Introduction: They arrive at St. George and everything seems to be going quite well; at least it does for the first couple of days.

The story is not mine. It is based on a very old tale that might have been part of English/Irish lore, it might be French or German. It might even be Persian in origin. I’ll leave it to you to try to figure out what tale it is. If you think you know, PM me. Don’t spoil it for others.

Although there are characters from other stories who make brief appearances, this is a stand-alone story.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

Chapter 8

The port authority boarded the yacht at the entrance to the harbor. Passports were checked and stamped.

“Before you ask, we have several fire arms on board. There are six pistols and three rifles. The cabinet can be locked.”

“Thank you for telling us. We will need to see the weapons, record their serial numbers, and seal the cabinet. As you are aware, it is illegal to bring any fire arm on shore.”

Mike was thankful that his father had the good sense to forbid drugs on the yacht. Thankfully, the drug sniffing dog failed to alert on anything.

“So, there are just the three of you? This is quite a boat for only one man to handle,” the officer in charge said.

“It is an easy boat to pilot, very seaworthy. . The navigation and LORAN systems are very sophisticated. We normally have two more crew members, but my fiancé and I along with her aunt decided we’d rather be alone this trip. They’ve never been to Bermuda before, but they’re pretty good deck hands.”

“Well, enjoy your stay, and be sure to call us before you leave so that we may verify everything is in order with the fire arms. Sometimes, when security isn’t adequate, we have to confiscate them for the duration. You have a good cabinet. Ta, ta.”

St. George is a quiet little town, more like a village. They have done much to preserve the British Colonial atmosphere. The two lovers decided they wanted to take in some of the tourist places of interest. It was a particularly pleasant day. Caitriona said she would stay behind for a while but would meet them for lunch a little later at what looked like a nice café.

Caitriona had no doubts that the situation was going to get very bad in the next day or two, if not sooner. She was going to have to take the bull by the horns. She knew there was only one way this mess could turn out well. Love had obviously blinded the two. She was going to have to take charge.

Her laptop was sitting on the desk in her cabin. She opened it, and while it was booting up, she composed the message that would probably seal their fates. She only hoped she would be soon enough.

She found them at the town square where they said they’d be. They were watching a little play for the tourist’s benefit. A ‘criminal’ was being tied to the dunking chair. Apparently, he’d been accused of public drunkenness. The actors were all dressed as colonists from eighteenth century Bermuda.

“What have you two been up to?” Caitriona asked, eying several bags of items obviously purchased at some of the nice shops in the area.

“We took a trip around the town in a hansom cab, and I found some nice things in a couple of the shops,” Ashley responded.

“We checked the menu at that restaurant beyond the square. It looked acceptable. I have them holding a table for us,” Mike said. “We should be there in ten minutes.”

After lunch, they caught the bus to Hamilton. They had changed currency that morning, so riding the bus was easy. Hamilton was considerably bigger than St. George. There were more shops, and more tourist things to do. Mike also wanted to see if there was any advantage to moving the yacht to this harbor. Looking at the number of tourists and the two huge cruise ships moored at the dock, Mike decided it would be best if they just stayed where they were until they decided where to head to next. He could get to the Caribbean in about three days. It would take him a week just to get to the Mediterranean. Once there, he wasn’t sure where they would go. The Caribbean seemed like the best choice for now.

There was enough food for a month on board; however, he had the ship refueled.

They had another pleasant meal on shore. They might as well take advantage of someone else’s cooking as long as they could.

The next day they caught the shuttle to a beautiful coral beach. Ashley had not packed a swim suit; however, she found two to her liking at one of the stores.

The day before, Ashley had said, “Don’t laugh at me, Mike, but I’ve never worn a bikini in my life. I often dreamed years ago about wearing one, but the opportunity was never there.”

Caitriona had gone to the shop with her and helped her pick out a couple. It was a bit scary for Ashley at first when she tried each one on. Her confidence might have been lacking a bit, but they picked out two that Caitriona said were perfect. Ashley thought they were a bit skimpy.

Mike had been waiting outside the dressing area. “Do I get to help in the selection process?”

“Of course not. You’ll get to see them at the beach.”

The truth was that Ashley had to do a little trimming before she could go out in public wearing either one. “I’ll have to see Amber about fixing that when I get back,” she said.

As far as Mike was concerned, she was perfect. Ashley caught several appreciative glances and not a few stares from some of the other beach goers.

Once back at the yacht, they crowded into the small shower to get rid of the salt and sand. They didn’t have to share. It was just more fun that way.

“I think I got too much sun. Please put some lotion on me.” Mike gladly complied, noting the small whiter triangles on her breasts and an equally small one covering her pubic mound. He gently parted her lips, and kissed her special place.

“Hand me that tube. I know you’ll never finish getting that lotion on me until I take care of that thing you are sporting, and until you take care of me.

“Here, do it for me,” she said handing the tube of lubricant to him. “I may have to use this the rest of my life, but it is certainly worth it.”

Not knowing how much to use, Mike put a copious amount on his index and middle fingers. He gently pressed his fingers between her lips, letting his thumb gently tease her rapidly hardening clit.

“Gently, that’s it.”

He entered with his middle finger only at first. He could see that she was really getting with it. He marveled at how beautiful she was in the light of day. He remembered that slender boy who looked like a girl from behind taking a shower after gym class. All that was gone now. But actually it wasn’t, everything but those two little glands was reshaped, repositioned into the beautiful flower of womanhood he was caressing.

