Killers or Victims: The Frustrated Mountaineer and Other Stories

By Will T. Roberts

These eight stories portray horrific and serious consequences that evolved as a result of obsessive love, lust, jealousy, greed, and infatuation.
“The Frustrated Mountaineer”
“The Troubled Preacher”
“The Ugly Tennis Player”
“The Lovesick Nurse”
“The Jealous Expatriate”
“The Gorgeous Receptionist”
“The Marketing Manager Who Loved West African Women”
“The Hooked Store Manager”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Jan 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514464120

Will T. Roberts

Will T. Roberts was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1943. After growing up in Scotland, he lived and worked in several other counties and travelled to many others. He is now living back in his native Scotland. Killers or Victims is his first book.

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Copyright © 2016 by Will T. Roberts.

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 05/05/2022

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Contents

The Frustrated Mountaineer

The Troubled Preacher

The Ugly Tennis Player

The Lovesick Nurse

The Jealous Expatriate

The Gorgeous Receptionist

The Man Who Loved West African Women

The Bored Store Manager

The Frustrated Mountaineer

Hearing about the Assignment

Jack Sligo eventually responded to the persistent ringing of his mobile telephone. Jack did not like mobile telephones very much, but he knew that if he was to continue doing business it was necessary for him to have one. The ringing of the telephone distracted him from the map, which he was studying. Jack loved maps. He was happy when he was looking at one, either planning a new expedition or a new route or reviewing the route he had followed on previous expeditions.

Jack got up from the desk where he was sitting and walked to the armchair where he had been the last time he used his mobile telephone. The telephone was on the arm of the chair where he had left it. He picked up the telephone and pressed the ‘receive call’ button and said, ‘hello. This is Jack Sligo.’

A sweet voice, which sounded to Jack like it belonged to a young American woman, said, ‘is that Jack Sligo?’

Jack replied, already becoming impatient, ‘yes, I am Jack Sligo.’

The sweet voice said, ‘good. My name is Samantha Blake. My sister and I and our boyfriends want to climb Cotopaxi and we need a guide.’

On hearing this, Jack’s attitude to the call and the caller changed. They meant business for him and business meant badly needed cash. Jack had been working as a mountain guide in Ecuador for six months. Business had been slow. He desperately needed the business, which the caller, Samantha, was offering to him.

Jack told her that he was available, but added that, before he could accept the assignment, he would have to meet her and her sister and their boyfriends to discuss terms and conditions, as well as for him to learn about their physical capabilities and their knowledge of snow and ice climbing. A climb of Cotopaxi, or Volcan Cotopaxi, to give the mountain its correct name, involves a lot of snow and ice climbing at very high altitudes and one has to be very fit to successfully climb that mountain. The word ‘Volcan’ is used along with the name given to it by Ecuador’s indigenous people several centuries earlier because the mountain is still an active volcano. Even though it has not erupted for about five hundred years, strong-smelling sulphur fumes continually pour out of its summit crater.

Samantha told him that she and her sister and their friends were staying in a hotel in Quito. She named the hotel and said that they were available to meet Jack at any time. Jack suggested that they meet that evening and added that he would come to the hotel at 7.30 p.m. Samantha agreed and terminated the call. Jack looked at his watch. It was already about 5 p.m. and that meant that he had about two hours to get ready to drive to Quito.

The Past

Jack lived in the small town of Tumbaco, which is about a thirty-minute drive from Quito. He had moved to Tumbaco seven months earlier, very soon after his wife left him. He had closed the restaurant, which he and his wife had owned and managed in Quito. His wife left Ecuador, but Jack, because he liked Ecuador so much, had decided to stay and try to earn a living as a mountain guide.

Jack and his wife, Rita, came to Ecuador about three and a half years earlier. Jack had a job working as a sales manager of an international company whose principal activity was the distribution of industrial chemicals throughout South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Jack was on a two-year contract, and when the expiry date of the contract was approaching, he and the Company’s general manager agreed that the contract should not be renewed, mainly because Jack did not agree with the Company’s business policies and procedures. Rather than leave Ecuador, Jack and Rita, because they liked the country so much, decided to open a restaurant and try to earn a living from it.

