Grail Quest Read online
Grail Quest
New World Odyssey
D.Sallen
Grail Quest
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Copyright © 2012 D.Sallen
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Grail Quest
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue … mysterious red-haired girl…
Chapter 1 …grabbed her … balls!
Chapter 2 “ Dan’l Dare…his White Man name! ”
Chapter 3 “ Curse ye’ for hunting the Welsh!”
Chapter 4 …want to cut off your cock and balls!
Chapter 5 “Zounds! He is a witch!”
Chapter 6 …wait to see you kill him.”
Chapter 7 “ NOT WANT BE WITCH MATE!”
Chapter 8 “White Squire is skunk!”
Chapter 9 “…white girls… same as me?”
Chapter 10 “…more than look to make babies.”
Chapter 11 “He say ‘fat-taker.’ Not friendly.”
Chapter 12 Coyote Witch …power of the devil
Chapter 13 “ I’ll give you one of my wives too.”
Chapter 14 “ Ber-da-che wears Squaw Boots!”
Chapter 15 “Squire, kill me now!”
Chapter 16 “ Our Great Medicine is not here! ”
Chapter 17 … crescendo of pain to my brain!
Chapter 18 Witch-Mate carries my Witch-Child.
Epilogue
In the wilderness of the New World, three times I dreamt of a mysterious, red-haired girl.
…Feeling around in the dark, my hand found the edge of Leahna’s pallet. I lifted her cover enough for me to slip in with her.
“Hanhh? Squire? Squire? What you do?”
I had my left arm around her and slid my right hand up to cup her magnificent breast. “Coyote not come back. I pleasure you now.”
Now I let go of her breast and slid my hand down to part her legs. When I got between them and she could feel my stallion she screamed, “NO, NO! YOU NOT DO!”
At the same time she twisted partially out from under me. She jammed her knee into my testicles! “OOOOHHHHHOOWWW!” Now it was my turn to scream! In excruciating pain I doubled over. With her feet and hands she shoved me off her pallet.
When I thought I had control of my voice again, I said, “Why you hurt me, Leahna? Coyote gone. I pleasure you.”
“NO! You put bone-thing in me! Give me baby. NO, NO! I not want baby!”
“You not fear Coyote give you baby?”
“How Coyote give baby? He not use bone-thing. He only give girls pleasure.”
“You keep saying that. What does he do that is so great?”
“I told you he magic. He have magic girls love.”
“I don’t know what you talk about.”
“Humph. You have to learn. You learn his way, maybe you pleasure girls. Maybe not. You not have tongue like Coyote.”
I nearly chocked. Did she mean Coyote gamahuoched her? That’s where her pleasure came from? Stunned by the implication of her words, I felt light headed. “Do you mean he not use his ‘bone-thing,’ as you call it, only his tongue?”
“Yes. Only for girls. Not for wife-mate. Not do it after man has ‘bone-thing’ in her. Then Coyote use ‘bone-thing’ in squaws.”
So he only pleasured maidens but rogered wives. Then despite the intense sexual pleasure she had enjoyed, did Leahna still have her maidenhead? I sure wanted to find out, for myself.
“Since he can be man or animal, can he pleasure when he is animal?”
“He say so. Not with me. Maybe with some girl. He want to with me. Charm stop him. Must do what I say.”
I was so puzzled. A Coyote Witch goes around ‘frenching’ young girls, virgins only. But what for? “What pleasure does Coyote get from pleasuring a girl?”
“His ‘bone-thing.’ It squirt hard. He say it feel good. Girl must not let squirt get on her leg.”
“And if it does…does she have baby coyotes?”
“No. You foolish. Girl cannot have puppies.”
“Even if he pleasures a girl when he’s an animal…and his squirt gets on her leg?”
There was a long silence. “No, no no! You not say that! I not know. You be quiet. I not know. Do not ask. Go to sleep.”
Was Coyote going to be an obstacle on my way to the Holy Grail?
