The Adult Story Hub

I gave Toni my heavy parka, and she and I began the trek through the snow to the springs.

It was laborious work, plodding through deep snow is the most strenuous thing that a person can do. We were both winded by the time we reached the tubs. I was glad to see that I had not obeyed the rules and left the tub with out draining it.

Toni immediately began removing her clothes. I politely left the enclosure with the excuse that I was going to check on her canoe. I found it just where I had left it. I felt that I should tie it down better in case the wind came up any stronger, I lashed it to a tree.

When I returned to the tub I found Toni submerged to her neck with a very contented look on her face.

"This is wonderful." She said. "Hurry up and get in here."

I removed my clothes except for my jockey shorts and slowly lowered myself into the pool.

It wasn't long, as we talked about the places in Alaska that I have been, before I felt very hot. I got up and sat on the edge of the tub to cool off.

Toni felt too overheated also and she climbed up on the seat that encircled the rim of the tub. She sat across from me, and in the semi-dark shelter, I could gaze upon the body that I was slowly becoming infatuated with.

I told about an experience that I had in one of the villages that I traveled to.

"When I was in the village of Kavlina, the bunya or sauna was the only way that the villagers had to wash. They would sweat and wipe themselves down with wet towels; this method was extremely effective in getting clean. The plains Indians call them sweat lodges they were the same-thing. Anyway the villagers would get too hot in the Bunya and would run outside and roll around in the snow. I even tried it out myself a few times; it isn't as bad as it sounds.

"Let's try it." Toni said.

"I'm game, but I'm getting back in the tub to warm up a bit before I do." I said.

I slipped down into the tub and completely submerged myself. Toni jumped in from her side but she caught her foot on the underwater seat and fell across the tub straight into my arms. She ended up sitting on my lap facing me.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"I think so." Toni replied. "But I think that I had better sit here a while until I am absolutely sure I didn't break anything."

She had her arms around my neck and I was staring into the most beautiful breasts that I had ever seen.

"Do you think that you are alright now?" I asked. I attempted to look into her face as I spoke but I don't think that I quite made it.

"I had better stay here for a while longer." She replied as she started to shift from side to side on my lap to the other.

"I think that I might have pulled something in my back." Toni said.

Toni was twisting in every direction possible on my lap as she tried to determine what the extent of her injuries might be. She arched her back and leaned forward which put an erect nipple in close proximity to my lips. I am only human. I could not resist. I captured the rigid morsel between my lips and fluttered my tongue across the surface.

Suddenly I felt a not so strange a sensation between my legs; my friend had found his way out of his confinement and was about to enter Toni's aroused opening.

'It can't happen like this' my mind shouted. 'I've got to stop this before it's too late.

I jumped up, dumping Toni into the tub and she disappeared completely into the dark waters, before she came sputtering to the surface. As I stood up I realized that for the moment before Toni hit the water, we had actually been coupled.

"You have strange ways to seduce a girl." She said as she spit out water that she had swallowed.

"I'm sorry but I don't think that we should be doing that. Besides what ever happened to safe sex?" I reminded her.

"Well you are right about that part." She conceded. "Don't you have any protection with you?"

"Not with me." I lied. There was nothing at the cabin but I was almost sure that there were some condoms on the boat.

"Well I don't have anything either." Toni lamented. "I guess you were right we had better wait, until we get to a drug store anyway."

"Of course I was right." I boasted. Having hardly ever heard the words "You're right" spoken to me very often, I felt the need to be self-righteous.

I left Toni in the tub as I got out and ran out into the snow-covered meadow. Toni ran out soon after and found me making a snow angel in a deep drift.

She took a position next to me and flopped down to create her own angel.

We both lay in the snow stark naked, well I still had my jockeys on, and we were not the least bit uncomfortable.

"Since we can't have sex because of the protection thing, does that mean that I can't tease you any more?"

"To tell you the truth I like the teasing. The teasing will only make it better for us when we finally do it." I said.

"Oh good, can I go around naked then?" She asked. There was that playful sound in her voice again.

"You can do what ever makes you happy." I said.

"Will you be naked too?" She asked. There was that coy voice again.

"There are two things that I know for sure, and both of them are: Women naked very very good. Men naked very very bad." We both laughed.

