John and Argent by cmsix

Chapter 19

When I woke the next morning all my girls were already out of bed. No one was hanging around to give dicky a good morning kiss or anything. I thought about calling one of them over for just that purpose but since they seemed to be getting ready for another gathering foray I didn't.

I got up, dressed and went outside to water a bush. I thought of the bathroom fiasco again and was nearly mad before I could shake the last few drops off dicky. I knew I was about to schiz off into another round of second-guessing, so I went back into the cave for something to eat. Dalia had my coffee ready thank Bob. I told her how much I appreciated it again and took the cup.

I was wondering about Bigglieo and the others that were off to fetch our new members when Geera came over.

"Nadlo came to talk to me yesterday about mating Melieta. I talked to her later and she is willing. I must get together with all the women today to settle on his payment," she told me.

"I told him to find a mate and I will be encouraging Jonoco to do it as soon as he can. The best way to keep them from sniffing around my beauties is for them to get a woman of their own to sniff. They are the only two unmated men aren't they?" I asked her, and grinned.

Geera tried to look serious. She couldn't keep up the act though and finally giggled herself.

"Yes they are the only two men from our original camp that are unmated. They will be the youngest men to ever be mated that I have ever heard of. Nadlo has only been a man for four weeks and Jonoco only three," Geera laughed.

"I don't think it is ever too early for a man to be broken to a mate's will," I said.

"What to you mean, broken to a mate's will?" Geera asked, surprised.

"Most men learn the hard way that sooner or later they must do as their mate or mates wish," I said, laughing myself now.

"It does make things go more smoothly. What about Nadlo though?" Geera asked.

"What about Nadlo, what do you want to know from me?"

"What do you think we should do about his payment?" Geera asked.

"I am not one of the women, at least I wasn't last night," I said, and reached down to squeeze my equipment.

"No, I am still a man." I said, teasing her.

"I know as well as any of your mates. Nadlo said that you had told him you would pay his price though. Do you want me to make it low so it will be easier?" she asked.

"No, I want you to make it higher than it would have been before I met you. I don't think that you should make it as high as I have paid but it should be high enough so that Melieta will feel very proud. Nadlo will have to pay me back for it after all. I don't think we should slight Melieta just so Nadlo can have an easy time," I told her.

"I will make it meat from hunting then. I know that will be the easiest thing for you to get and it will also make Melieta happy. Before you came, meat was the most difficult thing to get," Geera said.

"He will not have to wait until I get it all will he?"

"No, as a member of the camp, he will be allowed to pay when he can. Since he had never been a strong hunter, we would have asked him to pay something first, before he was allowed to mate. Since you will promise that it will be paid there will be no objections from anyone," Geera told me.

"Good. If it is agreeable with the others, please call for some of the meat to be boar. I have been wanting some of their meat anyway," I told her.

"The boar meat is very hard to get John. It will make Melieta's price seem high." Geera said.

"You must do as you see fit, but I intend to hunt the boar anyway. I want some bacon," I admitted.

"Very well, it will be hard for Nadlo to pay you back in boar meat though," Geera said.

"Can't he pay me back with whatever I want? When his mate is paid for isn't that debt paid. His debt will be to me then and if I accept something else won't that be between Nadlo and I?"

"We have never thought of things that way but I can see that it is fair. At any rate we women will not be concerned with that. When the bride payment is made, it is made, and we are through with it," Geera said.

"Good. I will talk to Nadlo first though. I have watched him before and I think that he can help with the horses. He seems to be interested in them and they will soon be too much work for Jonoco and Danlo. Danlo is still waiting for his manhood and yet he works hard with Jonoco and the horses every day. They will need some help," I said.

"Will we get more horses before long?" Geera asked.

"I went up canyon yesterday to look around and there are many horses. Some even look like they will be better than the ones we have. When we get some of them there will be many to care for," I told her.

"It will be good to have more, but that is not our place. I will talk to the women and we will settle on Melieta's price," Geera said.

"Good. Please tell me if we get any more unmated men here and please let me know how many unmated women are in our camp. I will need to keep on top of my match making."

"Once they find out that you will stand for Nadlo's mate payment, boys will be telling you that they are men before they even tell their mothers," Geera laughed.

"That will be fine as long as they know that they must still prove it to their mother and not to me," I said, and tried to keep a straight face.

