John and Argent by cmsix

Chapter 58

We retraced our way from Dracto's camp back down toward Kodontolo's. He was waiting outside when we got there so we stopped and I got down to talk to him. He wanted to know if he could send one of his men back with us now to begin learning about the horses. I thought it was a good idea and I told him so. He said that he would go and fetch the man right away.

"Isn't he a mated man?" I asked, since Kodontolo had already told us that he had no unmated men in his camp.

"Yes, he has a mate." He replied.

"Be sure and tell her to come also if it is allowed. He may need to stay for several days."

"I hadn't thought of that but I will tell him to bring her with him. Do you know how much food they will need to bring?" He asked.

"They will not need to bring any food, we have plenty."

He nodded his understanding and went inside his cave. Deltonto and Keyshatata came out with their furs and other things in just a few minutes followed by Kodontolo. We made room for the two in the wagons and after saying our goodbyes to Kodontolo we were off again.

We traveled back down the tributary and when we came to the main river again we headed up it. Soon we were passing by the spot of Raalto's original camp. Grotondo and I lamented the fact that we hadn't asked anyone on the trip if they knew anything about the huts.

"I know of the huts." Deltonto, who had ended up right behind us, said.

"What happened to them?" Grotondo asked at once.

"We took them down and carried them to our caves. Did you want them?" He asked.

"I didn't want them, I just wondered where they went." I said.

"I did not want them either but they were a mystery. Some of my men passed through the camp but could find no sign of where the huts had been moved." Grotondo said.

"It took us much extra time to hide the sign. We did not really want the huts either but we had trouble with the last group that used them, as I know that John did. After the people moved away and left the huts Kodontolo decided that we would just take them down and carry them off. He didn't want us to leave any sign so that no one could come asking about them." Deltonto said.

"What about the huts from Barbo's camp. Did you take them also?" I asked.

"I do not know Barbo or where his camp was. There were many huts at this camp that were already broken down and stored though, perhaps they took this Barbo's huts before they left with you John." Deltonto said.

"They must have, we told them that they were welcome to them and I guess they took them. I have not asked any of them about it since those remaining came to live at my camp." I admitted.

That was the solution to the missing hut mystery and I thought that it was pretty smart of Kodontolo to think of it. A bunch of nice but empty huts would be likely to gather people to stay in them and I'm sure that the chances would have been good for them to attract men that were not inclined to hard work. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with being lazy, hell I'm lazy myself.

When we came to the tributary that led to Grotondo's camp he insisted that he and his men could walk the rest of the way home. I tried to get him to let us take them but he refused, saying that I needed to get my new members home and that sunset would be on us if we took time to take he and his group back to their cave.

"This way we can all get home before sunset and there will be no need for you to travel after dark." He said.

I didn't argue any more about it. He was right and I would be glad to skip more nighttime traveling. I was getting anxious to see my mates again and I was anxious to introduce them to Deimeta.

Deimeta was riding right beside me on the seat and had been leaning over on me for the last hour. I was sure that she was getting tired. I had already offered to make room for her to lie down in the wagon but she wanted to stay with me and so I let her. Maybe she was getting at least a little rest by leaning.

This time I had the presence of mind to stop about a mile from camp and tell everyone about the wolves. I let them know that they were not wild wolves and that they helped us keep other predators away. It was a good thing I did too because as we neared the camp later Prince, King, Rover and all the younger wolves came bounding down to meet us.

This action brought Deimeta back awake and she watched the wolves with a smile on her face the rest of the way back to camp.

The wolves weren't the only ones who knew we were coming. My mates were all standing outside of our cave when we drove up and they didn't waste any time surrounding the wagon I was driving.

"Oh John, we knew that you must have found a young girl when her new clothes came yesterday. We are all so excited and want to see her. Is that her beside you, what is her name?" Roweea spit out in one breath, pointing at Deimeta.

"Yes my mates this is Deimeta and she is my daughter now." I told them, holding a giggling Deimeta up above my head.

"She is so pretty John, where did you find her." Merita asked me.

"We will have time for the whole story later but for now we want to get out of this wagon. I am tired of sitting on its seat."

They backed off a little and I got down, turning and holding my arms up for Deimeta as soon as I was on the ground. Raalto, Racaato, and most of the other leading men were here by now and I just walked off from the wagon, holding Deimeta in my arms, and nodding my head to them as I left.

