Wrestlers Story

Wrestler's Story # 21 - CODY AND THE CARIBE INDIAN GHOSTS

By: Ron Nelson

© Copyright 2016 by the author

After Cody got up the next morning from his great wrestling around yesterday with the father-son combo of Buzz and Lex Grainger, he began to think about what he was going to do now with his last couple of days of vacation in St. Lauren, one of the Caribbean Windward Islands.

Cody knew Marcel was tied up working at the rain forest ZipLine, and when Cody saw him in town a couple of days ago, he told Cody the English owners of the Villa del Mer were returning next week and he'd have to work full time to get the place in order for them.

Buzz and Lex were flying back to the States today. So now he had only a couple more full days on the island himself.

He asked the Rafe, at the front desk of the Sapphire Seas Hotel where he was staying, if he had any suggestions as to what he might best see and do today and tomorrow.

Cody had already talked with both Rafe and Chris before, and liked them. They both worked 12-hour six-to-six shifts. Rafe had the day shift. He was a native islander and Cody had already noticed his really great muscular and defined build under his tight yellow t-shirt and white shorts.

He was probably just a couple of years older than Cody, and looked like a lot of the other native island men. Just about all of them were of a medium height and really dark skinned. And all were powerfully built with keen deep-set white eyes behind black eyeballs which were alert to taking in everything that was happening around them, their heads topping powerfully muscular bodies.

Chris was a taller, slender and pale white man, maybe in his late-thirties, but also very sharp and with a great and subtle sense of humor. Cody guessed maybe he was originally from England by his slight accent.

It's probably politically incorrect to say so,' Cody thought, but I think the reason they put Rafe on the day shift and Chris on the night shift was that if they reversed it, nobody could see Rafe by night nor Chris by day, so sure, their assignment make a lot of sense!'

A couple of days ago, noticing how much Rafe resembled the muscular body builder Marcel, except being a slightly smaller version of him. Cody thought he might try to get to know him a little better, and asked him for any suggestions he might have as to where to eat near the hotel, some local place that wasn't too expensive as he was on a pretty tight budget.

"Sure, Mr. Cody," said Rafe, quickly taking in the hunky and adventuresome-looking Cody in return, "you might like to check out the Café d'Or. It's only a couple of blocks behind the hotel, located just inside the native quarter. I think maybe you would find it interesting."

Cody noticed that all the hotel staff routinely addressed all of their guests by their first names, preceded by a "Mr." or "Miz." It was a nice friendly but professional touch.

"Also," continued Rafe, "Let me give you a brochure on the island's history. It describes the district around Les Duex here in particular, and a walking trail through the rain forest along the seafront between here and our sister hotel, Les Noir Chien, about three miles down the trail. There are also some ruins of an old Spanish fort just off the trail between us. Maybe you'd like to explore them too.

"They say the fort is haunted by some of our Caribe Indian ancestors who fought the Spanish conquistadores who built the fort. The legend has it that at one point the Caribe Indians tried to storm the fort and take it from the Spaniards, whom they outnumbered. However, although fewer in number, the Spaniards were able to hold the fort and the battle remained undecided. And, after further battles, the dead and wounded soon began to mount on both sides.

"So then the chief of the Caribe Indians and the commanding officer of the fort called a temporary truce, and met in an open area in front of the fort between the walls of the fort and the jungle. The result of their conference was that they agreed to make it a one-to-one battle between them, and let that decide the issue.

"The Caribe would put up their strongest and best warrior to fight the strongest and best fighter among the Spaniards. Then they would fight it out, naked and unarmed, in the main grass-covered courtyard of the fort, observed by both sides, for as long as it took to decide which would be the winner.

"If the Caribe Indian won, the Spaniards would leave the fort to them. If the Spaniard won, the Caribe Indians would withdraw and not attack the fort any longer.

"As it turned out, our Caribe Indian ancestor and the Spanish soldier were very evenly matched and their fight lasted a very long time. In fact, legend has it that they began their match just at dusk, and fought so long into the night, many times deadlocked and almost motionless, presumably to see which could last the longer, until all of the spectators eventually fell asleep.

"Then the next morning, when they woke up, the spectators saw the two fighters, our Caribe ancestor and the Spaniard, still locked together and now they were asleep too. Their fight had ended, but the issue was still undecided.

