Just a quick explanation to our readers. The communication lines with the Sharla Winslowe universe were scrambled a few months after they experienced the almost identical events of Sep 11, 2001. Our Information sources are very spotty, but we are trying to re-establish the two way connection and will post stories as we get them sorted out .
Sharla Winslowe
by Christy Lake and Misty Dawn
Chapter 16:
Part 42: Once upon a midnight dreary…
Part 43: Reweaving the Tapestry
Part 44: Action under the Potomac
Part 45. Nourishing Growth
Part 42: Once upon a midnight dreary…
At about the same time Terrie was watching Jenny service Bel Har Kel, Janet and Sheila were convincing Sharla to allow their Research Coven in Portland, Maine have the Reversing Tunnel so they could research, monitor and catalogue the effects. They had cast several spells that had caused physical distortion to inanimate objects and they wanted to try the Reverse Tunnel to see if the distortions could be reversed using its unique fields of energy.
Because of New England Coven’s well-grounded fears of FCLA locating and destroying the research facility in Portland if the Tunnel was directly transported, it was decided to translocate the tunnel to a safe house in Burlington and truck it into Portland under cover of night. Sharla agreed to translocate the tunnel to the truck in Burlington, if the two older witches would use an enclosed truck with a bed long enough and high enough to completely contain the Tunnel. Sheila made a couple of calls using the land lines because she and her followers were not so adept at linking as Sharla’s crew, and found the Public Relations Firm had rented one truck to make holiday deliveries and there were people on call for the holiday furniture relocation. It would be a small matter to hire another truck and get one of the workmen to drive it to Portland. Deciding that she would take the risk to travel to a Warded Circle in Portland to supervise the unloading and securing of the Tunnel, Janet made plans to leave as soon as possible. Because all of them were worried about the Black Magicians detecting them, Sharla quietly offered to translocate Janet to and from Portland when it was time.
*****OoooO*****
Managing to work his way up the East Coast, winding up in Burlington, Cocky Karl had landed a well paying Jack-of-all-trades type job with the Nevermore – Evermore Public Relations and Management Company. He was well established when Jenny moved back to Burlington. For some reason, and he’d never know what possessed him to do so, he continued his E-mail only contact with Jenny. Perhaps it was deep-seated guilt. In his wandering he’d really played the field, but once reaching Burlington, although he continued to socialize, he was not seeing, or chasing anyone.
Just before Christmas, his boss got a phone call from the absentee Majority Owner. He was to have an enclosed truck parked behind the office. It needed to be of a certain size, or larger, and the driver had to be available to drive it to a farmhouse near Portland, Maine on the evening of December 26th. The load would be very light. Someone would Load the cargo and the door would be closed with plain tape through the lock hasps. The driver would not even need to get out of the truck.
At the destination, qualified people would be there to unload. Karl had been charged with getting another rental truck and doing the driving. Since this was such an important job, to the owner anyway, the driver would have a reservation at a motel for the twenty-four hour layover, after the cargo was unloaded. The people at the destination would give him the details.
Karl had picked up a brand new twelve foot long enclosed Van for the Company from the rental company to be used for the week delivering furniture locally. When he went back the next day, following his instructions, for the second truck, the one to make the Portland run, the only thing available was an older unit, with manual transmission, very little sound insulation and no stereo of any sort. Because the heater was not working, he nearly froze before he got the truck back to the parking lot. "Well, because of the long weekend, maybe that new truck will be in and available and I’ll be able to use it," he grumbled unhappily as he left the older unit in the lot next to the dock as he had been instructed to do.
"Damn this lousy Burlington weather. One day it’s warm enough to melt butter, the next colder than a witch’s..." The sexist didn’t finish the quip, since he could not recall his favorite witch ever having a cold anything.
Tuesday evening, after a quiet but slightly drunken Christmas day spent with some of the office people, Karl checked out the truck. Inside the box was a short canvas covered pipe framed walkway about eight feet long and almost five feet wide. Just as he’d hoped, the new truck was in, empty, and not scheduled to be used the next day. Wanting to partake of the comforts of the new rig, he moved the trucks around so they were back to back and then carefully dragged the tunnel to the back of the older truck.
Figuring he could just pick it up a bit by the bottom frame and slide it into the new truck, he jumped down to the ground. The cargo had not been anchored, so it seemed to Karl that the shippers were not overly worried about it sliding around inside the truck. It was no serious effort to move the thing as it was very light. Once it was transferred, he jumped up into the new truck and went to the front of the bed. While he was pulling on it, to center it in the bed, an older man, his good looks distorted by the anger on his face, appeared floating in the air between the two trucks. The older man's action reminded him of a softball pitcher; his right arm wind milled and then a ball of yellow and bluish light fired from his hand. It flew straight through the tunnel towards him. Karl dropped to the floor, terrified, knowing his time on Earth was up.
Incredibly, the ball of light, at first streaking towards him, suddenly began traveling in slow motion, as it entered and moved through the tunnel, bouncing around like it was moving through a maze, sizzling and cracking ominously. Fiery embers seemed to shoot out in random directions and the tunnel was vibrating like it was in a high wind. A blue lightning streak connected the fast moving ball to the old man's hand. With no warning, the old man disappeared and the ball suddenly shot the rest of the way through the tunnel and dove down to hit Karl’s chest.
Nothing happened.
Long minutes later, shaken to the core by the eerie experience, he parked the old truck so that it could be returned to the rental agency the next morning or used as needed, closed his truck and took off for the four and a half hour trip to Portland.
*****OoooO*****
With little effort, Sharla managed to translocate Janet to the Farm where the coven would try to dismantle the Reversal Arch. The City Bluffs area was well covered with sensing and seeking spells that searched out magic users, so new actions and transfers were not being tried. Some of the lower level witches were continuing to aid in healing and pain relief, as much as possible in the hospitals, but did so in fear for their lives. Sharla was helping all she could by making the healing batteries energy even more available to the "Healers." When Janet received a call that the truck and driver had left Burlington, she was warned that a storm sweeping across New England might make it a very slow trip. Realizing the driver would very likely need the rest, the Witch Elder advised them to rent a cabin for the driver and not allow him to return to Burlington for at least a day.
Janet asked her hosts take care of setting up reservations for a room in a hotel with room service for the driver. All they could then do was wait. While waiting one of her hosts asked. "Janet, may I ask a couple of questions, please?"
When the senior witch nodded, her hostess grinned slyly and said, "Janet, I've known you for a number of years and today you have "that" glow about you. Have you met someone special?"
Janet blushed before replying, "Yes, I have. You know that I’ve had to go into hiding for a while? While in that Hideout Hotel, I met a Construction Company Owner and well, we’ve really clicked. The only problem is that he’s way too young for me."
"That brings up my next question," her host interjected. "When will you be old enough to retire? If the guy you met has his own business, he can't be that much younger." Good humored ribbing then came from all around her, causing her guest to blush to become even darker.
"Thanks bunches, you two! That lovely," she’d meant to say lonely, but it came out as lovely, "man is a widower. His only child is in senior year of college. So Mr. C. is probably around fifty. I am seventy three! That is more than enough difference in physical age, even though I am very healthy and in darned good shape!" Janet Wainwright exclaimed in mild exasperation coupled with a normal amount of girlish embarrassment. Just the thinking of her Mr. C made her feel as if she were a girl of twenty!
Moments later Janet's hostess did a quick prevision and told the dowager to get some rest, because the truck was bogging in the snowstorm and would not be in until after two-thirty in the morning. After making sure that a hotel room was available for the driver and that a couple helpers would be available to unload the truck into the barn, Janet took a nap on the Study couch.
