John and Argent by cmsix

Chapter 35

We loaded the dead, wounded and bound into the wagon and set off for Jara's camp. When we arrived things had mostly calmed down but the camp became excited again when they saw that Jara was with us and safe.

There was a mini commotion when they found that we weren't going to kill the other two right away. I explained that we would need the one that was still able to walk for our meeting with Jakado's camp. This seemed to make things right for them but most of them still wondered why we couldn't kill the wounded one now. They did settle down and go to bed though, anticipating a battle tomorrow. All of the men in the camp intended to go with us. I was at once touched by their new loyalty to me and reluctant to let them go. In the end I decided that it would be better if they came.

I wanted to have the big wagon tomorrow so that we could bring Racaato's new mates possessions with us in one trip. We would also need to start bringing the things from Barbo's camp since they were now going to join us also. Danlo volunteered to ride back to our camp and have Bigglieo and some others leave early tomorrow morning. I warned him to be careful and then let him go. I made sure he knew to have the wagon wait about two miles from the camp for someone to come and tell them it was safe to approach.

The next morning after a quick meal Racaato, Raalto and I mounted up while Jonoco hitched the team to the wagon. All the men found a place to ride and Jara claimed a place on the seat. Dieta mounted when I did and I couldn't convince her to even hang behind. The other wounded man had died in the night but his healthy friend was still in good shape, except for his ear. We tied a rope around his neck and the other end to the wagon. He was defiant at first and wasn't going to walk. He made the same discovery Bonehead had, the wagon was going to move whether he walked or not. When he finally tumbled to the fact that we didn't give a shit either way he managed to get back to his feet and start walking. He didn't balk anymore.

The trip didn't take long and Raalto directed us to a good rise not far from the center of the camp. We made sure to keep everyone out of site behind it. Racaato, Dieta, Raalto and I took up firing positions on top and then signaled the others to let the captive go.

He took off running as soon as he was loose and ran all the way into the center of the campsite, yelling loud enough for us to hear him for the last hundred yards.

A crowd quickly gathered around him and Racaato made sure to point out Jakado to me at once. I had told the captive to have Jakado and a small group approach us peacefully if they wanted to talk. I don't know if he relayed the message or not. I do know that Jakado turned and spoke to the others shortly and they all headed back toward their new huts. They were back with their spearcasters soon enough.

I guessed there were probably seventy armed men approaching us. When Jakado was within two hundred yards I dropped him. The muzzle blast stopped the others and they were stunned when they saw their leader lying on the ground with a bleeding hole in his chest and his heels drumming out his last movements against the dusty earth. Only four started back toward us; Raalto stopped two of them within seconds. The other two stopped and then turned back to the group.

I could tell that there was some discussion and then arguing among them. Two men came from the back of the group dragging the one that we had sent back to them. They brought him to a man near the front that seemed to be in charge now. An argument started up and then the new man in charge slapped the one we'd sent and then did it again.

He turned toward us then and made a point of throwing down his spearcaster and spears. When he did I stood without my rifle. I didn't drop my Glock but doubted that he would recognize it as a weapon. Apparently he didn't since he started toward me.

I didn't approach him but did move a few steps ahead of where I was to wait for him. He didn't make any sign of greeting when he got to me.

"I am Cardiato, who are you?" He asked.

"I am John and we have come for our mates."

"What mates do you have here?" He asked.

"The mates of those we have killed."

"Why have you killed our men, to get their mates?" He asked.

"We have only killed those that attacked us and two of the three that kidnapped a woman, Barbo's wife."

"Jakado did not attack you and you killed him." He said.

"I sent the living kidnapper to tell Jakado to approach us unarmed to discuss the transfer of our mates. After Jakado talked to him he called all his men and they armed themselves before approaching us. If that isn't an attack it is close enough for me. If you do not like it go back and retrieve your weapon. You can die as Jakado did."

"I do not understand how you killed Jakado and I don't think he understood it before he died. I have no wish to join him where he is now. You are correct he did intend to kill you. If you will allow it I will go and talk to the other men. You say that all you want is to retrieve your mates?" He asked.

"The mates and the possessions. Due to the misunderstandings already we will ask that all the men put their weapons in a safe place where we can keep an eye on them." I said.

"I will talk to them and see if they agree. If they do not what then?" He asked.