After they had been operating the restaurant for about eighteen months, Rita told Jack that she wanted to leave Ecuador, and that she wanted to go without him. Jack asked her why. She said that their restaurant venture had not been very successful, even though she had worked very hard on it. She told him that she had received an offer to manage a restaurant in Spain. Jack asked her why she wanted to go alone. He told her that, if she really wanted to go to Spain, they could go there together and open a restaurant there. Rita said that they did not have enough money to open another restaurant because they had lost a lot with their present restaurant, and furthermore, she did not want to work with Jack again, because he had not helped very much with their present restaurant. She continued with a scathing remark, which she knew would annoy Jack. She said that he had spent more time climbing mountains than he had working in the restaurant.

Jack knew that their restaurant was struggling financially. He had been preparing its accounting records for eighteen months, and the operational costs each month, except for two months, had been greater than its sales. Jack also knew that they did not have enough money to open another restaurant, but he thought that they might be able to borrow some. Jack knew that Rita had worked very hard on the restaurant, putting in some very long hours. He also knew that he had spent a lot of time on the mountains, but thought that he had worked quite hard on the restaurant. He pointed out to Rita that some of the time he had spent on the mountains had earned some money, and that money had helped to reduce their monthly losses. Rita laughed at that.

Jack decided not to argue further with Rita. He would let her go and do what she wanted to do, not that he could stop her. She had always been an independent woman or one who liked to think that she was independent. In reality, she had been financially dependent on Jack since they had decided to live together twenty-five years earlier. They had met in Mexico, and two years later, they moved to Buenos Aires in Argentina where, after marrying, they remained for fourteen years. Their three children, who were now adults, had been born in Argentina. After leaving Argentina, Jack and Rita spent about seven years in Scotland, after which they had come to Ecuador. Their children were now grown up and living in Jack’s native Ireland independently from Jack and Rita.

Jack wondered how Rita had managed to arrange a job in Spain. As far as he knew, she did not know anyone in Spain. He thought that it was possible that she had met someone from Spain when she had gone to the United States of America on vacation three months earlier and that there was not a job in Spain and that she was going to meet the person whom she had met while on vacation. There were a lot of questions Jack could have asked his wife, but he didn’t. He did not really care what she was going to do. He would be relieved to be on his own and thought that he would be happier living on his own rather than with Rita or any woman for that matter.

Two months after Rita announced her intention to leave Ecuador and to leave Jack, Rita and Jack closed the restaurant. Rita left the country four weeks later, leaving Jack to take care of the final arrangements related to closing the restaurant. Jack moved to Tumbaco after he moved out of the restaurant premises. He rented a small two-bedroom house in Tumbaco, and a few days after he moved into it, Jack was able to relax. Jack was happy. Now, all he needed to do was to drum up some mountain-guiding business. Jack had started mountain guiding by accident. Indeed, Jack’s interest in the mountains of Ecuador also had started by accident. The latter had happened first.

When Jack was in the process of arranging the job in Ecuador, mountains were the last thing on his mind. He wanted a new job away from Scotland, because he wanted to leave Scotland, because the Scottish economy was bad, and his salary was not covering their living costs. The American company for which he was working in Scotland offered him a job in the South of England, but neither he nor Rita wanted to live in England. Rita wanted to go back to South America. She had been happy in Argentina and had not been pleased when Jack decided to move to Scotland. Jack had also been happy in Argentina, but the American company for which he was working had decided to downsize its operations in Argentina and Jack’s job became redundant. The company offered him the job in Scotland, and Jack, because he wanted to continue working for that company, accepted the offer.

Jack had been introduced to mountain climbing when he had been a teenager, the mountains being in his native Ireland. Subsequent to that introduction, Jack had come to love the hills and mountains of Ireland, and during the five years before he left Ireland, a lot of his leisure time had been spent climbing Irish hills and Irish mountains. Jack had left Ireland when he was 22 years old and since then he had never set foot on a hill or a mountain until two months after he arrived in Ecuador.

Two weeks after arriving in Ecuador, Jack was introduced to a man called Michael Doyle. On hearing that Jack was from Ireland, Michael, who also was from Ireland, invited Jack to attend a dinner that he would be hosting soon in his home. Jack gladly accepted the invitation, and Jack and his wife attended the dinner and learned that Michael was an excellent host.

