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PROLOGUE
Silkie Lovecraft was looking forward to accompanying Ruth, her twenty-four-year-old niece, on a trip from Reno to Chicago aboard Amtrak’s California Zephyr. They would be traveling together to attend the Lollapalooza music festival while Ruth’s mother, Ester, was away at a religious retreat. This was an unexpected opportunity for Silkie to spend time with her young niece. Ruth’s mother considered her daughter too young to make the trip alone and even though Ester considered her sister Silkie to be an unrepentant sinner, she could not think of any other candidate to be her daughter’s chaperon. Silkie envisioned introducing her niece to the world beyond Reno. Or at least helping her to discern the worldly pleasures that came naturally to people who had not been brought up to shun them. Ruth’s mother considered Chicago a den of iniquity and worried Silkie might allow her only daughter to become all too aware of those pleasures. Ruth knew of her mother’s caution about Aunt Silkie, and this made her especially excited for the trip. And a little frightened. Ruth was quite aware that her mother and aunt had very different ideas about what was proper behavior for a young woman, or anyone else for that matter, and she was both anxious and cautious to hear what Silkie would say about some personal secrets that she hoped to find the nerve to discuss with her aunt! Secrets that she could NEVER tell her mother! In the dining car that evening, Silkie and Ruth sat with a young couple, Walden Wilson and Bonnie Hunter, whose curious nickname was “Bounty.” Walden and Bounty were students at the University of California, Berkeley, and had boarded the train early that morning. Bounty was also bound for the Lollapalooza music festival , which she had attended before, and casually mentioned she also was going to visit her girlfriend, whom she hadn’t seen for a year. Bounty hinted at the intimacy of their relationship, which explained why she had found last summer’s visit so much fun, and made Ruth and Silkie aware that Bounty and Walden were not romantically linked as they had assumed at first. Bounty added that playing lacrosse as a member of the Berkeley team was her second favorite part of being a college student (and left little doubt as to her favorite college activity.) Ruth paid careful attention. She had never known anyone so uninhibited about enjoying a wide variety of pleasures, and so enthusiastic about suggesting what they were. Walden explained he was traveling to Chicago to visit his father, a wealthy and well- connected playboy about town. He then attempted to impress the others with a brief but incomprehensible lecture explaining the mathematics behind the inner workings of computers. Ruth gave a brief overview of her life in Reno where she was a clerk in a bookstore, a job that she gave mediocre reviews. She deliberately omitted that the store specialized in religious literature. Ruth silently pondered how different Walden’s and Bounty’s lives were than hers, while they tried to imagine the life of a bookstore clerk. Silkie, four decades older than the others, gave a very abbreviated autobiography, leaving out her pleasurable experiences on the naughty side of the ledger. She then graciously answered questions while omitting any unseemly details. The conversation turned to the excitement of Chicago, the pros and cons of rail travel, the news of the day, sights to look for on the trip, and a few more personal tidbits including questions from Silkie about Bracken Wilson, Walden’s father, who Silkie thought she might like to meet in person. Each of them imagined the adventures the next two days might bring. Walden, for instance, noticed a young woman facing him a few tables away. Their eyes met briefly, and Walden quickly looked away in embarrassment as he imagined stepping over her cast-off clothing on the floor of a small room somewhere and tumbling into bed with her. Of course, Walden imagined the same thing about every young woman he saw. Bounty sensed something intriguing about Ruth that might draw them together before the trip was over. At the same time, Ruth wondered whether she might be writing something exciting in her journal about Bounty, who she found fascinating for some reason she couldn’t figure out, or Walden, who seemed as virginal as she. Silkie had a vague but hopeful feeling the trip would prove significant in some unimagined way beyond its obvious pleasures. The four continued their interesting conversation when the three younger diners ordered dessert and Silkie ordered a second glass of wine. Silkie remained silent, contemplating the similarities and differences between the lives of the three young adults; how smart they were in some ways; and how clueless in others. As the new friends finished their after-dinner treats, the train made a station stop in Winnemucca, Nevada. Silkie half listened to the conversation at the table as she absentmindedly peered out at the platform where a collection of passengers waited. As she did, she suddenly noticed something that sent chills up her spine! |