Chapter 25

I slowly circled the compound, just below the clouds. Off to the east, I saw a herd of kam-bu grazing. Even from this distance I could tell there were hundreds of them. It was an amazing sight. I altered my flight to make a pass over the herd. As I approached, I saw a group of five young men with bows moving slowly through the grass. Not wanting to disturb the hunt, I turned south until I reached the trees, then turned to the west and winged back towards the compound. I flew low over acres of crops being tended by dozens of young people. As I glided past the corn, a bird flew up and circled my head and began chirping, as if warning me out of it's private airspace. I ignored it and made a lazy turn towards the rock face. Surprisingly, the little bird did a loop and landed on my back! I felt it move up and then peck my ear.

"It's time to wake up Andy." whispered Emily as she ran her fingertips up my back, and nibbled my ear. "You can't stay in bed all morning. Everyone else is already out working." Little kisses on my neck. "Lita is helping fix your breakfast. Aren't you hungry? Don't you want to eat?"

I rolled over and took her in my arms. "Good morning baby. Of course I'm hungry, and I have what I want to eat right here!"

She squealed as I started nibbling her neck. "Oh! You are insatiable! Didn't you get enough last night? You wore poor Etala out with one round and filled me twice. I don't know how many times you took Lita, but she could barely walk to the shower this morning when she got up." she said with a grin.

"Well," I said as I slid my hand between her legs, "someone told me my wives needed me. I couldn't leave you all unsatisfied, could I?"

She shuddered and ground her mound against my hand as I probed with my fingers. "Oh. Mmm. We don't have ... oh yes ... time for ... uhn. Yes ... oh yes ... Oh." She rolled me onto my back and sighed "Okay, but we can't take too long."

She lifted herself and guided me into her steamy depths. Five minutes later she collapsed onto my chest as I filled her once again.

Once we had both recovered, I helped her to sit up while still impaled by my hard shaft, then sat up as well. She wrapped her arms and legs around me as we kissed. "I can't believe you are still hard and ready for more."

"I just can't seem to get enough of you. I love all of you so much and never want to be without any of you."

She buried her face in my neck "We all love you too, Andy. And I'm not just talking about your wives. There's not a person in this compound that wouldn't do anything you ask of them. Even some of the others that don't live here feel the same way."

"That may be, but the only one I am interested in feeling right now is you!"

I stood up, causing her to slide down and forcing my full length into her again. I put my hands under her ass and helped support her as she started to bounce up and down.

"Oh Andy. We really don't have time for another ... mmm ... round. We neeeed ... uhn ... to get cleeeeaned ... oh yeah ... up and ... uhn, uhn ... get goiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!"

Her grip tightened all around me as she climaxed. I held her tight and carried her into the shower.

"Please Andy. No more. I can't. Have to stop. Work to do. Please, let me down now. Need shower."

She whimpered sadly as I lifted her up off my pole and sat her down on the bench. I started and adjusted the water then helped her under the stream. She held the safety bar while I washed her from head to foot, doing my best not to stimulate her. I then gave myself a thorough scrubbing, washing away the scents and residue from making love to my lovely wives. Once finished, I dried both of us and took her back to the bedroom so we could get dressed.

As I brushed out her hair, I kissed and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for a wonderful morning."

"Mmm, and thank you for not starting anything in the shower." she said with a giggle. "I can finish getting myself ready, but you need to get down and eat."

I smiled and waggled my eyebrows. She feigned disgust and smacked me with her brush. "Beast! You know I meant breakfast!"

"Of course you did." I replied with a grin. "But that doesn't mean I can't have dessert." I kissed her softly and headed out the door.

As I walked to the kitchen, I thought about the dream I had had. The hunting party had bows, and there were acres of crops growing. I wondered if it was just a dream or if Reeree had given me a glimpse of the future. In either case, I decided I wanted to take the ultralight out for a little aerial reconnaissance. I know there is a creek just west of here where I had dumped the 'bo brothers' bodies. Through the forest to the east somewhere are Terno's people, as well as the ravine where Karen arrived and came to my rescue. To the southwest is Anton's camp, and somewhere beyond that is the wintering camp and where Bet lives. I need to do a flyover and look for any kind of trail we can follow, at least for the first part of our trip.

As I approached the kitchen, I heard Karen whispering to someone I assumed was Lita. I stopped to listen

"There is no reason to be nervous. Just do like we practiced and everything will be fine. Get ready, he's almost here,"

"But what if I make a mistake? The food will be ruined and Andy will not want me."

"I am sure Andy will not throw you out because you burned his food. Just try to relax and remember what you have learned so far. I will be nearby if you need me."

I waited another minute before entering cheerfully.

"Good morning, Lita. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Emily told me that you are preparing my breakfast this morning." I walked up behind her and put my arms around her waist, then I kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Everything smells delicious. What are you making?"

