Death Falls: Jane Doe

Mike and Terry pull the large wooden table out and put extra leaves in it so they can all sit down together. The extended family gathers around and enjoys a meal together. Richard excitedly tells his father about the new people he has met and the things he has seen. He has learned a lot of native values this day with his uncle. The babies contentedly sleep through supper so Nina asks to help Nancy clean up and do dishes. Just as they are finishing up, one babe cries out.

Mike lifts the child and soothes her, telling Nina it is time they headed home. She can nurse the babies on the way. He has Richard bring the other child and bids them all a good night. He says he will see them the next night at the powwow. Nancy asks them if they will stay over but Mike insists they must go back to Markham. He tells Richard he can do as he likes.

"I can stay tonight?"

"If you want."

"Sure, I'll stay. But who will help you with the babies?"

"We can manage. Don't you worry."

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Okay. Take care of him, Terry. No all night sessions, now."

"Fear not, little brother. He's in good hands."

Nancy says, "I'll look after him. Those good hands of Terry's will get him into trouble."

On this light note they leave for home. Mike tries to keep one baby occupied in the car seat by his side as Nina nurses the other. They stop to change them and settle them for the rest of the trip, then get under way again. When they pull in to the house in Markham, the babies are sleeping. Mike carefully carries them into the house and Jeff takes one from him at the doorstep. After settling them in the bedroom, they sit down to play cards. It turns out to be a pleasant evening, but Mike complains of a headache and goes to the spare bedroom early to lie down. Soon Marlene comes in and smiles at him.

"You fox! You've never had a headache in your life. You decided they should sleep together tonight and set the stage for them, didn't you?"

"Shhhh. After they go to bed let's hit the hot tub." He grins and she laughs delightedly.

"It's a date. And he thinks you're dumb. Ha!"

She strips off her clothes and pulls a robe around her form. Mike plays with the tie and lifts the robe open. She slaps his hand and ties it again. Again he toys with the cord and it falls open. She laughs and leaves it open. "You're impossible, Michael. I'm going to screw your brains out later tonight, so you better still have some energy left for me, lover."

"I'm looking forward to it." He runs his hand up the inside of her thigh and lets his fingers trail back down then lightly up again. She wiggles her hips suggestively with her eyes sparkling in invitation. Mike rests his head in her lap and turns so he can breathe on her maidenhood. He blows softly and she wiggles again.

"Mike! You better stop or we're not going to be going to any hot tub." Mike just licks the inside of her thigh. She puts her hands on top of his head and flexes her fingers as her hips move of their own volition. "Mike! You heard me! Damn you, I wanted a hot tub."

"Let's go then." He sits up.

"Not so fast! You started this! Come on and at least give me some satisfaction before we go out there."

He grins and says, "Your wish is my command." He undresses and throws his robe over the end of the bed, then lies down and rolls over to where she is sitting on the edge of the bed. She reaches down and their lips meet in a passionate kiss, which ends with her pushing him back and landing on his stomach astride him.

"You better be ready because I sure am." And she goes ahead to prove it. When they have both climaxed she rolls off him and says, "Now let's go for a hot tub. Then we can come back and really make love!"

They steal away through the quiet house and out into the back yard to the shelter and the hot tub. After ten minutes in the hot water, they get out and dry each other off. Of course they turn this event into an opportunity to further arouse each other and continue with hot foreplay back in the bedroom. Soon they are tangled in hot fulfilling intercourse that goes on into the night. They are well suited and prove it over and over again in each trying to bring to the other a measure of pleasure. They collapse and sleep entangled and satiated.

Chapter 2:

June 28/96

They awaken to continue with slow, easy and deep lovemaking. Marlene seems so happy this morning and Mike feels he is the luckiest man alive. They exchange endearments before they climax together in a wild flurry of movements and emotions. Then they race each other to the bathroom and shower together. Jeff pokes his head in the door and calls, "Hey! It's like old times with you two romping in our shower. Good morning."

Mike calls out, "Want to join us?"

Jeff laughs and says maybe in the hot tub. They all race for the hot tub except Nina who is nursing Cathy. She brings the babies out to the kitchen and waits for them in a chair by the table. Marlene is the first one back in and Nina tells her to help herself to coffee. "I have it on every day for Jeff. I try to avoid it and drink milk for the baby."

