chapter 35 Direct route to Shaggy’s cabin

“Those two?” She responded derisively. “Not a chance. I’ve heard they get lost in a park.”

“Won’t they be more likely to stay to areas that look busy? Or at least well used?”

“Makes sense.”

“Then we have a choice to make. The direct route and hope we miss them? Or the roundabout route, hoping they will do their best to avoid getting any more lost than they are now.”

“Direct route.” Daphne declared decisively. “There should be enough people out and about that that we will have help when needed.”

“This way.” Lori indicated one of the trails.

The group worked its way through the residential areas of the commune. Before getting too deep on that path, Shaggy pulled them onto another side path.

During this journey some of the locals would say hi to either Ashley or Lori.

Most stopped to chat with Shaggy. Saying goodbye and hoping he would visit again.

Several or the woman kissed him as they hugged him.

Daphne was not sure why she was jealous. After all, all these women had known him far longer than she did. But she was. She had known him less than a day. Less than a night for that matter. Not anywhere near enough time to in love. Lust maybe, but not love. She considered for a moment. Perhaps things could…

It took slightly longer than expected to reach Shaggy’s cabin.

Despite Daphne’s expectations, it was not right next to the kitchens. Or at least the public cooking area. Then again, that made sense. Shaggy was no saint from what she had already seen. No use running the risk of corrupting some tourist. Plus even hippies want a little distance at times between where they work and where they live. No matter how open and free loving the commune is, there are moments in which everybody wants a little bit of privacy.

Shaggy did not instantly let them in. “I think I should warn you. The cabin is a mess. I mean more of a mess than some expects of a single man with a dog. I think the packing is done, but I know we left a lot. Some clothes. Many cooking books. A few boxes of stuff I am asking the commune to store for me until I figure out what’s next after this trip.”

The women nodded. They knew better than to expect a single male’s home to be perfectly neat and clean. Some things just never happened.

Now Shaggy let them in. He moved around lighting candles. Then he offered a quick tour. Based on the structures Daphne had seen so far, it was about midsized. The front sitting room had a bunch of boxes. There was a bedroom with the bed ready for one last use. A dining room with a few cases of cookbooks. Many looked worn. Like they had been read more than some popular novels. Add a few more modern appliances and the kitchen would fit any almost any place. That there was a bathroom was no surprise.

Daphne was surprised by the number of cookbooks.

Shaggy noticed. “You might have noticed we all have our special skills here. Mine is cooking. I occasionally do theatre too, but mainly I am one of the cooks.”

“One of the cooks?? Don’t be so modest.” Lori said.

Ashley smiled proudly. “He is the best cook here. If not anywhere.”

“Girls. I’m not that great.”

Daphne looked at the disbelieving looks the other women were offering. “Modest, is he?”

“Very.” Lori answered. “There is never a complaint when he cooks.”

They returned to the front sitting room and sat down.

“Now what?” Daphne wanted to know.

“Now I go get the sweatsuits I promised.” He back towards his bedroom and did a bit of rummaging. He came out with a few sweat suits. “Okay. Lori, you shower first. Then Ashley. Maybe I’ll get a quick one in if we have time.”

Lori went to start her shower.

Ashley grinned. “Let’s face it. You left more cum in or on us than you did on you.”

“I can’t deny it.”

The girls giggled, then went to get to cleaned up.

That left Shaggy and Daphne sitting alone in the front room.

Daphne stared at the unsuspecting Shaggy. “Tell me, why is everybody acting like you are leaving?”

“Sad to say I am. My family is trying to reconcile me with my stepfather.”

“Don’t you want to?”

“Not really.”

Daphne had some trouble with this. For all their arguments, she and her parents had never reached this point. They disagreed. Often. But they still loved and supported each other. If her parents were in trouble, she would help. Even call her friends in if that would do the trick. She almost asked what happened. Then she decided that might be a question too far. She settled for another question. “Not even with your mother?”

“No.” Shaggy sighed. “I know it’s wrong. But they have gotten me so upset that dealing with them is causing me more pain than the moments of feeling alone.”

Lori came out from the back. “You know you’re not alone, right Shaggy. That we love you for more than your ability to cook.”

Ashley joined them. “Right. We love you here because you are a great person. Those that can’t see that are missing out. She turned to Daphne. Come to think of it, your clothes are getting kinda torn. Shaggy? We have one for her too?”

“I should. Had a whole group of them at one point for some reason.”

Daphne looked at her outfit. Truth be told it was starting to show more wear than it was built for. Running through the forest did it no favors. Much more and it would show more of her skin than she was ready to show while traveling through a strange place. “Thanks. I’ll be right back.” She went into the bedroom to change.

The local girls looked a little happier in their sweatsuits. Certainly cleaner. Lori had chosen a green one. Ashley chose the black one.

Daphne came out a few minutes wearing a purple sweatsuit. What she did not seem to be wearing was a bra and panties.

Shaggy looked like he could see this. He just did not say anything.

Daphne saw this. “I would have burned them if I could. I want nothing from the clothes they saw me in. I’d have burned the top layer too. The only reason I did not burn it is I did not want to damage Shaggy’s cabin.”

“Thanks for that.”

Lori understood where she was coming from. “If you want, I’ll bag and burn them for you.”

“Will you? Thanks. I would really like that.”

Lori sat them all down. “Now that we are changed, let’s talk about your escape. I don’t know if we mentioned it or not, Shaggy, but her eyes lit up when we told her you had a van.”

“And that you were leaving early in the morning.” Ashley finished.

He looked over at Daphne. “Don’t you have a ride?”

“No. I came with the people I am now trying escape from. Besides, they would not be going my way.”

“Where you headed?”

“East. Going to arrange a meeting with my friends.”

