Once she was half naked, it was a simple matter to slip out of the final petticoat and not bothering this time for proper folding she just left everything in a heap in her haste to get into the water and be less exposed. A few quick steps and she was at the waters edge and eased on in. Oh lordy, it was cold! She had not counted it being that cold. Little late now.
By the time she stopped a few feet short of him, she was actually having to swim and that covered her except for head and shoulders, mostly. There he was, still treading water and eyes fixed on her. But his very first words.....
“I’m disappointed.”
The look on her face and in her eyes was a mix of hurt and shock. She knew it! She had disappointed him, just like she worried she would. If she could have suddenly disappeared and then woke up in her bed realizing it was all just a dream, a good one for awhile but in the end a nightmare, she would have.
But there was more, “I can hardly see that scar, Arabella made out it was so big you could put it on display in a circus.”
Oh, so that was it?
"She never even saw me undressed," she snapped, leave it to that girl to say something so cruel. What was wrong with her? As for Clara, she was rapidly losing whatever confidence, or had it been hope, she had built up to even attempt this.
"Can you swim under water?" he asked .
"I do not make a habit of it, but yes, of course I can," she replied.
She was in it now, she might as well carry it thru.
"Yes, Dear"
"She never even saw me undressed," she snapped, leave it to that girl to say something so cruel. What was wrong with her? As for Clara, she was rapidly losing whatever confidence, or had it been hope, she had built up to even attempt this.
“Then she was unlucky!” blurted Jacob. “You’re beautiful!”
He kept treading water. He had made a mistake, he felt. When she had chided him for complimenting her overmuch, he had stupidly believed she was serious. She looked sort of crestfallen. It baffled him that a goddess like Clara could have any self-doubt. She had to hear this.
“Listen, Clara Anne Redmond, I’ve got a book at home, it’s got pictures in it of some of the statues the old Greeks and Romans made of their goddesses…” some water went in his mouth and he had to spit it out. “Believe me Clara, they must’ve picked the most beautiful women of their time to serve as their models: but not one of them has as lovely a face or … I don’t mind saying it … or body as you!”
He held out his hand.
"Can you swim under water?" he asked.
"I do not make a habit of it, but yes, of course I can," she replied.
“Good!” he said decidedly “Now I’ll be Neptune and you’ll be Amphitrite, she was a water nymph who was nearly as pretty as you, and they had a high old time in his underwater kingdom, and that’s where we’re going to visit now!” he realised that he was babbling, Arabella style, but he didn’t care, because it gave him scope to give her the praise she deserved.
“Now, take a deep breath and come on!” he virtually ordered her.
The water was clean and fresh and if you forced yourself to open your eyes, you could see down to the strangely dusty looking lake-bed. You could also see each other’s naked bodies, paler looking that usual, strangely shaped in their frog-like swimming motion, and with the shadows of the ripples above caressing them with vague surreal lines. Cheeks bulging, Jacob pointed with a jabbing motion to where he’d seen the small wreck. Wreck! It sounded like something from a Pirate yarn in his head.
Then she was unlucky!” blurted Jacob. “You’re beautiful!”
Those words took some of the shock away of his first ones to her in the water, so perhaps he had not been initially referring to her afterall. Her ebbing and flowing confidence once more flowed.
"Well, I...." yet again more loss for words, so not like Clara.
“Listen, Clara Anne Redmond, I’ve got a book at home, it’s got pictures in it of some of the statues the old Greeks and Romans made of their goddesses…” some water went in his mouth and he had to spit it out. “Believe me Clara, they must’ve picked the most beautiful women of their time to serve as their models: but not one of them has as lovely a face or … I don’t mind saying it … or body as you!”
The young lady swallowed, now he was gushing about her in such an over the top fashion. It was like music to her ears but....hard to believe it was genuine. Although she wanted it to be. Again it came down to trusting Jacob and , much as she truly liked this boy, trust still was not an easy thing for Clara to give. Still she imagined she must be blushing right about then.
"Umm, that is....very kind of you," she softened.
But they were in the water like this to explore something below the surface (that was why she was now naked in here with a boy, right?) and it was back on focus. He asked if she could swim underwater and she immediately assured him she could.
“Good!” he said decidedly “Now I’ll be Neptune and you’ll be Amphitrite, she was a water nymph who was nearly as pretty as you, and they had a high old time in his underwater kingdom, and that’s where we’re going to visit now!”
"And I thought we were going to check out the lake bottom," she quipped in that dry fashion of hers.
“Now, take a deep breath and come on!” he virtually ordered her.
Clara was game, frankly at this time Jacob could have asked her to jump off a cliff and she probably would have done so. She gulped a big breath of air and under she went. It wasn't the easiest style of swimming but she could do it, keeping close to him. Once she had opened her eyes, it was rather interesting to realize she could see down there. There was the temptation to not look for this mystery object but glance at his lanky figure but that was interrupted by him pointing specifically to something. She looked then.
"Yes, Dear"
Umm, that is....very kind of you," she softened.
