COUSINS! (Part 4): "Not So Swimmingly!

COUSINS:  (PART 4)    Not Quite Skinny Dipping . . . .

"When he saw what she was wearing, his jaw dropped down in surprise!  "Jillllllll!!!!!!  Your Father!!"

They were walking towards the creek together . . .

Bill had a funny feeling as he walked through the big, unfenced backyard with his cousin.  He sensed she was just itching to take hold of his hand while they walked along.  He was glad that hand was busy holding on to his big, rolled up towel.

            But, as they drew near the row of tall hickory trees which bordered the creek, his feelings of misgiving only increased.  He knew it was not unfounded, for out of the corner of his eye he caught Jill glancing up at him furtively, hoping he wouldn’t notice.  At the same time, she kept on trying to make small talk as they swung across the big grassy yard and into the beginning of the woods just beyond.                       
             But what really stirred his conscience was the way Jill was dressed; or perhaps one should say the way she wasn't dressed.  She wore a long, ratty, white t-shirt – probably borrowed from her father – which came down just low enough to cover her bottom.  He had not seen her wear this with a swimsuit before – and they had practically grown up together across the years.  He had seen her in shorts and t-shirts before, or long buttoned beach shirts; he knew she had always dressed with great modesty on such occasions and always wore an appropriate ‘cover-up’ whenever they had gone to the creek or the public pool in the past.  But there was something different this time, something more.  The “something more” was that it was suddenly dawning on Bill just how pretty his cousin was.  She was turning into 

Jill was wearing this long t-shirt over . . .

 very attractive young lady.  But today she seemed to be hiding something.  What was it?
            They got to the gulch in which the creek ran and scrambled down it to find the other two wading along the edge in the green-tinged water, up to their knees.  The creek widened here at this bend, and formed a deep, long hole.  It was a favorite place of Bill’s to fish, but he knew there would be no chance of that this time.  “Come on, you two!” called Jack.  What you been doin’ back there?  Neckin’ in the woods, er something’?”              

Danny just put her hand to her mouth and giggled at this ridiculous suggestion.  But Bill steamed red, and he knew without looking that Jill had to be doing the same – and staring daggers at her younger cousin.  “We walked like two mature people.  You ran like little kids – you dummy!”

“Hey, hey!” said Bill defending his brother.  “He was just joking.  Take it easy, Jill.”
“Sorry,” she muttered.  
“Okay,” said Bill; then to the others.  “You guys can get in.  But be careful about diving deep and underwater snags.”
“And alligators!  Don’t forget the alligators!” called Jack.  Bill made a face.  Danny giggled at Jack’s remark, but yelled back, “Daddy already checked out this hole for snags.  He got in here with his snorkel gear last weekend when he knew you’d be coming.”
“Okay,” nodded Bill.  “That’s good.  But you still got to stay in my sight.”
“Aren’t you going to get in?” asked Danny.  Jack was already splashing across to the other side, about fifty feet away, with noisy strokes. 
“Yeah,” he said, pulling off his t-shirt and running a hand through his mop of wiry, brown hair.  “I’m getting in.  For a little while.”  And he suited actions to words, wading out and splashing the creek’s cold water on himself.              

Bill swam out in the middle where it was over his head, and turned around, treading water.  He’d swallowed some creek water, so he sprayed it out of his mouth like a spouting whale, to Danny’s shrieks of delight.  He dropped down below the surface, touched the deep, soft bottom a couple of seconds later, then shot up to the surface to check on Danny and Jack.  When he saw they were okay, he looked back at the shore where he’d left Jill.  It was as if she was waiting for just this moment for it was right then that she pulled off her long, torn t-shirt.  With the same motion she tossed it far up the bank.  And what she had hidden underneath was more of the “real her” than he had ever seen before!
 
           When Bill saw her so shockingly bare, he forgot to tread water.  Dropping beneath the surface again unexpectedly, he swallowed water and started choking.  When he came up again and wiped his eyes, the vision of his cousin hadn’t changed:  Jill was wearing a very skimpy, tight bikini, with the Hawaiian floral arrangement of blue, green, yellow, red, and white.  Two little bits of colored cloth that were extremely stunning!  She was grinning at him 
 she paced along the shore and turned for him in the style of a New York model.            “Oommmmm!” called Danny when she saw her sister’s sudden exposure.  “Dad’s going to be mad at you!!”

