The one who spoke said, “Master, we are fine. If you wish us to wear this, we will. If we will be naked, we will not notice the cold.”
I helped the silent girl into the robe and said, “Let’s all wear robes for now. It will help us dry off and stay cozy. It’s easier to talk and have fun if we’re comfortable. As I pulled the robe around the girl, who stood two inches taller than I, and nearly half a foot taller than Lark, she frowned slightly.
Her sister said, “It’s very soft. It feels good. We have never had anything but the tunic. Not since we came of age.”
I helped the second girl into a robe and tied the belt around her waist. Then I started the introductions.
I said, “I have said already that I am Joshua. This is Viola, and Lark, and Raven. This is Aspen. And this is Clarice and Brenda. Before we do anything else, let’s sit down and have some breakfast.”
I sat on the ground near the food and motioned the two newcomers to sit across from me where I could look at them as we talked and ate. The other girls sat around us and began to pass around the food. The only ones who had spoken so far were me and the one tall girl, who apparently spoke for both of them.
I smiled as we took pieces of fruit and baked muffins and said, “Ladies, please, you are welcome here and what I have is yours. Eat whatever you like. I know you must be hungry and it will make me happy to provide for you. I’m concerned that we have a lot to talk about and you should be as comfortable as we can make you.”
The one said, “We are comfortable enough. The food is good. The clothing is pleasant.”
It was difficult to keep calling them the one and the other. I decided that the speaker would be ‘Willow’ and the silent one, ‘Bamboo’. I would tell them their names later, but I would start thinking of them that way now.
I said, “We have a game that we play.”
Willow interrupted, saying, “Questions and Actions.”
I was surprised. I shouldn’t have been. Apparently this was something that my grandfather had started, and it survived as tribal knowledge. These girls were from my grandfather’s family, and they knew the common lore.
I said, “Yes. We ask a question and then we give an answer. The one who answers may then ask a question or take an action in response. I would let you go first.”
Bamboo looked around the circle and Willow said, “Is it true? Have we come at the right time? It seems that we have, but we would like to know.”
I said, “I was asleep in the house at Havenrest, very near here. Your ancestors, the first four little sisters, came with the man Clark, and the Woman Irene, eight centuries ago, and found that the door was locked and I was not awake. I’m very sorry for all of the hardship that has been caused, but in some ways, it’s better now than it would have been. Three weeks ago, I awoke from my sleep and was recovered from my injuries and I went to find all of you so that you could come and be happy. Irene is dead. These women are all my mates, as you are if you choose it. These three were in the tunic and hood. This one was never sent to the school. These two were with me before the cataclysm and slept until I awoke.”
Willow said, “Raven. I recognize you. You showed me that I am no different. Thank you.”
Viola said, “And we all traveled with you. We’re very happy that you are here with us.”
Lark said, “We have a wonderful life now and we want you to share it with us.”
Willow said, “Now that we hear your voices, we know that we know you. You were all kind and we are happy that you are happy. Master, it is your turn. A question or an action.”
I said, “A question. My question is, if I were to take an action, what would you want me to do? What is the one thing that you would want me to do right now?”
Willow looked at Bamboo and then back at me and said, “If you are hot, you could take off your robe and ask us to do the same.”
I asked, “Are you uncomfortable in you robes?”
She said, “Not at all. They are comfortable.”
I said, “But if I were to take an action, you would hope that it would be for all of us to be naked together again?”
Bamboo nodded slightly and grinned just a bit.
I said, “Unfortunately, I have taken my turn by asking a question. And you have answered it. It is your turn again.”
I pulled my belt apart and sat back and leaned against my hands and spread my legs casually so that my robe fell open, hanging from my shoulders only. I watched as Bamboo smiled and then did the same, mimicking my posture and exposing herself to me. I smiled and winked at her.
Willow said, “We have taken our action. Who is next?”