Geera didn't even try, she laughed so hard she cried and she nearly lost her breath. Dalia came to her to see what the matter was and then all my mates were around her wanting to know what was so funny. I made them wait until Geera could recover enough to tell them. When she did they all fell into laughter. Finally they calmed down.

"What will you do about the price for all their mate's though John?" Geera asked me then.

"I will help them all, all those that were in the old camp at least and all the others that I can. I know that they probably all want a mate and I want them all to have one, or two if it can be worked out. We will have Georgo busy if I have anything to say about it."

She left to see about talking to the other women then. My last quip had me wondering where Georgo was keeping himself now-a-days. I hadn't seen him since my mating ceremony. I guessed that he would be back when he came back. I wanted to talk to him but not bad enough to send a man out looking for him.

When I walked out of the cave again I saw Nadlo coming toward it. He approached me meekly and asked if he might speak to Geera.

"Geera is talking to the other women. They are probably deciding your fate as we speak. What did you want to talk to her about?"

"I am not a good hunter. I wanted to ask her to consider that in my mating price," Nadlo said.

"I told you that I would make sure that you could pay for your mate. What the women decide is what I must provide. What you owe me then will be between you and I.

I will tell you already that if you agree you can pay me back by working with the horses with Jonoco and Danlo. We will soon have even more horses as I have discovered there are many up the canyon. I intend to have a horse for everyone in this camp and extra horses too. They will all need care. If you will work with the horses for me you will never have to hunt unless you want to," I told him.

"I don't understand. When you came to me last night I was afraid. I knew that I had done wrong to you. I expected a beating or maybe even to die. Now you have offered to pay my price for mating and further you will let me work with the horses to pay my debt to you. Most camp leaders would not do as much for their mate's son, much less for an unmated man that they are not related to," Nadlo said.

"I am the leader of this camp Nadlo, the leader of the whole camp. When one in my camp obtains more status I also have more status. I would see every man here have two or more mates if he can find them. I wish to make all my people fat even during the winter. I cannot do it by myself but I do not need for every man to hunt. I need some men who can do other things. If you work with the horses it will be a big help for me. I cannot do everything."

"I will be glad to work with the horses and I would like to help with the wolves too. I would have liked to do it anyway and wondered if I would ever be able to," Nadlo told me.

"Good, a man will do much better if he can do things that he likes. Do not worry about the payment for your mate. The higher it is, the more your mate will be proud of herself and proud of you for paying it. Come with me now and I will show you how to let the horses out to graze but not to get away."

We went to the horse cave then and I showed him how to hobble horses and how to tie others off. He asked about all the young ones and yearlings that went free and I explained that they would probably stay with the older horses. I told him that the youngest would not stray far from their mothers and that the yearlings weren't worth the effort yet to train while we were so busy. I told him that if they were still around when we had pens built for training that we would start their lessons. If they were gone then we would get more.

I also got a shovel for him and showed him how to clean up the horseshit that was building up in the cave. We would have to find something for bedding in there soon too. The shit can be shoveled but the urine just soaks into the floor without some type of bedding. The cave was pretty large but before long the smell of ammonia would be much too strong in there.

I left him at it, knowing that even using a shovel was a novel experience for him at this point. Maybe he would come to see cleaning up horseshit as a necessary part of things instead of a dirty job. It was both of course.

I was feeling pretty smug about things now. I didn't have a bathroom but I did have a new helper with the horses and I had headed off potential dalliances by my mates. I was sure that even if asked they wouldn't be likely to stray now. I still wondered where Georgo was though.

Late in the afternoon, about an hour before sunset my question was answered. Georgo came with Bigglieo in the returning wagon. They had made it back faster than I'd expected. I noticed that Bigglieo had an unfamiliar woman sitting right beside him on the wagon seat too. She seemed to be right up against him. I was glad about that. I had intended to tell him to choose another mate if he thought his present one would go for it. Apparently he had chosen one or maybe she had chosen him.

The wagon was piled high with things and all the travois horses were fairly well loaded too. None of them were cutting up at this late date but I was sure that some must have given some trouble. I talked to Jonoco and he told me that Bonehead had turned out to be the best behaved of all. After I'd told him about his new helper he seemed grateful.

Danlo looked very excited and asked me if I could hold Jolly for him since he needed to go talk to his mother. I was a little surprised but agreed to do it. Jonoco told me what he thought had happened after Danlo left.

