Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 06:59:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lance Kyle <lokiaga@prodigy.net>
Subject: Seaward Plantation chapter fourteen

This story contains graphic but completely fictional
depictions of sex among men and men, and men and underage
boys and/or girls, and even nekkid women have begun
appearing.  If this offends you, if it is illegal for you to
read or download this, or if you are under 18, please go
away.

Seaward Plantation

Chapter fourteen

The Hesperus was heavily laden with stores and supplies as
she bobbed up against the pier of Seaward.  Appleby and Troy
worked to unload the cargo while Hector went to hitch up the
donkey cart and bring it to them.  The men decided to simply
leave the buoys on board, where they could be placed in the
treacherous eastern waters of the island the next day.
Building supplies, more ready made shoes and clothing, and
sacks and barrels of foodstuffs were hauled up to the
storage barn and put in the lofts, where they were joined by
Priam and Cassius.  It was becoming clear that additional
lofts would be needed.

Twilight shadows were growing as the men finished their
work.  Cassius went off to have dinner at the cabin of Priam
and Cass.... and Helen.  Troy, Hector, and Athena invited
Appleby to sup with them, which he gladly did, holding baby
Apple while she slept, surrendering her to her mother's
bosom when she awoke crying.  He was pleased to see that the
household items, paint, curtains, and other homey things had
been put to good use and had given a feeling of luxury to
his hosts.

Weary from the journey and the heavy work, Appleby returned
across the darkened lawn to his own house for the first time
since early that morning.  Climbing the stairs, he looked
through the open door of Cassius's room to find the sixteen
year old boy and Helen, the eleven year old girl sitting
cross legged on the boy's bed a foot or two apart, chatting
comfortably.  Appleby greeted Helen warmly; her dark face
broke into a broad smile in return.  Then he directed an
exaggerated wink at Cassius, causing the mulatto boy to
blush a dark, dusky red.

His own room was empty.  Moving down the hall to the
sickroom he found Pan and Bacchus sitting on the bed on
either side of Bundit, the three sharing stories of their
very different lives.  Bacchus was sitting closer to the
Siamese man and had his hand on the back of Bundit's neck,
his fingers exploring the different texture of the Asian's
thick, bushy black hair.  Pan had a friendly hand laid on
Bundit's sheet-covered knee.  In the chair by the bed was
Portia, who flashed a smile of welcome at her master.  His
arrival recalled her to her nursing duties, however, for she
rose, announcing "It is time for our new friend to rest."

"And how has our new friend been today?" Appleby said,
smiling at Bundit.  The Siamese grinned back and said, "Much
better, thank you.  My lungs and stomach are well, my
muscles are a little sore but a day of rest has done me much
good.  I... I had a good massage with liniment oil this
morning."  With this last statement he looked directly at
Appleby and smiled again--in thanks?  as an invitation?

Pan and Bacchus scooted off to the room they shared with
Appleby to prepare for the night.  Appleby stepped to the
bed and gently squeezed Bundit's hand, which returned the
pressure, and the two smiled at one another.  Then Portia
took the white man by the elbow and firmly walked him to the
chamber door.  She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and
then said, "I shall prepare him for the night, then I am
returning to my own cabin.  He can be alone tonight.  But
Master," and here she looked at him with authority, "He
needs his rest tonight.  Tomorrow is another day."  She
arched one eyebrow at him; were there no secrets on
Seaward?!  Appleby nodded meekly, then walked down the hall
to his own room, noting on the way that the door to
Cassius's room was now firmly closed.

Appleby began disrobing to prepare for bed.  The twins
eagerly began assisting him.  Both of them were already
naked, slim brown penises bobbing as they removed their
master's clothes.  Naked, he kissed them both and hugged
them affectionately, but suggested that they only cuddle for
the night, as he was tired from the day's activities.  The
three climbed into bed together and, snuggling up close to
each other, with gentle kissings, nuzzlings, and rubs, they
tumbled down into sleep with each other.

A night of dreamless sleep was broken by the twins sitting
up in bed.  "Wha...?" said Appleby, pushing up on one elbow.
Pan and Bacchus were sitting close to him in the morning
light, listening.  There was the soft but carrying sound of
something metallic clattering and rolling from down the
hall.  The naked boys were out of bed and out the door in a
flash.  Appleby took but a moment more to fling his legs
over the side and rub the sleep from his eyes and follow
them into the hallway.  He padded into the room where Bundit
had been sleeping to find three sets of bottoms, one
cinnamon colored and two a rich caramel brown, waving in the
air as the bodies attached to them searched for something
under the bed.  Out from under the foot of the bed Bacchus
pulled the clean, empty chamber pot.

Rising, Bundit smiled sheepishly at Appleby.  "I reached for
it and it rolled away," he said.  Bacchus brought the pot
around and held it down low in front of the Siamese youth--
man, really, but his small size belied his twenty years.
Unashamedly, Bundit pointed his penis at the pot, grunted a
little, and a stream of urine began flowing.  Pan and
Bacchus exchanged a quick look, then both followed Bundit's
example, Pan helping to hold the pot.  The boys shot a smile
of invitation toward their master, who decided to relieve
himself as well.

