Tunggaree picked up a nugget the size of an orange. “The exclusives are not stupid, Nathaniel. They know they cannot eat this stone. But will they give me what I want, if I promise not to tell the common people where they can find these stones?”
“What do you want, Tunggaree?”
“I want to protect my land. I want my children, and their children’s children, to be free to do what makes them happy. And I want them to have the freedom to honor and worship the one God by the name, and in the way we have been taught. I want them to have this without fearing the dreadful outrages of the Goobahs.”
“The people of my land, America,” Nathaniel said, “have fought 2 bloody wars with the English over the very things you want. And we won. So it can be done.”
“But only if we have the weapons and people to fight them, Nathaniel. Which we do not. One of the Koradjis of the Dharugs tried with his little group for 12 years. But spears cannot fight guns. In the end, the Goobahs killed Pumulwah and his group.
“There is a way though.” Tunggaree looked around the cave before looking back at Nathaniel and continuing. “In a dreaming, Baiame has shown me that way. You will take a sack of this gold to the leader of the Goobahs in great secrecy. You will give him the gold and promise him we will not tell anybody about the rest of the gold that lies on the ground. In exchange, he will grant us the Valley of Wonggaroa as our home.”
“You make it sound so easy. But it won’t be, Tunggaree. I’m a convict on a ticket-o’-leave, who ran. The military will be looking for me. I’ll never get close to the Governor.”
“You will, Nathaniel. Baiame has said you will.”
For the next several hours the two men talked about the dreaming, and how they would achieve the goals Tunggaree claimed were set by his God.
After swimming back through the tunnel and leaving the water, Nathaniel looked at his grubby clothes with distaste.
“Do you think anyone would mind if I didn’t wear these until they’ve been cleaned?” Nathaniel asked.
“Mind?” Tunggaree laughed. “The girls and I would be delighted if you’d stop wearing those smelly things at all. The only problem I can see with your not wearing them, will be the amount of time you can spend out in the sun. You’ll have to limit your exposure until you’ve browned up some.”
Tunggaree stepped up closer and placed his hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder. “There is another matter we must discuss. You have the mark of being a man upon your face.” He moved his hand up and traced the scar on Nathaniel’s cheek. “But you still have the foreskin of a boy,” Tunggaree said.
“Damn right I do. And it’s going to stay that way, thank you very much.”
“You saw me heal Tarrapaldi, Nathaniel. Do you not have faith that I can do the same for you?”
“It’s not a matter of faith, Tunggaree. If God had meant us to have no foreskin. He’d have made us that way.”
“And so the women would have us believe.” Tunggaree smiled. “But the truth is, Baiame gives little boys foreskins to protect the most sensitive part of their body. And to allow them some of the sensation they will feel with a woman, while they’re playing with themselves. When they no longer need to play with themselves, and have learned enough to protect themselves. Then the foreskin is no longer needed and should be removed. By doing this, we indicate to the world that we are now a man.”
“And this is between you and me, Nathaniel. There’s no need to tell the women this, but when we’ve been circumcised, we increase our pleasure when we’re with a woman by at least twice what it was before.”
“Now I know you’re spinning me a yarn.” Nathaniel laughed. “It would not be possible to double the pleasure I had the last time I was with a woman.”
Tunggaree smiled. “How do you know that?”
“I just do. I’d have to die and go to heaven before anything could be better than what I’ve known.”
Tunggaree nodded while still smiling. “That’s a gallant thing to say, Nathaniel. But it’s not true. I knew Tarrapaldi’s mother before I was circumcised, and for many years after,” Tunggaree said. “Over the years we increased the pleasure we gave each other. But never by the amount my pleasure went up after I bared myself to her completely.”
“But the pain.” Nathaniel covered his genitals with his hand.
“It is nothing compared to the pleasure. I speak to you now as a man who has been there. You saw what I was able to do for Tarrapaldi. Why do you doubt I can do the same for you?” Tunggaree asked.
“Because you’re talking about cutting off a piece of my dong,” Nathaniel said.