"I think that Danlo is a man now. Our mothers are always the first ones we tell, we also have to prove it to them," He nearly blushed at that last comment.

"I guess I had better get back into the hunting mode. I need to ask you Jonoco. Why haven't you mated yet? Don't you want any of the women in this camp?"

"I have spoken to Jaiya and she has agreed that we can mate. I am not a good enough hunter yet to pay the price for her," Jonoco admitted.

"Go and talk to Geera as soon as you can get the horses put away, in fact go into the cave and call Nadlo to come help me. You can go talk to Geera as soon as he gets here. I will show him what to do."

"But I cannot pay for a mate yet," Jonoco said.

"I will pay for you and you can pay me back later. I will want you to work with the horses for your payment to me, no matter what the women want for Jaiya. The higher her price the happier she will be, and you will still pay me back by working with the horses."

"But I work with the horses anyway," he said.

"Yes, but you do not have to. We will have many more soon and they will require more than volunteer help. You can work with the horses and I will do any hunting for you that you need. Is that fair?"

"It is more than fair. It takes a long time to become a good hunter," he told me.

"It takes a long time to become a good horseman too. You will see that it is not all easy. Go and get Nadlo now before someone else talks to Jaiya."

He took off at that and was back with Nadlo quickly. As Jonoco left to find Geera I showed Nadlo how to lead a loaded horse and reminded him that the horse would not know if a passage was too small to pull the travois through and that he would have to do the thinking. We led them up into the big cave where everyone would be moving. Some of the others helped us unhitch the travois and then we led the horses back to their cave.

"Now all the horses will be in here tonight and leave more work for you in the morning," I told him, trying to make it a joke.

"Yes, but when we use them they do so much more than we can do. It is far to the camp the new people are coming from and just think how many trips it would take to carry all those things on our backs. Many things would have been left behind. Much of the time many valuable things must be left," Nadlo said.

I knew that I had lucked into a good candidate for one of my wranglers. Even if he didn't know much about the horses yet he did understand their value. They would all be surprised again later when we had enough horses so they could all have one to ride.

I left him at it and went to find Georgo. He was in my cave and my mates were feeding him. I asked Dalia to make us a pot of coffee so we could let Georgo try it and she said she would at once.

"Many things have happened since I saw you last Georgo."

"Yes they have, John. I have been busy telling others of your feats even though I got the news second hand. I was able to get a better story from Bigglieo as I rode back here with him. I do want to ask you some things, but first I want to tell you that I am glad you asked these people to join your camp. They were a small camp anyway and were not doing so well even before the three hunters were killed. They will be better off with you and they are all good people," Georgo said.

"I was glad to find them. We want a bigger camp here and we have found a place of plenty. I went onto the upper plateau yesterday and I saw a much larger herd of bison than the one I hunted from to pay my price for my first mates. There are many other big animals to hunt here too."

"I would like to ask you about Gigo and Dergo if it is not offensive," Georgo said.

"I will not be offended."

"Why did you kill Braato and Gordo, the two that killed them? I am glad you did since they were worthless, but it is usually not our way," Georgo told me.

"There are two main reasons. To help you understand I will tell you something about the mating nights first. I was glad to find out that the mothers of the new mates do more than just tell their daughters how to please their new man; sometimes they show them.

"Geera and Dieta were wonderful at showing their daughters the way. When I thought of them going off with Braato and Gordo I knew that I would much rather have them myself. Waaya and Winna were also very attractive to me.

"Why should those two have Geera, Dieta, Waaya, and Winna just because they snuck up on Gigo and Dergo and threw spears into their backs? I am good at killing too, and I already knew the benefits of having Dieta and Geera in my bed.

"If a man gains mates by killing others he should understand that someone might come to kill him in return. I have known it from the first. I think that the worthless ones might have figured it out right before the end. I am sure that others have gotten the message by now.

"Next I felt responsible for the death of Gigo and Dergo. My mates know why but no one else does. I killed Gembo, Jabo, and Jenbo myself. Gigo and Dergo just told others that they helped so that I would not have to take three more mates. I know now that it was the wrong thing for me to ask them to do, but they were agreeable at the time. I felt that if I had taken all the mates at first as I should have they would not have been killed," I told him.

"Now I see your reason and I also see the wisdom of it. Others do now consider what may happen if they kill for mates. It was never a much used custom and I was afraid that after Gembo tried it that it might begin to get popular. By your actions you have made sure that any man who considers it will think about it more carefully.

