The woman next to Amud did not offer her hand. I did not extend mine. She stood two feet behind and to the side of her husband throughout the introduction, her eyes to the floor.
He said something I didn't understand, and I was rewarded with a blinding smile from the eyes of the woman as she looked up for the first time. Her eyes were all that was visible of her face, just above her 'Arabian Nights' veil. Most interesting.
Amud spoke to her and she replied in a firm clear voice. I didn't understand a word.
"Shall we do the fresh one or the happy one first?" her husband interpreted for her.
"Are those her words or are you interpreting her meanings?"
"I am sorry if I have offended you, Mr. Sampson, sir," supplicated Amud. "Please forgive me. I will attempt to make her words better in English."
I laughed. She was a most perceptive person, from her descriptions of two women she had never before met. Her apt descriptions confirmed the intelligence I had seen in those flashing eyes. Yes, she understood 'these things' very well, as I wager the young man did as well. I would have to talk with him a bit more. I was also curious about what she thought.
"No, Amud," I reassured him, "I am very pleased with the words she uses and the way you said them. They are very perceptive. You have reason to be very proud of your wife."
He beamed at her as I said this, interpreting my words to her. She blushed scarlet under the veil at receiving a compliment from another man. I continued when he had finished.
"Amud, I would like to ask you to do something. I am not very familiar with your culture or of 'these things'. If it is allowed, please ask your wife to speak freely, commenting as she goes through the measuring process. I would like you to translate what she says literally. If you do not know a word, use a word picture, or describe what it does. I would like to ask questions of her as we go along, as well. Would that be allowed?"
He thought about it, chewing it over. He then asked his wife. The discussion was somewhat heated. I wasn't sure who won.
"It is unusual request from strange man. At home, at old home, it would not be allowed for strange man to talk to wife or for him to have to hear worthless prattle from her ugly mouth, even through interpreter. But this is America, our new home. We must learn new ways of new home. Such things are not forbidden by Holy Book. We ... excuse please, I will allow it." Ah Ha! His wife had won!
"Wonderful! Then do the fresh one first. I want the happy one to enjoy herself as long as she can."
He relayed the information to his wife. She bowed deeply to him, and waited for his signal to rise. She turned to me and started to bow, but stopped. She looked over at him for direction in this new situation. He said something to her that was apparently permission for her to speak, as she spoke and gestured at me.
"My wife wishes to thank you for this opportunity, but says it is dangerous to bow to untrained stallion, most likely get head kicked in. Please forgive her ugly mouth, Mr. Sampson, sir!"
He was clearly embarrassed by her description of me, though, in a way, I was pleased. But then I thought that the term 'stallion' might mean something different to her than the picture of raw male power it brought to my mind. Either way, I had asked for it and I would take it. I told him as much, and begged him to continue without apologizing for her. I would take no offense, as I was sure none was intended. He nodded.
We followed along as she led Janey into a smaller side room. I stood at the door where I could keep an eye on Sally, who had stayed behind in the showroom. There was a table off to one side of the smaller room. I ran my hand over the assortment of leather objects laid out on the table, each made with exquisite craftsmanship. I picked up a supple whip to admire the handiwork.
I looked up as a sharp command from the woman that was addressed to Janey, who had been standing off to one side, looking bored. The woman's change of personality was surprising, as suddenly, when speaking to Janey, she was in command.
"Please to remove clothing, young lady."
I raised my eyebrow questioningly at him. He lowered his eyes in apology.
"Strip!"
Janey looked over at me questioningly, bringing a tirade from the woman, pointing her finger at her own chest.
"You look me. I say what is, now! Yes?"
She moved to place herself between Janey and I and stood very close to her face, fixing her with her eyes. I saw the fear in Janey's expression suddenly vanish as she watched the woman. Later she said she did not see any bad things in them, just excitement and laughter.
Janey shed her clothing without another protest, even going so far as to fold them neatly in a pile to one side.
Pulling out a tape measure, the foreign woman began measuring Janey in minute detail. Each finger was measured for length and diameter, exact distances between her wrist and elbows, elbows and underarm, and so on. The woman would measure and write down a measurement on a clipboard. She worked in silence for a while, moving Janey's limbs as necessary.
When she was through with her torso and limbs, she began measuring Janey's head. She took every possible measure around, across, mouth opened, mouth closed, turning left and right, and tipped forward and back. She picked up a series of several metal bars and rings. She put one bar after the other into Janey's mouth until she was satisfied she had the largest size that would fit. With Janey's mouth still open, she used her index finger to touch the soft palate in the back of her mouth. Janey gagged at the touch.
"You must be tougher to swallow long, fat hoses, fresh one. Not good to bite off hose of Master.
She put the metal pieces back on the table, and addressed Janey.
"Make points!"
Janey, to her credit, addressed her, and not me. Amud translated for his wife.
"Points? Make what points? I don't understand."
She stepped back from Janey as if stunned. Turning to her husband, she made a wild gesture and said something. He pointed at me, and shrugged.
His wife turned to me and started talking slowly, as if to an idiot. Her husband's eyes grew wide with fear. I looked at him expectantly, silently ordering him to translate.