We also started to feel the chill of the air and the snow. It was time to go back to the hot tub.

After an hour of enjoyable conversation we decided to return to the cabin. I started out barefoot with all my clothes bundled under my arm. Toni had the good sense to put her boots before starting back, however she remained naked feeling perfectly comfortable after the heat of the tub.

It wasn't long before I could not feel my feet and I stopped to put on my boots.

As Toni watched me don my shoes she got a thoughtful look on her face and then spoke.

"You know technically we did do it." She said. "I felt you inside me just before you tried to drown me."

"I know, I felt it too." I said.

"Does this mean that we can't have a relationship because we already did it?" Toni asked.

"I don't think that we can count that, it was an accident." I reasoned.

"It felt pretty good." Toni said. That playfulness in her voice again.

'She was really loving this.' I thought to myself.

We continued our way to the cabin.

By the time we arrived, the cabin felt extremely warm. We were almost chilled to the bone. I grabbed a blanket and put it around Toni. She folded into my arms and we hugged until the warmth returned to our bodies.

Someone should study the things that turn men on or maybe just what turns me on, for after spending the afternoon watching Toni naked, I got turned on by seeing her in her own clothes. The sight of her puttering around the cabin in a pair of her jeans and a buttoned blouse caused me the same effect as when I first saw her naked. Men, or better that I speak solely about myself are turned on by the most unusual things.

I have seen a particular type of ankle that moved me, only because that type of ankle belonged to a woman that I had a most gratifying relationship with. I have never found slender women a tremendous turn on. Mainly because I prefer woman who are not too concerned about their looks but are concerned about how they react to other people. I consider kindness a better attribute for a woman then how her makeup looks. Women who remain busy in their lives I also find attractive. This woman seemed to have all these things working for her. Could it be that she is the one.

Toni did busy herself after she had arranged her dry gear back into her backpack she went about the cabin dusting and generally tidying up. I had completed the kitchen chores and had sat down on the couch in front of the fire.

"You don't have to earn your keep here you know." I said.

"I know, but I like to keep busy to keep my mind off things." She said.

"Why don't you sit down and read that's what I'm going to do." I said.

"We'll need some more light but first I have to start the generator, it's out back in the shed. I should start it anyway, there are batteries that operate the lights that need to be charged, and so we might as well enjoy the light and read and listen to some music."

I went out to the shed and started the small generator. When I returned the cabin was brightly lit with the lamps at either end of the couch.

Toni was lying outstretched on the couch with a book that she had found on the bookshelf along the cabin wall. She had selected "Petals on the River" by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss about a young lady during early American times who was falsely accused of theft in England and brought over to America in the chains of a debtor.

I was reading one of my old stand-bys a John D. Macdonald mystery "The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper", one that I had read a few times before. The couch was just long enough so that in order for Toni to get comfortable, she had to put her feet on my lap. This was not a problem until she started searching in my lap for "something." I held her feet away from trouble as I read. As long as I had to holding her feet anyway I started to rub them while I continued to read.

"Umm, that feels good." She said and she wiggled her toes in appreciation.

I concentrated my efforts by setting my book down and using both hands. Her occasional moans and whispered "Yes's" assured me that what ever I was doing, it felt good to her. She tried to remain deep into her book but with my attention to her feet, I invoked many moans of pleasure from her as she read.

Soon she was quiet; she was lost in the novel and accepted the massage she was receiving as normal activity. I went back to reading and one-handed foot rubs. The cabin was peaceful; you could hear the sound of the generator faintly in the background. The wind was whistling around the windows and doors. The fire occasionally crackled or popped. My book was totally enjoyable.

I'm afraid that my hand had paused in the manipulation of Toni's feet because she suddenly moved them and said.

"Oh please don't stop."

I could tell that she had to travel a long way from where the book had taken her to encourage me to continue rubbing, and she was not happy that she had to make the trip.

"Do my legs." She said; it was almost a command.

I was happy to oblige. As I continued to read, my free hand kneaded her calf's first one then the other. I could feel some tense muscles when I started; soon she seemed to relax. Toni was very deep into the story, as she didn't move a muscle except for turning the pages.

I had done her calves as much as I thought needed to be done without starting to remove skin, so I stopped. When I did, Toni got up and went to the bathroom that was off the kitchen.