Lark said, “I would ask a question. Will you tell us what your life has been like? Starting with the day that you were sent to the school?”
Willow knelt where she was, with her back straight, and said, “We went with the merchant four springs ago. We are twenty-seven years old. There were no others for the school in that season. The woman Irene took us into her house. We remember everything very clearly. She looked at us and said that we were clearly Nogud. She told us to disrobe. She brought tunics and hoods, but before giving them to us, she said that she would perform the sexual examination, even though she knew that it was pointless. She touched us between our thighs but found no inappropriate response. She muttered that even though we did not fail the exam that we were clearly Nogud and could not be allowed to have mates or children. She was angry that day and she said that we were unteachable and that she would keep us only until the Merchant returned. For three weeks we worked in her garden, digging and weeding. When the Merchant came again, she delivered us to him and said that we had been with her half a year, as required, and that we were ready to go, though she had taught us nothing. We traveled with him and with all of you, but no arrangement was found for us for a long time. We were sent to this farm or that when work was available. When we finished our work, we would leave, and when the Merchant came along the road, we joined him again. A week ago, we saw that he had none of the sisters with him. We were in two villages and when we saw that the sisters had disappeared from his wagon, we went to the east bridge. We began to travel down the river and in each village, we found none of the sisters and our hopes increased. This morning, when we found women happy and bathing in the Haunted Woods, we knew that we had been right to come here.”
As she finished her story, I had heard a third surprise. These girls had not failed the sexual exam that Irene subjected each of the girls to. The exam that she performed was to touch the girl and see if she responded sexually. If the girl squirmed or became aroused or wet, she was deemed to have ‘failed’. If she was unresponsive, she ‘passed’. Irene must have hated sex and told the girls who were more responsive than she was that if they were allowed to have a husband that they would eventually become whores. All of the little sisters, the Nogud, were highly sexual and easily experienced multiple orgasms when making love. But Willow said that she and her twin had no sexual response when Irene examined them. What did that mean for our future together? Certainly I would love them, but if they were unable to experience sexual pleasure, their lives would be different than I had expected.
Clarice said, “So, when you were at the school, you were taught nothing?”
Bamboo shook her head. I noticed that after looking here or there, Bamboo’s eyes were often drawn back to me. To both my face and my body. I think that Clarice, Brenda, Lark, and Viola noticed the same thing.
Clarice said, “What about men’s and women’s bodies? Did your mother teach you?”
Willow said, “Our mother told us the stories of The Sleeper when we were little, but she died when we were ten. There was an accident and she was killed.”
Brenda said, “Oh, you poor dears! I’m so sorry. Never mind. We’ll have our own classes and teach you what you need. It is many years too late, but it will be better than what was taught at the school. I will teach you myself.”
Willow said, “We have a question. Are you
all bedmates?”
Viola said, “Yes we are. Joshua is our husband and our master. We all love him and he makes us very happy.”
Willow said, “We are looking forward to learning about those things. We will not respond inappropriately. We will learn to do what should be done for our husband. We know that Irene was a witch and that she was a liar. We have waited, like our mother told us to.”
I thought about what I was hearing. Yeah, this was an interesting morning, just like Lark had predicted. Bamboo and Willow were without a mother from the time that they were ten years old and had no information about sex or love or husbands or their own sexual response. This might explain why they came and went as they pleased and had no connections to anyone but each other. They had not received even the most basic instruction, at home or from Irene.
I asked, “And what about your father?”
Willow said, “Our father died with our mother. He was a hunter and we lived in the hills. When our parents were gone, we hunted like they did. We ate deer and berries and we sold pelts and artifacts in the village. We would find things from old times and not know what they were, but we would sell them and have coins for clothing.”
Bamboo smiled and Willow saw it and said, “And when we were alone, we would often wear skirts that we made from furs, and even boots.”