Not long after the dinner was over, Jack overheard Michael talking to two of his friends about mountain climbing. Jack interrupted their conversation. He told Michael and his friends that he used to climb mountains in Ireland. Michael immediately, in a loud voice, said, ‘well Jack, so you are a mountaineer as well as an Irishman. I will have to get to know you better, and the best way for me to do that is for us to climb a mountain together.’

Jack quickly stated, ‘I would not call myself a mountaineer. I used to walk on the Irish hills. That is all, and it’s about thirty years since I did that.’

‘No matter’, boomed Michael. He was partial to talking in a very loud voice, especially when he was excited. ‘We will climb Rucu Pichincha next Sunday. I will pick you up at 6.30 a.m. Where do you live?’

Jack told him where he and his wife were living and then quickly added, ‘but I have no boots or clothes that are suitable for climbing.’

‘No problem’, said Michael. ‘I will lend you boots, socks, an anorak, a woollen hat and gloves. I am sure that you can supply the rest.’

‘Yes’, said Jack, ‘I can, but I do not think I am fit enough to climb a mountain, never mind Rucu Pichincha.’ Jack already knew about Rucu Pichincha. It is the large mountain that overlooks the city of Quito.

‘We will find that out on Sunday’, Michael responded. ‘Be ready when I come for you. I don’t like to be kept waiting.’

Jack had no choice but to nod his head, even though he was extremely worried about what was going to happen on Sunday. He was certain that he was not going to manage to climb the mountain. He was not fit. He had not had any strenuous exercise for many years. He had done a lot of swimming and scuba diving and played some tennis when he had been in Mexico, but the benefit of that exercise had been squashed by the vast quantity of tequila, which he had drunk. During his first few years in Argentina, he had played some tennis and a little squash, but he had stopped playing those games after four years, and the benefit of those games had again been squashed, this time due to the effect of the vast quantities of wine, which he had drunk. He had had no exercise during his years in Scotland, but there had been many pints of beer and many glasses of whisky.

Jack’s body, in spite of all the alcoholic drinks and the excess of food he had drunk and eaten, respectively, over the years, was not out of shape. He was carrying excess weight, especially around his waist, but it was not excessive. Jack, even though he was feeling very apprehensive about the forthcoming climb, was secretly looking forward to it. He realised that maybe it was time for him to change his lifestyle. At that time, he was 50 years old. Perhaps it was late for him to try and change, but better late than never.

Jack was still feeling very apprehensive when he climbed into Michael’s red, twenty-year-old, four-wheel drive Nissan Patrol early on Sunday morning. Michael must have noticed this because he tried to reassure Jack that the forthcoming climb was nothing about which to worry.

Quito is not a very big city, and within a few minutes, they had crossed it, and were soon slowly winding their way up the narrow road, which would take them to a look-out point, which was about one-third of the way up Rucu Pichincha, the 4,700-meter mountain. While they were driving, Michael explained the geography of Rucu Pichincha. He told Jack that the mountain is divided into three parts, the first part being the lower part up which they were driving. He said that it was possible to climb the first part on the footpath, which rises almost vertically out of Quito for about 1,000 meters to the look-out point, which is at an altitude of about 4,000 meters. He explained that because the footpath is very rough and muddy and not too pleasant to use, he preferred to drive the first part. Jack was very pleased about this. One thousand meters is about 3,000 feet, the height of most of the mountains in Ireland and a lot of vertical height to climb in one day. Michael went on to explain that the second part of the mountain consists of several grass-covered hills known in Ecuador as the ‘paramo,’ over which there is a good footpath that would take them to a height of 4,500 meters. The third part is a huge outcrop of rocks, on top of which is the summit of the mountain, at about 4,700 meters. The summit is reached by climbing up and along a rocky ridge or up a long, scree-filled, steep gully. Michael easily convinced Jack that because Jack had not rock climbed for several years, they should follow the route up the gully.

Michael also told Jack that there was another Pichincha mountain situated some kilometres to the west of Rucu Pichincha. That mountain is known as Gua Gua Pichincha. It is still an active volcano and it is possible to climb down into its crater and see the sulphur fumes pouring out of holes and fissures in the rocks, and to see the many small pools of hot, bubbling water.

