Wardens

There was never understanding on time meeting space. They were not separate characters in a sunset that was coming. They were not made in a lab to be tested by another lab. They were not partners.

If you want the action, skip to the book. If you want to know about the characters then stay tuned. If you want a sequel.....nobody likes a sequel so who cares. This is for the wives who wonder, not where the action came from, but why the action came about. The empaths.

Chapter 1

Emjay is a curvy lady. Booty for days. First time she had a time slip it was more like a fever dream. She was hiking with her love in the woods foraging for wood to supply their one room cabin. Rayray was well ahead with a full bundle almost at the cabin. Emjay was lagging behind with her head in the stratosphere. She dropped a particularly choice log and bent down to pick it up with a hand she had just made free by transferring the bundle all to her left cradled arm. She got the log and transferred the whole catch using both arms. She could barley see above the bundle. She took a few steps to the cabin and heard the fire inside the stove adjust and crackle. Rayray must have fed the fire.

Emjay stopped to breath in the fresh air before stumbling into the cabin with a full bundle. She sung open the door to see a well fed fire, but no Rayray. She dropped the bundle by the stove and before she arranged it into a neat stack, called out, "Rayray, I could really use some hot mistletoe." No response. She shrugged and stacked the bundle next to the stove neatly. She got her booty off the wood floor and into the hickory chair adjacent the trestle table. She took off her boots and placed them onto the wool braided rug next the door. Emjay outloud said, "Well I'll make two cups of mistletoe tea. Hey, are you already in bed?"

Emjay put the pot of water onto the stove and peered onto the bed which was behind a pair of her long johns which was hung up to dry next to the stove. No Rayray. Emjay swore he was only 30 feet ahead of her already at the cabin when she dropped the log. Well, the long johns were dry and her pants were wet, so she skimmed off her pants and grabbed the long johns off the line. See could see the entire cabin now, pant-less. Also panty-less, as she did not like to wear those when doing chores. No Rayray.

The water was boiling so took the pot off the stove and put it on the trestle table. She took out two ceramic handwarmer mugs and put a sprig of mistletoe in each. She knew that if they only did a sprig in their tea, they would enjoy sex all the more in a slightly delirium state. With the sweet smell of fresh mistletoe tea wafting from the cabin, Rayray should come running. No Rayray.

Emjay sat down on the trestle table and waited. Like a pendulum, Rayray came running through the door. Logs in hand? Emjay smiled coyly, "out for more wood, eh?"

"What?" responded Rayray. He tossed the bundle onto Emjay's neatly stacked bundle. "You came to the cabin, fed the fire, and went out again. You were ahead of me," said Emjay. "No, you were ahead of me. So ahead, you had enough time to stack wood, make mistletoe tea, and get naked," said Rayray. Rayray and Emjay downed the mistletoe tea and finished great sex in a state of delirium.

The sun peaked through the slats on the eastern wall of the cabin. Emjay and Rayray were tangled and warm in the cabin bed. Emjay put into sequence the events of last night. She remembered dropping the log and not seeing Rayray after she got into the cabin. If she was ahead of Rayray, he would have seen her drop the log. She mounted Rayray. "Rayray, wake up. Do you remember me dropping a log in front of the cabin?" said EmJay. "No. Is this some sort of gloating thing in the morning on how you can carry more wood than me? Too early for these mind puzzles. Go back to sleep," said Rayray. This was the first time, EmJay remembers a time slip.

Chapter 2

Rayray and Emjay went for wood daily to keep the cabin nice and toasty in the winter. The cabin was a simple timber frame style that Rayray and Emily made with no more tools than a knife. The knife Rayray had insisted on bringing when he followed her into the woods. She loved how her mind could wonder as they went into the woods farther and farther to collect firewood. They were mated. They left the cabin at the same time, but rarely foraged together. The unspoken rule was, back to the cabin by sunset. Emjay often just wandered around collecting a log or two that didn't need the knife, thinking about things in the past.