Oh my. It was worse than I had feared. They were truly orphans as well as exceptional descendants of my grandfather. My heart went out to them and I nearly cried as I listened to them talk about their lives. But, Raven had been right about the fur skirts and boots. She had been making up a story, but she hit that nail on the head.
I said, “Willow, you are with family now. We want you and we love you. I’m sorry that you were so alone. How did you go to the merchant?”
She said, “Willow? Is that our name, Master?”
I said, “Oh, yes, I had forgotten to tell you. I gave all of these women new names as we became family. It was the custom and they were happy with it. I should have asked you, but because I didn’t know what to call you, I have been thinking of you as Willow in my head as we talked. I said it by mistake. Do you have names? And do you want to use them?”
Bamboo smiled and Willow said, “A woman is given a new name by her husband. We know that. We have not had a name. We are happy for you to call us Willow. It is very nice. We like it. Lark and Viola and Aspen and Raven and Willow. And Clarice and Brenda and Joshua. It makes us very happy to be named Willow in your house.”
I said, “Um, but you can each have a name. I mean that I can give you each a different name…not just the one.”
Bamboo tilted her head slightly to the side and smiled at me and Willow laughed and said, “Two names? But that will be confusing. How will we know who you call or who you want?”
I looked puzzled and Willow tried to explain, saying, “Master, it will be more work. If you say ‘Willow, come here’, if we hear you, we will come. If we do not hear you, we will not. How could we. If you say, ‘do this’, we will do it. If you mean for not all of us to do it, look at us and we will know what you mean.”
I said, “But Viola and Lark are different and have different names and I call them differently.”
Willow laughed again and asked, “Are we different? We are different than Viola and these others, but we are not different than our self. It sounds strange to have two names. Do you call Lark by two names?”
I sighed and smiled and said, “No. Lark has just one name. I will call you Willow for now. But in time, I may change my mind.”
Willow said, “You may change as often as you like and we will love you the same.”
I said, “OK. Whose turn is it?”
These girls were apparently so much the same as far as they were concerned that they had developed no individuation. They thought of themselves as being the same person. Even though they had at times been in different places from each other, they thought of themselves as being one. And they had been true orphans and had raised themselves and provided for themselves since they were ten.
Willow said, “You have asked a question and we did not answer you. When we were twenty-three, we knew that we must go with the Merchant. When he next came to the village close to our hills, we walked into his caravan and went with him.”
Chapter 14 - Brenda Says
Willow said, “And so, we have answered and it is our turn. Master, men and women are different. We saw Raven when we traveled one night and we knew that we are the same as she is. And now, we know that we are the same as the rest. But you are different than we are and we think that you are very pretty to look at. We would like to see you and feel your differences and know the words used for our bodies and for yours. We are the same, but you are different and our bodies must have different words for different parts.”
Brenda said, “That’s a good idea! And a fun game. We will learn the names of the parts. Everyone stand up.”
We all stood as Brenda took charge of whatever she was about to do. She continued, “Now, the game is easy. When I say, ‘Brenda Says’, everyone does what I say. If you don’t know how, look and see what everyone else is doing and do that. That way we will learn the names. And we will learn about sex. Joshua, you have to play too and you have to do what I say.”
I said, “Wait. Willow, are you ready for me to be your husband?”
Willow and Bamboo both smiled, and the speaker said, “Master, we were made to be with you. We have always loved you. We are all your women. What do you mean, ready to be our husband? Aren’t we already yours? How can we be more than what we are already? You have given us clothes and food. You have mated with us.”
I thought, oh my gosh, these girls have no idea what sex is. I heard Brenda and Clarice in my ear-piece saying, “Joshua, it’s OK. They are exceptional and I don’t know why they ‘passed’ Irene’s exam, but trust us, they will be fine.”
I said, “Brenda, not too much too soon. Let’s have a fun game that everyone enjoys.”
Brenda said, “I know. Everyone will have a great time.”
