Tiles
By ABS and Donna

The sun was setting when Methos, Duncan, Coltec and Shiloh arrived back at town. The girl had already been exhausted by the struggle, and now could hardly keep her seat on the Paint. Juneau followed close by the stallion’s hooves, but she seemed used to it and never got trodden upon.

It was a lovely sunset, but it hid portents of a terrible night to come. The sun radiated through the gathering clouds, purple, yellow, orange and pink.  Those clouds would rise with the darkness to cover the moon, which was full.

Lupe felt the moon, and it had her edgy. Nathaniel had gone back to Esperanza to be with the other leopards, so she didn’t have to keep an eye on him, though of course all wolves react to the moon, even natural ones like Diefenbaker. She was pacing in
front of the door when she saw the party return, and her attention was brought immediately to the worn looking woman, and the husky at her heels.

Racing out with a growl that was aimed directly at Methos, she accused, “What have you done to her, you . . . Man!?”

“Done?” Methos complained, tired and saddle sore himself. He knew it was his responsibility to bring the girl home, but he hadn’t managed to get any fish, and now he would not be eating any of Kasumi’s sushi.  “Rescued her from a clay pit, that’s what.” He
dismounted just as Shiloh swayed and then began falling off the tall stallion!

MacLeod and Coltec had not been distracted, and they reached the girl first. Lupe then tried to get close to the unconscious Shiloh, but Juneau growled at her, blocking her way.

“Looks like you’re the enemy here, not me,” Methos smirked.

“She senses my wolf side. It is very near the surface tonight.”

“And?”

“And she thinks she is dominant to me.”

“Is she?”

Lupe shrugged. “She’s strong. I smell wolf on her . . . if she is purebred dog, then she has consorted with wolves in her life, and survived.”

Duncan and Coltec carried Shiloh into the hotel, and placed her on a couch. "Maybe we should have one of the doctors look at her," the Highlander suggested.

But the girl woke and started fighting them off. “No, no Medicine Man! I am fine. Just tell me what you need me to do. I will do whatever is expected of me!”

"Just lay still," Duncan ordered. "When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?" A crowd was starting to form, all with concerned and curious faces as they saw the two newcomers.

She shrugged. “I had water from the stream. I ate berries.”
 
"You need more than that," Coltec said with a kind smile. Duncan looked up, searching the crowd for Lupe. She always had food available.

“I have always lived on berries,” said Shiloh. “Even when I was with a tribe, I had to find my own food.  The meat was for full breeds, not half breed slaves.”

There was a bit of an altercation at the door, and Methos came in. “Lupe’s had to fight it out with the husky,” he said. “How’s this one doing?”

"I have food," a small voice called out. Kasumi was in the crowd, a basket full of vegetables she had picked from the community gardens hanging from her arm. She frowned at Shiloh's clay streaked hair and clothes. "After she eats, Hop Sing will clean her clothes while she rests in the bath."

Shiloh looked at the girl and smiled shyly. She had seen Chinese women being mistreated on the railroads, and felt a kinship with her. “I can bathe in the river,” she said. “Do not put yourself out.” But her dark eyes remained riveted on the basket.

“Nonsense,” Methos said. Bowing to Kasumi, he said, “Unfortunately, we were unable to catch you any fish. We caught this instead. She and her horse were mired in a clay pit! Like quicksand the stuff was.”

Kasumi shrugged. "Fish will always be in the stream. Tomorrow maybe you catch some for me. But for now, bring her to my home." She turned on her heels and ducked under arms, moving quickly. She wanted to have everything ready for when they got her there.

Shiloh kept objecting, saying she was not worthy to eat at a table. In fact, she started to wonder if she might be heading for a beating, considering the fuss that was being made over her! One did not make a fuss and get away with it in the world she inhabited!

But the men, Methos, Duncan and Coltec, were enjoying the fight. All three had grins on their faces. As they crossed the street, a horseman was coming down it, and the sight of him made Shiloh pause in mid-struggle. The most handsome brave she had ever seen was coming toward her!

Seeing her interest, Duncan chuckled. "That is Buck. Good kid. He's one of our pony express riders. I can arrange for an introduction *after* we get you cleaned up."

“Oh no,” said Shiloh, but like with the food, she could not take her eyes off him. Buck was looking back. He nodded, tipping his hat as he went by, and she blushed, putting her head down. It was somewhat easier to get her across the street after that!

And once she smelled the delicious odors coming from Kasumi's Kitchen, it was no problem at all getting her into there! A bowl of rice and hot egg drop soup were waiting. "Start with that," Kasumi said. "I will have the stir fry ready in just a moment."

“I will help you clean up later?” she asked, eyeing the food but not wanting to take something she could not pay for.

"If you like," Kasumi agreed. "Eat. Afterwards, we all can bathe." The motion of her hand included Methos, Duncan and Coltec. Hop Sing had appeared out of nowhere to help, muttering under his breath as he placed soup in the plain wooden bowls in front of everyone. "Hop Sing no bathe yet," he grumbled. "Look
at mess! Hop Sing clean while in bath." His motion made the others look down. Their clothes were all clay streaked as well.

“Nothing like a communal bath,” Methos chuckled, sitting down to the soup. 

The others chuckled, but Shiloh looked frightened. Communal? Did that mean what she thought it meant?  If so, there was her mode of payment.