Rayray used the time more to reflect. He always carried the knife. Incase they ran into trouble he would be the one in front of her with the knife facing the danger. It wasn't that he was stronger, or more clever. Just less child-bearing. Rayray often thought about her and a baby. Life at the cabin was easy for him and her, but introduce a kiddo into the midst and things change and he knew that. One thing to change was the frequency of sex. 4-6 times a moon was the frequency he liked. Emjay liked it too. Without the pressures of society, Rayray often used the time to think of they were in suburban society would Emjay realize she was hot?

Sun was setting and Rayray had taken a beaten trail that he knew. He was at a point where if he went any farther it would be an adventure. He loved going on adventures with Emjay, so he grabbed some branches and took his trail in the snow back to the cabin.

As the sun was setting, Emjay reached the familiar creek that flowed to their cabin. She followed it downstream, back the way to the cabin. She wondered if Rayray would like to be on top for sex tonight? She enjoyed being on top a lot. She was in control of when she orgasmed. Tonight was the night, she would encourage Rayray to be on top.

They arrived at the cabin at the same time. Rayray and Emjay stacked the firewood together in the warm cabin. Instead of the usual, jump in the sack and bang, Rayray suggested they try a sweat lodge. He had been working on this makeshift wigwam of sticks sewn together by birchbark. He had moved some stones around a dug circle in the middle of the wigwam and went to fetch water from the creek. Emjay brought fire from the stove and started a raging fire in the dug circle in the wigwam and she had to leave the sweat lodge because it was too smoky. Not before tossing the rocks into the dug circle. The smoke eventually cleared out the flap Rayray made to get into and out. They stripped and sat inside around the now piping hot rocks in at he dug circle in the middle of the sweat lodge. Rayray took a pail of water and dumped it onto the hot rocks. The effect of the water on hot stones created steam and Emjay rushed to close the flap. They immediately began to sweat.

Rayray's knowledge of a sweat lodge was only acquired from reading books. He pronounced his happiness outload, "I think we did it". Emjay was equally as happy and wore a smirk. They both looked at each other through the steam and were thinking the same thing. What do we do now?

They told stories about sauna experiences at their local gyms. Rayray's final story involved a Ukrainian man and a switch. After staring at each other in quiet sweaty silence, "Lets jump in the creek," Emjay explained. They slithered out of the sweat lodge and jumped into the nearby creek and embraced each other in a front of steam waist deep in the moving chilly creek. It was refreshing.

That night they enjoyed the refreshing feeling of the sweat lodge and creek so much they just drifted to sleep in the bed of their cabin.

Chapter 3

Emjay loved the bunnies. Their were plenty around the cabin. All of the bunnies had white tails. Some had black fur. Some had white fur. When Raryay had actually managed to capture one he was overjoyed to have some meat that was not trout from the creek. He removed the black bunny with white tail from a snare he constructed and was preparing slit its throat with the knife. He positioned the bunny across a downed tree trunk and looked to Emjay. "Circle of life," Rayray said. Emjay squinted and turned her head away. Rayray thought about it and let the bunny go. "We can be vegetarians for a while," he said. Emjay embraced him and let out a tear.

It was during the months of being a pescatarian, that Emjay's sex drive went down. Rayray was not the only animal to notice. The bunnies stopped hopping so close to the cabin. The trout were harder to catch.

Instead of a given bang-bang-bang after dinner, it took a few more precise booty slaps. The nights went to twilight quicker. It was winder than moons past. The friendly owl seemed to hoot farther away. Emjay nudged her hickory chair to ensure it was touching Rayray's after dinner one night. She looked at him in the eye and said, "I think my downstairs is angry."

Rayray did not know how to respond. He defaulted to what he knew. He grabbed Emjay's forearm and pulled her close and keep looking her in the eyes. "What can I do?" he responded.

