Chapter 13

While John recovered from his hangover, he carved a round faced horned fanged clawed demon, with bulging eyes and a insane leer. When Zithrusa saw the glowering form she insisted that John cover it in a leathern sack, and wouldn't look at it anymore. John poured all of his hangover into the squat malevolent figure. He smoothed it, but put no polish to it, then put it away and forgot about it.

The fourth night, Zithrusa seduced John, using all of her feminine wiles to interest him in her sexually deprived and depraved body. Her yoni was hot enough to melt tallow when John stopped his self-pity party long enough to dip his wick in her cauldron of love. He felt much better then, and afterwards she got him to drink some broth like when she had taken care of him the first time. They both enjoyed going back to their early days, and John even went so far as to pretend to be helpless (at the point sometime after he regained control of his bladder, that is) and dependant upon Zithrusa. She enjoyed mothering him, talking to him as if he was a small child. This time she used her new wanton knowledge of his perverse ways, and pleasured him with her mouth, and rode him like a cowgirl. John thought he might have to teach her just what silk scarves were for.

John took a giant stag which looked like a cross between an elk and a moose, but without the moose's nose. He seemed to remember seeing a picture of an 'Irish Stag' but he was sure he wasn't in Ireland, no matter what year it was. He couldn't remember when such an animal might have existed, but shrugged it off as not really important. As long as he didn't meet up with a saber-toothed lion, or a cave bear or an enraged mammoth, he wouldn't worry about it. Even if it was an animal from out of time, there were such things as remnant populations after supposed general extinction, and come to that, John himself was an animal out of his own time, looking decidedly odd in his orange suit. The caravan didn't pay much special attention, aside to remark on the size of the beast's rack, so John put it from his mind.

The next several weeks saw Zithrusa construct a light airy tent to replace their wool and felt monstrosity, so old-fashioned! The translucent silk panels let in much light, and John had to remember to keep light sources from having he and Zithrusa put on a shadow show at night. He mentioned it to her, and she got very excited and practically attacked him in her wanton lusts. She was getting to be so perverse! Who knew she had a kink for exhibitionism? Perhaps was an effect of being stimulated under her robes as she rode her horse, secretly dripping her juices of lust into her saddle pad right in front of everyone! It was all John's fault, she was a nice girl when he met her, well on her way to becoming a maiden auntie.

They recycled the textiles from the tent, the old heavy tent that is, The walls became trade blankets, and the heavy old felt roof could be made into inserts for boots. Zithrusa had a hard time keeping up with her weaving, and had John make a second loom, and had Wong join her in weaving the three foot wide by ten feet long waterproof silk panels. It took a little over two days to make one panel, but with two of them working, they completed five a week.

Zithrusa thought that in spite of being waterproof, silk would be less valuable the more east they went, so they decided to trade all the silk they produced in Kashgar, in exchange for high value low volume goods such as saffron and rubies. They decided that selling tents would bring better barter than just selling the silk panels, so John became tent-maker as well as carpenter carver. He made round pavilion style tents, with six foot walls, as getting the most volume from the material. Six panels for the walls, gave an interior of nearly 18 feet across, and the roof took about five more, John thought, He just sewed the pattern that Zithrusa cut out for him.

John only had two of the tents completed when they arrived in Kashgar, but they were beautiful with white and rose panels, and the top held up by a center pole. The roof at the center was ten feet high, sloping down to six feet on the edges. It was a mobile palace, a winnabago of a tent. Because there were only two, it made them more valuable. (Actually there were three, but John and Zithrusa were in no way going to go back to the felt roofed tent, which was so last year!.) and various people clamored to obtain them. In fact, there was almost a riot. Well, there were a few brawls.

Finally they sold both tents for a fortune in rubies to the same man, who made a profit anyhow by re-selling them the next day. They decided the rubies were a good form to carry value in, as they could walk away with no visible goods, yet still have the same value as two camels loaded with carpets and furs. Speaking of which, they traded all their carpets and tapestries for more silk thread and more saffron, as it was a low volume high value trade item.

They also picked up more jewels for some select carvings. Zithrusa held a 'John's Secret' party with only women invited, and got much treasure in jewels for showing and demonstrating the use of the irresistible wooden objects. The ladies were much impressed with her love fountain, and she was able to induce most of them to similar outpourings. The carvings became all the rage of the ladies in the know, a simply must have item. John couldn't bring himself to pander the carvings of his wife to lecherous strangers, thought, although the idea was secretly thrilling to Zithrusa.