Chapter 10

I guessed the murder investigation was over and I'd been found to be acting in self-defense. Reela made me more convinced I was right by coming up and signaling for us all to follow her with the sleds. In the camp most of the snow had been trampled to mush already, but the ground was wet enough so the sled's runners didn't drag down too much.

As she led the way through camp I finally noticed the construction of the neighborhood. The dwellings were a little like log cabins, and even had peaked roofs, but no shingles. The roofs were covered with skins and it was obvious just from looking they were treated with some type of oily substance. I guessed it was rendered fat.

Reela and Keela led us to a fairly large hut and when we reached it she held back the skin door, motioning for us to come in. I worried about the things on the sleds for a minute but then decided my previous demonstration would discourage curiosity.

It was pretty dark inside but there were three small lamps that I thought probably burned fat for light, even though it wasn't much light. The hut was packed nearly full with furs, dried meat, and vegetables that had been gathered, but there was still a surprising amount of free space. It was also much neater and tidier than I'd have thought.

Damned if Reela, Keela, Mary, and Chris didn't abandon me in the hut to go back outside. I didn't know what they were up to but decided I'd just be in the way what ever it was. Surely they'd come get me if they needed me. They did, or Mary did anyway.

"Can you come get the tent's stove and see if you can make it work in here?" she asked.

"I'm sure it will, but I'll have to cut a hole in the roof to put the stove pipe through."

"That won't matter. Apparently the hut is yours now, and I'm sure you'd rather have your meals cooked inside. It will cut way back on the dirt you have to eat," she said, and then laughed at me.

Hell, the stove was no bother to me and it would only be a little extra work to put the pipe out through the roof. I put it through the tent's roof every time we erected the tent anyway. Once I cut the hole it would be basically the same.

Thirty minutes later I had the stove installed and a fire going inside it. Keela was plainly amazed and it took several minutes for Reela to explain things for her. She was excited when Reela put a pot of tea on though and as the hut's interior got warmer she was more impressed with my magic fireplace.

I guessed we were going to spend a night or two here and I was glad the old guy was going to allow it. We still had a cave to find, and maybe I could talk Mary and Chris into staying here with Reela and Keela while I went on afoot to see if I could do the job without us having to drag everything we owned along behind us.

Whatever happened next, in the here and now I was happy. We'd skipped lunch and all four of the women seemed to be working on a little something to chew right now. When Reela showed Keela about the mugs and had her bring me some tea I was even happier. So happy in fact I went out and prowled around in our things until I found the lawn chairs we'd brought. Luckily there were three extra, so we all had one and there were two spares.

Sitting in a lawn chair, sipping tea, and watching women work on a meal gave me a lovely feeling of security. I was also speculating on my first night in this hut. Even though we'd had a hell of a hike today I felt fine, and I was hoping that later this evening I'd get a chance to see if there were any differences between Reela and Keela I could find out about in the pile of furs I assumed was our bed.

No doubt there were details of life here that I didn't know about. I decided it was too much trouble to try finding them out. I didn't plan to stay over a few days at most, so I just blew it off. By the time we were eating I'd forgotten completely about it and by the time we were done, naked, and in bed I'd forgotten that I'd ever even wondered about such.

At least I was right about one thing. In the furs I found myself between Reela and Keela and neither of them were being coy. I could tell which one was Keela by the way she was a little tentative exploring my body. I concentrated on her with my fondling since she'd missed out the other night.

She had other differences too. When I shoved it up her wet heat she became a lot more active then Reela had and when I kissed her and sent my tongue in she sucked on it for all she was worth. I nearly had to use my hand to pull it loose so I could get it onto her nipples where I thought it would do more good.

Did it ever? She was panting and moaning with just a minute of nipple play so I went for the prize and wedged my dick up in her. Three firm pushes later I was hitting bottom and only a couple more made her legs wrap around my ass and got her hips into action. I didn't mind though, because if she went off before I did I could just swap mounts, and that's what I ended up doing.

Reela was next in line and damned if she wasn't blazing tonight. As soon as I climbed between her long lovely muscular legs she was ready, and as I worked my dick up her she gave me every bit the ride her sister had, but she didn't even last as long. When she tensed up all over and wailed I was still hard.

