A challenge is issued.

When it arrived, the bus was very full but Harry and Jamie were able to snag two of the last unoccupied seats together. Sliding across the bench seat to look out the window, Harry felt her new friend Jamie come to rest beside her, her warm hand resting against her thigh. Harry set her own hand down on top of hers and leant her body against the Canadians. In the daylight, Aspen was even more magical. Arakaya thought she should pay attention to Jamie and make conversation but the view took her full attention. Jamie didn’t mind though. She could sense what Harry was feeling and allowed her to savour the moment in this new magnificent place.

“Beautiful. Isn’t it,” the blonde said. Her eyes not on the scenery though but Arakaya herself.

“So beautiful,” Harry agreed, looking and thinking something different.

The bus made another stop and the central standing area was getting alarmingly full but luckily there was only one more stop to make before Arakaya and Jamie arrived at the foot of the mountain and the main drop off point for the ski fields. This last stop was outside the Aspen Police Department. Three men got on and were **** to stand in the central corridor of the bus near the two girls.

“Why didn’t you get Hilde to come and bail you out?” one of the two men asked a third who was blocked from Arakaya’s view by the tight sardine nature of the passengers.

Harry’s focus snapped from the view outside to the group of men at the mention of her friend’s name. The two she could see were young, in their early twenties but had the look of college frat boys, living life up on their parent’s money. Their thick ski clothes were expensive high-end labels from the current season. Their wardrobes were likely to change each year.

The obscured male laughed back at them. It was obviously some kind of a joke between them. “Ha! Hilde would have to bail her dad out first.”

They all laughed together again before the second one added, “she’ll be lucky to be able to stay in Aspen the rest of the week with all their money being seized. Can you believe how embarrassed she must be?”

“I know a way she can make an easy grand. On her back!” the hidden male said derogatorily to his friends causing them all to snigger once again.

Arakaya wasn't sure of the exact meaning of his words but she could make out the context of his comments easily. She wanted to get closer to the group and ask them about Hilde but was prevented from getting up first by Jamie and then the crush of passengers in between.

When the bus arrived for its final drop off point, Arakaya lept up almost as soon as it had stopped moving.

“Woah. What’s the rush?” Jamie asked at Harry’s sudden urgency.

“I have to follow those men,” was all she told her as she tried to get to the exits as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, the group of guys were able to get off much quicker than her and Jamie who were **** to wait for all the other passengers in between to alight before they could do likewise. When Arakaya finally stepped down onto the snow-encrusted ground she looked around desperately to see where they had gone. It took her a few moments to spot them as there were literally thousands of people here in Aspen today. The mountain a hotspot for winter sports activity. The three men were just entering the main ski building when Harry spotted them. She grabbed Jamie by the hand and tugged her. Telling her, “come on!”

Inside the warmer building, Arakaya again looked around and could see the two she’d got the best look at on the bus in the ski rentals shop. She didn’t have to say a word to Jamie this time as she strode towards them determinedly.

As she got closer Harry called out to them, “Excuse me. Excuse me!”

The two men turned to Arakaya and Jamie and looked them up and down approvingly. Their eyes roving over the two women avariciously. The third was again hidden behind his friends. As he stepped between his two compatriots, Harry almost froze on the stop and shuddered to a halt. It was the obnoxious douche from the airport bar last night.

Their eyes locked and his nostrils flared with anger. “You!” he cursed her.

Arakaya was stunned into silence.

Jamie was not. “Do you know these guys?” she asked her new friend.

Arakaya nodded. “Yes,” she muttered.

“You bitch! You do speak English. I spent the night in lock-up thanks to you and that barman,” his face was turning an unattractive shade of red.

“Please,” Harry begged. “I need to find my friend Hilde Swanson. Do you know her?” It shamed her that she had to ask this man but she had no other choice.

“Hey, you know Hilde too?” one of the two other guys tried to speak up.

“Shut it Keith!” the angry one quickly told his friend. “You want to know about Hilde?”

Arakaya nodded.

“I could tell you… but you got to fuck me over last night. I should get to fuck you tonight!” he said with a leer.

His two friends laughing like a pack of hyenas.

“What! No way! Don’t do it, Harry,” Jamie grabbed Arakaya’s arm and tried to lead her away from this confrontation.

The bastard saw this and thought they were scared of him continued to taunt her. “It’s Aspen baby! I’m here for two things. Skiing and fucking!” Again they all chuckled idiotically.

Harry broke free of Jamie and took a step back towards them. “Let’s see if your any good at either of them. Race us! The winner sets the stakes.”

He sneered derisively. “There’s three of us and only two of you. Unless you like those odds in the bedroom?”

“We’ll find a third,” Harry declared.

“Fine! And when we win, we get to sleep with each one of you,” he named his prize.

“And when we win, you admit you are no good at either and tell me exactly where Hilde is.”

Neither of them wanted to touch the other to shake hands over the bet but the deal was on.

“Timber Doodle Glade. One hour. Bring your friend,” was his final words as the three of them tried to storm out of the rental shop intimidatingly.

With them gone, Harry could feel her chest beating with adrenaline.

“Harry, I don’t know if this was such a good idea. I’ve seen guys like that before. They holiday in the mountains every year. They know how to ski and Timber Doodle Glade is a Black Diamond run,” Jamie warned her.