“I’m not talking about cutting your ‘dong’ as you call it,” Tunggaree said. “I’m talking about trimming it. Like you would your hair, or your fingernails.”
“What absolute codswallup. My hair and fingernails don’t bleed when I cut them. And it doesn’t hurt.”
“Only if you don’t cut them too short.”
“So you’re saying you can trim my foreskin without causing any pain or bleeding?”
“No, I’m not saying that. But I am saying that if you have faith in me. Faith that I can cure you as I did Tarrapaldi. Then the pain and bleeding will be minimal and hardly noticeable.”
“Sod that, you old rascal. I’m sorry if it upsets you that Tarrapaldi wants to use my body, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you trim my dong.”
Tarrapaldi’s mood hadn’t changed when the two men returned to the camp and Nathaniel put his clothes and gun in the gunyah she’d constructed. After a brief look at the naked Nathaniel, she turned to her father and spoke in the native language Nathaniel couldn’t understand.
“He is not a man yet! Have you decided he is not the one?”
“We have spoken of many things and he is the one, Tarrapaldi. He will need help though, deciding to remove the sheath from his third leg.”
“That’s easy. I’ll put my spear to his throat again, and tell him I’ll run him through if he moves. It’s worked before.”
Tunggaree laughed. “You can be a blood thirsty devil when you choose, my girl. But I’d rather you persuaded him with more gentle tactics. Right now he thinks I’m upset, because you’ve used his body. He thinks I want to cut off part of what he calls his ‘dong’, to punish him. Or perhaps to prevent you using him again.”
“What?” Tarrapaldi frowned. “That’s stupid. Why would he think that?”
“He’s been with the Goobahs for a long time,” Tunggaree said. “He probably thinks everyone is as cruel as they are.”
“Is this a private conversation?” Nathaniel transmitted. “Or are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“I was just explaining to Tarrapaldi why you don’t want to be circumcised,” Tunggaree said.
“Surely you jest?” Nathaniel looked shocked.
“Why would my father jest about such a thing,” Tarrapaldi asked while watching Nathaniel’s penis visibly shrink. “It’s important to us that the people who see you, know you’re an initiated man.”
“Initiated into what?” Nathaniel said. “The world of Sodom and Gomorra? No! I will not do it and that’s final.”
“Leave it, Tarrapaldi,” Tunggaree said quietly, before transmitting to Nathaniel. “It’s your choice, Nathaniel. We’re not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
“That’s a lie. She already made me come here against my will. And now she wants you to cut off part of my dong. Well you’ll have to kill me first,” Nathaniel said while covering his genitals with one hand and backing away with his other hand raised in a fist.
“Calm down, both of you.” Tunggaree looked at Tarrapaldi who had crouched slightly and prepared to attack when Nathaniel lifted his fist. “Take him and his coverings to the stream. Clean his coverings, and make peace with him. We have too much at stake for you to be quarreling like this.” Tungg
aree said.
“He started it.” Tarrapaldi glared at Nathaniel. “He called me a boong, and now he’s raised his fist to hit me.”
Tunggaree sighed. “Nathaniel, we are not going to hurt you. Please open your hand.” When Nathaniel did what he was asked, Tunggaree turned to Tarrapaldi. “We have frightened Nathaniel, and he has become angry because of that fear. He did not know what he was saying when he called you the name. I have given you to him as his woman. And you agreed to the union. So mind your manners and treat him with the respect he deserves as your man.” Tunggaree looked at Nathaniel. “You have heard what I have said to my daughter. She is your woman, and you have the right to discipline her when you feel it’s necessary,” Tunggaree said. “But please, don’t hit her, or threaten to hit her, with your fist. I don’t want to have to repair the damage such a fight would cause.”
“You can’t do that,” Nathaniel said. “You can’t just give your daughter away.”
“I can, Nathaniel. And I have. But there are risks and responsibilities that go along with the gift I am giving you.”
“I don’t want them,” Nathaniel said. “I only want to go back to America.”
