Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:26:10 +0000
From: lokiaga@austin.rr.com
Subject: Rue Dauphine 19

Rue Dauphine 19
Lance Kyle

Over the next few weeks, fugitives came and went at the house on Rue
Dauphine.  Sometimes they had no visitors at all, and the house seemed
empty by comparison.  Mama Désirée was not in evidence at all during that
period, but the dropoff and pickup of fugitives at midnight, signaled by
the talisman appearing on the door, went like clockwork.

One day Lawyer Toogood brought word that the Parish was willing to sell
LeRoc's house if a fair price could be agreed upon.  Scott consulted with
him to arrive at some terms, Toogood consulted with Parish officials, and
an agreement was reached.  Even then it would take a couple of weeks to
process all paperwork and to let the legal wheels grind along.  Scott was
much relieved, and looked forward to searching the house in detail for more
information and for books and other documents on magic and, if any
remained, on the Frères de Saint Ange.  He was glad that the Parish had not
searched the house too well, for he felt confident that the gold and jewels
in the hidden safe would at least match what he was going to pay for the
house.  In the meantime, his researches into the resources of the secret
cellar library took all his free time as he learned as much as he could of
magic.

In a week when they had no fugitives, Scott, accompanied by James, was
visiting the dockyards, where shipments of some goods for the house were
being arranged.  As the two were walking along the long harborside where
riverboats docked to put off and take on cargo, they were startled by a
commotion on one of the riverboats they were passing.  Looking up, Scott
saw a thin woman with long dark hair being forcibly ejected from the boat
and hustled down the gangplank by the captain and two of his crewmen.

"Yer a bad influence, yer are!" cried the captain, "begone and don't come
back.  And I'll tell my friends about yer as well!" he shouted.  The woman
tripped being rushed down the last few feet and sprawled on the boardwalk,
a small bundle of belongings sliding away from her.  Appalled at this
treatment of a woman, Scott rushed forward to help her rise while James
retrieved the belongings.  Pulling her to her feet, Scott received a
surprise.  It was a young man, a boy really.

He had long, straight, shiny hair, and his skin was the color of a copper
penny.  A nose that was just on the side of noble, but any larger would
have been too much, graced a face with deepset black eyes and high
cheekbones.  His lips were full and his chin well formed but delicate.
Scott surmised at once that the fellow was an American Indian, of perhaps
sixteen years of age.  Scott's hands still steadying the fellow by the
shoulders, the boy spun to the side and spat vigorously at the boat he had
lately occupied.  Then he glared at Scott, but quickly averted his eyes
when he realized the white man was trying to help him.  The boy shook
himself and tried to assume an air of dignity.  James ran up to him and
handed him his belongings, then frankly stared at him; James had likely not
seen an Indian before.

"I'm afraid you were ill used...sir," said Scott, who almost said "ma'am."

"Ah, damn `em," said the lad.  "I can find another boat," he said.  With a
moment's hesitation he thanked Scott and James, and then summoning as much
dignity as he could, he walked off down the boardwalk.  Scott and James
concluded their business and headed home, relating the story to their
friends that evening at dinner as merely an interesting anecdote.

They had nearly forgotten the incident until three days later when together
again, they returned to the harborside to pursue the business of ordering
in supplies for their sometimes burgeoning household.  They were walking
down the boardwalk, deep in conversation, when they were interrupted by a
voice, which asked, "Have you any work, sir?  I'll...I'll do anything."
They paused, and to their astonishment there was the young fellow they had
seen thrown off the riverboat, squatting against a building now, his bundle
of belongings still by his side.

"Why...why we meet again, sir.  I think we saw you when you were...ah..."
and here the fellow jumped to his feet.  "Oh!" he said.  "Yes...yes, I
remember.  Well, ah...I am seeking work...still...perhaps you are in
business, or own a business, sir, and could hire a likely fellow.  I
will...sir, I will do ANYthing," he said.

Scott paused for a moment.  "I had the impression that riverboats were your
line of work," he said.  The fellow gave a bitter chuckle.  "They are.  But
my FORMER friends seem to have talked around and...well, sir, in short I
find I cannot easily find work on the boats.  I...I will do anything, sir,"
he said, with now perhaps a note of desperation creeping into his voice.
"Word gets out," the fellow said, now in a quieter voice, "and...I don't
know what to do.  I can't find work" he ended in practically a whisper.

"Where do you stay?" asked Scott.  The fellow barked a bitter laugh again
and gestured around him.  "Here," he said.  A tone of great weariness now
crept into his voice.  "Do not let me detain you, sir...but...have you any
work?"