While Michael’s vehicle was winding its way up the road, Jack was treated to marvellous views of Quito and its surrounding countryside, and when they reached the look-out point and climbed out of the vehicle, Michael pointed out the mountain masses of Cayambe and Volcan Cotopaxi, the snow-capped peaks of which could be seen not too far away. These mountains are huge and Jack was very impressed. Volcan Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world, and its summit is the point on this planet, which is farthest from the centre of the planet. Michael told Jack that he had climbed both of those mountains, as well as most of the other mountains in Ecuador. Jack was again impressed.

Once they had donned their boots and the rest of their climbing clothes, Michael asked Jack if he was ready for the forthcoming climb. Jack did not tell him that he did not feel that he was ready. He was suffering from the effects of the many ‘caiperinhas’ and too much ‘feijoada’, which he had consumed at a Brazilian theme party to which he had gone with Rita on the previous afternoon, and furthermore, the bumpy, winding road up the mountain had not been very kind to his digestive system.

However, Jack thought that surely he could do anything that Michael could do, even though he was not at all fit. He guessed that Michael was probably about twenty years older than him. Surely that counted for something. Jack stuffed the anorak, gloves and hat, which Michael had lent him, into the small backpack, which Michael had also lent him, and slung it on to his back. Michael agreed to carry the bottle of water in his backpack, and said that they would not need to take food with them because they would be back at the vehicle at about twelve noon, and back in Quito in time for lunch. Jack was not so sure that they would be back that soon, but he did not say anything. Instead, he cheerfully shouted, ‘let’s go now so that I can climb my first Ecuadorian mountain.’

Jack started off at a fast pace, determined to show Michael that he was not totally unfit, but he hadn’t gone more than 200 metres, when he found that he was out of breath, and that he had to stop to recover.

‘Now, Jack’, said Michael, when he caught up with Jack, ‘remember the altitude. You are not in Ireland now, and also remember that a Slow Start Means a Strong Finish.’

Blinded by his enthusiasm, Jack had forgotten one of the important rules of walking. ‘Okay’, he mumbled, humbled by the rebuke from Michael, and added, ‘I’ll follow you.’

Jack followed in Michael’s footsteps for about one hour, but struggled to keep up with him. Michael had to stop and wait for Jack many times. He did this politely and without fuss. Eventually, the exercise, the ‘caiperinhas,’ and the ‘feijoada’ became too much for Jack’s digestive system, and he had to shout to Michael that he required a toilet stop.

‘No problem, Jack’, Michael shouted, ‘there’s plenty of time. Do you have toilet paper with you?’

Jack had to admit that he had forgotten another important rule of walking, and feeling embarrassed and ashamed, he walked to where Michael was standing, and took delivery of the roll of toilet paper, which Michael handed to him. Michael was grinning and laughing and shaking his head. Jack knew that he had made a fool of himself yet again.

After his body had relieved itself of the waste from the party of the day before, Jack made better progress, but he failed to keep up with Michael. When they reached the bottom of the rocky ridge about an hour later, Michael suggested that they have a rest, for which Jack was grateful. It was just after 9.30 a.m. when Michael said that they had better get moving again. Jack picked himself up, put on his backpack, and started to follow Michael along the footpath at the right hand side of the rocky ridge. Jack had had a good look at the ridge, and he was pleased that Michael had decided not to climb the ridge because parts of it looked very steep, and it looked like that it went a long way up.

A few hundred metres later, Michael waited for Jack to catch up with him again, and said, ‘I am not going to stop again until I reach the summit. Just follow this path. It will take you to the scree gully and after that just scramble up the gully. It’s easy. See you on the summit,’ and he waived to Jack and set off. Jack tried to keep up with him, but he couldn’t. The years of high living in Mexico, Argentina and Scotland had taken their toll on his body. While he was trudging along that footpath, and while he was wearily slogging, stumbling and crawling up the scree slope, he vowed that he was going to change his lifestyle. He was going to get fit again. That hour and a half on that scree-covered slope was the first hour and a half of Jack’s new lifestyle.