"Then we will start killing them until those that are left do agree. Ask Jakado if we can do it."

He returned to them then and it didn't take much of a powwow for them to decide that they would put their weapons in a pile. I signaled for Jonoco to go and get Bigglieo and the wagon then and the camp got another surprise as he galloped around the rise and up the trail toward Bigglieo.

I went down and told the men from Jara's camp to go stand near the pile of weapons to make sure that they stayed where they were. I warned them not to touch them and they agreed.

Bigglieo had a surprise for me when he came rolling into camp. The big wagon was full of men and every one of my mates was in it. They all had their Glocks strapped around their waist and each was holding their rifle, even Kateata was armed and with them. I walked down to meet the wagon.

"Bigglieo did you leave anyone in camp to watch over our home?" I asked him smiling.

"You have not kept a count of how many are in your camp now John. There are many more at home than there are here. This is only twenty men and I do not see how you think I could have made your mates stay at home when they heard you might gain another one." Bigglieo said grinning.

"I see your difficulty. It is just as well. Everything is quiet here now and there will be plenty of help to load the things."

I saw that Erieta, Jareena and Reeana were armed, dangerous and present also. Even Failiela wore her web belt and Glock around her tiny waist. They came with my mates and me as we walked toward the center of the camp where some women were bringing their possessions. Bigglieo moved toward the place with the big wagon. Dieta, Racaato, Jara and Raalto came too when I signaled them. I kept my eyes peeled for brave fools and I could see that Racaato and Raalto were also. Nothing untoward transpired though.

When we met the women it didn't take long to figure out which four were now Racaato's mates and which two were Raalto's. It surprised me that it didn't take the women long to greet each other fairly warmly and begin helping to load the things. When the men that had come with Bigglieo pitched in the job was finished in less than half an hour. I still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ameliea. I decided that if she wanted to stay here I would let her. Even if she was beautiful I already had plenty of beautiful mates.

"That seems to be everything then. We will leave you in peace Cardiato." I said and started off toward the rise to fetch Red and mount up.

"But John you have forgotten Ameliea." Dieta told me.

"No doubt Ameliea is overcome by grief at the death of Jakado. We will leave her in peace with her possessions. No doubt she can find a mate here in her camp." I told her and gave her a wink.

"Now wait John. I thought that you were an honorable man. You have killed Jakado and must take responsibility for his mate. I'm sure that there will be too many painful memories for her here with Jakado dead. You must take care of her now." Cardiato said.

"Where is she then? Must I hunt her down in your camp? I don't even know her."

"I will bring her here. Maybe some of your men will help with her things. I would like to make sure that she gets everything that is hers." He said.

I signaled to Bigglieo and it was all he could do to keep from laughing. If Ameliea was as beautiful as I'd been told she must surely be a handful since Cardiato did not intend to let me leave her here. I glanced at Dieta and she was practically panting for Ameliea's arrival.

When Cardiato came back with Ameliea I had to admit to myself that she was beautiful. Her wavy red hair hung in a seeming cloud to her shoulders. Her dark blue eyes flashed her anger and she seemed to almost be breathing fire. She was well built but tiny, barely over five feet tall and she couldn't have weighed a hundred pounds. Still she was formidable and not at all awed by physical size. She came right up to me and in a flash was striking out at me with a bone shafted stone knife. It was a work of art itself, its beautifully knapped blade was over eight inches long and even the short glimpse I got of it let me know that it was perfect.

Dieta saved the knife from being broken against my chain mail by grabbing Ameliea's wrist and holding it firmly. When Dieta squeezed and twisted the knife fell to the ground at once. I think that I saved Ameliea some bruising then as I grabbed her waist and threw her over my shoulder like a sack of feed. She cursed and yelled all the while I carried her up the rise and toward Red. Her little fist pounded away at my back for the entire walk.

I set her down just before we reached Red and she took another swing at me when she was on her feet. I grabbed both her hands in mine and looked into her face.

"Ameliea your mate gave me no choice about killing him. I am sorry that you have to come with me now but Cardiato gave me no choice either. He demanded that I take you. You do have to be my mate for a while at least but I will not force myself on you. You can live at our camp and do as you wish as long as you do not cause trouble. I do not want to have to punish you but I will if you make me." I told her.

