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 A World of My Choosing   An Out-of-this-World Story by Gil Gamesh   Chapter
Thirty   One evening, just as night was beginning to descend, Iain
performed for us again, a brief concert with three songs.  The concert was
an excellent demonstration of his musical talent and his knowledge of
classical music.  Maybe he did inherit a music gene from his mother.  If he
could learn so much in the four years he was on our old Earth, I wondered
what else he was capable of doing.

   We assembled on the terrace just outside the entrance doors to our home,
all bundled up against the cold evening temperatures, and he sang to us.  I
cuddled Anna, Toby hugged Jean-Nicole, and James stood behind Caitlyn
holding her.

   First, Iain performed something he called Echo.  It was a piece we had
heard before, Belle Nuit from The Tales of Hoffmann, but he did it
differently this time.  He asked us to stand facing the entrance door and
then he went around behind us.  Aimee played the music and the recorded
voices of two female sopranos came from the direction of the entrance door.
A split second later, Iain sang the same thing from somewhere behind us,
like an echo, in very good French and in his beautiful tenor voice.  I
thought it was probably the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard.  I had
goose bumps all over.

   Then he came to the front of us and amazed us again.  Aimee played the
intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavalleri Rusticana and Iain sang something he
called `My Love, My Life' with words of his composing.  The words fit the
music beautifully and were about his love for her.  Again I was left
mesmerized.  I saw tears in more than one set of eyes.

   Finally, he performed something he called Duo with music and words from
Chantes D'Auvergne by Cantaloube.  Aimee played the music accompanied with
a recorded tenor voice that I knew was Iain's and he sang along live at the
same time.  If I can describe it, Iain's first voice, recorded, was simple
and straight forward.  Iain's second voice, live, was playful, weaving in
and around his recorded voice like a vine growing up a straight column. 
The effect was unbelievably beautiful.

   As breathtaking and enthralling as his performance was, I could not help
but be saddened because I had gone so long without knowing the beauty of
music and the human voice.  I had been pursuing revenge for the death of my
father for much of my life and had never enjoyed music and singing.  I
silently resolved to make time for them in our new world.  I wanted Iain to
teach me about music and I was determined to continue training my voice as
a singer.  I was also going to encourage all the others to let him teach
then.

   After the last of the performance, nobody clapped, nobody whistled,
nobody cheered.  We were all frozen in awe of the beauty of what he had
done.  We simply stood there smiling and so did he.  He knew what he had
done and how we had received it.  Then he announced that the first meeting
of The New World Chorus would be in two days in the lounge and he expected
us all to be there.  That's when I started clapping and whistling.  The
others joined in the ovation and I wondered when they were going to stop.

   Iain is still working with me one-on-one with exercises to develop my
singing abilities.  He wants me to start every lesson with a breathing
routine and then to run the scales starting with the major scales and the
major arpeggios.

   At the same time, he wants me to be aware of how I elucidate every word.
He has me listening to some guy singing You Lift Me Up with almost every
word clearly pronounced.  He says he wants to hear from me and, not an, and
imperfectly, not imperfec'ly when I sing it next time.  He also wants me to
be aware of the emotions I convey when I sing the song.  He says my words
should be like I'm touching her cheek or gently kissing her.  I thought I
did a good job the first time around but now I realize I've got a lot to
learn.  One afternoon when the weather is not too cold, I want to climb to
the top of the mountain, just the two of us, and to sing You Lift Me Up to
her.  Maybe I won't feel like such damn fool next time.

   He's also suggested another song for me to learn, The Music of the Night
from Phantom of the Opera.  He said the next night I make love with Anna to
understand that we are making the music of the night.  I think that's a
good description for our love-making.

   <><><>

   I'm still trying to guide Iain and all the others in exercising.  When
the weather is good, we do our exercises outdoors wearing clothes and when
it's bad we do them indoors wearing loincloths.  We're also now making good
use out of all the exercise equipment left for us.  Before the weather got
cooler and cold sometimes, we rarely had time to use the machines.  Now
there is often one or more in the exercise room any hour of the day and
even at night.

   I won't let up on guiding them to use weapons of all kinds.  I'm good
with the Brute and I practice using it every few days.  After the string
hit my arm a few times, I made a leather armguard to protect the inside of
my wrist.  Anna and James and Toby are good with smaller bows.  They often
practice with the crossbow on the terrace and want to take it hunting.  I'm
not sure that's wise since it's heavier than a simple bow and probably was
more of a defensive weapon.  Caitlyn doesn't have the body strength to use
most weapons but she tries.  She's quick and we've got her practicing with
a small bow.  Jean-Nicole promises to be as good as a woman can be with
most weapons not requiring much body strength.  She has a romantic image of
herself using a sword and she is training at that.  I suppose they all know
we've got to leave the safety of Aimee's protection someday.  When we do,
our primary enemies will be dangerous animals and raptor birds, not people.

   <><><>

   This will require some explanation.  Patience will be required while I
try to explain how it all happened.  I will recount the incident as best I
can but sometimes I don't know how I end up in a situation like that.  How
did I end up bent across the foot of Aimee's chair, with Anna in front of
me holding both my hands in hers and giggling, with Aimee in her monitor
behind me watching what was happening and sniggering on occasion, with all
the others watching and trying to suppress their laughter, and with
Jean-Nicole sitting in a chair behind me with one hand on my back and one
finger of the other hand up my ass?

