The Great Escape Chapter 4 Part 1 of 5

The Great Escape  
Chapter 4 Part 1 of 5
 
That night, Ezra dreamed about Annela and woke the following day with a stiff erection that propped up his shorts. He looked around and saw that his pretty nurse had already gone out. Annela had woken half an hour earlier when Adam shrieked his morning call and sat up under her blanket against the hut wall, watching Ezra sleep as the light slowly crept along the floor of the hut and up the legs of the cot, making him appear to emerge from the shadows like a ghost returning from the grave. She was fascinated by his erection and wanted to touch his penis, to see what it felt like, but decided it was best not to, in case she woke him. Ezra looked comfortable, so she dressed and did her morning chores with Erin.  
 
After getting up, Ezra furtively peered around the end of the hut to ensure the crapper was unoccupied when he visited it; then, he joined Wildchild and Tamar. They were with Carlin, who was setting out bamboo, rushes, and bark that would later be used for basket weaving. It seemed like the girls were going to get a lesson on another valuable Woodlander skill, but it was one neither girl seemed particularly keen to acquire. Wildchild idly tapped her sandal with the end of the practice bow she now carried around with her all the time, and Tamar dreamily focused on the distance, no doubt counting the hours until she could take up Mirselene's history book again.  
 
Ezra was a welcome interruption.  
 
"Good morning, girls," he said. "I need to stretch my legs. If you're not busy, would you like to come for a walk in the forest?"  
 
Wildchild and Tamar immediately jumped up, and Tamar said, "Come on, Carlin. " However, the shy girl explained that she had to finish her work.  
 
This suited Ezra, who had something to ask the girls.  
 
After Wildchild had quickly retrieved some burnt-tip arrows from Erin's hut, they headed into the forest at a good pace. Tamar added a skip every few steps to keep up or just for fun. After five minutes, Ezra had to slow down.  
 
Though the vigorous walking had felt good, he was not as strong as he thought.  
 
Now Wildchild stopped to string her bow and load an arrow. She jogged briefly to catch up. As they walked, she looked up for birds, occasionally aiming, but no pigeons flew close enough to warrant losing a shaft, and the smaller birds chirruping in the bushes were not worth her effort.  
 
At the slower pace, Ezra began to talk.  
 
"Sorry to take you away from your lesson with Carlin," he said.  
 
"We don't mind. It was only basket-weaving," Tamar replied. Wildchild added her own very disapproving grunt.  
 
Ezra looked quizzically at Tamar for a translation.  
 
"She says it's women's work," Tamar explained, which amused Ezra, who wondered how such a concept could exist in an all-female society.  
 
"Baskets are useful things in the forest," he said. "You have swag bags yourselves. How are they made?"  
 
"A sheep's stomach sewn up."  
 
"Is sewing women's work as well, Wildchild?"  
 
She momentarily stopped scanning the sky to grant him an amused grunt and brandished her bow with a captivating smile.  
 
"I understand," Ezra said, "hunting is real work; everything else is women's work."  
 
Satisfied, the three walked on a little further, silent until Ezra spoke again.  
 
"How long are you planning to stay with the Woodlanders?"  
 
"We haven't decided yet, but Wildchild wants to go on a duck hunt in two weeks. We may stay longer."  
 
"I asked because I need a favor from you."  
 
"What favor?"  
 
"Do you remember where my ship sank? Could you lead me there again?"  
 
"Is that the favor?" Tamar asked, seeing the look of caution on Wildchild's face. They stopped walking.  
 
"Yes. I want to rescue my tools, clothes, and other things from my ship, but I need to find out where it went down. Also, I'll be unable to swim properly for at least a month. But as soon as I'm fully fit, I plan to ask the Woodlanders to accompany me on a salvage mission, and I'll need one or both of you as guides. I wanted to check that you'd still be around."  
 
The girls whispered together for a minute, and then Tamar turned around.  
 
"We don't think you can do it, Ezra."  
 
"Do what?"  
 
"Salvage your ship."  
 
"Why not?"  
 
"Because it's underwater. None of us can swim. Only the Mariners can swim."  
 
"Is that so? I am surprised. Could you let me know if you are sure? The Woodlanders go most afternoons to bathe in the river."  
 
"Yes, they splash around, but none can swim properly."  
 
Ezra thought for a minute and realized he would undoubtedly need the help of proficient divers to salvage what he wanted from his ship, even if it was submerged only in shallow water. He was silent.  
 
Encouraged by nods from Wildchild, Tamar spoke again.  
 
"I'm sorry, Ezra, but we don't want to risk being captured by the Mariners and given back to the Herders. They won't be merciful."  
 
"I understand. I wouldn't have asked you to take the risk if it were unimportant. With the tools I have on board, I could transform the Woodlanders' lives. Also, I have a survival kit and medicines, which you could take on your journey to the mountains."  
 