"However, as by this time both the Caribe Indians and the Spaniards were tired of the whole thing, and as the Caribe was lying on top of the Spaniard, he was declared the winner. And so the Spaniards, true to their word, withdrew and left the fort to our ancestors and a truce between the two followed.

"Twenty years later, however, with a new and more ambitious Spanish commander, and younger and even more powerful Caribe Indians on the scene, their battle resumed. And this later time, through some trickery on the part of the Spaniards, they re-entered the fort, killed most of our Caribe ancestors in the fort who fought bravely but ultimately unsuccessfully against them, and retook the fort and held it for all the years afterward until they ultimately lost it to the French.

"The legend now, and it is an important one to us, is that the ghosts of the Caribe Indian warriors who fought and died fighting the Spaniards, in almost the only victory the Caribe Indians ever had against them, still inhabit the fort. And to this day they still come out at dusk to fight the Spaniards, as well as, perhaps, anyone else who looks young and strong and might like to fight them.

"Someone even like yourself," concluded Rafe, "as you are a very hunky looking man, and my Cousin Marcel, whom you already know, says you are a very good wrestler too."

"Oh yeah, Rafe," said Cody jokingly, "sounds like it might have been some of your own ancestors who did the job on those Spaniards too. "And if they looked like you and Marcel, no wonder you beat them. I'd think you were justified too `cause you got here to the island first, and they only came in afterwards."

"Maybe so, mon," Rafe replied in his native dialect and grinning. "That's the legend, anyway. But every once in a while, even today, some good looking hunk like yourself returns to town late at night looking like he'd been in a fight or maybe fallen into the creek somewhere, saying he'd gotten into a fight with the ghosts inhabiting the fort, and that he'd barely gotten away with his life.

"Each time, our native police have investigated the claim, of course, but every time they conclude the hunk must have just gotten drunk and fallen down or gotten into a barroom fight, and dismissed the matter.

"But still, the legend persists. So, if you are planning to go out to the ruins this evening, you might want to be on guard just in case there are any ghosts who might like to fight with you," concluded Rafe, a wide grin on his face.

"Well ok, if you say so. But I'm thinking if any of the ghosts look like you, it mightn't be such a bad thing at all for a guy to meet up with them just to see what might happen!" replied an equally grinning Cody in return.

Upon his arrival in St. Lauren and at the Sapphire Seas Hotel, Rafe had given him, like all the new guests, a booklet on the history of St. Lauren. It seems the original settlers were Caribe Indians coming up from South America and the southern Caribbean. They were a powerful and intelligent people who crossed the southern Caribbean in canoes, and invaded and took over many of the larger islands in the Caribbean, which is how, in fact, the Caribbean got its name.

Then the Spanish were the first white men to come from Europe, searching for gold and silver. For that, they built a number of powerful forts on the larger islands, such as St. Lauren, to subdue the native Caribes. They were never really successful in their search for gold, however, and their attempts to subdue the islands turned out to be a constant and deadly battle between the two, which is perhaps why their "ghosts" are still at it today, if the legend is true.

After the Spanish came the French, who drove the Spaniards out and began to settle the islands, laying out towns and roads to grow spices and other tropical crops to trade to Europe after their unsuccessful attempt to find gold despite seeing all the gold rings and earrings many of the natives wore.

The French were then followed by the English in the 1700's and 1800's to do much the same in crops and trade as the French, except for their own profit, until the islands gained their own independence in the twentieth century.

Today, St. Lauren shows traces of all of the previous invasions of the island, with the descendants of the original Caribe Indians still comprising almost three-quarters of the total population, and whose influence still covers just about all daily life.

Cody had all that in mind and thought about how exciting it all must have been many years ago. And now, with the powerful and hunky local natives still all around, including such men as Marcel and Rafe, maybe there was still some part of the legend and truth in it even today.

After talking with Rafe, Cody went over for lunch, as Rafe had suggested, to the Café d'Or, which Cody knew meant Café of Gold in English. Maybe it was named after the gold the Caribe Indians originally had and which the Spaniards so desperately wanted, and was a constant reminder of the battle between the two.

Going into the Café d'Or, Cody thought the connection between the past and the present became apparent even more strongly. The café was no more than a plain wooden building with a rough wood floor, unfinished wood walls with big windows open to the air and the rain which might blow in from any tropical storms, and a corrugated tin roof, all built in the rambling native style.