   It all started the morning when Toby and James and Lucky, of course,
found me outside just sitting on the highest level of the terraces.  Toby
had a complaint.  He had a dull ache in his left testicle that had kept him
awake part of the night.

   "Have you had any trauma to it?" I asked.

   "Trauma?"

   "Have you injured yourself in some way?  You and James wrestle
sometimes. Did he knee you in your testicles?"

   "I don't think so.  We were wrestling yesterday but we're both pretty
careful with our nuts.  It's been hurting for a few days, not bad, but
enough to scare me."

   "Well, let's go find Anna," I said.  "She's the nurse, not me.  Maybe
she can help."

   Anna and Caitlyn and Jean-Nicole were in the room with Aimee.  Anna was
in the lounge chair, the other two on each side of her.  From the way they
stopped talking, I assumed that they were having a little girl-talk.

   "Anna, Toby says he has a dull ache in his left testicle.  It's been
hurting him for a few days and it kept him awake some last night."

   Anna raised the lounge chair, stood up beside the chair, and patted the
seat.

   "Hop up here, Toby," she said.  "I'm no urologist but with Aimee's help
maybe we can do something for you."

   Toby got in the chair with his loincloth covering his privates.  Anna
flipped it up on his chest out of the way.  He spread his legs and his
testicles drooped down almost to the chair.  His penis was semi-soft or
semi-hard as usual and bent over his testicles without touching them.

   Jean-Nicole stood up and came over beside the lounge chair.  She took
Toby's hand in both of hers, leaned over, kissed him on the cheek, and
smiled at him.  Toby looked up at her and I knew he was looking at her
beautiful eyes.  I sat down in the chair she had vacated.

   Iain walked in and appraised the situation.  Why was Toby in the lounge
chair with Jean-Nicole holding his hand and with his privates displayed? 
Why was Anna looking at his groin so intently?

   Caitlyn stood up from the other chair, motioned for Iain to sit down,
and then sat back down in his lap.  She folded her legs up somehow and,
when Iain wrapped his arms around her, she put her arms over his with her
hands holding his.  She whispered to him and kissed him as usual.  Then the
two of them returned their attention to what Anna was doing.

   "Aimee, would you please check Toby's temperature?" Anna asked.

   "His temperature on the David scale is sixty-five point nine, a little
cooler the normal sixty-six point eight degrees," Aimee promptly answered.

   "Can you check the temperature of each of his testicles?"

   "No, but I can tell you whether one is warmer than the other.  I need to
shift to my infra-red vision so I must turn out all other lights."

   We stood in pitch blackness for a moment and then the lights came back
on.

   "The amount of heat radiated from each of his testicles is the same,
Anna.  They are slightly cooler than his body, as they should be."

   "Thank you, Aimee," Anna said.  "Now, could you help me run through a
check list of the possible causes of testicular pain in young males?"

   She turned to Toby and swatted him gently on his stomach.  He finally
quit looking up into Jean-Nicole's face and turned toward her.

   "Toby, you don't seem to have a fever so we can probably rule out an
infection," she said.  "Aimee and I will go down the check list and see if
we can rule out other causes.  First, when you pee, does it burn or hurt?"

   "Uh uh, most of the time, it doesn't bother me.  Sometimes when I have a
piss-hard and I have to push to get started my left one hurts just a
little."

   "Is the color of your urine always the same, a light shade of yellow? 
Is there a pink tint to it?"

   "Yeah, it's the same as always and it's not pink."

   "When you masturbate, does the semen look like it usually does, like
water with something white in it?"

   "It's the same as always.  I jacked off twice yesterday and everything
looked normal.  `Course, I didn't really look at it very close."

   "Aimee, I'm going to feel his testicles to see if I can find anything
unusual," Anna said.  "Then I'm going to check him for a hernia.  Is that
what I should do?"

   "Yes, Anna, you might examine his testicles with both hands at the same
time and compare them."

   Jean-Nicole interrupted the questions and answers.

   "Anna, would you let me help you when you're doing things like this?"
she asked.  "Maybe I'd like to be a nurse too and you could teach me.  I
cared for my brothers and sisters lots of times but I didn't really know
how to help them.  I'd like to learn something like nursing so I can be
more help here."

   "Aimee, do you have teaching materials for someone interested in
becoming a nurse?" Anna asked.

   "Yes, Anna, I have the materials and I can also teach courses in
nursing," Aimee answered.  "Jean-Nicole, if you will come to me at your
convenience, we can decide what courses you need."

   "Good," Anna said.  "If these boys keep getting hurt, I'm going to need
somebody to help me care for them.  Aimee can help you with studying the
books and I can give you some hands-on experience."

   Jean-Nicole giggled.  "I had some hands-on experience a few nights ago.
Whew!"

   "And you're about to get some more," Anna said.  "I'm going to examine
Toby's testicles and I want you to watch me and then give him another
exam."

   James giggled and said, "Somebody's going to get a hard-on."

   "Well, if he does I'm going to ask Jean-Nicole to masturbate him.  Maybe
we should have a semen sample to look at."

   "Ooohhh, do me next," James whispered.

   "Shut up, James," Toby said.

   "Up yours, Toby," James said.

   "I can give you a semen sample," I whispered.

   "Shut up, David," Anna said.

   "I can give you a big sample," Iain whispered.

   "Shut up, Iain," Caitlyn said.

   "Caitlyn, could you get me some of that lotion we both like?" Anna
asked.