I could see that Danlo had wasted no time on the wagon he was driving either. He was helping Tulaara and Malooto out of it while his other mates were gathered around him also. I worried for a moment that Sahto would be lost now but I saw that Georgo was helping him retrieve Weeahta and a few of her things. I knew that Georgo would get them into my cave sooner or later.

When I was inside with Deimeta I went to the head of our original table, turned my chair around and sat in it, facing all of my mates.

"I know that you are all excited and I am excited myself but I should tell you that Deimeta has not been getting enough to eat since her mother and father went away. I am asking all of you to make sure that there is something for her to eat any time she wants it but I'm also asking that you not try to make her eat too much at once."

"Who is the one that let this child go hungry and where is he?" Dieta and Ameliea said almost in one voice and I'm sure that they intended to leave right now to find and deal with the offending one.

"His name was Nutaro but he grew tired of living during our visit and Danlo helped him to stop." I told them.

Thankfully this seemed to settle them down. I was surprised to see that they weren't the only ones that had been upset so quickly though since Roweea, Merita and Maia stopped their trek to the practice cave, where most of their weapons were stored, and came back to join the crowd. I made a mental note then to make sure that I never misused a child though I knew that I never could anyway.

"I know that you all want to meet Deimeta and I'm sure that she wants to meet all her new mothers but I think that we should let her meet Eileiea first. She is the healer here after all and I think that she should look at Deimeta to make sure that there is nothing else we should do for her."

Surprisingly they all agreed at once and when I asked Deimeta to go with Eileiea she did it without protest. I told the rest of my mates that if Eileiea said it was all right that they could all keep Deimeta in the bedroom and help her put on her new clothes. This perked them up a bit and many of them headed to the bedroom's entrance. Jaada, Shelalliea, Dalia and Geera stayed with me though and I noticed that Roweea and Dieta were back in the kitchen by now and it looked like they were cooking.

"Roweea, I am glad that you are in the kitchen because Deimeta has already had some of your bread and it is her favorite." I said and I could tell that it pleased her even though she said that anyone could make bread.

I stood up and gave Dalia, Shelalliea, Jaada and Geera a good kissing and then went to the kitchen to molest Roweea and Dieta also. After I released Dieta it hit me that there were many new people here now and I had just left them outside. I told my mates that I was going back out there to help them get settled.

I guess I was trying to get a minor panic started for myself, right now I couldn't even remember how many new members we had acquired and I sure as hell didn't know where to put all of them. Luckily, when I got outside I saw that Georgo had taken over and that Barago, Raalto, Colonto, Caato and Racaato were there helping Georgo get things organized.

When Raalto saw me he came over at once, telling me that there was something he needed to show me. I asked him to let me check with Georgo first and said that then we would go back inside to talk. He agreed and waited while I asked Georgo if he had everything in hand. He told me that he would take care of things and that he assumed all the latest arrivals would be eating in my cave tonight. I said that I thought it would be best and left it with him to return to Raalto.

When Raalto and I entered my cave again Jaada began pouring us both a mug of coffee and she handed them to us as we reached her. I thanked her and then Raalto and I headed for my office. We didn't make it there though since I saw what was obviously a new entrance to somewhere. It was between my office and the bathroom and looked like it must go straight through where the corners of the two rooms must nearly meet. I stopped in place.

"Is that what you needed to show me, Raalto?"

"Yes that is it. I discovered it yesterday morning. I was just sitting at the table drinking my coffee and I saw it. No one else seems to have noticed it but it is plainly visible." He said.

"Have you been in it already?"

"Yes." He said.

"What is in there?"

"More caves, and they are big ones. It also looks like it is arranged into quarters similar to those that we all live in. That isn't the only new cave though and it isn't the biggest. There is another new entrance on the other side of our space and it leads to an even larger cave; there is enough room in it for all the people in the entire camp with much space left over. It is hard to explain by talking, maybe we should look at them together." He said.

"I think that you are right Raalto, let's go."

We headed into the new entrance and it was only a short walk to a large open area. I could see that it was meant to be a gathering area and that dozens of smaller living spaces opened into it. There was room for thirty or more people to live in here and closer inspection showed me that there was a bed in every separate room. There was also an entrance leading back to a communal bathroom that would easily accommodate everyone that could live here. I didn't wonder why since I knew exactly who had done this.

A closer look and then a quick count told me that it was set up for fifty people to live here and each have their own bed. In the middle of the open area was a kitchen setup similar to the one in my cave but not as over done. There were only two sinks and two dishwashers and the refrigerators and pantries weren't as large, they were close but not quite as big. A good-sized hall led on past the open area and it opened into the canyon. It wasn't a very big opening but it was big enough for five or six people to pass through at one time. I didn't comment and we turned around and went back into my cave.