"I'll have milk, too." She sits with Nina and they drink milk together. "Did you ever start menstruating before you got caught again?"

"No. I didn't know you could get pregnant while you were nursing and not having periods."

"Mike should have known. It was very careless of him."

"I don't mind. I love to carry his children, no matter what Jeff thinks."

"You love him, don't you?"

"Yes."

"I thought as much. How long?"

"Since before we first had sex. Even when we used to visit Friday nights for cards I thought he was really something. I tried to get him to notice me but he never seemed to pay me any heed. Then he caught me by surprise when he took me to the spot by the river in POCO and we made love. I couldn't believe my luck. Then that night in the hot tub I found out about you guys and I realized he was only trying to get back at you. I think I was already pregnant and I have loved him ever since."

"You didn't know about Jeff and I when you first made love with him?"

"I suspected there was someone. He had been inattentive for months and I had started to fantasize about Mike. It was terrific when it finally happened. Like a dream come true."

"When you say 'fantasize', what so you mean. Did you masturbate with him in your mind?"

"In Technicolor and 3-D! I envisioned every possible position we could take and some rather impossible ones as well." They laugh together. "He could probably do those positions, too." They are laughing when the men come in from the tub.

"At least nursing, I haven't had any morning sickness." She knocks on the table.

Jeff says, "Jeez, women talk and babies. Let's get dressed and we can go talk about cars." They laugh and go off to get dressed. Marlene starts preparing breakfast as Nina gets Cathy around and hooked up.

"Have you found that you have to pee every time you turn around?"

"Yes, and it always comes when I am trying to relax, like in the hot tub."

"Or when I'm nursing the baby or want Jeff to make love to me."

"Or I'm trying to fix breakfast for the kids to get them off to school, or Trudy has me on the phone."

"Have your nipples and areolae gotten a darker color, too?"

Marlene pulls her robe open and shows Nina how dark they are. She nods, "So are mine, see." She exposes the other breast. Jeff comes out as they are comparing breasts and turns into the living room with a "Jeez!"

"Yours has those same little lumps in the areolae as mine. My gynecologist says they are normal, that they help lubricate the areolae." Mike comes out and sidles over to them.

"Can I see, too?" He grins and they tell him to take off. He goes to join Jeff in the living room where he has a stock car race on the TV.

After the babies are fed and settled they all sit down to breakfast. They all try to keep the conversation light for Nina's benefit. It works in the most part although she still has melancholy moments when it seems she will burst out in tears if anyone says anything. After breakfast she rests as Mike helps Marlene get the dishes done up. Mike then joins Jeff for the tail end of the race he was watching earlier.

Jeff switches over to a Blue Jays' game in progress and they watch two innings before they realize it's recorded and was played a week ago. They both know the score so they switch to something else. Jeff throws the remote to Mike and says, "See what you can get." Mike punches two numbers and up comes True Blue, the triple X rated pornography channel. He settles back to watch and Jeff exclaims, "You're not going to watch that, are you?"

"I suppose not. I've seen this one anyway. All they have are reruns these days." He switches to 'XXX Excite!' and Jeff groans.

"Give me the remote. I can't watch that crap." Mike shrugs and tosses him the remote. Jeff tunes in the NASA Channel and they watch a rerun of a space shot a few weeks old. After a while Mike gets bored and stretches out on the couch. In a few minutes he's asleep.

He's immediately awake with the first cry from Anne and looks around. Jeff is gone and he spots him out the picture window washing his car in the driveway. He gets up and goes to the bedroom. Marlene is assisting Nina to get the baby nursing. He goes back to the kitchen and gets coffee. In a moment Marlene comes out and says, "You're still in practice. They make one little peep and you're out of bed. How come you're sleeping the day away, sleepy head? I did all the work last night."

"You think? I guess when she gets them fed we better start thinking about getting over to the powwow. It's a good two hours drive if the traffic is light and I'd like to get there early so I can greet old friends. This will have a healing effect on her if she accepts the dance and chants in the right frame of mind. It's the Anglican Service tomorrow that will be the hardest on her."