   She was back in flash with the lotion.  Again, she curled up in Iain's
lap and they smiled at each other and then kissey kissey kissed.

   Anna pushed Toby's legs together and lifted his testicles so they rested
on his thighs.  Then she coated her hands and Toby's testicles with lotion
and began the examination, keeping up a running commentary so Toby and
Jean-Nicole would understand what she was doing.  She felt one testicle,
then the other, and then used both hands to compare them.  When she said
that everything felt normal, I saw the relief in Toby's face.  Well before
she finished, his penis was quivering over his abdomen.  She ignored it.

   I looked at James.  His penis was pointing almost straight up.  I looked
at Iain.  I couldn't see his but Caitlyn was squirming on something.  I was
sitting in a straight chair, leaned forward with my elbows on my knees.  I
looked at my penis.  It was standing straight out.

   "Toby, everything feels normal," Anna said.  "One testicle is sometimes
larger than the other but I can't feel any difference in yours.  The
testicle feels about like a boiled egg without the shell and yours feel
smooth like they should.  The epididymis on the top of the testicle is like
a bunch of coiled strings or tubes and they feel normal too.  I'm leaning
toward a diagnosis of overwork or slight injury."

   "Yeah, it did start aching after we played with Jean-Nicole," he said.

   "Do you mind if Jean-Nicole examines you too?" she asked.

   "It's OK with me," he said, and smiled widely.

   "Anna, one possible cause of Toby's pain is testicular torsion," Aimee
said.  "It is caused by one testicle becoming twisted in his scrotum.  That
interrupts the blood flow to the testicle.  It is common in boys aged
twelve to eighteen.  Since both of Toby's testicles emit the same amount of
heat, they probably have the same blood flow and thus I do not think
torsion is the cause.  Perhaps the best thing to do is just watchful
waiting."

   "I agree, Aimee," she said.  "Toby, I want a report on your pain level
first thing in the morning and last thing at night.  No wrestling, no
exercise, and no...well, maybe it wouldn't hurt if you jack off once a day.
Aimee, will you remind him if necessary?"

   "Yes, Anna."

   Anna took his penis in her hand, slid the foreskin the rest of the way
back, and just stood looking at it.

   "Here, hold this," she said to Jean-Nicole.  "Straight up."

   Jean-Nicole leaned over and kissed Toby's penis right on the tip of its
shiny head.  He grinned and moaned.

   Anna looked at his groin area from different angles and then rubbed the
skin on his lower abdomen around his penis with her finger-tips.

   "Toby, sometimes a man has a hernia, a protrusion of something, into his
lower abdomen, what we call the groin area.  Yours is smooth and hard so I
don't think you have that kind of hernia.  After Jean-Nicole examines you,
I need to check to see if you have a hernia into your scrotum."

   "It's always smooth and hard," James whispered.

   "Shut up, James," Anna said.  "I was talking about the skin on his lower
abdomen, not his penis."

   While Jean-Nicole examined his testicles, she and Anna whispered back
and forth.  I wondered if she was really going to ask him for a semen
sample.  She didn't.  When Jean-Nicole finished her examination, Anna
slapped him on the stomach and motioned for him to get up.  He got up and
started to go somewhere.  Anna grabbed him and pulled him back.  He stood
there with his penis pointing up at about a fifty degree angle.

   Anna motioned for me to get up out of the chair.  She sat down in it and
pulled Toby over in front of her.  She cupped his scrotum in her fingers
and told him to turn his head and cough.  Then she moved her hand to his
other testicle, told him to cough again, and slapped him on his hip, all as
efficiently as I'd ever had it done to me.

   "Toby, you're a fine healthy young man and you don't have an inguinal
hernia.  We're going to watch you and wait.  Remember to give me those pain
level reports."

   Toby started to go somewhere again.

   "Toby, get back here," Anna chided.  "Jean Nicole is going to check you
for an inguinal hernia."

   They whispered back and forth and, at one point, Anna put her fingers
back behind Toby's scrotum, found the spot, and let Jean-Nicole follow her
finger to where she was pressing.  They both ignored his penis pointing up
at the ceiling.

   "It's hard to find the place, Anna," Jean-Nicole said.  "Maybe we could
do James too, just for practice, I mean."

   And they did.  And then they did Iain, just for practice.  And finally
they did me, just for practice, of course.  They ignored three more penises
pointing upward.  I might have believed they were practicing if they had
stopped giggling.  Oh well, finally they had groped all four of us and
found nothing, at least no hernias, just hard-ons.

   "Jean-Nicole, I want you to think carefully about helping me," Anna
said. "Sometimes being a nurse makes you do very unpleasant things.  Since
I'm the only one here with medical training, I've got to be doctor and
nurse to everybody.  One of the things guys hate most is a prostate exam.
Do you know what that is?"

   Jean-Nicole shook her head no.

   Anna explained what the prostate is and where it is and how it is
examined digitally.  Jean-Nicole was incredulous.

   "You mean you have to stick your finger up his ass?" she asked.

   Anna nodded without a trace of a smile.

   "We need a volunteer," she said.  "David, would you bend over the end of
the chaise-lounge?  I'll examine you first and then Jean-Nicole will."

   I was about to run.  No way.  I wasn't about to let two women stick
their finger up my ass.  I looked at Anna and saw a slight smile and a look
in her eyes that seemed to dare me to refuse.  My penis was bobbing up and
down in time with my heart beat.  It told me to do it.  I gave in.