All four penises showed a healthy morning erection.  Light
yellow streams crossed as they shot into the brass bowl from
the multi-colored cocks:  deep brown, pink and light tan,
reddish gold.  Bundit and Appleby gently shook the last
drops from their cocks.  Then.... it was Bundit's fault,
really.  Was he being helpful or was it desire?  He reached
out with both hands and gently shook the cocks of the two
boys, whose hands were occupied with holding the pot.  Both
boys gasped in surprise, then pushed their groins forward a
little to receive this service, the last drops of their
urine falling into the bowl.  Their morning erections shot
up into full blown rigidity.  Bacchus took the full pot
away, covering it with a cloth and carefully placed it back
under the bed.  Bundit had never relinquished his grasp of
Pan's organ, but was now simply holding it loosely in his
hand.  Bacchus resumed his stance next to the Asian youth,
who grasped the black boy's penis once again.

Eager to be part of the unfolding scene, Appleby pushed
forward a little into the group.  His motions prompted the
twins to action:  Pan grasped his master's cock, lightly
sliding his brown hand up and down the rigid red shaft.
Bacchus placed his hand around Bundit's shorter light copper
colored shaft and pumped lightly, rubbing the head of the
dick with his fingers as they slid over the top.  Appleby
draped his free hands around the shoulders of the boys and
pulled the group in together.  All four stood there in that
way, their breaths coming faster now, lips parted, each
mesmerized by the interplay of colors as brown slid over
persimmon and over pink, and gold and tan slid over brown.
Hips began moving back and forth ever so slightly, pelvises
cocked up and down to thrust rampant cocks into waiting
hands.

Pan and Bacchus took turns leaning into the older males
between them to offer kisses with their out-turned, trumpet
shaped lips.  Appleby thrust his tongue through the full
flowered lips of one boy, playing tongue against tongue,
creating a gentle suction, breathing a shared breath through
noses, while Bundit's rosebud mouth was mashed against the
trumpet flower of the other boy, pink on purple brown,
kneading and sucking.  Then Bundit simply stepped back and
tumbled into bed, pulling the boys with him who in their
turn brought their master down on top of the tangle.

It was a gentle, squirming mass that could be seen on that
bed--in part out of consideration for any soreness that
Bundit might still feel, although he betrayed none--in part
a dance of exploration as the twins explored the new colors,
shapes, and textures of the Asian body while they also
showed their love for the familiar contours of their
master's flesh.  Appleby stroked now here, now there,
burying his face and lips now in crisp peppercorn curls and
now in a full bush of jet black wings.  Torsos became slick
with spit and precum.  Groins began pressing into groins and
up against bottoms.  A moment of crisis was nearing.

"Lubrication," whispered Appleby from between slick,
glistening lips.  Pan leaped off the bed to run down the
hall, his erection rising nearly flat up against his belly,
and returned with the necessary ointment.  The four took
their positions in stages, with no directed plan but simply
falling into place as opportunities presented themselves.
Appleby lay flat on his back and pulled Bundit on top of him
but facing in the other direction.  The white man sucked the
Asian nutsack gently into his mouth, eliciting a soft cry of
pleasure, then turned to the rampant copper colored cock,
swallowing it whole.  Bundit was licking the white man's
rigid pink cock and was about to swallow it, but Pan had
other plans.  Lubricating and stretching his own anus with
one hand, he gently lifted Bundit's face up off the white
man's penis.  Smearing the slick lubricant on Appleby's
cock, Pan swung into place, lowering himself onto it.  He
grimaced as the cockhead pressed against his anus, then his
sphincter relaxed and he slid down to rest on Appleby's
groin with one long motion.  Now Pan's dark brown shaft
instead of Appleby's reddish cock waved in front of Bundit's
face.  The Asian youth smiled up at the black boy and then
took the organ fully into his own mouth, sucking it,
nibbling around the long, hooded dickhead with his lips.
Then the Asian youth gasped, but did not lose his mouth's
grip on Pan.  For Bacchus had slid two well greased fingers
into the Siamese asshole.  Bacchus moved his fingers in
small circles until the wrinkled anus of the Asian youth had
relaxed, then greased his own rigid brown dick and pushed it
slowly, smoothly in.

His mouth enveloping Bundit's stiff penis, Appleby could
look up a few inches and see Bacchus's greasy brown dick
sliding in and out of the Asian ass.  Pan and Bacchus looked
across the field of Bundit's heaving back to lock eyes, one
with his dick in the Siamese youth's ass and one in his
mouth, joined together through the weld of Asian flesh.
Bundit's view was the tight peppercorn curls of Pan's pubic
hair as he sucked and nibbled furiously on the boy's brown
penis.  All four were in motion, balancing the demands of
desire with the logistics of not coming unplugged from the
mouth or bottom into which they had plunged their dicks.
The bed shook with the pulsing mass.  Pan bobbed steadily up
and down on his master's dick, beating a staccato rhythm
against his belly and thighs.  Bacchus pistoned his hips
back and forth, sliding his dick in and out of the Asian's
firm bottom.  Bundit's hips bobbed up and down to pump his
penis in and out of the white man's mouth, while his head
kept a symmetrical rhythm as it sucked on Pan's organ.