Because the slope was very steep and long, Jack had to rest many times on the way up, often having to struggle to keep his balance and not slide back down the slope along with the rocks and scree that his stumbling feet dislodged. After about an hour and a half of one of the most torturous and exhausting climbs he had ever made, Jack reached the top of the gully and pulled himself on to its rocky edge, after which he collapsed on to the ground.

A few minutes later, Jack heard footsteps approaching, and then he heard Michael’s booming voice say, ‘wow. You have made it. Well done, Jack. I am really surprised. I waited on the summit for about thirty minutes and when you did not come, I thought that you had given up.’

Jack was too exhausted to answer. Michael continued, ‘I will let you rest for a bit, after which we will go back down.’

After hearing that remark, Jack found the energy to speak and said, ‘no, no, not down yet. I am going to the summit. How far is it?’

Michael said that it would take Jack about fifteen minutes to reach the summit, and he pointed to the path, and added that he would wait for him.

After Jack had a drink of water, he struggled to his feet and started to climb again. He reached the summit after about twenty-five minutes. The summit of Rucu Pichincha is not much to see and it does not command any better views than those that he had already seen, but it was an exhilarating and satisfying feeling to know that he was on the summit, and that he was 4,700 meters or 15,500 feet above sea level, which is about five times the height of most of the mountains in Ireland. Jack rested on the summit for about ten minutes, after which he made his way down to where Michael was waiting for him.

When Jack reached Michael, Michael stood up and grasped Jack’s hand in a strong handshake and said, ‘well done, Jack. You did very well. Now let’s go down. I will soon be ready for lunch and some beer.’

They reached the vehicle at about 1 p.m. The only thing that Michael said to Jack was, ‘you will have to try that one next,’ and he pointed to Volcan Cotopaxi, the top of which could be seen poking its head through the thick clouds, which almost covered it. Cayambe could not be seen at all because of clouds.

They arrived at Jack’s apartment at 2 p.m. only an hour later than Michael had expected, which Jack thought was very good, but Michael remarked, ‘an hour later than usual.’ Michael Doyle was not a man who gave out a lot of praise.

During the next few months, Jack and Michael became good friends, and Michael introduced Jack to several more of Ecuador’s mountains. They usually went to the mountains by themselves but sometimes they were accompanied by people who Michael knew. Because Jack had decided that he was going to try and climb Volcan Cotopaxi, Michael took him on to the snow and ice-covered slopes of that mountain and gave him some lessons in snow and ice climbing.

One of the people who sometimes went climbing with Jack and Michael during those months was a 30 year-old, Ecuadorian woman called Barbara Gonzalez. Jack had met her at one of Michael’s dinner parties. She was half Andean Indian and half Spanish. Her skin was a light brown colour and she had long, black hair, which surrounded a beautiful face, which had very high cheek bones. During those months, Jack and Barbara spent a lot of time together, often going for walks on their own. Jack enjoyed walking with Barbara, mainly because he thought she was very good-looking, but also because he liked the way she moved her slim body. She always held her body very upright, which allowed her medium-sized breasts to thrust out in front of her.

Jack found Barbara to be a very interesting person with an unusual philosophy in life. She was very religious, but her religion was not one of the usual ones. She worshipped an Indian guru of whom she had video cassettes performing miracles during his various journeys around India. She believed that he was the man who was going to ‘save the world’.

Barbara was a vegetarian and she practised meditation. She did not drink alcoholic drinks, and she preached about the benefits to the body of not consuming liquids while eating. At that time, Barbara had a son of 7 years old, the father of whom was from the United States of America. He had been working in Ecuador but went back to the United States when their son was 2 years old leaving Barbara and her son in Ecuador.

The other person who went walking and climbing with Jack and Michael was a Canadian woman called Darlene Edwards. She was also around 30 years old, but other than that and being small like Barbara, she was very different from Barbara. She was very thin and her breasts were so small that their shape usually could not be seen under the very loose clothing which she wore. Darlene liked to eat all sorts of food and enjoyed drinking wine and beer, especially when she was at a party, and she went to many parties.

Jack also found Darlene to be a very interesting woman. She had come to Ecuador around the same time as Jack and Rita in order to teach in the American school in Quito. Not long after she arrived, her boyfriend from Canada came to live with her, but their relationship ended four months later. After a few walks and climbs of some of the smaller mountains, Darlene, when she heard of Jack’s intention to climb Volcan Cotopaxi, said that she would like to join him when he attempted the climb.