As per the usual, road conditions became a lot worse than predicted and Karl knew it would be late when he arrived. It was almost three in the morning when he pulled into the driveway at the destination, the Portland farm. To his surprise, the couple greeting him was fully dressed and it seemed that they had not been expecting him any earlier. They even had a fresh pot of coffee and a big breakfast waiting for him in the country house’s spacious kitchen.
Before starting on the breakfast, Karl explained, "Sorry I’m so late; this newer truck was available, so I switched the load to it. I guess it took longer than I figured on to move the load." Between bites then, he continued to explain, over the entire course of the delicious meal, how the odd, slender old man had appeared in mid-air and then had thrown a lightning ball at him. This very graphic tale covered almost every twist and turn of the ball of light and then the told them, "the fact is that the ball of lightning actually hit me!"
Once he had finished his breakfast, the host requested, "Will you let me inspect the area of your chest where the light ball vanished?"
Exactly on the center line of his chest directly over his sternum was a light circular tracing of a circular spider web, about an inch in diameter. Other than the apparent tattoo, they could find no sign of any magic. They figured the tattoo was probably very old and the guy was just not admitting to it. "Well, just sit and have another cuppa, we’ll get you to the hotel in a bit." They had arranged for him to have the rest of the day and night at the hotel. Checkout was for noon the 28th.
While Karl was being kept occupied in the farm house, Janet and three other witches were sliding the tunnel out of the truck. Two of the helpers got out of the truck and caught it by the bottom rail. Janet stepped into the tunnel to pick it up by the arch and lift it to prevent it from snagging on the truck bed.
With no warning a flash of bluish yellow light exploded about the group and the entire tunnel seemed to wrap itself around Janet. It produced sizzling and sputtering noises like water being sprinkled on a very hot grill. Sparks and eerie rapid luminescent colors flickered through the materiel. The tunnel swiftly seemed to get smaller and lighter. Then when it was just a dusting of sparkles wrapped around Janet, it simply winked out of existence.
After a while of rehashing and wondering what happened, their host used his four wheel drive vehicle to take the helpers home. On the way, he stopped at the hotel and got Karl signed in and then he left a letter of credit of fifty dollars for the man’s meals with the motel manager. Karl listened to the weather report and given the road conditions, he figured he would "hole up" and sleep for several hours and then have a dinner and then go back to the room and sleep some more. Calling his office using the company Cell phone, he left a message for the day supervisor on the voice mail. Before the first glow of sunlight dusted the east, Karl was sound asleep.
About two in the afternoon, Karl rose, got cleaned up and took in a good meal at the hotel restaurant. Afterwards, at the front desk, Karl was assured that the roads would all be opened by an hour after daylight the next morning. He ordered a telephone wakeup with first light and then a room service breakfast to be delivered one hour later.
The sun was just setting. What time was it? About four-thirty, when Karl undressed and slipped beneath the covers. Sometime during the night, he awoke from a very vivid dream. In this dream his body had become a woman's body. Stretched out on the bed, he had played with his feminine body in the same way he played with Jenny's when he was trying to get her really excited. In this dream he‘d been getting excited, so he’d slowed down. Again and again he’d brought this dream girl almost to orgasm, reveling in the all over tingle of sensations, something he’d never experienced as a male. Then he’d goofed and drove his dream body over the edge into a mind shattering orgasm.
In his dream, his female body woke up enough to stagger into the bathroom, set on the toilet and pass gas and pee. Since it was a dream girl, he got some paper and wiped her off. After dropping the paper, he traced his fingers over the super sensitized folds and the hidden nubbin with almost electrifying results. He stopped and hurried back to bed. As he rolled onto his side, under the covers, he felt some moisture on his leg. A quick exploration with his fingers indicated that this dream girl was really wet.
Before slipping back to sleep, Karl had his dream girl indulge in another of his fantasies. Using his/her hands, each breast was presented for him to nibble and nurse on. He, or as he saw it, his dream girl was still super sensitized by the prior masturbation that just a few touches and he went over the side into another full body orgasm. He passed out and was out cold until the phone woke him.
Tossing the covers back, he discovered the room reeked of sex. Where he had been sleeping was an oval damp spot and his thighs and groin were very sticky. A quick shower cleaned him up and after getting dressed, he opened the window and quickly aired the room. After the room service breakfast, he carried his overnight bag down, checked out, and drove home.
From the internet access at the office, he sent Jenny a message and explained that he was living in Burlington and was really missing her. He gave her his apartment phone number and then forgot about it as he began his work day. Three people had not shown up for work that morning, so Karl and one woman had more than their share of work to do, finally finishing an hour after normal quitting time. About an hour after sunset, Karl headed home.
Wearily Karl parked in the apartment’s designated parking lot behind the building and went inside. After puttering about a bit, making a pot of fresh coffee and so forth, he went out the front door to retrieve his mail. When he checked his mail box and glanced about, he recognized Jenny sitting in a car at the curb in front of the building. With a soft groan of misery, he cautiously went and showed her where to legally park. Then he asked her in and taking her small overnight case, followed her into the apartment. It did not occur to him to ask just how she knew was his out of the many apartments in the building. If someone had asked, he would have shrugged and said, "She’s a witch.
"You BASTARD! I don’t know if I’m going to clobber you or rape you! But believe me, lover, I am going to make you pay for leaving me all alone for these past months!" The blonde was fuming and her eye sparking as she gazed at him narrowly while standing in the hall before his door. "That’s assuming we’re still a couple," she snarled, her words snapping blue fire.
"You’re pissed, I take it?" He edged the door open slightly, in case she began throwing one of her "god damn tantrums" he’d had to put up with from time to time over the past few years. She could be a real hellcat, and since she had developed her Ability, they had become dangerous to his health. Maybe if he could get inside the door, she would cool off a little. Though he didn’t like it a bit, he knew better than to argue when she was on a tear.
"Inside, you bastard…and you’d better have something hot to drink. I’ve been sitting out here in the car freezing my tush for over an hour. Where th’ hell have you been? What kind of dump are you living in? This is the pits!"
While she argued and berated him for the next forty-five minutes, she watched in silent curiosity as he began he became very much thinner in the waist and feet. At some point in her tirade, he simply walked out of his shoes with a look of surprise. That look of surprise became horror when he realized he was much larger in the bust and hips and horny to beat the band. The jeans he’d worn throughout the day suddenly fell off, dragging his under shorts with them.
Though not certain, Jenny suspected her demonic lover, Bel Har Kel, had done this to Karl in a pique of jealousy. But Bel Har Kel had not told her that she was to be his exclusively! Well, his wrath could not have been directed at a more worthy target as far as she was concerned. Karl could use a lesson in humility! And what better way to learn humility than to be a woman?
With a demonic cackle, the young witch adept sneered, "Damn, you are one foxy chick. What’s your name, GIRL?" The lively and lovely young thing was standing there in a puddle of male garments that would not begin to fit, wearing only a plaid "Lumber Jack" shirt of flannel; long exciting legs stretching from the hem all the way to the floor. Jenny liked what she saw. Until that moment the blonde had never given much though to having a girl-girl relationship with anyone, but she was being given a Goddess granted opportunity and was going to go for it. Everyone else is Bi, so why should I be any different?
Over the next couple of days, through trial and error, he and the blonde witch, while deliciously making up, discovered Karl was not going to have any choice, depending upon it being day or night, he was going to change gender. Two hours after sunset, Karl became completely feminine. To Jenny's discriminating eye, Karl was achingly beautiful. She asked him his maternal grandmother's first name. It had been Jolene. Jenny promised that when Karl was looking so fem she would call him Jolene. They agreed, but with some very severe reservations on his part. The reservations got lost when Jenny put her talented fingers and tongue to use stimulating the feminine body he was in. He applied the lessons Jenny demonstrated on him right back on her. That first night, they were still exploring when they discovered to their enjoyment that two hours before sunrise, Jolene became male almost instantly.
