the skell van

        Before sunrise it took five minutes before hot water reached the shower nozzle. Cherry Blossom parked her butt on the shaggy commode lid cover and lit a dub. She looked like a fallow brown wood nymph. Lithe and tall.
A purple-blue bruise had begun to show on her inner thigh where she had struck the bannister. At last the water was good enough. First thing she did was to let it sluice between her legs. Ecstacy.
        Mister Zig-Zag could detect maryjane like a bloodhound. He slid the shower curtain aside and invaded her sanctuary.
        "Goddammit, Ziggy!"
        She felt his long bulbous treefrog fingers playing her slick haunches. Softly persistant.
        She turned and scowled in his face. For that she recieved a frontal grope.
        "Arrrrgh!"
        "Knew I could make you giggle."


                                                                            *


        The van that once was dedicated to R. Crumb had a new look. Its mural showed a coppertone Native American with a Dick Tracy nose, wearing a Sioux warbonnet, and descending from the clouds like Commando Cody, toward the summit of  the Karuc's "White Mountain." Cherry Blossom's votive to Mount Shasta and Spirit Chief Skell was an original concept. It took all summer. She browned. Grew crowsfeet and a swath of gray hair.
        This morning she loaded the Skell Van for the trip into California.
        Mister Zig-Zag lugged a small butane cooker out and set it down beside her. She asked, "Are we going to need that?"
        "Maybe."
        "Too much extra weight. Take it back inside."
        "OK."
        

                                                                                  *


        As they tumbled along, into the Black Forest of Siskiyou, Artie picked up a scent. He sniffed, "What IS that?"
        "Probably some incense cedar," Cherry Blossom joked.
        He was enjoying riding shotgun with this marvelous woman. He imagined her driving a stagecoach. And he would be beside her, on the lookout for highwaymen. With the Grateful Dead playing in the background.
       They were planning to camp that night at Tule Lake and he was excited about that. Soon after he met Leah Artie had plunged into Zane Grey, reading about evil Mormons. Then he discovered a minor novel. "Forlorn River." Its description of Tule Lake and the Siskiyou wilderness haunted his imagination. The plot was standard western fare. It did, however, feature one of Zane Grey's most enduring creations. The man called Nevada.


                                                                                           *



        Meanwhile, Leah and Mister Zig-Zag were sitting in the rear and dicussing Guy Ballard and Saint Germaine.
        "I would never argue the validity of your story," Leah said. "My story is pretty colorful too. Being a follower of the Prophet Joseph Smith."
        Her brilliant eyes and smile had won the hippie"s heart.
        He was thinking, Artie Hoffman is a very fortunate man.
        She was unlike any Mormon woman he had ever seen. Sitting sideways to face him, she had crossed her legs like Tiger Lily in Neverland. The summer dress gave her a voluminous lap, wherein lay an unfolded roadmap. Her shoulders were bare, like an Alpine milkmaid. Her golden innocence was breathtaking.
        Mister Zig-Zag loved telling the story of Guy Ballard's meeting with Saint Germaine. In 1930 the two were hiking up Mount Shasta, a stratovolcano whose fumarolies indicated that it was still active.
        The avatar dispensed to the theosophical mining engineer knowledge of the Ascended Masters. Thereupon, Ballard became Saint Germaine's messenger, writing a series of books under the name Godfre Ray King. Mister Zig-Zag owned the complete collection in green-covered paperbacks.
        "We should visit the Energy Vortex," he suggested.
        "By all means."
        "Far out. I tell you the mountain calls me."
        "I believe you."
        "Now let me warn you. The Energy Vortex presents you with your worst traits. I'm sure you will face them down with no problem."
        Upon hearing that, Leah felt mortal fear. Not noticed by Mister Zig-Zag, her brilliant eyes and smile dimmed a little.

       


       
       
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