Scott thought quickly.  He could not gather every stray in New Orleans, nor
repair the wicked world.  But this fellow seemed vulnerable somehow.  There
was something about him Scott could not put his finger on.  Scott
considered that at the moment there were no fugitives in the house.  This
fellow could not stay; who knows whether he could keep the secret of their
role in the Underground Railroad?  But perhaps Scott could give him a meal
and a night's rest.  Scott invited the lad to come to the house for that.
The fellow looked with some suspicion at Scott, and then with sudden
awareness at James, who had hung back during this exchange.

"Is...is he with you?" asked the fellow.  "He is," Scott replied simply.
He saw a look of hesitation, even displeasure, cross the lad's face.  But
then it was replaced with desperation.  "It is very kind of you," the
fellow said—perhaps grudgingly?—and then, trying to salvage some
dignity, extended his hand.  "I am Cloud in the Morning," he said.  "At the
mission school they called me `John,'" and he almost spat the name.  "But
my real name is `Cloud in the Morning.'  You may call me Cloud."  Scott
shook his hand, gave his name, and James's name, with no further
explanation of their relationship.  Scott led the way back to the house,
but he noticed that Cloud kept casting sidelong glances at James.  Did he
not like blacks for some reason, Scott wondered?

Scott, James, and Cloud entered through the alley door to the kitchen,
where Niobe and Delilah were just laying out lunch.  Scott sensed a clear
hesitation in Cloud, a wariness, a guarded examination of the two girls.
But he sat, thanked Scott again, and ate ravenously.  As he did, other
members of the household came, were introduced by name, and likewise helped
themselves to food. As with James, some of them had never seen an Indian,
and there were quick whispered conferences in corners of the kitchen to
figure him out.  Cloud's pace of eating slowed gradually, and a shadow
increasingly stole over his face.  He gave only short answers to any
question put to him, and soon the people of the house, shrugging at one
another, let him be.  As he finished he sat for a moment, Scott studying
him.  Then he rose and picked up his bag of belongings.

"I thank you, sir," he said, "for your offer of hospitality, and for this
food, but...but I cannot stay in a place where there are slaves.  Nearly
everyone on the boats was free, sir, and that's one reason why I worked
them.  I...I can't live in a place of slavery.  Thank you, sir."  There was
a moment of stunned silence all around.  Cloud turned toward the door and
had his hand on the latch when first James, then Sampson and Delilah, then
the whole group burst into laughter—except Scott, who studied Cloud
thoughtfully.  Cloud wheeled back, a look of astonishment and questioning
on his face.

"Sir, none of us are slaves," said King, and everyone nodded their
immediate agreement.  "We are all free here," said Cleopatra.  "Free...in
many ways."  Scott merely nodded and continued watching Cloud.  The copper
colored boy stood looking at them with his mouth open.  Then he collapsed
back into his chair.

"You mean..." he said, "you mean...NONE of you are in slavery?  You are
free?  You are here because you want to be?"  They all laughed again and
assured him it was true.  "But...but I heard one or two of you call this
man `Master'" he said, gesturing toward Scott.  They laughed again.  King
rumbled, "well, he really is in an important sense. And we got used to it.
And now it seems natural."  Then talking all at once they told the story of
how they all came to be in the Rue Dauphine.  At the end, Cloud looked at
Scott and said, "Sir, I most humbly beg your pardon.  I...I am ashamed of
how I have acted.  Would you like...perhaps it is best if I leave after
all."  In answer Scott rose and came around the table and shook his hand
again and said, "Not at all.  It was a natural assumption to make.  And
indeed, at one point there was slavery in this house.  That was my fault.
But no more.  And please, stay to refresh yourself at least for this night.
Tomorrow may bring you new luck down on the docks."  Cloud smiled but gave
his head a little shake, and then rallied and thanked Scott again.

The matter settled, James gently asked Cloud if he would like to wash up;
indeed, although he did not exactly reek, the fact that he had been on the
streets for some days was apparent.  Cleopatra immediately offered to wash
his clothing, and Scott said he thought he had some smaller clothes that
might fit the thin Indian boy of sixteen.  James took Cloud by the arm to
the shower bath where he gathered up his dirty clothing and handed them to
Cleopatra.  Scott appeared with an armful of clean clothing, and before
long Cloud emerged smiling gratefully, his spirits seemingly higher.

