A Journey Never Begun Pt. 05

"I looked a little further down and saw his leg bent under him at a very bad angle. I pulled my knife and cut his pants loose and saw more bone poking through skin. I rolled him, which produced more moans, so that I could straighten his leg. He screamed and went limp. I feared the worst, but I could see his chest rise and fall. So I pulled the bottle out once more and let out another drop. As before I drew mana and pushed out the healing cantrip. This time my timing was off and his leg started to heal before the drop hit him.

"The young woman was on the edge of panic now. I held her hands and asked her to get a bucket of water. I had to repeat it three times, but she finally nodded. She left but kept her eyes on me the whole time. I found some minor cuts and scrapes but those two seemed to be the major wounds.

"When she came back she was in better shape, but still near panic. I calmly asked her for some rags so I could wash his wounds. She looked at me for a second then pulled her shirt off and handed it to me.

"Now I was in a panic. As I said Mr. Frog, I had not been much with girls. I had seen a few sets of girl breasts and some nymphs, but never a real young woman's breasts. And here she was sitting close enough to touch and she had taken her shirt off in front of me.

"With my hands shaking I dipped the corner of her shirt into the bucket and washed the grime and blood from the side of his head. Looking closely, I could not see anything other than some minor bumps on the side of his head. I didn't think there was anything that needed the healing potion which was now in very short supply.

"I handed her the shirt back, but she shook her head and jumped up and ran to the other end of the wagon. While she was gone I had to shift my groin. It was awesome watching her jump up like that.

"I shook my head and thought, 'Focus. If this man is to live, you need to focus.' I moved down and saw that his ribs had continued to heal. His chest was rising and falling without that ragged look and no more of that sucking sound every time he breathed. The leg was also healing nicely. If he lived, he might have a small limp but in most places, they would have called the sawbones and he would need to be fitted with a wooden peg if he survived.

"Just then the young woman returned in a fresh shirt. I looked at her and asked if they had some blankets. She cocked her head. I pointed to my bedroll and she nodded and went back to the other end of the wagon. I heard her rustling in the wagon and then she came back with three fine wool blankets.

"I took the top one from her and folded in half and laid it on the ground next to the man. I rolled him on his side as carefully as I could and started to tug the blanket next to him. The young woman looked puzzled then caught on and helped me slid the blanket up next to him. I then laid him down on the blanket and reached under and pulled the blanket completely under him. I then spread the next blanket over him with an overhang on one side. I lifted that overhang and pointed at the young woman and then patted the ground next to the man. 'We are going to have to use our body heat to keep him warm through the night, so we need to sleep next to him. You sleep on that side and I will sleep on this side.'

"Putting deeds to words I spread the last blanket over the man with an overhang on my side and I snuggled up to him under part of that last blanket. She got the idea then and snuggled up to his other side and pulled her blanket over herself.

"I put my head down, sure that I would not be able to sleep. The next thing I knew, the sun had walked up the hill enough to cast a beam into my eyes. I turned as saw that the man was still breathing and the young woman also. We had made it through the night.

"As I threw off the blanket, the man groaned and tried to sit up. I rolled over to help him. He looked at me and the young girl and croaked, 'By Santan's third breast, what is going on?'

"I tried to explain, but the young woman woke then and seeing the man sit up she stood up and hugged him. He screamed and she backed off. Her hands started making signs like my Master's gestures but apparently, they meant something to the man. He looked at the wagon wheel and then down to his chest and his leg.

"Looking over to me, he squinted and said, 'Lenore says that it was you that fixed me up and that I probably would have died without your help. For that, I thank you stranger and I owe you a life debt.'

"With that we began to exchange information and I found out that Lenore, apparently the name of the young woman, was his daughter and he questioned us both extensively until he was sure that I had not taken advantage of her while he was unconscious. They were wandering tinkers and were trying to make the lowlands to the south before winter set in.

"Lenore, it turned out had been mute from birth. Ronton, as the tinker called himself, had been raising her since his wife died of a wasting sickness about 10 years ago. They had a route that took them about 3 years to go from the southern lowlands to some mining camps in the mountains and back again to make a circuit.

"Since Ronton was out of danger, I looked at the wagon's wheel. It was in bad shape. The hole had broken two spokes beyond repair and broken the rim and bent the iron tire. While I was looking at it, Ronton came up beside me and gave out a low whistle. 'That is busted bad. I can fix just about any pot ever made, but I don't know what I can do about that.'

"I looked at it and said, 'I can make some new spokes out of parts of your wagon and I think I can rebuild that rim. And if you have a hammer, I can pound that wheel metal out and get you back on the road, but where are your horses?'

"His face went white and he frantically looked around from horizon to horizon. He slumped to the ground and Lenore caught him before he fell over. 'The horses,' he said.

"Lenore looked around and gave a little smile. She jammed some fingers into her mouth and let loose a piercing whistle. Then went back to stroking her father's head.