"You are nothing but scum. I will sneak away from you as soon as I can." She said.

"You don't have to sneak away from me. If you will just try to calm yourself until we get to my camp my other mates will help you pack your things properly and you can leave. We will give you all the food you can carry and furnish you with spears and tools if you need more than you have. Do you have a tent?"

"No I have never needed a tent." She spit.

"Well if you are going to leave you will need a tent. It will be very cold before long and if you are not going to stay in our caves with us you will need a tent to keep you from freezing to death outside." I told her.

"Why are these horses standing here and what is that on them?" She asked changing the subject.

"This is where I left them, they are hobbled so that they cannot run away. That is a saddle on his back and it is on him so I can ride him more easily." I told her.

"Ride him. Why would you ride a horse?" She asked.

"So I won't have to walk of course. You will see."

I took the hobbles off Red and tied them to the saddle then mounted and reached down for Ameliea's hand. She took mine with no protest and I pulled her up into the saddle in front of me as she squealed in surprise. Red tensed but didn't move.

"You will see that it is much easier to ride than walk." I told her as I used my heels to move Red out toward Jara's camp.

I was leaving it to the others to finish up and follow. I didn't think that anything would come up that Raalto, Racaato and the others couldn't handle. I knew that I was being somewhat impolite to my mates but I felt sure that they would understand. I was busy answering questions until the others caught up with us. Now that Ameliea had stopped spitting and cursing she seemed to want an explanation for everything.

I kept Red to a slow walk and the others caught up soon enough. It seemed to change Ameliea's mood when they joined us and she quit asking questions and put on a sullen look for the others. She didn't completely give up her quizzing and when we passed the place where we had shot the men last night she saw the blood easily and asked about it. She couldn't understand how we had killed them so easily and I didn't elaborate.

When we reached Jara's camp the packing was on. I was glad to see that Danlo had made sure that all the travois horses were here now. He had put a saddle on one of the Clydesdales and ridden it leading most of the others in a long line. Galto had also ridden but had chosen one of the other travois horses as a mount. He had led a smaller string of horses. All the travois poles and slings were in the big wagon.

We began packing at once but weren't finished before sunset. We would have to stay here tonight. With some crowding we all found room in the huts to sleep. All except for my wranglers who stayed outside to make sure that the horses were safe.

All my mates, including Jara and Ameliea and I stuffed ourselves into Jara's hut. It was a tight fit but I didn't mind at all. I didn't see where Ameliea found a spot but I had no trouble locating Jara. It was her hut and she made sure she was right next to me for the night. I didn't feel like fucking for some reason and so I didn't start anything and was a little relieved when nobody else did either. Dicky didn't even have any objections tonight.

When I woke and went out to piss the next morning I was a little annoyed at having to use the outdoors again. I decided that I was getting spoiled by the bathrooms. Breakfast was delicious as usual but understandably not up to what I'd come to enjoy. It tasted good though and there was plenty of it. I saw that though she still seemed put upon this morning Ameliea didn't hesitate to do her part cooking and she seemed civil among my other mates.

Some of the men from Jara's camp had skinned the lions that Racaato had killed. The bison had gone to waste in the excitement and that was understandable. Erieta and Racaato's new mates made a point of finding the lion's remains and getting the teeth and claws. The new mates especially liked the thought that their mate had killed three lions at once.

I saw Ameliea go and talk with them and she seemed interested in their trophies. When she came back she talked to Dieta and was telling her about the lions.

"Racaato is a good hunter but John has killed many more lions. During the mating days after Danlo, Jonoco and Nadlo mated Melieta, Jaiya, Shaala and Shallea he went hunting and killed seven adult lions, a whole pride, and their four cubs." Dieta told her.

"I do not believe that." She said.

I could see that this pissed Dieta off but she didn't blow up. I wondered how she kept from it.

"You do not have to believe it. When we get home I will show you the teeth, claws and skins. John says he will get a lion skin for all of us. He has ten already and there are more teeth and claws than any of us can count." Dieta told her and then turned back to helping Jara load her things.

With all the travois horses and both wagons we were able to take everything except the huts. We didn't really need them but I hated to leave them to just rot. We decided to go back through Raalto's old camp on our way home. It wasn't really a long way out of the way and maybe they could use the huts. I asked Jara and the other hut owners for their permission first and they agreed that we had all the disassembled huts we could use.