We went through my cave and into the quarters of Raalto and the others who had been living here for a while. At the end of the connecting walkway to their outside entrance the passage had been extended and when we walked through even I was amazed.

This area was easily two or three times the size of the largest cave on the other side of the river. There were separate rooms for each bed but they were open to the remainder of the cave with more of a half partition than a wall. It gave the illusion of some privacy but really didn't provide any. It was more than they had where they were but there was no real bedroom exactly.

The whole thing was basically a giant circular room, probably twelve hundred feet or more in diameter. It had rooms all around the circumference with full partition rock walls between them and a half wall separating them from the larger cave. Nearly in the center of the cave was a large circular wall surrounding what I found, when we went into it, to be a big communal bathroom. It was twice as big as the one in the former largest cave but it still had only one urinal and I was sure that I would have a good view if I were standing at it.

Between the rooms and the bathrooms were several kitchen and dining areas scattered in the open space as if it were meant for people to prepare their meals in small groups and eat together. The kitchens seemed to have basically everything mine had but not so much of it in any one spot. Counting them, I found twenty separate dining areas in here.

I had seen enough to know that everything had been planned by the aliens to accommodate all the people in camp to move to this side of the river. It seemed that I should be a little pissed off about it but I wasn't. It would be much better than our present layout and I might have even asked for it myself but wouldn't have had the nerve to.

I knew that they had purposely made sure that Raalto was the only one to see the new caves and I thought they probably intended to make him forget everything if I didn't agree to use them but there would be no need for that. I was happy that everything was done and even happier that I hadn't been involved in the planning.

The smaller area that we'd explored first was undoubtedly intended to be the unmated women's quarters and I'm sure that Argent probably figured it would be the main selling point to convince me. He didn't have to know that I wasn't really going to need much convincing. I'm glad he had done it that way but even if he hadn't I would have still accepted the giant cave for the rest of my people. I knew that Raalto was probably expecting some kind of comment from me.

"Raalto, it looks as if the spirits intend for everyone to move to this side of the canyon."

"That is what I thought it was all for but I wasn't sure and with you and Georgo both gone I didn't think I should tell anyone else." He said.

"I don't think it would have made much difference but I am glad that you didn't. I would have felt a little strange to come back and find that everything had changed without my knowing of it."

"You wouldn't have felt nearly as strange as I would have, trying to explain it all to everyone and not knowing anything but that it was here." He said.

"I have a better idea than that, we should let Georgo explain it. That is what he does best anyway."

"There is still one more part of it that you have not seen." He told me then.

"Well I want to see it all before we tell anyone else."

He led me down into the big new cave and we came to another opening after we'd passed probably ten of the rooms. We entered and it led to another giant room. It wasn't quite as large as the one we'd just left but it was nearly so. It didn't have one thing in it as far as rooms went though.

It was just a large open cave that was generally circular with what seemed like a partial kitchen area along the wall that backed up against what was probably my original quarters. There was also an entrance near that. I looked around the big empty room and saw another opening nearby and when we went inside we found a large bathroom but there were no tubs in it and only a couple of showers, it was mostly sinks, shitters and one centrally located urinal. We walked back out into the main portion and then up to the other exit and through. It opened into the rear most part of my cave, near the entrance toward the practice cave.

"I wonder what that last cave is for John, it doesn't really make sense to me." Raalto said.

"It is so that we can have feast and celebrations in there if the weather is too bad outside, I am sure of that. The spirits enjoy watching our celebrations and feast."

"But how do you know that John?" He asked.

"Why they told me in a dream, not long after we came here." I told him.

This had Raalto looking at me a little strangely but I didn't comment further, I would just let him think what he would. I was tired of exploring by now and glad to see that more of my mates were in the kitchen and seemed serious about preparing food. I asked Raalto not to say anything to anyone else except Georgo, telling him that I would appreciate it if he would show Georgo around the new accommodations and explain anything to him that he could. He agreed and we went in to see about eating.

After the meal, which was a confusing ordeal for most of the newest arrivals, Raalto took off with Georgo to give him the tour. After they finished the look see at the new unmated women's quarters I asked Sarboto, Brundolo, Danlo and the wranglers and their mates to entertain the newbies in my cave and I gathered my mates and Deimeta and took them to start their own tour.

Before we could leave Eileiea came to me to talk about Deimeta. We stepped off to the side for a minute.