   And that's how I ended up bent over Aimee's chair while Anna put lotion
on her hand and eased her middle finger up my asshole.  When she found my
prostate and rubbed it, my monster ratcheted up a couple of notches.  Then
she told Jean-Nicole what to feel for and held both my hands while I got a
second finger.  Jean-Nicole wasn't as gentle as Anna.  She rubbed on my
prostate a little too hard and I couldn't help what happened.  I gave them
a semen sample.  It squirted out on the floor between my spread legs.

   <><><>

   One cold sunny morning, Iain and I decided to go deer hunting again. 
James and Toby wanted to go so we split up into two teams, me with Toby and
James with Iain.  We went down the trail toward the beach and then went in
two different directions.  Toby and I quietly walked for a while, trying to
keep the wind to our face.  I was becoming discouraged of finding anything
when we finally saw a few deer grazing peacefully.

   They must have seen or smelled us because they all raised their heads at
the same time and I knew they were about to bolt.  I quickly chose a
target, a doe closest to us, raised the Brute, and, without really aiming,
let an arrow fly.  I was astonished when the arrow seemed to disappear, the
doe dropped like a stone, and the other deer fled for their lives.  Toby
managed to get off an arrow but the deer were already out of his range. 
When we examined the doe, I saw why my arrow had disappeared.  It had gone
almost completely through the doe, probably through the heart, and was
hanging out the other side with only the feathered end still in her.

   The deer was small enough and we were walking on mostly level ground so
I decided to carry it back to where we had agreed to meet Iain and James to
field dress it.  Toby carried my bow, spear, and knives and all I had to
carry was the deer.  It weighed about the same as the fifty-pound backpack
I had once carried on an endurance test and I was a little tired when we
found the others.

   Iain and James were sitting on the ground talking.  I didn't see a deer
but they were smiling and their backpacks were evidently full of something.
They showed me and Toby what they had: two backpacks full of huge eggs.

   They had found a large swampy area with shallow water and had seen
something white under the water.  They took off their boots to wade and
found an egg, then another, and still more.  By the time their feet got
painfully cold, they had over fifty eggs.  They didn't see the birds which
laid the eggs but there were some large white feathers floating.  From the
size of the eggs, they guessed that the eggs were from geese which used the
swamp as a resting place on their way south.

   There was Spanish moss hanging from trees and on the ground at the
swampy area so they gathered that to protect the eggs and then packed them
in their backpacks.  So far not a single one had been broken.

   With three others helping, I quickly field-dressed the deer.  All we had
to do then was to carry everything about an hour back up the mountain. 
Iain and I tied a spear between the deer's legs and carried it.  James and
Toby walked carefully back home carrying the eggs.

   I was pleased with our hunt and our success in finding food, especially
since we had not had any eggs in months.  The day was cool but comfortable.
The sun was shining in a cloudless sky.  All the fall leaves were rustling
in the breeze blowing up the mountain.  I was with three guys whose company
I enjoyed.  It was good to be alive and living in a world of my choosing.
Little did I know that some things were about to change.

   <><><>

   "David!  Anna!  Please come to my room!" Aimee called out.  "Two
children have arrived, a boy and a girl!  They seem to be sleeping.  Their
vital signs are very unusual!"

   Anna and I were up early as usual, already dressed in loincloths.  No
one else was, not even Lucky.  We were in the kitchen, sitting at a table
talking about what needed to be done during the day.  Thirty-five days had
passed since Jean-Nicole's arrival so we had been expecting someone for a
few days.  We did not expect two people to come to us.  That had never
happened before.

   I was horrified by what I saw on their backs and buttocks.  Both had
been whipped, the boy much worse than the girl, and their skin showed
numerous red stripes.  The beatings appeared to have been inflicted just an
hour or so ago and some strokes had broken the skin in a few places.  Both
had a few little trails of fresh red blood oozing down.  I looked at Anna
and her face registered the same horror I felt.

   The boy and girl were in Aimee's chair, lying face to face, a few inches
apart, relaxed in sleep.  They were children, not adults, not even
teenagers, just children.  Her arms were folded and her hands were near her
throat.  One of his arms was under her neck and the other was protectively
over her chest.  One of her legs was between both of his.  The similarity
of the blond color of their hair and their looks told me they were probably
siblings.  Their similarity of size made me think that they might be twins.


   They were both beautiful as only children can be, as beautiful as any
children I'd ever seen.  Their hair was a light golden blond color, all
curly and tangled and long, almost down to their shoulders.  Their faces
and bodies were almost identical but one was clearly male and one female.
Flawless milky-white skin, freckles across their pink cheeks and cute
little noses, full red lips, small chins: they were the children of fairy
tales, almost too strikingly beautiful and too perfect to be real.  How
could anybody abuse children of such beauty?

   I glanced at the boy's genitals to see if I could guess his age.  His
erect penis was like a boy's, not a man's, perhaps eleven centimeters,
around four inches long, uncircumcised, and his testicles were smaller than
either James' or Toby's.  I saw just a few light blond hairs around his
penis and I knew he was in the very first stage of puberty.  I couldn't see
the girl's pubic mound because her leg hid it.  I glanced at her chest and
saw a slight swelling of breasts.  I guessed they might be twelve years
old.

   "Aimee, you said their vital signs were very unusual," Anna said.  "What
do you mean?"