Sampson and Delilah wanted to take Cloud on a tour of the house, but Scott
could see that the boy was drooping with weariness and suggested a rest
instead.  He was taken to one of the bedrooms.  Cloud protested that
something plainer and less grand would do, but Scott insisted, and so the
Indian boy collapsed down onto the bed and was asleep almost before his
hosts had left the room and closed the door behind them.

An hour later, Cloud awoke.  He was disoriented at first, and then
remembered where he was.  A need to urinate came over him and so he
rose—he was in a left wing second floor bedroom—and remembering that
there was a toilet in the shower bath of the central wing, made his way
there.  He was not the only one to take a siesta, however.  Opening the
shower bath door he found King and Sampson in the shower together, not only
soaping each other but gently pumping each other's erections, a massive
purple black one and a smaller medium brown one.  Cloud stopped in his
tracks and stared at them open mouthed.  Suddenly aware they were observed,
the man and mulatto boy merely smiled and nodded at Cloud, then went about
their play.

Cloud staggered back into the hallway as Scott and Cleopatra walked by,
deep in conversation.  "There...they...King and Sampson, in there!....they
are bathing and...touching each other!" he gasped.  Scott and Cleopatra
stopped and nodded.  They had seen this reaction before.  "We are very free
here in this house," said Cleopatra.  "Sampson, the boy, he is my son, and
I wish him joy in any coupling he wants to make," she said.  Scott nodded.
"We are...perhaps unusual here, but Cloud, we have no restrictions or
limits.  I don't think anyone has ever been known to say no to another" and
here he looked quizzically at Cleopatra, who shook her head no.  "Not
everyone who visits understands, but I must ask you to tolerate our ways"
he said.

Cloud began sputtering and shaking his head vigorously in the negative.
"Sir, you don't understand...I...I am just so surprised.  I am
misunderstood...I was not complaining."  He paused and seemed to make a
decision and then in a rush pressed forward.  "This...this is why I was
thrown off the boat.  That," he said, gesturing toward the shower bath.
Then a moment of calm came over him and he stood erect and proud and look
right at Scott and Cleopatra.  "That is how I am," he said.  "So are others
on the boat, and it is alright so long as it is kept secret, but...I was
indiscreet."

Scott and Cleopatra stared at him for a moment and then both laughed, and
both drew the sixteen year old Indian boy into an embrace.  "Then you have
stumbled into a welcoming place," Cleopatra said.  Scott was sure he saw a
tear roll down the Indian boy's high cheekbone.  But then the boy stood
erect again and looked over his shoulder as if he could hear a distant
trumpet.

"Something...someone is coming," he said. There was a moment of silence.
Scott and Cleopatra simply stood and looked at him in consternation, and
then the bell rang to the door below.  They heard James answer it, and then
the black boy ran up the stairs.  He spoke to Scott.

"It is Mama Désirée," he said.  Scott quickly ran down the stairs, they had
not seen their friend in a little while.  The other three followed more
slowly and at a distance, Cloud with a wary look on his face.  Mama Désirée
responded graciously to Scott's greeting and then stepped farther into the
hallway.

"I had not intended to stop here," she said, "but I was passing by and I
could sense it."  Cleopatra and lastly, Cloud, were just coming down the
stairs.  "Him," she said, pointing at Cloud.  Scott began to explain his
presence, but Mama Désirée held her hand up to stop him.  She stepped up to
Cloud, whose eyes grew big, but he stood his ground.  She circled around
him three times, clockwise.  And then she said to him, "You have second
sight, do you not?  You can see and hear and sense what others cannot,
yes?"  Cloud nodded, a look of amazement on his face.  "And you..." She
paused.  "You are like others in this house in that you enjoy both sexes,
do you not?"  Scott thought Cloud's copper skin got even redder as he
blushed, lowered his head, and nodded yes.

Mama Désirée stepped back to include the rest of the three.  "His people
have often had those gifted with these powers of insight, of foretelling,
of intuition," she said.  "And..."she paused for emphasis. "and, most of
them are comfortable between male and female or both.  It is a long
tradition with them."  She wheeled on Cloud and held her hand up.  "I sense
that you are also opposed to slavery," she said, "strongly so."  Cloud
nodded vigorously.  Mama Désirée nodded with satisfaction.  "Do you not all
see?  This boy was led here.  You were led to find him, and to invite him
here, and he was led to come here.  Mister Scott," she said, "I hear you
will soon possess all of LeRoc's belongings?"  Scott nodded.  She chuckled.
"He will not need them in the work he does for me.  But that includes the
ring.  Beware taking it yourself! I do not know, now knowing the ways of
the ring, but too much magic can turn on the user.  But this one," she
gestured toward Cloud, "this one may have the gifts to use it.  Think
carefully about this."  She strode toward the door and opened it.  "And I
think you may include this one in the work I have given you.  I think I may
soon have a greater work for you, then," she said, and stepping into the
street she was gone.

