Catching her breath, and knowing he was out of earshot, she replied, “It will be impossible not to, Master Grayson.”
Standing a little distance away watching the whole thing, Mr. Jenkins was about to bust a rib trying not to laugh. As Oh’Dar walked jauntily over to him, a little attitude in his step, Mr. Jenkins slapped him on the back.
“Damn, son. You sure do know how to leave an impression. She’ll be thinking about that kiss for weeks,” he laughed.
“Well, you told me to give her something to remember me by,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
“I was thinking of a letter or a pretty flower, Grayson. But I have to say I like your idea much better!”
They both smiled and got back to work.
Oh’Dar was happy to have Mr. Jenkins around. He was like a friend, a brother, an uncle, and maybe even a father. Every day the young man looked forward to helping the stable master. Oh’Dar was ready to start his lessons again, but he very much doubted his new teacher could be as pretty as Miss Blain.
From the porch swing, Miss Vivian saw the whole thing. She chuckled to herself.
You have to hand it to that boy; on top of everything else he’s got nerve!
She couldn’t fault him, but found she felt sorry for Miss Blain now—being kissed like that and then turned loose! Gracious.
He’s got his father’s charm too. Oh, he’s going to break a lot of hearts, she thought to herself.
Chapter 10
Khon’Tor was up early—for some reason thinking about those who had come forward requesting to be paired. There was Akule who had come to him a while back, and some of the females in the community who would be coming of age by the time the High Council made their decisions. As for himself, there had not been any opportunity to see who the available females from the other communities might be. He would have to hope that he would be able to select someone in the days before the announcement.
In the past, he had been drawn to high spirited females like Adia. He now knew how much he needed the sense of conquest to enjoy mating but was hesitant to select another fiery female. As much as he did not like the idea, he might have to choose one more mild-natured, whom he could intimidate into submitting to his particular ministrations.
Kthama was the only place large enough to host such a gathering. It was a great deal of work as there were sleeping quarters to prepare, extra meals, greeters to appoint, and many other logistics to consider. Luckily, he reflected, Acaraho was a master at organizing.
Acaraho and Khon’Tor met that morning to discuss the High Council meeting. It was customary for all the communities requesting pairings to let the High Council know how many would be coming, so there was enough time to plan. Those close to the Mother Stream would follow it underground to reach Kthama. Those who could not would travel only at night. Once Acaraho knew from which directions they would be coming, he would post extra watchers along their routes. The added factor of Waschini riders in the area required an additional level of security.
After they were done talking about the planning, Acaraho brought up the question of Nootau. “I want to let you know that Nootau will be requesting a pairing.”
“That brings the total so far to four. Not as many as I would have thought,” was Khon’Tor’s bland reaction.
“Seeing that Nootau is your son, I thought you might be interested,” is what Acaraho wanted to say but did not.
“I was hoping more of the young males would be ready. It would be good to have more offspring to keep our numbers high. But there are many coming up in the next few years after.” Khon’Tor continued his indifference to Nootau.
Any females paired at the ceremony would be leaving the High Rocks. Newly paired males would bring new females into the community, increasing their numbers further as offspring arrived.
Khon’Tor was not going to come back to the topic of Nootau. “I hope we get candidates from some of the communities farther out. It has been a while since anyone from the Great Plains or High Red Rocks has participated. I know the journey is long and difficult, however.”
Acaraho got up to leave. He noticed that Khon’Tor did not mention Oh’Dar, either. He had not shown any reaction when the boy left, which Acaraho found peculiar. It was coming up for a full cycle, and still Khon’Tor never asked about him. Considering how much commotion the boy’s presence had caused, it seemed out of place. Acaraho thought he would test the waters before he left.
“In case you are wondering, we have heard nothing more from Oh’Dar. The last I knew was that he arrived safely at the Waschini village and appeared to be in friendly hands,” Acaraho said. “It will be a year in the spring,” he added.
Still no response; Khon’Tor did not even look up at Acaraho. The silence said it all.
Acaraho finally left. He had suspicions that something had triggered Oh’Dar’s departure. He and Adia both had. But Adia had made peace with it, and Acaraho was loathe to risk stirring up her feelings again.
What is Oh’Dar doing? Is he safe? Will we ever see him again? These questions rolled over in Acaraho’s mind as he went to find Adia.
He looked for her everywhere and eventually found her outside. It was a brisk, cold, gray day, and Kweeuu came bounding up to greet him. What had started as a little ball of fur had grown into a hundred-and twenty-pound adult grey wolf.
Kweeuu jumped up at Acaraho, who immediately gave the command for down, and the wolf complied. It was no matter if he jumped up at Acaraho, but they wanted to discourage that behavior because he could easily knock down an offspring.
They had wondered if Kweeuu might someday leave, as he was now mature. Several months after Oh’Dar had left, the wolf finally stopped lying outside the workshop door. Even though Adia would take him inside the workshop to show him that his master was not there, it was where Oh’Dar had been last, and Kweeuu kept vigil there, waiting for his return. Adia finally asked Urilla Wuti how she could let Kweeuu know that Oh’Dar was safe but not likely to return. Urilla Wuti herself had made only the briefest and shallowest of Connections with the grey wolf. It worked, and that was when Kweeuu stopped waiting for Oh’Dar to return. But even after all this time, it was clear he still missed the boy.