   "All of you arrived with vital signs elevated," she said.  "Heart rate,
respiration, and temperature were usually higher than normal.  Their
temperatures are almost normal but their heart and breathing rates are much
slower.  They are also unresponsive to our conversation."

   "That could mean they've been drugged," Anna said.  "Is there any way
you can tell?"

   "No, Anna, I do not have that capability," Aimee said.  "I know the side
effects of all the drugs in my possession but I cannot answer your question
with certainty.  Their symptoms are similar to a strong dose of an
analgesic."

   "David, would you get us some washcloths and wet them with cold water?"
Anna said.  "We're going to see if we can rouse them enough to tell us
something."

   On autopilot I went to the bathing chamber and got the washcloths.  My
mind was swirling with questions about what we should do.  I had no
experience in dealing with abused children and I was reasonably certain
that Anna didn't either.  I had been hoping for another arrival well on the
way to adulthood like Jean-Nicole, preferably a young man, not a child,
certainly not an abused child.

   When I returned to Aimee's room, Anna was standing behind the girl.  She
had put a blanket over the two of them up to their shoulders.  I stood
behind the boy and held out a washcloth to her.

   "I think we should ask Aimee to call Iain and Caitlyn," Anna said. 
"We're going to need some help."

   "I do too," I said.  "Aimee, would you call them?  No one else.  And
don't let anyone else in your room."

   "Yes, David, I will call them," Aimee said.  "The boy's heart rate has
increased slightly and his eye-lids have moved.  He may be awakening."

   "I'm going to try to help the girl," Anna said.  "You work with the boy.
Use the washcloth on just his face and be very gentle.  Let's keep talking
and see if we can get a response from them."

   We deliberately kept up a conversation while Anna very gently wiped the
girls face and I did the same for the boy.  I smoothed his tangled blond
hair away from his face, wiped his eyes, his cheeks to each side, his
mouth, and I finally saw some signs that he was responding.  He turned so
that he was almost flat on his back and his eyes opened slightly for a
second, quickly closed, and opened again.  His eyes were an unusual shade
of blue, beautiful, almost jewel-like, but there was no indication that he
saw anything.  I leaned over so my face was closer to his and I smelled
something unusual, some sort of petroleum smell.

   "Tell me your name, please," I said.  "You're safe and no one is going
to hurt you again.  We want to help you."

   "I'm Pyotr," he whispered almost inaudibly and I saw awareness in his
eyes.  "Who are...where's my sister?  Where's Petra?"

   He turned back toward her and put his hand on her cheek.  "Is she OK?"
he asked.  "Is she dead?"

   "No, Pyotr, she's just sleeping," Anna said.  "She's OK.  You've both
just had a long journey.  You're safe.  In a day or so, you will be back to
normal again."

   "Petra, wake up," Pyotr said.  "Please wake up!  Are you OK?"

   He moved his hand from her cheek to her shoulder and gently shook her.
She slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him.  Her eyes were the same color
aquamarine or topaz blue as her brother's.

   Iain and Caitlyn walked in and registered surprise that two people had
arrived.  "What can we do, David?" Iain asked.

   I put one finger to my lips and held the blanket back so they could see
Pyotr's back.  They were both shocked by what they saw.

   "They are both probably going to need to go pee," I said.  "Can you
carry the girl?  Keep the blanket on her but be careful.  Her back's like
his.  Caitlyn, you go with him.  Anna and I will take the boy."

   "I can carry her, David," Anna said.  "Let Caitlyn go with me and Iain
go with you."

   I knew what she wasn't saying: that Petra would be more comfortable
using the toilet with two women rather than with a man and a woman.  I
didn't question her strength in carrying the little girl and I agreed that
it would be better for the women to take Petra.

   "OK, that's better," I said.  "As soon as they pee, let's bring them
back here and see what we need to do about medicating them and treating
their wounds."

   "David, can we help?" James asked from outside the open door.

   I looked up and saw James and Toby, and, of course, Lucky, outside the
door.  Lucky's tail was wagging frantically as usual.  He couldn't
understand why he could not walk through the door but he kept trying.

   "Yes," Anna answered for me.  "Aimee, do we have an antibiotic ointment
with pain relief in it?  I may need some gauze pads and adhesive tape too."

   "Yes, Anna, we have what you want," Aimee said.  "If someone will go to
the store room, I will direct them to those supplies."

   While we were talking, I saw Petra struggling to hold her eyes open and
look at us.  She gave up and snuggled close to Pyotr with her arm over him
and her face hidden under his cheek.

   Anna put her hand on Petra's shoulder and gently shook her.  She opened
her eyes and looked up at Anna with those beautiful blue eyes but without
registering comprehension.

   "Petra, my name is Anna.  I'm a nurse.  I'll take care of your back in
just a few minutes.  You're safe and no one will hurt you anymore.  Do you
need to pee?"

   Carrying Pyotr back from the toilet, I again smelled something unusual.
I tried to identify it but couldn't.  As soon as we were back in her room,
I asked Aimee if she could smell something from the girl and boy.  Anna
leaned over and sniffed Petra.

   "Yes, David, there is something unusual in the way the boy and girl
smell but I cannot identify it.  I do not have that ability."

   "Pyotr, where were you just before you were transported here?" I asked.
"I smell something on your body that makes me think of a busy highway after
a rain.  What were you doing?"

   He struggled to respond.  "The car ran off the road into a...a pond...
some water beside the road to the airport.  We were screaming...the water
was pouring in and the car was sinking."