On Friday night, Jenny watched in amazement as the conversion took place again. This time she had a complete night set for Karl consisting of Baby Dolls and a bathrobe and mules. After a joint bath and lessons in hair care and basic makeup, they had a good dinner and then attempted to repeat the actions of the previous night.
No sleep for two days caught up with them and they slept until mid morning Saturday. They were both still women, wearing baby doll night gowns. All day and Karl was in a panic. Being a girl at night was weird enough, but why, why was he still a girl. Yesterday he had changed back early in the morning. Why not today?
Jenny was not able to contact her mother inside the Knoll Hotel except by telephone. Jenny could not contact Sharla, Andrea, or Naomi so she called her mother and explained everything, including Karl's adventures with the mystery man and then in the hotel in Portland.
*****OoooO*****
After a long conversation and a short divination with Janet and Prue, Jenny surmised that Karl had converted because of a screw up of the demon Bel Har Kel’s curse. The curse had gotten distorted by passing through the reversing tunnel and now that the tunnel was gone, there was no possible way back for him. He was going to be a "werewoman" and not a thing he could do would change the facts. Jenny was elated! At the same time, Janet admitted she had been zapped by the tunnel when it fell over her.
Jenny was concerned that she was going to become the Demon's slave.
"No," her mother had told her convincingly, "the demon goofed by getting involved with Sharla's magic. Still, you might go for him a bit sometime in the future, and he might try, but that poor macho demon probably will wind up emulating the traditional angels if he continues to try and get your approval. My reading of the auguries indicates that something inside the tunnel, probably Sharla's weird magic, has permanently zapped the demon. Even his name is shaky. I do not think Sharla will allow any demon to take you, Jen."
"Poor Bel Har Kel, a Demon. Or Demonette. What a choice."
Prue laughed heartily. Well, it will be his choice."
Following their confrontation and the transition of Karl to a daytime guy and Jolene, a nighttime girl, through experimentation and trial and error, they discovered that when he got undressed, if he was still wearing some of his makeup, or a female’s garment, two hours before sunrise, that he would remain female until the next daily female cycle had completed.
Then near the completion of the three day holiday cycle, the young women discovered, and then decided they could now enjoy the best of BOTH worlds. They could even double date, with a bit of planning. That same day Karl learned the advertising office he worked for was going to shut down until the middle of January. Karl was going to have to live very economically, or move in with Jenny.
"Or you can do a bit of dancing, lover mine!" giggled Jenny. The thought of her Karl dancing naked in front of a bunch of men was exhilarating to the blonde for indefinable reasons.
Karl was just chauvinistic enough to consider the use of his female side as a tool to earn a buck as perfectly appropriate. "A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do!"
Knowing the area well, Jenny had no trouble finding a topless road house that could use some help on the late shift for a couple of weeks. It was a double sided club; one side catering to truckers pulling off the freeway and big city business people out for a fling on the other side. Both groups were notoriously large tippers, especially to those dancers who would do a bit of "lap" dancing in one of the several underground private rooms maintained by the management for the purpose. There was also a small motel on the right, next to the Roadhouse.
During the next couple of weeks, Karl, through Jolene, learned hard and fast exactly what he had been putting Jenny through for the past three years, especially when Jen had to suddenly go down to Florida without notice to take care of some of her Aunt's business.
Part 43: Reweaving the Tapestry
Early the morning of January second, a dreary, snow-covered morning, Sharla knew that she really should, never-the-less, go into the Winslowe Enterprise office sometime this morning. If she could manage the price discounts that she thought she could get to fill projected orders, the future would be very bright indeed! That Naomi was doing artifact research in the college archaeology lab and until classes restarted, could come and go pretty much as she wanted, gave the redhead cause to envy her a little. Andrea was the only one among them who might have to be somewhere at a specific time, because McFarland’s opened at nine and she was working full time during the Holiday Break.
Mickey said he was going to stop by for a cuppa on his way to the office. She’s got something on her mind! Well, he’ll tell what it is when he thinks the time is right. Ghad, she is such a fox these days.
There was a strong possibility the senior Winslowes would be over; Her dad had called and said he had something to talk with her about. In actuality they were still a tad leery of allowing their babies to stray too far from the cradle. Janine was something of a disappointment because she never came home or called anymore. The redhead knew she should also link with Jenny. Since she was in the same time zone it was likely she and Terrie were just rolling out of their beds as well. Jenny had become more and more involved with the Burlington Bunch happenings and found "linking" a great way to work in the entire Sheila, Janet. and Burlington gossip that she seemed hell-bent to report.
Shuffling sleepily into the kitchen of the Winters Estate House, Sharla stifled a yawn and then sat down, rather gingerly, on the soft pillow covering her chair at the breakfast table. Of late the pillow-on-the-chair had become, almost, a permanent adornment on several of the hard chairs around the table. Contemplating the future, her fingers danced lightly on her checkbook lying on the table in front of her. Two days before Christmas, Sharla had deposited a little over four hundred thousands of dollars, after taxes, in the company coffers, her personal winnings from two Los Vegas Casinos. The cash flow of the Winslowe Enterprise, even with the mysterious "White Box" activities was very positive. With her winnings, she could upgrade the computers for both of her parents' businesses. And still have cash left over for working with the refugees.
A few moments later, Naomi, also showing signs of wear, joined her for coffee. Perking along on all four cylinders, Andrea bounced into the room right behind the shaman. "Good morning, Sis." The teen delivered a quick peck on the cheek of each of the older girls. "Good morning, Naomi."
"Ghad, whatta weekend!" Naomi groaned softly and also slipped one of several soft pillows, kept throughout the Winters’ mansion for the purpose, under her shapely, but temporarily decimated bottom before sitting. She and Charlie had over indulged, rather than celebrated the New Year. "I ate too much, I drank too much and I …" A smile crept over her features. "What is it about a woman’s bottom…?" Theirs had not been an over-indulgence in drink, though. "Let’s hope it’s just a phase the guys are going through, huh?"
"Too much Charlie, eh?" The gregarious girl with the golden gift giggled girlishly. Though it was not by her choice, the temptress had remained utterly celibate over the entire Holiday season. The dimpled blonde was more than just a little envious of the older girls. She hadn’t "gotten lucky" for simply ages!
"Imp! No, I can never get too much Charlie! I was going to say I got too little sleep… before I was so rudely interrupted."
"Yes, it was rather a weird weekend." The redhead sighed; flashing momentarily on White and the bedroom antics the two of them had pulled. "Yeah, th’ way Charlie’s been since he and his parents moved in…yeh, I can just imagine…" the psionic grinned at her soul sister.
"Humph! It wasn’t just a weird weekend. Can you believe all the weird-o things that happened last year," quipped the Wizardette as she nibbled a slice of toast. Though she didn’t want to mention it aloud, she was unable to keep from remembering that last year at this time she was still pretty much a boy, just getting used to having made the decision to dress full time as a girl. "If I recall it correctly, and as always, I do, it was a flat-out crazy year!"
"Yer right, Andi, a year ago today we didn’t have these great digs to hang our fancy bras in, yuh know?" returned the redhead. "No waffles for me today, Shelly," she winced at the memory of what her last session with waffles had led to. "Or those three cars out there in the drive."
"Last New Years was a blast!"
"And I couldn’t sing, either," said the tall shaman as she reached for a jam pot sitting in the middle of the table. "I think I’ll have coffee this morning, Shelly."
"Humph, who told you that you could sing now," Andrea deadpanned, handing the shaman a plate of toast. The comment got a tongue stuck out at her in a shameless raspberry. "Hey. Look’t there! Danielle’s doin’er thing! Wonder how much snow we got this time?"