After dinner, which she tried not to overdo, but everyone kept urging her to eat more, they all went in the back of the Laundry and disrobed so Hop Sing could clean their nearly ruined clothes. Shiloh exited the small dressing room with a towel wrapped around her spare frame. It was easy to see the whip marks on her dark back. 

The jaws of the men tightened, but they said nothing. Off to the side of the pool, several stools and buckets of hot soapy water were waiting. "We are to soap off before we climb into the main bath," Duncan explained. The men all had a small towel wrapped
around their loins, which they used to cover their privates as they sat down on the stool. Kasumi and Shiloh both had a larger towel wrapped around them and as the Japanese girl guided Shiloh onto a stool, she offered to scrub her back and wash the clay out of her hair for her.

“I can do,” Shiloh said, trying to hide her back from everyone. Her eyes went around the room to the men, and Kasumi understood that she was embarrassed, not over her nudity, but the scars on her back. What she did not understand, at least right away, was that Shiloh also thought this was some precursor to group sex.

But as the scrubbing down continued, the atmosphere was strangely non-sexual. None of the men's little towels draped over their genitals were rising. Instead, they were all laughing and joking. Duncan was telling the story of his first bath in Japan after his shipwreck there, and how mortified his hostess had been to find him soaping up in the main tub.

Methos told of Roman baths, and put in a few stories of his own time in Japan. Shiloh watched and listened with big dark eyes, taking it all in, as nervous as a cat, waiting to see what would happen next.

Kasumi helped her with her hair, and with incredibly gentle hands, washed her back. "In Japan, is just being friendly to offer to scrub another's back. You can do mine if you wish."

Shiloh nodded, smiling. She was very kind to her.  “Are you a full blooded Chinese?” she asked.

Kasumi laughed. "Hop Sing is Chinese. I am from Japan, an ancient island nation not too far from the huge nation of China." After she had finished cleaning all the clay out of Shiloh's hair, Kasumi knelt down on the floor by her and loosened her towel, and then started to wash herself with the hot soapy water.

Shiloh watched what her new friend did and mimicked it. She did not seem at all worried about the men, so Shiloh still assumed they were to be the men’s partners later, after the bath.
 
After they had all washed clean, Kasumi rose from her knees and carried hot water around to rinse the soap off everyone. She teased Duncan about missing a big spot on his back, and attacked it vigorously with a scrub brush. The highlander wiggled and squirmed, a blissful look on his face. "Anyone else need back
scrubbed?" she offered after she had poured the rinse bucket over his head.

All of the men raised their hands, of course, pointing to real or imaginary spots they had “missed”. Shiloh ran to help Coltec.

He sighed happily as she applied the brush, telling her what spots were the itchiest. Methos was getting the same treatment. It was still odd though. There were still no signs of the men's spears coming to attention.
 
Shiloh was nervous, but not terribly frightened. These men seemed nice enough, and she had had to withstand much worse. Still this bathing ceremony was odd. Usually she was passed around and the men did not care how dirty they were. Or even how dirty she was!

Once they were rinsed off, the men got up one by one and went over to the pool, dropping the towels on a bench before climbing naked into the steaming hot bath. "Come," Kasumi said to Shiloh, taking her hand. She too discarded her towel and submerged in the water that was chin deep to her.

Shiloh followed, still unsure. When would the men call to her? It was a great honor to service a Hoyoka, and she still felt unworthy, but the men seemed more interested in talking amongst themselves than in her and Kasumi!

Kasumi wasn't even flirting with the men, or trying to attract any of them. Instead, she kept up a running conversation with Shiloh, and as they soaked and relaxed in the steaming water, the two women got to know each other fairly well. "Do you need a place to stay?" she offered. "I have several empty rooms here."

“I will help where I can,” Shiloh promised. “I have learned many skills.” She saw air bubbles coming up and said, “It is a shame we cannot fix that with the clay. But it would come loose with this hot water.”

"If I had some ceramic tiles, Paul-san said he could line the tub with them," Kasumi said with a shrug of her shoulders. "There is a building in town here with a kiln, but no one has the skills to run it."

“I can make pottery,” said Shiloh. “I could make tiles.” She was not entirely sure she could, but how difficult could it be?
 
"There was definitely enough clay available!" Duncan laughed. “We brought enough for a couple of pots home in our hair at least!"

Shiloh smiled at him. “Then I help? Make tiles for bath?” she asked. They could all see she wanted to be of use.

"Yes!" they all cried out at once. The conversation turned to the various uses of clay. Coltec admitted to having thrown a few pots in his time, but said he was a much better silversmith.

“Too bad we don’t have any raw silver lying around,” Methos said. “I’m sure the women would love some silver jewelry.” He smiled at Kasumi and Shiloh. 

They soaked in the hot tub for well over an hour before, with a sigh, the men started to climb out. Shiloh made to follow, but Kasumi laid her hand on her arm and stopped her. "Let them shower and change first," she said. She giggled as she heard the gasps of the men as cold water dribbled out of a pipe and
rinsed them off. Hop Sing was there, with their now clean and pressed clothing waiting for them to put on.

When the men were dressed, the women went in and endured the same chilling rinse. But Shiloh felt good – awake and fit. She was confused about the men and women bathing together, and why no one expected her to service them sexually, but she decided she had a lot to learn about this new Culture. After all, it was more racially mixed than anything she had experienced!