Jacob shook his head. “You mean it’s very truthful of me!” he corrected, looking slightly baffled by her. She was the most attractive person he had ever met in his life and yet giving her a well deserved compliment seemed to confuse her to the very core. Maybe she’d been flattered and then let down by a feller before. He didn’t know about her experiences at the hands of that philandering ex-gunfighter, Jesse Shade Thornton.
But they were in the water like this to explore something below the surface (that was why she was now naked in here with a boy, right?) and it was back on focus. He asked if she could swim underwater and she immediately assured him she could.
“Good!” he said decidedly “Now I’ll be Neptune and you’ll be Amphitrite, she was a water nymph who was nearly as pretty as you, and they had a high old time in his underwater kingdom, and that’s where we’re going to visit now!”
"And I thought we were going to check out the lake bottom," she quipped in that dry fashion of hers.
Jacob chuckled in the water: she was so terrible at making jokes it was hilarious, and he loved her for it.
“Now, take a deep breath and come on!” he virtually ordered her.
Down they dove, Jacob keeping in mind that Clara might not be able to hold her breath for as long as he could. As soon as they neared the bottom of the lake at this point, the position of the ‘wreck’ became obvious. Although covered in a thin layer of dusty silt like the rest of the rocks and pebbles of the floor of that great water filled pit, there was an artificial, man hewn shape to the aged and rotted wooden spars and planks of whatever sort of craft it had been. And now he had a chance to look more closely, there was something more square shaped than long amongst the wreckage.
He pointed at it to Clara, who was swimming under the water with all the easy elan of a very beautiful looking lady otter, and diving right down to the bottom tried to grab at the thing, but it was caught under one of the planks of wood, which was itself held fast by the weight of the rest of the timber.
He was out of breath and considered that Clara must be, too. He launched off from the bottom, swirling up the ‘dust’ of the silt and gently and in all innocence put his hand on the small of her back to indicate they should regain the surface. It didn’t occur to him for an instant that this was any kind of ungentlemanly indiscretion: they weren’t civilized humans in this medium, they were just animals, a boy otter and girl otter, exploring around with twitching, curious noses.
After their heads broke above the surface of the lake, hair slick with the water, Jacob tried to speak while simultaneously gulping for air.
“Did ya see… [gasp]… that treasure chest?! … [gasp]… if I can lift up the plank … [gasp] can you try and pull it out … [gasp] …?” He caught his breath properly, and then added. “You looked wonderful under there, Clara, just like a mermaid.” He said. Really, he was still thinking ‘lady otter’ but that didn’t sound quite so complimentary!
It certainly was a strange new world under the water surface and even swimming had a different feel to it but she managed it, for over the years she really had developed into a very good swimmer, it had not been braggadocio. As she looked in the direction he was pointing, she saw ...something? A boat? Or more accurately wreckage of a boat. It looked like it had been there for a thousand years. Hardly possible of course.
However by then she was beginning to worry about what little breath she had left already, swimming was one thing, holding one's breath under the water was quite another. When he touched her back as a signal to surface, she needed no push but hurried to break the surface with a mighty gasp once she did. And there he was, also gulping in air.
“Did ya see… [gasp]… that treasure chest?! … [gasp]… if I can lift up the plank … [gasp] can you try and pull it out … [gasp] …?”
"I was too busy.... worrying about my lungs bursting," she replied then sucked in some more blessed air.
"But....yes, I can try it," while not for a minute did she believe whatever that was down there was a treasure chest, she was certainly curious and game for seeing if they could get a better look at it once they got it on land. Well, IF they could get it on land.
“You looked wonderful under there, Clara, just like a mermaid.”
"Hardly, I do not have a fish tail," she pointed out in that dry fashion of hers, well that was about the only part of her that was dry right about then.
But if there was one thing about Clara, she was the kind of person who always wanted to finish anything she started, she was now eager.
"Ready? Let us try once more!" no sooner had she spoken but she took a deep breath then ducked under.
"Yes, Dear"
I was too busy.... worrying about my lungs bursting," she replied then sucked in some more blessed air.
Jacob laughed, between his own gasps. “We wouldn't make very good pearl divers.”
"But....yes, I can try it,"
“You looked wonderful under there, Clara, just like a mermaid.”
"Hardly, I do not have a fish tail," she pointed out in that dry fashion of hers, well that was about the only part of her that was dry right about then.
“I’ll try and look more carefully next time.” He conceded. Not that he hadn’t had a good look already.
"Ready? Let us try once more!" no sooner had she spoken but she took a deep breath then ducked under.
He didn’t even have time to shout wait for me! As he dived under after her.
This time it was different, like a well-planned military (or naval!) operation. They swam straight to the area of the wreck directly below them, Jacob – filled with that mad strength that fills the thews of men at work, when they are in the direct sight of a pretty girl – lifted the plank with ease, and nodded the signal for Clara to pull out the trunk. The way she handled it, it didn’t seem to be heavy under the water; there must be a good deal of air in the thing. That was either a good sign or bad, depending on what you were hoping was in there. One thing was for sure, it wasn’t full to the brim of golden Spanish doubloons!
As she needed both hands to cradle the thing, Jacob naturally found himself snaking his arm tight around her waist and, both with legs kicking furiously and cheeks bulging, swimming them both to the surface. The quite intimate touch of bare flesh on bare flesh, again, not seeming at all shocking or scandalous in the context of this watery world.
