Crown of Fire

Each child was made to wash their hands in the kitchen sink, perched on a stepstool. Then the three children and two women sat at the kitchen table.

Sarah had said she would come for Robert after the noontime meal. It was actually growing closer to the evening meal when Sarah Elgin finally did amble up.

"The shadows grow long; we must leave," Kuy Neer said sadly as Sarah and a whining Robert left.

"Please do not go," Dorothy begged. "Nathan says you live where the two rivers join; that is too far."

"Tey Ogan is remembering where we used to be," Kuy Neer smiled. "We are above the stables now."

"The stables? The smell! No, no, please, please stay," Dorothy pleaded.

Nathan and Tey Ogan continued to play with Nathan's toys while the two women cooked the evening meal.

"I like them..." Kuy Neer whispered as Dorothy's hand again travelled underneath her buckskin blouse.

Thus saying, Kuy Neer grabbed Dorothy's wandering hand. She placed it onto the nipple of her left breast and pinched Dorothy's fingers quite firmly onto the hard nub. Kuy Neer shivered as Dorothy squeezed and twisted her hard nipple.

"Mm!" Kuy Neer grunted into Dorothy's mouth.

"Yes, Kuy Neer, we are friends," Dorothy agreed, showing Kuy Neer that she was pinching and twisting her own nipple through the bodice of her dress.

"Oh!" Dorothy gasped and shuddered as Kuy Neer leaned forward, captured Dorothy's other hard nipple in her teeth, and gave a sharp bite.

"I will get you for that," Dorothy playfully warned and kissed Kuy Neer.

"I tremble with fear," Kuy Neer playfully sneered.

After the evening meal, Kuy Neer wanted Dorothy to comb and brush her dark hair. Dorothy bade Nathan to also brush Tey Ogan's long dark hair.

"Oh!" Kuy Neer giggled when Tey Ogan gave Nathan a soft kiss, lips to lips when he declared he was done.

Then Tey Ogan began to brush Nathan's long blond locks. Dorothy knew it was past time to have Mr. Nelson, the town barber shear Nathan's long blond hair. Dorothy however, could not bring herself to do so. Every time Dorothy would dress Nathan, put his hard shoes on his small feet, and then take his hand to bring him to Mr. Nelson's, her tears would begin to fall.

"Next week," Dorothy would then promise herself.

Tey Ogan giggled when Nathan was stripped and then dressed in his sleep shirt. In her native tongue, she told her mother it looked as if Nathan was wearing a dress.

Nathan also giggled when Tey Ogan's buckskin clothing was removed and one of Nathan's sleep shirts was draped onto Tey Ogan. Tey Ogan wiggled and shimmied about, enjoying the feeling of the long gown.

Dorothy was pleased to see that Tey Ogan knelt and said prayers, just as Nathan prayed. She didn't understand the words the Indian child used, but Tey Ogan did finish her prayers with 'Amen!'

Kuy Neer then recited the proud heritage of the Ridge tribe, their adversities as they travelled from a territory north, where the snow never thawed, the mythological beasts they had to slay in order to claim the land they now occupied. She spoke of the heroic, brave women that used their cunning to guide the brash boastful men of their tribe. These women managed to guide these men to doing their will, always allowing the men to believe that it had been the man's decision, never suspecting that they'd been duped.

"Much talk, much boasting, much promises that disappear with that day's sunset. Women do not boast, they do not promise, they use their heads instead," Kuy Neer finished her story as the children slept.

In her bedchambers, Dorothy turned the kerosene lamp wick down so that it softly illuminated the small room. She then removed her leather boots, then shimmied out of dress and woolen shift.

Dorothy shivered as she stood, nude in front of Kuy Neer. Kuy Neer looked at Dorothy's full, heavy breasts, pale in the dim lighting of the lamp. She looked at the large, hard nipples that dotted the large breasts. She looked at the pale belly, with slight paunch that led down to a sparse thicket of crinkled red hairs capping a plump mound.

