The Magic of the White Spider

I sat beside Mandy all that day. She didn't wake up, but it was amazing at how quickly her condition improved. By evening, the swelling of her ankle was gone and left only a slight blue/black bruising on her skin. The four puncture wounds from the two spider bites were there, but barely perceptible. She was breathing normally as well. After eating a meal of something I couldn't identify, I sat and watched the people of the village as they sat around the fire.

All the men wore the same skirt, and all had the similar tattoos. The women were dressed similarly, and also had tattoos visible below the skirt. They did not have tattoos on their back, and like the other natives we'd seen, were bare breasted. The children were dressed in smaller versions of skirts with no tattoos.

Here and there, a woman nursed a baby in full view of the entire village. She seemed to pay no attention to the baby, instead talking and laughing with the group of people around her. The only change in this behavior was when she would gently pull her nipple from the baby's mouth and then change breasts.

As the fire died down, the people began to leave the fire and go to the mats that covered the floor of part of the communal house. Both men and women would disrobe and lay down together. It was then I saw the men's tattoos covered their legs from the knee to just above their hips. The women's tattoos went from the knee to the hip.

I was both surprised and interested when I began hearing the sounds of sex coming from the mats. Even though each couple was only a few feet away from their neighbors, they appeared not to have any modesty and could be seen and heard having sex by anyone.

That each woman was agreeable to this was evidenced by the sounds of her moans and later, her panting breaths as she achieved orgasm. Afterwards, the couple would separate and fall asleep.

It was also interesting that it was not only the men who seemed to initiate the sex act. I watched a couple near our mats as they disrobed and then lay down. The woman smiled at the man, and then reached for his penis. He just grinned and fondled her breasts with one hand and her sex with the other.

She stroked him until he was erect, then lay back and opened her thighs. The man rolled over between them and slowly entered her. She wrapped her arms and legs around his body, and they began to move in unison.

It was obvious both were enjoying each other, and just as obvious that unlike most American women seem to be, she was a very active participant in the act. She murmured something from time to time and stroked his back with her fingertips. At one point, she began pulling on his hips as he stroked in and out, and also lifted her hips into his slow thrusts. At the climax, she cried out softly and began to rock her hips up and down. He groaned and quickly pumped in and out a few times, then stopped. The woman lowered her legs then, but they stayed together like that until he slipped from her body.

I'm not really a voyeur, but I couldn't help but watch. I was embarrassed when they both looked at me and grinned. They weren't embarrassed at all and did not attempt to cover themselves. They just closed their eyes and went to sleep.

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I woke the next morning and looked at Mandy. Her color was good, she was breathing normally, and other than the four small puncture wounds, there was no evidence of anything unusual about her. I touched her arm and shook her gently until she opened her eyes. She looked up at the roof of the house and then at me.

"Where are we?"

"We're in a native village. Biabo doesn't know who they are, but they seem friendly. Their witch doctor or whatever she is used another spider to cure you yesterday. It was the damnedest thing I've ever seen. The spider was white, and she put it on your ankle. The spider bit you then, and a few minutes later you started getting better. How do you feel?"

"I feel kind of weak, but other than that, I feel OK."

Mandy tried to sit up then, and managed to do so after I helped her. She looked around the house.

The men and women of the village were already up and walking about. Upon seeing her rise, one of the women dipped a wood bowl into another that sat by the fire circle and brought it to Mandy. She made the motions of drinking and then handed Mandy the bowl. Mandy turned to me.

"Do you think I should drink this?"

The woman who'd brought the bowl was still watching. She made the motions of drinking again.

"I think it's probably OK. They don't seem to be anything except helpful."

Mandy took a sip from the bowl, then swallowed.

"It's some type of fruit juice. It's a little sweet, but I've never tasted anything like it before."

The native woman smiled and brought another bowl for me.

We drank the rest of the contents of the bowls and handed them back to the woman. The woman smiled then and left us to ourselves.