"You may be right about Gigo and Dergo but the two worthless ones might have done it anyway. At least they will not bother anyone else. Caato did not think much of you at first, even though he would never have said a word about it after seeing Jenabo's fate and that of the one who cast the spear into your back.

"I pointed out to him that you had actually done him a service. You made him leader of the camp and you rid him of four that he did not need anyway if not seven. I do think that they will have a little trouble this winter though," Georgo said.

"If they need meat I will see that they get some and if you know of any camp that might like to join us I would like to know it. We will have plenty of food and I would like to have more people. I am going to be the leader here and they have to understand that. If they will accept me as their leader and will share in the work they are welcome."

"I know of two more camps that should join you for their own sake. All the people in them are not desirable though. Both camps together would number thirty-seven in all. There is one mated man, three unmated men and two boys that are nearly men that I would not have in any camp though," Georgo told me.

"I will send a man to ask them to join us then. I know how to get rid of useless men and if I get rid of the worst one first you might be surprised at the way it changes the attitudes of the others. If some of the women are lazy I think that we can teach them better," I told Georgo, and then I smiled.

"You do know the easiest way to banish worthless men and I would wager that you can show lazy women the error of their ways. When you are ready to send a runner I will tell him how to find them.

"I saw your bed John and your mates told me what it is. I have never seen anything like it before," Georgo said then.

"I did tell you that I have some of my own magic. I have more too. I also think that you should be one of those to join us here Georgo. We can easily make you a private place of your own and you will need somewhere to stay during the winter. What better place is there for you?"

"I will be happy to stay here for the winter. Much of my time is spent traveling but I have to stay with someone during the winter and this will probably be the best place I ever stayed," Georgo said.

"Tomorrow we can find a place to fix for you. It will be your choice."

Dalia brought us some coffee then and I could tell by her look that she wanted to talk to me about something. I excused myself for a minute and she and I went over near the bed to talk privately.

"Danlo has become a man," She said, and her face was shining with pride.

"I am happy for him. I think you know that I would like for him to take a mate as soon as possible. I will guarantee his price for him. Does he have his eye on anyone yet?"

"He does and his mind is made up about it.

"He was taken with a girl in our old camp. That would not be easy but it would not be such a problem except that she has a twin, and I am sure that she would not want to leave her. She would not want to be so far from her mother yet either I think. Both of the girls only became women a short time before we left and leaving the place where her mother lives and her sister too will probably be too much to ask of her," Dalia told me.

"Maybe we can ask her mother's mate to join us here. Do you think that he would consider it?"

"Her mother's mate was killed as mine was. He was killed a year before mine was in fact," Dalia told me.

"Then it seems easy to me now. We will let Danlo ask both of the girls to be his mate and we will ask their mother to join us here also."

"She might do that but I am not sure. She is a good woman but she is prideful. I am not sure that she would move unless she were to be mated also," Dalia told me, and I could see that she was having a hard time keeping a smile off her face.

"Oh no you don't, Dalia. I can see that grin. I do not need another mate. If Danlo is set on the girl, or more likely on the twins, he can just mate their mother too."

"She might do that. She and I were close when I lived there. I must tell you that I think you are putting quite a load on a young man. Shelalliea, the mother, is a lot like me. She can be as demanding on a mate as I am. I'm not sure that Danlo will be able to handle her. Would you be willing to help him out?" Dalia asked me.

My mates often gave me surprises and this was a big one. This was one of my mates asking me to help her son out by fucking one of his mates for him. I didn't have a clue as to how I should react.

If the woman were good looking of course I would want to fuck her. I didn't want to get any shit started with my mates though. Things were going too good now. Even if I did get some stray pussy I knew that I would still be fiercely jealous of my mates and that I wouldn't be able to let Danlo reciprocate.

"What would the others think Dalia? They all know how I feel about them being with other men. If I did help Danlo out I could not keep it from them and I wouldn't want to. How would Danlo feel? I couldn't ask him to let me fuck one of his mates and then tell him I would want to kill him if he tried to do the same to one of mine."

"You must not pay much attention to Danlo then John. He thinks that you are the reason the sun shines in the day. He would probably be proud for you to fuck all his mates when he has them. He is too young to be jealous of you yet. If you are sometimes with his mates from the start it will never make him jealous of you. I know him well John; he is my son. Do you want me to ask him plainly about it? Will you do it if he agrees?" Dalia asked.