By this time the rest of the household, drawn by the voices, had gathered
around.  Everyone began talking at once until Scott called for order and
had everyone tell their part of what had just transpired.  King and Sampson
told their part, grinning, still damp from their shower.  It seemed like a
great mystery had just unraveled before them.  There was a moment of
silence and then Scott spoke.

"My friends, would you agree with me that some power greater than ourselves
has led Cloud here to help us in our work...maybe in a special way, if he
has peculiar gifts?"  Everyone agreed it was so.  "Then shall we welcome
him here, if he is inclined to stay?" he asked, and again, there was
agreement all around.  They all looked at Cloud.  "Tell me more about this
work you do," he asked, warily.  They all repaired to the dining room where
they sat around the table and explained to Cloud much of what had passed in
the house, from the Underground Railroad to the ring and book to LeRoc.  In
the end he sat very still and then looked up, his black eyes gleaming.
"Yes, I will join you if I may," he said.  "Although I do not know what use
I will be.  I cannot cast spells or change others.  It is true...I do
sometimes sense what others cannot.  And it is true," and here he blushed a
deeper copper penny color and hung his head, although he smiled, "it is
true that I have enjoyed both boys and girls."  Everyone all around
welcomed him, made sure he knew their names.  Then, he really did have to
use the toilet, but when he returned the four younger people had made plans
to give him a thorough tour of the house, which they did.

Scott went out on a quick walk, accompanied by King, to place orders for
more clothing since Cloud seemed to have little.  He thought he might as
well lay in a supply of different sizes, for males and females, since their
fugitive guests might sometimes need to replace some ragged clothing.  He
stopped by Lawyer Toogood's office to confirm that the wheels of the law
were turning, if slowly, toward his purchase of LeRoc's house and
possessions.  Orders were placed with several other establishments, and
then they made their way home.

The rest of the day was occupied with finding a place for Cloud in the
organization of the house; Scott left that to King and Cleopatra, who had
the matter well in hand.  Scott had a private moment with Cloud in which he
explained in more detail than had been possible before the ring and book,
the history of them and their relationship to practitioners of voodoo, and
a general sense of what he might teach Cloud.  The Indian boy was intrigued
and seemed eager to begin studies when proper.  Scott himself found some
time to retreat to the secret cellar library for study, and then joined
everyone as they gathered in the kitchen for supper.

There they learned more about Cloud's story.  Raised in Missouri and
Kansas, he had been born to parents who fell to the evils of drink, both
dying young from alcohol and violence.  Forced to attend a mission school,
he was educated but abused physically and mentally; however, a strong sense
of his own identity and pride maintained him.  He ran away as soon as he
could and found his way to the Mississippi on the eastern border of
Missouri, where he began working on the riverboats.  On voyages up and down
the river through slaveholding states he saw enough of the institution to
grow to hate it.  On most trips there were one or two other crew members
with whom he could share private moments, but on his last voyage he ran
afoul of one who was not careful, and his secret was discovered.  And that
was how he ended up in the Rue Dauphine.

After supper the group went up to the attic schoolroom.  Cloud was a great
help in this, as he already knew what Scott had to teach, and so could help
in the instruction.  Lessons proceeded apace, and as night came on the
group made ready to retire.

Cloud's presence gave a moment of awkwardness.  Most people seemed already
to have an idea of who their bed partners would be, but Cloud was a new and
unexpected factor in the mix.  In the minds of many was a desire to
experience his beautiful new color and physical features, but nobody wanted
to press him.  On the other hand, he seemed a little unsure of what to do,
and made as if to retreat to his own bedroom.  Passing through the
ballroom, Scott and James caught up with him and slipped a friendly arm
through each of his.

"Cloud, James and I were going to spend the night together.  Would you like
to join us?" asked Scott.  Cloud looked surprised and pleased, and perhaps
a little unsure—he was not quite yet used to the practice of easy
couplings and invitations in the house.  But he agreed and so all three
quickly used the toilet and then went to Scott's bedroom where they closed
the door.