They did not come at the same time--their entanglement was
so complicated they could not have told you who went first
and who went last.  Mindful of the need to keep physical
connection, there was no thrashing or rolling.  First one
and then another heaved a groin forward, or up, or down,
thrusting into the waiting orifice that held it.  Those who
could, cried out softly, those whose mouths were full moaned
and breathed noisily through noses.  Pan and Bacchus held
eye contact the whole time, each seeing deeply into the
ecstasy of his double.  So tight did the four hold each
other as one and then another came that not a drop of semen
was spilled.  White juice was passed from one body to
another, the electricity of sexual passion jolted from white
to black to golden bodies.  As the round of ecstasy cycled
through flesh, ragged breathing slowed.  Bundit broke the
chain, sliding off of Appleby to the side, pulling away from
Pan's penis in his mouth and Bacchus's cock in his ass.
Appleby gasped in the fresh air as the twin black boys
rolled forward, flopping their sweaty bodies down onto his
and Bundit's.  But... did Appleby see a flash of dark
chocolate brown skin move away from the open door?  And...
was it his imagination or did he hear a girlish giggle going
down the hall and the sound of Cassius's bedroom door being
closed once again?  He might have, but he was so caught up
in the loving mass of bodies around him that he merely
wished Helen well and hoped that the sight of their coupling
might inspire her again in Cassius's bed.

The four lay there pleasantly floating in the aftershocks of
passion, touching and caressing.  Rising up on an arm,
Appleby found Bundit's face in the tangles of flesh and
asked, "How do you feel this morning?"  The Asian's face
crinkled up in a smile:  "Wonderful" was all he said.
Eventually the black twins rose up first, followed by the
older males, and all four went running naked down the
hallway, past the closed door to Cassius room--and what were
the sounds coming from within?--down to the bath room where
they cleaned themselves and tenderly ministered to one
another.  Trooping back upstairs past the now silent door of
Cassius's bedroom, they returned to their own chambers and
dressed for the day.

The four went over to the kitchen building for breakfast,
which Mama Juno was preparing.  Munching companionably
around a rough wooden table, Appleby broached a subject that
Bundit needed to consider.

"Bundit--it appears as if you are recovering, for which we
are grateful.  If you wish to be taken into Charleston, we
would be happy to do so.  I will give you some money to tide
you over until you can find work on another ship.  But"--and
here he glanced at his companions, who smiled their
encouragement as he went along--"if you wish to stay here at
Seaward, I think we could find room for you, and your
experience as a seaman might be useful to us.  It is very
isolated here, though, you see how we live.  I just want you
to know," and here he reached over and squeezed the youth's
hand, "that you are welcome to stay."

A serious look came over Bundit's face.  "I. I have never
really belonged anyplace," he said, slowly.  "My parents
died early, my sisters and brothers have scattered.  I have
mainly known the sea."  He looked away, into his memories,
into scenes that only he could see.  "But I think I see what
you have here at Seaward.  And I," and his voice suddenly
became fierce with intensity, "I would give anything to have
that, too.  Would I be useful to you?!  Seaward would be
useful to me--oh, you cannot know!  Thank you, Mark.  Or,
may I call you--Master Mark?"

Appleby raised a hand and shook his head, but Bundit
continued, "Oh yes, I think I will.  We all know that
'master' is a term of respect here, not a term of slavery.
Yes, I think I will call you that.  And thank you again."
He and Appleby joined hands again, squeezing tightly.  The
circle of Seaward rolled outward once more and added one
more ring.

Suddenly, the sound of a ship's bell and then a steam
whistle sounded over the island from the western side.  All
who could dropped what they were doing to go down and meet
it--whether friend or threat they would soon find out,
although increasingly they were coming to think about all
strangers as threats to the island.  Appleby, the twins, and
Bundit found Priam already on the pier when they arrived,
with others close behind them.  Half a mile off the pier
rode a squat steam vessel, sort of a tug and sort of a
barge, of very shallow draft with stern paddles.  It was
pushing a large wooden raft, on which was piled high an
assortment of lumber.

"Ahoy ashore!" cried a man from the vessel as it came nearer
to the pier, "it's your order of lumber from Hoffmann's."
The wooden boards for building that Appleby had ordered when
last in Charleston had at last arrived.  The vessel pushed
the raft with skill alongside the pier.  Troy and Hector
leaped aboard it and seizing some long planks from the pile
they poled the raft up against the pier, where it was
secured by others.  Appleby hailed the vessel by waving his
hat and called out a thanks.  Returning the greeting, it
reversed its paddles and pulled away, to the relief of
everyone ashore.

