Chapter 15

I had thought the first time with Amanda was wild. This was something I had never conceived in my wildest dreams. For more than an hour, Cora put Amanda through her paces, making sure that each of them got a chance to bear my children, but always choosing positions that put the least strain on my left arm.

Before it was over I did a little role-playing of my own, ending with Cora on her hands and knees beside Amanda, pretending anger at her for using 'my' slave without permission. Corazon accepted the treatment and even got pleasure from it, but I could sense confusion in her.

When I had had as much as I could take, and finally released them, Amanda paused to give me a deep, soulful kiss.

There was a message in the way she did it, and I finally caught on. Grabbing Cora's wrist as she started to climb off the bed, I pulled her back to join in the kiss with us. A three-way kiss is more than a little awkward, so I finished kissing Amanda and turned my attention to Cora, making sure she felt the passion in my kiss. When I released her, Amanda, too, sought her mouth.

Cora seemed somewhat dazed by all this, so I smiled and said, "Thank you both for a very pleasant afternoon. Now, if you please, I really do need to rest a bit before the new group arrives."

"You are not really angry with me?" Cora asked.

"Sometime, I will explain the concept of role-play to you, Cora, but not right now. No, I'm not really angry with you. I'm quite pleased with both of you. Now shoo! I need my beauty sleep."

"Come on, Cora," Amanda laughed, threading her arm through that of the other woman, "Perhaps I can find the time to explain about role playing while his nibs goes beddy-bye."

Sleeping, even when exhausted, is not all that easy with a bullet wound, but the body knows what it needs and finds a way to get it, even if it's only in snatches, between flashes of pain from involuntary movements. The sun had gone down by the time I gave it up as a lost cause and made shift to wash my face and shave.

I wasn't sure what to do about the wound dressing, so I didn't try to shower, but used a wash cloth to at least wipe off some of the residue of our sex and my sweat. Getting dressed one handed was a bit of a challenge, but with some grimacing and groaning, I got it done and went to see how preparations were going for arrival of our new members.

Amanda was on duty in the command post and told me that the sentries on the entrance road had spotted the group and they were now making their way up to the valley. They were moving slowly, and short of sending a relay of horses to them, there was little we could do to speed things up, so I followed my nose to the barbeque area at the back of the house where Ruth was laying out a feast, with Jamaal's help.

Jamaal was presiding over the ritual burning of beef on the grill, and over Ruth's half-hearted protest, I grabbed a plate and sweet-talked Jamaal into flipping a slab of meat onto it. I filled the remaining space with rice and a medley of canned vegetables.

Food had never tasted so good! I had just finished eating when Amanda found me.

"They're here," was all she said.

I walked through the house and stood on the front porch as the Mohave, on horseback, rode up. Heather took their horses and promised that they would get groomed, fed and watered. I watched her go, wondering at the change in her.

I steered the four riders to the back of the house, where the barbeque area was, and stood waiting for the rest.

Grey Eagle was walking among the newcomers, leading his horse. From the looks they gave me, I could tell he had been regaling them with the story of his vision.

"You old reprobate!" I chided him, smiling. "You're not filling them full of that prophecy story are you?"

Grey Eagle seldom smiled, but his eyes twinkled as he replied, "Just filling them in on a little essential history."

"History my... !" I caught myself as another group of newcomers mounted the porch and followed the others to the back. "It remains to be seen whether that story will become history or folklore."

"No. It will soon be history," he replied complacently, tapping a forefinger against his skull. "I know this."

I lost track of Grey Eagle as he made his way to the food. Dr. Mondale was with the last stragglers as they dragged themselves up the steps to the porch.

"Hey Doc," I greeted him. "Have you had a chance to examine all of the people with you?"

"Yes," he said, tiredly. "Why?"

"Are there any contagious illnesses, STD's, anything we need to be concerned about as a community?"

"Nothing worse than a case of Herpes. I can't say yet whether the rapists gave them anything, but I saw no outward signs of disease among them."

"It seems likely that anyone weakened by another disease would have died in the sickness, but it's probably better not to assume too much. Keep an eye on them, will you?"

"You are correct when you say that such an assumption is not necessarily valid. If you have a good store of antibiotics, perhaps we should go ahead and give the women a preventive dose, just to make sure."

I was reluctant to expend our meager medical supplies so readily, but sex was going to be central to our lives for the foreseeable future, so I gave him the go-ahead, and then took him in to introduce him to Cora.

"Doctor Mondale, this is Corazon Mendoza. She has been with me since I decided to start this little venture, and has been, 'til now, our medical department."

"Pleased to meet you, I'm sure," Mondale said, rather brusquely, as if a mere nurse was beneath his notice. I chose to ignore the possibility that his attitude might have been due to the fact that she was Filipina.

"Doctor Mondale." I said, turning to face him. "You need to remember that you are on probation here. Cora has paid her dues and will be part of this community for as long as she wants to be. Nurses may have been mere servants to the high-and-mighty physicians where you used to practice, but here, Cora is the only help you are likely to get. Not only that, but whether you stay or go will depend upon her evaluation of you. I strongly suggest you reconsider your attitude."

I turned to Cora, who had been taking the same combat training as the rest of us, and said, "If he gets out of line, you have my permission to kick his arrogant ass."

"Thank you, Gavin," Cora replied with a smug little smile. "I'm sure Doctor Mondale won't give me any trouble. Now Doctor, if you will step this way, I will show you our facility."

Mondale stood, red-faced, mouth open, jaw working.

"You have already been punched because of your mouth once today, Doc. You'll want to carefully consider what comes out of it next," I told him, giving him a friendly clap on the shoulder before heading out back to see how the feeding was going.

"Damn, Gav!" Jamaal told me as I approached. "These folks act like they ain't had nothin' to eat in weeks!"

"They haven't eaten very well in the last few days, Jamaal, but let's not get carried away with the hospitality. Talk with Ruth and make sure we're not feeding them any more than she had planned. I don't want to be a bad host, but I don't want us running out of food because they couldn't hold on to theirs."

"You got it."

I looked around, and not much to my surprise, Grey Eagle had taken a seat in front of the fire pit and begun telling another story. Those of the original group who weren't on watch had wandered in and eaten and begun mingling with the newcomers. Apparently, one or more of them had got Grey Eagle started on the story of our morning's adventures, and soon, everyone was listening with rapt attention.