When we were ready to leave Ameliea came to me and reached up after I had mounted. I was surprised but pulled her up at once.

"You can ride in the wagon if you'd rather." I told her.

"I like riding on the horse now that I have tried it. I would rather ride with you." She said.

We headed for her former camp and it wasn't long before the questions started again. First among them was where we found the giant horses and then she wanted to know what they would eat during the winter. I didn't really mind all the questions and it was interesting what she came up with. Raalto and Racaato had been right. She was very clever. She made another attempt to discover how we had killed the others so easily and I finally told her that she wasn't going to find out unless she intended to stay with us.

"I see that you mean to have me whether I want you or not." She said after that.

"I would love to have you Ameliea but only if you want me to. You can stay as long as you like and I will not take you against your will. You can stay from now on. If you do not want to live in my cave you do not have to. We have plenty of caves for everyone." I said.

"That is what you say now but I will wait to see. You have many mates and I am small, if they want to hold me for you they will have no trouble no matter how I struggle." She said.

"That is right. If I asked them they would hold you for me. If I wanted to I could stop and call them right now, they would strip off your clothes and hold you on the ground while I had you in the daylight. All the others would wait and watch. I will not ask them though. As you said I have plenty of mates and I have a large camp. I do not need to take women who do not want me. I am barely able to keep up with the women who do want me." She actually shivered as I delivered this little speech.

"I will see." She said and was quiet for a while.

Cardiato was more than a little surprised to see us return. I could tell that they had just finished burying the dead and there was a somber mood in the camp. He approached me when I dismounted though.

"Hello John." He said.

"Hello. We have come back to tell you that we will not need the huts that are at Barbo's former camp. You and your camp are welcome to them if you need them and if you don't and know someone that does please let them know that they are available." I said.

"That is generous of you. Do you have so many huts at your camp that all those from Barbo's camp can have a place?" He asked.

"We live in caves that I found and there is more than enough room for all of us and more." I said and then I told him goodbye and left.

The rest of the trip home was uneventful. Ameliea had more questions and I did my best to answer them. She was amazed at the horse pens and all the other horses, including the foals and yearlings when she saw them.

"Why do you have so many horses?" She asked.

"I want to have a horse for everyone to ride. They are very helpful. Soon there will be enough so any man or woman will have a horse for hunting or gathering. It is much easier for a horse to carry things than it is for a man or woman." I said.

"I can see that but if you must gather grass for them to eat during the winter it will be a very big job." She said, hitting that nail squarely on the head.

"It will be much work but we think it will be worth it. It makes it much easier to clean and cut up meat from kills if we bring them here in the wagons to do it and since we have the frozen cave we do not need to dry the meat for storage. The meat also taste better if we do not dry it."

"It will be very different living here." She said.

I dismounted and then helped her down. I hadn't missed the fact that she seemed to be considering what life here was going to be like instead of planning her exit. She followed me when I led Red into the horse cave to unsaddle and care for him. She asked me why I was rubbing him down and then why I was cleaning his feet. When I led him to the pen and turned him out she asked if he wouldn't be hard to catch the next time I wanted to use him. I did my best to satisfy her curiosity.

Red did a little to arouse her curiosity then. When I turned him loose he went directly to the small pen where the wild stallion was shut in. I was glad to see that someone had let him off the snubbing lead. The wild one came to the fence also and soon he and Red were raising hell at each other over the fence.

"What are they doing?" Ameliea asked.

"They are both stallions and they are arguing about who will have all the mares." I told her.

"Will they always do that?" She asked.

"They will come to an understanding sooner or later. In the mean time we will not let them in the same pen together. They would probably fight and hurt each other if we did." I explained.

"Do all the males do that, even when they are wild?" She asked.

"Yes, but if they are running free one male will keep all the others away from his band of mares until he is too old to fight them off. Then a younger and stronger one will run him off."

"Oh." She said.

We went to my cave then and it was culture shock for her when we arrived. My mates were there with Kateata and they were waiting for Bigglieo to bring the wagon so they could unload the things that belonged to Jara and Ameliea. Dalia and Shelalliea were cooking and I was happy to see Ladeliea getting me a cup of coffee. I went to the table to sit down and noticed that Argent hadn't seen fit to keep Ameliea from noticing the kitchen since she went directly to Dalia and Shelalliea and started quizzing them. It seemed right to me and I felt sure that sooner or later Ameliea would come around.