Much of that day was spent in unloading the raft and
carrying the lumber up to store it in a dry barn.  It was
quite a large pile, weighing the raft heavily, and many of
the planks near the bottom were wet with sea water, but they
would dry out in time.  The raft itself would also be
dismantled and the timbers saved for building.  Many hands
helped in this task, and everyone was happy to see that
Bundit had recovered much of his strength.  Those who had
not visited yet with him took the opportunity of that day's
work to do so, and by the end of the day he felt that he
could call "friend" everyone on the island.

After some discussion the people of Seaward agreed to expand
the storage capacity of the barns first, then to build
another cabin.  Appleby repeated his offer for people to
move into rooms in his house, but in truth that was
happening anyway and some felt the need for more separate
spaces.  With plans in place and a common resolve, the
community set to work.

Weeks of hard work in the sun and air passed.  Bundit fully
recovered from his misadventure, and his resolve to remain
on the island grew stronger.  Appleby's body grew stronger,
more muscled as he joined in every sort of labor.  Good
health blossomed as everyone plunged into a wider variety of
tasks than they had been used to.  Even Athena, largely
recovered from her delivery, began venturing out to help
with more of the projects on the island, and the whole
community shared in the care of baby Apple.

Appleby also brought his friends into the nature of his
plans for protecting Seaward.  It was clear from the
newspapers that came to the island in the mail boat,
although they may have been days or weeks old by the time
they arrived, that storms were gathering over the nation at
large, storms having to do with issues that went to the
heart of Seaward:  slavery, race, and military power.
Appleby explained his plan to keep the mainland at bay by
pretending as much as possible to be allied with them, a
strategy that depending on keeping observers away from
Seaward.  It also depended on preparations for defense of
the island, as much as possible.  So on stormy days and
nights, when the crack of gunfire would not be noticed by
passing ships or by observers ashore, Appleby mustered his
few troops for practice with the few firearms they had, to
accustom the people to their use if nothing else.  The
project of self defense had been greatly assisted by a new
arrival on the island during this building period.

About two weeks after Bundit's arrival, as the group was
working hard at constructing new lofts in the storage barn,
they were startled to hear the sound of a cannon shot from
the western side of the island.  Conflicting fears were
shared among them as they ran down to the pier on that side:
surely it could not be another shipwreck in this good
weather?  could it be an attack on the island?  some
unexpected visitor?  Arriving at the pier, they could see a
large merchantman standing off the island to the west,
unloading a large, bulky object from its side with a crane.
Appleby instantly knew what it was, and asked for the
Hesperus to be prepared immediately to sail out to the
vessel.

Taking Priam, Troy, Hector, Cassius, and Bundit with him,
Appleby directed the boat toward the waiting merchantman.
Upon approaching her, it became clearer what the large
object, now bobbing alongside the merchantman, was:  a small
steam powered launch, specially ordered to be brought down
from shipyards in the North.  It appeared to have two or
three times the cargo space of the Hesperus, but was of very
shallow draft so as to be able to negotiate the approach to
Seaward.  Three sailors from the merchantman were firing up
the boilers of the launch from a supply of coal on board.

Appleby hailed the master of the vessel and concluded the
necessary negotiations to take delivery of the launch.  Even
before he finished, Bundit was tugging excitedly on his arm.
"I know this kind of boat, this kind of boiler," he said.
"Like the Duchess of Kent, only smaller."  The sailor in him
had returned, and his eyes shone as he looked at the craft
in anticipation.  He was the first to leap from the Hesperus
to the boat, where he began going over the fine points of
the mechanism with the seamen from the ship.  "Yes, yes,
yes," he kept repeating, familiar with the basic operation
of the steam boilers.  An innovation with which he was
unfamiliar was explained to him:  the craft was propelled by
screws, like fans, underwater in the rear--not by paddles.
He quickly mastered the principle, and surveyed the craft
with anticipation.

Appleby left Priam and Hector to take the Hesperus back to
the pier.  He and the rest of the group boarded the steam
launch, casting off from the merchantman which pulled away
in the direction of Charleston, sailors waving hats in
farewell from her railings.  Bundit assumed a natural
command of the vessel and gave a quick primer to the group
on her workings.  She was designed to run on coal or wood; a
small supply of coal was on board, but wood might end up
being the more natural fuel on the island.  On board were
also large crates and canvas-covered piles of other,
mysterious cargo.

Bringing the boilers up to a moderate pressure, Bundit
engaged the screws and the craft began to move through the
water, slowly and with a sort of plodding gait.  It was
clear it would not have the graceful dancer's legs of the
Hesperus, but as Appleby explained to everyone, the group
would need a second craft in case some misadventure came to
the Hesperus, and at any rate he had another surprise
waiting amidst the covered cargo.  The group made their
plodding way back to the dock, but everyone on shore and on
the launch cheered and waved as if some mighty titan of the
sea were arriving.