I felt her tremble nervously. "I ... I am cooking your scrambled eggs with meat, I mean ham. There is other meat, sausage, and toasted bread. The sausage is ready, but I will cook the rest now so it will be hot."

"That sounds delicious. I hope you have not eaten yet so you can join me for the meal."

"I will eat with you. I have only tasted little bits of the food as it cooked. It is very different from what I have eaten before."

"I will set places for both of us then so we can eat together."

I got us each a plate and silverware, not sure if she would use them, and poured us each a glass of juice. I hope citrus trees grow around here so I can still have fresh OJ. I put the plates near Lita so she could put the food on them, and set the glasses and silverware at the table. I sat and waited patiently, hoping to not disturb or distract Lita from her work.

A minute later, the toast popped up just as Lita was putting the eggs on the plates. She quickly rounded up the toast and brought both of our plates to the table.

I inhaled deeply. "If this tastes half as good as it smells, it will be delicious." I chopped off a piece of sausage with my fork, then speared it and a bit of egg. I was about to put it in my mouth when I noticed Lita looking at me. "Is something wrong?"

"Etala said you had tools to eat with, but I did not know how you used them, so I was watching to try and learn."

"You do not have to use them if you do not want to. I was taught to use them when I was younger than Keedo. I do eat some foods with my hands, but not on a regular basis. This can be eaten without silverware if I put the egg and sausage on the toast, but trying to eat eggs with just your fingers can get messy."

"There are so many things to learn from you and your kind."

Her statement caught me off guard and I choked on my food. I took a drink to clear my throat. "My kind?".

"You, Karen, Emily, Johnny, and Jenny look like me, but we are not the same. Your eyes are not like ours and stay one color. You have tools to do all sorts of wonderful things. This cooking fire ... stove? ... and things to cook in even helped make what I cook edible. The rooms and sleeping areas are beyond what we have used before. The thing that carried us from our old camp. Even the skins you have for us to wear are not of any animal I have ever seen and the stitching is better than even the best done by our women." she paused and stared into my eyes. "Your eyes are the color of Reeree's. Are you the same as She? Can you do the things she does?"

Oh boy. She's a smart one. But how do I answer? I don't want to lie to her. I took a few more bites while I tried to come up with a response.

"Lita, you are one of the smartest people I have met since arriving here. You see things that others do not. No, we are not the same as Reeree. What she can do is far beyond anything I can do. She brought us here when our last lives ended. She has provided us with the tools we had in our last life to make things easier for us. What you have seen so far; the truck, the rooms, the stove, they are just the beginning of what is available to us. There are other ways that we can travel besides the truck, even ways to move through the air like birds. We have tools to build shelters that will keep us dry and warm when the weather turns cold. Other tools will help us when hunting to kill from a distance. We have tools to prepare the ground to grow the plants that provide the roots and berries you had to find and gather, and other tools to harvest them. All of these things make our lives better. And now that you are my mate, you need to learn how they work so you will be able to use them as well. Everyone that becomes a permanent member of our clan will get a chance to learn to use the tools we have." I took another bite. "This is delicious."

She sat silently and watched me eat for a while, then picked up the fork and tentatively started eating with it. After a few bites, it was like she had been using one all her life. When she took a sip of the orange juice, her eyes went wide. "This is the juice of the orange! Where did you get it up here?" Of course, she didn't say 'orange', but that was what I heard. I was glad to hear she knew what it was and that oranges are available somewhere.

"It was given to us with all the other things. But how did you know what it is?"

"When we are at the wintering grounds, there are traders that have them. I have never seen them up here though. The traders say they are the only ones that can grow them. Is this one of the things you will bring to us? They will be good for trading if you can."

"We will have to see if we can get them to grow here. If not, we will trade for as much as we can get when we visit the winter grounds. Do they also have other fruit like the oranges? Something bigger and not as sweet?" I was thinking of grapefruit for breakfast.

"Yes, but they do not taste good. They also have smaller ones that are good."

"Are there many things that you can get there that you cannot find here?"

"They have meats that we do not have here. There is something that looks like a la-aru but smaller and with only four legs, and something similar to the chatan, but with a shorter neck. There are a few others that we see here sometimes, but not often."

I decided that I would have to see them to know what she was talking about. Either that or have Mallie pull up the information for me. It sounds like there is quite a variety of animal and plant life scattered around that traders bring in.

"Do many villages come to the wintering grounds at the same time? Are there any villages that stay there?"

"Yes, sometimes there are as many as 5 hands of villages there. It is the time when most trading is done. There are three villages that are always near there. They will probably be the only ones there at this time, so I do not think there will be much trading. Bet is also near there, but she does not belong to any of the villages."

"The only things we have are the furs, skins, and weapons from your old camp. Do you think the others will trade for those?"