Chris and Mary both seemed to catch what the others had. They weren't as frantic for dick as Reela and Keela but they were way ahead of where I'd thought they'd be. Maybe being in on a cluster fuck had their motors revved higher than usual. No matter, I put Mary into orbit and then settled onto Chris. Even though she was steaming too, I knew I'd get my cookies before I quit. She was used to me outlasting her sometimes and if I needed to keep pumping after she went off she'd understand.

It didn't come to that though. As she got close I was nearly there myself. She gave me time to get fully primed and then pushed her index finger up where the sun don't shine. We were both howling as we loped across the finish line. I was halfway intending to discuss this phenomena with Chris and Mary, unfortunately I fell right to sleep before they caught their breath.

That night I slept more soundly than I had since we crashed. I was surprised when I woke alone in bed and even more surprised when I dressed and went outside. It was easily mid morning and all four of the women were out puttering around among the sleds. That wasn't so unusual but I wondered what Mary and Chris had done about a bathroom. I hadn't seen the camp potty in the hut and I was usually the one that put it up anyway. I asked Chris.

"Don't worry about it here. They have places to go already. They don't offer much privacy but they are acceptable. Mary managed to get the job done without anyone coming by, but one of the men here sat down on the spot next to me. He didn't bother me though. In fact he didn't even speak," Chris said.

"Well then someone needs to give me directions to the outhouse."

"It's out but there's no house. Come on, I'll show you?" Chris said, and led the way.

The facilities were rudimentary at best. Someone had dug a trench, and there was a lashed together set of poles and crossbars that let you sit over it to dump a load. At one end there was an open space for men to use if they only needed to piss, or at least that's what it looked like and I used that. It would do fine I guess since it performed the main job of keeping excrement in a specific place so no one would step in it.

When we got back to the hut one of the lawn chairs was outside with a plate of food and a mug of tea in the seat. I picked them up, sat my ass down, and watched what was going on while I ate.

It seemed four or five men, including Jockat, were getting ready to do something. I asked Mary if she could find out what and the hand waving between the four of them started. In a couple of minutes Chris turned to me.

"They're about to go hunting. I think they're going for buffalo. I also think your presence would be well received," she said.

"I guess it would be if that's all that are going. Even one buffalo would be a hell of a load to haul back," I said.

"I don't think the men bring them back. Reela seems to be saying they'll send a runner back for women to take care of that job if they get one," Mary said.

"Then I'll go and take the Barrett. It might take some convincing to get them to let me shoot first, but if I get to I'll keep firing until I get three or four. Meanwhile, y'all should unload the sleds for carrying. It'll be a hell of a lot easier that way and you can just head out if you hear me fire more than once."

"For a man, you're smarter than you look. That's a good idea, but you should take Reela with you to translate. I'll see if that's permitted," Chris said, and turned to Reela and Keela.

After some more hand waving Reela went inside and fetched her knife and Wyoming saw. She also had a web belt now, and they were hooked to it. I was glad Mary or Chris had showed her how it worked.

I took a Barrett off the sled and fished out twenty rounds for it besides the ten I knew it had in its magazine. Reela and I headed for the men when I was ready to go.

There was quite a bit of chatter between Jockat and Reela when we got there but nothing abusive in either direction. She also talked to him for a while as we trotted and since I heard my name mentioned I assumed she was securing permission for me to go first.

It was a damned good thing Mary, Chris, and I spent several days walking and pulling before we found Reela. My guess was we were four miles from the camp before we approached a large plain. It was at least a thousand acres and probably more.

There was a herd of bison grazing about half a mile from where we were now, but I could see we could get much closer by just walking nearer them and staying back in the woods as we went. Apparently this was what the others intended too since Jockat headed that way.

We came to a perfect place for me to lie down and fire from prone position after another half mile. I estimated we were only five hundred or so yards from them now and that worked out fine since it was the distance I'd zeroed the rifle to. The others looked at me funny when I stopped but they stopped too. While I settled down and extended the bipod's legs, Reela whispered something to Jockat. I didn't understand a word of it but it didn't matter.

When I fired the first time I heard some fairly loud exclamations from my hunting partners but I didn't slow down. The bison were looking around to see where the noise came from but they didn't seem to pay attention to the one that had dropped. I shot three more before they decided they were leaving even if they didn't know what was happening. When I got up Jockat and the others were looking at me with wide eyes.