"Aren't they always? Instead of comfort they offer platitudes, no empathy, just sympathy."

"After that the healing can begin."

"And when do you grieve, my lord and master?"

"Tonight, my love. It all comes pouring out in the chants for the dead and then I can put it behind me. I rest easy anyway knowing he is with my mother. Nina has no way to know that."

"Will they at the powwow?"

"Assuredly, without question or any doubts."

"Do all your people have that strong unwavering faith in the afterlife?"

"All the ones I know do. I have the least faith of any I know but in this matter I have the dream. It lends me confidence and peace."

"Eat some lunch before you go, great warrior. Can't have your stomach growling in the middle of a war dance."

"It's not a... " He realizes she's kidding him and chuckles with her.

They get on the road about two in the afternoon and they all ride together in Mike's rental car. It's comfortable, even with the high humidity and the heat, because of the breeze from the open sunroof and the heavily tinted glass. This time when they pass through Brantford they travel county roads to Burford and enter a field where many teepees have been erected and cars arrive with plates from Quebec, Michigan and New York. Old friends greet each other and call to each other across the intervening fields between cars. Many are in suits or common dress but many are in more traditional garb and some arrive in full regalia for the powwow.

Before Mike can find his sisters or his son he is recognized by many and they stop him to express their sadness at his loss. Often Mike has to interpret for Nina and Marlene. Jeff isn't really interested in hearing their messages. He does take an interest in the many modern cars in the crowd and talks with interest about a few.

Richard spots them before they see him, because he is dressed in tribal garb with his uncle. He struts up to them and says, "Terry is teaching me the old ways. He calls me 'Willow Stout' and says it means strong but pliable." He looks uncomfortably at his father, "Is that really what it means or is he pulling my leg?" Mike grins.

"You're getting to know your Uncle, aren't you? In this case he isn't joshing you. That's what it means, 'Willow Stout."

"Thank you, Quick silver... or was it Quick, no, uh... Silver Heels. That's it! Silver Heels!"

"That's close enough. Where is everyone? Nancy and Caitlin? All the rest of the family?"

"They're around. I must get back to High Walker now." He runs off and Mike laughs.

"Terry has given himself a new name, it seems. High Walker indeed! It suits him although I think it would be better if it was High Talker." He chuckles with the rest.

As they make the rounds of the teepees, Mike notices they have left Jeff behind. Nina explains, "He said he had something in his shoe and would catch up later or maybe go and lay down in the car."

A cousin from Lachine, Quebec joins them and tells them of Two Long Feathers' condolences. He regrets that his health is not such that he can attend today's powwow. The cousin stays with them and introduces them to many Mike does not know and soon they are a crowd passing through the crowd. Everywhere they are offered food and drink so that the time passes quickly and before they know it the sun is low in the sky. In the field a fire is lit and it grows as the dusk deepens.

Family members now join them and a chant with drums begins to echo over the crowd. Nancy and Caitlin take Marlene and Nina to be with the women while Terry and Richard encourage Mike to join them in the dance. Mike hangs back but eventually the drums get to him and he removes his footwear and shirt. Into the throng of dancing chanting figures he mingles and feels time slip away so that he's a boy again. After a time he retires with others to sit and watch the Husk Face Society with their corn husk masks who plead with the spirits to bring peace and healing to the ones so bereaved.

He looks around and sees members of the bear and turtle clan, the snipe and beaver, eel and hawk. Many of the families that respected his mother so much have come to see off her grandson. He is moved by their allegiance and proud for his son. Of course the wolf clan would be there since he and his family are of their ranks. Richard and Terry come to sit either side of him. He peers back into the night and wonders about Jeff.

The drums sounds out and a group from one clan rises to chant and dance in celebration of the Great Spirit and his kindness in providing an afterlife for all his people. They present wampum at the conclusion of their dance as others rise to take their place. Late into the night the drums sound out and figures dance in the fire lit field while the chants go on.

Terry steals Mike away to join Nina at the back of the crowd then goes for Richard while Nancy comes with Marlene in tow. Marlene says, "Do we have to go already. I could sit there all night and listen to the drums in the firelight.