Securing the launch to the pier, Appleby leaped onto a crate
and announced that the first order of business was to name
her.  Many names were suggested, many discarded, but in the
end they could agree on one name that bespoke the spirit of
Seaward:  Harmony, and so she was named.  Now came the task
of unloading her, and Appleby could no longer conceal the
surprise.  The donkey cart was called for, and the first of
the crates were carried off by many hands and opened up.  It
contained gunpowder and round, twelve pound metal balls.
The group wondered at it, but Appleby smiled and asked that
these stores be taken to the stone armory nearest the pier.
More crates revealed similar supplies, which were likewise
stored, although the powder and ball in one crate were
stored on board.  A few of the other crates contained more
domestic supplies, which were gleefully received and carted
off to the cabins.

They were down to the last of the cargo, shrouded in canvas
on the deck.  Removing it, they beheld something they had
not seen at Seaward before, and faces became serious as they
understood the need for it.  "I---I know this!" said Bundit.
"There have been some just like this on some ships I have
sailed on.  I know how to use this!"

What was revealed was a cannon, or carronade, not terribly
large but clearly designed to shoot the twelve pound balls
that came with the launch.  It sat on a wooden carriage
mounted on a carousel, or rotating disk, set into the deck
of the Harmony.  Seaward now had a navy.  Although it would
be laughably inadequate to repel a determined force from the
mainland, should such a catastrophe arrive, it might give
pause to unfriendly neighbors or even to local police forces
trying to effect a landing.

Over the next week, the people of Seaward waited for just
the right weather.  It eventually came:  thunder but with
reasonably calm seas, during daylight.  Bundit was in his
glory.  Although they had taken the Harmony out to sea
several times so that the men might learn how to operate
her, this was the first time to fire the cannon.  The
Harmony chugged away slowly to the eastern side of the
island, away from the mainland.  Bundit coached his charges
carefully in the operations of the cannon.  He handed out
long cloth strips which he bade them tie around their ears
and heads so as not to damage their hearing from the
deafening noise.  First loading half charges of powder and
no ball, then working his way up to a full charge, Bundit
trained his crew in a first session of using the cannon.
Her thunderous booms were interspersed with the thunder
itself, and at every discharge a small knot of women on the
cemetery outlook at Seaward waved their hats and bonnets.
It would not be the last of regular practice sessions.  Nor
the last of deliveries of powder and shot, for every few
months the Harmony would steam out to a passing merchantman
and receive new crates of those supplies.

If the people of Seaward worked hard during this period,
they did not work too hard to take find joy and pleasure at
night and throughout the day.  Helen could increasingly be
found in Cassius's room on the second floor, but that
arrangement was no more exclusive than any other on Seaward;
one evening Appleby even heard cries of ecstasy coming from
the twins as well as Cassius and Helen behind the closed
door to that room.  Bundit began exploring the many joys of
Seaward as well, moving on to Cassius (and naturally,
Helen), but even enjoying bouts with Troy, Hector and Portia
as well.  Appleby of course sampled widely, enjoying the
feast that was both physical and spiritual laid out for him
at Seaward.

A few weeks after Bundit's recovery, as the community worked
on their many new projects, Appleby consulted the calendar
and realized that he must go to Charleston for the next
meeting of the South Carolina Militia, at which he was to
receive his commission as lieutenant.  Discussing the matter
with Troy and Bundit, it was decided to keep the Harmony
stationed around the island as much as possible (and to
disguise her cannon at all times it was not in use).  On the
morning of the meeting, Troy and Priam prepared the Hesperus
for the voyage into town, one on which Appleby was now able
to help with the sailing, having learned some useful skills
in that way.
They made the trip uneventfully, securing the Hesperus at
the usual pier.  Troy and Priam were assigned to several
errands, bearing notes from Appleby, for the purchase of
staple goods and building supplies.  Appleby first walked
with them to a nearby gunsmith to supervise the ordering of
half a dozen muskets with rifled barrels, powder and shot--
such an order coming from two slaves alone would have raised
local alarms.  As Troy and Priam brought that delivery to
the Hesperus, Appleby bade them farewell and walked down two
piers to see if the Swan could be seen at its berth,
thinking that the Ashley father and son would likely be in
town for the meeting.  It was, secured to its usual place at
the pier.

As Appleby approached the vessel, he could see no sign of
Carter and Robert, but there were three male slaves lounging
on the deck.  As Appleby walked up to the boat's railing,
the three rose up, bowing their heads.  It appeared to be
the same three who had manned the boat before, and one of
them was, again, Rodney.

"Are your masters here?" Appleby asked.

"Naw, suh, dey is in town fo' shoppin' and de meetin'," said
Rodney.  He and Appleby exchanged covert smiles; each
thought it was good to see the other again, and recent
memories began to stir in each.  "Won' be back 'till aftah
the meetin', masta," said Rodney.  He appeared to calculate
for a moment, then said, "Jes' a moment, masta," and turned
to his two fellows.  After some hushed discussion, the two
stepped off the boat, nodding respectfully to Appleby but
careful to avoid any eye contact.  "Yes suh, mastas lef'
somethin' fo' you, if you wants to come abo'd, suh," said
Rodney, in the hearing of his two companions who were
walking away towards the shore end of the pier.  What
plausible lie had Rodney told them to move them on their
way?!

Appleby stepped on board.  Looking left and right, he
whispered "Aaron?"