   "Aimee, it sounds like they were in dirty water.  I think we need to
bathe them and give them an antibiotic," Anna said.  "Do you agree?"

   "Yes, Anna, I will dispense an antibiotic in liquid form and two bottles
of juice," Aimee said.  "You should give them the medication before you
bathe them.  Encourage them to drink as much as possible."

   "Can we help, Anna?" Jean-Nicole asked.

   I glanced toward the door and saw James, Toby, and Jean-Nicole standing
there.

   "Aimee, let the others in the room," Anna said.  "Let's give them the
medicine and something to drink.  Then we're all going to give them a good
bath, including a shampoo for this wild hair.  Girls will take Petra.  Boys
will take Pyotr."

   Pyotr and Petra were unresponsive while we were bathing them but they
quietly cooperated when four guys and three girls, all naked too, gave them
a good scrubbing from their heads to their toes.  I saw Petra smile
slightly when Jean-Nicole was shampooing her hair.  Pyotr grinned when Toby
rubbed his penis and testicles and James washed the crack of his ass at the
same time.  The stripes on their buttocks and body were hard to look at
and, when we toweled them dry, there was a little pink on the towels.

   When we were through, I asked James and Toby to make up a bed in the
room where Anna and I slept.  I knew sleep was the best medication for the
journey but I didn't know what had been used in drugging them and I wanted
them watched.  I asked Aimee to monitor them closely and to call us if
there was any change in their vital signs.

   Anna and Jean-Nicole cared for Petra first.  They talked her into laying
there in the bed flat on her belly, still naked, while they gently smeared
ointment on the red stripes on her skinny little-girl body and her
beautiful little derriere.  I wondered again how anyone could be so evil as
to whip a child like that.  Then they helped her put on a chemise and crawl
further into the bed.

   Pyotr took her place.  They tenderly treated his back and buttocks and
then asked him to sit up.  I grinned when I saw his genitals.  His penis
had softened after he peed but he again had about four inches of hard penis
with an uncapped red head and with a couple of quail's eggs in a pink
scrotum.  At least he was responsive in that way.

   They ignored his condition and helped him with a chemise.  He lay down
with his back toward us and Petra turned the same way and moved back
against him.  I watched as he put his right leg over her left leg, one arm
over her chest, and his head just behind hers in her hair.  Evidently he
was tickled by her hair; he moved back a little, sighed, and relaxed.

   I knew his hard penis was probably nosing into the warm spot between her
thighs.  Like a camel getting his nose in the tent, I knew that if the head
of his penis ever nestled between the little lips of her pussy he was going
to end up balls-deep in her and eventually give her a dose of his sperm.  I
knew she shouldn't be impregnated by her brother or anyone else for years.
But how to stop it!  That's the problem.

   There was almost no conversation while we prepared breakfast.  I suppose
everybody was as shocked and subdued as I was from seeing two children
abused and drugged.  I wanted to learn what had happened to them as soon as
possible so we could help erase the psychological scars while their bodies
healed the physical ones.

   "Aimee, how are the twins vital signs?" I asked when we were ready to
eat.  "Are they sleeping?  If they show any signs of alertness before
lunch, perhaps they would enjoy eating with us."

   "David, their heart rate, respiration, and temperature are all within
normal ranges for someone who is sleeping," she answered.  "They seem to be
in deep sleep but I do not believe they are in any danger.  I will call you
if there are any changes."

   As soon as we finished eating, I called for a conference.

   "We've got a difficult job ahead of us," I started.  "We've got to
salvage two very young people who have been horribly abused.  I want you
all to give me your ideas on how we can help them, just ideas for the next
day or two.  I'll start off and then I want you all to give me your
thoughts.  OK?"

   They all nodded.

   "Well, first, when they wake up, I want somebody to volunteer to
introduce each of us.  Who wants to do that?"

   "Let me, David," James volunteered.  "I can do it."

   "I can too, David," Jean-Nicole said.

   "OK, James introduce guys; Jean-Nicole introduce girls."

   "Introduce Lucky first," Toby advised.  "He thinks he's the most
important one here.  He's going to be eager to greet them."

   Lucky had just finished gobbling down his breakfast but was already
sniffing around for something else to eat.  If he started for the front
door, James knew to take him outdoors to poop.

   "I agree, David," Jean-Nicole said.  "Lucky can start off by loving them
first.  I think anybody would be cheered up when he greets them."

   "I'd like to suggest something for later, maybe sometime during the next
few days," Iain said.  "Let's all give them a big hug and welcome them to
the family.'"

   "OK, good suggestions," I said.

   "Are we still having spaghetti for lunch today?" Toby asked.  "Let's
wake them up so they can eat with us.  Everybody likes spaghetti."

   "What are we going to be wearing when they wake up?" James asked.  "I
don't think they would be ready for a bunch of half-naked people.  Do you
think we should put on some clothes?"

   "Let's all wear loincloths as usual," Jean-Nicole said.  "When they wake
up, Anna and I can treat their wounds and then bring them to dinner dressed
the same way we are.  And, Toby, we are having spaghetti for lunch if
somebody helps me make it."

   "OK," I said.  "And would you and Anna work together every time you take
care of their wounds?  You're the head chef and now you're the assistant
nurse."

   "They're going to want to know where they are and how they got here,"
Iain said.  "I can tell them but I'd like to wait a day or two until
they're clear headed."