He thought a moment. “Right now I’m headed to Ohio. The meeting with my family is supposed to be in some obscure town there.”

“Right now?”

“I told you my expectations.”

“There is a possibility I might have something for you after that. You made it sound like you had no plans to stay around there no matter how it went.”

“That’s a safe assumption.”

“I have some friends. I won’t say its anything like this. But we don’t lead boring lives either. We even have helped people when we could.”

Shaggy thought for a moment about that. “Something to look into later, maybe. Once you see what they think.”

Daphne nodded at this. “Makes sense. So what’s the plan now?”

Lori answered that one. “Wait until morning. Then head for the parking lot. One of us will warn Scooby. The other will insure we have some help to make sure you two did not have any last minute problems.”

“Scooby?”

Shaggy was about to answer that when he thought he heard something. He went to the window to take a peek. It was a noise he might have ignored if they were not so far from where they expected people to be right now. The area near the kitchens was not the area best known for partying.

“I’ll take this.” Ashley said. She turned to Daphne and spoke very seriously. “Scooby is his best friend and companion. He started out as a therapy dog and showed himself far smarter than that. To be honest Shaggy had decided his was the life of an unloved wanderer when Scooby found this place. Over the years he convinced Shaggy that there could be more to his life. Sure, we here have giving him the human element. But there was a time when his life was so low that he pretty much stopped caring.”

Daphne listened carefully. She took a look at the man looking out the window. “Let me see if I follow. Shaggy sounds as though he was close to suicidal.”

He spoke up then. He trusted them if they felt she needed to know his story. But that was too much. “No. Not suicidal. That would be quitting. I never quit. There are few things I will not face. But I will never quit life. Or at least living.”

Daphne thought for a moment. “Sounds like he had stopped nearby. On a walk with Scooby they stumbled across this place. Probably the private areas. Putting the pieces together with other things I’ve heard tonight, I get the idea this happened when he was younger. Over the years he became part of this place. He found the happiness he deserved. She frowned. And now his parents want to pull him way from this place and back to the pain they caused him?”

Shaggy did not answer. Daphne understood the situation better than he expected. Almost scarily so.

The other two women looked at each other. “Exactly. You have no idea how much a bunch of us want to go with him for support.” Lori confirmed. “I’m worried something will snap him back to that scared kid we first met. Seemed scared of everything but food and Scooby.”

Daphne tried to imagine such a life. Frightened and almost friendless. No real purpose in life other than avoiding the certain pain he was fleeing. She honestly did not know what to say. She was certain now that she needed to contact her friends.

Shaggy started to turn from the window.

The noises came again. This time they were approaching. He started to whisper. “Girls. Did you hear of anybody working here late tonight?”

“No.”

“Nor I.”

“Who’s out there?”

“Looks like a couple of males to me.”

The couple of males description worried Daphne. “Describe them please.” She fought to keep any fear out of her voice.

Shaggy waited for them to step into the moonlight again. “Couple of preppies that look like they lost several fights with the forest. Both are tall, dark haired and not looking happy. They also look like they are looking for something.”

Daphne did not like any of what she heard. She absolutely hated how he ended. “The stalkers.” She whispered. “Quick. Shaggy. Tell me there is a back door I haven’t seen.”

He shook his head. “Never needed one.”

The three of the locals looked at each other.

Lori took charge. She looked around with what she had to work with. “I have an idea. Ashley. You have a black sweat suit on. Slip out the door for help. Get Scooby if you can find out where he is tonight. Anybody else if you can’t. Go now before there are not enough shadows for you to do it.”

“On it.” Ashley left.

“What about the three of us?”

“That’s easy. You two are going to make out in Shaggy’s bedroom.”

“WHAT??” It would have been hard deciding who sounded more surprised.

One of the stalkers looked at the other. “They have to be in there. I don’t see any other place for them to hide.”

“Great.” The other responded. “It’s time she got the fucking she needs.”

Daphne suddenly thought making out was the greatest idea since fashion catalogues. She grabbed him and started kissing him. Her French kisses could impress the French.

Shaggy responded. Then he ran his hands up and down her body. Then he reached her ass. He slipped them under the back of her sweatpants and squeezed them.

She moaned. Who know fooling people could be such a turn on? She ground against his cock a little. She broke her kiss to tell him “Keep going. Make it look real. Touch me like this is why you came here tonight.”

He slipped is hand up her sweatshirt to feel her soft breasts. The way she whispered that pretty much gave him a boner. If this wasn’t meant to be an act, he would roll her over then start pushing down her sweatpants as he pinned her.

Daphne had almost forgotten it was act as she kissed him hard. She had not forgotten how hot he looked fucking Ashley. His hands touching her breasts thrilled her. She wondered if she should try to seduce him while they were on the road. Or at least make it clear to him that she wanted him to take her.

By this time clothes were starting to be moved out of the way.

The two stalkers approached the bedroom.

She pressed her nipples into her hands. She could feel him start to leak cum in his pants as she moaned. Never mind if. She was beginning to want this for real. Distraction be damned. It had been a while since she had been laid.

“Let’s check in here.” One stalker was heard to say.

“Look at the shadows. It’s obvious it’s just a pair of hippies going at it. Nothing we care about. We are looking for two scared sluts and a hippie. You think two of them would take the time to screw with us this close?”

“Yeah. You’re right about that. Let’s double back. We have to have to check someplace else.”

Lori lifted her head a bit after a minute.

They were gone.

“Okay you two. Time to stop.”

Shaggy and Daphne did not appear to hear her. Or want to stop.

Almost any other time this would turn her on and she would watch discreetly. Not now. They had places to be. Lori pulled on Daphne until she separated them.

Scooby arrived while they were calming down from the high the near sex induced.

“Good. You’re here.” Lori said. She looked out her window.

The sky was getting lighter.