Olan Thorensen - Cast Under an Alien Sun

Ten minutes later and with protestations of being robbed from both sides and how much they were conceding, Linton and Cadwulf agreed on eight years of reduced price once trade off Caedellium resumed, if the guano worked.

The basic deal settled, they proceeded to details. Yozef explained they’d need multiple plots to vary the amount and number of guano applications. Since he had no idea of the proper amounts, they settled on the initial test with four different amounts of guano, one and two applications, two different sites, and a control plot of no application at each site for a total of thirty-four plots. Yozef was encouraged that he didn’t have to explain the need for the control plots.

What crops to use was the next question? Yozef had thought of wheat, but Bronwyn suggested that barley and turnips were better cool weather crops. Though she had already finished the current plantings, there were several fields being left fallow she could use for the tests. Bronwyn suggested the plots be of a sixteenth of an acre, about fifty-five square feet each.

The business concluded, Bronwyn invited them to stay for evening meal, but both Cadwulf and Yozef were due to eat with Cadwulf’s parents that evening and gave their thanks for the invitation. Based on Linton’s estimate of the time needed to set up the test plots, Yozef said he would return in one sixday with sacks of fertilizer.

A sixday later Yozef returned to the Linton farm with a wagon holding enough bags of powdered guano for the trials, plus extra. One of his workers drove the wagon, with Yozef as passenger and Seabiscuit tied behind. Linton saw them coming up the road to the farm and met them at the house.

“The wagon will return to Abersford once we’ve unloaded the sacks,” he explained. “I’ll ride back after checking the plots you’ve prepared and see the first applications.”

Linton nodded. “Then we’d better get to it.” She climbed onto the wagon bed and began handing sacks to the two men to transfer them to a farm cart with a pony hitched to it. She wore similar working clothes as on his previous visit, although her shirt was untied several inches lower than before. Yozef caught a brief glimpse of considerable breast the first time she bent to hand down a sack. He averted his eyes, but they betrayed him on the next two sacks. The views were impressive.

Yozef and his worker had gotten a later start from Abersford than planned and had arrived in early afternoon. As a consequence, by the time he and Linton finished with checking the first set of plots, observing the applications, and checking her record keeping, the sun was setting behind the eastern hills.

It had been an awkward day for Yozef. He couldn’t resist positioning himself to catch further glimpses down Linton’s shirt whenever she leaned over. Yet at the hint of a nipple, which elicited unmistakable stirrings, he steeled himself to avert his eyes during the last hour of work.

His face had a sheen of sweat, and his heart thumped as they finished the final plot, only partly due to exertion.

“That’s the last one, Sen Linton. I’ll be riding back to Abersford now. I’ll come and check back here next sixday.”

“Ser Kolsko, you’d be returning in the dark, and since you’re not familiar with these roads and by your own admission are not the most experienced rider, perhaps it would be best if you spent the night here and returned in the morning. I’d be pleased to offer you hospitality for evening meal and the use of the extra bedroom.”

Yozef wasn’t sure but suspected a hint of anticipation in her offer. He wondered whether there was the same in his acceptance.

They washed up after the day’s work. He expected a washbowl and maybe some soap, but she directed him behind the house to a small enclosure containing a tub of water, soap, and a drying cloth. The water was ambient temperature, meaning on the chilly side, but by now he was accustomed, or resigned, to only occasional hot water. He’d brought a change of clothing, not knowing what and how much work he would do at the farm, and when he entered the house, he was greeted by a similarly scrubbed and reclothed Bronwyn Linton.

Where’s the other tub? In the house ?

It had to exist, since her hair was still damp and she didn’t seem to exude the natural odors most working Caedelli carried with them after a full day. Her work clothes had been replaced by slippers and a red dress with a more than suggestive plunging neck. Bras were unknown on Caedellium, and the sleeveless, form-fitting dress left little to the imagination.

Dinner combined the efforts of Linton and an older woman who excused herself and exited when the meal was ready. While waiting, Linton served Yozef a pre-dining aperitif. The first swallow burned on the way down.

Christ! This stuff’ll take paint off a wall. Probably a home brew of some kind .

After his throat recovered or perhaps was anesthetized, he rather enjoyed the glow and the mellow feeling. He also saw through a door into another room, where glimpses of cloth hanging off a table, wicker baskets, and a cot suggested the spare room where he would spend the night.

Dinner was a typical Caedellium repast of roast beef, turnips, whole-grain heavy bread, and a yellow-tinged sweet wine whose origin he couldn’t identify. Conversation was scintillating—prospects for this year’s crops, expectations on the fertilizer tests, the weather, how nasty were the Narthani, and a gossip about Abersford society. Yozef learned that Linton had inherited the farm from her parents, was married for two years before her husband died in accident, had had one child stillborn, and had a sister living nearby.

For his part, Yozef recited his rote summary of his own family and the mystery of arriving on Caedellium. As far as he knew, he held up his end of the conversation, although between the alcohol and views of cleavage he wasn’t sure. The meal and wine finished, the conversation lagging, he sat back and pushed his chair away from the table.

“Thank you, Sen Linton. I enjoyed the meal and your company. If your other bedroom is ready, I’m tired from the trip and our work and will retire for the evening.”

“Ser Kolsko, the extra bedroom is used as my sewing room and is so crowded with my work I’m afraid it might not be comfortable for you.” She rose from her chair, stepped out of her slippers, and slipped the top of her dress from her shoulders. Her breasts sagged from their fullness, the nipples pointing outward and erect. “I’m sure you’ll be more comfortable in my room.” She turned and walked toward the rear of the house.

Yozef’s eyes fixed on her breasts swinging when she turned and then the view of her hips swaying as she walked away barefoot. He stood frozen. While the moment wasn’t a total surprise, neither was it anticipated. Filtin had clued him in that unmarried Caedellium adults were free within cultural restrictions in matters of sex, but this was more upfront than he expected. If he followed her, did this mean a commitment? Was he really interested in her this way?

The questions were ignored by his feet and his groin. She lay naked on a bed. Flickering candles gave a warm, subdued glow to the room, and his pants tightened at the contrast of light and shadows across her skin. The parts of his brain still functioning noted the sturdy, definitely feminine body, the armpit hair, the thatch covering her mons, and her breasts settling downward as she supported herself on her left elbow and held out the other arm.

The only sound, if he had noticed, was both of their heavy breathing. His clothing cascaded around his feet, his erection pointing skyward. As he moved to the bed, she rolled back and spread and raised her knees. There was no foreplay. He mounted her, and she grasped him with her legs. There was an immediate rhythm to his thrusts and her hips. When he came quickly, she kept her clasp of him for several minutes. It was an urgent coupling, not lovemaking. They didn’t speak. When he lay next to her, he could hear the slowing of their breathing, the sounds of the house, and the occasional animal sound from outside.