"You haven’t time, Sis." The psionic made subtle reference to the blonde’s near-addiction to the out-of-body jaunts she’d introduced Andrea and the others to last fall. "You’ll have to be getting ready for work soon." All three girls glanced out the window to watch the Icebreaker model doing its thing for a moment, then returned their attentions to their breakfast orders.
"Speak for yourself, Lone Ranger. You sing like you have a toad in your throat." The tall black haired girl enjoyed teasing her cute cribbage cohort about the day she had discovered her magic by turning three boys into toads with an arcane spell. "And I was just learning to make my way into and out of the Spirit World."
"You know, it was at just about this time last year, Winslowe Enterprise was beginning?" the redhead interjected with a bit of pride. And I was just beginning to realize the potential of my powers and the different energies, she admitted silently.
"And you were just discovering my uncle, too," chuckled the Native American. "Did he ever keep his promise to spank your bottom?"
A crimson tide rushed to flood the cheeks of the redhead and proclaimed the truth more than any words could have. "Are we going to do anything for Valentine’s Day this year?" the psionic said in trying to move the subject onto safer subjects. What she and White did in the bedroom was their business, no one else needed to know of White’s fascination with her bottom.
"It’s doubtful, love. I’m going to be pretty busy with the Knoll. Ghad, the price of getting older," she sighed heavily. None of them could be called kids any longer. Everyone was feeling the weight of the responsibility Sharla had taken on by opening the complex as a refuge for the Magicians. "Jenny really opened a can of worms when she handed you that letter, huh?"
"Sheesh! Andi, you’re just a cliché waiting for a place to be said, you know that?"
"Yeah, she did. But, where would all our new friends be if we had not found and opened the "Ouachita Preserve," eh?" She turned away to speak to the op in the French Maid outfit.
"Shelly, ask Maggie to fix me one of her sausage and eggs specials."
Naomi cackled, "you know she’ll have to go to the Manor to get "your" sausage and eggs, don’t you?"
The redhead smiled at that one. "Yeah, that sausage is delicious and the eggs in that basket are graded extra-large. Maybe I should call in sick today!"
"Do you ever see that friend of yours? Jeri I think her name is. Andi?"
"D’yuh really thinks anyone would believe that, Sis? I mean like this is the day after and all." The wand wielder chortled softly and began to devour a quarter slice of toast and gooey, tasty strawberry jam. "I had a call from Jeri a few days ago. She’s doing just great. Has a new job and staying away from the gangs now. No, she didn’t transition until just about graduation, as I recall." The memory of that fateful afternoon in Sharla’s workshop filled her mind. It had been the first time she had truly realized the awesome power her sister held inside her now. "I was afraid she was going to go off the deep end when Mark dumped her, but Pip came along and helped her through it by keeping her so busy bussing table she had no time to think about the bum."
"Bum? I’d call him a bumfu—ahh well!" The shaman suddenly leaned over to shamelessly lick a small dollop of the heavenly jam from the corner of Andrea’s tempting mouth. "Huummm… You’re delicious, Andi."
*****OoooO*****
After lunch, the Senior Winslowes called and said they would be over in a few minutes. When they arrived, Mom wandered off into the cozy kitchen nook for tea while Sharla and her dad went into the den, which had somehow become designated as Sharla’s "office" away from the office.
"Sharla, I want to put out some feelers for some new computer equipment and discuss those expansion plans that you mentioned to me a few weeks ago."
"Oh? Lemme guess… you said something to mom, right? And she…"
"Well, yeah, I may have mentioned some of the cities you mentioned you had plans to expand into and Mom is very interested in putting access for the Winslowe Dream Scene Design Company in a number of different cities that correspond.."
"Seriously?"
"Sharla, did you know, your Mom has been forced to expand her business four fold in the last two months?"
"No, I didn’t. Four times, huh? That’s as rapid as another Winslowe business I can name. How’s she doing it? All alone at the top?"
"No. Additional talent has been hired."
"Tell her to bear down. The best will stick it out and become the nucleus. Those she will want to work with and keep."
"I see something of what I taught you rubbed off." He laughed and tickled her ribs lightly.
"So what else is new with her?"
"Some experiments using high speed computer connections showed positive results and she’s developed a method for coordinating the work of several assorted artists, even though being separated by miles. It works, like a real dream scene design, actually."
"Ghad, dad, that’s as bad as some of Naomi’s!"
"I’ll not apologize for it, Sis. Your mom’s business is very graphic in design."
"That’s even worse! So, where’s all this talent located? Maybe, if they’re in the same cities I’m looking at, we can work together to design a real dream scene of markets."
"Your mom’s in communication with brilliant talent in New York City, Boston, Atlanta, New Orleans, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Fort Collins, Casper, Tacoma, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles. She also has contacts that she expects to expand in Mexico City and Juarez, Mexico. To take advantage of these talents and the contacts, she would need larger office space, more phone lines and new computer equipment."
"You’re talking bundles of cash there, daddy, even with my help installing the phone line and discounting the computer nets and all."
"There’s the rub… at the moment, your mom’s cash flow can not support even normal commercial acquisition."
"Let me work on that. I’ve a couple of things I can do. But first and foremost, if she needs it, set up a loan. Give her decent points and a repayment schedule that is not too hard to handle."
"Any limit?"
"You handle the books for both companies," the redhead shrugged and grinned. The Psionic knew he would work it out so both came out on top, and most likely both making a bit of money from the deal
*****OoooO*****
Mickey Harcourt and Lynn Quinn stopped by while the Winslowes were still there. Sharla introduced her mother to the newcomers and told Mickey about the proposal. In just a few minutes, Sharla was sitting back in a recliner, listening to some very serious negotiations. It seems that Mickey had convinced Lynn to join Winslowe Enterprises as VP of Human Resources and Physical Plant. To Sharla’s surprise, as she had often heard her mom say, "don’t give away the store, dear," she saw her mother’s words in practice! For all her seeming distractedness, when it came to the "nitty-gritty" her mother was a hard-nose negotiator.
According to Lynn, an unusual number of smaller office buildings and some retail spaces were coming on the market very reasonably. Lynn had been negotiating for both retail and office space in all eleven cities where her Boutiques were. The major setback of so many businesses, because of the change in attitudes, had been caused by the attacks last September 11.
*****OoooO*****
Karen Anne and Gabriel, coming in from the Knoll, joined Sharla and the others in her "office." Gabe had convinced Naomi to make a learning fetish in a new conference room / class room that they had set up next to the Data Center to be used solely for Knoll Data Center activities. Naomi had smilingly complied. Gabe, with Karen's help, had been conducting very successful English-as-a-second-language classes for many of the residents of Magicians' Manor. They’d also been conducting basic Introduction to Personal Computer classes with a lot of success and interest
Having learned that Mickey had hired a part time teacher, Karen Anne wanted to know the details. Maybe the Knoll could hire that teacher, or another teacher. Mickey promised to check with Carol and then have Sharla and maybe Andrea do an interview.
Karen's next topic was her Dad and Janet. More specifically Janet. After whatever it was that did not happen, happened, Janet had returned, had then "kidnapped" her dad and the two of them were then heard making enough noise in the man’s suite to keep away all visitors. The couple had even missed the New Year’s Eve party completely and were not seen in public until the morning of the second.
At an astounded Janet’s request, the Doctors Whitefeather had been called in to do a complete physical examination. Janet, with Calvin a not-at-all reluctant escort, had gone down to the laboratory yesterday. Karen had been called by Andrea, the on call assistant.
"Karen, believe this or not, but it seems Janet Wainwright has lost a whole bunch of years."