This time there was no talking or quipping for quite a few seconds as both gasped for oxygen as they hung onto the trunk, which looked weirdly normal now it was wrested from the watery clutches of the Lake.
Jacob eventually managed a one worded “Let’sgetitoverthere!” and nodded to the shoreline, where they had jumped in. There was a bush-surrounded patch of muddy flat near the rockier part where they’d jumped in, where it would be easier to drag the box ashore. He had little doubt that it would be a lot heavier as they brought it out of the water and it lost its natural buoyancy.
Clara waited as the boy cleared the plank away, she got a chance to get a view of those stringy muscles of his in action. She admitted that though he was scrawny he was not a weakling, a life of daily labor had assured that much. Then it was her turn so down she went, bending enough to latch both hands onto a handle on the trunk, hoping it would not simply rip off from the length of time this thing must have been down here.
One tug, a lot of resistance, embedded in sediment even though within the boat it did not want to budge but a second more driven yank did it and it was free! If she had failed she would have had to give up this attempt and surface regardless as her air was running out. But they got it and now they could bring it on up!
Jacob was there then to help assist their assent, wrapping one of his long arms around her. He was fortunate in the situation for had he attempted that normally she would have recoiled at the touch. She had long had a real issue with human contact. It was unexplainable but a part of her. Now she never even thought about it in their dual need to get to the surface and gasp for air.
Once their heads broke the surface, Jacob forced out a quick command, Let’sgetitoverthere!”
No argument from her, in fact she said nothing in agreement either but saved her breath and effort to struggle to the shore. She followed his lead, still clutching the suddenly heavier seeming object and it was not without further exertion that the two young people wrestled the trunk up and onto the dark soil. Both crawled inland until they were then on opposite sides of the trunk. They had done it though!
"Victory!" Clara announced in triumph, still oblivious to her complete lack of clothing. The moment was simply exhilarating! Of course that probably wouldn't last long but now their eyes met as both took some seconds to breath in heavily.
"Yes, Dear"
Victory!" Clara announced in triumph, still oblivious to her complete lack of clothing. The moment was simply exhilarating! Of course, that probably wouldn't last long but now their eyes met as both took some seconds to breath in heavily.
Jacob looked back into Clara’s dark eyes, but then fell downwards onto her small, lovely breasts and then yet further down to her dark secrets, suddenly very aware of both his and her nakedness: he felt both shame and excitement, his breath was short now, but not from the exertion of dragging this Pandora’s box ashore. He wondered if this is what Adam and Eve felt like in the Garden of Eden, when their nakedness was revealed unto them for the first time by the Lord.
He didn’t dare speak, didn’t dare think, even, lest it break the spell. He met her eyes again. Unlike their sexless underwater existence, they had crawled onto the muddy land like two proto-mammalian amphibians. Pheromones, strong in their evolutionary purpose and now released from their watery bondage, forced themselves into the air from glands at the height of their reproductive powers and found willing receptors in the creature opposite. Mind, civilization, rules, consequences: these all hammered dumbly behind soundproof glass, unheeded by the two young animals that were suddenly under this spell, this eons-old urge to begin writhing in the Precambrian mud at the shore of the lake.
He didn’t know how he was so suddenly so close beside her, his hand lightly stroking her hair; his lips kissing the top of her head; his other hand naturally drawing her close. Their flesh, in this medium, touching and producing sensation of an energising, tickling, arousing hue. He stopped and looked again into her eyes. He loved her. Her happiness was all. Even at this point, his excitement all to obvious, he could still draw back at her signal.
OOC: And at this point FADE TO BLACK
(What happened? Only those two know for sure )
It took them a while to clean up and dry off. As for the intriguing underwater treasure (alright, a waterlogged wood box) they had laboriously hauled out of the lake, they had lost interest in it given what had happened. Besides, it had a small iron padlock, looking very rusted. But they had had no tools with them on the shore to even attempt to force it open. So they left it behind, stashed in some bushes close by the shore. Maybe someday they would get back to finally solving that mystery but far more important things were on their minds.
The youthful couple sat then on the two steps which led up to the small front porch of the farmhouse. Clara was back in her dress though now barefoot. The walk back from the lake had been a quiet one, no doubt as both pondered what just had occurred. It was of course only a bare few hours since Jacob's arrival for his visit but it seemed like ....well, forever. To Clara, it now was a whole new world to consider. And the more she considered it, the more likely she felt her life would never be the same again, for better or worse.
She, the new Clara, impulsively reached out to hold one of his hands. Jacob had big hands and feet. Yes, he was lanky and gawky and there would be those unkind individuals who would say very plain looking but not to her. She loved everything about him and she did not care a hoot about anyone else's opinions.
"I suppose you are going to have to get going now? Wouldn't want my father to find you here, would we?" she sighed.
"I know we can't......do this again....of course but..." she paused then finally continued, "let us do everything we can to keep in touch. Like in town. Emeline....she wants to meet you as I told her all about you."
She blushed, "Obviously not all, not now anyway."