Chapter 3

The woman was called Kola. She was the young thing that had brought me the cup of drink and the platter of food.

"She is a widow," Tagar told me in all honesty. "Her mate died in a hunting accident but a moon ago and she is without a man now. Her own father and mother have already gone to the spirits and she is alone and there is none of age who would take her in and care for her. She is a good woman and I think it would be a good trade."

I stifled my immediate response as best as I could. I hadn't expected such an offer although considering the value of my trade goods I was certain that it was a good trade. Still I hadn't thought that Tagar would offer me a woman. I had to stop and think about it for a moment or two, if only to look like I was considering his offer. Doing so was the polite thing to do. It also allowed me to focus my thoughts.

"As I said," I finally murmured in response to Tagar's offer, "I am travelling and I am new to this land. In truth I will be travelling for at least a year before I can even think of putting down any roots and when I do it will be far from this valley. Would Kola accept such a life? In honesty it would be hard on her if I accepted her and as I have also stated, danger does follow me."

Tagar nodded solemnly as I spoke. When I finished he glanced over at the older woman. The woman just nodded back at him, just as solemnly without saying a word.

"If you agree to this trade," Tagar replied, "you would be doing Kola a great favour and she would go with you willingly. She was a good mate to her husband and well liked by the women of my village. She will be missed but it is a sacrifice that the tribe is willing to make."

Okay I thought to myself as Tagar rattled off this little piece of information. Obviously the skins and teeth were worth a lot to them and they were willing to sacrifice an able worker to get them. I could understand the offer considering that Kola was now considered an extra mouth to feed, however if she was really a good worker and well liked, then it made little sense to offer her up unless the value of the goods outweighed the value of her contribution to the tribe. I took a deep breath and made one last effort to turn the conversation towards a possible alternative.

"What do the women of the village think about losing such an able worker?" I asked glancing from Tagar over to the older woman. This time I noticed a small smile upon the woman's lips and instantly I knew that I had failed.

"As I have said already," Tagar stated with satisfaction, "Kola will be missed by the women of the village, but rest assured they are willing to make this sacrifice. Your concern however is most appreciated. It tells me and my people that you are an honourable man and that Kola will be well cared for by you."

It was a done deal at that point. I offered my forearm to Tagar and he clasped it quite readily, a confident grin upon his face. I let him have that for what it was worth. I knew that I would know later who had really gotten the better deal today.

With that done Tagar signalled to the older woman. The woman immediately rose from where she was sitting and left the circle about the hearth. A second later she'd disappeared amongst the various dwellings of the settlement. While she disappeared another woman came forward and gathered up the skins and teeth and carried them away. As I stood there and waited Tagar took the opportunity to introduce me to several of his key men. They all came forward eager to greet me and to question me about the kills. I was still chatting to them and a few of the younger men of the village when the older woman returned with Kola. Behind them followed an older man who was dressed in what looked like ceremonial robes. I immediately recognized him as being the village's resident shaman.

"Kola," Tagar said to the young woman when she was delivered to him, "this man is now your mate. In the morning you will leave with him, but for now you will lead him to Adak's hut and tend to his needs."

Having said his piece, Tagar stepped aside and let Kola come to me. As she reached out and took my hand, the shaman stepped forward and raised his medicine rattle above us and shook it three times. As the rattle shook and made its sound, the man intoned a blessing upon us.

"Go and be blessed by the spirits," he said solemnly, "and may they watch over you in your journeys."

That was it. Five minutes later Kola escorted me into the dark confines of a small wigwam that stood at the edge of the village. From what I could see it was neat and tidy inside and the structure looked sound. The interior appeared well organized and it was filled with a sleeping space covered in furs, a small fire pit, and a wall that held several baskets and containers that either hung from it or were pushed up against it. There was even a dog lying in a corner gnawing on a bone. The beast looked up at me as I crawled into the space but then ignored me. Once we were inside I asked her about the wigwam and its owner, asking who Adak was.

"Adak was my mate," Kola replied softly bowing her head as she replied. "This is his hut and where I have lived since the spirit of the wild hog claimed his spirit in payment for the hog that the tribe slew that day. What is here is now yours to take and keep or to give away."