We used a chemical toilet during the winter months because the water system would freeze if we didn't. When she returned to the couch she laid her head on my lap facing away from me and picked up her book.

I started to massage her neck muscles with my free hand. Toni began to reward me with more moans of pleasure; she arched her neck and stopped reading for a few moments as I renewed my efforts to please her. I move both my hands down her back as I had stopped reading also.

When I had attended to all the areas of Toni's back, I stopped my massage, and picked up my book again. Toni grunted her disappointment and turned over.

When Toni rolled over to face me I lifted my arm away from where I had rubbing her back. She settled down in the couch her head on my thigh, and grabbed my arm to hug to her chest as she tried to drift off to sleep. The back of my hand was nestled between the soft swellings of her breasts. I tried to read but it was difficult to keep my mind on the book. Finally I put down the book, and laid my head back on the couch and drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to dark windows and the sound of wind around the cabin. I got up cursing my stupidity, it was important that I shovel the snow off the boat before the boat capsized from the weight of the wet heavy stuff that had been falling. I had planned to do it late in the afternoon while there was still light. In waiting so long, I would have to shovel in the dark, not a pleasant task even in the light of day.

I was not too gentle in repositioning Toni as I got up. I immediately turned and apologized to her for being so rough.

"That's ok." She responded. "I was almost awake anyway, what's the matter?" She saw the alarm on my face as I looked out the window.

"Oh nothing really, I just wanted to get the boat cleaned off before sunset that's all. Now I'll have to do it in the dark."

I started to get into my heavy clothes. Toni started to dress for outdoors also.

"Where do you think that you're going young lady"!

She glared at me as she spoke.

"I am not a child or a young lady, sometimes I'm not even a lady. I'm going with you to help if I can, but I'm going with you in any case."

I made her put on an old rain slicker that I had, over her jacket. I don't know how she expected to survive out here with the pitifully lightweight clothes that she had brought with her.

We started down to the dock through the deep snow. The wind was moderate and coming on shore from the cove, it brought heavy wet snow with it. The kind of snow that could spell death to a boat left unattended. The snow could pile high enough to roll a motor craft over at its moorings.

The boat was the "Alice B" named by the former owner for his x-wife. He took great pride in selling her well below market; he had to split the sale with his wife and did not pass up the opportunity to "Piss her off" was his words. I benefited from his vengeance.

She was a forty-eight foot motor sailor with a full above deck wheelhouse that ran for a good length of the boat. There was not going to be any cockpit sailboat for me in these waters. I wanted to be comfortable while I sailed. She held a single mast and more than adequate twin diesel engines. There were two staterooms a full head and a full galley. I had kept the Galley oil stove on low to keep the moisture from collecting on the hull, so it was just a bit warmer than the outdoor temperature when we arrived.

I turned up the stove and turned on a few lights. Already I could feel the boat wallowing from the weight of the snow as we moved about. She had taken on a good deal of snow during the day. I checked the batteries and started number two engine. It usually started the easiest. Soon the reassuring sound of the deep-throated engine pulsed through the boat. Now that we had power I was able to put on more lights in the cabin. The dark teakwood paneling gave off a warm glow in the dim battery lights.

"Oh this is soo beautiful." Toni remarked as she walked around laying her hands on the woodwork.

"Make yourself comfortable." I told her as I turned to begin the snow removal.

"Can I help with the snow?" Toni Asked.

"You had better not, the deck will be icy and the snow is wet and heavy." I warned.

"Why don't you stay in here and make us some tea." I suggested.

I showed her where the tea was and I went out to shovel snow.

I started on the seaward side of the ship removing almost three feet of wet heavy snow from the deck. The boat started listing toward the dock at a greater and greater angle as I removed more snow from the opposite side.

I was about to start removing snow on the dockside of the boat, when Toni come out carrying a hot mug of tea. I went towards her as she tried to walk on the slanted deck towards me.

Suddenly; the huge snow pile that had been on the roof of the wheelhouse, slid off toward the dock. The increased heat in the cabin had caused the mass of snow and ice to break loose and smash down onto the starboard deck, and then on to the pier and then the water.

The result of the shift of weight, was that the boat first heeled hard to starboard towards the dock; then when the wet snow crashed down off the deck, the boat rolled violently to port. I grabbed for a deck rail to steady my self until the boat returned to normal.