"What? Make sense, Andi! What do you mean she’s lost a bunch of years?"
"Karen, according to Janet, and she has and can prove it, she’s seventy-three years old!"
"Andrea Winslowe, you can NOT be serious People do NOT grow younger over night! Hell, people do not grow younger! People grow OLDER!"
"Sorry, Karen, but all the biological indicators of the simple tests the Whitefeathers could do says she is about approximately forty-five-years-old and the regression may still be in progress! Like you, and for much the same reason, she could remain within the complex until at least the equinox!"
"Shit! I better get used to calling her Mom. I guess." Karen sighed.
*****OoooO*****
After completing the tests on Janet, The Drs. Whitefeather joined Andrea and Father Maurice Huerta in the little conference room in the main medical section.
"Father Huerta," Andrea gazed levelly at The Priest, as he was known with in the Manor, "the refugees we gathered here from all over the world can start taking computer and English classes here in the Knoll, probably within the week."
"So, you were able to acquire the services of your PHD, right? May I ask how?"
"Carol, our PHD computer teacher was discovered to be a latent witch and after several death threats were made to her, spoke to Mickey Horcutt, who paved the way for her to enter and work here."
"Miss Sharla has a big heart, Andrea."
"Hehehe, just don’t even let Sharla hear you call her Miz, Father. But the offer to Carol was not without strings. She was recruited to teach the magicians English and Computer Sciences inside the knoll, in return White and Naomi are teaching her to use her magic properly."
A big grin split the priest’s face. "I see. A tit for tat arrangement, eh?"
After cackling, Andrea said, "Saturday morning we will have a meeting in the Big Conference room in the executive portion of the complex. Nothing serious. Some light reminiscing, some rumor destroying, some more reminiscing and plotting the future. Invites have already been sent to a bunch of people…RSVP???"
*****OoooO*****
Part 44: Action beneath the Potomac
On the 10th of January, Sharla met the Lady Mage in the basement of the below-ground parking area of a prominent Federal building on the bank of the Potomac River. In the back corner of the basement were two one hundred-meter coils of assembled wires. In cross section the combined bundle was almost twelve inches thick. When discovering this, Sharla immediately registered claim for additional work.
"I’ve contracted to line the cable and make twenty-one splices. The way this cable’s been delivered, I’ll have to make at least two hundred and ten separate sets of splices. I’ve also noticed that in addition to several fiber optic lines, those cable bundle include three two hundred pair phone cables. The original specs called for one fiber optic line and one sixty pair phone cable."
"Can you handle the increases?" asked the Lady Mage blithely.
"Of course. I just want to be paid for doing it." Sharla promised to do all the splices and the installation but demanded a very significant increase in the installation fee as well as requesting that the fee be paid at a rate of 1/300th of the total for each hundred-meter coil that she reported installed. "Payments are to be made weekly with the balance of the installation being paid when the cables are tested and passed for continuity."
"I’m sure that will be satisfactory and all conditions stipulated will be accepted," the Lady Mage agreed and departed to prepare the paperwork.
When certain the Lady Mage was gone, Sharla called some of the DarnIts in to bore an eighteen-inch diameter feed tunnel. The bore ran from the wall of the first basement down one hundred forty-five feet to the starting point. This feed duct, for various reasons stretched underground for a little bit more than one hundred and twenty meters, roughly three hundred feet. Then the DarnIts were set to bore a fourteen-inch service tunnel on the path she specified. They were programmed not to complete the last six feet until the cable was completely ready and pulled to the end of the bore, almost into the terminal room.
The DarnIts had already completed the initial feed tunnel and were working quickly on their second kilometer of the installation tunnel. As soon as Sharla had an agreement of considerable cash payment to Winslowe Enterprises for every section of cable delivered to a ground level feed point they began the next action.
Once the DarnIts had started and were out of sight, Sharla went looking for the crew and equipment she had arranged to do the cable handling. Since the cable assembly was being delivered in hundred-meter coils, she now had to make arrangements for starting ten coils a day into the feed tunnel. Two major problems quickly became apparent. First the crew and equipment she had arranged for were still on another contract and would not be available for at least another month. Second, the trucks of the Cabling Company could not get down into the basement.
To deliver the first two coils they had managed to get it in by offloading the lowboy truck trailer onto skids and then use six warehouse tugs pulling and pushing the skids for four hours through the basement. Sharla asked the men put one end of the cable in the feed tunnel, promising that her proprietary installation tools would take over and drag it in. Lion Lyner was in place in the feed tunnel. The coil of cable seemed to come alive and scoot into the feed tunnel. Within ten minutes all one hundred meters had been dragged into the tunnel. The witch realized there had to be a better way!
Following an above ground inspection, Sharla dressed to the nines in an unforgettable power suit with her favorite four-inch heels and met with the Vice President of the cable supplier, who had signed the government contract. Patiently the redhead let him explain that they could not make deliveries to the basement parking. The cable coils required the oversized freight transportation trailers, or "lowboys" and those were so big that they could barely clear the walls of the entrance ramp. "The only way we can deliver is to use the skids and tugs."
"May I suggest an alternative?"
"Miss Winslowe, I am prepared to listen to any suggestion that will see this project finished and without penalties." The man smiled coyly at the lovely young lady in the chair opposite him. It was hard to believe this "sexy little thing" was the CEO of one of the most sought after Companies in America,
"Mr. Conners, directly above the basement parking, at the edge of the surface parking area is a fifteen-foot cliff cut in the hill to allow installation of the underground and surface parking areas."
"I am not familiar with the exact layout down there, but do go on."
Sharla offered, "I’ll provide an extension of my feeder tube. Run it to the surface and position it in such manner that the cables can be directly offloaded from the truck."
"You can do that? I mean, and still meet the completion date?" He’d been told the girl could, and would usually come up with off-the-wall, outlandish solutions to problems but this was extraordinary, but it would work if she could do that extension.
The witch nodded with confidence. "The only catch is that the next truck in line will have to wait up to an hour before the next coil can be fed into the feed tunnel."
Without a word Conners lifted the phone and made a few calls. Within the hour the Teamsters were checking the route they would need to use to get the loaded trucks into the place indicated.
Better than anyone, Conners knew the cable company had invested a lot of money in setting up supplies for the extended run of specialized cable. The Specifications required delivery of a one-kilometer section each day for twenty-two days. They had not realized that the largest section that they could transport was a one hundred-meter section until they had started finalizing the operations. They had enough wide bed lowboy trailers to transport it in 100-meter segments so the operations people got started. Now they were in a bind and possibly facing paying a major non delivery penalty. If this girl’s wild-assed suggestion worked… If? Hell, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work!
Sharla had the DarnIts return to the starting point and extend the feed tunnel up to the surface of the cliff, about five feet above the pavement. Next she had Lynx d'Lynker to install a small junction box with two LED Lights, one green and one red. Lynx d’Lynker would be connecting the bundles in the starting room. Once the splices were made, the DarnIts and Lion Lyner would feed the cable into the service tunnel and Lynx d’Lynker would turn on the green light to notify the truckers to start the next section of cable into the feed tunnel. Another Lion Lyner would then feed the new section of cable down to Lynx in the starting room. The DarnIts were back at work driving the service tunnel when
The first of five trucks pulled up and the Cable Company handling crew fed one end into the eighteen-inch hole in the rock. Two tug drivers had assisted in the basement but they were not on hand. The entire coil of cable started acting like it was alive and popped the free end of itself into the hole. The coil started moving and the little LED turned red. Surprising the men again, it only took about ten minutes for the coil to disappear into the hole.