Bigglieo came with the wagon in just a few minutes. With the Clydesdales pulling it he had to back it into my cave since there wasn't room for the four giants to bring it in and turn around. They were more accustomed to this trick than Bigglieo was and seemed to tolerate his direction instead of need it. I got up to go help my mates with the unloading when the wagon stopped but they sent me back to the table telling me that it would be easier if I stayed out of the way. It didn't hurt my feelings one damned bit.

After they had everything out that was coming out here Bigglieo led the team and wagon away. The women were busy for about another hour putting things up and then I saw Geera, Gema and Dieta leading Ameliea toward a storage area near the entrance to the practice cave. When they reached it I saw that they were showing her the lion furs, teeth and claws. Next they took her to the bathroom for a tour and I saw Roweea, Winna and Waaya join them.

Just as Dalia, Shelalliea, Jareena and Reeana finished cooking and Ladeliea brought me a plate the bathroom tour ended. Raalto came in then too and all the usual suspects seemed to get the idea that the feedbag was on. Ameliea looked a little lost until Merita showed her to the table and I watched her semi-covertly as she began eating. I knew that some of the food was completely new to her.

Dieta had parked herself beside me and she displayed a talent then that I didn't know she had. She began talking to me about Ameliea without seeming to move her mouth. I was so fascinated with this trick that I didn't understand her at first and she had to repeat herself.

"She will come around soon John. She is much more impressed with you than she is letting on." Dieta said.

"How can you tell?" I asked, trying to look toward Raalto as I did.

"I can tell. You will see. I can't believe how easily you took the fire from her when you just picked her up and carried her off. I know that it surprised her. She is very curious about our clothes too and she keeps asking how we made them." Dieta told me.

"Tell her I will have hers ready tonight or at least before morning."

"Shall I tell her what she must do to earn them?" Dieta asked giggling.

"You may tell her how everyone else got theirs but be sure to tell her that she does not have to give herself to me for them."

"Why should she get them if she doesn't?" Dieta asked but didn't seem angry about it.

"Did Failiela have to earn her clothes? Do you know of anyone who has the new clothes that didn't want to be with me anyway?" I asked.

"You are right. Most want to be with you and then wear the clothes for the honor of what it tells the other women." She said.

"Even if Ameliea doesn't want to stay with us I will treat her as my mate while she is here. As I have told all of you, I have told her that she can stay as long as she likes and she can leave anytime she wants to. All I demand is that she not be with other men while she lives with me. If she finds another man she wants she must leave and live with him." I said.

"There is no chance of that. She was the leader's mate at her last camp and she will never take another man who isn't a leader. Since you are the leader here and since it was you who killed her mate she will never leave you, no matter what she says now. I will tell her about the clothes and tell her what they mean but that she does not have to earn hers." Dieta said.

"Don't forget to tell her why I wanted them in the first place."

I should have made sure that Dieta wasn't chewing when I said that. It struck her as funny and she choked on her food, spitting some of it out and then coughing loudly. I patted her back for her as she got control of herself. Of course everyone was looking at her and she blushed furiously.

After the meal Ameliea was captivated by the feeding of the dishwashers. Jaada was careful to explain how they made sure to alternate if there wasn't enough for each of them after a meal. I was careful not to laugh.

I slipped unnoticed over to Frank and when I got a response I told them I needed a ring and clothes for Jara and Ameliea. Jara already had a set of the Wilma clothes but I wanted her to have a set with the same skin design as my other mates since she was joining them now.

When the women started hinting about a communal bath I begged off to go check on the horses. I got Maia aside as I left and told her that the new clothes for Jara and Ameliea would be ready when they got out of the bath. I also told her I would have rings for them but that I would present them when I came back.

I didn't really want to look at the horses. I was sure that Danlo, Jonoco, Nadlo and the others had seen to them. I just wanted to dodge the bath this time. Raalto was outside wandering around with a cup of coffee and he came back in with me so I could get one.

We went back outside after I did.

"How are you getting along with Ameliea?" He asked right off the bat.