In the center of the cafe were a half dozen rough wooden tables with wood and woven rope chairs. When Cody walked in, most of the tables had two or three native men sitting at them, most of whom seemed to be in their twenties and thirties and all looking strong and muscular, just like Marcel and Rafe. Cody knew there was a high unemployment rate on the island, and the laid-back island lifestyle offered a lot more leisure time anyway, with many men working hard physical jobs only when work was available.

As Cody walked in, two or three of the natives glanced over at him, probably just to check him out as they hadn't seen him before, and then went back to whatever they were doing and talking about among themselves. Cody didn't have any problem with their checking him out and knew it was just a natural reaction when a stranger walked into a place, just as he checked them out in return too.

A good looking, well-built waiter in a tight black muscle shirt which said Café d'Or on it in gold came over to him and gave him a gray slate on which was scribbled the day's menu. It was a choice of either boiled ham or fresh caught fish. Cody ordered the fish, and a beer.

The meal was both simple and real good. Cody took his time eating it as neither he nor anybody else seemed to be in any particular hurry to do anything else. He had already decided that after lunch maybe he'd first go for a swim while it was so hot during the day. Then after that he'd buy a gift for his grandmother, back home, who had paid his air fare for the trip, to take back with him as a souvenir of his trip for her.

And then maybe have supper at the Café d'Or again as it sure had some good food, and the scenery looked real interesting too.

Then, after supper, maybe he'd take that walk around dusk along the old trail as it led out of town down to the ruins of the old Spanish fort and see if he could run into any ghosts down there then.

As Cody looked around at the walls of the café while he was eating lunch, he saw the strong native Caribe Indian influence in the place. Along the walls were more than two dozen masks, many of them big and intricate affairs with many lines and colors. Some of them looked like they might be voodoo masks, while others might be of warriors. Some were smiling, some leering, and some ugly and threatening enough to frighten whoever was looking at them.

The voodoo masks were the most hideous, representing ancient gods of evil whom the Indians either worshipped or feared, or both. The warrior masks were more normal, mostly with painted faces representing various spirits of strength, speed or endurance.

There were an even greater number of smaller face masks. Some were made of carved wood or coconuts, and also had a wide variety of face markings and lines in various colors and designs to frighten the viewers. Some were even totally blank, while others showed huge eyes and ears and teeth, and just about all of them pretty hideous and scaring.

Between the masks were hung a wide variety of spears, bows and arrows and Indian clubs, all decorated in one way or another to make them even more frightening to anybody seeing them.

Cody could only imagine what it must have been like when the Caribe Indians wore their masks when they were attacking the Spaniards. They would have had the battle half won right there despite the Spaniards' famed reputation for bravery. And, if the battles were at night, and the Indians in their masks attacked the Spaniards out of the darkness without any warning, which probably would have been the case, it would have been just that much worse for the Spaniards.

Heck,' thought Cody, If these ghosts come at me tonight walking around there at dusk in the dark, that'd get to me too, legend or not!'

After Cody finished lunch he walked around the native quarter for a while and then went back to the hotel. Directly behind the café, Cody saw what looked like a large open shed with a corrugated tin roof and no sides. Inside were half dozen powerfully built natives, all in their twenties or early thirties, working out on various routines on the weights which were on the open floor and the weight racks. It looked to be an open air gym. On the far side were a speed bag and some soft mats where a couple of almost naked native men were wrestling, locked together almost motionlessly, on the floor.

Yeah,' thought Cody, These guys are all real hunky and powerfully built naturally, and it looks like now they're working out and building up still more. No wonder they all look as good as they do. I wonder if Marcel works out here too?'

When he returned to the hotel, Cody saw Rafe at the desk, watching him.

"Hey Rafe, you sure called it right on lunch. I went over to the Café d'Or like you suggested and it was real good. I also saw all those masks and spears and the like on the walls, and they were really great too.

"I'm thinking to take that walk down to the old Spanish fort ruins around dusk this evening too, like you suggested. Do you think there'll be any ghosts around when I get there, and will they be wearing any of those masks?

"Damn, I'm not sure I could handle too many of them at any one time, them looking like that! But maybe I should take you along `cause you look like you'd be pretty good for protection! Unless, of course, you'd be one of the Indian ghosts in the masks hitting up on me!"

"Oh, Mr. Cody," was Rafe's grinning reply, "You look pretty strong and hunky and able to take care of yourself, and my cousin Marcel says you are very good wrestler too. I think if any ghosts attack you, and you fight back real hard, they will go away and find somebody easier to mess around with!"