I hadn't expected that. To me the fact that I was getting a woman for the value of the five skins and the teeth was already astonishing, but to find out that the woman came with possessions surprised me even more. Obviously if I had taken time to reflect on it and to gaze back at my past memories of my own existence in similar environments I would have realized that such a thing would happen, but I didn't or at least I didn't until later. What Kola told me silenced me for a minute or two. Then I sighed.

"Kola," I said to the young woman, "I am honoured that you have become my mate and have brought me such wealth. I will try to live up to your worth, however I must tell you that in the morning we will be leaving this village and much that is here must be traded away or left behind. When we travel we must travel light carrying only what we need for survival."

"I know this my mate," Kola replied with her eyes lowered submissively. "Tula, who is the old woman of the village and Tagar's mother told me this when she came to me and told me Tagar's intent. I accepted it to be so then and I have no regrets."

Well I doubted that but let it be. Having paused and reflected on it, thinking back to my own past lives I knew that regardless of what this woman truly felt she would accept what was about to happen to her. Her tribe had made their decision and she would live with it. With that cleared up I squatted down by the fire pit and had a quick chat with the young woman. As I had guessed it was at the end of spring and the beginning of summer. Speaking with her I learned that there had been very little in new edible plants gathered since the passing of the winter snows and the spring rains and what had been gathered had gone into meals. Still she admitted to having some stores that we could take with us in the morning. Proudly she showed me weaved baskets and containers that she had that held grains left over from the year before and tubers and roots that she'd picked in the last week or so. The ground vegetables looked good and I set them aside with the grain.

I had Kola find a travelling pack that had been Adak's. After a quick inspection of it I decided that it would do the job for toting the things that we would be taking with us. For the next hour we went through Kola's possessions and slowly weeded the abundance of her home down to what could go into the bag or be carried off of its frame. The stuff that was left over made a sizable pile and I suggested to Kola that she take and trade for anything that we did not have such as more root vegetables. I even gave her the two quail eggs to sweeten the deal. The two little eggs wouldn't be much between the two of us if we kept them for ourselves. Obediently she did what I told her. In a short while she returned with more tubers, some wild carrots that were still good, a small bag of nuts, and some fresh greens. I told her that I was pleased by what she'd done.

That night we ate in the privacy of the wigwam. To Kola's surprise I introduced her to my cooking gear. I had a high-tech pot and pan set that rivalled the best that my Earth had ever produced. It surprised her when I set it over the coals of the fire in our wigwam, hanging it from an iron cooking rod. She was even more surprised when I showed her how to poach the rabbit meat and the quail in a little water in the bottom of the pot and a few spices. Once the meat was cooked we removed it from the pot and I turned the cooking over to her. Kola started a simple stew with some of the tubers and roots that she'd traded for. While she worked on heating the vegetables and building a broth, I quickly deboned the meat. I set aside the quail for tomorrow's midday meal and returned the rabbit to the pot. An hour later it was ready to eat. To both our surprises it tasted pretty good.

After supper we both tidied up for the night. I took the pot down to the creek and cleaned it out. What had been left in it had been doled out into bowls for tomorrow's breakfast and then covered up in a woven basket. We'd eat it cold as I wanted to be on my way by daybreak. I wasn't certain how long my luck would last and I knew deep in my bones that I was a danger to the village.

While I was at the stream I took care of the call of nature. By then darkness was falling on the settlement and there were only a few people left outside of their dwellings and none were paying me any mind. Once I was done, I picked up my pot and strolled up the course of the creek until I was about three hundred yards above the encampment. Here I stripped down again and stepped into the water. Quickly I washed myself down, cleaning up once more. When I was finished I headed back to Kola and the wigwam.

Kola was in bed when I got there. I spotted her even in the dim light cast by the fading coals of the fire pit. Her eyes stared at me from across the structure, glittering with light and filled with question. After placing the pot on my travelling pack I stood up as best I could in the low structure. Naturally, I had to bend over quite a bit. As I stood Kola pulled aside the heavy bison skin that was covering her. It was a clear invitation to join her in the bed. Her dark eyes held mine for a second and then her gaze turned away to glance down her body. I followed her eyes and took in the image of her naked body. The bison skin was pulled off of her upper torso and I could clearly see her small naked breasts and the darkness of her nipples. I smiled at her and began to undress.