   I nodded.  Another good suggestion

   "We should all be very loving and kind to them," Anna said.  "Don't
smother them.  Give them a chance to come to us.  Somebody could take them
to see Lightning and his family, maybe today if they wake up early enough."

   "The temperature this morning is sixteen degrees," Aimee said.  "The sky
is covered with gray clouds and the wind is blowing.  Please dress
accordingly."

   "Thank you, Aimee," Anna responded.

   "It's good weather to stay indoors and play chess," James said.  "Maybe
they know how and if they don't maybe we could teach them."

   "There's something else we need to think about," I said.  "I don't know
what to do about it.  What are we going to do about sex with them around?"

   They all stared at me.  I suppose they were all thinking.

   "Look, I'm supposed to be the protector to keep all of you safe from
harm.  Pyotr and Petra may be children but I think they're going to be
interested in sex very soon.  I believe we all like having sex together,
playing around, I mean.  Will they fit in?  I don't want any decisions now.
Maybe they'll want to go to bed early after dinner and we could all gather
in the lounge and talk about it.  I already know I want Aimee to teach them
about sex, maybe with a course for the very young."

   "I can do that, David," Aimee said.  "Please let them talk to me by
themselves and I can evaluate their knowledge about sex.  I can tailor a
program specifically for them."

   "OK, morning assignments.  We let the twins sleep as long as they will.
The girls prepare spaghetti for lunch.  The guys go with me to burn the
limb piles in the new garden.  We can probably do that this morning and be
back for lunch.  Is that OK with everybody?"

   <><><>

   Pyotr and Petra woke up just before lunch, reasonably clearheaded.  Anna
and Caitlyn and Jean-Nicole made sure they could walk to the toilet by
themselves, treated their wounds again, got them dressed in loincloths, and
brought them to the kitchen.  They explained that the guys were working
outdoors and would be back shortly.  Jean-Nicole had just taken fresh bread
out of the oven and the twins appreciatively sniffed it.  Caitlyn asked the
twins to help her slice it, put garlic and olive oil on it, and lightly
toast it for lunch.  Anna had the pot boiling for our latest attempt at
pasta.  And that's when the five of us, Lucky included, walked in, one
prancing dog and four dirty smoky-smelly guys dressed like characters from
Sherwood Forest.

   James did a good job of introducing the guys but I don't think the twins
were interested.  They were squatting on the floor while Lucky ran from one
to the other, gyrating wildly, trying to lick their faces.  Everybody was
smiling when he was satisfied that he knew the twins and finally calmed
down.  Anna sent us to the shower and told us to hurry back.  Lunch was
almost ready.  We returned shortly dressed in our indoor loincloths.

   Lunch was garlic bread and pasta shaped like little shells covered with
deer-meat spaghetti sauce.  It was a big hit with all of us.  I thought
James and Toby would never stop eating.  From the way the twins dug into
their servings, it was evident that they were hungry too.

   After lunch, I asked James and Toby to show them around our home.  When
James held out his hand to Petra, she looked at Anna, unsure of what to do.
Anna told her that it was OK, to take his hand, that we all liked to hold
hands with someone when we walked.  Toby held out his hand to Pyotr and he
warily took it.  I watched as the two couples left the kitchen and then
started taking the dirty dishes to the sink.  The girls tried to help but
Iain made them sit back down and he helped me clean up.  When they came
back, they had switched partners and Toby was holding Petra's hand.

   "Pyotr asked me if they had to sleep in the bedchamber with you and
Anna, David," Toby said.  "I told him they had been put in your bedchamber
because it was the closest one so we could watch them and they could
probably have one of their own when they were ready.

   He raised his eyebrows and I knew he was asking me if he had done the
right thing.  I nodded.

   "Pyotr, I'm going to protect you and Petra from now on," I said.  "We
all will.  I'm going to make sure nobody ever beats you and Petra again. 
Anna and I want you to feel safe.  When you understand that you are safe
here, you and Petra can have your own bedroom if you want it."

   James reinforced what I said.  "David, I told them about how you took
care of me and bathed me when I came here and Toby told them how we all
gave him a bath and scrubbed all his meanness away.  I told them they
should think of the bath they got as sort of washing away all the bad
things in their life."

   "Yeah, you and Petra can trust him," Toby said.  "He's a good guy and
he'll do what he says.  He's our leader.  He's like a father to me and
James.  I'm really happy here for the first time in my life."

   "Are we really safe, David?" Pyotr asked.  "I feel like I'm supposed to
take care of my sister and I couldn't do it."

   "Yes, you could, Pyotr," Petra said.  "You did.  I don't know where we
are but we're here and we're both alive.  I guess he's dead and I'm glad we
killed him."

   "When you're ready, we want you to tell us what happened to you and what
you did," Anna said.  "If he's the one who beat you, I'm glad you killed
him too."

   "I told them about Lightning," James said.  "They want to see him and
Thunder and their little ones.  Can we go?"

   "Sure," I said.  "It's cold outside today so we need to put on some
clothes before we go.  Ladies help Petra.  Guys help Pyotr."

   In the clothing storeroom, I casually dropped my loincloth and then
watched as all the others followed my example.  Pyotr and Petra checked out
all of us and then dropped their loincloths too.  Everybody was nonchalant
about our nudity.  I noticed that all the others had followed my example in
another way.  All of us had grown a light covering of pubic hair. 
Jean-Nicole's was barely visible.  I looked closely at Petra and then at
Pyotr and saw a few almost-invisible pubic hairs on their mounds.