We spent the day together, and as time went by, Mandy got stronger. By the time of the evening meal, she could stand though she was a little wobbly. The evening meal was some sort of meat that tasted a little like pork and a starchy dish like potatoes but more bland in taste.

As on the night before, the people of the village sat around the fire until it died and then went to their sleeping mats. Mandy chuckled.

"I guess with no television, they go to sleep early."

"They're not going to sleep. They're only going to bed."

"Oh? Ohhhhh...right here...in front of everybody else?"

"Just wait. You'll see."

The couple beside us had taken off their skirts by then. As on the night before, both eased down on the mats and the woman put her hand on the man's flat belly. She moved her hand up and down a few times, and then closed her fingers around his penis.

Everything after that was a repeat of the night before. The man fondled the woman's breasts and then began using his fingertips between her spread thighs to arouse her.

I looked at Mandy when the man entered the woman. She caught her breath and then exhaled slowly. I touched her on the arm to get her attention. I was going to ask her what she thought, but it was like she didn't even feel it. She just sat there and stared at the couple.

I watched the couple as they went through the same actions as the night before. I felt Mandy shift positions a couple times, but thought she was just getting comfortable. When the woman climaxed, I looked at Mandy and realized I'd been wrong.

Mandy had unbuttoned her shirt and was rubbing her breast with one hand. The other hand was inside the front of her shorts and it was moving up and down. I touched her arm again.

"Mandy, what are you doing?"

She didn't say anything. She just looked down at where I lay and then pulled the shirt off her body. She took off her bra next, and then lay down and worked the shorts down over her hips and legs. After she rolled her panties off, she was naked.

Her eyes were wide open as she unbuttoned my shirt and then unzipped my pants. Her small, soft hand probed inside my underwear, found my cock, and started stroking it. She was still stroking it when she lay down on the mat beside me and then whispered, "Have sex with me."

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. This was the woman who'd told me she had no sex drive at all, and now, she was pulling on my stiffening cock and telling me she wanted me. I was thinking of what to say when she started pulling my pants and underwear down. Once my cock was free, she began stroking it in earnest. I couldn't help but develop an erection.

Mandy spread her thighs wide and probed her sex with her other hand. She moaned and her voice was low and sultry when whispered in my ear again.

"I want you. I want to have sex with you."

"Right here?"

"Yes, right here...right now."

It was difficult to get my pants and underwear off while she pulled at my stiff cock. Once I managed, Mandy pulled me between her upraised thighs and then down. I felt her moving my cock between her wet lips until she found her entrance. She pulled my cock again, and I groaned as it entered her.

Mandy was very tight, but very wet and slippery. It took several short strokes until my cock was lubricated enough to sink all the way into her depths. She caught her breath when it did, and rocked her hips up just a little.

I'd had sex with several women before, but none of them were like Mandy. The others had mostly lain there until the final moments. Then, they'd pant a little and maybe lurch a few times when their orgasm hit. That would drive me to my own climax. The sex was good, but Mandy was unbelievable.

She was using her body to arouse us both. I felt her passage massage my cock as she worked her pelvic muscles, and her hands pulled at my ass with each stroke. It was like she was trying to get my cock inside her even more than it already was.

Along with all the writhing of her body and her nails digging into my ass were the little gasps, pants, and murmurs I heard. The murmurs weren't many words, really. They were just a word or two mixed in with the other sounds.

She started to arch into my strokes a while later, and I was trying to keep from getting there before she did. That was difficult because of the contractions around my cock and her nails digging into my ass cheeks. As it was, I didn't have to try for long. Mandy began lurching her body up into each stroke and then gasping as the base of my cock bottomed out against her soft lips. After several of those lurches, she gasped and arched high off the mat. She pushed her pelvis rapidly up and down as she climaxed. I did the same a few seconds later.

The contractions inside her were still milking my cock when she eased back down on the mat. She held my hips to keep me inside her until my cock softened to the point it slipped out on its own. She snuggled up beside me then and quickly fell asleep. I pulled my pants back on and listened to another couple until I fell asleep too.