“And you can do that. Just as soon as you have done what only you can do for us.”
“This is madness, Tunggaree. You can’t treat people this way.”
“What would you prefer, Nathaniel? That I make a cat-o’-nine tails, and beat you into submission? I don’t think so. So please, go to the stream with Tarrapaldi. Clean your coverings. And think about the joys and pleasures that are around us here in the Valley of Wonggaroa.”
Tarrapaldi went to the gunyah and picked up Nathaniel’s belongings. Turning, she held out the gun and its accessories for him to take. When he had the powder horn and possibles bag over his shoulder and the gun in his left hand, she took his free hand in her’s.
“If I clean your coverings, Nathaniel. Will you wash away the hurt and anger I have in me?” Tarrapaldi asked.
“How can I do that?”
“I’ll show you,” she transmitted while lowering her chin and looking at him with raised eyes.
Smiling slightly, Tunggaree watched Tarrapaldi gently pulling Nathaniel towards the stream. With a slight shake of his head and a quiet chuckle, he turned and walked off towards his own campsite, which he now shared with his younger daughter and the Goobah she’d speared.
Coming through the thicket between the two campsites, Tunggaree stopped when he saw Muchuka and the Corporal sitting by the fire. Muchuka had the man’s knife and was whittling a long forked stick.
“Me Muchuka. You John. John’s foot hurts.” She said in English, and threw back her head laughing with delight when the corporal smiled and said yes.
Stepping from the thicket, Tunggaree spoke harshly in his native language. “What are you doing?”
“John is teaching me to speak his language, Father. Please, can you do something to heal his foot?”
“I can only heal his foot if he believes I can. You know that, Muchuka.”
“I know.” Muchuka said. “But he’s such a nice man. I wish Tarrapaldi hadn’t made me hurt him.”
“Tarrapaldi didn’t make you do anything. He was getting ready to shoot you with his gun. Remember? This man is one of the Goobah’s warriors. Do not forget that. He will hurt you more than you could ever dream in your worst nightmare if you give him the chance,” Tunggaree said. “Be very careful when dealing with him.”
“Yes, Father,” Muchuka said sadly. “But what can I do to help heal his foot?”
“Take him to the stream and clean the wound in the running water.” Tunggaree said. “When it’s clean, have him sit on the rocks and let the sun dry the wound. If you can, get him in the water and clean all of him. He smells terrible.”
“I know.” Muchuka wrinkled her nose. “I put his arm over my shoulder to help him walk, and the smell was really bad. I’ve made him a crutch so I don’t have to do that again. I tried to make him wash, but I couldn’t get him to go into the water. He looked really scared and kept jabbering at me. So I started learning his words.”
“All right,” Tunggaree said. “I’ll take him to the stream myself and get him to wash.”
Tunggaree prodded the corporal with his spear, and then, after Muchuka handed the corporal the crutch she’d made him, Tunggaree herded him down to where Tarrapaldi was washing Nathaniel’s clothes on the edge of a deep pool in the stream.
“Good God, man,” Newman said, when he saw Nathaniel sitting naked on a rock by the water’s edge. “Have you gone native already?”
“Nathaniel,” Tunggaree transmitted before Nathaniel could respond. “Tell John to take off his coverings and get in the water.”
“Corporal Newman,” Nathaniel said, with a malicious grin. “I’m going to enjoy this a whole lot more than you are. Take off all your clothes, you bastard.”
“Go to hell, you scum-bag,” the Corporal replied.
“He said no,” Nathaniel transmitted.
“What did he really say, Muchuka?” Tunggaree asked in his language.
“I don’t know, Father. They’re speaking too fast, and I don’t know those words. But it wasn’t a simple no, and they’re being nasty to each other.”
“Nathaniel. John is going to do what I tell him, or I will hurt him until he does. But,” Tunggaree said, “so that you don’t take advantage of his pain, I want you to understand that I will do to you, everything that I do to him. Now explain to him that if he doesn’t take his clothes off, I’ll spear him in his thigh.”