"Deimeta seems fine except for the fact that she hasn't been eating well enough. Did you have some other healer look at her before you got back here?" She asked.

"No, why do you ask?"

"I could tell by the smell of her breath that she has had some type of worms lately but I could also tell that they are gone and it seems that they are only recently gone. I don't understand how she could have gotten rid of them without a healer." She said.

"I don't know either but we should probably be sure that they do not come back if we can."

"I don't think there is a chance of that now. She probably got them from having to eat scraps, uncooked or unwashed food. There isn't much chance of her eating anything like that here." She told me.

"I hope you are right. Do you think it will take long for her to get back to the weight she should have?"

"It shouldn't take more than one moon. It will be better if she comes back to it slowly though. You were right to ask us not to try and get her to eat more than she wants. I think that she will be fine after one moon or maybe a little longer but I will be sure to keep a watch on her." Eileiea promised.

I led the group off to start our tour then. They were surprised to see a new entrance, near my office, which they hadn't noticed before. They were even more surprised to see what it led to. I told them that this was to be the new quarters for the unmated women and that made it right for them. My Neanderthal mates didn't understand at first but after a little explanation from the others they were grinning too. Of course we didn't mention any of the ramifications to Deimeta but she was happy just seeing the place and knowing that she was one of the first in on the secret.

We left and headed for the next big surprise. It was more looking and gaping for them when they got there but Shelalliea came to herself first.

"I am glad to see that they have some kitchens of their own over here. They will like them much better and we will get to teach them all how to use them." She said.

A round of agreement spread through them over that and after some more looking and gaping I herded them into the new party room. When I told them what it was for they were delighted.

"Now we can have celebrations during the winter instead of all staying cooped up in our separate caves. I think it will be fun." Geera said.

"It will be, and now the winter won't seem so long and boring." Dalia agreed.

I had noticed that Xailieta was now firmly integrated into my group of mates and that Baatiea and Beetiea were also. My other mates were taking turns carrying the babies and Xailieta didn't seem to mind it at all. Deimeta seemed content to walk with me and was keeping a good grip on my hand as we explored all the new places.

"John, don't you think that you could share a little of Deimeta's attention with some of the rest of us." Ameliea finally asked.

I looked down at Deimeta and then picked her up and held her in my arms.

"I don't mean to be stingy Ameliea but I'm afraid that Deimeta is a real Daddy's girl." I told her and hugged Deimeta closer to me.

"What is Daddy's girl?" Deimeta asked.

"Daddy is another word for father. Daddy's girls are girls that like their father, are you a Daddy's girl yet." I asked her.

"If that is what it means then I will always be Daddy's girl but Ameliea seems awfully nice too, all of my new mothers seem very nice and I feel really lucky to be here." She said.

"I guess that I can let them have a little time with you then if you'll promise not to forget me."

"I promise I will never forget you, Daddy." She said and it nearly choked me up.

Ameliea came and took her hand then and since the tour was over anyway I asked them if they would like to start bringing the unmated women into their new quarters. Kateata wanted to know if they could bring Jalieta, Cailayia, and Balalia over first since they had been in the unmated women's current quarters longest.

"I can't think of any women that I'd rather have in there first." I told her and gave a lecherous wink.

All of them laughed then and headed off to get things rolling. I watched Ameliea leading Deimeta away and felt just a little pang, I could hardly believe how attached to her I had become in only two days. I ended up marveling at how cute she looked walking away with all my mates and wearing her own tiny Wilma dress.

When I got back into my cave Georgo was sitting at the table with a mug of coffee and Ladeliea was manning the kitchen. She brought me a mug as soon as I sat down.

"John, we are used to you going off and bringing back women but I have to say that you have outdone yourself this time. Deimeta is the cutest little thing I have ever seen. I can hardly wait for her to be around here a few days so the others will give me a chance to know her too." Ladeliea said.

"I am very happy that we went to that camp. At first Grotondo did not intend to visit them since he knew that the leader was deceitful and then all at once he changed his mind and took us there first. I think that he envisioned the type of outcome we would have and I think that's what made him decide to go there. I couldn't be happier about it."

"I think you are right about Grotondo, after all, even if he didn't know how you did it he knew that you would not put up with someone threatening to kill you. I think he led you their hoping that nature would take its course." Georgo said.

"Well I am grateful to him, not because Nutaro got killed but because it let me find Deimeta. She is a precious little thing and I feel like we will be thanking the spirits that we have her for years to come."