"What of my other mates? What will they think?"

"We have already talked. I knew that this would come about. A mother knows what is on her son's mind and can tell when he is about to become a man. I asked Geera and Dieta first and then all the others separately to make sure that they would not feel pressured into agreeing. I do not want trouble in our cave either.

"Geera was glad to think that you might take Shelalliea for a mate and Dieta was practically giddy. Dieta thinks that you should have all the women at least a few times and she isn't the only one that feels that way. The others would all like for Shelalliea to join us as one of your mates.

"When a woman is mated to a man who has other mates it makes her proud. It shows that her man can take care of many women and it makes her looked upon with respect. It also means that there is help when she needs to do something. More mates, more status, and more help."

"But if I don't mate her and only help Danlo out sometimes, what will they think of that? What will you think?"

"I will think that you are giving up a good thing all the time for a good thing sometimes. I'm sure they all will think so too. They will not mind if you help Danlo though. It will be like a small ceremony each time she comes to your bed then. We will have a good time on those nights. Though we always have a good time any night that we get you going," Dalia said, and grinned.

"I have to think of this. You are telling me that all my mates would like for me to take this woman as another mate but that if I don't they will be glad for me to help Danlo by fucking her some. You are also telling me that Danlo will be happy to send her to my bed for a good screwing?"

"Is screwing the same as fucking? If it is then you are right. We will all be happy if you will mate Shelalliea, but if you don't we will still be happy if you screw her some times. Danlo will be glad for the help if you won't mate her. Danlo is just now a man. He will be happy to be mated so young and especially if he can mate both of the twins.

"He will still be happy if he has to mate their mother also. He will not be able to take care of Shelalliea by himself though. He is going to have to do a lot of licking just to satisfy the twins," Dalia explained,giggling.

"I do not doubt you Dalia but I will have to hear it from each of my mates separately. If they all tell me that they agree I will ask Shelalliea to be my mate also. I see that it would be better that way than if she only came to me when Danlo needed help with her."

She kissed me quickly then and rushed off to talk to the other women. I was still in shock over the whole thing and I went back to Georgo and sat down.

"Are there troubles John?" Georgo asked.

"More than I could have imagined just from a boy turning into a man," I sighed.

"I was wondering when that would come. Danlo has become a man then?" Georgo asked.

"Yes, but how did you know it would be complicated." I asked.

"It is my business to try and see what is coming before it happens. Everyone in that camp knew that Danlo had his heart set on mating Shelalliea's twins. Without your help he would have had to have mated one first and the other later. That would not have been such a problem since the one that he didn't mate at first could always refuse any others if they offered. She would have done so.

"The three of them have been too close for years for anything else to happen. I knew when I heard that Dalia had gone with you that their mother would have to leave with them when they went. Will you mate her or will Danlo?" Georgo asked.

"I will mate her if my other mates agree."

"They will agree and be happy about it. You are able to get along fairly well with the little you know about our ways but you still have much to learn about us. Your mates are the envy of every woman who hears about you. I am sure that many of the unmated women that have heard of you wish that you would come and ask for them. I know for sure that there are many mated women that dream of you killing their mate and taking them away. None would say anything of the sort aloud but in some camps I can nearly feel it if your name is mentioned," Georgo said.

"I don't know why. I am not special."

"John, you are more than special. No man has ever killed fifteen bison in one hunt. You killed fifteen in minutes and only stopped because more would have been too much trouble to skin and clean. Then you killed three cave lions as if for sport. You dragged Braato and Gordo into their own camp behind your horse and then drug them to death.

"When Jenabo spoke of killing you he was dead himself in the blink of and eye. Everyone then saw a spear cast and strike you in the back. You did not even cry out, you just turned and killed the one that did it.

"You have ten mates now and hardly anyone doubts that you can feed and provide for all of them easily. When those in the camps I spoke to you about hear that you have taken in the camp that you did they may send a runner here on their own to ask you to take them in. Hunting is hard and dangerous for us. Just knowing that you are to give this camp sixty-five more bison will make them want to join. It seems to me that you consider the bison as fruit that you might as easily pick from a tree. Others are getting the idea that you think that way too. You are not just special John, you are a legend already," Georgo told me.