He knew she couldn’t wait much longer, nor could he. In the light of the late afternoon sun streaming through the cabin window, he watched as he slowly entered her. She was perfect. Soon, with her legs wrapped around his thighs, she was meeting him thrust for thrust. It couldn’t have been any better.

After her shower, Caitriona retreated to the deck with a cold drink and a book. She would leave them alone for a while. She looked up at the sound of a small jet circling St. George to line up on the runway. There were a number of commercial and private flight in and out of the airport. Bermuda was a popular place for tourists.

They’d agreed to go to a seafood restaurant that evening, and would have a cab take them there and return. It was a Michelin Guide restaurant, and they would have to dress up a bit. Caitriona heard another jet passing overhead as she dressed.

“Trina, help me with this necklace. The clasp is giving me fits. Mike is all thumbs. He’s waiting on deck for us.”

Coming out of the hatch they could see Mike standing between them and the gang plank. Why in the world did he have his hands on his head? That looked real stupid.

“Come on out ladies, or whatever you are. Keep your hands where I can see them.

“Isn’t this interesting. The groom-to-be’s son runs off with the bride-to-be. Only the bride is not who she seems to be. I don’t know why I didn’t figure it out until I did. It hit me when that Coast Guard chopper was taking us back to Long Island. You’re that sissy little wimp who seemed to take up all of Mike’s time.

“You had me fooled, Mike. I’d never figured you was gay.

“So what is it? What are you anyway? Are you just a drag queen, or are you one of those trannies who got its dick cut off and thinks it can pretend to be a woman.”

“Why don’t you just shut the fuck up Carlo and get the fuck off the boat.”

“You’re real brave for a man without a weapon.

“Your dad was real pissed when I called him in Vegas. He wanted me to wait until he got back, but I figured I’d better find you. Hopefully you were on land somewhere, and you’d have to come to land fairly soon, anyway. I got friends who owe me. They found the boat this morning. I chartered a plane to take me here. You know, you can’t bring a gun here, but I got friends here, too. They got real friendly when I told them I was going to kill Johnny Donatella’s kid. That’s the least I could do.

“Apparently, those two idiots you put in the boat with me want to get even, too. They agreed we needed to keep the authorities out of this, so we made up a story about the boat being in dry dock. We told them that we had an engine failure while testing the boat, and that our radio was out until we fixed it.

“That wasn’t nice killing that engine and comm gear, but we fixed the comm gear, and the Coast Guard picked us up right away. I’m never going on another boat as long as I live. I must have puked my liver out. My stomach still hurts.”

Ashley tried to move back towards the hatch. She thought she might be able to get to one of the guns. She knew how to use them.

“Don’t move, bitch. I’ll just kill your two friends here, and then come after you.”

“You know, Carlo, I always knew you were ignorant, but now I can see you’re even stupider than I thought. You fire that gun and they’re going to be on you like flies on shit. You have nowhere to go. You can’t operate this yacht. I’ll bet you don’t even know the stern from the bow. The best thing you could do would be to just lose that gun and leave on the same plane you came in on.”

“The hell I am. I’ll tell you what. I think I’ll just kill you and fuck these two bitches. Does Ash have a cunt now, or do you just bum fuck him.”

Mike could see that Carlo was probably boarder line psychotic.

“I wouldn’t do anything too stupid in front of witnesses. There’re some folks coming down the dock.” He could actually see somebody approaching.

Carlo started to turn, and Mike made his move. Carlo’s shot caught him in the upper chest. Mike collapsed instantly. A second shot caught Carlo in the spine at the base of his neck. He never knew what hit him.

Ashley was in shock.

“Ashley, get my bag. It’s on the desk by my computer. We have to work fast.”

Ashley, almost in a trance, went to get the medical bag.

“Ma’am, the ambulance is on its way.”

Caitriona looked up to see two police officers.

“We got a call a little while ago that there was a man with a gun heading for this boat, and that he was going to try to kill someone. As much as we don’t want to use weapons, sometimes, we have to. This was one of those times.

Caitriona was working frantically to stop the flow of blood.

Ashley grabbed the bag, and in her haste, dropped it. A small vial dropped out. She recognized it immediately as the vial of poison that Caitriona had not put in the wine. She slipped it into her bra.

She raced back to the deck. “Here’s the bag.”

“I have some things in here for hemorrhaging. This does not look good.”

Ashley looked up at the sound of the approaching ambulance. Her father and Mike’s father were standing there with looks of horror on their faces. Where had they come from?

“I think we’re losing him.” Caitriona started chest compressions. In spite of all her training, Ashley was paralyzed in shock. She knew Mike was dead. She reached into her bra, pulled out the vial, and downed the contents. She collapsed at Mike’s feet.

Caitriona briefly looked at the vial and tossed it aside. The medics brought two gurneys. They hooked Mike up to a normal saline drip and placed him on the gurney. They put Ashley on the second gurney, and raced back to the ambulance. It was a ten mile trip to the hospital.

Giovanni Donatella and Sean Finlayson, who had come to bless the marriage of their two children, stood in shocked silence as the ambulance speed off towards Hamilton and the hospital.

Most versions of this story end here. The lovers die, and the distraught parents realize that the tragedy could have been prevented; however …….

Any more guesses as to the origin of this story. There have been two correct answers out of the thousands who guessed - er, correction, that was six who offered a guess. All will be revealed tomorrow, but I would be happy to entertain any other guesses. "Drea, you can't guess because you already know.