22
Night of October 12 and day of October 13, 1492.
All eyes were on Alonso as he took his turn and mounted the float on which Bárbara lay. She looked at him distractedly. He noticed that her eyes appeared to have a peculiarly erotic fire in them, while at the same time projecting a vacant, distance look, and wondered what kind of potion she had been given.
She was breathing heavily ... panting from exertion ... bathed in sweat. Her belly, mons pubis, vulva and inner thighs were thickly smeared with the cum ejaculated by the many who had mounted her before him. As he pushed himself into her and drew in breath, the musky aroma of her sexual desire filled his nostrils. He felt and exalted in the wet warmth and squeezing embrace of vaginal muscular contraction as he slid in deeper ... guided by her hot hands and fingers, gripping and tugging at his hips.
Slowly at first, then with increasing tempo, he pumped in and out, rising on extended arms and watching her gasp and moan in response to each new thrust. Then it happened. He released with a bellow, and collapsed on top of her ... and as he did ... he whispered in her ear, “hang on tight!” ... hoping that somehow she would comprehend.
Whether she did or not, Alonso knew exactly what he intended to do. Gathering her into his arms, he rose from the float ... and before anyone could stop him, bolted from the ceremonial space into the darkness of the night.
“What just happened?” cried an alarmed Rodrigo de Escobedo. “Stop them!”
“Go!” shouted Colon. “I’ll stay here and have a closer look at that float.”
Moments later the pursuit was on. Native warriors, carrying flaming torches, began sweeping the bush, assisted by Colon’s men, but Alonso, with the element of surprise on his side had a head start. And he and Bárbara enjoyed an additional advantage in that their pursuers were both disorganized and full of food and drink.
But Alonso soon realized how small the island was, and how difficult it was going to be to evade capture. Moreover, Bárbara was of little help in her drugged state. In fact, he couldn’t be sure that she even knew what was going on. Slowly, sadly, it began to dawn on him that it was just a matter of time before they were cornered and caught.
That’s when the earth suddenly gave way beneath his feet, and he and Bárbara vanished from sight.
Stunned, but conscious, he slowly picked himself up. Groping about in the darkness he found that they had fallen to the bottom of a narrow sinkhole that must have opened up under their combined weight. Bárbara lay unconscious alongside him.
He was trying to bring her around when he noticed that, off to one side, he could sense a strong draft of cool air. Crawling in that direction and feeling about with his hands, he found the cool air was coming from the entrance to a cavernous subterranean space.
Returning to Bárbara’s side, he gathered her up and retraced his steps in the direction of the cool draft.
He couldn’t see a thing as he entered the cave and bumped his head twice on stalagmites. But when he felt he had gone far enough to ensure their safety, he sat down on the cold limestone floor, cradled her in his arms and waited.
Meanwhile the hunt went on above ground. The natives and Colon’s men crisscrossed the island throughout the night in search of Alonso and Bárbara, without success. They finally gave up around daybreak.
Returning to the settlement, they took their rest until midday. The natives seemed resigned to retire as well. The night ... with the ritual followed by a fruitless chase ... had been an exhausting one for everyone.
“Now what?” whispered Rodrigo de Escobedo, upon waking from a deep sleep , getting to his feet, and finding Colon sitting alone down on the beach, looking out to sea. “Alonso and Bárbara appear to have vanished into thin air.”
“And no gold either,” grumbled Colon, flinging a stone into the surf.
“Perhaps its time for us to leave?”
“Empty handed? Such a pity ... but wait! There’s got to be other nearby islands to discover and explore, right? We’ll need a guide.”
“Perhaps we can take a few of the natives with us?”
“Yes, and coerce them into leading us to the gold!” enthused Colon brightly.
“But what about Alonso and Bárbara?”
“Who needs them? Nothing but trouble anyway. We’ll just kidnap a couple of natives and leave Alonso and Bárbara in exchange. A fair bargain, no?”
*******
It was late afternoon before Alonso and Bárbara ventured from their hiding place. She had, by then,slept off the effects of the potion but found herself ... quite understandably, given the exertions of the previous night ... to be incredibly sore, and only able to move about gingerly. Taking her by the hand, Alonso led her back ... very slowly ... in the direction of the settlement.
When they had it in sight, they secluded themselves in the bush at the edge of the clearing, and settled down to observe.
They saw nothing out of the ordinary.
The ceremonial space was deserted. The float was gone. There were a few natives moving about between the houses, but all appeared to be quiet.
Of Colon and the landing party, there was no sign, but that was quickly explained when they looked out to sea ... for, far out in the distance, the Santa Maria’s long boat could be seen pulling alongside its mother ship.
Colon had left without them!
“What will we do now?” murmured Bárbara. “They’ve gone and left us behind.”
“I believe it’s for the best,” declared Alonso, exuding confidence. “The natives seem to adore you. Look at what happened last night! They’ll treat you like a lost Goddess come back to them, if we go down there now and play our cards right. With any luck at all, you and I will be running the place like royalty in no time.”
“Oh, but I’m not sure I can keep doing what I did on that altar last night forever!”
“Like I said, if we play our cards right you won’t. We just have to convince them that my Bárbara should be worshipped and honored as a Goddess of Light and Beauty, rather than as the ritual object of a virility cult.”
“Do you really think that possible, Alonso?”
“Why not? It’s a brave new world!”
EL FIN
Elfin? Is this where Erin comes in?
Barb, I'm so pleased that you not only survived this story, but end up as a Goddess! Saves me a transatlantic trip to take revenge...
Mind you, a Goddess who can dream up a story like this deserves a bit of worship!