The trucker and the handling crew secured the tie downs and blocks on the empty truck and moved out of the way. The second truck carefully jockeyed into place next to the cliff and the crew quickly started untying the cargo. They were looking for the opening immediately under the red light. They could feel it but could not see it. They’d all been warned to expect the unexpected and to think nothing of any "critters" they chanced to see. The men, muttering about "danged offbeat Government Projects" to one another, managed to take the end of the cable and push it through the invisible non-barrier and into the hole they could certainly feel in the rock face. Nothing happened for fifteen minutes. Then the light turned green and the cable started crawling into the hole.
The company needed to make two hundred and twenty deliveries. They started with a fleet of ten trucks. It took them almost two hours to load a trailer and secure the cable. The drive was seven hours. At the delivery point it took about twenty minutes to liberate the load and as soon as the light turned green, which was exactly one hour and five minutes after the end of the last coil disappeared, the new coil would come alive and work its way into the wall within ten minutes.
The one odd thing about the whole project was that each of the crew, the truckers and handlers, discovered that they could not talk about any details of the unloading when they were away from the parking lot. When they thought to talk about it they quickly decided that no one would be interested.
The unloading system worked so well that the Cable Company began scheduling and making deliveries and unloading around the clock. They managed to deliver fifteen hundred meters a day and completed delivery of the entire twenty-two kilometers of cable by the 25th of January. Two sections of cable, one, the tenth section and the other was the thirty-fifth section, did not pass Lynx d’Lynker’s quality test before being spliced. Both of those were sent back up to the basement area for the company to come out and test.
*****OoooO*****
The DarnIts went through the wards without any problem. During the process of the reinforcing of the service tunnel, the tall Psionic managed the insinuation of a complete set of independent wards that hid the service tunnel and its’ contents. Sharla’s operation was so well shielded that during the evening, on 28 January, four days before the work was scheduled to be completed, the Lady Mage contacted Sharla at the Winters House. The Lady Mage established Privacy Wards and then explained what she had done to check the work and complained that no work was being accomplished.
Just as privately Sharla projected commands to the DarnIts, Lion Lyner, and Lynx d’Lynker to finish the job. The starting station had been completed and the cables had been appropriately connected. The last six feet were then bored out and the cable was stretched into the room. The different parts of the cable were separated and connected in appropriate service boxes that were carefully shielded. All of this was accomplished in just a matter of a few minutes while Shelly served tea and cookies to Sharla and her Guest.
Sensing that the work was finished, Sharla opened a small port through the wards at each end of the project and invited the Lady Mage to check the two ends of the job. Sharla had not intended to do anything until the last day of the contract, but since the work was done, she would admit it.
Part 45: Nourishing Growth
Waking with a small start, Naomi sat up on the side of the bed and looked about her. The clock on the night stand showed 01:04. Charlie was sound asleep on the bed behind her; they’d experienced an exceptionally gratifying session last night. One of the rare times she had enjoyed multiple orgasms. A huge yawn, causing a small ache in her jaws to return her to awareness, reminded her that Charlie had well and thoroughly enjoyed her. The taste of him clung to her tongue and teeth and the tall Shaman was about to turn around and wake her beau for another go when the huff of a Cougar’s mild impatience awakened her to her surroundings.
The moment she looked about, she knew where she was. Though she sat on the edge of her bed, the bed was no longer in her room in the Winters house. It was a place she knew and well remembered. The last time she’d been here she’d journeyed in a Jeep. The last time she’d been here she’d been granted The Knowledge of the Ancient Shaman. The last time she’d been here she’d. Her face flushed slightly at other memories of that weekend spent with her Totem. Turning slightly she took in the large Golden Cougar looking back at her from his perch on the huge log in the middle of the floor of the wilderness glen where her bed now rested.
My Lord and Master calls? She told her inner self with more than a hint of sarcasm.
Kitten, you must come with me now. We have a long way to travel and but a short time to get there, replied the massive male cougar ignoring her wit.
With a small shrug, Naomi stood at the side of the bed, and paused a moment to do a bit of fur cleaning while her senses adjusted to the idea of once more assuming the form of the female cougar. When she was ready, she looked again at her Charlie asleep on the bed.
Do not concern yourself, Kitten, your soul-mate will be cared for while we journey, the male promised and leaped from the log to begin bounding away towards the dust of pink in the east.
Racing after her Spirit Guide, the she-cougar burst from the protection of the glen to see she was in a place far different from any she had ever been in before. Some thing deep within her told her this was a time long ago when the world was very young. "Long ago and far away" popped into her mind as she bounded after her mate, scampering over rocks, leaping from boulders to ledges as the pair went up the side of the mountain.
The sun was at its zenith when the cougars came upon an old Lakota Shaman, the spiritual leader The People. Somehow Kitten knew the man would not harm her and she and her mate journeyed with him the rest of the way up the high mountain. At the peak, with the world spread out before them on all sides, the cougars remained with the elder as he made preparations. The last remnants of gold and purple were visible when the old man settled down and began a deep meditation chant.
Throughout the night and long into the next morning the pair remained with the elder and when the sun peaked went silent and nestled together as he had a vision. To her astonishment, Naomi was able to see what the old man was seeing. In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language. Once again it amazed the Native American that she could understand the ancient language as well. As he spoke, Iktomi the spider picked up the elder's willow hoop which had feathers, horsehair, beads and offerings on it, and began to spin a web.
The spider spoke to the elder about the cycles of life; how we begin our lives as infants, move on through childhood and on to adulthood. Finally we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the cycle. "But", Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, "in each time of life there are many forces; some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. But, if you listen to the bad forces, they'll steer you in the wrong direction and may hurt you. So these forces can help, or can interfere with the harmony of Nature." While the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web.
When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said, "The web is a perfect circle with a hole in the center. Use the web to help your people reach their goals, making good use of their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe in the Great Spirit, the web will catch your good ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole.
Moments after the vision faded, the cougars were bounding away, returning quickly to the forest glen. What does it all mean, Master?
The elder passed on his vision to The People and The People listened and began to hang a dream catcher above their bed to sift their dreams and visions. The good dreams, ideas and memories are captured in the web of life and carried with The People, while the evil in their dreams, ideas and memories drop through the hole in the center of the web and are no longer a part of their lives. The cougar ‘spoke’ to her as they scampered and played among the trees of the forest returning to the glen.
What has all this to do with me, O Wise and Powerful?
I could tell you, Kitten, but then it would not have the meaning it will have when you discover it on your own. Go now, your soul mate awakens soon…
Puzzled and wondering, the she-cougar leaped lightly onto the mattress and shook her head. Naomi felt the cascade of her raven’s wing hair spill about her face and shoulders as she stretched out beside her lover. Charlie mumbled in his sleep and rolled over to engulf her in his brawny arms, drew her close. The girl glanced at the clock. It showed 01:07.
The Golden One had called it wrong. Charlie did not awaken; Charlie was awakened… but it was as the cougar said; he was soon awake.
*****OoooO*****
A lot of the Andes Coven, for the most part very religious, were asking about an Easter pageant or parade; those of Catholic persuasion within the South American contingent of magicians now living in The Manor most especially. A priest in hiding, actually a renegade, since he believed in the force, as well as God, was living and working among the refugees. His interpretation of the fact of Faith, his believing The Force was God at work was not acceptable to the Church. Even his helping people while asking God's blessing, at the same time focusing healing energy through his rosary, was frowned on by his superiors. It worked well for him because he believed in Him. Because his beliefs were not in perfect alignment with those handed down by Rome, he’d had to disappear before he could be censured. Practicing his religious offices continuously on the edge of his Bishop’s wrath wore him down. He’d known well enough of his bishop’s intentions, that when he heard confession of a parishioner who predicted the explosion, and realizing his need to become scarce, using the violence of the presbytery exploding as cover, the priest quietly disappeared.