Clarice said, “Willow, since we are all mated, I need to put a tiny thing in your arm, under the skin. It stings just a little, but all of us have it and it’s part of being mates, OK?”
Then in my ear, I heard, “It will let Brenda gauge their reactions to what we are doing and monitor any arousal response.”
Willow said, “Please give it to us. This is what you meant, ‘are we ready’. We will do it and then you will be our husband. We didn’t know about this ritual.”
Clarice said, “Good. Just a moment,” and she went to retrieve her medical kit with the device for the sub-dermal implants from where it was hidden in the bottom of our picnic basket.
Brenda said, “OK. Let’s start. Brenda says everybody throw your robes in a pile. Good. Now, everyone raise your arms up over your heads. Good. Now, Brenda says Clarice, put the implant under the arm of the first Willow.”
Clarice smiled and went to Bamboo and said, “This will sting for a second, but not long,” and she swabbed the area with an alcohol pad and then stuck the device against Bamboo’s underarm and pulled the trigger. Bamboo didn’t even flinch. Bamboo shrugged at Willow and Clarice went to her and did the same. Willow showed no sign that she felt anything either. It made me wonder if they weren’t able to feel physical touch in the same way that I did, or if they just had a very high tolerance for pain.
Brenda said, “OK. Let’s learn words for our bodies. Some parts men have and some parts women have. If you don’t have the part I say, don’t touch anything. Ready? Brenda says, hands on your face.”
We all put our hands over our faces and Willow laughed and did the same.
Brenda said, “Hands on hips. Good. Faces and hips. OK, finger in your mouth. Everyone stand closer together. Good. OK, finger in the mouth of the person on your right.”
Everyone put out their right hand and the person there sucked it in between their lips. I suddenly wondered how far Brenda was going to take u
s as far as sexual things went. We had just started and she already had us sucking on each other’s fingers.
She said, “Now, let’s do some new body parts. Some parts have lots of names. We use some names sometimes and other names sometimes, but it all means the same thing, doesn’t it? Here we go. Hands on breasts. See, we all have breasts, even Joshua. Touch your nipples. Good. See, we all have nipples, but a girl’s are bigger than a man’s. Now, hands on your neighbors breasts, one on each side. Now we have a nice circle and everybody has somebody’s hands on their breasts. OK, hands on hips. Hands on tits. Ah, girls’ breasts are also called tits, but Joshua’s breasts aren’t called tits. Hands on hips. Hands on titties. Hands on hips. Hands on boobs. Hands on hips. Hands on boobies. See, tits and titties and boobs and boobies are the same. Willow, now just you. Brenda says, Willow, what is the nicest name for breasts?”
Willow said, “I like the word boobies. It sounds fun.”
Brenda said, “OK, use boobies in a sentence.”
Willow smiled and said, “You have nice boobies.”
Brenda exclaimed, “Very good! Willow, that was nice of you to say that. I like it when Joshua or any of you say that I’m pretty and especially if it’s my boobs or other sexy parts. Ready to go on? OK, hands on thighs. Hands on butts. Hands on boobs. Hands on your neighbor’s ass. Ass and butt and bottom and rear can all be the same and it’s the same for Joshua and for us. Hey, I didn’t say take your hands off. Hands on your neighbor’s rear. OK, hands on hips. Brenda says, Lark give Joshua a big kiss.”
Lark grinned and came over and pressed herself against me and kissed me, and I reached down and squeezed her butt.
Brenda said, “Good. Lark kissed Joshua on the lips and he fondled her pretty bottom. OK, everybody back in a circle. Brenda says, spread your legs shoulder width. Good. We know boobies and asses and nipples. Between our legs is where the other fun parts are. OK, hands on groins. The whole area is called our groin. Fingers on your vulva. The part with the slit is called a vulva. We also call it a pussy. Pussy is the fun word for it and vulva is the more formal word. Here, instead of just telling you about it, I’m going to get down on the ground and everybody gather round and watch.”
The Watchman Page 13