"Well, I'll hope so, but I'm not so sure," said Cody with a dubious grin on his face.

"One thing I was just wondering about, Rafe?" he now asked.

"I saw on a lot of masks, and at the top of the menu at the Café d'Or, what looked like some kind of symbol. It was sort of an eight-pointed star, and inside it looked like it showed four bones connected by a chain. Is there any special significance to that?"

Cody didn't notice, just barely showing out below the sleeve of Rafe's own tight muscle Sapphire Seas Hotel t-shirt, two small points which could have been of the same symbol tattooed on Rafe's powerful bicep.

"Sure, my good friend Mr. Cody, that is the symbol of our Caribe Indian history from times gone by.

"The star represents the Caribe Indians who traveled east and west, north and south, as they originally spread hundreds of years ago over the lower Caribbean Sea islands. The chain represents the chains in which the Spaniards tried to enslave our ancestors, and the bones represent what happened to the Spaniards after we fought them to their death.

"That's why you see the same symbols on the masks at the Café, and which legend says the ghosts wear down at the ruins of the old Spanish fort even today!"

"That`s really something, Rafe. I'm going to remember that just in case I run into any ghosts tonight!"

As Cody walked away from the desk and headed toward his room, he didn't see Rafe's grinning look back at him.

As he planned, Cody went swimming that afternoon down at a beach not far from the hotel. It was real good, but still not quite the same as the beach yesterday when he swam and water-wrestled around with Buzz and Lex.

Then, after his swim and getting back to town, he checked out a couple of shops near the hotel and picked up a hand-carved wooden letter opener which he knew his grandmother would like and which could replace the old broken kitchen knife she presently used for that purpose.

Then he returned to the hotel to sack out for a while, followed by supper at the Café d'Or, which was just as good as the lunch he'd had there earlier. By the time he got back to the hotel it was about seven-thirty. By then, Chris was on duty and casually asked him, "And what might your plans be for this evening, Mr. Cody?"

To which Cody replied, with a grin on his face, "Well, with that brochure Rafe gave me when I arrived, and then talking with him too, I thought maybe I'd walk down to those ruins of the old Spanish fort and see how they looked in the dark and in the moonlight. I'm not sure about all those ghost stories, so maybe I'll need to check them out too!

"Jolly good, Mr. Cody, it's all only legends, of course, but if you do see any ghosts, I'm sure you'll be able to handle them well. At least we'll hope so, won't we?" was Chris' good humored reply in his casual English style and with a small smile on his face.

The brochure said the old Spanish fort ruins were about a mile and a half out of town, or probably about a half-hour's walk. The fort was situated right along the original trail which the Indians, and then the Spanish, French and English who followed them, had always used to travel up and down the island.

These days just about everyone traveled around the island on the roads by car and truck, but the old trail was still hard-packed and fairly clear even though it was now partially overgrown in many places.

The brochure said the old fort front wall, or what was left of it, was located right along the trail side and easy to find. Then the rest of the ruins, which the brochure said held the remains of the fort's various inner walls, towers, dark rooms and open courtyards, went back from the trail and extended to the hill which came down steeply behind the fort and which prevented it from being encircled by any attackers coming at it from the rear.

Cody figured he was good with all that. He noted the moon at present was about three quarters full, which would provide enough light to follow the trail and check out the ruins. It also looked like it was going to be a clear and warm night too, so he was good with that too.

He figured if he left the hotel around eight, he'd get to the ruins around eight-thirty, or just about dark. Then he'd have enough time to walk around and check out the ruins and maybe even see if there were any ghosts lurking around there. After that, if he felt like it, he could maybe walk farther on down the trail from there if it looked to be interesting, or walk back to town and maybe have another beer at the Café d'Or before it closed.

He had nothing else to do, and it looked like it was going to be a real nice evening and night, so that might make the whole evening real good.

As it turned out, it was even more interesting than he anticipated.

Part 2 1 3 4

As the night was warm and quiet, Cody wore only his tight black muscle t-shirt, camo shorts, his thin black nylon jock strap, and his track shoes for the trail walk.

The old trail started clear and wide at the edge of LesDeux, but within just a couple hundred yards it narrowed to where it was just wide enough for two people to pass, with the sides mostly closely enclosed by the dense jungle vegetation.

As a result, the trail was only dimly visible, although every once in a while the vegetation cleared away enough to let in the last of the sun's light, and then after that the moon provided just enough light to the trail as dusk fell into night.

