Saturday 23rd August, 1969.听 With violins in our sunset, it was time for a rest.听Janis slowed the Lincoln to an eventual standstill, taking a final puff on her cigarette, before tossing it from the window.听As it fell, the embers and splints of the old stogie crackled and sparkled against the twilight backdrop, like tiny pearls taking leave of their captivity. I looked out of the front.听Cheek Lake was only about ten minutes from where we had stopped.听Janis seemed tired and in need of a rest.听It was not possible to park right near to the lake, so we left the car and walked up a small hill and across a grassy bank.听It was stunning.听 The lake was silent and where the still cloudless sky was reflected in its waters, it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.听Behind us, the sinking sun was nestling itself in between two duvet-like knolls; it felt to me like someone had put their arm around me, so affectionate was its warmth.听From out of nowhere, Janis fashioned a picnic rug, laid it on the ground and surrounded it with several spikes of tree. These were our candles and she lit them from a lighter procured from the cardigan wrap she wore around her shoulders.听I emptied the bags onto our makeshift spread. Janis rearranged the contents so that soon, they resembled not so much the baloney, pumpernickel bread and assorted fruits and potato crisps that I had bought, but more a hastily prepared light meal for two; just perfect for a night by the lake.听Seems, she did have a lighter touch, after all. "You see that, Peaches?" she said, pointing up towards a nearby rock face.听"That is Todd Knob.听Getting' up there'll give us a hell of a view."
"What about your food?听You must be hungry."
"Food'll keep, honey.听The light ain't gonna pitch it in for too much longer though.听What d'ya say, baby?"
"Sure, it doesn't look too high."
"First though... a swim."
"A swim?"
"You betcha, Peaches.听That water's just calling out for us to ripple it a little."
"I...听 er,"
"You what?听Ain't got your costume?"
"Something like that." I knew where this was headed.听 Janis stood up; pulled off her cardigan and tee shirt and then bent over to slip out of her skirt.听She wore panties, but no bra.听The outline of her body was slender; almost lean in fact, except for her backside, which curved elegantly into her thighs.听Her breasts were small and somewhat sagged, her nipples dark and perfectly round.听Her eyes shone out radiantly from beneath the mop of hair, which itself cascaded down upon her now naked and pale shoulders, like a weeping willow into a milky lake. She stood over me, hands on hips, confidence seeping out of every part of her upon which the orange sun shone.听"Now you ain't gonna go shy on me, are you Irishman?" she laughed.听She lashed her tongue from one side of her mouth to the other in a display of sheer bravado.听"Too late," I stuttered. Janis ran off towards the water and waded in.听"Hail to Jesus!" she wailed as it filtered up to her waist and beyond.听"God damned beautiful, Peaches.听Get that little British ass of your's in this lake right now.听D'ya hear me?"听I undressed down to my underwear and made my way down to the water's edge, checking around our clothes with typical British reserve, to make sure that nobody was going to run off with my trousers. Janis was right.听The water was lovely.听It caressed and stroked against my skin, teasing open my pores and finding its way into my very heart, slowing and calming my mood like birdsong on a Sunday morning.听We swam in that lake for who knows how long; it may have been an hour, it may have been a day.听We didn't speak to one another, but it felt as though we were sharing an ocean, a lake and a bathtub, all at the same time.听 Memories are made of such delights. Some time on and Janis waved to me and pointed up to the rock face again.听"Before the sun goes down," she shouted.听I swam back for as far as I could and then waded the rest of the way.听Janis joined me on the bank and we put our tops on, leaving our lower halves to dry in the air.听"What's the terrain like?" I asked.听"Is it a climb or a walk?" "It ain't too bad, honey.听Your tough ole' feet'll do fine and dandy." I looked at her feet. For someone who never seemed to wear shoes, Janis' soles were remarkably delicate.听 That was her all over though; a mass of contradictions.听We set off and in what seemed like no time at all, found ourselves approaching the rock face from the Southern side. It was exhilarating.听I couldn't wait to reach the plateau and survey the lake from on high.听Janis took the lead and scrambled up to what looked like the perfect place to rest. I followed closely behind, watching as she lifted her body over a cleft and then arrived at the summit.听I had to concentrate to keep my footing.听Then I heard it.听"Son of a bitch," came a cry from above me.听"You poor bd!"
"Janis?" I shouted.
"I'm okay, Peaches," she replied.听"You might not wanna see this though, baby."
"See what?" I groaned, pulling myself over the same cleft that Janis had just negotiated, before seeing her discovery with my own eyes.听I had to hold back my own vomit.听"What the hell is it?"
"A dead hobo," said Janis. | 