At the time Andrea met the man, because of his lack of vestments, she was not certain of his priesthood, but she knew he was a very strong empathic and was very devout catholic. She suggested a talk with the man to learn what he was about. He told her, "But Andrea, under all this finery," his words were said in sarcastic tone, as all he owned was jeans and polo shirts. "… I am a priest... Father Maurice Huerta."
Some time later the wand wielder was in the office talking with Naomi, nominally in charge of things during Sharla’s absence. The red-haired psionic was said to be working to help clean up Sitka following that city’s devastation by the Black Coven. A select few knew she was in actuality in Washington D.C. working on a quietly covert project for the Omega Group. "Father Maurice Huerta believes that using The Ability is truly God’s way of directing The Force, enforcing His will, if you will, to where and when it is needed," declared Andrea stubbornly.
"Does he charge for his services?"
"The Priest, as he’s known among the enclave, is a very modest individual; a good and very faithful priest, if not organizationally conventional. Though he never asks for anything, he will accept food or a small pittance from those who can afford it."
The Wizardette seemed determined to defend the man to the bitter end if need be. This was because she’d worked with him, had seen the results of his prayers. They worked as well as anything she or Jenny or Terrie could manage. He worked very well and in close cooperation with both of the Doctors Whitefeather. And since Jenny and Terrie were off ripping and tearing up the Eastern Seaboard, the Medical Staff could and did use all the help they could get.
"Do you know where he is from?"
"His parish was in Columbus, Ohio, and he is licensed there so if he processes a birth or death or marriage, it is registered and legal in the states, because he is a registered agent of the state of Ohio."
"What does he think of Magicians and Psionics?
"He sees magic users as being tools of God, that God uses them to direct his "force" or his "will"."
"What is he like, as a person?"
"As a man he has little patience with churchmen or strict parishioners who would stick to the "Letter of the Bible" and attack people who are doing good deeds for the benefit of others!"
"Does it bother him that several of our group was once men?"
No, he doesn’t care what gender a person wears, instead he cares about a person’s feelings and because he has a certain sense of empathy, he can read a person. And as he capable of projecting empathy, when he passes a blessing, it is felt. That is part of why he was farmed out to be an assistant pastor in an old small backwater parish. He is not a do-gooder, but does good works."
"I see no problems with Father Maurice practicing. Was there a problem somewhere?"
"None that I know of. I just wanted to let you know we had a priest on board in case we ever need one."
Father Maurice had been delighted to be asked to serve the Andes Enclave Community as spiritual advisor as he had been doing since before they came in. Because of that empathic ability he had been aiding users in his area. When the Black Coven put stress on all the magic users in his community, many of them went to live in the Andes. Father Maurice Huerta went with them. Because his house was one of those blown up, the feeling in his parish was that he was dead.
When a newborn baby was in need of being christened, the couple with the newborn was of the enclave living in the Manor, and went to White asking for The Priest. They knew he was living in The Manor and wanted him to bless (christen) their child. The Priest agreed to Bless their child and the couple was so happy they went to their leader, White Running-Bear and asked his assistance in getting permission for them to use a larger facility to share the joyous occasion. The Shaman elder told them he would look into it and get back to them as soon as possible.
*****OoooO*****
Afternoon Delight
Karen Anne had lost track of the time as she lay there on the cushioned lounger. The air was warm, pleasant even though it was being constantly re-circulated through out the complex. There was a soft, gentle, teasing summer breeze that would play with the tendrils of hair that escaped a careless topknot she’d put it into before coming "outside". In the distance, probably coming from a CD Naomi had set up to help create the illusion; she could hear the songs of whippoorwills, pigeons and bobwhites, as they called to each other in the distance. There was the cyclic drone of cicadas that had a truly soporific effect on the senses. The new girl let her consciousness drift in a late "summer" afternoon atmosphere. The head of the Business Community enjoyed the respite from the "maddening crowds" that surrounded her at work.
Feeling very risqué she’d worn a white, thigh-length, spider silk tunic that resembled a long cotton tee shirt. Though she knew it was not "lady-like," she’d left off panties, and bra. It was so much sexier this way and she was feeling very wicked and un-lady-like. After lying there for an hour, soaking up the warmth of the "sun" all the way to her deepest regions, she’d decided to cool off just a bit. When the autos turned on the sprinkler, and since she wanted to stay in the tanning room for a while longer, she ran through the chilling water spray. There was no way she could stop the trilling laughter that escaped her throat when she noticed the effect the water had on the white tunic.
Finally, with the shirt wet and clinging she wandered back to the lounger and took a long sip of an iced tea served by JulieO. The ice had long since melted, but she didn't want to go back inside just yet, or to bother JulieO to refresh the ice. She settled back into the lounger, squirming around for a bit. The tee shirt slipped up in the back, leaving her bare bottom against the cushion of the lounger. Alone in the lounger, she just tugged a bit on the hem to make sure the "bare" necessities was covered in the front. The last thing Karen Anne wanted was to expose to anyone who might pop through the door was her smooth pussy. A naughty smile curled her full lips at that thought. That her sex was bald would give Gabe something to think about, and then she laughed softly to imagine his reaction. Karen knew how utterly feminine she had found "a baldy" to be when she was a man. It was time she took the next step and began acting like a woman as well as looking and feeling like a woman.
Feeling utterly, wonderfully lazy, like a gecko sunny herself in the afternoon sun. Today she had nowhere to go and nothing to do. The hierarchy here in the Knoll had to abide by the proclaimed "One of seven" day of R&R just the same as the others. It was wonderful, even if it was only for a short time. Eyelids fluttering shut behind her mirror sunglasses, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
The gentle breeze was just enough to keep one comfortable, warm, but not sweating. In moments she was dreaming of Gabe—she knew she was dreaming—and aware of the chaise cushion shifting slightly. Somehow she knew Gabe was sitting next to her. A soft gasp escaped her when hands stroked up and down her smooth naked thighs, moving in slow eddies, teasing his way upwards. Aware of it all, still asleep, but almost awake, the new girl could feel his fingers moving, finally slipping between her thighs, slowly, very gently easing them apart; his touch was easy, knowing, and very assured.
Clever fingers finally found and stroked the soft petals of her smooth, sleek sex lips. Lightly touching he teased her, excited her, soothed her when she started in hesitancy, "Shush, I like it…so soft, so smooth," and then took her just a bit higher with each new and more thrilling touch. Once more Karen Anne moaned, her rich red lips parted, passing the sigh of rapturous desire. One hand had deserted her dampening nether lips, and as her lips parted, he eased his middle finger in between them, the symbolic gesture clear. Hearing his voice, as if from a distance, telling her to, "suck my finger," startled her. Behind the sunglasses her eyes remained closed; she heard the words as if through a fog.
Watching her touch the tip of her tongue to his finger, tasting her sex on his skin, her lips closing around his finger, Gabe simultaneously slid his other middle finger deep inside her girlish nether lips. The untried passage was, warm, wet and, he found, willing, if not actually eager.
The virgin, feeling his hand teasing her, tickling her innermost regions and tormenting muscles rushing to an intense spasm of emotion, realized there was not a vestige of Kevin remaining within her. The finger in her mouth flicked at her tongue teasingly, and then both fingers began sliding in and out of her body’s drooling orifices. The one finger, slick with saliva, moved between pouted, playfully sucking lips, and the other finger, joined by two others, was stroking her innermost depths. Faster and deeper he eased in and out, in and out. Without volition, her hips and head began moving, keeping rhythm with the hands, the fingers thrilling her as nothing ever had before.