Jack and Darlene’s attempt to climb Volcan Cotopaxi took place on December 29. They had asked Michael and Barbara to join them, but they had declined the invitation; Michael, because he had climbed it many times before, and now thought that he was too old to do it again, and Barbara, also because she had climbed it before. A young Englishman called Bob went on the climb with Jack and Darlene; two Ecuadorian climbers who they had hired were their guides.

The nine hour slog up the snow and ice-covered mountain totally exhausted Jack. In fact, if it had not been that he was on the end of a rope and had to be almost pulled up the very steep slope close to the summit of the mountain he would not have made it to the summit. Once he was on the summit, Jack lay down in the snow and rested for about an hour. When he stood up to get ready to start the descent because he was so exhausted he fell down again. Jack’s companion, Bob, was also exhausted, but he was in better shape than Jack, probably because he was much younger than Jack. Darlene did not reach the summit. She gave up halfway up the mountain because she was suffering badly from the cold. One of the guides led her back down the mountain while the other guide led Jack and Bob to the summit.

Jack, Bob and the guide’s descent of the mountain was made without any mishaps but Bob found the descent to be extremely tiring and nerve racking because he had to concentrate so much on what he was doing so as not to slip on the snow and the ice.

During the next two years, Jack climbed Volcan Cotopaxi five times, and also climbed many of the other snow and ice-covered Ecuadorian mountains, as well as many of the mountains, which did not have snow and ice on them. All that climbing made Jack very fit, and he acquired a lot of knowledge about the Ecuadorian mountains. When the time came for him to start working as a mountain guide, he was more than ready.

The telephone call, which started Jack working as a mountain guide, came about three months after he and his wife opened their restaurant. It was from an English woman who wanted him to drive her and her female friend to Cotopaxi National Park so that they could take photographs of Volcan Cotopaxi. She told Jack that she had seen his telephone number in a brochure, which she had seen on the notice board of a bar in Quito, which was known as the English Pub, mainly because it was managed by an English woman. It was true that Jack’s number was on such a brochure, but it was not there for people to call him and ask him to drive them around Ecuador. It was there because he was the president of the Walking and Mountaineering Club, and the brochure advertised the club and its activities of walking and climbing, and stated that it welcomed new members and their guests to participate in the club’s activities.

Two years earlier, after a lot of encouragement from Michael Doyle and some of their walking and climbing friends, Jack had started the club. It had been quite successful, and almost every weekend the club organised a walk or a climb on one of the Ecuadorian mountains. Attendance on those activities was usually between five and ten people, but on occasional outings, up to twenty people participated.

Jack explained all of this to the woman on the other end of the telephone line, and added that he was not a driver or a guide. The woman said that she already knew that but that the manageress of the English Pub had told her that Jack Sligo knew a lot about the Ecuadorian mountains, and that he had a suitable vehicle. Both these things were true. When Jack stopped working for the chemical distribution company, he purchased a Nissan Patrol vehicle similar to Michael’s vehicle, except that it was blue, newer and in better condition than Michael’s vehicle. Michael was envious of Jack’s new vehicle.

The woman on the telephone pleaded with Jack to do what she asked, and said that she and her friend would each give him US$100. Jack thought about that for a couple of minutes— US$200 for a drive to and from Cotopaxi was easy money, and furthermore, he would be with two women, at least one of which sounded young and attractive.

At that time, Jack was in need of female company because his relationship, sexual and otherwise, with his wife, Rita, was not good. Jack’s relationship with his wife had soured a lot during recent months and Jack was feeling sexually frustrated. Furthermore, a few months earlier, Jack had made a pass at the beautiful Barbara when they were out walking together, but she had rejected him because he was married. Also, Jack had had a crush on Darlene, the teacher, but he had never made a pass at her, even though he had flirted with her a few times. Earlier that year when she was at a party hosted in Jack’s home when Rita was out of the country, after Jack had decided that he was going to try to take her to his bed, she had become involved with a man from Costa Rica, and she had slept with him on Jack’s couch, instead of with Jack in Jack’s bed.