"You lazy worm! You bring me stupid cow to make trouble. Waste of time to train this late. Better to sell to house for sailors. Eeii! May your hose drop off before you make more worthless babies. This one's training not even started. How can you expect her to sing for Gods, if she cannot do things babies learn? Eeii. Tell her, 'make points!' Tell her, 'make dew!' Maybe she do for you!"
"I apologize for my ignorance. We..." I gestured to myself and the two girls. " ... are new to 'these things' and have a lot to learn. Please explain to us what you mean. What are points? What is dew? Don't be afraid of insulting us, and please do not despise us. This is not a part of our culture, but we wish to learn. Please, help us."
She stood there with a look of disbelief on her face.
"Your words say one thing, and when I see your stupid face and this worthless cow, I believe you. But then I hear the happy one sing, and I think you lying. You do know some things," she said accusingly.
"Singing?" I asked.
"Are you deaf as well as stupid? Listen to her with your ears, your heart and your worthless hose."
I turned to watch Sally. Her hands were now extended far over her head, and she had knotted the hanging leather straps in loops through which she slipped her wrists. The short T-shirt was clear above her breasts, which were as firm and taut as I had ever seen them. Her shorts were on the ground beneath her as her feet hung above the ground by several inches. The smooth side of the saddle against which she leaned caught her right at the juncture of her thighs. She was slowly rocking her hips in a forward and back motion, rubbing her mound against the saddle. There was a large wet stain on the leather.
As it got quiet in the room and I concentrated, I could hear the faint sounds of her moaning, but nothing else. I turned questioningly to the impatient woman.
"You not hear her?" she asked with disbelief. "She is not good, but she is singing." She made a sound, making fun of the moans coming from Sally. "Need much practice, but she has nice voice."
"You will need to teach us as children. She, uh, likes to sing. She needs to sing better."
The woman gave an exasperated sigh.
"Eeii! Children in my father's house know more. OK. Listen close."
She stepped around behind Janey who had been standing quietly. The woman reached around the girl and lightly touched her fingers to the tips of her breasts. Janey flinched as if shocked.
"Hey! Stop that! Ouch! Larry, make her stop. I don't want this anymore," protested the teen.
The small woman immediately released the girl. She went over to the table and picked up a leather item. She turned and addressed me.
"Noisy cow. We use old horse hose stuffed with dung at home. Now just use this for quietness. OK?"
She held up a penis gag and gestured at Janey. The girl's eyes widened at the size of the gag. I nodded to the woman to continue.
"Laaarryy! NO! Please, I'll be qui ... mmmff."
Her protests were silenced as the gag slid home and was fastened behind her neck.
"There. Keeps silence in tent. If young cow not good, can use in bottom hole before make quiet. Once, twice, maybe, she learn quietness."
Janey's eyes bulged as she realized the woman might have used this as a butt plug in someone else before putting it in her mouth. From her position behind Janey, I could see the twinkle in the woman's eye. I could have sworn she winked at me, as well, but I didn't know if her culture allowed that.
I also noted that with all her protests, Janey had not made one step to flee or to move towards me for protection. If she had, I would have stopped everything immediately.
"Relax, Janey. I told you it would be very intimate and personal. Don't fight her, OK? Just enjoy."
She tensed slightly as the woman again cupped her breasts from behind and massaged her nipples to erection, but then relaxed as the woman's expert touch aroused her passions quickly. Janey's breath quickened and became irregular. The woman stepped away from the panting girl.
"Points. Points are here."
Her hand wandered down to the soft downy hair covering Janey's pussy. Her hand moved slightly, and then a single slim finger disappeared between the tight folds.
"Dew is here. EEEE! Here is also point!"
She went swiftly over to Sally and gently felt between her legs, without disturbing her trance-like state. Returning, she spoke directly to her husband, speaking excitedly. She then turned and bowed deeply to me while he spoke.
"My worthless wife apologizes for bad names she said about you. You are brave man, to have two women with all points in house. Your hose must be truly strong. You are brave and foolish. But I help teach you to make sing without hose. Save hose for making babies. Not too late if cows have third point."
I had heard that the practice of clitorectomy - female circumcision — was still occurring in some countries, but thought it had been outlawed by the UN. Apparently it was not. I asked Amud about it.
"Old men burn off lower point of young brides. Take life out of bride, but old men can then have many brides. They no fight, they no care."
He turned defiant, as if remembering an old argument.
"I not an old man. I leave home. One bride, all points."
He appeared to be challenging me to contradict his decision. He had left his family, his home and his country for the love he had for his wife. I bowed as deeply as I could to him.
"No! No, Mr. Sampson, I am worthless son of sheepherder. No bow."
I stood back up. "Amud, that may have been what you were before. What I see now is a brave man with a pure heart and a true gift. Not just your craft. You have the rare gift of true love for your wife, and a rare wife, a treasure. It is for that I bow to you."
He was thoughtful for a moment, considering what I had said. He nodded once, as if agreeing with what I had said, and then spoke to his wife. I don't know what was said, but from that point on, she was much less critical and much more instructive.