He was the only person on the trail, and the jungle around him was silent except for the night sounds of the unseen nocturnal animals on the prowl for their food and prey. Cody liked it as it reminded him of when he went camping back home on weekends, when he liked the soft night sounds and dark mysteries of the forest surrounding him. He never had any fears or concerns about being out by himself at night, figuring he could take care of anything coming at him better than anything coming at him could get to him.

The trail curved back and forth, sometimes running close to the edge of the low cliff along the water and sometimes running deeper into the dense forest. As he walked along he began to lose track of the time or distance he was covering.

After a while, however, he thought he should probably be coming to the old ruins of the fort fairly soon. He recalled the brochure said the front and lower ruins of the old fort were right along the trail, so he knew he wouldn't miss it despite the dim light, which was now just barely enough to see by.

Then, coming over a small rise in the trail, he saw the outline of the old fort wall about a hundred paces ahead. It made a sharp outline in the dim light, and looked to be maybe twelve feet high and solidly built of old and weathered volcanic rock.

Ok,' he thought, this looks like it, and it looks like it's really going to be interesting!' With that thought, he picked up his pace a little just to get closer to it and see it in more detail, and whatever might be around or behind it.

What he saw as he got closer, however, was not quite what he expected.

As he approached the old wall, he found the surrounding vegetation thinned a little, which let in just a little more moonlight so he could see things just a little better, although everything was still and remained in deep shadows.

He could make out, however, what looked like a clump of vegetation on top of a section of the wall which ran back about eight or ten feet into the ground and rise behind it. As he got to within about fifty feet of the wall it looked like the vegetation moved just a little. He thought most likely some nocturnal animal was inside it feeding on some berries or something.

Suddenly, the "vegetation" rose up until it looked like it was six or seven feet high. Then it reached out what looked like huge "wings" which were about the same in spread, like a giant black bird or vulture, which stared down at him with a completely hideous face!

"Oh gawd,' thought Cody. He felt his heart alternating rapidly between "stopped" and "panic."

Then, frozen in his tracks and speechless, he watched the giant "bird" leap down off the wall, its wings wide and black with fringed edges. It landed on the trail directly in front of him, not more than forty feet away. For a moment it just crouched there looking at him, with him frozen in his spot and looking back at it.

Slowly the big bird began to approach him. Its wings flapped slowly and silently in the air as it moved, step by step and swaying back and forth, coming closer and closer to him.

Cody didn't know what to do. His first inclination was to run back, but he knew if he did that, the animal or bird or whatever it was would likely give chase after him until it caught him. Also, if he began to run away, he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on it to see what it would do next.

First it was about forty feet away, then it moved a few feet closer to him, stopped again, and then moved closer still. As it approached him, its heavy wings slowly flapped up and down, and its hideous head swayed back and forth and from side to side, just looking at him.

Damn' he thought. It's coming at me closer and closer, but not too fast, so what's it going to do?" The apparition was almost totally unreal, being part bird, but with a hideous almost human face. It looked like it had flown down from the wall like a bird, but then it moved forward partly upright and partly crouched like an animal. It remained totally silent, matching the silence of the dark and dense rain forest which surrounded them on all sides.

It didn't take Cody long to figure what it must be.

`It can't be, but it sure looks like maybe it's one of the ghosts Rafe talked about!

`But Rafe didn't tell me what to do if and when I might meet one! Should I run away from it, go up to it and try and touch it, count to ten and maybe make it disappear, or what? And if it attacks me, do I fight back or do I let it chew me up and suck all the blood out of me, or what?'

Poor Cody. Here he was, in the middle of the dark jungle rain forest all by himself, confronting a ghost or whatever it was, and wondering what was going to happen now and what should he do about it?

His instinct cut in quickly and told him the best thing would probably be, like when someone was facing a mean old dog or other wild animal, to look away and slowly back away from it until the danger was reduced, and he could then make his escape to safety.

With that in mind, he slowly took a glance behind him to be sure the trail was clear for his escape. Then his already racing heart began to race even faster.

Not more than fifteen feet behind him were two more ghostly apparitions!

Both were draped in black shrouds from their shoulders to the ground, with a rough white cord around their waists, like monks in a monastery. Instead of monk-like hoods over their heads, however, their heads were even more hideous to behold than the ghostly bird in front of him.