A few months earlier, another woman had come into Jack’s life. She was the daughter of his friend, Michael. Her name was Evelyn and she was 21 years old. Jack knew her age because he attended the party hosted by Michael in his home, to celebrate her twenty-first birthday. Evelyn, who usually lived in Ireland, had come to Ecuador to spend a year with her father. Evelyn did some low-level walking with Jack and her father, but she was not interested in climbing any of the high mountains. Jack liked Evelyn a lot. She was very friendly and very pretty. From the various conversations which they had, Jack learned that she liked to dance, and that she could tap dance. Jack had learned to tap dance when he had been living in Argentina. Consequently, they did some tap dancing together, and after Jack had prepared the choreography for a dance, they performed it together at the same party during which Darlene became involved with the man from Costa Rica. Jack, even though he wanted to, had never made a pass at Evelyn. He was afraid of the consequences. Perhaps she would be offended and tell her father, and Jack would lose Michael’s friendship. Furthermore, Jack was 50 years old and Evelyn was only 21 years old; it was unlikely that Evelyn would welcome or respond positively to a pass from him.

Because of the poor relationship which Jack had with his wife, his rejection by Barbara, his failure to do anything about his crush on Darlene and his fear of doing anything with Evelyn, Jack was ready to embrace any activity, which because of the presence of women, might lead to some sexual activity.

After Jack accepted the assignment to take the women to the Cotopaxi Park, the woman told him that her name was Cathy, and that her friend’s name was Joan. She also told him the name of the hotel where they were accommodated, and suggested that Jack go for them at 7 a.m. the following morning.

Jack arrived at the hotel just before 7 a.m. and met Cathy and Joan. Jack was very pleased, when on meeting them, he found that they were both young and attractive, but he was very disappointed when they told him that two men were going to accompany them to the Cotopaxi Park. Jack, not wanting to disappoint them, accepted the two men as part of the assignment. Even though Jack was disappointed that there would be two men with them that day he was also pleased about it because it meant that he would receive US$400 instead of the agreed US$200. However, when he told Cathy that he would expect US$400, she was not very pleased. She argued that he was wrong to increase his price because having two additional people in his vehicle would not increase the cost of the journey. Jack, not having any experience as a guide, and being a poor negotiator, and being overcome by Cathy’s charm, said that US$200 would be acceptable, even though he knew that the two men were getting a free trip to the Cotopaxi Park. Jack made up his mind there and then, that if he did this sort of thing in the future, he would quote a price for the hire of his vehicle and his services and the journey, regardless of the number of participants.

The drive to and around the Cotopaxi National Park that day was uneventful and Jack’s passengers were disappointed that the mountain was covered by thick clouds and because of that they did not see any of it never mind being able to take photographs of it. However, Cathy and Joan were good company and they kept their male friends and Jack amused and entertained during most of the journey.

After Jack had driven them back to their hotel late in the afternoon, Jack graciously accepted the US$200. Yes, he said to himself, as he drove to his home above the restaurant, the US$200 was money easily earned, and furthermore, he had enjoyed himself while he was earning it. He thought that perhaps he should do something about getting similar assignments.

Jack’s second assignment came three days later, and it came from the same source as the first one. Cathy called him and asked him to drive her to Otavalo, the small but famous market town, about a two-hour drive north of Quito. She explained that she was going to travel overland to Bogota in Colombia, but before she did that she wanted to see the famous Otavalo market. From Otavalo, she intended to ride a bus to the border, and then ride another bus from the border to Bogota. She said that she would give him US$100. Jack accepted the assignment without hesitation. Jack could not turn down the offer of US$100 and the probability of three to four hours alone with the attractive Cathy.

Jack picked up Cathy outside her hotel early the following morning, and soon they were on their way to Otavalo. Cathy kept Jack entertained during the journey. She was a delightful companion. She told him all about herself and her life and asked him many questions about himself and his life.

