Chapter 53

"I was sure you felt that way. If you would like, when you are ready, I will tell Daleana to come to you," Georgo offered.

"I'll let Dieta do it. She enjoys that sort of thing."

"I can see it in her and I thought it was that way, but I have done it for leaders before so I thought I would tell you," Georgo said.

"I thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid Dieta would be disappointed if I didn't let her do it, I also think I will let Roweea tell the other one after that. Roweea was her leader's mate."

"You are learning very fast now John. I may be asking you for advice before long."

I started to tell him I could share some new information with him now, but decided I would keep it to myself. I also nearly asked him when we were going to see about getting more mates for him, but I let that slip by too. We had plenty of freight to haul for the moment.

I was beginning to be a little surprised at the complexity of this society. There were things the shamans knew others didn't. There were secrets kept among all the women no men were privy to, not even the shaman.

It was also obvious to me the men knew some things they never spoke about, at least none of them had mentioned these things to me, but it was becoming clear they knew and understood them.

I was very curious about what other things might be understood by all, but still unknown to me. I assumed I would learn about them as I blundered into them. Maybe Georgo would be able to give me advance warning before I showed my ignorance.

I was also being surprised almost daily with the deference given to the leader and the prerogatives which seemed to accompany the position. When I had known Gigo and Dergo they had acted as if being the leader was not such a big deal.

Gigo had treated Dergo as more or less an equal and when Dieta told me later Gigo had taken her often, even before he allowed Dergo to take Geera, it had been a minor revelation to me.

The things Georgo and then my mates and now Talieia and Taahrausa had told me were driving home the point all the women were available to me, though I needed to exercise some discretion when I had my way with other men's mates.

I was learning a few things about myself too, whether I needed to know them or not. I enjoyed fucking the other men's mates and was pretty sure I would like it more and more as time went by. I had never really liked being the first one for a young girl, but its appeal was gaining ground with me.

I hadn't especially liked deflowering Gema, Merita, and Maia, but I did get a little charge every time I fucked them now because I knew I was the only one who had ever had a dick up them.

I also got an extra thrill when I fucked one of my mates who came to me because I had killed their mate. Delia was a ride in her own right and I usually rememberred Gembo on the ground coughing up the last of his lungs when I slid her the meat.

Waaya and Winna sort of blured together when I plowed their furrows. They resembeled each other even though I didn't know of any kinship between them. Still, I usually thought of them together and I never really knew whether I was rooting it up Jenbo or Jabo's widow when I fucked them. It didn't really matter except as a little extra thrill for me.

Dalia and Shelalliea were their own thrill with spectacular bodies, beautiful faces, and welcoming eagerness.

Roweea gave me one of the most perverse, in my opinion, thrills. Not only was she beautiful in every way, she was in essence given to me in tribute by her former camp as payment for taking them in. The fact we desired each other was just a happy circumstance, since I now understood by custom she was mine by right.

I thought I could see a little of the reason for the development of these customs. They would tend to make all men try to do more for their camp and their leader. If they didn't the leader could simply kill them and take their mate as his own and no one would say a word about it.

It also bound the leader to the men, since before my arrival there was no way one man could have access to so many women if he had to feed them all by himself. It followed that a better job of leadership would allow a camp to grow and allow the leader access to more women. My dreams of more women than I could fuck came to an end though as the smell of food caught my attention.

There was a meal for our breakfast ready soon and we went to eat and drink some tea. The tea wasn't as good as coffee to me, and Georgo told me he preferred coffee now also. I would have to spread some more coffee around and see if anyone else liked it.

After we'd eaten everyone scattered to begin packing. I was forced to again appreciate the job Bigglieo had been doing for me. Packing the things in the wagon, buckboard, and on the travois was a bitch to do efficiently. There were more things to carry than could be loaded.

Barago had everyone pack what was most important to them first - all of that and more was loaded. Before we left I made sure everyone understood we would be coming back the next day to get everything else. I told them I even wanted everything which could be salvaged from the huts, including any of the building materials they had used.

Before we left I appointed, with Barago's help in the selection, three men to stay and watch over the camp. I also asked them to begin dismantling the huts they wouldn't need for sleeping or storage of the things we were leaving.

I arranged things so we would swap driving and leading chores during the trip. I intended for every man and all the women that could be persuaded to take a turn at both. I wanted everyone to have a little experience handling the horses.

Frankly I was getting tired of commanding the freight missions, especially since I realized I could have sent Bigglieo on this trip and spent last night fucking his mates to my heart's content if the horses had been trained before we started. I was mollified when I remembered the valuable new information I'd gained from Talieia and Taahrausa and the fun I'd had bumping their fuzz.

Things were looking up though. Those who weren't busy leading, driving or learning to and who couldn't find room to sit on one of the seats were riding among the cargo. It came time to stop for a breather and some driver switching.

Georgo's buckboard had been bringing up the rear for the whole trip. It was the lightest and was loaded more lightly also since it was the logical vehicle to use in case anything out of the ordinary was required.