Chapter 9: Second Wife

Two weeks later Pepper gave birth to two pups, one male and one female. It was too soon to tell what color their coats would be, and their eyes remained closed. But they were healthy and took to teat immediately.

Nita and Tehya were also doing well. Nita was back up on her feet in a day and tried to resume her chores, but she was reprimanded by Marcus and Kuwali to change her priorities. With Kuwali’s help, he fashioned a papoose for the baby so that Nita could carry her around and keep her arms free. She followed the other woman around and he found them in constant discussion about who-knows-what.

The fireplace mantel was completed, and he began building up the chimney flue. It soon became too tall, and he fabricated a scaffold to allow him to keep working. He also began setting the foundation stones around the perimeter of the cabin. But all too soon the weather became untenable, and he had to cease work altogether on the project.

He took Pepper hunting and they checked and reset snares, keeping a continuous supply of meat on the table for them.

He worried about their water supply, so he brought four of the huge barrels into the pavilion and gradually filled them from the stream before it froze completely. There were already ice ridges on the bank of the river, and they steadily expanded out towards the center.

One afternoon he sat in the shelter preparing fletchings for his unfinished arrows. It was busy work but no less important for their continued survival. Nita sat on the pallet nursing the baby and Kuwali worked in her corner where she organized, sorted, and prepared her herbs. Marcus provided her with paraffin, tallow, and lard to compound ointments to help with the rashes that plagued the infant.

He looked up suddenly and found Nita kneeling before him, Tehya was asleep on the pallet. She placed her hands on his knees and looked up at him with an odd expression.

“What is it, Nita?” he asked. Kuwali had come to stand behind her looking nervous. He glanced up at her and frowned.

“Husband,” Nita said to him softly, “I am unable to take care of you in my present state. Tehya drains me and requires constant attention from me.”

“And that is the way it is when you become a mother, my love,” he replied.

“But my duty is to you as well and I am failing in that duty.”

He shook his head and touched her cheek. “You are failing at nothing.”

She persisted, “Cariba, you need a woman’s gift. You need to take Kuwali as your wife and let her fulfill her duty to you.”

He was stunned. “What?” He looked up at the older woman and saw the fear in her eyes. It was not a fear of commitment but of rejection. He stood and faced her. “What is this?” he asked touching her gently.

She began trembling in fear. “It is the way Cariba. You must take me as second wife so that I can attend to your needs.”

He glanced back down at Nita and saw the imploring look in her eyes. She was not doing this for him alone he realized. She was doing it for Kuwali as well. He looked back up at her. “Is this what you wish for?” he asked her. She looked away and began trembling even harder.

“I am afraid,” she cried as her eyes filled with tears, “I won’t be a good wife to you.” She lost her words and Marcus embraced her gently. Nita rose and went to the stove to pour three cups of tea. She returned to their side and gently took the distraught woman to the table. Marcus joined them and soon they all had warm cups before them.

Nita placed a gentle hand on Kuwali’s and waited for her sobbing to abate. When she looked up Nita nodded to her. “Sister it is time. Tell him your tale.”

Kuwali looked at her hands and hiccupped as she bit back further tears.

“I was once a part of the village many years ago,” she began, “I was born to a captured slave of the raider clans from the North. As such I had little status and life was hard. Lakota and his first wife took care of me until my 14^th summer,” she looked through the table as her mind drifted back in time. “Karina was the healer at that time, and she taught me the ways of nature’s gifts. What plants cleaned the blood, what bark helped with stomach flux and fever, roots for toothaches, mushrooms to settle the mind. She taught me much and I learned well.”

She paused to sip her tea and glance about the shelter. “I was out in the forest, alone gathering plants and berries, when they came for me,” she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, forcing tears to fall down her cheeks. “They were four boys from the village, too young to be warriors but old enough to act like it. They never tired of teasing me and causing me frequent trips and falls. Their scorn was because I was born of a slave, and they hated me for it.” she sniffed, “At 14 summers I was taller than any other child and most adult women. I stood apart and never felt a part of the tribe. I had no family and no standing. I was nothing to them.”

Her voice faltered often as she described how they surrounded her and knocked her down, spilling her bundles of herbs and berries. They kicked her, taunted her, and pulled at her hair and clothes. She was held down by two of them while the other two pulled open her tunic and ripped off her leather skirts. The first assault was the most painful and she bled as she was violated. They laughed at her pain and tears as they took turns until they had all spent themselves inside her. She curled into a helpless ball in the dirt while they resumed kicking her and spitting on her naked body.

“They left me there bleeding and crying and feeling more alone than I had ever felt before,” she said sitting up straight. Her emotions were under her control again and she raised her chin. “I never returned to the village that day, or ever again to stay.” She appeared defiant and proud once again. “I found my first cave only to be chased away by an old bear. It was many weeks before I found the second cave, and it suited me all these summers and winters until now.”

Marcus took a drink of his tea to ease his dry throat. “I am so sorry that happened to you Kuwali,” his voice a whisper, “but I swear to you that I will never let another hurt you that way again.”

Kuwali remained silent for several moments, lost in her thoughts. Then a look of determination came over her and she rose to her feet. She stepped around the table and knelt before him, looking him in the eyes. “Cariba, I wish to bind my spirit to yours and be your wife.” She placed her hands into his and gripped him firmly.

Nita rose from the table and stepped around to their sides. She removed her beaded necklace and looked at her husband. He swallowed and nodded his head. She lay the beads over their hands linking them together. “Thank you beloved,” she whispered and helped Kuwali to her feet. She smiled up at the taller woman and hugged her warmly. After the embrace she reached forth and began unbuttoning Kuwali’s gown, drawing it from her shoulders so that she could step out of it. The naked woman stood before her husband quietly and he examined her from head to toe.