Knowing Tamar's love for books, Ezra added a further incentive: "I also have a dozen books from Earth."  
 
Tamar was sorely tempted now. Her whispered discussion with Wildchild was animated. Ezra waited patiently, enjoying the fresh morning in the forest. The dampness in the air slowly dispelled now that the sun burnt golden shafts through the treetops. Tamar seemed to be pleading in favor of helping Ezra, but Wildchild was adamant.  
 
It seemed odd to Ezra that Tamar should be the risk-taker and Wildchild the more wary one, but eventually, Wildchild prevailed.  
 
"Sorry, Ezra," Tamar said, "we can't take the risk."  
 
"I understand, girls, and I won't ask you again. I'll have to think of another way."  
 
The fact was that Ezra was not convinced of the threat from the Herders, which he interpreted as the product of two teenage girls' fantasies. Perhaps mistakenly, he did not think a tribe of cattle and sheep-herding women could be the terror of the Samothean plains.  
 
One thing he had yet to tell them about, though he was sure it would be as strong an incentive for Wildchild as books were for Tamar, was his weapons.  
 
With his projectile gun powered by chemical cartridges, besides his laser and plasma tools that can be used for destruction as well as creation, he was sure he could defend the Woodlander tribe from any group of Herders, regardless of what they were armed with or how aggressive they were.  
 
There was silence for a minute or two, then Ezra seemed to change the subject, asking:  
 
"What weapons do the Herders have?"  
 
"Spears, whips and lassoes. The younger ones use slingshots."  
 
Ezra had seen Wildchild take out her slingshot but had not seen her use it yet. He was tempted to say his projectile gun could shoot a bullet a thousand times further and more accurately than she could cast a pebble or shoot an arrow, but he thought better of it for the moment. Instead, he set himself to wondering how difficult it would be to get the Mariners to help him salvage his ship.  
 
Ezra had stretched his legs enough, and the girls began to feel hungry, so they turned back toward the camp.  
 
As Wildchild had not shot at a single bird on the way back, she dropped her arrows at nearby trees just for practice. They waited for her to retrieve them.  
 
While Ezra and the girls were walking, Annela finished her early morning chores and went to ask Parvinder a medical question.  
 
"Tell me about the penis," she said.  
 
The old Indian woman shut her eyes and reflected for a few minutes, recalling the contents of the medical book that had been her constant study during the months she stayed at the Cloner City conceiving and bearing Dipti some thirty or so years ago.  
 
"It's a muscle," she at last answered, "and it has two tubes in it: one for urine and one for - I forget what it's called - the male liquid that impregnates a woman."  
 
Annela needed to learn the name of the liquid.  
 
"The penis swells when the man is aroused, and blood pumps into it. That's what the textbook said, but I'm unsure exactly how it works. I suppose the man might pump it by hand."  
 
"He might do that," Annela agreed, "but twice now I've seen Ezra's penis swell of its own accord."  
 
"You have?"  
 
"Yes. Once, when Tamar and I undressed to go bathing this morning, Ezra was still asleep."  
 
"What did it look like? How big was it? Did you touch it?"  
 
"I didn't touch it. I wanted to, but I thought I might wake Ezra. I saw only its outline under his clothes, but it looked longer than my hand and wider than three fingers."  
 
Parvinder nodded wisely, trying to match her memory of the illustrations in the Human Biology book with her imagination of Ezra naked and erect.  
 
"You know, Annela, why the penis swells?"  
 
"Yes, it becomes stiff so that it can go into a vagina. I wonder what it feels like when it swells."  
 
"I don't know. Perhaps it's what a clitoris feels like when one is aroused."  
 
"Do you think it hurts him?"  
 
"I doubt it. Your clitoris doesn't hurt you, does it?"  
 
Annela shook her head.  
 
"Also, you said he was asleep when it happened last. We don't normally sleep through pain. But his penis might become sensitive, like a clitoris or nipples. Don't your nipples become sensitive when you're aroused?"  
 
"Somewhat, but not very sensitive. I never object to them being licked or played with. Your Dipti is even less sensitive. You can bite her tits as she is about to orgasm, and she will still ask for harder treatment."  
 
Annela and Dipti had been bedmates, and the women of Samothea were utterly open about sexual matters. No compunction prevented her from discussing intimate sexual details with any of the adult Woodlanders, not even with Dipti's mother. A woman like Annela still blushed like a teenager if anyone complimented her but felt no shame regarding bodily functions. This was in marked contrast to Ezra, who would not go to the toilet if anyone else was there and had never stripped naked in front of her. She thought about this for a minute, then she returned to her questions for Parvinder, saying:  
 
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a penis inside you?"  
 