Kweeuu did disappear for days, but always returned. Luckily no one in the community had objected to his presence, even though he was no longer the cute little cub who weaved in between their feet and begged for scraps.
Acaraho made sure Adia knew he was approaching and came up to put his arm around her waist. He wanted to pull her up against him and run his hands all over her, but he knew he could not. Though there was no one outside with them, there were still the guards and watchers. They had to be satisfied with their Dream World lovemating and keep their hands off each other as much as possible during the day.
“I told Khon’Tor to put Nootau in for consideration. I’ll let Nootau know as soon as I see him,” Acaraho told her. Adia wove her fingers in between his as they rested on her waist. Even that little bit of contact started his blood racing.
“I hope Nootau will be as lucky as I have been. Even though we are not paired,” he said.
”It makes me sad, Acaraho, that we cannot claim our relationship. I know everyone believes you are Nootau’s father, but I still wish I could claim you openly. She turned and looked up at him and added, “I wish we could be together.”
“We are together, Saraste’,” he replied, tightening his fingers around hers and squeezing her waist again.
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do. I know. I did not mean to make light of it,” Acaraho added. “The upcoming pairings are stirring up feelings for both of us, I know.”
After a moment of silence, Adia changed the subject. “I wish I knew where Oh’Dar was and what he was doing. No, I know he is still alright. But it is hard not even knowing where he is. Do you think he will ever come back to us?” she asked.
Acaraho did not want to go there, but there they were.
“I
t depends on how far away he is, and if he wants to,” Acaraho answered.
“Do you think he does not want to come back? Ever?” her voice cracked.
Acaraho turned her to face him, putting a hand on each of her arms so he could look at her.
“Wanting to come back and feeling he can come back are two different things. Do I think he would want to return someday? Yes absolutely. But depending on why he left, he may not feel he can,” By this time Acaraho so wished he had kept his mouth shut.
“If you know something I don’t, you need to tell me now,” Adia urged.
“No, I do not know anything. It’s just a suspicion. You have felt the same way; we have talked about it. Yes, Oh’Dar had his sullen moments, and Honovi told us he was struggling with fitting in. But when he came back after last summer, and we set up his workshop, he seemed happy again. Like his old self when he was a little boy. Then suddenly he left, telling us not to come after him,” said Acaraho. “A sudden change in behavior like that is usually brought on by something.”
“If something happened, then someone must know about it,” Adia answered.
“Adia, you told me you have peace about his leaving. Do you want to stir this up? And with Nootau taking a mate? I know the next year is going to be hard enough on you as it is.” He touched the side of her face.
She broke her own rules and put her arms around him, laying her head against his chest, seeking comfort.
“I do not know. I mean, I do know Oh’Dar is fine. But, yes, it still bothers me that he would up and leave suddenly, when everything had turned around. Do I want to open myself to being upset again? Of course not. But I feel I need to know.”
Acaraho pulled back to look at her and nodded slowly.
“Right. I will see what I can find out. I will be discreet, and if someone knows something, hopefully they will come forward. I would hate to see you upset again.”
“I know. But if something bad happened to send Oh’Dar away, we need to know.”
Kweeuu squeezed in between them, ready to go for his morning scraps, so they returned inside.
At the morning meal, Acaraho sat down next to Nootau. “I’ve told Khon’Tor that you want to be considered for pairing,” he started.
Nootau looked up and smiled profusely.
“Understand, son; this does not necessarily mean that you will be paired. It depends on the young females who are available. They will not pair you with anyone from our community; that only happens when a couple has created a specific bond and requests it. The High Council looks at the records and carefully considers who they match together.”
“What records?” asked Nootau.
Nadiwani spoke up, “You know the Keeping Stone that I started for you when you were born? And how we keep track of each day and make a different mark for important events? Well, it is similar to that. I do not know how they do it, but they look at who the parents and grandparents are, and as far back as possible. In that way, they keep the People strong and healthy.”
“What if I do not like her?” Nootau pursed his lips.
“So far, everyone paired has gotten along just fine,” she said.
“What about Khon’Tor and his mate? You said they did not seem even to like each other most of the time.”
Adia stepped in to explain. “The Leader has the right to choose his own mate. It has been like that for as long as anyone can remember.”
“I am glad I do not get to choose. I am glad the High Council chooses for us. I would be afraid of making a mistake, as Khon’Tor did.”
Acaraho and Adia could not help but look at each other. If Khon’Tor had claimed him, as the next Leader, Nootau would have had to choose his mate.
Well, that’s one good thing about the situation, I guess, thought Adia.
Sometimes she felt bad that Nootau had been cheated out of his right to be the next Leader of the People of the High Rocks. Other times, like this, she thought it had worked out fine. All his life, Nootau had considered Acaraho to be his father. To find out now that it was Khon’Tor would be upsetting, to say the least.