She just really wasn't wearing much

underneath her t-shirt!

“Dad’s not going to know!” asserted Jill, glaring at her sister.
“How much will you pay me not to tell him?” asked Jack from across the pond with a big grin.  Jill directed her death-ray gaze at him.  “I won’t beat you to a pulp if you keep this quiet!” she barked.  Jack stopped grinning and  dived out of sight of her death-ray gaze.   

            Bill was still choking as he stroked his way to shore.  “Jill!?” he gulped, still choking as he staggered ashore.  “Well, Bill?  What’s the matter?” she asked with a smile and a feigned coyness that fooled no one.  “For a minute there you looked like you might need a life guard!” she giggled in spite of herself and stood boldly astride his path with her arms akimbo.  “I was about to come out there and save you,” she offered with her prettiest smile.

           He found himself breathing hard at the combination of his swim and his shock.  His cousin was really pretty!  Bill tried hard not to look at her young, firm breasts, and slender waist, and finally found her pretty hazel eyes with his.  “Jill!” he repeated trying hard to sound stern.  “Your dad would not approve of this.   You know that.  Please put your t-shirt back on.”
“It’s not my t-shirt!” she parried holding her ground and crossing her arms in defiance. 
“Hey, she looks good!  Leave her alone!” yelled a smirking Jack who had resurfaced at another point, across the pond.  “Shut up, Jack!” yelled Bill back, angry at this interruption.  It certainly didn’t make the task at hand any easier. 
“Don’t talk to your brother that way,” said Jill pointing a finger at him and tapping it against his wet, bare chest for emphasis on each syllable.  He blushed with embarrassment, and stepped back. 
“Jill, please put your shirt back on.  You know what I mean!”
“I don’t want to.  Besides, I thought you’d like it,” she added with a flutter of her eyelashes. 
“I – I --,” he started, glancing one more time at her body.  “It doesn’t matter what I like.  What 

Bill and Jack had come there before . . . .

 are your parents’ rules.  And they wouldn’t want you going swimming in this!”

“How do you know?” she asked, just to continue the debate.  Deep down she knew he was right.  This was precisely why she hadn’t shown herself to her folks after lunch, but just called to them as she went out the back door
.

“I know because, because I know them!  I know they like you to dress respectfully.  I know they wouldn’t approve.  And, and it’s not right to disobey them behind their backs.”
“He’s got a point!” called out Jack. 
“Shut up, Jack!” yelled Jill again. 
“Ommm!  We’re not supposed to say ‘shut up’!” rejoined Jack. 
“Okay, you’re right, Jack,” retorted Bill, nodding to Jill.  “Let’s stop saying that please!”
“Okay,  I’m sorry,” she offered with a nod to Jack; and with very little sincerity.
“Jack, please just let me handle this!” begged Bill.
“Oh, yeah.  You’re doing such a good job!” answered his brother.  Bill ignored this.  “Come on, Jill!  If this is okay with your folks, let’s go back right now and ask them.  Let them see for themselves what you’re wearing.”

Danny just laughed at them
while they argued . . . .

“You sound just like my dad!” she pouted.  “We are here to swim, and we are going to swim!” 

             And before he could think of anything else to say, she put both hands against his muscular chest and shoved hard, leaning her body into his.  To his great surprise, he fell backwards into the water, with her on top of him!  “J--Jill,” he stammered.  He went under completely and in the struggle, grabbed her body and pulled her further down.  They both came up in waist-deep water spluttering.  “Come on, Jill, cut it out now.  We need to talk about this -- seriously!”
“I don’t want to talk!  I want to swim!”  And with that she splashed water into his face, and dove into the water, heading upstream. 
         Jill was a strong swimmer, but upstream she could not beat him.  He dug the surface with his strong hands, and kicked hard and caught up with her in no time.  But what to do with her once he caught her?  That was the question.  He grabbed her leg, and slowed her crawl.  They were still in fairly shallow water, so he brought her to a complete halt, thrashing, but making no progress.  She came up spluttering again, and glared at him.  “Don’t you dare grab my leg, Bill Thompson!” she ordered, sternly.  But he was still holding on, not knowing really what to do with her now that he’d caught her.  She decided for him:  she slapped his hand and laughed out loud.  He jerked his hand away, stymied by his own surprise, and she seized that moment to dive away again; thankfully, he thought, back in the direction of the other two.  “Jill!” he called, vainly, and plunged after her.

