Chapter 17

It took Mark and Anuhea another twelve days to reach the village, one week of threading their way out of the canyon, and another week biking north through the rolling hills. It was a time of great peace and loving for both of them, and when they got back Anuhea hugged Kara and Va'an fiercely. She told them she was very content to begin sharing her husband again. It took another few days of planning, but by the beginning of the month of Keiki in the summer of 1410, a second expedition left the village, bound again for the great canyon.

This expedition was much more extensively outfitted, and consisted of fourteen people, Mark, Kara, and twelve members of the current year's marriage class, nine girls and three boys. They made swift progress with the ample summer light, and by the evening of their fifth day out, they were camping one day away from the canyon entrance. It was the end of day 22 of 1410, and at dinner they all sang songs for Mayoni's 23'rd birthday.

Later that night Mark and Kara sacked out in their tent, with the boys and girls in separate camps about ten meters on either side of them. They cuddled quietly until they heard the youth sack out for the night.

"What a great group of kids," Mark said quietly.

"Not kids, Mark. They'll all be twenty-three before the next Red Bird festival. Our darling daughter had grown up!"

"I know... I'm so incredibly proud of her, and yet... I wish I could have her for a few more years as my... well..."

"Mark, she'll still be our daughter. But yeah, I know what you mean..."

"Yeah... Well, Amy and Mahi will certainly keep us busy!"

"Oh yeah! Amy's growing up fast. She loves taking care of Mahi. She's so cute! She even asks to rock him to sleep now. They're both such a joy. And I must say, I enjoyed finishing being the dairy queen to Mahi! Two years of suckling were enough, even if they were the short Aina years."

Mark stroked Kara's firm breasts. "Heading back to a B-cup?"

"Ha! I think so. We'll see... Hmmm, take feels nice... What to punch this up a level?"

Mark's mind drifted in the timeless foreplay with Kara. He coupled with Kara without thinking, and then blinked at the memory of mounting Anuhea over the last months in exactly the same manner, lying behind the female on his side and entering under the upraised leg. Mark reached down and affectionately petted the underside of Kara's raised leg, caressing her inner thigh.

"Oh, you've gotten really smooth at this! Anuhea was right, it's a very pleasant way to couple if you want to relax."

"Wow! Do you women compare notes on how to make love to me?"

"Actually, we do. Quite a bit. Do you mind? We would stop if you did..."

"Well... No... I guess not... It's kind of intimate in a way, to think of you talking to my other wives... our other wives... about how to get sexy with me..."

"Are you absolutely sure about this Mark? We sometimes get very explicit. Anuhea told both Va'an and me how much she enjoyed having you nail her up her tail."

"Wow! Sweet and shy Anuhea! She said that?"

"Her exact words. She's not shy with us Mark. All three of us sometimes brainstorm about how to keep your sex life interesting. But none of us want to break confidences... You have to give us some guidance on this..."

"Well... No... No restrictions... Within the marriage, our sex lives should be a completely open topic... I'm glad Anuhea enjoyed herself so much. And I'm glad she has fond memories of the anal sex. We only tried it once. I was wondering afterwards... Well, I think I penetrated more deeply than I should have, for a first time..."

"Mark, I think she loved it! And she also loved her time alone with you. She was so grateful last week. She kept thanking Va'an and me for letting her have you all to herself for the trip..." Mark's fingers began to play with the curls of Kara's pubic fur. " Oh! That feels nice! Don't stop! Anuhea also said you two fucked like bunnies! My words now, not hers." Kara grunted as her body spasmed from the stimulation. "Did you two really make love twice a day?"

"I guess so. Anuhea's eagerness was very contagious... Kara... You are so sweet! So soft and beautiful... I love you..." Mark picked up his thrusting, and soon they were both close to climaxing. Then unexpectedly Kara rolled away and onto her stomach. "Ah, tired?" panted Mark. "Want to go to sleep?"

"No..." panted Kara. "No! I want you to doggie mount me. I want to lift up my rump for you. Will you nail me, up my tail, just like you did Anuhea?" Kara continued to pant in the heat of her desire.

Mark did not respond in words, but a moment later Kara felt his hand start to caress her buttocks. They explored their bodies slowly, and it was close to an hour later before they climaxed together, and then exhausted fell asleep.

Nine days later the expedition came to southernmost point of the canyon, the class standing near the edge of the dry ledge while the four climbers prepared their gear. It had rained heavily the previous night, but the river looked to be about the same height. The morning sky was a dark gray with a thick cloud cover, and a light mist was falling.

Kapono, one of the young males, was staring intently at the wet ivy across the river. "Kirahani, look at the vines waving in the water. They are not just bent back by the flow. They wave back and forth, almost as if they were sweeping the water... for fish?"

"Kapono, it's a plant!"

"I know. Still... Okay if I waste an arrow and fire it into the ivy? I want to see what happens."

"Huh? Sure, it's your arrow."

The group stopped to watch Kapono sight with his long bow. His aim was perfect, the arrow skimming across the ivy and slicing through the leaves. What happened next was totally unexpected. Numerous vines of ivy came whipping across and wrapped around the spent arrow, lifting it up and trying to pierce it with their thorns. But the arrow was too thin for the vines to attack, and after a few moments they dropped it and resumed their resting pose.

"My gosh," said Mayoni. "The poor 607 expedition! What a horrible way to die, if they tried to return along the ivy..."

As group watched the ivy, a fishlike creature got too close to one of the waving vines. The vine whipped around it and pulled it out of the water. The creature spasmed once, and then was still. It was then dropped it in the middle of the vines, to begin its decomposition.

Kahoku spoke. "Did you see how fast it was paralyzed? I don't think those are just simple thorns..."

"Strange the legends are so different," said Mark. "Killer plants are a lot different than a burning white fire."

"Actually," Kahoku replied, "those legends come from much earlier expeditions, from about the Year 200. This was before the time our tribe invented writing... But you're right, the oral legends speak of a burning white fire, not killing ivy..."

The group fell into silence for several minutes. "Be interesting to get a sample for Lois's gene sequencer" said Kara at last. "Any bets this isn't a third example of the X-tree?"

"Ha! No bet!" laughed Mayoni. "Kahoku! Here, let me help you with that." Kahoku was quite capable of outfitting himself for the climb, but he became still and smiled in enjoyment as Mayoni fastened the climbing harness around him.

Mark and Kara both estimated to wall to be about 55 meters in height, made of smooth vertical stone. The stone was quite hard, and made an excellent anchor for their climbing pins. They slowed down on their climb to instruct Mayoni and Kahoku on some of the finer points of technical climbing. The young pair was very proficient, but not nearly as efficient as Mark and Kara. They wound up spending two hours scaling the wall.

Mark was grateful the mist had ended by the time they were finishing the climb. The sky was still a deep gray, very dark for mid morning, but he thought the sky was starting to lighten up. Mark and Kara let the younger pair scale the top edge first. They appeared transfixed by what they saw, just standing there not saying anything. Mark and Kara vaulted the top lip and stood by their sides.

Behind them to the north, the great Eastern and Western mountain ranges were visible, collapsing down to either side of their narrow gorge. Anuhea's intuition about the end of the gorge was correct. The shear walls ended abruptly shortly after the bend in the gorge. To their south was about two kilometers of a gentle hill sloping down to a great ocean. The last tip of their continent seemed to be a peninsula about ten square kilometers, with the swift river flowing down the middle of it. The rolling hills appeared to be very densely populating with a single species of plant, with dark green leaves and a single curled-up white flower on top.