And then there would have been the obvious question as he got older and learned about mating, How did it come about? It was evident that there was no love lost between Adia and Khon’Tor.
Those were questions she did not want to answer. For Nootau to know that his birth father was the great Khon’Tor, Leader of the largest Sasquatch community in the region was one thing. It was another to know that his birth father was Khon’Tor, only the second male in the history of the People to break Sacred Law and mate a female Without Her Consent.
Acaraho took an indirect approach to find out what might have triggered Oh’Dar’s departure. He could have asked directly, but in this case he felt a less overt approach might produce better results. First he called for a meeting with his First Guard, Awan.
“Good morning, Commander. What can I do for you?”
“Sit down, please. I have something I need to ask of you. I would handle it myself, but I think you will be more effective than I would,” Acaraho explained.
“You know that our son Oh’Dar left about a year ago. His mother and I have been bothered about the reason ever since. Just before he left, everything was going well. We had set up his workshop—I know you remember because you helped do it—and he was excited about his new projects. I know he was. So what happened to make him leave? We have no idea.”
“And you want me to ask around quietly to see if anyone knows anything. I will see what I can find out, Commander. I promise I will be careful.”
“I know you will, Awan. That is why I came to you. I appreciate your loyalty and your willingness to help. Especially considering that this is a personal matter,” he added.
“It may be a personal matter, but it affects others as well. Many were upset that Oh’Dar left. People still ask why. I think others would appreciate knowing—if it is something that can be made public,” remarked Awan.
The two parted ways, and Acaraho went back to the huge task of hosting the next pairing celebrations, the Ashwea Awhidi.
Chapter 11
Finally came the day the new teacher was to arrive. As before, a carriage pulled up in the circular driveway. As before, Oh’Dar was there with his grandmother and Mrs. Thomas.
He was anxious to see his new teacher. It would be nice if she were even half as pretty as Miss Blain. But no matter how pretty she was, no one was going to take Miss Blain’s place—in his heart, or in his thoughts at night.
As the wagon stopped, Oh’Dar thought there had to be some mistake. The driver in the front was a man, but no young woman was sitting in the back. Instead, there was a middle-aged man with some type of facial hair that Oh’Dar had never seen before. He stood there unmoving, perplexed at who this person was, and where the teacher could be.
The man dismounted and came over to greet them while the driver offloaded his baggage.
“Good Morning. My name is Samuel Carter.”
Mrs. Morgan introduced herself and the others, then thanked Mr. Carter for coming.
Mr. Carter bowed and then extended his hand to shake Oh’Dar’s. Somewhere along the way, in addition to unintentionally teaching Oh’Dar to swear, Mr. Jenkins had given him a lesson in this ritual.
Mrs. Morgan explained to Mr. Carter that his baggage would be delivered to his room, that he was welcome to rest up, and that someone would call him for dinner. Afterward, the two of them would meet to discuss Master Grayson’s lessons.
Mr. Carter bowed just slightly and followed Mrs. Thomas up the long steps to the house.
“Grandmother,” Oh’Dar jogged over to her before she could leave.
“I know, Grayson. You’re disappointed that Mr. Carter is a man. We knew you would be. But Miss Blain and I discussed it before she gave me recommendations for her replacement.” She took his arm so he would be sure to be looking at her as she continued.
“Miss Blain was a great teacher. I hope that Mr. Carter will be as good
. But you don’t need the distraction of a pretty young woman right now. No one blames you for being attracted to her, Grayson. It is perfectly natural, and I don’t want you to think you did anything wrong. But you must admit that sometimes it was hard to keep your mind on your studies with her around,” she said gently.
Oh’Dar wasn’t offended by what his grandmother was saying. He knew she was right, and he nodded.
“You have the rest of your life to find someone to love, Grayson. And with your good looks and personality, you’ll have your pick of the young ladies. Right now, you need to learn all you can and prepare yourself for the next step. We all want the best for you; I hope you know that.”
“I do, Grandmother. I do. I just hope she doesn’t forget about me,” he said.
“Well, Grayson, I saw how you said goodbye to Miss Blain. I think I can assure you that she won’t be forgetting you any time soon.”
Oh’Dar blushed. It was one thing for Mr. Jenkins to see him kiss Miss Blain, but it felt entirely different that his grandmother had.
“Go and enjoy the last free day you'll be having for a while. I’m sure your lessons with Mr. Carter will start tomorrow.”
She watched him walk away. “Sometimes, he still seems more of a boy, and at other times he seems as if he’s already a man,” she said to Mrs. Thomas.
Several days stretched by before Acaraho heard back from Awan. But finally, the First Guard asked to talk to him, and they met discreetly.
“I have information for you, Commander. But you’re not going to like it,” he said, suggesting that they might want to sit down.
Acaraho tensed at Awan’s words.
“There was an incident a while before Oh’Dar left. He was in the eating area, apparently with Kweeuu. The cub had wandered away, and Oh’Dar followed to where Khon’Tor was talking about him.”
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