Rodney whispered back, "Lef' back at Ashley, suh, dis time."

Appleby and Rodney looked around, finding no spies or
onlookers, then at each other again.  Broad smiles broke
out, and an understanding was wordlessly achieved.  Ushering
the white man ahead of him into the cabin beneath the deck,
Rodney followed, pulling the hatch behind him.  Appleby
could think of no story to give the Ashley's if they
returned, but his mind was caught up in the moment and he
gave it no further thought.  Coming down the stairs, Rodney
smiled at the white man, then lowered his head and stood,
waiting.

Appleby stepped up to the tall man and held the lean,
hourglass-shaped face in his hand, running his hair through
the short forest of tufts, whorls, and knots that covered
his scalp.  Rodney's full, pillowed lips parted and he
lifted his dark eyes to look into Appleby's light brown
ones.  Their lips came together in a kiss that was no less
passionate for being slow and deliberate, tongues slipping
alongside each other on their way to the other mouth, lips
kneading lips, sucking gently.  The men grasped each other
around the shoulders and embraced with a bone crunching
passion.  Then breaking apart each began tearing his own
clothes off and casting them on the cabin floor.

For a moment Appleby drank in the beauty of the coal black
man's shield shaped chest, the prune nipples, smooth shiny
skin, the ridges of the hips following the slim, rippled
abdomen down into the groin where a thick bush of kinky hair
surrounded an enormous penis above ponderous balls.  And
Rodney saw a tanned body with muscles developed by recent
hard work outside, smooth skin except for a small nest of
hair in the center of the chest and a line running down to
the groin.  He ran his long, strong black fingers through
the long, light brown hair of the white man, then brought
his head forward to be kissed again.  Their rigid penises
crossed swords between the two men, pointing down to the
floor this time, long, thin strings of shiny precum
dribbling from each to the deck.  Four hands reached around
to grasp four butt cheeks, kneading, pulling inward, fingers
scratching and probing black and brown assholes.

Appleby broke off and led Rodney by the hand to the bed at
the end of the cabin.  He swooped by the cabinet where
Robert kept the lubricant, finding it still there.  Appleby
wanted to have Rodney, to give himself to Rodney, to take
Rodney for himself, in a new combination of ways.  Throwing
himself on his back, he drew his legs up and, reaching down
between them, began lubricating his own asshole, working his
fingers in to relax the sphincter with one hand while with
his other hand he beckoned Rodney forward.  His eyes wide,
not daring to imagine what was being offered, the black
slave knelt on the bed in front of the white man's upraised
bottom and observed the preparations with lips parted,
breathing heavily.  His breathing increased when Appleby
rocked forward to slick up his heavy, purple black snake.
It was when Appleby rocked back, legs up and parted, and
beckoned him forward that Rodney's training broke loose.

"Naw, suh, naw, it ain't right... I can't do dat to a white
man, suh!"

"Rodney--- Rodney, don't do it to a 'white man.'  Do it to
me," said Appleby, and smiled at Rodney with such a look of
acceptance and naked desire that the black man let himself
be led on.  Placing the head of his rigid penis at Appleby's
anus, he pushed ever so slightly, not wanting to hurt his
new friend while taking this liberty.  Appleby gasped, and
pushed out with his anus as Rodney pushed in.  The head of
the massive dick popped in.  Rodney waited until Appleby
beckoned again, then pushed in a couple of inches, waited,
then a couple of inches more, and was soon completely inside
the white man's love canal.

Rodney was poised over Appleby, his greater height allowing
their eyes to be almost on a level.  They looked deep into
each other, into the depths of each other's soul.  "O!
masta!" whispered Rodney hoarsely, with tremendous longing.
Then slowly he began swinging, back and forth, in and out,
while Appleby crossed his legs behind the man's muscular
back.  Appleby likewise clasped his hands loosely around the
neck of the black man, lightly rubbing the mat of kinky
hair.  Faster and stronger, faster and stronger, Rodney
picked up speed and power like a locomotive heading for a
cliff.  He began keeping time to his rhythm with incoherent
utterances:  "unh, unh, unh, oh masta, oh masta, aw! law!,
oh yeah, oh masta" and then a animal grunting took over.
Rodney lowered himself onto the white man, his face buried
in Appleby's neck and shoulder, moving his hands to grasp
the master's shoulders, holding that position while his
rhythm increased in speed and power--and when he came he
simply slammed forward once and held himself there,
clutching the shoulders hard, quivering, pushing, clenching
his ass muscles, squeezing shot after shot of white come out
of his throbbing penis.

The crisis passed but Rodney kept that position, shuddering,
his shoulders shaking softly.  Then a soft, high pitched
keening coming from deep in his chest gave Appleby to know
that the black slave was weeping, treasuring a moment of
acceptance and equality he was not likely to find elsewhere.
Appleby held him tight with legs and arms, lightly rubbing
and patting his back, whispering "alright, alright" into the
black ear as Rodney recovered himself.  When he had, the
black man briefly raised his head from Appleby's shoulder to
look into his eyes, his shiny black cheeks streaked with
tears; it was a look beyond thanks, beyond words.  Then
Rodney slipped down toward the end of the bed, his penis
sliding out of Appleby's rear, down until his head was over
the white man's groin.