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I woke up the next morning to find Mandy snuggled up to my side with one leg thrown over my thighs. She woke up when I gently pushed her thigh off, stretched, scratched under each breast and then rubbed the mass of blonde curls on her mound. Her eyes opened then and she smiled at me.

"Have sex with me again."

I wasn't accustomed to being naked in front of groups of anyone except for groups of men like in a college shower room or swimming pool dressing room. I wasn't really sure I could get my cock to stand up with so many people around.

"Now? It's daylight and the whole village is up and walking around."

Mandy grinned.

"You're shy."

"No, well, with this many people around, yes."

"Then I'll have to do it myself."

She stretched out, cupped her right breast with her left hand, and began stroking the soft lips between her thighs with the other. One woman who was walking past saw her and stopped to watch. That attracted several other men and women who likewise stopped what they were doing and came to watch. I noticed Biabo and Tanata were among them.

It didn't take Mandy very long at all. I watched as she flicked and pulled on her nipples until they were thicker and rigid. I watched as first one and then two fingers disappeared inside her and began stroking.

A few minutes later Mandy cried out and arched high off the mat. Her hips did a little rocking dance as the orgasm swept through her. Then she sank back down to the mat. Her fingers were still stroking in and out, she continued to make little jerking arches for another minute or so.

The people who'd been watching her grinned when she pulled her hand from between her thighs and rubbed her breasts. Then there were a few words exchanged along with some chuckles. I heard the words "togafiti, faataulaitu, paʻepaʻe, and apogaleveleve" several times and jotted them down as best I remembered along with the other words I'd collected since meeting the tribe.

I looked at Mandy. She was smiling, and reached over to touch my hand.

"I wish you'd done that for me. Last night was a lot better."

I was a little dumfounded.

"Mandy, what's gotten into you?"

She giggled.

"You mean besides you last night?"

"You know what I mean. On the boat you said you had no desire for sex. Last night and then this morning...I've never known a woman who seemed to want it more."

"I don't know. I think it must have been watching that couple beside us. I've never seen anything like that before, and as I watched them, I got really, really excited. I did want it. This morning I remembered watching them and I wanted to do it again. I still do."

"Well, we can't. I need to talk to their healer and ask her about your uncle's powders. You need to come along. Maybe if she knows you're his grand-niece, she'll be more likely to tell me."

Once Mandy was dressed we went to find Biabo and Tanata. They were at the other end of the communal house, sitting on mats and talking. Biabo grinned when we walked up.

"I see you have decided to get up instead of enjoying yourselves again. Do not be embarrassed. Sex is a very open thing among all the native tribes."

I nodded.

"We're not embarrassed. We would just like to speak with the healer who cured Mandy, if I might do that."

Biabo translated this to Tanata. Tanata frowned and then jabbered something to Biabo. Biabo translated.

"Tanata asks why you would speak to the healer."

"Tell him this woman's uncle was treated by a healer in this same area many years ago. She and I would like to know the medicine the healer gave him."

Biabo relayed this to Tanata. Again Tanata jabbered something back and Biabo translated.

"He says he will ask."

Tanata walked to the center of the house where the healer lived. We saw him speak to the old woman for a minute or so, and then he came back. Biabo translated.

"He says the healer does not remember the man, but she will talk with you."

The conversation took a long time. I would ask a question. Biabo would translate that question into Bora and then Tanata would translate it into the language of the tribe. I began by relating what the old man had told me.

"His group was searching for treasure and walked over the mountains. When they reached this area they were very sick and starving. This woman's uncle was given a yellow medicine. He was the only one to survive. Do you know of this medicine?"

The old woman listened intently, then smiled and began to jabber. After the two translations, I was hopeful.

"Yes, I know of the powder. It comes from the samasama tree. The tree feeds us in life, and gives life when it dies."

"Can you tell me how you make the medicine?"

The old woman smiled.

"I do not make the medicine. The spirit of the samasama makes the medicine when it dies."

I knew that had to be some sort of tribal myth. I said as much to Biabo. He frowned.

"You must understand the beliefs of native people. To them, everything has a spirit - trees, animals, even the stones in the river. She is telling you what she believes."