Emjay did not know how to broch this with her mate. So, she grabbed a pine needle off the ground and tore a small piece off of it and handed it to Rayray. Rayray initially looked puzzled by this gesture. He then looked defeated. He knew what that meant. Emjay was preggo.

Chapter 4

In the time after the pine needle was broken, nothing changed. Rayray was more concise to ensure the woodpile was stocked, going out at night to grab a few more logs. He dug out a log from the aerth to hold liquid. He placed a caught trout in it. "Kiddo's first meal," he declared to Emjay. "You know they drink breast milk for a while, right?" said Emjay.

Besides hilariously misplaced efforts to nest, things went along as they normally go in the woods. Spring sprung. Owl hooted more and more. Bun-buns hopped around like Rayray never snared one of them. Trout ran.

Rayray considered during a night wood gathering, going into town and learned how to be a midwife. He chatted about it with Emjay, who was now showing, and she calmly said that when the time comes, be around and out will come the kiddo. More misplaced efforts ensued. Such as, Rayray creating a small weir in the creek to give birth in if Emjay wanted a water birth.

Emjay was notably more irritable and less into having sex. Which Rayray did not enjoy as he really wanted to play with the larger mammary glands. Rayray was enjoying a romp with the trout at sunset when Emjay called to him. It was time.

Rayray cleared off the bed and glided EmJay down and removed her pants. She was having a lot squeling pain. EmJay bellowed to take her to the creek. Rayray complied being as careful as he could in guiding her from behind down the muddy bank. He sat with her in the small weir pool. Their was loads of screaming and grabbing of Rayrays forearm. Rayray could have sworn he heard the words out of EmJay's mouth, "you did this to me!"

In the dark of a weir pool, a baby was born.

Chapter 5

Because it was dark on the spring day, Rayray could not make out the sex of the kiddo. It did cry immediately, upon breathing out of the water. Rayray held it in the air and gave it to Emjay who was streched out tirelessly on the creek bank rocks. Emjay swaddled the kiddo in her arms and Rayray reached for a towel. He held both of them tightly on the rocks. Emjay looked up to Rayray and lovely said, "we did this."

Rayray grabbed the nearby towels for this occassion and invoked that Emjay and the kiddo get out of the ankle-deep creek water. In the first streaks of daylight, Rayray guided Emjay and the kiddo to the cabin. Emjay gently laid the kiddo down on the bed and wrapped all of the blankets around her and the child. It was picture-perfect. Rayray will always remember that cognitive load of mother and child.

As the dawn continued to envelope the day, Rayray had to awaken Emjay becuase he did not know what the child wanted. He thought back to his grade 6 training and he swaddled the child in towels and gently rocked around the cabin. It was the sun streaming through the logs that kept the child crying as Rayray bopped around. Emjay was fully awake now with outstretched arms. Rayray complied with the kiddo and it was Emjay's skin touching the kiddos skin that cooed the child. Rayray got a good look at the kiddo and it was definitely a boy.

"Em, do you want a tea or food or anything?" asked Rayray. "Some warm Labrador Tea my love." Emjay responded. Rayray complied with some Labrador leaves that he kept in a birchbard basket that looked like a canoe. Upon bringing the tea to Emjay they shared a locking gaze. They looked at the boy and back at each other's eyes. They both said in unison, "Gem."

Chapter 6

Things went on in the woods for Gem, Emjay, and Rayray. The moons were filled with foraging and gathering wood. Emjay and Rayray spoke to each other and Gem would nod along. So, the moons passed. Rayray awoke to one streak of light hitting his face. He tried to cover his face with the blanket to no avail. He thought that this makes for a morning to start with tea and get some grub in him and hike into town. Every so many moons, Rayray went into town to ensure that his mining outfit was legit. He kissed Emjay and Gem still asleep in bed and said aloud, "goodbye for now."

