Into the Tribe Ch. 01

The rest of the day lumbered by slowly, as Alexandra continued to absorb the skills the Indian women imparted on her. By the time she, Bethany, Slaughter, and an Indian woman guard named Shining Rock were sitting by the fire in the late evening, she was dying in anticipation. But before she could ask again, Bethany brought it up. "How come you're the only man here, Slaughter?" she demanded directly.

The Indian guide nodded toward the fire, now ready to broach the question. "Well, I guess this will actually answer most of your questions. I'm afraid the Ariwa chiefs have a truly unique system set up. It's really a reaction to their long history of bloodshed. Ariwa leaders are blood relatives of a single relative, Great Crow. But with each generation, the claim over who will be chief is complicated by fights between them. The sons always would fight one another. Years ago, one of the chiefs decided each of his sons would lead a camp and his chosen successor would be at his side.

"So this tradition dealt with that threat. But the other threat would come from the daughters' husbands. Each chief would have to accept a son-in-law, knowing he could be the one to dispose of him and impose himself as new leader.

"So chief Tall Oak came up with a solution. The daughters of the chiefs would not be married unless there were no male offspring, which hasn't happened yet. These women, the Ariwa noblewomen, would settle in a camp of their own, unknown to the rest of the tribe. Since it was built, no man has set foot in this camp, besides myself of course. As a foreigner, a blind man, and someone versed in white men's ways, I pose no threat to the Ariwa chief."

Alex and Beth pondered this story in silence as the flames continued to lick the logs of the fire. "Then why send us here? We're not Ariwa women. And why not the rest of the women from our convoy?"

Another of Slaughter's amused grins appeared on his face. "These answers I can't give you; only because you will learn them with your own hands and skin." And with this cryptic non-answer, Slaughter lapsed into silence and they eventually rose to go to sleep. Beth now noted that the Ariwa women would march off in pairs.

===

The next morning they set out to bathe slightly earlier, and the two captive girls noticed that Slaughter was waiting by the path to creek, watching the filing of the younger women and girls, who took leave first in the morning. Perched on his leg was an older Indian woman, whom they had seen with him briefly at other times. Beth thought she saw Slaughter shoot a look of understanding towards Soaring Gull, Flowing Rapids, and Green Hill, whom she had by now understood were daughters of the current chief. The girls wondered what this look meant.

Upon arriving at the creek, Bethany and Alex bathed next to each other, the cool water lapping up against their bare breasts. Beth was watching as Soaring Gull stared into the distance and the younger girl lathered her with the extract from one of the creek reeds. When washed off it left Soaring Gull's skin shiny and with a clear texture.

She raised an eyebrow as Soaring Gull turned around once this was finished and stared headlong into her friends face. They linked hands and drifted off. "Alex, c'mon over there with me."

"What?" her sister stammered in perplexed wonder.

"I wanna see what they do there in the reeds."

"Maybe they don't wanna have no one see 'em."

Beth sighed in annoyance. "Maybe one day we'll have to see it anyhow." So she drifted off alone to follow Soaring Gull.

"What in the hell are you doin'?" demanded Alex.

"I'm seeing what's going on, you can just wash yourself and stay blind."

So Beth followed for a few yards staying close to the reads and out of sight. For a few seconds she didn't know whether she had passed them by and made a mistake. Maybe this would be interpreted as an escape. Then she heard a muffled whining sound coming from her left. She crawled through the rushes, and caught herself before stumbling into the scene.

There in small clearing of sand among the reeds lay the two Indian women, leg over leg. At first Bethany believed that they were struggling or wrestling with one another, but then she saw their lips locked together. The sight jarred her, and she scampered several yards back, not caring about the brush sliding against her own nudity.