One of the monks looked to be almost seven feet tall, standing up straight, while the other was short and bent over, no more than five feet tall.

One monk's head was huge and misshapen, almost the size of a bushel basket, with glaring eyes and a mouth which looked like a vampire's with sharp pointed teeth and two enormous fangs. It looked like it could probably bite his whole head off with just one chomp.

The other "monk" was even more ugly, with a completely misshapen and pointed head, huge glaring eyes, with what looked like a green face, with dribbling saliva slowing running out of his mouth and down over his chin.

Oh gawd a' mighty, now what do I do?' thought Cody. These apparitions and ghosts are blocking me front and rear on the trail, and yet if I dive into the jungle on either side I'd quickly get disoriented and lost within ten seconds and ten feet, so that isn't any option either. And maybe there are even more ghosts in the jungle!'

Slowly the three horrible apparitions now began to come closer and closer to him until they were no more than ten feet away. Close enough so that they he could see them clearly, but not close enough yet for them to touch him, or for him to touch them either.

Everything was still silent, which seemed to make it even more eerie . He never thought to cry out or shout for help as that just wasn't in his nature. So, for another moment nothing else happened. As the seconds passed with all of them frozen in place, Cody felt his racing heart begin to slow just a little to a more normal rate, while he still wondered what he should do and what was going to happen next.

As all four just stood there staring at each other, but the ghosts not coming any closer for the moment, Cody's mind turned just a little more toward curiosity than fear.

Still, he knew something had to happen soon, and he wasn't long in finding out what it would be.

The next thing he knew suddenly six or eight powerfully built almost naked native Caribe Indian ghostly warriors came out from both sides of the trail, about half in front and the other half behind him. They then moved quickly to surround him and position themselves between the three first hideous ghosts and himself.

Man,' he thought, whatever else, these ghosts or warriors or whatever they are sure are built like real hunks!' In fact, apart from the hideous masks some of them wore too, none of them looked much different from some of the native men he'd already noticed around town and in the open gym near the Café d`Or.

Most of them were about his height or just a little less, around five-eight or nine, and every one of them was powerfully muscular with big solid pecs, big biceps, trim and solid abs, and thick football-player legs and thighs. All of them wore only loin cloths, which bulged out with all their full native male equipment inside, possibly preparing for battle as their dark bodies also glistened with oil in the dim moonlight of the scene.

Cody tried to look more closely at their faces, but they remained concealed, either hidden behind the grotesque masks they wore or decorated with all sorts of colored lines, circles and symbols which probably had all sorts of meanings, although Cody didn't know what they were or represented.

Their faces looked frightening but their masks looked even worse. One mask had huge ears, almost like jungle leaves, which drooped down to the warrior's shoulders. Another had a hideous face in front and then, when he turned around, had the identical hideous face on the back so it was hard to tell which way he was looking. And a third appeared to have no face at all, which was maybe worst, with a fine black mesh covering his entire head, which gave him no features at all.

As they surrounded and looked at him, they made low gurgling or moaning sounds which sounded like the wind going through the forest trees, or perhaps a wounded animal sinking slowly and fatally to its death in some jungle swamp.

Cody noticed that the ghostly warrior who had no face at all looked like he might be the leader of the group. He was maybe just a little shorter than Cody's own height, but had a body builder's solid and perfect physique, and might be about ten pounds heavier than Cody. In fact, he looked a lot like Marcel except on a smaller scale.

He was the warrior who had the black mesh covering his head, which gave him the appearance of being almost headless. Like the others, he too was nearly naked, with only a thin black loin cloth, which was really not much different from the thin black jock strap Cody was himself wearing. And the ghost's jock strap was bulging out not very differently from the bulge that was growing in Cody's own jock strap as the two muscular figures silently looked at each other.

Cody noticed that the black mesh of his mask was fastened to a jeweled and studded leather collar around his neck so that it could not be torn off. The only openings on the mesh were four small holes, circled in some kind of luminescent red paint, two holes for his eyes, another for his nose, and a larger one for his mouth and full dark waiting lips.

For a moment, all of the warriors stood around him glaring at him but saying nothing. Then one of the warriors, looking first at Cody and then at their leader in the black mesh mask, said the one word "Taino," which Cody took to be the leader's name. That was maybe, for Cody, the most unnerving part of the whole thing as it indicated they must have a plan as to what they were going to do with him.

