Chapter 31: The Arrival of a Letter

The girls decided to run off with the sheets. I was still descending the ladder as they dashed through the trees. Ashley led the way, but Lenore was close behind as they scurried out of the grove. I kicked off the ladder and fell the final seven feet or so to the turf. Once I was on the ground I activated the remote and after verifying that the ladder was rising and the trapdoor closing I took off after the girls.

The head start the girls had was enough that they were at the gate leading to the backyard of Ashley's home before I finally caught up to them. Both girls were smiling and giggling as Ashley opened the gate.

The gate had only opened a foot when Angelique came out through the opening, scrambling a bit on the dirt and throwing her arms around Lenore's legs. "Mommy!"

Lenore handed the sheets she was carrying to me and picked up her daughter. "Angel, I guess you missed me."

"You didn't say you'd be back!" Angelique accused her mother. "I wanted to play and you weren't here."

"And she didn't want to go to the park with Letty and me," Jason said as he emerged through the open gate. Ashley dashed inside, carrying most of the sheets.

"Angel," I said calmly. "Your mother and I need to take a quick shower and then we'll play a game with you."

"We're you exercising again?' Angel asked. "I remember that Aunt Ash showered after we got home yesterday."

I looked over at Lenore who was blushing furiously. "Yes my darling," Lenore whispered. "We were exercising.

"Exercising?" Jason asked. "In that outfit?"

"Jason, not in front of an innocent child," I said out of the corner of my mouth.

Jason started blushing a bit. "Ah, right," he stammered. "That explains Ashley's bundle. Sorry, just smack me later."

"I'll just tell Letty that she needs to restrict your access for a day or two," I said with a smirk. "That will definitely get your attention."

Lenore laughed. Angelique was sniffing her nose and turning her head. "Mommy, something smells funny," she complained.

"Damn," I said. "Jason, who can watch Angelique for another twenty minutes or so? Lenore and I need to shower."

"Letty is here, and she's had some luck. I think I can now, I just couldn't tell Angel where her mother was," Jason said.

Lenore nodded. "Angel. I need to take a shower. Can you promise to be a good girl and play with Unca Jason until I'm done?"

Angelique looked over at Jason. She pouted for a moment, but then nodded. "I can, he plays Chute and Ladders with me."

The little girl struggled for a moment so Lenore set her down. Angelique walked over to Jason and looked up at him. "I move first!" she commanded and then grabbed his hand to pull him through the gate. Jason stepped back and waved with his free hand for Lenore to go first.

"No, ladies first," Jason said firmly.

Lenore looked at me. "Will we shower together?' she asked.

"No!" Jason screamed. "Not unless you want your daughter to hear things."

Lenore raised her eyebrow as she stopped and looked back at Jason. He blushed and looked at me.

I sighed. "Ashley can get very vocal and let's just say that the times we've showered together..."

"It haunts me," Jason said. "My innocent sister is definitely not so innocent. She proved it that first time and every time since."

"Every time?" Lenore asked.

"I always try to leave Ashley begging me for more or for me to stop because she can't take more," I admitted.

Lenore grinned. "I think I'll have to try that someday. But not today. Sorry Mark, but you shower alone."

Jason laughed as Lenore flounced off. I followed and then Jason closed the gate behind us as he led Angelique to a table on the patio in the backyard. A couple of game boxes sat there and Angel ran ahead to grab the box for Chutes and Ladders.

I kept going into the house. Inside the door Becky met me. She held out her empty arms. "Ashley warned me you had more sheets for the wash," she told me. "Use the shower on this floor and we'll drop your spare clothes by the door."

"Can do," I said as I handed the bundle of sheets to Becky. I turned and ran into the house and headed to the hallway leading to the ground floor shower. Behind me I could hear Becky saying something to Lenore.