After Jack had accompanied Cathy on her walk around the Otavalo market, they got into Jack’s vehicle again so that he could drive her to the bus station. Jack was very surprised when during that short journey, Cathy invited him to spend the night with her in Otavalo. Jack was very tempted to accept her invitation. An evening and a night with Cathy was just what he needed to squash his frustrations, but because a big dinner party was going to be held in the restaurant that evening and Jack had promised Rita that he would be there to assist with the preparations for it and manage the bar during the evening Jack turned down Cathy’s invitation. Jack noticed that Cathy appeared to be very disappointed and using sexy expressions and gestures, she tried hard to persuade Jack to change his mind. Even though she held his hand and stroked his thigh Jack did not change his mind. After they got out of the vehicle at the bus station, Cathy threw her arms around Jack’s neck and gave him a big, open-mouth kiss, after which she pleaded with him to change his mind. Jack, frustrated as he was, again said that he couldn’t do what she wanted. Cathy frowned at him and walked away from him towards the bus. She boarded the bus without as much as a wave. It appeared to Jack that she was very annoyed by his refusal, and Jack wondered why she wanted him so much. He was a lot older than she was, and even though he was far from ugly, he was not an exceptionally good-looking man. Jack was annoyed at having had to turn down her offer, yet he was proud that he had, and that he was not going to let Rita down. However, as he drove back to Quito, his feelings of frustration became stronger.

Three days later, Cathy’s friend, Joan, accompanied by a young woman called Helena, came to the restaurant for dinner. After they had finished their dinner, they moved through to the bar, and Jack sat with them to have after-dinner drinks. Joan asked Jack if he had enjoyed having sex with Cathy. Jack was dumbfounded by Joan’s question but answered it by telling her that he had not had sex with Cathy. Joan looked surprised, and said, ‘you mean that Cathy failed to do what she set out to do?’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ said Jack.

Joan, with laughter in her voice, said, ‘when Cathy started this trip three weeks ago, one of her goals was to have sex with twenty different men during the trip. You were to be number eighteen.’

Jack did not have anything to say to that, but he now understood why Cathy had been so annoyed when he turned down her offer to spend the night with her. In a way, Jack was pleased that he had not had sex with Cathy. There was something in his mind which made him think that it was wrong for a woman to use men in the way Cathy was using them. He wondered what type of woman she was, to do what she was doing. Jack was not a stranger to loose women like prostitutes, and he had been with several when he had been in Argentina, but what Cathy was doing was not prostitution. It was something different, something that Jack had never seen before and could not understand. Nevertheless, in spite of all these thoughts, Jack regretted not having spent a night with Cathy.

During the next few weeks, Jack, by word of mouth and notices placed on strategic notice boards throughout the city, advertised his services as a driver with a vehicle, and as a guide to walk on or climb Ecuadorian mountains. His advertising resulted in several assignments, but not so many as he wanted. The assignments, which he got during the next few months, varied considerably in their nature. He drove several people to the Cotopaxi Park and to various other tourist attractions. He escorted quite a few people up Rucu Pichincha and some others to Gua Gua Pichincha and down into its crater. He guided four men to the summit of Volcan Cotopaxi and three to the summit of Cayambe, the other nearby large snow and ice-covered mountain. He even drove a couple around Ecuador for three days, and waited patiently with them at different places, while they were bird watching.

Consequently, when the restaurant closed and Rita left Ecuador, Jack had the experience to try and earn a living as a driver and a mountain guide. Even though he had several assignments each month, the net income from them had been hardly enough to cover the house rent and his living costs. That was why he now needed the assignment that was on offer from the woman called Samantha Blake.

Arranging the Assignment

Jack arrived at the hotel, which Samantha had named on the telephone, at 7.30 p.m. He found Samantha and her sister and their boyfriends at the bar of the hotel, and he sat down with them, after he had ordered a beer for himself. Samantha introduced her sister as Nicola and the two men as Robert and Paul. Jack observed that the four of them looked very young, perhaps too young to climb Volcan Cotopaxi. He also observed that Samantha and Nicola, even though they were small, were attractive young women, both of them having pretty faces and slim bodies and firm-looking breasts. However, even though they were sisters they looked very different. Samantha had short, blonde hair and blue eyes, while Nicola had long, black hair and brown eyes. Jack did not pay much attention to how the men looked.

While Jack was talking with these young people during the next hour, he learned that they were from the United States of America, and that Samantha, Robert and Paul were in their early twenties and that Nicola was 19. Jack also learned that Robert and Paul had done a lot of snow and ice climbing in Colorado, as well as a lot of snow skiing