"Toni." I yelled.

Toni was nowhere in sight; I rushed to the starboard rail and looked into the dark murky waters. The snow that was on the cabin roof was floating in the water next to the dock, giving me the idea that first one mass of snow was mistaken for Toni and then another. However she was not on the surface. I would have to go in after her. I tore off my boots and heavy parka and jumped in.

The shock of the cold water nearly caused me to loose consciousness.

I immediately shot to the surface; it was a natural reaction to the cold water. I had to force my self to go down into the murky water after the person who I suddenly realized, meant everything to me. I realized it when the sick dead feeling of dread rushed through me at the thought of loosing her.

I grabbed the pier's pilings to force myself deep into the cold sea hand over hand, feet first, trying to make contact with Toni's body. I thrashed my legs around the area, going ever deeper in my search. Finally my lungs cried for air, and I was forced to go to the surface. Two quick breaths and I was on my way down again.

I noticed that my fingers were not obeying my commands to grip the pilings any more, I had to grasp the slimy wooden supports with numb arms in an attempt to propel myself deeper. Again the burning in my lungs signaled that I need another breath. I tried to kick my way to the surface, my arms were not responding at all.

Just before my head broached the surface for the second time, my foot struck something soft. I attempted to go after what I had felt before getting my air. My lungs were burning to the point that my body was going to take a deep breath in spite of the fact that I was still well under water. I had to make a decision, air and life or joining Toni in the deep. I struggled to the surface; I took two great lungs full of air and once again flailed my way down to find her. If I didn't find her this time I was going to join her, either way I was never going to be without her again.

I moved down feet first again, and again I touched a soft object under me. I felt around with my numbed legs, trying to feel what part of her I might be touching, or if I was in fact touching her at all. My foot caught on something, as I bent my knees I could barely feel that I had an additional weight attached to my toe. I thought that I must have my foot caught under her arm.

I clawed my way to the surface by clubbing at the cross-members with my deadened arms while holding the object between my feet. I broke the surface, breathed a short breath and dove under the surface in an attempt to bring Toni's head above the surface.

I had no grip, my legs were like stiff logs attached to my body; I got one arm under her arm and finally brought her head out of the water.

She was limp; there were no signs of life; I reached for the splash rail on the boat at water level. My hands thankfully had frozen in a half grip that allowed me to hook my stiffened fingers over the splash rail and work my way back to the swim platform at the stern. I was able to keep Toni's head above water until I arrived at the stern ledge just above the water line. I hooked one arm on the edge of the ledge and tried to lift her lifeless body onto the platform. Slowly I was able to lift more and more of her out of the water until she was free of the icy sea. Now I had the problem of getting myself out and onto the deck. I tried to get one of my deadened legs to rest on one of the out-drives. Having accomplished this, I tried for the other out-drive with the other leg.

Now what? My legs were not going to support me enough to raise myself out of the water, or were they. I got both elbows on the swim step and with a cry of agonizing pain I launched myself up and onto the step. I lay there next to Toni, attempting to regain some strength for the next obstacle. I had to get us both inside the cabin. I stood up with great difficulty, my legs were like concrete. How was I ever going to get us both into the warmth of the cabin?

I bent down; my back seemed to be more pliable than any other joint in my body.

I worked my stiffened arms under Toni's body and inched her body up the transom until I held her, teetering on the rail, and then I lost her again, she fell with a sickening thud as her body hit the onboard deck. I threw my frozen body after her in a vain attempt to somehow save her from the impact.

We lay there side by side; our clothes were freezing to our bodies. I was just barely able to move on my hands and knees across the deck towards the galley door. I trapped Toni's body in-between my sluggish arms and my knees and shuffled us both toward the life-saving heat of the cabin.

The door had slammed closed during the violent rocking of the boat, thank god that the knob was a lever and not a round knob. I was able to unlatch it and open it with my elbow. There was a struggle, trying to align Toni's torso with the door opening, but once I had her head inside the door I braced my knee against her foot and shoved her inside.

The cabin's heat was almost too hot, the difference in temperatures almost caused me to pass out, but I must not, there was still the matter of getting my new love back to life if that were possible. I slid her to a place in front of the stove and began calling her name and rubbing her frozen body with my forearms.