I could see how it would seem impressive to them. I guess it was but I hadn't set out to do any of it and I had many advantages that they didn't know about. That must be part of it. They couldn't understand how I did it. I knew then that Georgo had been correct in wanting to keep it secret. It would be better for me if they never caught on.

Dalia came over then with more coffee for Georgo and I. She asked if I had time to go sit on the bed so each of my mates could come to me and tell me their thoughts on the matter that we had discussed. I took my leave of Georgo again and went to the bed.

They each came to me alone. To a woman they nearly begged me to take Shelalliea as a mate and told me that if I wouldn't mate her they would still be happy for her to stay with us at night whenever I would allow it.

I had a hard time swallowing such an enviable position. What man could believe this kind of luck? After they all had talked to me I motioned to Dalia and when she came to me I told her that they had convinced me to ask Shelalliea to be one of my mates. I could have turned off all the lights then and let her smiling face light the whole cave.

"I must go and talk to Danlo now. He must come and ask you to help him," Dalia said.

"Why don't you just tell him that I agreed?"

"Danlo is a man now. It is his place to ask you for help if he needs or wants it. He must not depend on his mother any longer. I will still help him all I can but he must start to act on his own behalf. Be sure to show that you are taking time to consider his request please," Dalia told me, and left.

This shit was hard for me since I considered myself a straightforward type of guy. I would struggle through somehow though.

I went back to Georgo again hoping we'd get a little more time to talk. We did.

"Things are moving fast on this now aren't they John?" Georgo asked.

"Yes it seems that I will soon have a new mate after all. It is confusing to me that all my other mates not only wanted it but practically begged me to ask her."

"It is as I told you John. It is more status for them and more help for them also. I am sure that they understand that it is easier for eleven women to take care of one man than it is for one woman to take care of a man. They know that you will have no trouble feeding them. Those that were in Gigo's camp all surely remember what a job you can send home from a hunt. The next time you hunt they will probably wish that you had thirty mates." He said.

"Don't give them any ideas. Dalia has already told me that Dieta wants for me to have every woman in camp at least a few times."

"It won't hurt anything John. You are the leader now and none of the men would complain. They probably expect it sooner or later," he said.

"I'm not about to start that. I am jealous of my mates and I would kill a man if I knew that he had taken one of them. An unmated man tried to slip Jaada off into the night while I was gone to the old camp to invite the newest members. I started to kill him but didn't because she ran away from him and I thought that it might have been more agreeable before I came."

"Gigo would have killed him, or at least beaten him severely, for trying. It is different for the leader. Every man understands that the leader's mate or mates are not to be pestered. I know that Gigo and Dergo often took too much bruga on different nights so that they could be with each other's women. That was different. They agreed to it among themselves. It is never talked about openly but I can assure you that Gigo had his fun with every mated woman in his camp at one time or another. Almost every leader does. Still the other men know that the leader's mate is not for them. Being a leader can be a difficult thing, it must have some compensations or no one would even consider it. Who was the one that tried to pester your mate?" Georgo asked.

"Nadlo, he is unmated. I told him to speak to the women and find a mate and that I would make sure that he could pay the price."

"That was very generous of you and I'm sure that Nadlo knows it. After he has been mated a while you should take his mate to you often to remind him who the leader is. Do you think that those that are moving here do not expect it of you? Even if you did not know it they did. They will expect for their women to visit you sooner or later. If you don't allow it they will think that you are going to send them away," Georgo told me.

"That will be too much work for one man. I can't stand up to that."

"You need not do it all in one night or all in one week or month. When you see a woman that you feel like having just ask her to come to your cave that night. Your mates will be happy about it and so will the woman. What ever her mate feels about it will not be mentioned. In fact their mates will probably feel more secure in their place here because of it.

"You have not taken any other women since you became leader then?" Georgo asked.

"No. Only my mates," I told him.

"Then you should consider carefully which of the men's women you will have first. It will be a sign of status for his woman and for him. It will show that he is important to you," Georgo told me.

I was still mulling this over when Danlo came to ask if he could speak to me. I went over to sit on the bed again and he came with me. It struck me as funny for a moment and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. It was as if I were a king and holding public audiences. If Argent and I hadn't been having a tiff I would have asked him for a throne.

"John, I am a man now. Dalia told me to come to you and ask if you would help me gather the payment for my mate. I am a man but I am not a good hunter yet and truthfully I am not sure that I will ever be a good hunter," Danlo told me.