Arakaya wasn’t about to back down. “You can ski, right? You’re an instructor you said.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have time to teach you and we would need another person too.”

“How about your friend Zahra? She works on the slopes here, doesn’t she? We were going to meet her anyway.”

“Oh no! She’s terrible. We’re going to lose this so badly.” Jamie said looking truly worried for the first time.

Arakaya wasn’t daunted though. She knew she could beat all three of those guys herself if she had to. She started looking around the rental shop for the fastest pair of skis she could find. Jamie had her own pair stored already in the staff area that she would get afterwards. She would hook Arakaya up with her staff discount first. Narrowing it down to a very sleek looking pair of skis, Arakaya made her choice.

“Are you sure?” Jamie asked her. “You might be better off with a wider set of beginner skis,” she tried to warn her.

Arakaya was certain though. She wished she had her own with her from Kazakhstan but the ones she picked were close to the ones she’d worn for the Downhill Olympic trials and placed fifth. They would do nicely.

After picking up boots, gloves, poles, helmet, goggles and the rest of her equipment, Arakaya waited for Jamie to return near the entrance off the chair lift that would take them to where Zahra was working. Jamie wasn’t long and returned gliding over the flat ground gracefully. She had good form Arakaya noted. It would serve them well in a best out of three competition.

Arakaya stood next to Jamie in her skis as the chair lift came up behind them and lifted them up off their feet. It was a long slow ride to the top of the hill as the seat rocked from side to side in the winter winds. Arakaya was feeling alive being so high off the ground and climbing. Jamie was more cautious.

“Harry. We don’t have to do this. We can just not turn up and there’s nothing they can do about it,” she tried to reason.

“No. I want to. I need to find Hilde and this is the best way. We can do this! I promise I won’t let us lose.” Arakaya gripped Jamie’s gloved hands in her palms and rubbed them reassuringly. The determination from the Kazakh beautiful filled the Canadian with a similar sense of confidence.

“Alright! Your right! We’ve got this,” Jamie agreed and the two of them whooped, echoing out through the mountains.

As they got closer to the top, Jamie pointed out where her friend Zahra was working on the hop-off point for the chair lift. Zahra was Egyptian, around the same age as Jamie and Arakaya, who had swapped the heat of the deserts for the cold of the mountains, as well as the freedom to express her own sexuality. An insatiable pussy hunter if what Jamie said about her was true.

Zahra had spotted Arakaya on her ride up too. The dark tanned beauty had swapped sides with her co-worker so that she would be the one to help Arakaya out of the chair and get the first crack at her. From a distance, she’d seen Arakaya’s long wavey dark hair flowing free in the winds from her helmet. It was too far to see Harry’s stunning green eyes but she could make out the form of her body and knew she wanted to see closer.

As they swung up onto the landing pad, Zahra was quick to take Arakaya by the forearm and nestle her other hand on the small of Harry’s back just above her bum and guide her from the chair.

“Here, let me help you,” Zahra purred in an accent just as deep as Arakaya’s would be to her.

Jamie had much less help to get off. Following them away from the landing area. “Oh my God Zahra! I’m here too,” she reminded her friend.

Zahra hadn’t even noticed Jamie coming up. Her eyes had been solely for Arakaya in the chair. It took Zahra a moment to even register Jamie was speaking to her she was so struck with Harry’s gorgeous looks. “I knew you know how to get off,” Zahra said only somewhat defensively.

“While you’re trying to get off with my friend,” Jamie raised an eyebrow.

“Why don’t you introduce us then?” Zahra continued. She had Arakaya’s hands in hers now and was giving her some very flirtatious eyes.

Zahra had deep dark eyes that promised mystery. Dark eyeshadow only adding to the allure. Her hair was hidden away completely under not only a beanie but a traditional headdress as well.

“We don’t have time for that now Zee,” Jamie told her. “We need to borrow you for a little while. Can you get someone up to cover you?”

If it meant spending time with Arakaya, she’d make sure it happened.

While Zahra organised for someone to bring up some skis for her and cover her break too, Jamie explained to her all about Arakaya trying to find her lost friend Hilde as well as the bet they had made with the three guys. Zahra curled her lip at the thought of losing, “I don’t very much like to lie with men but if we win… perhaps all us girls celebrate… together.”

Jamie frowned at Zahra making yet another quasi-pass at her once again.

The path to Timber Doodle Glade and their meet up took them first through Sterner’s and away from the groomed part on the left. Turning right instead, past the first bench, the three girls cut a fresh path through the fresh powder and along a nice fall-line section. When they reached Timber Doodle, the ground looked like it had only been cut by the six of them present now and no more than 20 other people that day. It was as close to virgin snow as you could get on a public ski field.

{Author’s Note: I’m so sorry everyone for the amount of time it took me to post a follow up for this but I hope I made it up to you with an exciting continuation. I think I managed to include a little of everyone’s suggestions. Zahra introduction and a skiing competition with some real stakes!

Please, if you have borne with me after such a long break, I’d love to hear your suggestions for what comes next and how the competition might go. I think we could be getting close to the illusive Hilde Swanson.

Dacia xoxo}