"You've had fingers in your vagina, haven't you?"  
 
"Yes, but only one. I wouldn't say I like it anymore. Ezra's penis is much bigger than a finger."  
 
"Well, the textbook had diagrams of sexual congress and an account of its biology but no real description of what it feels like. I guess you'll find out soon enough."  
 
"What do you mean?"  
 
Parvinder did not answer directly but asked instead:  
 
"Have you guessed what Mirselene has planned for you?"  
 
"For me? Why should she have a plan for me?"  
 
Parvinder only smiled at this reply and Annela realized that her doubt was a little disingenuous. Mirselene had indeed hinted at a plan the day before. Smiling, she thanked the matron and returned to her hut to prepare her medicines and bandages for Ezra's return.  
 
When the three returned to the camp, Wildchild and Tamar went to help prepare breakfast while Ezra was called Ezra to her hut by Annela, who wanted to dress his wounds. She decided he no longer needed a head bandage: the gash was scaring over nicely. She would keep it moist with lotion on a plaster. As for his sprained arm, she left the splints off when she re-bandaged it so that Ezra could move his arm a little. She tied off his sling, and they went together to breakfast.  
 
All the tribe were at breakfast early and paid the usual attention to Ezra while they waited to load up their platters. As he seemed able to cope with their pestering, Annela became less protective. She sat in silence while Ezra fended off the penetrating questions. He was spared only when the food was ready.  
 
In the few minutes of silence when eating began, Ezra had time to whisper to Annela, checking that he recognized all the Woodlanders by name and had a pretty good idea of their ages. He sorted the information in his head.  
 
There were twelve Woodlanders in all. The four matrons: Lenta, Sharne's mother, who was sixty-five, a perfect age on Samothea; Parvinder, Dipti's mother, the Indian woman who cooked well and was a medicine expert, aged sixty-one; Mirselene, aged fifty-five; and Casti, mother of Urulla, the wise woman who tended the chickens. She was forty-six.  
 
Next came six middle-aged women: Erin, forty-two, mother of Carlin; Sharne, thirty-seven, mother of Pepi; Dipti, thirty-three; Dagma, Mirselene's daughter, twenty-eight; Annela, twenty-four; and Urulla, nineteen.  
 
Lastly, there were two children: Carlin, aged fifteen, and Pepi, aged eight.  
 
Quickly doing the math in his head, Ezra noticed that the Woodlanders had once had a clone every four or five years, but recently, they were every eight or nine years. Annela's mother presumably once filled a gap between Mirselene and Casti.  
 
Ezra generally judged the Woodlanders to be fit, strong, and good-looking women. Except for Lenta, Mirselene, and Dagma, they were all thin, though none were as thin as Tamar. Lenta had once been athletic, like her daughter, Sharne, but had become corpulent with age. Mirselene and Dagma had always been robust.  
 
The prettiest of the adults was Annela, whose pink, red, and white beauty contrasted perfectly with the green and grey of the forest. She was five feet six inches tall, about middle height for a Woodlander. The blonde Erin was about the same height and a very handsome woman. Dipti curved more than the other women and had delectable round breasts to go with her round face and pretty black eyes. She was shorter than Annela. Urulla was the tallest. She had long, straight brown hair and long, straight, thin legs. She also had one of those faces that looked like she had too many teeth. Her mother, Casti, had lost an inch of height, but her features had gained an aristocratic mien.  
 
As for the girls, Carlin had an elfin sweetness, a small-featured copy of her blue-eyed mother. Wildchild was even prettier than Carlin. Her green eyes shone mischievously out of a cheeky gamin face framed by strands of loosely curling black hair, but no one in the forest had the heart-stopping beauty that Tamar would certainly possess in a few years.  
 
When breakfast was over, most women were reluctant to leave while Ezra was still there answering questions, so Mirselene again asserted her authority. The gathering broke up, and each woman went to her task.  
 
The woodcutters Sharne and Dagma did not return to the forest but worked on some smaller branches they had cut from the fallen tree. They sat on a bench, whittling the odd-shaped pieces into tools. Dagma was working on a short branch joined to a piece of the trunk that would become a spoon when she hollowed the trunk part into a bowl. Sharne was making the curved handle of a hand axe. They were carved with small flints, but inefficient and easily blunted tools made the work arduous.  
 
Ezra had been good at carpentry on Earth and was keenly interested in their work. He walked over and offered to help. Sharne was delighted and gave him a flat piece of wood and a stone adze, telling him to wedge the wood between the benches or stick it in the ground, then he could shape it into the blade of a spade with one hand. Ezra tried, but the piece kept moving. It was a two-handed job.  
 