"I shook my head and went back to see what tools I had to work with. There was a good selection of hammers and a few prying tools. I took those out to the front of the wagon. After looking at what I was up against, I went down to the river and returned with some good-sized stones. After placing them strategically, I used two of the pry bars to lift the axle up and slid the stones under it. That gave me enough room to unbolt the wheel and pull it off the wagon.

"Looking at it, I was initially despairing of any hope of repairing the wheel. When I looked closely, I saw the two spokes that had broken were rotten which caused the rim to break. They would have to be replaced.

"The broken rim looked like it could be propped back into place if the spokes could be replaced. The iron tire looked to still be in good shape, although bent, it looked like it could be pounded back into shape.

"Sighing I went back to the side of the wagon and pried a board off the side. I brought it to the front. I then measured one of the undamaged spokes and with a little sawing, some magic and a rope to bind the boards together, I had two blocks of wood ready to be carved. Going back to the tools I retrieved a pair of wood chisels and sat down next to Ronton.

"He looked at me and asked, 'You think you can fix it, boy?'

"I looked at him and his daughter and then nearly jumped out of my skin as something licked the back of my neck. I fell forward and turned to look up at one of the horses obviously laughing at my expense. The other horse had come up to nuzzle Lenore, who was also laughing at me. They were still in harness. I got up slowly and patted the side of my attacker's head and neck.

"The harness was still in good shape and looked like it just needed to be hooked back up and the wagon would have been ready to go, barring the busted wheel.

"Lenore looked elated to see the horses and they her. Ronton just snorted and muttered something about horses and Lenore. For myself, I was also happy to see them. If fixing the wheel went badly, Lenore and Ronton were probably going to have to abandon the wagon and ride the horses to the nearest town.

"A couple of hours later, I had whittled the ends of the wooden blocks into passable dowels to fit into the wheel. I fitted them into the inner rim of the wheel and settled the outer rim onto the other end. Seeing that neither Ronton or his daughter were nearby, I pulled in some mana and 'glued' the wheel together. I had to expend a little more mana getting the steel tire fitted back around the outer rim. But at last the wheel was ready and I refit it back to the axle.

"Grabbing a shovel, I filled in the hole as best I could. I called out to Lenore to bring the horses. Together we hooked the horses back to the wagon. Working alongside her, I nearly froze when she bent down and I was again treated to a view of her incredible bosom as I looked down her shirt. Despite my preoccupation, we got the horses hitched.

"Then it was the moment of truth. With Lenore and Ronton well away from the wagon, I grabbed the head leathers of the horses and talking calmly I asked them to pull. They carefully put their weights onto the harnesses and pulled the wagon forward. Saying a silent prayer to any gods that cared I watched as the axle came off the rocks and the wheel took up the weight. And held.

"Foot by foot as we moved the wagon forward until the wheel had made three revolutions. At that milestone, I halted the horses and waved Ronton and Lenore forward. One at a time I had them climb up into the driver's seat and still the wheel held.

"With a sense of relief, I passed over the reins to Ronton and said, 'It looks like the repair will hold, but you need to go with all careful haste to try to get to the next town before it gives out.'

"Before he could say anything, Lenore stood up and threw her arms to the heavens and from her mouth came the following words:

"The air grew dark, the seas they raged,

The ground did shake, and the fire uncaged.

The army massed did fail in flight,

The Child came forth, a blaze of light.

His staff before just like a spear,

He fought the dark to quell our fear."

Muddle stopped there and blinked. He looked at the frog and said, "I have told this story several times and I could never remember her words."

He looked down and was not surprised to see his grimoire open and the quill writing those words below the words of his Master. He noted idly that there was a gap between the latest words and the words of his Master.

The wizard sat watching as his quill finished and lay itself down and the grimoire waited for a moment and then closed itself.

Finally, the frog broke the reverie with a hearty, "Re-deep!"

Muddle looked at the frog and said, "You are right. There is a little more to this story.

"At hearing the words coming from the mute woman, both Ronton and I stood frozen. Lenore sat down and ran her hands through her long beautiful hair. 'Thank all the old gods of Tangemere. I finally have those words out of my mouth so I may talk.'

"Ronton reached over and hugged his daughter to himself. A moment later, Lenore said haltingly, 'Please Father, you squeeze me too tight. I can't breathe.'

"Ronton released her hesitantly and when he turned, tears ran streaks through the dust on his cheeks.

"Lenore pulled her father close and kissed his forehead, then got down off the wagon and walked over to me.

"As she reached me, she curtseyed deeply and upon rising grabbed my hands and kissed each one gently.

"She looked up into my eyes and said, 'Beloved, before we go, please kiss me and let me know the feeling of being held in your arms.'