The hallway was clear and I was able to slip into the bathroom without stopping. Once inside I stripped quickly and started warming up the shower. I wanted to get back to the group. I was holding a hand to check the temperature of the spray when there was a knock on the door. "Mark!" Beatrice called out. "A letter arrived for you here. The name on the return address is Concubine Parker."

"Does the envelope list a location?" I asked as I jumped into the water.

"It doesn't make much sense," Beatrice called through the door. "It says Poseidonat, or at least I think it says that. I've never heard of such a place."

"I'll hurry the shower," I called back.

I jumped into the shower and grabbed the soap. Normally I enjoy luxuriating under a warm shower, but this time I only wanted to scrub away the sweat and semen quickly so I could rush out and read the letter. I used frenzied motions to lather my body, turning so that the falling water could rinse each area the instant I was done.

Five minutes later I was rubbing my arms and legs dry with a towel and rushing to the door. When I opened it I found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt on the floor along with some clean underwear. I grabbed the clothing and closed the door again. The instant the door closed I started dressing.

The moment I was dressed I opened the door to the bathroom and leaving my dirty clothes on the floor rushed out to the kitchen. "Bea where is this letter?" I asked.

"I have it in the TV room," Beatrice shouted back.

I walked into the TV room. Beatrice was sitting on the large couch with Becky by her side. A large multicolored envelope was sitting on the coffee table in front of them. Becky pointed at the envelope. "It arrived special delivery."

I sat down on the love seat and picked up the envelope. It was a standard express mail envelope. The first surprise was the address information. The return address did say "Concubine Parker owned by Sergeant Rex Morrison. Poseidonat System. Laburnum Sector."

"I've never heard of any of this," I said carefully.

"I'm still trying to figure out why they brought it here. Your mother would have sent it to your home address," Becky said.

"This is printed," I pointed out. "And I have this feeling that it wasn't mailed from wherever this Poseidonat system is."

"Open it," Beatrice commanded. "And read it."

I flipped the envelope over and pulled the tab that would open it. Inside there were two neatly folded sheets of paper. I pulled them out and held them in front of me.

Becky noticed my hesitation. "What?" she said.

"I never thought I'd hear from Mother again. And now Matilda isn't here to know I received this. She should be here for this."

"Read it first," Beatrice suggested. "Unless she says there's a section for your sister's eyes only."

I heard someone hum a few notes while standing behind me. I set the envelope to the side and carefully unfolded the papers. Surprisingly they were handwritten and I was able to figure out which one went first. My quick scan of the first page showed nothing exceptional so I started to read it out loud.

"Mark, my dear son," the letter began.

"That's sweet," Beatrice said with a sigh.

"Quiet," I heard Letty say from behind me. "I want to hear this."

I tried to ignore the chatter and continued. "I have no idea if this will reach you. Master Rex has permitted me to write this letter and transmit it, but no one seems to know how long it will take to reach Earth. They only promise to scan what I write and then send the created file out with any outbound ship. It took us six weeks to arrive at Poseidonat and all I was promised was that the letter would reach Earth eventually. Or at least the file would and they'd convert it back to a letter to be mailed to you."

"So that's how they did it," Becky said. "They don't mail a letter they just have message files that they print when they reach a destination. I'm surprised they didn't just send it to your e-mail address."

"I never told my mother my e-mail address," I replied.

"Did your mother know you spent a lot of time here?" Jason asked from behind me.

"No," I replied. "But I should continue."

No one spoke so I looked at the next section. "I've been told you can send a letter back the same way. Any testing center can scan and then forward a letter. I don't know if your sister misses me. You can tell Matilda that I miss her terribly, but now know that bringing her with me would have made her miserable."

"Why?" Letty asked.

"I never told you about the man who selected me to journey with him to the stars. Rex Morrison was a trucker who had stopped at Pizzaro's with an escort. The escort agreed to be his other concubine. I wish I could say that Chloe is a warm and loving woman, but she's very hardened and has a hard time relating to people. During our ride out here she was a dynamo in bed, but once Rex leaves for training it will be very lonely in our home."