Dagma had been bent over her work all this time, paying no attention to him. Her usual response in his presence was a kind of angry silence. Sharne had yet to learn why Dagma seemed to dislike Ezra. She liked him herself very much and, after Urulla, was his most eager questioner. Now, she suggested he might want to work with Dagma. They could take turns, one holding the piece, the other using the tool. Dagma pretended not to hear but bent lower over her task. So, with an apologetic smile, Sharne put down her work and assisted him.  
 
She found him an excellent woodworker. He used longer strokes with the flint tool than she or Dagma did, cutting deep, smooth slices along the grain. Soon, the spade was done, and Ezra held Sharne's piece for her to finish. She tried Ezra's style but couldn't do it. She couldn't press hard enough with the tool. It was the first intimation she had of his strength.  
 
Dagma was still carving her ladle when Sharne finished; this time, Sharne would be addressed. She insisted that Ezra be allowed to help, and Dagma relented.  
 
"You'll be impressed," Sharne said. "Ezra's very strong."  
 
In silence, Dagma handed her tool to him and held the spoon firmly onto the bench. Rather than chip away at the stump, as Dagma had done, Ezra held the flint chisel flat and twisted it around like a drill. It cut deeply into the wood, removing large shavings. It was working well, and when Ezra stopped to rest for a second, Sharne took over, trying his technique, but she could barely make any progress. Ezra's method needed more weight and strength than she possessed. Now Sharne was genuinely impressed, and even Dagma's hostile look became tinged with respect.  
 
Erin and some of the matrons were weaving baskets on the other side of the camp. They chatted as they worked, adding a pleasant alto hubbub to the cocktail of background forest noises.  
 
Annela and the girls had gone into the forest with Dipti and Urulla to forage for tubers, berries and seeds. That afternoon, Carlin and Wildchild were to have an archery lesson with Sharne and Dagma, finishing off with a pigeon hunt. All this activity - the baskets, Annela's cloth, the wooden tools - were for the monthly trade with the Mariners, due to occur in two weeks. The roasted and salted pigeon was a valuable addition to the trade goods, so not all birds shot today would go to the night's feast.  
 
In the morning, he drifted into the afternoon. There was plenty of woodworking to do, but Ezra could not carve wood alone, so when the time came for Carlin and Wildchild to be taken for their archery lesson, he joined Tamar and Pepi, who were having a reading lesson.  
 
Pepi had taken firmly to Ezra. The excitable girl was usually subdued in his presence, but now she climbed into his lap as they sat under the awning of her mother's hut. She opened her book and spelled out the words but was content to repeat what she already knew rather than learn anything fresh.  
 
Tamar was supposed to be helping Pepi read, but she was more interested in the history book Mirselene lent her and demanded Ezra's help deciphering its text. She was unfamiliar with many words and even more ideas, names, and places. Ezra did his best to answer. He explained the Anglosphere: how half the world now followed the Westminster and Philadelphia Constitutions, practiced free trade, and had liberal laws and democratic governments. He said Earth's customs, warfare, populations, cities, and anything else Tamar asked, knowing that her questions were inexhaustible and his knowledge modest. Still, he did his best, and Tamar was enchanted.  
 
Though Ezra was slightly hungry, there had been no lunch, and it occurred to him that yesterday's extra meal was in his honor and not the Woodlanders' usual practice.  
 
In the afternoon, they drifted on, getting warmer and lazier. Pepi became bored and began to fidget, but it was too hot, and she was in too much awe of Ezra to be much of a nuisance. The camp descended into a long silence until the foragers returned with their baskets of vegetables and seeds. Then, there was plenty of bustle to entertain Pepi.  
 
The foragers deposited their gleanings in the storage hut and, though it was still early afternoon, conveyed themselves to the bathing place to prepare for another special feast that night, all except Annela, who quickly checked that Ezra needed nothing and then made her way to seek out Mirselene and find an answer to at least one of her perplexing questions.  
 
Mirselene was in her hut, avoiding the heat of the afternoon sun, when Annela scratched at the doorpost and was admitted.  
 
"Good afternoon, Annela," Mirselene said. "I'm glad you're back. Was it a successful forage?"  
 
"Yes, Madam, very."  
 
"I see you left Ezra to fend for himself."  
 
"He was comfortable, and there was no one to pester him because we were all occupied with chores."  
 
"I see, though I expressly relieved you of all your duties so you could tend to Ezra full-time."  
 
"I know. I'm sorry I disobeyed, but Ezra can look after himself now."  
 
"He can, of course, but that was not my purpose."  
 
"No, Madam, I see it wasn't. Parvinder hinted as much this morning. Please tell me what you want me to do."  
 
Mirselene preferred to use a direct approach. Although she should have revealed her plan initially, she continually preferred to lay the groundwork first. Even now, when it seemed necessary to level with Annela, Mirselene would not be direct, wanting Annela to conclude herself instead.  
 
 
 
To be continued