Dorothy's inner lips peeked through the carrot orange sprigs, plump and wet. Kuy Neer felt her own inner lips beginning to plump, to become slick with moisture. She flung her buckskin blouse to the floor, then loosed the knot at the side of her hip and allowed her buckskin flap to fall to the floor.

"Oh! You, do Indians not..." Dorothy asked, looking at Kuy Neer's hairless mound.

"Pluck it," Kuy Neer admitted, lifting her arm, displaying her hairless armpit. "We do not like hair on our bodies; it is not needed.

Dorothy approached Kuy Neer, then pulled the slightly shorter, slimmer woman to herself. They stood, nude flesh against nude flesh and kissed.

"Should, should I pluck?" Dorothy asked, raising her arm, displaying the few tendrils of orange hair.

"No," Kuy Neer declared and ran her tongue up and down Dorothy's armpit.

The two women crawled onto the straw mattress. Kuy Neer sighed at the softness of the sheets under her nude flesh. The two women kissed again, hands gently tracing up and down the other's form.

Kuy Neer then bent and took one of Dorothy's nipples into her mouth. Dorothy fought back the loud moan when she felt Kuy Neer's hot mouth around her nipple. She groaned low as Kuy Neer's tongue waggled and slapped at the sensitive flesh. Then Dorothy gasped in pain, in pleasure as Kuy Neer's teeth bit down. Kuy Neer pulled her head back, pulling Dorothy's breast away from Dorothy's rib cage.

"Oh!" Dorothy gasped and gave Kuy Neer's nipple a savage pinch.

"Oh!" Kuy Neer also grunted.

Kuy Neer repeated the gesture with Dorothy's other nipple. While she sucked and bit at Dorothy's nipple, Dorothy used both hands to tease and torture Kuy Neer's hard nipples.

"I must, I will taste you," Kuy Neer whispered.

"And I must taste you," Dorothy moaned.

Instinctively, the two women swiveled. Kuy Neer swiveled around so that her feet were facing the headboard of the large bed, her head toward the foot of the bed. Dorothy wiggled around so that she was flat on her back. Kuy Neer straddled Dorothy's head as she lowered her mouth toward the tendrils of hair capping Dorothy's pubic mound.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Dorothy cried out as Kuy Neer's hot breath blew across her wet slit.

Dorothy's cry was muffled; Kuy Neer had pressed her hairless mound down onto Dorothy's face. Dorothy used her fingers to pull Kuy Neer's slit open. She used her tongue to lap at, tease Kuy Neer's wet lips. She found Kuy Neer's source of pleasure and lapped at it almost feverishly.

Kuy Neer licked and sucked at Dorothy's plump inner lips, delighting in the heady musky flavor of the other woman. She then found Dorothy's source of pleasure and sucked it into her mouth. Kuy Neer drove two fingers into Dorothy's womanhood, thrusting and scissoring the two fingers within the confines of Dorothy's cleft.

Dorothy sucked and licked at Kuy Neer's slit, trying to capture as much of the Indian woman's heady musky taste as she could. Then she thrust two fingers deep into Kuy Neer's hole.

"Um, oh my dear friend," Kuy Neer grunted, close to orgasm.

"Yes, yes, my love, my lover," Dorothy moaned just as she crested.

Both women bucked and moaned and grunted through their orgasms. Then, when they'd managed to catch their breaths, they again thrust and licked and sucked, trying to bring the other to satisfaction again.

"Oh, my friend," Kuy Neer murmured as she wiggled around to kiss Dorothy. "I am glad our Maker has shown us to one another."

"I. Am. Too," Dorothy gasped out.

This brought on a fit of giggles between the two women. After they'd ceased giggling, Kuy Neer cupped her breasts, presenting them to Dorothy. This time, it was Dorothy that suckled, then bit down on Kuy Neer's nipples. This time, it was Dorothy that straddled Kuy Neer's head, feet pushed against her headboard.

"Ung!" Kuy Neer agreed as Dorothy used three fingers this time.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Dorothy moaned in pleasure as Kuy Neer thrust three, then four fingers into her slit.