"Speaking of the spirits, what do you think of their latest gifts?" Georgo asked me.

"You are the shaman Georgo, what do you think?"

"I think they have turned a wonderful camp into a perfect one. I can't even think of anything else that could be better that we could ask for, can you?" He asked.

"No I can't and if I could I wouldn't ask for it. I'd never thought of anything along the lines that we got recently and if I had I would have felt embarrassed to ask the spirits for so much. This new arrangement will be very good for us this winter, especially the celebration area."

"It will be. I have never stayed anywhere or heard of any place where celebrations could be held in the winter." He said.

Danlo came in to join us then and Ladeliea was quick with coffee for him and more for Georgo and me. Danlo had a bemused look on his face and so I had to ask him about it.

"What is causing that look of bewilderment on your face Danlo?"

"I will never understand my mates." He said.

"Welcome to the life of a man." Georgo said.

"I am almost afraid that they will pet the skin completely off of poor Malooto. They cannot get enough of touching him and talking to him. Even Tulaara looked concerned for a few minutes until she realized how happy Shallea, Shaala, Daria and Jatalieta were to have her and Malooto join us. Now they are all crowded around the bed with poor Malooto in the center and they won't take their eyes off him." Danlo said but he didn't seem to be really upset about it.

"You must understand that women will always love children Danlo and remember that there have not been many children born lately. The newness of the situation will settle down in a few days but they will never lose interest in him completely." Georgo told him.

"I know but it was a little strange is all. At least they helped Sahto and Weeahta get settled into their quarters and thank goodness Weeahta already knew Malooto." He said.

I had almost forgotten about Sahto and Weeahta and that they needed to know that they should move into the vacant quarters near Danlo.

"How did Weeahta like her new home?" I asked.

"She is thrilled and can hardly believe it. At least Shaala took time to show Weeahta and Tulaara about the bathroom. I'm sure that they will finally give Malooto a lesson in its use after a while." He said and was nearly laughing about it now.

"It is nice that many have found mates with children lately and I am wondering how my mate has fallen short of the mark." Ladeliea prodded Georgo gently, or maybe not so gently.

"Do not worry my wonderful mate, I have already spoken to one of the widows and she has agreed to join us as one of my mates. I just want John to talk to her and make her understand that she does not have to if she doesn't want to. Remember they are accustomed to being assigned to a mate. I don't want her to think that she has been assigned to me." Georgo said.

He couldn't have said anything better either. Ladeliea rushed to him, sitting in his lap and kissing him soundly. She assured him that she had only been teasing and she told him many times over what a wonderful mate he had been for all his women. I would have told them to get a room but I knew that they wouldn't understand what I meant. Finally she calmed down though and went back to the kitchen.

My mates came back through with Jalieta, Cailayia, and Balalia following then. Almost all of them were loaded down with things and they were headed to the new unmated women's quarters. Deimeta was holding onto Geera's hand now and she waved at me as she pranced by. I could tell that she was excited and happy at being a part of things already.

I remembered then that Georgo didn't know what I had learned about the missing huts and I filled him in. As I did he asked me where Deltonto and his mate had gotten off to after supper. I didn't know but Danlo said that they had found a place to sleep in the big cave. This made me remember that Danlo hadn't seen the new facilities yet. Well, I wasn't about to make another tour.

Raalto and Racaato came in then for coffee and Raalto said that he was going to show Racaato and some of the others the new caves. I asked him to take Danlo too and he agreed. Danlo didn't have any idea where they were going but he got a mug of coffee to take on the trip. They left shortly.

When my mates all came back out and headed over to the unmated women's quarters again I knew that this could get to be an all night thing so I gave up waiting. I was a little tired and when I told Georgo that I was headed to my bedroom to lie down he thought it was a good idea. His mates had joined the moving crew by now and so had Danlo's, only Tulaara had stayed and I'm sure that she was watching Malooto or she would have gone along too. Ladeliea was more than happy to give up the coffee detail and head over with the others.

I went into the bedroom then and stripped off my clothes. I was surprised to see that the closet had been modified somewhat and there seemed to be a different entrance into one part of it. I walked over to take a look and found that it was a smaller bedroom with a small bed in it. Argent had no doubt put it here for Deimeta. I approved again, even though I was sure that she had already seen what grownups did in their furs, there was no need for her to be kept up during the night if she was tired. If she wanted to sleep in her own bed it would be fine and if she didn't we would make arrangements for her to sleep with us. She was already six after all, practically grown in this age.

I pulled back the covers and climbed into bed.