"In a haze and moving without thought, I pulled her to me and kissed her deeply while wrapping my arms tightly around her. And she returned the kiss with as much passion as I poured into it.

"When we finally broke, she took my hand and took me to stand next to the wagon beside her father.

"Looking up she said, 'Father. This man is my betrothed. We have been bound by our destinies since the sun and moon were born. The prophesy I spoke had blocked my words until the time came for them to be released. Now I am free to declare my love to my betrothed.'

"She pulled a thin rope out of her pocket and wrapped it around my wrist tying it into an intricate knot with one hand. She held up the hand that was tied and I reached over with my free hand and looped the rope around her wrist and tied the matching knot. As we held up our tied hands a dagger flashed down.

"The dagger Ronton had wielded had parted the rope exactly between the knots. I looked at our wrists still held over our heads. In shock, I looked at the intricate knot that had been tied. I did not recognize it nor did I know how I knew how to tie it.

"As Lenore brought her other hand up and put them behind my head I could feel myself being drawn down to her lips again. I dropped my hand and wrapped her in my arms again and kissed her deeply.

"Ronton harrumphed and spoke loudly but kindly, 'Well, go and consummate it, I'll wait.'

"Lenore broke the kiss and looked deeply into my eyes. She looked at her father and said, 'We have delayed my Beloved long enough Father. Go on down the road, carefully, and I will catch up.'

"With another harrumph, Ronton flicked the reins and the horses began to head down the road.

"Lenore looked at me without breaking out clench. She kissed me again and then spoke again, 'Beloved, without you we would have died. But you know this. Just as deep inside you know that this was fated to be. While it is not the time for us to consummate our marriage, I can do this for you.'

"With that, she reached down into my trousers and pulled out my manhood. Her eyes grew big as she saw what her hand had felt. She began to stroke me and bent down to kiss the tip of it. It responded and grew from her ministrations. She never faltered and continued to stroke me as she slipped the head inside her mouth. I am pretty sure the moaning that I was hearing was coming from me. Her hand continued to stroke me, going faster and faster as my moans got louder and louder. All too soon, I could feel my seed getting pulled up inside of me and just as suddenly I felt it come spurting out. I looked down and could see my beloved with her mouth on my manhood swallowing my seed. It felt like it went on forever but eventually the flow was done and she licked the last of it from the tip.

"She stood up then and kissed me deeply and I could taste my salty seed on her lips and tongue. My hands of their own accord slid up underneath her shirt and found those perfect breasts I had only glimpsed briefly. She moaned briefly and said quietly, 'Yes my Beloved. These are yours as is this.'

With that, she gently pulled my hand from her breast and slid down the front of her skirt. As my hand slid lower across the smooth expanse of her stomach I felt the fur of which I had heard that seemed to live between the thighs of women. She continued to guide my hand further down and I felt her spread her legs as I found a moist spot between her thighs. She continued to guide my hand until I was gently running my fingers through her moist flesh.

"As I was doing this her breathing grew deeper and her moaning increased. As I slid my finger deeper into her wetness I seemed to find a cavity and I slid the tip of my finger inside. Lenore moaned and said, 'Yes, my Beloved. That is yours also.' As I was exploring, I found there was a barrier there and removed my finger, returning to stroking her wet flesh. She moaned in my arms and quietly said, "Please rub me there,' and her fingers pressed my fingers against a small bump at the front. I continued rubbing and she began moaning and shaking. After a short time, she pulled her hand back and grabbed me tightly while screaming into my chest. As she slumped, I grabbed her and held her to me.

"We held each other tightly for a moment and then she lifted her head up and kissed me. When we broke the kiss, she sighed and said softly, "Thank you my Beloved. I want to hold you forever and tell the Fates to go bother someone else, but I know it cannot be.'

"She then stood up straight and tall and her voice changed becoming deeper and more resonant, 'Do not fear Child, you will have many times to sample the joys of this flesh. But know, at the appointed time your Beloved will be waiting at the appointed place. When you are free, you will always know where she is, just query the wedding knots.'

"I felt a burning sensation on my wrist and saw the wedding knots glowing and felt the mana burning. In a moment it was done and the wedding knots were embedded in our arms and I found myself holding my wife once again.

"As her eyes opened, she said somewhat angrily, 'I hope they don't do that every time we get together. I have some plans for that gift between your legs. Kiss me once more and I must go and you must return to your quest.'

"So, I kissed her and watched as my Beloved walked down the ruts that passed for a road to catch up to her father.

"The tug began anew and I felt myself draw once again towards the mountains still confused by all that had happened. But there was a very warm feeling in my heart as I felt her wedding knot move slowly away from me.

"And now Mr. Frog, I have told enough of my tale for tonight, including parts that I did not remember until this evening. I am not sure how or why my memory was taken or why it has returned, but I feel content and it is time to sleep. Tomorrow will be another day.

So ends the fifth part of A Journey Never Begun.