My fingers were still too stiff to be able to manipulate the buttons and zippers of her jacket and other clothes. I finally hooked my frozen fingers in the edge of her jacket and pulled open the garment as the buttons flew across the cabin. The violent tug caused Toni to roll unceremoniously across the Galley deck. I heard her groan as elbows and knees hit the deck as she rolled.

I went to where she had rolled and tried to rouse her to consciousness.

"TONI." I yelled. Can you hear me, are you OK?"

There was no answer. I dragged her back closer to the stove and began using the same rough method of undressing on her shirt that I used on her jacket. It had the same result, but without bouncing Toni across the deck as the first time. I rolled her on her stomach and clawed the wet garments from her body. When I rolled her over on her back, I heard the same groan that I had heard before.

'Does the sound of her groan mean that she is OK'? I thought to myself. "Please god let her live." I begged out-loud.

When I rolled Toni over she was naked, her beautiful breasts were pale and her nipples were hardened and stood erect. I paused to look at the wondrous sight before me.

'Dam you dummy this is not the time to admire the scenery get busy' I thought to myself.

I staggered to my feet and left Toni lying there next to the stove. She was lying on her side, almost on her stomach when I left the galley. I went to get all the blankets that I could lay my hands on.

When I returned Toni was sprawled out on the floor with her arms out-stretched wide, her bare breasts were heaving as she breathed. I began to get the feeling back in my fingers. I wrapped her in the blankets, vigorously rubbing her as my hands started to become more functional. I stopped long enough to remove my own wet clothing. I wrapped myself in one of the blankets and resumed rubbing and drying Toni off.

After a while I was feeling warmer to the point that I was getting too hot. I turned down the stove and filled the teapot with water.

When I returned to Toni, I found that she had thrown off the blankets again and was lying there outstretched and inviting. I knelt down beside her unconscious body and began to cover her up. I had to clutch my own blanket around me as I hovered over her.

Suddenly her arms came up and encircled my neck. She drew me down to her waiting lips. Our kiss was soft and long. I settled down upon her drawing my blanket over us as I was consumed with the feelings of our meshing together.

"Are you alright?" I asked when we finally separated.

"I'm fine now." She sighed. "What happened?"

I tried to explain the events that almost killed her and described how I got her back on board.

"My hero." She swooned.

"You do love me... a little... don't you?" She added.

"Yes I think I do." I replied.

I lifted her in my arms and carried her to the main cabin. I was able to hold her cradled in with her head on my shoulder while I pulled back the down comforter and gently deposited her on the soft bed and slipped in the bed behind her. Her body had warmed up somewhat, during the time in the galley and that warmth felt good as I slid in next to her.

I held her in my arms, so thankful that she had survived.

"You had better be prepared to receive your reward." She said. "That was the second time you have saved my life, and I won't take no for an answer this time."

She hugged me warmly and seductively as she pulled me on top of her.

Our lovemaking was at times gentle, slow, and at other times during the night, she demanded hard fast encounters that left us both out of breath and exhausted. At quiet times between lovemaking we would talk of our feelings, wishes and dreams, as we lay coupled, with Toni on her back and I on my side our legs intertwined.

***

For the next four days the weather was reasonably mild with only a few inches of fresh snow to keep things looking like a winter wonderland. Since we had to keep the snow off the boat anyway, we decided to stay on the boat so we moved our belongings including Toni's canoe onto the "Alice B."

Our day's activities included hiking along the beach at low tide where we picked up some clams and a few land locked crabs that we were lucky to find. We would venture to our hot tub at least once a day to frolic in the hot water and run naked into the deep snow.

Of course we tried to make love while we were deep in a soft snow drift but as we became one, the freezing snow would discourage our consummating the act and we would have to run back to the warmth of the tub vowing to complete the act next time.

We would often start to walk back to the boat completely naked in a game of chicken, to see who could last the longest with out wrapping themselves in one of the blankets; the only thing that we would wear to the tub.

I'm afraid I would have to prove my masculinity and won almost every time except the times when Toni would shake snow from the overhanging branches on my naked body. I didn't have the heart to do the same to her.