Nancy says, "It is not allowed for the women to stay passed this point. From now on it can become a drunken brawl, although I don't think that is likely to happen tonight. It depends on the occasion and who is in attendance. Nina is loaded with wampum and Mike carries a deer haunch, a feathered bonnet, bullets and a rifle, a carved mask and many other trinkets. They return to the car and find Jeff asleep. Nina carefully unpacks the babes from her chest pack and before one can cry out she plops a teat in her mouth. She grins at Mike as she settles in the seat by Jeff's sleeping form. Mike loads their gifts in the trunk and when he closes the lid with a thump he wakes up Jeff.

Nina excitedly tells him of all he missed but Jeff only listens to be polite. Finally he says in an exasperated manner, "What do you see in a bunch of heathens hooting and hollering in the night? There should be a law against such behavior in this modern age. It's disgusting!"

As Mike backs out she tries to explain what Nancy has told her of the dance and customs. She tries to explain the healing she feels from all those people who cared about her son. Jeff is unreachable. He remains in stoic silence throughout the drive home.

Mike and Marlene have allowed Richard to stay with Nancy until tomorrow after the service. They curl up together after taking a hot tub, but sex is the farthest thing from their minds. They are still caught up in the spectacle of the evening and the fire. It plays over and over in their dreams throughout the night.

Nina remarks of the same night visitations at breakfast time. It does not surprise Mike as it does the women. He has danced the night away around the fires before.

This day the women dress in black and prepare to leave early. The service is held before noon in the chapel and following that, Mike and Richard carry the small, plain white painted, pine box to its final resting place. Marlene helps Nina to stay on her feet while Jeff carries the babies in the chest pack. Today Jeff is solemn, respectful of the church and service, then the graveside throng. Many mourners show their respect for the lady buried there as well as her grandson. Jeff is puzzled by the honors they show to Mike's mother, but he watches and waits in respectful silence.

Later Marlene has to take Nina back inside the church to rest for a few minutes. Jeff shows concern about her well being, and rushes to join her. Mike is pleased to see that.

Caitlin and Grant come to say their good-byes. They are returning home this afternoon. Terry comes to invite them to stay a few days at Nancy's before they head back to the West.

"Does Nancy know you're asking us?"

"Hell no. But she would say the same."

"I sure would." It's Nancy who comes up behind Terry and extends her hand to Marlene. "Please try to convince this man to spend a day or two with us. We women know what's best."

Mike looks to where Jeff is fussing over Nina and says with a smile, "We just might do that. We'll be over in the morning."

"There's no sense in Richard returning to Markham with you then, is there?"

"I suppose not."

Marlene and Richard seem to be happy with his decision although Marlene says she would like to have had some say in it.

"Would you have said no?"

"No."

"Well?"

She laughs and they go to join Jeff, who is still hovering over Nina. "I think the loss has finally brought them closer together."

"My thoughts exactly, my love."

"I'm glad when you agree with me, Mike."

"It's time for us to leave."

"Here or them?"

"Both."

They come up to the other couple and ask if they are ready to go. Nina cries that she doesn't want to leave her baby, but Jeff helps her up and to the car. As they settle down on the long drive home she has to feed the babies and she becomes less sad. She even manages to joke a bit with Marlene and time passes more quickly. They stop at a restaurant for dinner and arrive home tired out from the day's activities. Mike and Marlene head straight for the hot tub and Nina joins them. When the ladies leave, Jeff comes out and slips in with Mike.

"Today was a civilized ceremony, Mike. I'm pleased with the way it went. I'm sorry if you think me disrespectful of the Indian people and their ways. I have very little experience with them and understand them less. I regret any rift this may have caused between us, my friend."

Mike thinks, "White man speaks with forked tongue." but says, "Apology accepted, Jeff. No harm done. We'll be leaving in the morning."

"Marlene told you what I said."

"Nothing in particular. What did you say?"

"Nothing, it's not important."

They leave it at that and when Mike goes inside he asks Marlene in the bedroom if she wouldn't like to spend one more night with Jeff. She looks at him suspiciously. "He told you I told him we were finished, didn't he?"