"Aieegh!" Dorothy cried out in pleasure as Kuy Neer's entire fist jammed into her womanhood. Kuy Neer twisted her balled up fist inside of Dorothy.

"Aieegh!" Dorothy cried out again, shuddering in orgasm as Kuy Neer fisted her roughly.

Dorothy's cleft made an obscene squelching sound as Kuy Neer pulled her clenched fist from Dorothy's slit. Dorothy collapsed, grunting and shaking. Her hands cupped her womanhood, pressed tightly against the dull throbbing she now felt inside of her.

"Now you," Kuy Neer whispered, spreading her legs far apart.

Dorothy did work from three fingers to four fingers, to wedging her whole hand into Kuy Neer's bald pussy. Then she balled up her hand, forming a fist.

"Ugh! Yes, Dorothy," Kuy Neer hissed in pleasure as Dorothy fisted her cleft.

Kuy Neer's wet slit made squelching and slurping sounds as Dorothy thrust her fist in and out of Kuy Neer's hole.

"Ugh, yes!" Kuy Neer cried out and shuddered.

Dorothy pulled her fist from Kuy Neer and Kuy Neer let out another grunt. Then, with a final kiss, the two women entwined their nude bodies and slumbered.

Waking in the morning, Dorothy quickly pulled night clothes on and roused Nathan. He assisted the child in his ablutions, cleaned him, then assisted Tey Ogan in her own voiding of bladder and bowels. She quickly fixed a breakfast of hominy grits flavored with bacon grease.

As the children ate the hearty breakfast, Dorothy entered her bedchambers. Kuy Neer lay, nude body beautiful in the morning sunlight. Kuy Neer roused, then purred as Dorothy's lips gently kissed her bare shoulder.

"The children are eating," Dorothy whispered.

"Then do we have time to..." Kuy Neer asked, spreading her legs.

"No, we do not," Dorothy laughed and kissed Kuy Neer's smiling lips.

Household chores did not take long, with Kuy Neer there to assist. Cooking the meals did not take long, with Kuy Neer there to assist.

Again, when the shadows grew long, Kuy Neer declared that they must leave. She called out for Tey Ogan to come.

"Please stay, dear friend," Dorothy begged.

Nathan said something in her native tongue and Tey Ogan clasped Nathan's small pale hand in her small brown hand. Kuy Neer covered her mouth, giggling.

"What? What did my son say?" Dorothy asked as Kuy Neer entwined her fingers with Dorothy's fingers.

"He said 'please stay, my heart' to Tey Ogan," Kuy Neer said.

"Please stay, my heart," Dorothy asked.

"We will stay the night," Kuy Neer promised and gave Dorothy a soft kiss.

"We brush now?" Tey Ogan asked as they finished eating the evening meal.

"An excellent idea," Dorothy agreed.

Again, Nathan brushed Tey Ogan's long dark hair while Dorothy brushed Kuy Neer's long dark hair.

"By the way, what does 'Kuy Neer' mean?" Dorothy asked as she gently pulled against a snag in Kuy Neer's hair.

"First Snow. First snow had fallen when my mother lay giving birth to me," Kuy Neer said.

"And Tey Ogan is 'Little Bear,'" Nathan said as he gently brushed Tey Ogan's hair.

"Her father was Dan Ogan, said he is called 'Bear' by your people," Kuy Neer said. "Dan means 'big' in the language of the Ridge tribe."

"Oh," Dorothy said, giving Kuy Neer's shoulders and neck a loving rub.

Again, Tey Ogan giggled as Nathan was dressed for bed. She too was dressed for bed in the nightshirt.

"And if you're still here tomorrow night?" Dorothy said as she lifted both children into her arms to carry them to bed.

"Oh, no, no please, not baths," Nathan whined.

"Yes. Baths," Dorothy stated.

"But no washing my hair," Nathan bargained.

"Nathan! We have to wash your hair or it's not a proper bath," Dorothy said.

After prayers, Kuy Neer told them the story of Tey Hawn, Little Moon and the bear-wolf that roamed the hills. The bear-wolf had been terrorizing the tribe, stealing livestock and even children at night.

"And Tey Hawn said 'I know how to defeat the bear-wolf,' but none listened. After all, she was but a girl; she was no brave warrior," Kuy Neer whispered as Nathan and Tey Ogan struggled to keep their small eyes open.

"And so, Tey Hawn striped her face with the blood of the bear-wolf and wore the headdress of the bear-wolf, for she was the brave, the mighty warrior that had destroyed the ferocious beast, the bear-wolf," Kuy Neer finished and made sure the quilt was snugly around the children's slumbering bodies.

She extinguished the lamplight then made her way to Dorothy's bedchambers. Inside the bedroom, the two women kissed.

"Tonight? We just use mouths, tongues," Kuy Neer whispered, cupping Dorothy's womanhood in her hand.

"Agreed. My cleft is still quite sore from your hands," Dorothy smiled.

"Oh, but it was truly beautiful, seeing your cleft opening for my touch," Kuy Neer sighed.

Removing their clothing, the two women lay on the bed and hugged. Kuy Neer forced Dorothy to lie on her back. Kuy Neer wiggled to lie on top of Dorothy, her large breasts pressed firmly against Dorothy's large breasts, her hairless mound pressed firmly against Dorothy's sparsely haired pubic mound.

"Oh!" both women moaned, then kissed hungrily.

Kuy Neer wiggled down. Both women groaned as their mounds lost contact with one another. Kuy Neer bent and suckled Dorothy's right nipple. Her tongue rasped against the rubbery flesh.

"Ugh!" Dorothy grunted out when Kuy Neer's teeth firmly bit down on her nipple.

Kuy Neer repeated the same with Dorothy's left nipple. She then wiggled down and nipped and nibbled at Dorothy's slight paunch."

Oh yes, my heart," Dorothy murmured in the language of the Ridge tribe when Kuy Neer's mouth found Dorothy's slit.

Dorothy repeated the declaration when Kuy Neer's tongue lapped at her bud, her source of pleasure. Kuy Neer's teeth then lightly grazed Dorothy's nub and Dorothy grunted in orgasm.

When Kuy Neer wiggled up, again mashing breasts against breasts, she and Dorothy kissed passionately. Then Dorothy gently rolled Kuy Neer to lie on her back.

"In the light of your lamp, your hair is on fire," Kuy Neer whispered, dark eyes peering intently into Dorothy's warm brown eyes.

"In the light of your eyes, I am on fire," Dorothy confessed and kissed Kuy Neer again.

She suckled, then nipped at Kuy Neer's dark nipples. She licked the undersides of Kuy Neer's breasts, tasting the sweat that had accumulated underneath the woman's flesh.

Kuy Neer grunted and thrashed in pleasure as Dorothy's mouth sucked Kuy Neer's inner lips into her mouth. Kuy Neer clamped her muscular thighs tightly around Dorothy's head as Dorothy's tongue lapped at the source of her pleasure. She barked out when Dorothy's teeth bit down on the source of pleasure.

The two women wordlessly swung into position; Kuy Neer assuming the upper position. She pressed her hairless cleft down onto Dorothy's pale face as her own face pressed against Dorothy's womanhood. They used their tongues on one another until both grunted and keened in pleasure.

"Oh, I do not want to ever leave," Kuy Neer sighed as the two women lay entwined with one another.

"Then do not leave. You and Tey Ogan, you should get your things from the stables, come here," Dorothy begged.

"We are Indian," Kuy Neer reminded Dorothy.

"I am not blind," Dorothy replied, puzzled.

"Some, many will say it is not right, that you would have two Indians here, with you," Kuy Neer said.

"'Many' can prattle until their tongues fall from their heads," Dorothy spat. "'Many' do not pay the bank note that Beauregard Roberts left to my responsibility. 'Many' do not buy the food for my child, the clothes, and the shoes. So, 'Many' would be advised to shut their mouths about such things."

The two again kissed softly, then fell asleep. Dorothy dreamt only once, dreamt of Beauregard Roberts as the man rubbed Dorothy's belly, swollen with their child. Then, without a backward glance, he swung onto Spartan, his beloved horse and rode away. Soon, darkness, and the sounds of cannons swallowed Beauregard Roberts from Dorothy's sight.

In the morning, just as Dorothy dressed Nathan in that day's clothing, Kuy Neer dressed Tey Ogan in her Ridge attire, Sarah Elgin knocked on the door of Dorothy's home. Dorothy opened the door.

"Well, I thought you were supposed to come yesterday, to fetch Robert," Sarah fussed. "I had wash to do."

"Sarah, I bring Nathan to you when I need you to mind him," Dorothy snapped. "I would expect you to do the same."

With a huff of indignation, Sarah shoved Robert forward. The children did not seem to notice the animosity between the women as they began to chatter with one another.

"Dorothy, do you have cloths, scraps you do not need?" Kuy Neer asked.

Dorothy fetched her bag of cloth scraps. She watched as Kuy Neer grabbed many of the scraps and rolled them together.

"Tey Ogan, Nathan, Robert, I need you to fetch sticks," Kuy Neer ordered as she herded the three children outside. "Sticks, at least this long."

She held her hands at least two feet apart. With a nod, the three children began to scour the rear garden, then the front lawn, and the lawns of their nearest neighbors.

"Kuy Neer, what are you doing?" Dorothy asked, amused as Kuy Neer continued to roll the scraps of cloth together.

"They are occupied, they are not whining," Kuy Neer smiled as Nathan brought her three large sticks of wood he'd found.

Kuy Neer waited until the three children had brought her a good selection of sticks before selecting one of the branches that Nathan had found. She used her stone and smoothed out the stick.

"This is our ball," she announced to the three children. "And this is our stick. Nathan, you are to throw the ball to Robert. Robert? You are to try to hit the ball. Tey Ogan? You are to catch the ball if Robert does not hit the ball. Then you throw the ball to Nathan and he throws the ball again. Um, Robert? When you hit the ball with the stick? You run to the tree. If you can touch the tree before Nathan can get the ball and touch you with the ball? Then you win. You can try, um, four times to hit the ball. Can we count to four?"

The three children demonstrated that they could count to four. Kuy Neer nodded in satisfaction and positioned the three children in a straight line.

"When Robert has had his four tries, then it will be Tey Ogan's turn to try to hit the ball. Robert, you will throw the ball and Nathan you will catch the ball. Then, after Tey Ogan's four times, she will throw the ball, Nathan will try to hit the ball, and Robert will catch the ball," Kuy Neer instructed.

As the children played stick ball, Kuy Neer picked up one of the branches, a knotted, gnarled branch. Again, Kuy Neer dug into her deerskin bag and located a large knife. She whittled the bark from the curved piece of wood, always keeping an eye on the children.

"Robert, that was four tries," she called out when Robert started arguing that he'd only had three tries.

"I don't got listen to no Injun," Robert sneered.

"You will listen to this Indian or I will march you home to your mother," Dorothy snapped, eyes blazing angrily.

"Yes, Miss Dorothy," Robert mumbled, dutifully chastened.

"Run, run!" both Dorothy and Kuy Neer encouraged as Tey Ogan managed to hit the ball.

Tey Ogan managed to reach the tree while Robert was scrambling to get the ball. Nathan gave his friend a hug, congratulating her. She smiled and turned to Robert. Robert was about to say something nasty, but a throat clearing from Dorothy stilled the words. He nodded in grudging acceptance that Tey Ogan had won that game and took his position as catcher behind Nathan.

"Watch," Kuy Neer whispered to Dorothy as Tey Ogan took her position to throw the ball.

Tey Ogan made her toss of the ball a gentle arch. Nathan easily struck the ball, but sent the ball directly to Tey Ogan. She caught the ball and giggled as she easily caught Nathan, tagging him with the ball.