"I believe I told you in your old camp that I would help you gain a mate. I have heard somewhere that you need two mates though. Georgo has told me that he thinks that you have your eyes on twins."

"Georgo is right as always. Shallea and Shaala and I have already talked about it. I will mate one and the other will wait until I can pay the price for her," Danlo explained what I already knew.

"You are the son of one of my mates, Danlo, and the brother of another. Why should you have to wait? I can pay the price for you now. You do not have to learn to hunt to repay me. You can repay me by working with the horses if you would like to. I will need help to care for the horses. We will soon be getting many more. You do not have to wait unless you want to wait."

"How can you be so good to me? I cannot believe it. You haven't even known me very long," Danlo asked.

"Danlo, your mother and your sister are both mated to me and they help make me a very happy man. I might as well tell you that I would see that you got the twins you want even if you never repaid me. I will do it just to see how happy it makes your mother and your sister. I believe that you are going to be the kind of man that repays his debts no matter what though. I am expecting good things from you."

"You will get them. I am surprised that you are so willing to help me but I am very happy. You will not regret helping me. There may be another problem though and I do not know what to do about it. The twins are very close to their mother and she is living at the other camp. They may be reluctant to leave her," Danlo told me something else I already knew.

"Maybe their mother's mate and their mother will move here also."

"She has no mate, he was killed before my mother's mate was killed," Danlo explained.

"Maybe she will mate you too, Danlo. You might have to mate their mother also. I can tell you that it is nice to mate a mother and her daughter. Is she attractive and is she a good woman?"

"She gave Shallea and Shaala their looks and they are beautiful. She is beautiful too, and she is a good woman and a good worker. I do not think that I should mate her though. I have known her all my life and it would seem like I was mating my own mother.

"Well that might not be bad. My mother is beautiful too and I have spent a lot of time looking at her and dreaming. But that kind of thing is not often done. I just hope she will move here with us. I do not think that she would mate me and I would be afraid to ask her."

"Would you do it if you thought it was the only way to mate the twins?"

"I would ask if it was the only way. I would ask her even though I don't think that she would agree. I would be ashamed about it though. It seems like a trick and she is a good woman and doesn't deserve to have tricks played on her. I think that she would not agree anyway," Danlo said.

"Do you think she would mate me if I asked her?"

"I think that nearly any woman would mate you if you asked. She needs a mate and she might even consider mating me I think; I doubt that she would agree but she would probably consider it. I am sure that she would mate you though. You are the best hunter anyone has ever heard of and you are the leader of a good camp that is growing bigger. Would you ask her to be your mate?" Danlo asked.

"Yes, I will ask her. My other mates have told me that they want more company and I have a hard time resisting beautiful women. We will go tomorrow. Bigglieo is going back to the other camp for another load. I will ride Bonehead and you can ride Ben and we will go to their camp to ask for mates. If they agree we will have Bigglieo come for their things on the next trip."

"This is all so fast. It makes me very happy though. I cannot believe that I just became a man last night and now I am going to get two mates. Shallea and Shaala will be so happy. We thought it would be years before we could all be together. When my mother and I left their camp we thought that it would be even longer," Danlo said.

"I think that it will make me happy too."

The audience was now over and Danlo went back to his sleeping place, he walked like his feet weren't even touching the ground. I went back to Georgo and as I sat again Dalia was there with more coffee and another ten thousand watt smile.

"How do you like the coffee Georgo?"

"It is strange John. I really have no home and I am always visiting actually. I eat meals from every cook. Some are good, some aren't so good and some are bad. I always tell them that it was very good and thank them for it. When I first drank the coffee I thought that I would have to endure it and tell you it was very good even though I didn't really like it. Now that I've had more I think that I might come to like it," Georgo said.

"That is the way it is with coffee, it taste terrible at first. When you try to sleep tonight you will find out something else about it. You will have a hard time sleeping and you will feel like you should get up and do something. I should have thought about that before I offered it to you late in the day."

"I have never heard of things like that. It will not be a problem though. If I can't sleep I will try to speak to the spirits. Will I be able to sleep tomorrow?" Georgo asked.

"You should be able to. You might be able to sleep sometime before sunrise. Others moving around might wake you though."

"It is often that way for me. I will sleep when I can sleep; when I can't I will be awake. After a time I will be able to sleep no matter who is moving around," Georgo said.

"I do have another thing to ask you Georgo."

"I will tell you if I can," he said.