The only thing that ruined that year was the death of his beloved grandmother, an old widow with a sharp mind. She must have made some wise investments in her younger days, because when she died she left Benny and his family a small fortune. Benny had thought for some time about what to do with his newfound wealth before deciding, much to his mother and father’s chagrin, to open a new gym in his hometown of Mevagissey. It was here, after a very successful opening year, that he once again ran into Marsha.
It had been late on a Tuesday night. It was about an hour before closing, and Benny was working out when she had first breezed in. She was a blonde, spandex-covered goddess, her hair up in a simple ponytail and her gym bag tossed casually over a smooth shoulder. Benny’s mouth had gone dry, and his heart had skipped a beat. He had said nothing, just watched her reflection as he secured his bag and headed over to the treadmill. The rest of his workout consisted of trying hard not to watch the fine contours of her body as she stretched and exercised with a vigour only matched by his own.
He was just getting ready to leave when he finally caught her attention. There was a momentary look of confusion in her eye, then a slow dawning recognition.
“Benny Matheson,” she said. “I haven’t seen you in forever!” ‘Did you ever see me?’ the old Benny wanted to say, rearing his ugly head. Benny squashed that side of him quickly. The past, with all its old bitter memories, was behind him now. He had wanted her to notice him, and now she had.
“Hi, Marsha,” he replied, his palms starting to sweat. “How’ve you been?”
“Same as always,” she giggled. “But look at you! You’ve certainly changed. You must live at the gym,” she said, running her eyes over the muscly contours of his body. “Of course, it always helps when you own one, I suppose.”
“How do you know I own the place?” he said, perhaps a little too quickly. She only smiled.
“Your name is right outside the door, Benny. I just didn’t connect the dots until now.”
“Oh,” he smiled, somewhat whimsically. “I suppose it is.”
“Listen,” she said, drawing closer, her perfume surrounding him in an intoxicating cloud. “How about we go out and have a drink later? Catch up on old times.” That was how it had all begun.
• • •
“Forest?”
“What?” Benny said, wrenching himself back into the present.
“Carhaze Forest, doofus,” she chuckled into the phone. “Do you want to go, just you me and a tent full of booze? Should be great, since the nights are nice and warm now. What do you say?”
“Just you and me?” he hurriedly repeated. “Sure, that sounds great.”
“Okay,” she replied. “Pick me up Friday. Oh, and Benny? Don’t bother with a sleeping bag. I have a double.” She hung up on his grinning face, leaving him to count the days until Friday.
When Friday had finally rolled around he had packed the car with a four person tent - plenty of room to manoeuvre - and he had also packed a crate of booze before slamming the door of his new Bronco shut. He hurried to Marsha’s house, but of course she wasn’t ready. In fact he had to wait for another two hours, his temper starting to fray as she fixed her hair for the fourteenth time and touched up her makeup yet again.
“Jesus, Marsha!” he said. “We’re going camping, not to the fucking Paris catwalk.”
“Oh hush! Don’t be so cross, Benny. Some things are worth waiting for.”
Now they were driving through the country lanes, heading to Carhaze Forest with the radio playing too loud. If only she would have hurried the Hell up. His thoughts were suddenly broken by a warm hand softly caressing the front of his jeans.
“Damn, Marsha,” he said, quickly glancing over at her smiling face, trying to concentrate on his driving as she gently squeezed and caressed his rapidly-growing bulge.
“Sorry,” she said, in a throaty whisper. “Just trying out the merchandise.”
“God,” he groaned as she gave him one last squeeze before retreating back to her side of the car.
“You still mad at me?”
“Shit, no,” Benny grinned, rolling his eyes. She laughed at that and everything was alright between them again.
They parked at Carhaze carpark just as the sun was starting to set. They quickly shouldered their packs, grabbing their equipment and heading into the forest. The interior was heavily wooded, adding to the general gloom. They walked for some time, the sun a dying glow in the west.
“Did you hear that?” Benny said, suddenly coming to a stop.
“What?” Marsha asked quickly, glancing around.
“Exactly,” Benny said, also glancing around. “Nothing. There’s no noise, no bird song, no insects. Nothing.”
“So?” Marsha shrugged. “It’s twilight, Benny. All the creatures go to bed early.”
“Right,” he laughed, a little nervously. “Just like the Wind and the Willows.”
“Come on,” she said, heading up the trail. “It will be full dark soon. That’s when the fun really begins.”
“Really?” Benny said, hurrying after her. “I can’t wait.”
Moments later they came to a nice, leaf-strewn clearing next to a shallow brook. Benny dropped his gear and immediately began setting up their