He appeared out of the shadows by the altar. His dark shape floated toward me. Pale faced black holes of eyes stared into mine. I dropped to my knees. Closer, I could see it had a living man’s face…not a skull. He stopped two paces in front of me. The torches in sconces on the walls shed little light. If not for a full moon shining through the missing roof, he would have been invisible. In a voice that sounded like a death rale he said, “William Allen, you have been chosen. What say ye?”
Phew…appeared like a ghost from the ruined abbey, but could it really be a phantom? He had to be powerful, so I stayed on my knees. “I will take the quest. I will find the Holy Grail.”
He extended his ghostly hand and I kissed the ring of the Archbishop of Salisbury.
“Well said, William Allen. And I wish you God Speed.” He turned and floated back into the shadows.
Still on my knees, I wondered if I was crazy to take on this task. Raised a Christian, yet I had some doubts. My father said University had warped my mind.
Footsteps approached me from behind. “You can get up, Bill.” I felt Colonel Throckmorten’s hand on my shoulder. “Now I reckon you can see why the secrecy.”
“Aye, but did he have to scare the jollies right out of me? And this setting, Glastonbury Abbey? It’s a right ruin, even in daytime. And who was that actor? I thought Salisbury was murdered by Welsh brigands not three years ago.”
“Salisbury? You think you saw Salisbury? That’s not possible. Certainly he was not the man who was supposed to see you.”
“I kissed his ring!”
“This is puzzling, most puzzling. A high churchman wanted to see you, but no ghost. Well I suspect his eminence is a bit of a ham. Gave you a start, didn’t he? In any case I must have sold you to him.”
“I’m not sure I want to thank you, Sir. Can I really believe all that stuff you dropped on me? The Welsh in America? How does he know? How did they get there?”
“You’re learning a little about politics now, m’ boy. He has spies everywhere.”
The way the Colonel briefed me earlier that day was this:
“Several hundred years ago, Welsh rascals stole the Holy Grail from the Grail Well nearby Glastonbury Tor. They carried it to a secret place in Wales. Then three hundred years ago, a Welsh Prince Madoc sailed to the New World and took the Grail with him.”
“Sir, can you be sure of that? A mad Scottish prisoner told me the Holy Grail was secreted near Edinburgh, in a chapel pillar.”
“You can’t believe a crazy Scot. Oh, I dare say, my informant is certain of the facts.”
“Hold on a minute, Colonel. Are you saying those Welsh bods got to America before Columbus?”
“My contact says it’s so. Their colony is on some great river somewhere west, and probably north of Jamestown. Can’t be too many big rivers over there. Maybe it flows out to the China Sea. You’ll need to be aware of the Spanish. Juan Pardo ventured north from the Gulf of Mexic
o, and supposedly set up a fort in what they called Tennessee. We reckon they’re somewhere to the west of Jamestown. Also, the Norse are thought to be in northern America. Doubt if they have anything to do with the Grail.”
“That’s some geography lesson, Colonel. But why are you telling me?”
“Because of your many manly, and shifty attributes, I’ve volunteered you to go to America, find the bloody Welsh, steal the Grail, and bring it back to England.”
“Bloody Hell, Colonel! You’ve got to be funning! Me? Go to America, find the Welsh and steal a holy cup? How am I going to do that?”
“Very sneakily, I reckon. If anyone is up to it, you’re the one, m’boy”
“Sir, what is it with this ruddy Grail that’s so important?”
“The Holy Grail is the silver cup, or chalice, that the Lord drank from at the Last Supper. The same one Joseph of Arimathea used to collect drops of blood dripping from Jesus on the cross. In AD 37 Joseph brought the Grail to Glastonbury. It was the cause of many legends, particularly about King Arthur’s Knight’s of the Round Table. Supposedly Sir Galahad used it to commune directly with God. It has magical properties to cure all manners of evil, blesses anyone who sees it, and therefore has tremendous power for whomever controls it. Some time along the way, one of Joseph’s descendants, a guardian of the Grail, gazed upon the form of a young maiden with evil in his heart. An angel appeared from a cloud, wrested the chalice from the guardian, and secreted it in the Grail Well. The Grail disappeared.”