Rayray hiked the well traveled trail from the cabin to the nearest water inlet. Being on the coast, he new where to pickup the shoreline and head North. When the sun rose high noon, he could see up coast his destination. The natives called it Haida. It had a proper post office, bar, and gas station for the white folks. Most impressive in human made structures was the carved totem fence around the longhouse. Around the sound fishing boats skirted around. Rayray took it all in for a minute veiled by the towering spruce trees.

Rayray remembered a story from his childhood on the mainland about a golden spruce. It was not just how the light struck it, like it did this morning on his face, but it had a special mutation that made it needles golden in color. He had never seen it, only new that in the 90's it was chopped down by a First Nations person in protest. Likely in protest to logging. This is why it was important to visit town from moon to moon. To ensure that his family was safe on his mining claim. He did all the legal things to stake his claim, but even in the day walk from the cabin, he could hear chainsaws in the distance. The port on the sound was a testament to his hearing of chainsaws. Log barges will felled trees were loaded and ventured to distant land to not make totem poles.

He went into the crown office and waited to be addressed. His English was broken as he and Emjay spoke without words most of the time. While broken, it was still better than most First Nations persons. He was immediately served. The Mountie addressed him as sir, and Rayaray inquired if mining claim 100.498.346 was still in good standing. The Mountie responded, "yes, of course. Pulled up more dinner than silver, eh?" Rayray responded with the old tried and true native saying, "when the tide goes out, the table is set."

Rayray smiled and walked out of the crown office. He caught a glimpse of a Haida elder on his way out of town. He inquired as to if her spruce root weavings were for sale? She replied "no. Barter." This made Rayray very happy. It had been since before the Gem moon that he had bartered. She pointed at his belt he had fashioned from an old woven rug. He removed the belt and noted that he had no silver to latch the belt with. She smiled and produced from her cape a silver impressed belt latch. Rayray shoot his head as he had nothing to offer for this was truly a one-sided barter. He handed her his belt and she mounted the silver belt latch on and with a few strokes of a handy totem carving knife it was secured. In place of the desired spruce root woven shirt, she handed the now latched belt back. Rayray shook his head in refusal and attempted to hand the belt back to the elder. At that moment, a young native fellow appeared and spoke in perfect English, "now you are a guardian."

Rayray accepted the belt and bent his head in reverence. The young fellow motioned toward the South end of the sound, facing the ocean. With this honor, a new belt latch, and knowledge that his cabin and family were in legality with the crown, Rayray left home for the cabin.

Chapter 7

Rayray collected a few logs upon approaching the cabin in dusk. The cabin stove was lit, and he could hear Emjay cooing at Gemma. In the far distance behind him he could hear the last few revs of the chainsaws felling hemlock, cedar, and spruce. Rayray had much to show and tell Emjay and Gemma. He flung open the door to Emjay kissing his neck, warm mug of tea on the trestle table, and Gemma smiling ear to ear.

Gemma was a curious boy. Climbed up on Rayray's lap as he sat down to enjoy his tea. Gemma found the belt latch first. Rayray took off the belt and gave it to Gemma to play with. It quickly became his new favorite toy.

After the moonset, Rayray went out first light to gather firewood. Gemma tagged along. Gemma was crawling under a windthrown hemlock bough and came upon a bunny. He reached and pet the bunny. Rayray caught a second bunny from the same bough. Must have been a bunny party.

Gemma could, if he wanted to, capture a bunny. Rayray thought of the totems in Haida, at the bottom was always a bear. Where was the bunny positioned? At that moment of induction a gunshot rang out. Rayray gathered Gemma in his arms and used his body to shield anything that might be approaching.

No second shot came. Rayray scooped up Gemma and went inside the cabin and gave him to Emjay. They didn't speak to each other, their eyes had an intentness about them when they locked. Rayray ensured his knife was on him and left with a kiss on Emjay's cheek and a tussle of Gemma's hair.

End for this time.

-Chapter 8 will be written by Emjay.