Back where most of the women were bathing, Alexandra was splashing around a thicket of cat tails. She had come to value the advantage of the Ariwa daily cleansing, which was far more often than during frontier travel. She was musing that she had probably bathed more in the past week than she had since leaving Georgia, when she detected shadows discolouring the waters around her. She turned fast to see Green Hill standing in the shallow part holding a small glassy jar, flanked by Flowing Rapids and another of the taller Ariwa girls. Green Hill was, like the other Ariwas sentry girls, very tall and slender. But when nude, her physique was far more shapely than the others, and she took particular care in treating her skin. "Is it time to leave?" Alex asked dumbly.

The question was greeted with a brief command in the Indian language, which Alexandra was starting to learn. It meant, "On her!" and within seconds Flowing Rapids and the third girl were holding onto Alex and restraining her arms. They easily forced her up against the bank of the creek and laid her down face up, fully exposed. Alex shrieked in terror, but Flowing Rapids cupped her mouth.

In any event, no one was coming to help her, and instead all of the other bathers gathered in a semicircle to watch the spectacle. Alex craned her head forward to see Green Hill remove the top of the jar and pour a thick, creamy grey substance out of it. She muttered another command to the girls restraining Alex. The word for "separate" was the only one she caught. Flowing Rapids forced apart her legs, not too roughly, but still very firmly.

Green Hill stepped up and lathered the cream over the hair on Alex's mons and her virginal opening. She felt a cool effervescent feeling all through her loins, and she wouldn't have screamed even if she could, as she was lapping up the sensation of substance foaming over her vulva. This feeling was quickly replaced once again by terror, as she saw two more girls come forward with sharp blades, one long, the other very short. They handed them to Green Hill who proceeded without haste to press the blade to Alex's skin, and then slowly removed all of the hair shielding it. In short order it was all dispensed with, and Green Hill splashed some creek water over the captive's mound. She then uttered some brief words and withdrew.

Alex suddenly saw a path clear in front of her, and Bethany was coming towards her, stunned at the sight of her friend and sister sprawled on the bank like this. But the Ariwas soon seized her as well. They spread her on the bank four yards from Alex, her own mound exposed to the air, and Green Hill once again spread the grey substance over her privates. "This ain't even make sense!" yelled Beth at the top of her lungs. But the Ariwa were oblivious to her.

This time, however, instead of Green Hill shaving Beth, another girl came forward, the one who was similar to Soaring Gull's companion. She had long black hair, the tenderest face possessing peaceful and serene eyes, and a body that was hairless and shiny from being washed with the strange plant gel. As she worked on the hair between Beth's dark legs, she would from time to time lay a soft kiss upon Beth's belly, and whisper soft words. "What in Lord's name is you sayin', girl?" exclaimed Beth, although it didn't really matter.

A cough came from behind her. She strained her neck to see Slaughter there with the woman he had been with earlier. "It means, 'Calm, my sister. Peace, my bride.' That is what Green Hill was saying to Alex as well."

The Indian women released the two captive girls from their holds, and stood them up. "Wha' chu mean, my bride?" demanded Bethany. She was self-conscious about Slaughter viewing her in the nude, until she remembered his vision was so poor he probably could see her as a dark blur on the creek bank.

Slaughter chuckled. "I mean that the Ariwa have finally prepared you for their purpose. You have been betrothed to the noblest girls of the whole tribe. In their mind, you have been honoured--" he trailed on as Alex stared at Beth's still nude body in disbelief. Green Hill and the other girl emerged from the water and embraced the two prisoner girls. "You're gonna be the brides of Ariwa princesses. They were waiting for you, 'cuz Chief Tall Elk didn't want Ariwa common girls from the other camps, who would marry them for the prestige. Green Hill and Soaring Gull are both Tall Elk's daughters." He gestured toward the smaller, delicate girl who was now reclining her head on Bethany. "I'm sure you'll appreciate her name. She's Perfect Dawn, the youngest niece of Tall Elk from his own sister, who is Dove Feather's child. Perfect Dawn's father has never been allowed to meet her, and neither have any of the fathers of the girls here."