We were sitting in a private room at the Thistle and Rose in Glastonbury Town when the Colonel told me about this lark. He went on to say, “Some very powerful people have put a great deal of thought into this venture. I can’t tell you who, or any specific details, until I know for sure if you want to have a bash at it.”
“Right, Sir, and what are the ‘unspecific’ details?”
“Your sponsors will make arrangements for you to sail to Jamestown, ostensibly as a hunter/explorer. So you won’t have to steal any from Jamestown, you’ll take your own horses on the ship with you. You will stay in that area until you know the lay of the land, and can learn from the Red-Indians where the Welsh may be. I suggest you drop a hint that you’re there to look for gold. That will give you an excuse to explore farther a field.”
“I don’t know, Sir. This sounds like a pipe dream to me.”
“You’ll be promoted from Brevet Leftenant to Permanent Leftenant, and the pay that goes with it.”
“Now this plan sounds very reasonable. If anyone in England can do it, I’m your lad.”
“I didn’t mention modesty as one of your attributes.”
“Sir, and what did you tell these powerful people about me?”
“Pretty much your history as known. William Allen, age 28. You’re the second son of an impoverished gentleman who provided you with a fine education, but nothing else. Denied a cavalry commission because your father couldn’t buy it, you enlisted. For gallantry in the field of battle you were promoted to temporary Leftenant. You can read, are an excellent swordsman, a marksmen, and in your regiment, unbeaten at wrestling. Before enlisting you had some apprentice training in surveying and map making. Have I left anything out?”
“You haven’t mentioned what a danger I am to maidens and wives alike.”
“Aye. A number of jealous husbands and irate fathers might be another reason for you to leave England.”
“This flaky endeavor is beginning to sound very sensible Sir. What is the next step?”
“Tonight, the powers-that-be want to see you in person in Glastonbury Abbey… at midnight.”
So that is why I was scared out of my normal good sense by the Archbishop, or was it his ghost? On the way back to the Thistle in the Colonel’s shay he told me some more of the arrangements. “You’ll sail to America with a Captain Argyll. You’re fortunate. Instead of taking months by way of the Canaries, he plans to sail directly to Jamestown. Should be there in a few weeks. You’ll be given a number of small gold coins, only to be used in a dire emergency. No uniform, you must appear to be a civilian. You’ll tell absolutely no one of your secret mission. If it were known, there are many who would oppose you. Mums the word.”
“So, how do I stay in touch with you or the power, Sir?”
“You don’t. You’ll be strictly on your own. If and when we are able to devise a courier, he will know you, but you won’t know him until he uses the code word ‘Tintagel.’ When you hear that word you can trust the speaker.”
Back in our camp, temporarily bivouacked on Salisbury Plain, Colonel Throckmorten reassigned me from my squad to his headquarters, ostensibly to learn how to be an adjutant. That way, I could make preparations to leave without anyone else having any interest in what I was doing. Throckmorten’s letter to Captain Argyll explained that I had been mustered out. The Virginia Company of London then hired me to explore other portions of Virginia for possible profit.
Argyll commanded a fleet of three ships, the “Clyde” and two smaller vessels, which loaded at docks on the Thames down river from London. When I went aboard to give him my passage letter to the Captain, he read it over three times. “I’ve no notice from’t Company I’d be carrying you and your mounts to Jamestown.”
“I’m surprised as you, Captain. The colonel said my passage was arranged by high persons in the company. There’s always that ten percent who don’t get the word.”
“Got a smart mouth, ‘ave ye’ Laddie? Well I won’t be one of that percentage. You don’t load ‘till I’ve got permission directly. Now get off until I do.”
From his boson I learned lading wouldn’t be finished for three days. Nearby I found a stable where I could leave the horses, and I cut out for London. I’d been in this stinking sewer of a town once before, and knew enough not to act like a boob from the shires. I didn’t know how people could live and continue to breath through decaying fish, sweaty decaying bodies, and the noxious smell from chamber pots emptied onto the street.