Cody could see that if it came to a fight to make his escape, it would be about eight of them to just one of him. So it probably wouldn't be a good idea to take on all of them at once. However, he knew he sure wouldn't mind at all getting into it and wrestling around with one or two of them, particularly with their leader Taino, who sure looked to be the hunkiest ghost of them all.

Thinking about the possibility of wrestling around with Taino, it reminded him of wrestling around with Marcel just a couple of days ago. With that thought, and looking again at Taino, Cody felt his own big basket of junk begin to lengthen and harden in his black jock strap even more with just the thought of it.

Still the silence persisted and they all remained motionless as they faced each other.

Then one of the warriors turned around to face the shorter monk, standing behind him, from whom he took a black fine steel chain and three studded leather collars which the monk had been concealing under his robes. One collar appeared to be lavishly studded with some red, yellow and blue gemstones as well as well as some other ornate work. It was similar to the one Taino was wearing, while the other two collars were much plainer.

Oh, oh,' thought Cody, looks like I may be going somewhere as their prisoner.'

He was right. In the still and quiet darkness of the dense forest surrounding them, the chief of the warriors, with the black full head mask, if that's what he was, stepped forward easily, approached him even more closely, and then stepped closely behind him.

Cody could quickly feel the heat of his body as he came up to him, and felt his black and smoothly oiled muscled skin and pecs against his back.

Man,' thought Cody, If this is a ghost, he sure feels real good right against me! If this is the way I have to go, this is the way I want it to be!'

Taino then took the studded leather collar with the colored gemstones and wrapped it securely around Cody's neck. He tightened it just enough so that it would not come off, but not tight enough to choke him either.

After he had tightened Cody's collar, two other powerfully muscled warriors stepped forward and then the leader wrapped the other two plainer studded leather collars, which he had also taken from the monk, around their necks.

The lead warrior then took the black chain, which turned out to be actually two chains, each about six feet along, and proceeded to attach one end of each chain to the small loops on Cody's neck collar, and the other ends to each of the other warriors' collars.

Now Cody knew he couldn't escape even if he wanted to. However, he had at least some freedom of movement between the two almost naked warriors as he stood between them.

After Cody found himself chained to the two muscular warriors, the other monk, the big one, brought what looked like a finely tooled gold and silver metal helmet out from under his robe, and gave it to Taino, which he then placed squarely on Cody's head. Cody noticed that it had a soft leather strip inside to fit against his head so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for him to wear.

'The only thing,' thought Cody when he looked at it before it was placed on his head, 'was that it looked exactly like pictures he had seen of the Spanish conquistadores who wore the same helmet when they fought the Caribe Indians - who were their mortal enemies.'

`Oh, oh,' thought Cody, does this mean they are thinking of me as one of their Spanish enemies, and now they're going to sacrifice and kill me as part of their plan of vengeance against their hated Spanish conquerors?'

But still no one said anything. Cody wondered what they had in mind to do next?

What it was, was that the huge "bird" which he saw first, fold its wings in close to its body, start to walk off the trail and proceed along a small path leading up to a higher level behind the wall Cody first saw. Three warriors then followed him, or it, then came the warrior in front of Cody to whom he was chained, Cody, and the other warrior behind him. They were followed by the remaining warriors, including Taino, and finally the two monks, who brought up the rear of the procession.

Cody saw that they were following a steep and narrow path, sometimes of hard packed dirt, sometimes of weathered stone steps, which seemed to be climbing up through the ruins of the old fort. Then they reached a level which had a long wall on one side, and a parapet on the other. Now they were now at least thirty feet above the main trail, which was now out of sight somewhere below them in the gloom.

From there they climbed still further up until they reached another and bigger level area. With now no dense jungle trees surrounding them, and the moonlight giving just a little more visibility, Cody could see they were in some sort of grass and moss covered courtyard in the old fort. It was about thirty feet square and enclosed by rough and weathered high stone walls on two sides, a low wall no more than three feet high on a third side, and no wall at all on the fourth side, which overlooked another level below.

He also noticed leading off from the courtyard there were a couple of old stone arched doorways in one of the side walls. They looked as if they might lead off into some dungeon or ammunition room from its days of power.

As they entered the open courtyard, Cody saw the big bird and the two monks whom he'd first seen, go into the side dungeon and disappear, while the warriors who surrounded him and to whom he was chained, brought him to the center of the courtyard.