Several weeks of good rest and nutritious food had done wonders for the woman. Her wounds were all healed, and she filled out to a healthy weight. Her breasts were larger than Nita’s pre-pregnancy and her hips were fuller. Her mons was covered with a thin patch of dark pubic hair, and he could see the narrow slit of her vagina between her legs.

She stepped forward and took his hand in hers. “Now husband, come take me and claim me as your woman.”

Marcus blinked and gazed back at her stunned before glancing at Nita who nodded smiling happily for him. “It is the way Cariba. Go take her gift.” she gestured and led them both over to the bed where she retrieved her sleeping daughter.

‘Awkward’ did not describe his feelings as he hesitantly slipped out of his boots and began removing his shirt and pants. His member felt no such confusion and became erect in seconds as she crawled onto the bed and presented herself to him on her hands and knees. With a sigh, he lay down beside her and drew her to him so that she lay with her chest across his. “Kuwali I will not take you like an animal the first time. I will hold you and love you as a man loves his wife.” He touched her lips with his and she drew back uncertainly before returning the gesture.

He gently rolled her over so that he lay atop her with his arms supporting most of his weight. He rubbed the tip of his erection against the folds of her vagina as he lightly kissed her neck, chest, and breasts. His touches served to inflame her and she closed her eyes as she took in a shuddering breath. She found herself responding to him. She spread her legs further and pressed her mound up against him. She felt her groin growing warm and moist and she longed to feel him inside her. Her breathing became ragged, and she moaned as he continued rubbing his tip against her entrance.

Her eyes flew open, and she cried out as he suddenly pushed himself into her, just a few inches at first but maintaining the pressure against her tight channel. He could see the pain and fear in her face as she stared back at him. He looked calmly into her eyes and gently kissed her lips again without moving his body. She relaxed beneath him and swallowed nervously as her hands pressed against his naked chest. Then she shifted her pelvis, and he pushed his shaft further into her. It was easier now and he slowly entered her until he felt the resistance of her womb against his tip.

“Ahh!” she cried out as he began withdrawing. Waves of pleasure and pain gripped her, and she felt herself lifting her hips to prevent his withdrawal. Then he pushed back against her, and the jolt of his impact forced the breath from her lungs. He filled her and stretched her wider than she could have ever imagined. He watched her expression as lust and passion replaced her fear and pain and he began pumping his body against hers, slowly at first but with increasing force and speed until he began sweating and grunting from his exertions.

She was unaware of her keening wails at first as he drove her beneath him. She was helpless to the onslaught of his thrusts as he held her tightly by her shoulders. She could only lay back in complete submission with her legs splayed wide and her hands clenched tightly to his biceps. Powerful sensations washed through her as she felt herself swept away by a growing sense of pleasure and euphoria. She closed her eyes tightly and gave into the sudden rush, screaming out in passion as her body began seizing and shuddering. It lasted for several seconds, which seemed an eternity to her before she opened her eyes once more. She saw her lover’s face grimacing in concentration just before he grunted loudly and thrust himself firmly into her a final time. She felt his shaft pulsing within her and the sudden warmth of his seed blasting into her womb.

For a full minute, he held her tightly against him, their hips locked together as he injected all of his sperm into her. Then she felt his body begin to relax and his presence inside her diminished as his member began to soften. He kissed her again and pulled himself slowly out of her before collapsing beside her on the bed, gasping. She instinctively turned toward him and snuggled into his protective arms.

After the initial onslaught of winter, the snowy landscape became peaceful once more with clear bright days and cold starry nights. They stayed comfortably warm and cozy within the pavilion and life took on a pleasant routine. The pups grew daily from the milk of their well-nourished mother, and they opened their sapphire blue eyes early. Within weeks they were getting curious enough about their surroundings that Pepper had to constantly retrieve and redirect them.

Tehya was a calm and content child as long as her needs were met but was quick to anger if she grew hungry or tired. Marcus was amazed at how adept Nita became as a mother. She carried on about their homestead as if the child were merely a new extension of herself. It amused him to no end to see her nonchalantly place the bundled child down amidst the two pups to rest under the watchful gaze of the enormous red wolf.

It was Kuwali who interrupted their sleep one evening when she frantically crawled out of bed and ran for the pavilion entrance. Marcus sat up concerned but Nita remained fast asleep with the baby next to her. He heard the retching sounds of his older wife’s violent sickness from the nearby privy. When she returned to the pavilion her hands were shaking as she fetched a cup of water and drank it carefully.

“Are you not well, my love?” he asked earnestly. He could not see the baleful glare she directed back at him in the darkness. He heard a soft giggle from behind him as Nita shook with mirth.

“It is nothing that won’t pass in a few weeks husband,” she murmured warmly.

“I don’t understand.”

“Kuwali is not sick of mind or body, beloved,” Nita explained and Kuwali groaned miserably at the hearth. “She fell prey to that enormous spear of yours,” she giggled again at the curse that was directed toward her in their native tongue, “you put a baby in her.”

Neither of the women could see the astonished expression that he wore as he slowly absorbed what she meant. Eventually, Kuwali returned to bed and burrowed her chilled body against Marcus for warmth. Moments later he felt her cold hands upon his penis as she began fondling his balls and stroking him until he began responding.

‘Not too sick to want another tumble.’ he mused to himself as he rolled her onto her back and settled himself in place over her.