Chapter 19: Papagena

HARRY WAS ALREADY BACK AT his farm when we returned from Zion. I don't know how he traveled and I never found out. Persephone had put the fear of god, or more likely fear of the goddesses, into him, and for a while he kept his distance. Especially from Mrs. D and her bellweather farm.

The whispered "Soy yo" and the little trill haunted me. We hadn't been back a week before I heard it again one afternon when Hebe and I came to the farm to see Persephone and her mother. We'd been swimming that afternoon, along with Hebe and Mrs. D. Hebe's mom had been with us earlier in the day, but she'd taken off to return to the city and Mrs. D and Hebe left shortly afterwards to run some errand. When I waved goodbye to Hebe from the pool, my arm around Persephone, I laughed at the saucy look she gave me.

Persephone and I held each other in the water as we kissed, and as our hunger rose I guided her toward the steps and the soft grass and shade beside the pool. We didn't rush. When I had her squirming I knew the moment was upon us.

"Sam, if you don't come inside me right now I'm going to scream. I mean it."

I knew she could scream. For such a petite girl she had a really strong set of lungs.

I entered her easily. She was wet, I was hard, and in a second I was home, firmly lodged. There was no way I could stay still, and in one more second we were moving easily together, our rhythms familiar from long practice.

"Yeah, Sam, like that. Just like that, like that, like that."

Her chant was intoxicating and arousing and I felt myself approaching the point of no return. I lifted a little to hit her clit as I thrust and her chants got louder until she shrieked and held me tight. I stopped then, but only long enough for her to catch her breath. Then, released from the need to bring her to climax first, I increased the pace of my thrusts, concentrating on my own road, the hill I was climbing, and as the moment grew closer I began shouting myself. Wordless sounds, really, until the moment finally arrived and I called out Persephone's name as I released once, twice and a third time and I emptied myself inside her.

We rested and her hands made little circles on my back. When I began to soften I raised my head and kissed her. I withdrew slowly and moved to Persephone's side and pulled her into my arms, my softened cock pressed against her. We shared small kisses then, telling each other little stories without words. As I lay barely awake in the shade, Persephone asleep in my arms, I heard the trill again followed once more by the almost-plaintive, "Soy yo."

I nudged Persephone.

"Did you hear that, Persephone?"

"What?" she asked.

"The voice. The soft 'Soy yo' just now?"

Persephone shook her head.

"I heard a kind of rustle and a little breath of air, that's all."

"That's what I felt the first couple of times."

Then I heard the trill once more.

"There, Persephone! Did you hear that?"

"It sounded like a bird to me, Sam."

"It wasn't. I mean, I'm not really sure what it was, but it wasn't a bird, I know that. I heard it at Yosemite, and then at Zion more than once, the last time just before Harry grabbed you in the river."

Mrs. D went to visit friends that evening, so it was Hebe, me and Persephone sitting out in the garden after dinner as the light faded, along with the heat.

"Hebe, did Sam tell you about this trill he's heard, and the whisper?"

"Yeah," Hebe said, "but I've never heard it."

I looked from one of them to the other.

"OK, leave aside that part of it, what's your plan for Harry, Persephone? Have you seen him since you got back?"

"Yeah. I was out the other morning, and guess who was back in the irrigation ditch."

She laughed.

"You should have seen him jump when he saw me. But you know the funniest thing? He had a swimsuit on this time!"

That cracked all of us up. Obviously, Harry was taking seriously Persephone's threats to his safety if he tried to push the line with her.

"I know a few people," said Persephone. "I'm asking around."

"It's got to be someone who likes big, hairy guys," I said.

Persephone didn't have much luck. Everyone around knew Harry and no one seemed to have a lot of interest in getting to know him better. Especially folks those with daughters. It wasn't hard to understand why. When we regrouped a week or so later, Persephone's tone reflected her frustration.

"It's not as though people think he's dangerous," Persephone said. "It's that he's unpredictable. And weird."

"Have you told him what you're doing, Persephone?" I asked.

"Yeah."

She laughed.

"He's back to bathing nude in the irrigation ditch. He was nervous the first time I saw him after he'd ditched the swimsuit, but I just laughed and waved and kept going."

She shrugged.

"He wouldn't have objected if I'd joined him, I know, but that wasn't going to happen."

Hebe looked at Persephone, a little smile on her lips.

"Oh yeah, Persephone? You sure about that?"

Another laugh from Persephone.

"Yeah, although sometimes..." she let the sentence trail off.

I don't know why it took me so long to realize it, but right then it came to me.

"Look, I hear the trill, most of the time, when I'm still, when I'm quiet. And the trill is associated somehow with Harry."

I looked from one to the other.

"Let's walk early tomorrow. If we run into Harry, you stay with him for a little while, Persephone, and let Hebe and me walk on, OK?"

So the next morning, not long after sunrise, the three of us set out. We found Harry at his favorite artesian well, half-covered in mud and a smile on his face when he saw Persephone. The smile faltered a little when he saw Hebe and me with her, but he kept up his bathing, or whatever it was. Persephone stopped to talk with him, and Hebe and I walked on into the almond orchard.

When we were a couple of rows over and well out of sight of Harry and Persephone, I stopped Hebe with my hand on her arm and turned her toward me and kissed her. She melted into my arms and we lost ourselves in the warmth of our lips, the moisture, the heat, and the way our bodies fit together perfectly.

It was too good an opportunity to pass up, so I edged us over to the nearest tree, larger than the others, and lifted Hebe's t-shirt up and off and tossed it on the ground. She lowered her own shorts and panties while I stripped, and our bodies found each other and she squirmed against me.

I broke the kiss and smiled.

"I love you, Hebe."

She kissed me.

"Show me."

So I turned her to face the tree and she put her hands on the trunk and spread her legs, and I showed her. I showed her firmly and evenly and I didn't rush, at least I didn't until the last moments when the heat and wet of her pussy became too much for me, and I showed her when I spurted and filled her. She didn't reach her climax that time but I was confident I'd be able to make it up to her later on.

The sun was higher by then, the light amidst the almond leaves filtered and wavy and dream-like. After I left Hebe I turned her to face me and kissed her and held her tight. I turned us around and leaned back against the tree, the bark scratchy against my butt, but I didn't care. I wanted to hold Hebe, to cherish her, and kiss her and cuddle her and, yes, fuck her again as soon as I could.

I got my wish a little while later, and gloried in her orgasm as she writhed and cried out. Our cuddling afterwards as we lay on the soft earth was dreamy and slow and warm. When I heard the trill I kept my eyes closed this time. I didn't want to scare whoever or whatever it was away.

"Dónde estás?" I whispered.

"Aquí."

"Will you show me?"

"Yes. Open your eyes."

Shimmering to my eyes as if in a dream, she stood perhaps three trees away. Her Polo shirt and shorts and sneakers were not what I expected a sprite, for that is what I'd assumed she was, to wear, but she looked very comfortable.