Wrapping his black fingers around the purple tinged organ,
Rodney pumped it a few times, bringing moans of pleasure
from Appleby.  Then he took it entirely into his mouth.
Rodney was not having sex with the white man's penis, he was
making love to it.  Each suck, each slide up and down, was a
caress.  When he nibbled on the thick, unhooded glans with
his full, pillowed lips, it was an embrace.  Appleby put his
hands down to caress the kinky head of his lover, and when
he came it was not with wild flailing passion but with a
smooth, powerful upflowing of love in return, calling out
"Rodney!" over and over.

The black man climbed back up alongside the white man, and
the two embraced, breathing heavily.  Rodney pulled away
then, Appleby unwilling and tugging at him to come back, but
the black man said, "Suh, don' miss yo' meetin'."  Appleby
sighed, nodded agreement, and rose.  The two cleaned
themselves and dressed.  Rodney took extra care with
Appleby's appearance, making sure he looked suitable for the
event to which he was headed.  Appleby put his hand to the
side of the slave's face and reminded him:  "Rodney,
remember:  if you want out of Ashley, get word to me."  Then
the two embraced once more, kissing lightly.  "Next time,"
said Appleby, smiling.  "Yas, suh," returned Rodney, and
then the white man was up the steps, through the hatch, and
onto the pier.

Appleby found he still had plenty of time for his meeting.
He arrived at the meeting hall to find Robert and Carter
Ashley already there.  He shook hands warmly with Carter.
Turning to Robert, he found a shy smile peeking through the
formal facade, and his handshake was held for a bit longer
than civility dictated.  He sat down next to Robert for the
meeting, and again found a slight pressure against his leg
from the boy's own thigh.  As Carter Ashley was speaking to
someone on his other side, Appleby leaned over and whispered
into Robert's pink ear, "Is Aaron at the boat?" knowing well
the answer.  Robert stiffened a little bit, and his tone was
carefully neutral when he answered.  "No, not this time.  I
thought it best that he not come this time."  Then he looked
Appleby square in the eye.  Was it a look of reproach?
Accusation?  Yet, unmistakably, a look of yearning as well.
The meeting was gaveled to order, distracting Appleby's
musings on the matter.

The usual drone of business and committee reports led to
introductions of guests and visitors.  Appleby was beginning
to see that there would always be a few new men to
introduce.  It was also becoming clear that these meetings
brought together the elite of Charleston society as a sort
of officers' corps, preparing to command thousands of
ordinary soldiers who would be drawn from lower, working
classes.

The time came for Appleby's induction into the group.  He
was called to come forward.  Appleby found it interesting
that he was asked to swear allegiance to both the national
flag and to the South Carolina flag, but after that the
ritual focused on the state.  He was asked to recite various
principles of states' rights, local sovereignty,
nullification, and of course, the sanctity of slavery and
slave ownership.  To every proposition he gave his firm
assent, even if it meant lying to protect the interests of
Seaward.  At the end, the group rose and with one voice
agreed, in response to Colonel Gillam's question, to accept
Appleby into the South Carolina Militia, with the rank of
lieutenant.  Gillam promptly assigned Appleby to his
command:  the island of Seaward Plantation!  Appleby
accepted, a serious military air on his features but smiling
inwardly as his plans continued to develop apace.

One more item of business was to announce a weekend of field
exercises in a month's time, to be held on a large section
of wilderness farther up the Charleston peninsula.
Directing his remarks to Appleby, Colonel Gillam explained
what his role would be.

"Now, sir, as commander of Seaward you will have no troops
under you at this exercise, but it would be well to come
meet the men of the militia, to learn of our military
procedures and orders, and of course to contribute any ideas
of marshall tactics that you yourself may have."  Appleby
could think of nothing he'd hate doing more than camping out
for two nights in a mosquito infested field, but he readily
agreed to come.  Gillam added, "Oh, you will need to bring
your own tenting accommodations, field kits and so forth--
and any servants you may wish to bring to attend to your
needs, of course."  Appleby agreed again, a glimmer of hope
arising with the prospect that he might at least have
someone from Seaward there with him.

The meeting adjourned and the group arose, talking in
clusters and knots.  Turning to Robert, Appleby asked, "Now,
Master Robert, when will you be joining the militia?" with a
smile on his face.  Refusing the condescension, Robert drew
himself up and said, "When I am eighteen, sir.  I shall join
the militia as a naval commander--we need more of them in
the South, sir."  Appleby was about to steer the
conversation into more personal topics when other men began
coming up to him to welcome and congratulate him.  By the
time he was through with these civilities, there were but a
few left in the room.  Robert was standing alone nearby, and
Carter Ashley was speaking to a small cluster of gentlemen.