   "Petra, you and Pyotr are twins; aren't you?" Anna asked.  "How old are
you?"

   "Yes, we're twins and we're twelve years old," Petra said and then
grinned.  "Pyotr says we're identical twins but I don't think he's right
since I've got an inny and he's got an outy."

   "Toby and I are both fourteen," James said.  "I'm a little older than he
is."

   "I'm fifteen and Iain is eighteen," Caitlyn said, and grinned.  "He's my
husband.  He robbed the cradle but he didn't know how old I really was.  "

   "Well, I'm seventeen and I'm not married and I'm not in a hurry to get
married," Jean-Nicole said.

   "And Anna and I are twenty-five and twenty-six," I said.  "We're just an
old married couple too."

   "Don't listen to him when he says things like that, Petra," James said.
"He's not only our protector but he's also our leader.  I'm glad he's older
than me and got more sense."

   "Even Lucky has more sense than you," Toby said.

   James flipped him a bird.  Toby stuck out his tongue at James.  They
were both grinning as usual.  Petra didn't know what to think of their
antics.

   "Well, when is somebody going to tell us where we are and how we got
here," Pyotr asked.

   "It's a long story and I'll tell you and Petra everything tomorrow,"
Iain said.  "This afternoon, we want to take you outdoors and then show you
something.  Just wait `til you see Lucky playing with Lightning and
Thunder."

   The twins grinned and pranced around and admired themselves when they
were dressed in their Sherwood Forest outfits.  James and Toby had made
Robin Hood hats for all of us and had even made some extras.  They had been
collecting big feathers to go in the hats and they insisted each of us
choose our feather, Petra and Pyotr first.

   When we took them outdoors, the twins marveled at the beauty of our
mountain home.  James and Lucky took them to the highest level of the
terraces where there was a clear view of the sea.  The rest of us waited,
looking at the expressions of wonder on the twin's faces.

   The outdoor temperature and the wind were uncomfortable but nobody
complained.  The sky was crystal blue without a cloud and I knew a cold
front had passed through during the night.  Most of the fall color had
faded but there was still a patchwork of colors where deciduous trees
predominated and green where coniferous were grouped.  I remembered the awe
I felt the first time I saw our world.

   When we started down the mountain, James held Petra's hand and Toby held
Pyotr's.  I held out both my hands to Anna and Jean-Nicole.  Caitlyn
claimed Iain as usual.  We ambled along slowly for a while and then James
started skipping and singing, "We're off to see the wizard." And of course
the rest of us started skipping and singing too.  It made me think of the
last time I had tried to skip with two women.

   James didn't have to restrain Lucky at the outcropping of rocks where
Lightning and his family lived.  He told him sit and Lucky sat.  James made
the kissy sound with the back of his hand that announced our presence and
Lucky emphasized it with a few barks.  We all stood waiting.  Lightning
came out first, charged directly at Lucky, and Lucky ran from him.

   "Just watch," Toby said.  "Lucky likes to get Lightning to chase him. 
If Lightning stops, Lucky will turn around and bark a couple of times and
then he'll run around some more with Lightning chasing him."

   "Yeah, Lucky likes Lightning and his family," James said.  `He never has
threatened them.  Maybe he thinks they're dogs too."

   James had come prepared with treats for the chipmunks.  He gave one to
Lightning, one to Thunder, and tossed a couple to their little ones.  Then
he twirled a circle over a rock with his hand and Lightning ran around the
rock, stood up, cocked his head to one side, and waited.  James gave Petra
a treat and she held out her hand to Lightning and he promptly took it. 
Before I stopped them, Pyotr and Petra had Lightning and Thunder running in
circles and then begging for treats.  Even Lucky got treated.  He didn't
run in circles.  Each time he barked twice, put a begging look on his face,
and James gave him a treat.

   When we started back home, Pyotr came to me and held out his hand.  I
was surprised but I took it and then recognized that he was holding back. I
knew he wanted to talk to me.

   "David, are you going to do it Anna tonight?" he asked, when we were the
last ones on the trail.

   I suppose he saw the surprise that registered on my face.  Before I
could answer, he continued.

   "I mean, are you going to fuck Anna tonight?" he asked.

   "Pyotr, would you let me start teaching you about sex?" I asked.

   He nodded yes.

   "Anna and I love each over very much.  We show that love in lots of ways
and one way is by having sex with each other.  Sometimes I fuck her and
sometimes she fucks me.  Most of the time, we make love.  Do you know the
difference between fucking and making love?"

   He nodded no.

   "When you're concentrating only on your own satisfaction and you're not
thinking of the other person, I call that fucking.  When you're trying to
please the other person as much as yourself, maybe more, I call that making
love."

   "Well, if you are, could Petra and I have our own bedroom?" he asked.

   "If you and Petra want to have your own room, you can choose one just as
soon as we get back."

   "David, he never made love to our mother," Pyotr said.  "He made us
watch them sometimes and he just fucked her."

   "Who's he?  What's his name?

   "Our stepfather.  I don't know his real name.  He said his name was
Robert Williams but I know it wasn't.  I'm glad we killed him."

   "When you're ready to talk about that, Anna and I want you to tell us.
OK?"

   "OK.  We just wanted to get away but we had to kill him first, David.  I
think he was going to take us somewhere and sell us."
   TO BE CONTINUED: