We sat quietly for a few minutes and then I asked, “What about Viola and Aspen? I can’t exactly bring Aspen here today. Well, maybe I could, but it would be better if my arm weren’t in a sling.”
Lark said, “We told Viola hat she and Aspen would have to wait. We didn’t tell her exactly everything that happened, but she knows that you were injured, but that you will be OK. She told us that she and Aspen are doing fine and that Aspen insisted on wearing the tunic and hood all day yesterday and has been working really hard. There doesn’t seem to be a problem waiting some more. Viola suggested that maybe at least three or four more days would be good. It will give Aspen time to get a sense of what it’s like to have to long for you. I agree. Aspen will be better off if she lives away from her parents’ house for a bit before she comes here. Another three or four days is probably the right amount.”
I said, “I’m afraid that Antonio may come to Bonvale before three or four days and I think that it will be better if he doesn’t see her in the tunic. I think that we better take care of Aspen before he comes.”
Clarice said, “I think that we can have at least an hour notice before he gets to the village, and Viola could make sure that Aspen stays on the farm at Paul’s if he comes. We have some cameras that cover the road beside the property now, and since I know what he looks like, we can keep an eye out.”
I nodded and said “That can work. But be aware that he might go to Paul’s farm to ask him about his new woman. If he does, tell Viola to keep Aspen out of sight.”
The conversation went on a little bit, but for a little while I didn’t listen very closely. My arm ached a bit, and…well, I don’t know what was I thinking about right then.
I heard Lark say, “Joshua! Are you there?”
I was startled and said, “Yeah, sorry, what?”
She asked, “What were you thinking about? Did you fall asleep on us?”
I said, “Um, no, well, maybe, I don’t know. Um, I was kind of thinking about um, cooking, in the kitchen, and um, a red dress with polka dots, and…nothing, I guess. Did I miss something?”
Clarice smiled knowingly and said, “No, we were just chatting and you seemed like you were in your own little world for a few minutes. I think that we should review. We aren’t going to let Joshy do any work today, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of us get to take a day off. So, let’s see, the paths are all marked and the trails are safe, but hidden. Good work. The network is all the way along the property down to the bridge, so we are all good there. Video cameras are working. Our basic security system is functioning as best we can get it in the short term. Tractors are working on the main roads along the river, and a lumber yard is being cleared as close to the village as we can make it. All that stuff is going really well. What about the house?”
Ellie said, “Princess Lark and our big nymph sister are lollygagging and the bedrooms aren’t ready yet.”
Clarice said, “That’s OK. Princesses sometimes have other princess work to do.”
Ellie said, “And nice boobs. Don’t forget their boobs.”
Clarice said, “How could we? OK, the bedrooms aren‘t done yet, but the living room is done and the kitchen is done and the dining room is done. And the workshop isn’t done, but it’s clean enough for projects. What about the secret lair? The bed and the bath?”
Ellie said, “All ready. Um, but except that it hasn’t been tested yet. Joshy could help me make sure, right? If he doesn’t have to use his left arm, and if I do anything that he needs with my left arm, instead?”
Wendy said, “And he could help me make sure that the water works and the floor driers? He could do that today, right?”
Clarice said, “Well, maybe so. Later, maybe you should take him down to the secret lair and see if he thinks it’s all OK. I need to work in the workshop all day on a secret special project with polka dots all day, so everybody else needs to work on other things. We have to get ready for Aspen and Viola.”
Mandy said, “And then there will be so many princesses that there will be one for each of us and one more for parties.”
Wendy said, “No, there will be four nymphs and three princesses, so Joshy has to go get one more princess or Raven won’t have one of her own. We can share, but it would be better if there was another one.”
I said, “I think that there will be another one. We haven’t met her yet, but everyone says that she will come to us eventually.”
Lark said, “Today, Raven and I will work really hard and get the bedrooms ready.”
Ellie said, “It won’t be hard. We just get to do maybe sixty loads of laundry and then we will be done. Laundry, laundry, quite the quandary. Naked nudies, walking wander-y. Butts and boobies everywhere, dry the laundry, fluff your hair!”
Wendy squealed, “Rhyming games! Rhyming, Rhyming, oh what timing. Laundry time and time for taming. Tame the house and tame the bed, tame the kitchen, tame big red.”
Mandy went next, saying, “Her name’s not red, her hair is golden. She’s so juicy, wild and wet, tame that filly, call her pet. Pet her up, pet her down, pet her bottom, pet her crown.”
Clarice jumped in with, “Secret project, polka dots, pretty bottoms, pretty tops. Juicy muffins cooked all day, buttered buns don’t run away. Don’t run away you pretty buns, come over here and play all day. Buttered buns, back ‘em up, press ‘em in, squeeze ‘em soft, slide right in ‘cause it’s OK, cooking buttered buns all day.”
Lark laughed and said, “Let me try. Buttered buns, big coconuts, man bananas, stand ‘em up. Play our game and try your luck, come play with us and we’ll all…sit down for dinner.”
Clarice laughed along with Lark, but Wendy said, “That isn’t the way a rhyme works. You make it rhyme with ‘luck’ and that’s a really easy one. Think about it. Think about what we do with a stand up man banana in our muffin. It’s easy. Rhymes with ‘luck’.”
Ellie said, “Wendy, she knows that. See, it’s funny because she said something that wasn’t what you expect.”
Wendy said, “But is still didn’t rhyme. Oh, I get it. She means when Raven sat down for lunch on Joshy’s lap and showed him how to open her nymph clothes. I get it now. That’s a good trick Lark. I’m proud of you.”
Lark smiled and said, “Thank you so much Wendy. That was very kind of you to say so. It made me feel happy and appreciated.”
Wendy said, “If you work hard and get your chores done, then we can make you a skirt and a blouse.”
Lark smiled again and said, “Then, I’ll work very hard and get my chores done right away.”
Clarice smiled too and said, “Good. So, nymphs and princesses, work real hard and get the bedrooms ready. I’ll be in the workshop. You can show Joshy the secret lair, but not the workshop yet. And don’t play until the bedrooms are done.”
Mandy said, “Raven wants to scrub the pool.”
Clarice said, “Well, if you get everything done, if Raven wants to start on the pool, then that will be fine. She will need all of you to help her though. Let her do the supervising and you do most of the scrubbing.”
Mandy said, “Okey Dokie.”
Clarice said, “But, Joshua, what about you? Do you want to do anything in particular?”
I said, “I really want to take my clothes off. I mean, we are at home, and we don’t have to wear clothes, right? You guys can, but I would rather be naked.”
Clarice said, “Well, what’s the rule nymphs?”
Ellie said, “Everybody wears what Joshua wants, all the time. If he doesn’t tell us what to wear then we wear what we think makes him happy.”
Wendy said, “We wear clothes when we work, but not if Joshua says we don’t have to. That’s always better, especially for scrubbing pools.”
Mandy said, “We can do laundry and bedrooms and pools with no clothes to get in our way and besides, we have to test the shower and the driers and if we wear clothes then they would get wet.”
Clarice said, “Is that what you want, Joshua? A
naked day and nobody wears clothes?”
I said, “It’s OK with me. Do you all want to?” but everyone was already stripping.
Clarice stood up and said, “I’ll help you. Stand up.”
A minute later, she had me out of my shirt and pants, and Mandy and Wendy had our clothing piled in their arms and were carrying them away toward wherever laundry went to get cleaned.
I didn’t really have any idea what I would do for the day. It sounded like everyone was busy and I might be alone. That wouldn’t be so bad, but today, because I was injured, I felt like I wanted company.
Lark, knowing what I needed as usual, spoke up and said, “Being naked is wonderful. You know what though, we need to take turns helping Joshua get better.”
Clarice said, “His emotional batteries need charging, don’t they.”
Lark said, “That’s a good way to put it.”
Wendy said, “That’s a rule. We have to charge Joshua’s batteries too, or he runs down and can’t be fun anymore. I can do it.”
Lark said, “I think that we can take turns. Is that OK with you, Clarice?”
Clarice said, “Nymphs, is that OK with me?”
Ellie said, “Lark is chief right now. What the chief says is what we do. Lark magic says we do it.”
Lark looked surprised, but said, “Oh. That’s what that means. OK, then, yeah, I’ll work really hard today, but we should take turns and charge up his emotional batteries. Oh, they mean the evening ritual, don’t they? Yeah, that’s right. So, one of us will take time to help him charge up and heal, and we will take turns.”
Clarice said, “Lark, that’s really good. I’m glad that you spoke up. You are in charge of that, but if you want, I will take the first turn. I can take him to the secret lair and show him where he can relax today, and when you’re ready, send someone else down to take over. Just tell the elevator to take you to the secret lair when you’re ready. And if anyone needs anything, just call someone on the ear-piece. So, even if Joshua is napping, and no one is right there, he can call us and we’ll take care of him. I’ll have to change his bandage later, so I’ll take a few short turns in between some of your turns.”
Ellie said, “OK. All set. Ready go. We can do it all together and it will go faster and look like more gets done right away. First, the Master’s bedroom. Clarice, which one? Is it the wood one or the air one or the cave one or the water one or the pretty one. I know what it was for Pops, but is it the same for Joshua?’
Clarice said, “That’s a really good question. Of course, he will be in all the rooms at different times, but it might not be the same as Pops, huh?”
Ellie said, “What kind of bedroom do you want, Master?”
I said, “I don’t know. Do you have an idea for me?”
Clarice smiled and said, “Who do we think has magic for this?”
The nymphs and Raven all cried, “Lark!”
Clarice said, “I think so too. Joshua, will you let Lark pick out your master bedroom?”
I said, “Sure. That will be wonderful. That will be perfect. Lark, will you do that for me?”
Lark said, “If I can.”
Clarice said, “Oh, you can, I just know it. Nymphs, take Lark and have her look at each of the bedrooms and whichever one she picks for the master bedroom, clean that one up right away. And, Raven you can go too. In fact, Lark and Raven, you can go ahead and pick your bedrooms too, but they will have to wait until his room is ready, OK?”
Ellie said, “Raven wants the scary elephant room.”
Raven looked surprised and Ellie explained, “You don’t know it yet, but you will. Or maybe not. But I think Lark wants the one that Pops had. And I bet that Lark says that Joshua gets, um, he gets the stormy room, I bet.”
Clarice said, “Maybe. Let Lark go and pick one for Joshua first. Lark, if you find that you don’t know which room is his, or yours, don’t worry about it. Here’s what we should do: you and Raven go to each room and think about Joshua being in that room. Look at each one, and then go back and think about you being in each room. Don’t say anything, and when you’re done, I will guess which ones you picked. It will be a game. Ellie, go show them, OK?”
Ellie snapped to attention and said, “Righty-O!” and dragged the two women away and down the stairs.
Clarice turned to me and said, “I’ll be able to tell which room excites each of them most by monitoring their vital signs and involuntary autonomic responses. We’ll let the other girls choose the same way. There won’t be any conflicts, trust me. And if there are, we’ll just redecorate. None of this would have lasted all these hundreds of years without the near vacuum conditions and inert gasses that we filled the place with before we went to sleep though. As it is, everything is pretty much as it was. Are you ready to see your secret lair, the one Pops gave you?”
I thought about it for a second and confessed that I didn’t think that I was.
Chapter 16 Integrating Irene
Clarice said, “That’s fine. I can stay with you if you want.”
I told her that it wasn’t necessary, that I would be fine by myself, and that she should go work on her project. I knew that her project was to get Brenda ready, and after everything that we had found out yesterday, I didn’t want to delay that. I didn’t want to rush it, but I didn’t want to postpone it either.
In the end, Clarice kissed me and headed off to the workshop, with the agreement that I would call her when I was ready for company. She told me that I could go anywhere except the bedroom level and if I wanted to explore a bit inside the house, that I could.
I sat at the table for a minute after Clarice was gone. Then I moved to a sofa under the other gazebo.
I felt a bit ill, emotionally. Because of my arm, I hadn’t done my Qi-gong practice today, and I didn’t really feel like it. I did take a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming my anxiety as best I could. It helped immediately. So I did it again. And it help me a bit more. Strange how much good we can do ourselves by the simple act of breathing deliberately. This was starting to feel good. In and out, filling my lings half way and then letting it out again. I started with a very relaxed breathing pattern, but after several minutes, I switched to a much deeper breathing, filling my lungs to capacity and taking a long time to exhale, very slowly.
It was difficult at first, but then I realized that I was trying to fill my lungs by expanding my chest, rather than breathing from my stomach, using my diaphragm. When I remembered to breath more properly, at least properly for this exercise, the results were much better.
Even after breathing for a while, I still felt conflicted. I wanted to get up and do something, but I also wanted to just sit. I decided to sit. Perhaps I could meditate. I certainly had things to work through. And I needed to start with Irene.
It was impossible to call her my mother, and yet she was, and I needed to work that through. Again, as soon as I remembered how it worked, I knew what to do. I would integrate the feelings. And I would be better for it.
The first step was to calm my emotions. I wasn’t going to deny them or shut them off. In fact, I needed to fully experience them, but the first step was to calm them down. When they were calm, I could look at them and see them more clearly. OK. Calm my feelings. Hey feelings, it’s going to be OK. We are going to figure out all of this scary stuff and make it all right again, I told myself. Talking to myself wasn’t an essential part of the process, but it made me happy to do it in this instance. Breath and feel.
The next step was to observe what my feelings actually were. Not why I was feeling them, that would come later, but for now to simply identify them. What did I feel? Maybe hatred? Yeah, that was part of it. I forced myself to think of her as my mom, and mom had enslaved us. Wow. Really? I didn’t remember my childhood, and I had no idea what it was like, but from what I did know, maybe she had. It didn’t really matter if she had or not, the issue was that I felt that way. My mom had kept us from really enjoying the wonderful residence that Pops
had provided. She had kept Brenda from being a warm, loving, and loved woman. She had kept my father from fulfilling any dreams that he might have had, including caring for his little sisters. She had kept him from doing that in the end by murdering him. Then she had essentially enslaved the little sisters and even, in a way, the other young women in the surrounding villages.
Wait, what was with the way that she was dressed yesterday? It looked weird. I remembered thinking that it looked like an old woman was wearing a young girl’s clothes. Did Irene think that she was still young? Did she think of the young girls as competition for herself? Was she trying to be as attractive as they were, hoping to find herself another mate someday? Somewhere in the past few days, it seemed like there had been mention of her insisting that Brenda be sexless out of jealousy. Possibly even rivalry. That she didn’t want any competition for my dad’s affection. No, probably not for my dad’s affection; I didn’t know how much of his affection she wanted. It was maybe for his obedience, not affection. And, certainly, if there had been other women, women who loved him and he could choose to love, then her dominance would be shattered. If that was the case, then obviously she would hate my grandfather and my grandmothers for their ‘big love’ family. She mentioned on the video that she hated her own mother, Lyssa, because she loved Pops and accepted his family, even though she wasn’t part of it.
My mom hated my grandfather. She hated my grandmothers. All of them. She hated Alice and Brenda. She hadn’t really mentioned Clarice, but she had said that she hated both my father and I as well. And then there were the little sisters, my grandfather’s last children. It seemed that she hated them most of all.
The Wounded Page 15
