Go directly for help, chapter 21

Finally Ashley brought them to their senses. “We do not need to make a choice about helping you. That’s a given. The only question is what is our next move?”

Lori looked up and down her friends. Excluding Daphne, everybody was wearing dirty clothes. Or clothes not doing much to hide their cum stained bodies. “First, I think we need to change. Hopefully that will keep us away from those chasing you.”

Shaggy thought that a good idea. “That sounds wise. We each have a cabin here. Except for Daphne that is. I have several sweat suits there.”

“As do I.” the other two local girls confirmed.

“We should go to one of them.” Ashley finished.

Daphne considered the idea. “To be honest with you I don’t care if either you or your clothes are cum soaked. I just want to feel safe. Do you guys have any sort of security around here. You know, to keep tourist or young people from wandering out of bounds? No offense, but I want to be ready if there is a fight.”

“None taken.” Lori told her. “Though we are capable in a fight if we have to be. Yes. Though the security is not normally this far away from the public areas. We try to keep the tourists if you will contained so we do not need too large a ****.”

Shaggy nodded at that. “Kinda goes against the who idyllic lifestyle thing to need a large security **** everywhere.”

Daphne could appreciate such a place in theory. But in her experience Eden always had snakes. “You telling me nothing ever goes bad out here?”

Ashley snorted. “We wish. It’s just so rare that those not involved usually put a stop to it. we then figure out what the problem was and if it can be treated in house. Eighteen times out of twenty it can and the offender is a far better person for the effort the group makes to save them. One time out of twenty they are simply escorted off the grounds and told not to return.”

Daphne did a quick bit of math. “That leaves one chance of twenty.”

Shaggy briefly stopped walking and faced her. “Those are our greatest failures. You have to understand, we pride ourselves on being the last refuge for those people who all too often find themselves too different for what their life seems to want outside of here. That last one out of twenty are people so beyond even us, so willfully offensive that we have to let the authorities know about them.”

“Come on Shaggy. It’s a heavy subject but we need to keep moving.” Lori reminded him. “Anyway security here is like this. A decent amount for the public area, though not obvious. Back here nearly everybody else takes a turn. It sounds weird but it works for us.”

Daphne could understand that. The people she usually hung out with did many weird things that tended to work out for them. “Okay. Different, but it works. Then we just need to get to the post I’m guessing they have near the tourist area.”

They continued on.

Each kept alert for somebody else on the road.

Midway back they saw a group.

“Hey George. What’s with the crowd?”

“Little Billy is lost again.”

Daphne received a sudden introduction to the culture of the place. Without regard for their own problems Ashley asked if they could help.

“Sure. Scooby works better with Shaggy anyway. Check the north areas by the old cave system.”

“Scooby?”

“Here Shaggy.”

“Come on. Daphne, come with us, or go with the girls to the post?”

Daphne was many things. But selfish enough to ignore this she was not. “I’ll go with.”

They set off.

It took about sixteen paces for it to sink in. “Did that dog just speak English?”

“Sure.” Shaggy answered. “He’s special like that. Scooby? We need a shortcut to the North Woods.”

“You got it.” The big dog looked around and let them off.

The group followed quickly behind.

Every so often Daphne looked at the dog again. Finally, she put the issue aside. There was little Billy to find. Then there were her own problems to deal with. She could deal with the shock of an actual talking dog another time.

They made good time.

“Scooby, you know where we need to search here?”

“Yes. Beyond the babbling brook.”

They looked around with all four calling the boy’s name.

Twenty minutes later Scooby perked up.

“You found something pal?”

“Yes. A small child.”

Daphne smiled. “Great.”

How great is it? do they…

Find Billy, see chapter 25

Find Billy, but Billy found help, see chapter 26

Find Billy, but Billy found trouble, see chapter 27