The grin disappeared from Nathaniel’s face and he paled. “God’s breath, John. This just got deadly serious. If you don’t take your clothes off, he’s going to spear us both in the thigh.”
“Good. Then we’ll both be crippled.”
“You ass-hole,” Nathaniel said, swinging his gun up to point at Newman while cocking the hammer. “If I take a spear because of your stupidity. You’re going to take a ball in the guts.”
“Steady, Lad,” Newman said. “Ask the ladies to leave and I’ll take my clothes off.”
“Wake up, you idiot. Haven’t you realized yet? You’re the only one here who’s wearing anything. Take your goddamned clothes off. Now!”
Very carefully, Newman raised his hands to his collar and began undoing his buttons. When they were all undone, and without taking his eyes off Nathaniel, he said, “I’m going to sit down now, Nathaniel. And then I’ll remove my clothes. All right?”
After a nod from Nathaniel, Newman used both hands on his crutch to lower himself to the ground. Then he carefully removed his clothes.
“Well, here we all are, naked as the day we were born.” Newman folded and placed the last of his clothes on top of the one boot he had.
“Shut your stupid mouth,” Nathaniel said. “We’re not out of this mess yet. Now you have to go into the water and wash yourself,” Nathaniel said.
“I can’t.” Newman’s eyes widened, the color draining from his face. “I can’t swim.”
“You don’t have to swim,” Nathaniel said. “All you have to do, is slide down the bank on your butt until the water’s up to your chest. Then take handfuls of mud and rub it all over yourself. After you’re covered in mud. Rinse it all off with water, and they’ll be happy.”
“Why?”
“Damned if I know. I think it’s because you won’t stink as much.”
“I don’t stink.”
“Yes you do, John. You’re just so used to it, you don’t notice it.”
“I don’t smell any more than you do.”
“The hell you don’t. I’ve been in the water three times since this all started. And I can smell you from here.”
“It’s not healthy to wash our natural oils off,” Newman said. “I’ll get sick. I won’t do it.”
“He says it’s not healthy t
o wash off his natural oils, and he’ll get sick. So he won’t go in the water,” Nathaniel transmitted.
“Tell him it’s far more unhealthy to bleed,” Tunggaree replied.
“Yep,” Nathaniel chuckled without malice, “Sure sounds like an unhealthy day for you, John. Tunggaree just said you either bathe, or you bleed. Tell you what. If it makes you feel any more comfortable, I’ll go into the water with you. That way, we’ll both get the same sickness at the same time. How does that sound as a deal?”
“You’ll go into the water when you don’t have too?” Newman asked.
“May as well. It’s either that or get speared. I don’t know if I mentioned it. But old Tunggaree there said he was going to do to me, whatever he did to you. So I’m going for a bathe.” Nathaniel put his gun down, and in one fluid movement, rose to his feet and dived into the stream. He surfaced twenty feet away from where he’d entered the water. Throwing his head back, he wiped the water from his face and yelled, “Damn, this feels great,” before duck diving under again.
The Corporal could see him swimming under the surface like a frog, so he wasn’t surprised when Nathaniel surfaced within feet of the bank.
“Come on, John,” Nathaniel said. “Slide down the bank and into the water. What about you girls? Are you coming in?” Nathaniel yelled before he remembered they couldn’t understand his spoken word. “Come on girls, jump in. John’ll come in if we’re all in here calling him,” he transmitted.
Tunggaree felt both girls looking at him, so he gave a slight nod of his head. Squealing, Muchuka raced to the water’s edge. Tarrapaldi simply smiled as she dropped Nathaniel’s clothes. Both girls knifed into the water at the same time, and surfaced together near the center of the pool. Muchuka raised her arm and began gesturing for the corporal to come to her while she called out his name. Tarrapaldi trod water and transmitted, “Nathaniel Johnson, you made me a deal.”
“I did, didn’t I,” he replied. Turning his back to the grinning corporal sliding down the bank, Nathaniel began stroking towards the center of the pool. “Can you show me what to do right now?” Nathaniel asked.
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