***

Finally after the fifth day and our combined provisions were running low, I made the decision to leave. We would leave early the next morning just a half-hour before high tide. We needed the high water under our keel to get us safely over the shoals out side of the cove.

Our last evening meal on the boat consisted of the last of the crab and clams and the last potato in the larder.

That night we made love with the intensity of lovers that were parting forever. I think that were both thinking that this newly found relationship might change when we reached Sitka and the outside world.

Early the next morning I slipped out of bed; trying not to disturb the new love in my life. I started a pot of coffee for me and put a pot of water on the stove in case Toni wanted tea. I had to maneuver out of the cove at the morning high tide to safely avoid the rocks that guarded the entrance. The throaty engines did not disturb Toni when I started them. After they were warmed up and running smoothly I untied the lines and hurried back to the wheelhouse before we drifted too close to the rocks.

It was foggy, very foggy; I set the engines at dead slow while I checked every electronic gadget on board. I would be using them all to make sure I didn't hit any underwater obstructions. There was the Sonar, the Radar, and the GPS.

As my eyes darted from one electronic screen to the other and then out of the windshield, I felt soft hands wrap themselves around my upper arm.

"Good morning my love where are we?" She asked.

"We're just getting underway." I answered. Then I felt the warmth of the hot coffee mug next to my hand. "Thank you." I said without looking at her.

Toni sensed that I was extremely busy with my navigation and was considerately quiet for sometime. Finally she became bored and began asking questions about the equipment. Answering her questions did nothing to distract my navigation of the boat; in fact it took the edge from the tension of avoiding underwater obstacles. I was amazed at how fast she caught on to the boat's controls and instruments. Before long she took over the wheel and began guiding the craft as we inched our way through the channels on our way through the mist to the open sea.

As the water became deeper under the keel, I felt comfortable in leaving the wheelhouse and the controls in Toni's hands while I attended to other chores.

While I was dressing lines on the deck, I heard a plane flying low somewhere near us. It was the unmistakable sound of a Dehaviland Beaver. I went to the wheelhouse and asked Toni if she had heard it. She thought that she had heard something but wasn't sure what it was. I told her that I thought that it was a plane and that I thought that it must be in trouble. I told her to keep looking for any signs of the plane from her vantage point at the wheelhouse while I go out and listen on deck. I throttled down the engines to be able to hear and went out on deck.

Soon I could hear the plane again. It seemed to be coming in our direction. I wondered how he could see in this heavy fog. Toni stuck her head out of the window of the wheelhouse and indicated that she could hear the plane too. The sound came closer and closer, suddenly there were lights heading right for us; they were the landing lights of a beaver flying low and obviously in trouble.

I turned towards the wheelhouse to warn Toni but she had already pulled her head in the cabin. Then as I turned back to see the massive radial engine bearing down directly at me, I heard the thunder of the Alice Bs diesels being jammed into full power. Then there was thrust of a hard turn to Port that swung the bow away from the on coming plane. As the wing passed by the mast I saw that it was a floatplane and that one float had been torn off.

It looked like the pilot was being forced to set the plane down without the float. I didn't have to tell Toni to follow the plane; the Alice B was making full speed after the crippled aircraft. As I made my way to the cabin, I heard the plane hit the water; it was too far ahead of us to see it hit but we could hear it break up.

Toni slowed the engines as we tried to find the plane through the soup. Then we saw the tail sticking high out of the water. I put my trust in Toni's ability to handle the boat while I went to the bow. I grabbed a gaff pole from the deck and made ready to grab on to the plane or any survivors. Toni brought the boat up to the tail of the plane and reversed the engines to a perfect stop.

At first I could not see any sign of survivors, but then I heard a cry.

"Over here." I heard a man call.

Then I saw two heads bobbing in the water near where the left wing. The wings were floating just on the surface of the water. I extended the pole toward the two people in the water and a man grabbed the pole and hung on. I pulled him back along the side to the swim step in the stern and after I saw that he had a hold of the ladder. I went back after the other man that was hanging on to the end of the wing. I also noticed that the first man had a duffel bag that he hung dearly onto that didn't seem to help him remain above water.

. As soon as I got the pole near the second man, I noticed by the features of his face, that the remaining survivor was a woman. The icy cold water was sapping her strength and she was very close to slipping away from the wing and going under. The only thing that saved her was the floatation jacket that she wore. I hooked the gaff into her jacket and towed her to the swim step.

