"If you see any cottonwoods blooming get all the fluff you can find. I'm not figuring on finding any, it's too early in the year, but look anyway. Pile all you find in the South Tipi in the circle.

"We need the rest of the men to gather large quantities of firewood. They can use the horses and drag it to the big fire in the circle.

"WE, the women, expect you to be at it all day. This is important and you'll be glad you did. Shirkers will regret it."

So...they took the carpets and split up. They spent the whole day searching for cattails and found a surprising number. There were lots of blooming cottonwoods to the far south near the mountains. Soon the South lodge was filling up with cottonwood fluff, cattails, sheep and goat wool. They ran right out of room.

By the time it was dark there was a fire going in the fire circle and naked women dancing widdershins around it. Someone had brought a huge hollow log to the fire and a few of the women were beating out a rhythm that sounded like a heartbeat. There was a ton of screaming and calling up the moon. The baby, Lori, was doing magical things to the fire and flying around the dancing women. She would spit and the whole fire would turn blue or green. She was chanting the law over and over, "An you do no harm, do what you will!" The women would chant the lines back to her.

Over and over, louder and louder, more and more frenzied, wilder, wilder, wilder. Suddenly the drumming stopped, the women screamed, Lori peed on the fire and it exploded. Lori flew in and out of the flames. She was constantly chanting to the assembled women, the women chanting back!

The drumming began again..Thump, thump, thump, thump Thump, thump, thump, thump Thump, thump, thump, thump. The dancers began again. Dancing and dancing, frenzy after frenzy. Soon the drummers were handing the sticks to nearby men and joining the dance. The Cheese jumped clear across the fire, other men were jumping now, through the flames, naked and erect. The women were grabbing men and walking proud to the shadows, leading their captives by the cock. Jo and Vickie took the Cheese to their lodge and fucked him silly!!! They walked back to the fire with his manjuice dripping. Proudly they exhibited it. More women appeared, dripping. Women scooped out the offerings and threw them into the fire, the fire roared! The dancing continued. The full moon rose, stars shot across the sky. Up on the plain above the valley, the mammoths rutted, trumpeting as they came...the stallions covered mares. The whole world involved itself in a mindless orgy of sex. Two Voices saw that it was good, and loved the people. She/he beamed at The Cheese and Jo, "this is wonderful. How did it start?"

"This is Lori's idea. It's her birthday, she's one year old, today. That little baby suggested this and helped me plan it. Amazing, she can't walk yet but she can talk and fly!"

"Tomorrow, all the women begin their cycle of life. For four days no man may touch a woman. Starting very soon we, most of us, will be exceedingly uncomfortable to be near. I personally recommend the men go hunting or exploring. We will not be nice to be around. Except me. I'm already pregnant but I love a good party." Jo grinned, "Tomorrow all the women will go into seclusion, the maidens will wait on us and we will discuss womens' secrets. In the morning there will be a red topped tipi set up near the river and we will live there. But,enough of this, there is still a party. I imagine it will continue until the last woman begins her life cycle. I can't wait for the pot to grow!!! Then we can truly party."

"What is this 'pot'?"

"We really need Vickie for this. She's the Chemistry Graduate...Oh Vickie, where are you?. What am I doing? Lori, baby. Will you find Vickie and send her to me? Thank you, I love your party. Hi Vick, Two Voices wants to know about pot."

"Oh my god," exclaimed Vick, "Just how much do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Everything will take two weeks, how about a general outline?"

"That complicated?"

"Studying Cannabis (pot) and sorting through all the government lies can be alarming. Espousing any positive literature can be extremely dangerous. I'll tell you what it is and generally how it works and let you decide. This is straight from my thesis: The terms cannabis or marijuana generally refer to the dried flowers and subtending leaves and stems of the female cannabis plant. This is the most widely consumed form, containing 3% to 22% THC. In contrast, cannabis strains used to produce industrial hemp contain less than 1% THC and are thus not valued for recreational use. The major psychoactive chemical compound in cannabis is 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly abbreviated as THC). Cannabis contains more than 400 different chemical compounds, including at least 66 other cannabinoids (cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN) and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), etc.) which can result in different effects from those of THC alone. Cannabis use has been found to have occurred as long ago as the 3rd millennium BC. In modern times, the drug has been used for recreational, religious or spiritual, and medicinal purposes. The UN estimated about 4% of the world's adult population (162 million people) use cannabis annually, and about 0.6% (22.5 million) use it on a daily basis.

Cannabis has psychoactive and physiological effects when consumed. The minimum amount of THC required to have a perceptible psychoactive effect is about 10 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. Aside from a subjective change in perception and, most notably, mood, the most common short-term physical and neurological effects include increased heart rate, lowered blood pressure, impairment of short-term and working memory. The research is very clouded, most published detractors work for or are funded by the federal government. How's that?"

"Now I'm confused."

"I can't suggest you try it...we don't have any. I'll tell you this, cannabis is far, far, less harmful than alcohol, and we don't have any of that, either. However, the dried white inner bark of red willow can be dried and smoked. Red willow bark is very similar to aspirin, without the side affects. It mellows explosive personalities quite nicely."

"Well, then I guess we won't worry about pot."

"It's not native to this hemisphere and won't be recorded here until the 15th century."

Jo popped in with, "Jimmy had some seeds that he gave to the Cheese, the Cheese gave them to me and I planted them. They may or may not grow. If they grow, the plant may not be effective. I've never tried to grow it before, so I don't know the "tricks"."

Vicky said, "there are, however, some extremely dangerous hallucinogens resident here and farther south. I'm hoping Jimmy and Bill don't know what they look like and I'm really hoping the party tonight will quench the thirst for experimentation. The frenzy tonight is only the product of the mind. I'd like to keep it that way."

"What's happening here would positively SHOCK most christian religions. Should those to come from the eastern sea gain a foothold, millions will be burned at the stake." Jo continued, "Unless we can get to them first. Spread the religion of Lori."

"Enough downers, let us partay. For tomorrow we all turn into bitches of the first water!!"

"Oh, look at the Cheese, he's flying with Lori. Is she doing that?"

"Oh, no, Jo. The doc fixed him." The Two Voiced one said. "His mother broke his mind, the Doc repaired the break. I think all the people here have been broken by society. The children will fly and do other great things."

With the rising of the sun, the women, one by one retreated to the red topped tipi. The maidens, the old women who knew Gran and drank coffee at her restaurant and were changed by Two Voices to 12 and 13 year old virgins, brought food and pads made from the cattail and cottonwood fluff and guarded the tipi to prevent mere men from learning women's secrets. The men, led by The Cheese and Kurt made a great exploratory sweep. The horses were broken to riders and the carpet allowed the men to ride fearlessly because there were no surprises. The carpets made a serious survey to the north. They wished to find the Mongolians before the Mongolians found them. No others were found, yet. They were still alone on this continent.