"Ask her how she finds the medicine."

After hearing the question, the old woman spoke for a time.

"When the samasama lives, it makes fruits we eat. When it dies, it falls to the ground and its spirit marries with the spirit of the lanu. They have tree children that live inside the tree. When the tree children are grown, they open the tree to get out and bring more life to us. I collect the tree children, dry them in the sun, and grind them into the powder. The tree children give life even to those who are nearly dead."

It still sounded like a myth to me, but the old woman seemed serious. I asked if she could show me the samasama tree. She smiled.

"There are samasama trees not far from here. I will take you there."

The trees were a few hundred yards into the deep jungle around the village. They were very large trees, and dangling from the branches were clusters of fruits. Mandy took pictures of the tree itself, the leaves, and some of the fruit that had fallen to the forest floor.

The old woman then waved for us to follow her. A short distance away was a fallen tree. The trunk was split open and a yellow, furry-looking mass grew where the pith had once been. She pointed to that growth.

"These are the tree children."

It was starting to make a little sense then. The yellow furry masses of fungus were part of the natural decomposition of the tree. Some medicines had already been obtained from fungal growths. Mandy took pictures of the fungal growths as well. I asked if I could collect some samples. The old woman showed me how she did this task, and I filled a small bag with the clumps of yellow fungus. I picked up some of the fallen fruit and a few leaves as well.

When we returned to the village, the people were in turmoil. Tanata ran to find out why. He returned with a worried look on his face. As Biabo listened, he began to look worried as well.

"We must leave now, and we must hurry."

I asked what had happened. He shook his head.

"There is no time to tell you. Pick up what you can carry and follow me."

Mandy carried her camera bag, my notes, and the bags of samples we'd collected. Biabo said "food" and handed me a pack, then picked up another pack and his machete. We walked quickly into the forest.. We could hear the shouts from the village for five minutes after leaving.

The trail Biabo had blazed was still open, so our pace was faster than when we'd walked to the village. The sun was overhead when we passed the campsite where Mandy had been bitten, and by dusk had arrived at the spot Biabo had tied up the canoe. Biabo threw his pack and machete into the canoe and told us to do the same. After a few pulls to the starter rope of the outboard, we were racing down river as fast at the motor would take us.

Biabo continued down the river until the sun dropped below the trees. I couldn't see much of anything. Either he could, or he was steering by instinct, because he motored on for another hour before steering for the bank. He tied up the canoe, then took his machete and went to look for wood for a fire. He told us to stay in the canoe until he returned.

About half an hour later, we saw the flicker of a campfire. Biabo walked down the bank and told us we could get out of the canoe.

The fire was only to keep away any animals because in our haste to leave, Biabo hadn't picked up the pack with the cooking pots and utensils. Instead he had picked up the pack with our spare clothing. With no way to cook the dried food I'd carried, there was no way to eat. Instead, we had a drink of water from the river while Biabo told us what had happened.

"The two men I brought with me became excited by two of the young native girls. Tanata said the young girls enjoy teasing young men, but their customs are that girls must remain virgins until they marry. My men did not understand their ways. They took the girls into the jungle thinking they would have sex with them. When the girls realized this, they screamed and two of the village men went to see why.

"The girls told of what had happened and the village men were very angry. They took my two men back to the village. Tanata said their punishment would be death.

"He also said that since we were not involved, we would not be punished, but such a thing is viewed as disrespect for their customs and so too, their gods. Anything bad that happened later would be the result of that disrespect, and we would have been blamed because we are not of the tribe. Had we not left, the tribe would have kept us there for a time to make sure the gods had been satisfied by the death of my two men.

"We are not yet safe. They will soon discover we have left and send men to follow us. As soon as I can see the river again, we must be on our way."

It was still dark when that time came, or at least neither I nor Mandy could see anything. Biabo led us to the canoe, and when we were on board, started the motor and cast off into the current. Just as on the day before, he opened the throttle on the outboard to full speed. We flew down the river as a result of that speed and the river current.