The three began companionably helping each other to undress.  One piece at
a time they became naked, and then locked in a three way hug.  Cloud's
sixteen year old body was thin without being bony, flat chest muscles, a
tube of meat in a beautiful copper penny colored skin, with an exploding
shock of curved black pubic hair above a long, curved penis, penis and
tight wrinkled ballsack being a darker copper brown color.  Cloud's long
black hair fell over his shoulder blades in back. The embrace caused his
uncut penis to begin rising, the head pushing out of the foreskin.  The
three exchanged kisses as they stood, and arms around shoulders began
sliding down backs and over buttocks.

James and Scott had not seen an Indian's body before, so after the three
kissed for a moment, they went to the bed, Cloud in the middle, his long
hair spraying out on the pillow around him.  James and Scott began kissing
and inspecting the Indian boy's body as they slid down it, kissing and
biting his neck, his shoulders, the thin pads of chest muscles and dark
copper brown nipples, the thin pattern of abdominal muscles, licking the
beautiful copper skin.  Cloud was accustomed to being an object of
curiosity in this way, so he laid back and enjoyed it, his deep copper
brown penis rising straight up now with a slight curve toward his feet.
James and Scott, reaching the sixteen year old boy's groin and flipped
around, presenting their own groins to Cloud, and the Indian boy took turns
sucking one penis while he grasped the other with his fist.  The black boy
and white man took turns examining, sucking, and rubbing Cloud's ballsack
and penis.  Breath grew heavy, and now moans could be heard as waves of
pleasure rolled over them.

James, the twelve year old black boy, seemed the randiest of the three, and
soon half rose, reaching for the grease pot.  Squatting between Cloud's
thighs he oiled the knob on his own purple black penis and then Cloud's
anus, then pushed the Indian boy's slim thighs back against his torso and
began rubbing the anus with the knob of his penis.  Scott lay across one of
Cloud's thighs and took the dark copper brown penis into his mouth,
nibbling the bulb with his lips, slowly taking more into his mouth as his
tongue licked the shaft.  James gave a push and soon was landed inside
Cloud as the Indian boy gasped but did not refuse; evidently he was
experienced in these matters.  Fully landed, James squatted on his
haunches, his deep chocolate torso straight up as he began a pumping rhythm
in Cloud's bottom, while Scott's head lay on the Indian boy's panting
torso, sucking his penis.  Cloud had his hands entwined in Scott's hair but
was looking deep into the eyes of James.

Faster and faster the thirteen year old black boy went and then jerked,
slamming his groin forward, his torso arching and crying out—but still
looking deep into Cloud's eyes.  James remained squatting, his groin
pressed forward, grinding into Cloud's bottom as he shot his thirteen year
old's semen into his guts.  Then James collapsed and rolled off to the
side.

Scott released Cloud's penis, which sprang back up again, and the Indian
boy gave a groan of pleasure.  Scott assumed exactly the same position
James had just left, and oiled his penis with the grease.  There was no
need to oil the Indian boy's anus, for it lay open, James's small
ejaculation providing lubrication.  Still, Scott slipped his penis, larger
than James's, slowly into Cloud, while the Indian boy gasped and writhed.

James, seized by sudden inspiration, reached for the grease and oiled the
dark copper brown knob of Cloud's penis and his own anus, and then quick as
a wink slipped in front of Scott and settled himself on Cloud's penis.
James moaned and gasped, but took it all in, in one stroke.  Now James took
his cue from the rhythm of the white man just behind him, sliding up and
down on Cloud's rigid rod while the black boy splayed his palms on Cloud's
thin chest muscles and steadied himself by leaning forward.  Once again, he
locked gazes with Cloud, each looking deeply into the eyes of the other.

From his perspective, Scott was pounding the sixteen year old Indian boy's
ass while the thirteen year old black boy's rounded bottom slid up and down
the Indian's penis right in front of him.  Scott steadied himself with his
hands on James's deep chocolate back.  Following the same rhythm, the three
pounded and pounded and pounded and then pushed by the stimulation of his
prostate Cloud came, crying out, reaching up to pull James down onto his
chest in a tight embrace, Cloud's hips pushing his penis up into the black
boy's bottom.  The clenching of Cloud's buttocks as he shot his sixteen
year old's load into the black boy was too much for Scott, and now the
white man roared, pushing his groin forward, bucking and shuddering as he
emptied his seed into the Indian boy.  As Cloud pulled James down toward
him, Scott likewise fell forward.  The three ended shuddering and panting
in a pile, James off to one side of Cloud's chest and Scott on the other,
penises still implanted.  Then with two distinct plops they fell out, and
the three collapsed into a snuggling tangle on the bed.  Cloud was the last
to drift off, a smile on his face, wondering if it were possible that he
had found a home at last.

Comments welcome
lokiaga@austin.rr.com