I had a month’s pay in my pocket, and two gold sovereigns sewed into the back of my belt. Not that I had any intention of using the gold for my pleasure. What I was looking for shouldn’t cost more than five bob. I found her, or rather she found me, at the “Lay of the Land” Inn where I took a night’s lodging. While I enjoyed a glass of ale, after feeding on a steak and kidney pie, she sat at the table next to me.
“Ye’ve got the look of a military man, General. Am I right?”
“I was, I was. Why do you want to know?”
She patted my hand. “Now that yer’ve washed camp dust out of your craw, I’m thinking ye’ might like some refreshment…of another kind.”
She was a comely enough lass, but looked starved. Her rather fancy dress was too big for her, and the low cut bodice revealed a skinny young lady. I reckoned she wasn’t more than fifteen. I reached for her chest to have a free feel. She jumped away and slapped at my hand. “’ere now General. Yer’ve not paid to touch!”
“Well now. You’re not only scrawny, but saucy as well. Let’s discuss your proposition while you have something to eat.”
I ordered fish and chips over her protest that she wasn’t hungry, and giving the tuppence to her would suit her better than eating. “I’m just ensuring that you’ll have strength enough to furnish me with some refreshment… when you’re through.”
She scarffed the food in nothing flat. “What’s the going rate for ‘refreshment’ in London these days?”
She wiped her mouth and said, “For a military gentleman like yourself there’s a discount, only twenty bob.”
“Twenty bob? You must think I’m a rich trader, not a poor soldier.”
“Aye, but yer’ll have twenty bob of pleasure.”
I looked around the room. Two girls sat at a table on the other end of the room. “Oh? If I were to look around…perhaps I could find twenty bob of pleasure…for five bob.”
She saw my glance. “Oh, not from them. Got the pox, both of ‘ em.”
“Because I’m very clean, and very careful. I only provide refreshment to fine gentlemen, such as yourself.”
I took her hand to pull her after me. She must nave bathed in rose water. Smelled like she could use more water and less rose. “Let’s go then, if five bob it is.”
“Yer’d rob a poor lass, yer would.” Now she pulled back on my hand. “Come with me. That way. There’s a clean patch of straw out behint the stable.”
No way was I about to head down a dark passage in London with a trollop. More’n likely her brothers or other friends would be waitin’ with a leaded cosh. “No ya’ don’t, Missy. I’ve taken a room. We’ll go there.”
She tried to pull me towards the door. “Forget it, Luv. Do you take me for a rube? The five bob is in my room.”
Her face sank, but she followed me. In my room I lit a candle.
“Oh, put it out. We don’t need that. Don’t yer think it’s more fun in the dark?”
I pinched the candle. In the faint moon light through the single window I could make out her dropping her gown. Then she scrambling into the bed. Eager now, I laid aside my saber, removed my boots and trousers. Freeing my magnificent stallion from confining clothing, I wondered if such a slight female could survive an attack by such a monster. Well not to worry. I’ve sundered small women before. Regardless, I aimed to get twenty bob of ‘refreshment’ out of her.
I jumped in on top of her. She was lying on her stomach.
“Turn over, Lass. I’m not a bugger.”
Instead of turning she humped her hips. “Yer can still get it in from there.”
I tried but couldn’t find it. Mine is a blind beast. She reached behind to grab my rampant weapon. “’ere, I’ll help yer.” She tried to insert it, but it wouldn’t penetrate.
“You’ve got the wrong one too.” I reached under to find the right one and grabbed her …balls!
Shocked, I still had presence of mind to give ‘em a good twist. OWHOOOH . He/she let out an anguished howl. I leaped out of the bed to grab my saber. Keeping him from the door with my sword point, I lit the candle. “Well, what have we here? A soddomite, no less. You could go to gaol for that, Lad.” I flicked my sword point across his abdomen. “Perhaps I ought to make you a real girl.”
Circles in the Sand
Grail Quest