        He caught up with her again, but suddenly decided on a different strategy.  He pulled  to the shore where he had first confronted her, and walked up the incline to where the t-shirt lay.  He picked it up, and kept heading up through the trees to the top of the slope.
“Bill!  What are you doing?  Where are you going?”
He paused and turned around for just a moment.  Holding up the t-shirt high, he yelled down the slope.  “I just thought it would be the decent thing to do to give your dad his t-shirt back.  And I’ll probably tell him what you’re wearing too while I’m at it.”  She panicked at this,

Jill had come there before with her friends.

and scrambled to the bank, shaking like a dog, and grabbed her towel.  Thinking suddenly she turned, and yelled at the others:  “You two get out on this side right now, and wait until we come back!” “Awe, do we have to?” asked Danny, plaintively.  “Yes!  You know the rules!” ordered her sister.  When she saw they were swimming back to the near bank, she turned to chase after Bill.  But he had disappeared over the edge of the slope.

            “Bill!!” she shrieked, knowing full well what would happen if he got back to her house with her t-shirt in his hands.  She wrapped her towel around her midriff to hide her exposed skin and ran up the slope.  She saw Bill marching steadily toward her house, whistling, with her t-shirt hanging over his shoulder.  If she could just run up behind him without him noticing she could grab the t-shirt from his shoulder, put it on quickly and take away his leverage with her dad.  She almost made it, but Bill heard her coming, even with his whistling, and snatched the t-shirt down.  By then they were at the back edge of the yard, and she just grabbed the edge of the shirt, trying to pull it away.
“Bill, give me back my shirt!”
“No!  You didn’t want to wear it, Jill,” he grinned.  “You said it wasn’t yours – so, I guess I’ll just  it back to your dad, and try to explain how it got so stretched out of shape.”

 look of panic – and hope crossed her face.  Panic from the punishment she would, but hope from the wish that her cousin would not turn her in.  She couldn’t tug the shirt free, since she needed one hand to hold her towel on.  “Bill, please!  I’ll do anything!”
“Anything?!” he asked with a grin.  “Better shake on it!”  He held out his other hand.  She grabbed it with the one that was holding her towel, and the towel fell to the ground.  “Ooohhhh!” 
Graciously, he picked it up and threw it at her.  “If you’ll do anything, then put this shirt back on right now, and don’t argue about it!”  Blushing, she took the shirt from his hands and made  if to put it on.  But then with a squeal, she turned and bolted back toward the creek.  She never made it!  A faster, older cousin caught up with her and tackled her on the grassy slope leading down to the stream.  He laughed as he pulled the shirt out of her clenched fingers and ran back up the slope toward the house.  

The back door was locked!

Jill was screaming and running behind him, but even with her desperation, she lost ground.  Bill got to the back door only to find it locked!
         Unbeknownst to him his uncle had seen them through the living room window the first time Bill had approached with her shirt.  Gregg had sized things up, and quickly gotten to the back door to lock it as a prank.  He was chuckling to himself as he peaked through the curtains to watch them catch up with each other on the porch.  In the distance he could see Danny and Jack trudging back as well.
“Give me my shirt!” she squealed.  “Oh, Ho!” he called, holding it up out of her reach while she jumped to grab it.  “Now, it’s your shirt!  Awhile ago, it wasn’t.  I’m not going to give it to you because now I know you really aren’t going to put it back on.”
I will too!” she said, begging.  She wrapped her towel around her again.  “I promise, Bill!  I won’t run.”
“Weelllll.  Okay.  Here it is,” he said, handing it to her.  But with his other hand he started knocking loudly on the back door.  “Hey, Aunt Margaret!!” he called out.  Jill shrieked again then, impulsively, smacked him hard with her towel.  “I’m going to hit you!  I hate you!”            Greg opened the door suddenly and looked at them both in feigned surprise.  “You guys done with swimming already?  And Jill Girl?  Did I see you hit your cousin?  And, what is that tiny thing you are wearing?!”  

It was too many questions in too short an order.  Since there was nothing else she could do, she fainted!  Fortunately, she did so in Bill’s direction, and he caught her just before she hit the porch floor-boards.

LBC