Chapter 9- Amberstill Ranch
Thirty-three days later -
It was a much longer trek to Amberstill Ranch than I ever would have imagined. Much, much longer!
We made no better travel time for having a wagon and rams than we did by foot. As a matter of fact, I think we made worse time. I set the goal of trying to make thirty miles a day, but we fell short. By five miles one day or ten the next. On average though, I think we traveled twenty miles a day, so not too bad.
The first day Pinkerpie and Mandalay drove all day giving Shaelah and I much needed time alone. That first consummation of our marriage was... nothing less than spectacular, but as soon as Shaelah peaked her exultant exhalations became body shaking sobs. Collapsing to my chest, she hugged me so tightly as she wept of the loss of her husband. Wrapping her up in my arms, I held her tight and caressed her hair and back. We laid there together for a long time until we both fell asleep.
I woke up first. Shaelah was still laying on my chest, her long curly auburn hair fanned out over us like a cloak. I had long since shrunk out of her, and I very much feared that we were now adhered to each other by our pubic hair and my cum that had no doubt drained out of her while we slept. Running my fingers through her hair, I hugged her close and tried not to awaken her. The wagon rumbled on for a long time before she woke up, making a hissing sound as she sucked drool back into her mouth before it dribbled onto my chest.
"Sorry," She mumbled as she wiped her mouth and pushed herself up so that she straddled me. Looking down at me she continued, "I can't believe I cried after our first time together. Ye must think I'm horrible."
"No, I don't," I replied as I squeezed her thighs.
Shaelah smiled tremulously before saying, "What do ye say, shall we give it another go?"
Flipping her over onto her back, it was my turn to be on top. We gave it another go five times in a row before we stopped to eat lunch, and then another six times before dinner. Shaelah was quite determined to pay her dues as a wife, without crying afterwards. Honestly though, she didn't cry again after that first time. She made love with the zeal of a woman trying to forget her pain and I was her diversion, and I think she was determined to make me forget that first time.
Later that evening feed bags were put on the rams, but they were left harnessed to the wagon just in case there was trouble and we needed to move quickly. Afterward supper was made of chopped roast and beans with additions of bread and cheese. That evening we figured out the sleeping arrangements. It was me between Shaelah and Pinkerpie, who insisted on sleeping nude, and Mandalay slept on the other side of her mother.
That night, after everyone was asleep, I was awakened by the soft shuddering cries shared by Shaelah and Mandalay. Reaching out, I rested a hand on Shaelah's thigh in support until she took it in her own tight grasp and squeezed.
That was how it was for the next twenty days. At night after Pinkerpie and I were asleep, Shaelah and Mandalay quietly cried until they fell asleep. The last three days, whether it be exhaustion or closure, their crying dried up though they still clung to each other and fell to sleep along with Pinkerpie and I.
After that first day of Pinkerpie and Mandalay driving the wagon all day, we all started taking turns driving the wagon for two hours before being relieved to take shelter in the wagon and warm up. Shaelah and Pinkerpie also had a quiet discussion, while Mandalay and I drove the wagon, about splitting my time between them. Both when driving the wagon and when resting. Intimacy was also discussed and the fact that there was not to be any marital intimacy in front of Mandalay. She was old enough to be curious, but too young to marry.
However that discussion went, one thing was certain, neither Pinkerpie nor Shaelah would so much as flirt when Mandalay was around. However, whichever one was with me while driving the wagon, they cuddled up close. When it was time to rest in the wagon Pinkerpie and Shaelah both made sure I was kept very busy. It was almost as if they were in a competition with each other. The only time I really got any rest at all was the few hours a day when Pinkerpie and Shaelah were both out. Shaelah drove while Pinkerpie rode shotgun leaving me alone with Mandalay. We both wound up sleeping right through those breaks.
It took two and half days to reach the Quarry Road. Then another thirteen days before we passed a small road that branched off north leading to Misty Pine Refuge. I knew it was there from my knowledge of Dun Morogh in WoW. Part of me wanted to turn off and investigate just to see if it would be like the game, and what I might find. I squashed that desire though and we stayed on our chosen course.
The Quarry Road was a good road. A dwarven made road, which meant the best of the best. It was broad and spacious and made of the most finely cut cobblestone. Every piece fitted so tightly and so well, that despite the harsh winter climate, there were no ruts and no holes. The whole breadth of the road was smooth. The only obstacles were large snow drifts that marched across the road in certain places.
Another thirteen days passed before we turned off the Quarry Road and headed north toward Amberstill Ranch. A day's north and we passed by the Mountaineer's outpost. In the game it was a single residence half buried in a mountain. What we found was a huge fort with many supporting houses and families. I stared in amazement. It was so much more!
Mountaineers waved as our wagon slowly trundled by. They said nothing about the strange group consisting of one human, two dwarves, and a goblin. Nor did they mention how strange it was that it was one man and three women.
The road sloped upward, curving west around the Mountaineers outpost, and then curved back again sinuously toward the east. We rolled slowly through a canyon that eventually led to a valley in the foothills of the Khaz Modan Mountains. The home of the Amberstill Ranch. On the thirty-third day after setting out from Kharanos, with the sun almost touching the western mountain peaks, we rolled into the Amberstill Ranch.
The ranch was a much larger estate than the game made it out to be. Three large stables were built out on the rolling, snow-covered valley while a large keep was built right into the rock face of a tall ridge. Around the mountain home was a short wall, and then, on the other side of the wall were rolling hills. All around the thousand acre ranch stone walls or wooden fence marked out the perimeter of the Amberstill Ranch and split the property into quadrants. One quadrant for female rams and mountain goats, another for the males, and another for the gelded males. The last quadrant was where houses, barns, and training grounds resided.
I was familiar with the quests associated with this place, but honestly, I figured that the Wendigo quests would have been completed years ago. So, it was to my surprise when we saw fresh blood and signs of a large body being dragged through the snow away from the ranch.
"Ho there!" Called out a ranch hand as he came trotting up, "How may we help ye today?"
The night before our arrival it had already been discussed how best to show up at Amberstill Ranch. At great length they had argued the merits of who should meet, greet, and negotiate the purchase of the animals they needed. That was why it was Shaelah and Mandalay up on the driver's seat and Pinkerpie and I sitting inside the small house wagon with our ears pressed against the exterior wall listening to what was said outside.
"Aye," Shaelah answered from her seat as she set the break and handed the reins to Mandalay, "I do be here lookin' to procure twelve animals trained for wagon pullin'. To whom should I be speakin' in order to negotiate such a purchase?"
"That do be me, Veron Amberstill. I negotiate all sales," Veron Amberstill said loudly, "Redwin, go back to ye duties! I do be seein' to our guests."
Redwin nodded, then turned to leave after giving Cyduna and her pups a curious look.
"Come down good woman and tell me ye name. Let's go inside out of this chill and discuss why ye need to procure twelve o' me rams just to pull ye lone wagon," Veron said once Redwin was headed back to work.
"Aye, thank ye for the hospitality," Shaelah replied as she climbed down from the driver's seat.