Faster, faster, higher, ever higher, he stroked her, teased her and taught her. Then he said, "Suck my finger… hard, like you will suck on my cock and when you cum, scream so loud that all our neighbors will hear." The meaning was clear; she would strive to remain silent.
Deep inside Karen Anne’s body, an out of control orgasm; inner muscles jerking in rhythm, responded to his words, his thrusting fingers. This was Karen Anne’s first ever male induced orgasm and it went on and on, and it seemed as if her mouth and her sex wanted to suck his fingers deeper inside my body. The girl knew again it was time, and now looked forward to it with virginal anticipation.
Long, long moments later, she became aware that Gabe was sitting next to her on the lounger and that her hand was wrapped around his sturdy shaft.
"Oh dear Lord," she wondered aloud, "did that really happen? Did I really have an orgasm out here on my lounger?" The girl looked up, pink cheeked, into Gabe’s eyes and knew. The knowing look in Gabe’s softly glowing eyes, and that clever smile of his, that gently curled his mouth, told her that it had happened.
And then he leaned her forward and lightly kissed her mouth, and said. " I have to get inside your sweet mouth, K.A… now!"
"Oh dear, your cock is beautiful, but it’s so big!" Nevertheless Karen Anne began, without further hesitation, raining kisses up and down the length of his jerking, vein-lined shaft, occasionally pausing to lick and nip lightly as she worshipped him. "Gabe, you do know I've never..."
"Shh, shh, it’ll be okay, it’s a girl thing." Gabe was forced to do several of the meditation techniques he’d been learning from White and Naomi to prevent shooting wads and wads of his seed into the face of this girl, his lovely heart throb. "And love, you’re all girl now!"
He knew that Karen Anne had virtually no sexual experience, at least as a girl, with only two straight non-sexual light petting sessions ending without hint of intercourse, at least on his part, and some dates cuddling and kissing with Gabe before moving into the knoll. But she was suddenly acting out one of his most deviant sexual fantasies and it was obvious that it didn't concern her all that much that she was about to suck a man’s penis.
Licking up and down his dick like a huge lollipop she reached up and took his full testicles in one hand and jacked his velvety penis gently with the other hand and then she pushed his balls into her mouth, and the began to swirl her tongue over them. Karen Anne felt another wave of that wonderful pleasure building in her untried sleeve and the more she did things to Gabe the better it felt, and he wasn't even touching her sex. In her mind she was remembering, and then doing to Gabe, all the wonderful things Sharla and Mary Anne and a few others had done to him when he was a male.
It amazed that she was so easily stimulated and that the feel of the soft cloth of her tunic against her nipples had her already nearing orgasm. Nearly swooning with ecstasy Karen Anne slowly put his manhood into her innocent virgin mouth and closed her full ruby lips around it.
Gabe felt that since it was her first blow job she could use a little instruction. "Now take it deep in your mouth…YES…and now slide your lips up and down on it," he told her. Karen Anne immediately complied, started to use her mouth on him. In and out, in and out, deeper and deeper she took him, bobbing her head, sliding her lips up and down the shaft of his penis.
"Now suck on my cock while you do that, Karen Anne."
She started to suck him, and suck him hard. He felt her tongue rasping back and forth on the underside of his dick. Bolts of intense pleasure seemed to be coming out of his penis running down his legs to his toes... back up to his anus and then slamming him in the chest.
"Keep using your hand, sweetheart," he reminded her, trying to maintain his composure. He wanted this to last.
Karen Anne started her hand jerking again, coupling that with her sucking mouth. Her cheeks caved in as she sucked for all she was worth her long hair flying around her head like a cloud.
"God, Karen Anne, it’s hard to believe this is your first time..." Gabe moaned. With seven of his ten inches pounding into her mouth, bouncing against the entrance to her throat Karen Anne could only groan and whip her tongue faster around his glans. The taste and smell of his penis were driving her wild; she knew then she would never tire of performing this service for Gabe. Now she couldn't wait for his hot cum to shoot into her mouth and down her throat. Growling with her desire and humming with happiness she sent more shivers of lust running up Gabe back.
"When you're good... you’re very, very good, girl!" He felt weak and he could imagine that she was holding him there by her lips and mouth alone, as her hands worked their delicious magic on his manlies. If in no other area of expertise, she was certainly a witch in this one!
Karen Anne's mouth clamped down like a vise around his prick. Suddenly she loved the taste of his penis in her mouth, and enjoyed the feeling of power it gave her. She could taste his pre-cum, and realized she longed for a full drink of his man-cream. Even in her inexperienced mind it was evident that her sucking mouth, her intense tongue lashing and her pumping hand would soon milk Gabe to orgasm. Briefly she wondered about what he would think of her for swallowing his cum. She remembered what Kevin had thought of the girls who swallowed and flamed with embarrassment that she’d chosen to become one of them
Karen Anne heard his breathing grow quicker and louder. She knew she was going to make him cum. The girl knew because she had seen the "cocksucking cunts" in her male past when they did the same thing to him she was now doing to Gabe. Now she envied those wicked, beautiful girls and wished she'd been the one sucking his penis all those times. The girl found she was hungrily waited for him to squirt his hot gooey load down her throat. Feeling the twitches in his penis, she knew that it meant he was nearly ready. It surprised her that she could actually feel those tiny twitches, she’d often felt them in the core of the penis she had once had, with the flat of her tongue. A series of mini lightning bolt orgasms began ripping through her. Her hand, lips and sucking mouth bore down on his man-hood. She wanted cum! And she wanted ALL of it!
Shaking, unable to control his muscular actions, the sight of the sexy girl he loved more than life wearing only that sexy spider silk tunic Sharla had given her as Christmas gift, sucking his penis for all she was worth, was way too much for him. It seemed the tunic was coming to be standard apparel for most women in the complex of late. His balls ached, waiting to release his cum into her hungry mouth.
"Oh, God, Karen Anne, you're making me cum!" he yelled.
"Here it comes, sweetheart! I'm gonna blow in your mouth! Swallow it! Swallow it all you sweet cock sucking bitch! Eat my hot cum!"
The virgin felt his penis spasm in her mouth, felt a stream of hot jizz splash against the back of her throat, and felt her muscles work to swallow it. She almost gagged knowing she was swallow a man’s sperm, but managed to swallow it before Gabe shot more thick white cum into her virgin cock sucking mouth. She found she had to believe that she had to do as she was told. Even so, she knew she wanted to do what she was told.
No delicacy she had ever eaten had tasted as good as Gabe's spunk. Then, as it rolled over her tongue and down her throat, she peaked in orgasm again.
The construction company heir turned sex slave worked Gabe like a sexy vacuum cleaner. The more cum he shot into her mouth, the more she wanted. She swallowed and swallowed some more. Karen Anne gulped down squirt after squirt of his manly cream, taking it all as fast as he pumped it out. Finally, the ropey gouts slowed and then stopped.
Karen Anne lazily drew back and popped her lips off his penis and looking up into his eyes, swallowed once more, noisily downing the last of his creamy fluid.
"You didn't even take your sunglasses off, Karen Anne," he said in humor-filled disbelief. Gabe shook his head.
"Do you feel better now darling? Was I okay?" Karen Anne asked, still holding his penis in her hand. She moved the rubbery head of his prick back and forth across her lips and cheeks acting the total slut for Gabe. She knew that was the right term. After all it now felt natural that she be on her knees, that his semen should be in her mouth and on her tongue, and his warm prick in her hand.
"That was great dear-heart, and later you can suck me hard again and we'll remove that cherry of yours in a fuck session, if you'd like," he told her. Karen Anne's eyes lit up with desire and need but she knew not to press Gabe for what she wanted now. She was still shaking from the orgasms that had speared through her body.
Smiling as he pulled her up from the lounger, he led her inside her suite for round two.
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