"Oh Robert," he said, turning to his son, "don't run off.
We return to the boat when I am finished here."  Robert
returned a courteous acknowledgment, then looked directly at
Appleby.  His eyes flicked to his left, his head gave a
barely perceptible beckon, and the boy walked off down a
nearby corridor.  Looking around to see that they were not
closely watched, Appleby followed a moment later.  Halfway
down the corridor a door stood ajar.  Entering it, Appleby
found a small study with a curtained window that opened out
onto the street and comfortable chairs placed here and
there.  Robert stood just inside the door.  Sliding behind
the older man, the boy pushed the door shut and placed a
chair in front of it.

"We have very little time," he said in a low voice--then
hesitated--then moved quickly into Appleby, his thin, boyish
frame slamming up against the older man.  The boy's arms
went around Appleby's back and the hard lump of his groin
ground up against the man's own growing erection.  Appleby
grasped the boy by the shoulders to return the embrace, then
caressed his golden haired head and, tipping it up, kissed
the boy's bee-stung lips.  Robert returned the kiss, the
lack of time available to them contributing to a sense of
urgency, of compressing pleasure into the fleeting present.

Appleby spun around and sat down in the chair.  Pulling
Robert up to him, he began undoing the boy's trousers and
then his undergarment which simply fell and remained bunched
around his booted ankles.  Robert undid his own cravat,
tossed away his jacket, and pulled his shirt off unbuttoned
in one long motion.  The boy's strawberries and cream
complexion on flawless, nearly hairless skin was powerfully
moving once again to Appleby.  Leaning forward he tongued
the pink nipples in the boy's thin, muscular chest, biting
them until Robert winced and whispered, "Don't!"  Tonguing
quickly down the lean, muscled abdomen, pushing his tongue
briefly into the navel, Appleby came to the blonde brown
patch of pubic hair and the now-rigid  pink and red penis.
Pulling back the foreskin Appleby revealed a glistening,
pale dickhead with a flow of precum oozing out and down the
underside of the penis.

Appleby cupped the boy's balls, now drawn up tight in a
hairless ballsack, gently rolling the testicles and pinching
the skin.  His mouth enveloped the boy's penis, bringing a
gasp of delight to the boy.  With his other hand he reached
around to grasp and then crush the boy's muscular buttocks,
working the firm globes of flesh with his strong fingers,
pressing the first knuckle of his middle finger into the
boy's anus.  Robert squirmed with delight, and began slowly
rocking back and forth, sliding his penis in and out of
Appleby's mouth.  The man timed his own head movements to
Robert's hips, bobbing his head up and down in rhythm as his
tongue slid around the head and shaft of the engorged dick.
A surge of pleasure and sexual energy washed over Robert,
and he shifted into a double-time staccato beat, drumming
his hips in and out, in and out, in and out until an orgasm
snuck up on him and walloped him in the belly.  The boy
heaved and bucked, clutching at Appleby's long hair with his
fingers, strangling a cry, his breath heavy and ragged.  He
pushed his groin forward into Appleby's face and held it
there while the man sucked the boy dry, pulling off of the
penis to squeeze out the last of his cum with his hand, then
licking that off, repeating the procedure as Robert
shuddered and gasped in the aftershocks of ecstasy.

The two held that position for one long moment, and then the
spell was broken.  "Robert!  Robert?!" came a distant cry.
A look of fear washed over the boy's face as he sprang into
action, clothing himself quickly with as much help as
Appleby could give.  Carter Ashley's voice came nearer and
it sounded as if he had turned down the hallway to the room.
Robert, now hastily clothed, sprang to the window.  Appleby
whisked the chair out of the way and hastened to stand next
to Robert, as he checked to make sure that no leakage showed
on his trousers and that his own face was clean.  Appleby
just reached the window when the door opened and Carter
entered.

"Ah, there you are!  With Lieutenant Appleby, I see!" he
cried, beaming at the two.

"Yes, father, we were--I was showing Mr. Appleby the view
from this window.  Don't you think it is appealing, sir?" he
asked Appleby.  Looking out at an alleyway behind a
butcher's shop in which stood a fly-infested slopwagon,
Appleby said, "Yes, a wonderful prospect; Charleston is a
beautiful city, sir."  Then the two moved away and toward
the door, each taking Carter by an arm to lead him down the
hall and into the street.

Reaching the pier, the Ashley's and Appleby made their
formal goodbyes to one another and went their separate ways,
but Robert looked back as he and his father walked away to
smile at Appleby--who waved in response.  Appleby walked
back up the pier to find Troy and Priam in the Hesperus,
supplies secured to the deck, and waiting for the return
trip home.  The boat was pushed away from the pier and
caught a breeze which moved it gently into the harbor.

"Well, Master Mark, any news?" asked Priam.

"Yes, some news.  First, I am now not only your master but
your general!" he replied, laughing.  Troy and Priam looked
at him in good natured consternation.  "And second--I
believe I have to go camping in a few weeks!"  Now the black
men looked at their master and each other with genuine
puzzlement and amusement.  "I'll explain it all to you on
the way," Appleby said, settling down in the stern beside
Troy.  "Let's go home."