In seconds I was naked as well. I smiled with gratification as Kola's eyes grew wide as they took in the sight of my manhood. It had just begun to harden in response to her invitation but I knew instinctively that she was surprised by what I was about to offer her and perhaps even frightened. Without waiting to see if she would change her mind I moved to her bed and joined her there under the heavy fur. Lying down beside her, I rolled to my side and faced her. As I did I pulled the heavy skin over us. That surprised her and took her aback for a moment or two bringing a look of confusion to her eyes. Then I surprised her again by slipping my arm under her neck and shoulder and pulling her in for a kiss.

Kola was startled by the kiss. Her body tensed against mine but I didn't worry about it. Instead I focused on what I was doing to her. I tenderly brushed my lips against hers and pecked at them. I persisted for a bit, moving from tender, teasing pecks to running the tip of my tongue over the soft flesh of her lips, to holding my embrace and pressing my lips firmly to hers. As I did this, I lifted my free hand and ran it down her slender, muscular arm until I was able to cup one of her firm, apple size breasts. That startled Kola as well, but the combined attention caused the tension in her to subside and as the touch of my thumb drew a response from Kola's breast, the young woman gave into the pleasure I was offering her. For the next few minutes I taught Kola to kiss and by the end of it she was very enthusiastic about learning some more. When my tongue forced its way into hers, what little resistance left in her crumbled as desire and passion welled up in her and she responded eagerly to my endeavours.

I didn't get into anything too fancy that night. We'd be rising early in the morning and we'd be travelling for a long time before we made love once more. Still I didn't rush things with my new mate and I made certain that Kola was well lubed before we moved on to the main event. This entailed me kissing down to her firm yet supple breasts to give them a generous licking and a little sucking and nibbling, while the hand that had caressed them slipped down her firm belly and found its way between Kola's powerful thighs. Again I surprised the young woman but any resistance that rose from the unfamiliarity of my actions melted away when I drew one of her nipples into my mouth and I teased it with the tip of my tongue. While Kola gasped and shuddered in response, my deft fingers slipped through her nest of coarse pubic hairs and delved into her furrow. There they stayed stroking and teasing her until her slit was moist with arousal and her aroma filled the air about us. I worked her sex for a while, first caressing it and teasing it, and then probing it with my massive fingers. Kola's pussy was tight and until her natural juices flowed it resisted my intrusion. Eventually it gave way and I was able to probe Kola's depths with my forefinger. As I did this, I pressed the pad of my hand against her clitoris and rubbed. That got the girl going. In no time she was bucking her hips upward to meet each thrust of my finger. In the end, Kola turned her head into my chest and keened her climax into me, doing her best to muffle the sound.

Even as she lay panting in my arms, exhausted by what I had done to her, I pressed on. Pulling my finger from her depth, I rolled away from her. As I did I pulled Kola on to me so that she lay astride me. Too startled to resist, I soon had Kola positioned so that she could mount me. With a little encouragement, I had Kola raise her hips while I reached between us and seated the broad head of my manhood into the entrance to her sex. Then I had her mount me, very slowly. It took time for Kola to fit my girth and length into her. It took a lot of time and patience and tender whispers of encouragement. Once in I let her sit still for a bit so that her pussy would adjust to the intrusion that it was suffering. While she sat I played with her tits. I've always loved a woman riding me. It allowed me to play. Eventually, my teasing reawakened Kola's desires to please me and she started to raise and lower herself upon my rigid shaft. I encouraged her by playing with her tiny nipples and whispering to her instructions. She moved slowly at first, learning as she went to rub her clit against me as she descended my cock but sometime during our coupling need outweighed caution and she started to ride me frantically. I just let her, doing my best to support her as her speed picked up and she lanced her sex with my spear. When she came again, Kola arched her back and ground her teeth together in an effort to stifle her explosion of pleasure. In the aftermath of her climax, I rolled the tiny woman onto her back and began fucking her again, taking my own pleasure this time. Kola just laid there with her legs spread wide and her eyes glazed over as I slowly worked my shaft in and out of her. As the steady rhythm of my strokes stirred up Kola's passions once more, she thrust up her hips to meet my downward plunge. Soon I was pumping into her with abandonment, oblivious to anything but the moans slipping from Kola's lips and the wonderful feeling of her sex wrapped about my shaft. In the end my cock belched out my seed and I filled her up with my climax. When I was done, I rolled off Kola and then drew her into my side to cuddle her against me. In seconds we were both asleep.