As I approached the ladder I saw that the first man had not pulled himself aboard. He was struggling with the waterlogged duffel bag and it was about to take him down with it. I assumed that the girl was in worse shape so I grabbed her jacket and hauled her aboard. She was not very heavy even with her water logged clothes.

Toni had come down from the wheelhouse and took the young girl from me and helped her toward the cabin while I turned back the man still in the water.

He had accomplished lifting the duffel bag on to the swim step but he didn't have the strength to haul himself up the ladder. I tried to lift him but he was too heavy and too far-gone to help. I grabbed his collar and called to Toni.

"Toni, get me some rope!" I called.

Toni came out of the cabin and grabbed a line that was coiled on the deck. While holding on to the man's collar I worked the line around the man's chest under his arms. When I was sure that he was secure, I passed the line around a railing upright and began to haul him out an agonizing inch at a time. Toni helped pull on the line and between us we were able to haul him over the swim step at the same spot where I lifted Toni's lifeless body just a few days ago.

He was a heavy man, a little over six feet tall and he wasn't slim. It took all that we had between us to lift him onto the deck. Once he was aboard Toni went to tend to his companion. As I dragged the unconscious man toward the cabin door I heard the girl inside raving incoherently.

"Thank you, thank you, oh god thank you." The girl kept saying.

"Was there anyone else aboard?" I heard Toni asked.

"Just Frank." She said. "You have to find Frank." She added insistently.

"We have a man aboard, I think that he is going to be alright." I assured her as I entered the cabin with the unconscious form dragging behind me.

"Thank god." She said.

I left Toni to care for the girl while I went to attend to Frank.

Toni had the girl stripped and wrapped in a blanket next to the stove as I closed the cabin door.

As I began getting the man's clothes off, he began to come around.

"Where's my bag?" He almost screamed. "I need my bag." He yelled again.

"I'll go get it; it's still on the stern step." I assured him.

I went out and retrieved the heavy water soaked bag.

When I appeared at the cabin door with the bag, the man's face lit up and he thanked me for saving it. After he thanking me he began to get his priorities lined up and then thanked us for saving him and his lady friend. After thanking us, he finally got around to asking what he should have asked first.

"Are you alright angel?" He mumbled through chattering teeth.

"Yes I'm okay." The girl answered.

After wrapping them in heavy blankets, we sat them in the breakfast nook across from each other. After placing cups of hot tea in front of them Toni and I introduced ourselves.

"Hi my name is Alvin but you can call me Alf, and this is Toni." I said extending my hand.

Toni extended her hand to the girl.

"My name is Frank and this is my wife Angel. We just got married yesterday and we were on our way to our honeymoon when I got low on gas." The man said.

"How did you loose your float?" I asked.

"Oh I tried to set her down where I thought there was water but there was a rock sticking out of the water and it took the float so I had to pull up and try to find a sandy beach to ditch onto." Frank explained.

"When I saw your boat I just set her down as fast as I could in the hopes that you could find us in time."

"Well you were lucky." I assured him. "Honey, I'm going to get a fix on our position and set the auto pilot for Sitka." I said as I made my way to the wheelhouse.

When I returned, Toni met me at the cabin door and me out on the deck to talk where our guests couldn't overhear us.

Toni found out that they were on their way to Kodiak Island to spend their honeymoon at a cannery over there.

"There's something strange about them, they are both very scared about something; something bigger than the loss of their plane. She is just petrified of him and something else. She hardly says a word and even if she does say something, she looks to him to see if it's okay." Toni said.

"I think that it has something to do with that bag." I said.

"What do you think is in it?" Toni asked.

"I'm not sure, but what ever it is, it soaked up a lot of water and I don't think that it is clothes." I said.

"We had better get back." She said.

We went back to the galley; our friends were just finishing their tea.

"Are you hungry, can I fix you something?" Toni asked.

"I'm starved." Honey blurted out. But then her eyes dropped and she looked furtively at Frank.

"Yea, me too." Frank said.

Honey heaved a sigh of relief that Frank was hungry as well.

"I'll make some soup and sandwiches." Toni said.

I sat down to join them.

"Toni said that you were going to spend your honeymoon on Kodiak Island." I asked.