"I'm just concentrating on letting her decide that she is going to get along with me. I intend to have peace in my cave and while she lives with me that is all I'm going to ask of her. If she gets along peacefully she can stay as long as she likes." I said.

"What do you mean? Will you let her leave if she wants to?" He asked.

"Sure. I have plenty of mates and am planning on getting more soon, a few more anyway. I don't need to keep her if she wants to leave. Tell me though, do you really think there is a chance she will leave. Where would she go? Even if I teach her to ride and give her a horse and all she can carry how would she live through the winter? It was obvious that she wasn't well liked at Jakado's camp and wasn't welcome after he was gone."

"I saw that they did not want you to leave without her. It made me wonder what kind of trouble she stirred up." He said.

"It makes me wonder too but I haven't figured it out yet. I'll let you know if I ever do. You were right about one thing; she is very clever. She asked me questions constantly while we were coming back here."

"I had heard that she was that way. It will be a shame if she does leave. She could probably be a big help to us here." He said.

"I'm sure of it and I don't intend to push her away. I want her to feel at home here. I even got her some of the clothes and had Dieta assure her that she needn't feel obligated for them."

"You are bending over backward in her favor. Are you sure it isn't her looks that makes you want to keep her?" Raalto asked laughing.

"They don't hurt a bit do they?" I asked back.

I was out of coffee by now and so was Raalto. He didn't want any more and I really didn't either. We said our goodnights and went back to our caves. My mates were out of the bath and everyone was in their Wilma dresses when I got inside. Jara was in hers that now matched my other mates and even Ameliea was sporting hers. She tried not to act self-conscious when she saw me glance at her but she couldn't quite pull it off.

I dug into my pocket and pulled out Jara's ring as I got into the cave. I called her to me and put it on her finger after showing her the likeness inside it. She was thrilled since she already knew what it was. Ameliea was surprised at the engraving of her inside hers when I showed her and even more surprised when I told her what it was for. She looked at me suspiciously at first.

"See for yourself. It will come off just as easily as it went on." I told her.

She didn't try it and she actually thanked me after a second or two. I did my best not to stare at her but I had to sneak a look every time I could do it without her noticing. Her tiny body was beautiful. Her titties wobbled and shook in the scooped top and her little ass was so cute under the tiny skirt. I could even tell that she hadn't bothered with the thong but I gathered that it wasn't for my benefit. She probably had no previous dealings with underwear.

We went to bed soon after that and I got a good look at her as her dress came off over her head. I looked away quickly though and settled into the middle of the bed. I noticed that my mates made sure that Jara could get right up against me and they gave Ameliea a chance too. When she didn't they were quick to pile in and let her take a spot near the edge. I wonder who had explained to her what the bed was for and why we didn't sleep on furs on the floor.

When I woke the next morning I was spooned up against Jara's smooth backside, poking her ass with my hard dick. I had an arm over her and I felt around until I found a titty to toy with. Jara sighed and pressed back toward me. I wasn't sure who was behind me but I felt them take hold of my hardon and place it between Jara's legs and then guide the head against her wet pussy lips.

I pushed it into her and she sighed again more loudly this time.

"Oh yes John. I'm your mate now and you are going to do it to me during the day aren't you?" Jara asked.

"I am already doing it to you Jara. Tell me what I'm doing."

"You are fucking me with your dick. Fuck me a little harder and pinch my titties." She said.

I was happy to oblige. I wondered for a moment if she was one of the newly fertile women. The thought spurred me on and I dropped my arm to her waist to hold her to me more tightly as I rooted into her with dicky. She gasped and held on as I began pumping in earnest, slipping my hand down to toy with her love button.

We were panting soon and Jara's wet tight pussy began getting to me. I pushed it up her as far as it would go and when I felt her insides spasm I let go long and hard into her. I bit down on her neck lightly as I spent and she moaned loudly. I thought I saw movement from the bathroom and looked that way to see Ameliea watching open mouthed. When she saw that I was looking she turned her head and walked off but I thought that I saw just a hint of a smile on her lips and I was sure I'd seen a flush spreading up her neck from her chest.

Jara and I both sagged down into the mattress then and when Maia climbed over me to tidy up around Jara's pussy I discovered who had been guiding me. Dieta had come over too and she had her mouth on dicky licking me clean as soon as she could roll me to my back. It was a good way to wake up.