far because you were able to. And whether you need to hear this or not, well done.”

  As they continued to hike along the much wider path, Blair hurried her pace to walk next to her guide, and then she did the most unexpected thing. She took hold of Turtle’s hand.

  One of the few weather conditions remains in their favour, summer evening light.

  The agreed upon camping spot seem to please all three of them. They had located a small but perfectly enclosed resting place that sheltered them from three of the fours directions should poor weather conditions strike at them overnight. The small enclosure contained a couple of large trees that allowed the ladies to secure the tarp, set a good size fire pit and fish for stream trout, in what appeared to be a faster moving stream than normal.

  Once the camp site was ready Turtle hobbled over to the stream to set the makeshift fishing pole into the soft mud of the shoreline and then proceeded to remove her hiking boot to place her sore ankle into the cold water. Rain on the other hand took complete advantage of the playing field and decided to play hunt. She first began to stalk a low lying branch that bobbed up and down with the rhythm of the flowing stream, but after a nose full of water, the pup found the game to be less interesting, so she then decided to set her hunting skills on her next victim, play attack towards Turtles’ pant leg as she attempted to fish for their dinner.

  Leaning against the tree that secured their sleeping place Blair watched the enjoyable activity as it played out. She allowed her eyes to drink in the perfect scene of human interacting with a wild animal. And then suddenly the tranquil interaction rapidly changed as the fishing pole was jerked from the shore with both pup and human running to catch their catch. After a few unsuccessful attempts to change the pup’s attention towards the flaying fish, Turtle gave in and allowed the pup to smell and slightly nip at the extremely agile fish that remained partially submerged in the water, but thankfully with the pups’ first lesson of having a snoot full of water, this lesson deterred her from taking a bite, however it did not deter her from offering her best protective growl.

  Thankful that the size of fish would belong to all three travellers, and once the fish was secured in her hand, she triumphantly turned towards the campsite to show off their good fortune.

  “There will be fish tonight.” She declared as she held up the active and surprisingly large fish.

  “You remain my hero.” Blair stated as she sent out a rousing round of applause.

  As Blair watched the pup make several attempts to grab the tail of the fish, she had the oddest feeling that what she was watching was going to a memory that she would revisit often in her remaining life time.

  With the meal completed and the wolf pup resting, Blair decided to offer the same medical attention to her guide as she had received and hopefully with the same results.

  Blair inquired as she dug through the gear bag that she was using as a softer back rest against the larger log that they both were using as a backrest. “Turtle, do you remember the healing salve that you used on my ugly feet after you removed the booties?”

  “Yes. I believe so. Are your feet bothering you again? Are the hiking boots not comfortable enough or have they begun to fall apart? And why did you not mention it before now?” Turtle rapidly fired out the assault of questions as she attempted to immediately stand to rectify her guest discomfort.

  The swift grouping of question brought Blair to a complete halt as she became very aware that her past aggression had caused this anxiety in her guide. “No…No please remain where you are.” She quickly replied as she placed her hand no Turtle’s leg, to stop her from helping. “It was just a question. I had noticed that you were soothing your ankle in the cold stream water and I thought I would apply some of the magic ointment on your ankle.”

  Somewhat embarrassed by her assumed reaction she leaned back onto her resting position against the log and kindly responded, “that’s very kind of you but my ankle is fine and my thought about placing my foot in the water was merely a form of preventative therapy as we remain a long distance away from our destination and I wanted to ensure that nothing would stand in our way from getting you home safely.”

  Blair’s mind was set, “Well if that is the case then I really want to ensure that you are healthy enough.” She offered a hardy laugh as she reached into the gear bag one more time to locate her prize. “Found it.” Blair’s victory voice startled the sleeping pup. “Sorry little one, I guess I have that kind of voice.” She reached over to gently stroke the soft fur which she hopefully believed would comfort the semi-alert wolf.

  Accepting the love, but unhappy with the disturbance the pup wobbly stood up, gave her body a full head to toe stretch and then shake, circled her body three times in the same place and then flopped back down on the ground and instantly fell back into the sound sleep, she was so rudely awaken from.

  Enjoying another flash of wild life she smiled and then announced, “Well now that Rain has found her comfort place, it’s now time for your comfort.” Blair stated as she positioned her body directly in front of her companions’ body. “And by the way, this comfort comes to you with a no refusal policy so just lean back and relax and enjoy.” She offered Turtle a smile that she had never offered before.

  Her hands began from the moment her memory began. The feeling of Turtle’s hands on her body.

  She slowly began to move her hand to caress Turtle’s foot that rested in the palm of her other hand and then instantly noticed Turtle’s body stiffens. Blair’s mind went wild with fear, “Had I gone too far with the bitch role?” Blair’s conscious screamed out. “Yes, you fool, you went too far, now say something!” Her heart screamed out.

  “Turtle honey, did I do something wrong. Did I hurt you by moving your foot and just how sore is your ankle?” Blair’s voice changed from a little bit of fear to a little bit of concern-anger.

  “My ankle is fine. Truly, but” Turtle stopped talking and stared into Blair eyes, “You are so confusing. I got your first game, once I realized we were in a game, but now you have become this sweet nice person and…” Turtle was unable to complete the sentence for fear of the answer. If this is just another game…then why, what’s the point!

  Blair instantly realized that her past messy behaviour had created this uncertainty and reached up and placed her open hand on Turtles’ questioning face and stated with as much sincerity as she could expose, “This is me Turtle. The real one or the one I want to be real. Turtle, I just want to make love to you. Is that so wrong?” Blair began the foot massage without care o
f permission.

  “Do you not see what I mean, confusion. Complete confusion.” Turtle stated and then unwillingly dropped her unnatural mistrust, and let out a breathy laugh.

  “Are you effing kidding me? Now who’s the nasty person?” Blair let out a joyful laugh as she moved her hand to begin the massage that would begin at the foot and then travel in a northerly direction.

  The amazing feeling from the half-moonlit summers night’s cool air, as it attempted to sneak under the blanket of the intertwined naked skin, allowed for a sensual feeling of coolness and warmth, which sent Blair’s wanting into the direction of her uncontrolled desires to begin making love with Turtles’ willing naked body, for the second time that evening.

  As they lay as one in the night air with only the stars as their blanket, it was evident that both ladies minds were not attached to this earth as they both blankly stared up into the darkened ever changing unstable sky.

  Turtle was the first to reposition her body, and as she placed her full weight on her elbow, but remaining with lovers closeness she began to ask the questions that she needed to hear the answer to. “Blair, what are you so afraid of?” Instantly she most certainly knew she had gotten Blair’s attention as she felt her enter body stiffens as if she had begun to rapidly rebuild her damaged fortress walls.

  “I don’t understand the question.” Blair knew that her response made zero sense but she knew she had been caught and needed time to think about whether she should give the full answer or the one she originally wanted to offer which was a fun week-end of unadulterated sex.

  “Well in the beginning, our ‘adult time’ was clearly for sexual gratification, but now it seems different to me, as if you have begun to enjoy your time with me, a ‘non-player’.” She felt it necessary to let Blair know that she knew that she believed she was ‘out of her league’.

  Allowing for shock time Turtle continued with her innocent query. “Will you at least allow me to help? Or at the very least be a sounding board for your worry. My mother would always talk things out with me when she was unhappy and then many times afterwards she felt better as if a weight had been lifted now that the universe had taken hold of the worry, and that the sorrow wasn’t as deep as she had first thought.”