markwildyr.com,
Post #96
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Are you
ready for the second installment of Raven’s and Blue Stone’s story of discovery?
I can hardly wait to see what happens next. Oh, yeah! I wrote it, so I already
know. Here’s the second installment to let you in on a little more of it.
*****
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| Courtesy of Pixabay.com |
BLUE STONE AND RAVEN
At the end of the fourth
day following his encounter with Raven, Blue Stone claimed the need for
spiritual guidance, and announced his intent to seek another vision. His mother
must have wondered what sort of vision her son sought since he departed with a
sack of food rather than seeking spirituality from physical deprivation.
When he arrived at the
remote waterhole, Blue Stone suffered a bitter disappointment. Raven was not
there. Deciding to make camp and wait, Blue Stone erected a lean-to from rocks,
a few crooked sticks, and a blanket to break the force of the sun. After he ate
and bathed, he slept.
Early the next morning he
woke to find Raven watching from astride Whisper a lazy rock’s throw away. “I
was afraid you would not come,” the Pueblo boy said.
“I gave my word. Have you
thought on what we did and what I said?”
“Yes. Endlessly,” Blue
Stone responded, standing boldly before the young plainsman. “I would taste you
again first, and then I will do whatever you ask. I will be woman to your man.”
“So be it,” Raven said,
leaping from his horse and clasping Blue Stone by the shoulders briefly. "But
first, I will tend my pony and wash myself.”
“Tend your pony, Warrior,
but I will wash you and feed you. Then I will feast upon you.” Blue Stone did
not quite believe the boldness of his words.
He watched curiously as
Raven curried his handsome spotted mount with a handful of weeds and grass and
came to understand the importance of the pony when the beast was allowed to
water before Raven slaked his own thirst.
When Whisper nuzzled Blue
Stone’s chest, Raven nodded approvingly. “You should be honored. He does not
accept mortals well. He’s too haughty. Knows he’s better than most of us.”
“Do you think I could
learn to ride him?”
“He doesn’t let just
anyone ride him. You’d have to be strong and confident. He won’t put up with
timid riders.”
Apparently, Blue Stone
was a timid rider, or perhaps he was distracted by Raven’s hand on his butt
boosting him aboard the pony. At any rate, Whisper simply shrugged him into the
waterhole. He rose sputtering and indignant. Ignoring Raven’s delighted
laughter, Blue Stone climbed upon a rock and seated himself again. He rolled in
the canyon’s dirt this time, turning into a mud ball, but it took longer for
Whisper to dislodge him. He was thrown four times before the pony decided Blue
Stone was worthy of his back. Thereafter, the beast ignored his timid hold on
the reins and walked to a thin stand of grass, burying his nose in it. It was
enough. Blue Stone had ridden the four-legged.
When Raven clapped Blue
Stone on the back and made fun of his riding style, Blue Stone had no
compunction about tumbling the youth in the dirt. They roughhoused, feeling one
another out, establishing a pecking order. The farmer gave the warrior more of
a battle than expected. They finished their play at the edge of the waterhole.
Sobering, Blue Stone
pulled his stores from a cotton sack, and they ate. It was Blue Stone’s turn to
laugh at the face Raven made upon tasting the hot Spanish peppers for the first
time. The Cotanee lay in the pool for a time cooling his tongue in the water
while Blue Stone chortled.
After their meal, the Pueblo
boy unfastened Raven’s breechcloth. When the warrior was naked, Blue Stone took
soap weed from his bag and covered Raven with suds from head to toe. When they
were both clean, Blue Stone led Raven to a blanket spread beneath the crude
shelter where Raven drew him close. Naked flesh touching naked flesh stole Blue
Stone’s breath.
At his gasp, Raven spoke.
“Have you never lain with anyone?” Blue Stone, his face against the hollow of
Raven’s neck, muttered a denial. “No girls? No boys?”
“No, but I have this one
friend, Ram Horn. He’s handsome like you are. I think about him like I do you,
but we never do anything about it.”
“Would you like to do for
him what you did for me?”
“If you were gone from my
life,” Blue Stone said, “then I would like to do it for him.”
“Is this Ram Horn
handsome? Well-formed?”
Blue Stone nodded into
his shoulder. “Yes. But not as handsome and well-formed as you, Raven.”
*****
So Raven
kept his promise to return. He’s kept one vow, how about the other? To lie like
a man with his woman and change Blue Stone’s life forever. If he does, will
Blue Stone permit it? Regret it? Glory in it? And if it’s the latter, what does
the future hold to the two young men from enemy tribes? Come for a look-see on October
3 to find out.
Don
Travis’ next BJ Vinson mystery series novel, The Voxlightner Scandal has
been scheduled for release on November 19, 2019. You’ll remember he’s my fellow
Okie author. The following is a buy link to Voxlightner: http://www.dsppublications.com/books/upcoming-releases-c
Now my
continuing plug (read plea) for my own work. Amazon permits you to read a short
passage of my novels, Cut Hand and Johnny Two-Guns. I also believe the STARbooks-published
River Otter, Echoes of the Flute, and
Medicine Hair are still up. I sure
would like to get the final book in the Cut Hand Series, Wastelakapi… Beloved, published, but it’ll take some help from readers
to get Dreamspinner interested.
My contact
information is provided below in case anyone wants to drop me a line:
Website and blog: markwildyr.com
Email: markwildyr@aol.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mark.wildyr
Twitter: @markwildyr
The
following are buy links for CUT HAND:
And now my mantra: Keep
on reading. Keep on writing. You have something to say, so say it!
Until next time.
Mark
New posts at 6:00 a.m. on the first and
third Thursdays of the month.
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