As he looked around, Cody now also saw what liked appeared to be maybe ten or fifteen more warriors, some older and some younger, but all nearly naked and powerfully muscled and with their black skins glistening with oil. Not all of them were wearing masks, however, and they were standing or sitting on the walls and parapets looking down on him like spectators in an arena coming to watch a fight - or maybe an execution?

Great,' thought Cody. At least all these ghosts, or whatever they are, haven't killed me or eaten me alive yet, although things don't look too good either.'

But despite his apprehensions, he just wasn't the worrying type either, and figured the best thing would be to just go along with whatever was happening, and save as much of his energy as he could for whatever would happen next. Then he'd take it from there.

Suddenly he heard a noise coming from where the dungeon might be. It sounded like the muffled sound of a native jungle drum and the rhythmic knocking of two pieces of wood. Two nearly naked warriors, one with the drum and the other with two hollow wood pieces which he was beating together, slowly came out of the dungeon, approached him, and then circled him twice before stopping in front of him, about ten paces away.

There now seemed to be a growing tension in the air. It was if he were being prepared for something, but he didn't know what. In the back of his mind, he sort of hoped it might be physical, as he'd be able to handle that better than if they were trying to psych him out some way. And if it were some trial by combat with any of these hunky warriors around him, particularly that Taino leader, that might not be bad at all, win or lose.

That possibility seemed even greater when he saw two of the warriors step forward until one warrior stood right in front of him and the other right behind him. They then began to strip off his tight muscle t-shirt, camo shorts and shoes, leaving him only the small black nylon jock strap he was wearing over his deeply tanned muscular body. Then they removed his jock strap and the Spanish conquistador helmet they had previously put on his head, leaving him completely naked except for the studded gemstone collar he was still wearing.

Standing naked, looking at the powerfully muscular ghostly natives surrounding him, and the thought that it looked like he would soon be wrestling with one or more of them, he got to feeling more and more aroused. And while his big rod didn't yet stick out directly in front of him, it was already getting long and hard in anticipation of the fight to come. Looking at the similarly bulging loin cloths of many of the warriors, it looked like they were maybe thinking the same thing.

Both warriors who had disrobed him were also carrying small native jugs filled with some kind of aromatic jungle oil. They dipped their hands into the oil and first began to rub it over his head and face. Then they went down over his muscled pecs and abs and over his muscled back. From there they went down further and rubbed still more oil thoroughly all around his crotch, massaging and rubbing it in particular all around his now long and hardening cock, and massaging with oil all over and around his equally swollen balls.

For a moment he felt it all so sensual that he thought he was going to shoot his full load of hot cum right there. Fortunately, however, then they went down and rubbed still more oil over his thick and muscular thighs all the way down to his bare feet.

They oiled him slowly, but that only gave Cody a chance remember when his grandmother used to prepare her Thanksgiving turkey and get it all prepared before she put it into the oven to cook for them to later eat. He wondered if maybe this was what the warriors had in mind for him now?

On one hand, he broke out into a small grin at the thought of the sensual pleasure he was getting from their slow oiling massage of him. But then it didn't seem so funny anyway when he remembered he was completely under their control and couldn't do anything about it if they intended to cook him alive. Although being eaten by some of them didn't seem like such a bad idea either.

Whatever they had in mind for him, he knew their sensual oiling of him felt real good - at least so far.

After the two warriors slowly oiled him from head to toe, they then came back to spread still more oil over his solid pecs, now squeezing them lightly as they did, and then they went over his whole crotch area again, once again rubbing their hands back and forth squeezing his now totally long and hard big rod still sticking straight out from his body, while he felt himself getting even more aroused.

Cody was almost in agony, it felt so good, even if their intention was to cook him alive and eat him up completely right there.

At the same time that the warriors were oiling him down, he was able to watch the powerful leader of the warriors, Taino, being similarly stripped naked, except for his totally faceless head mask and gem studded collar, and oiled down by two other warriors. And with that, Cody could see that he too was getting just as aroused as he was himself.

It looked like, in fact, they were both being set up to wrestle each other on the soft grass of the courtyard. And, with both now almost completely naked and oiled and fully sexually aroused, Cody saw that, if nothing else, it would be a big cockfight between the two no matter what else they did. Cody knew he'd like that, and by the looks of Taino, he thought Taino would like that too.

The courtyard itself was now dark except for the moonlight shining down from the star-studded night sky overhead, and the torches which had been lit on the walls surrounding the courtyard. It looked even more like the powerfully built warriors, some of them masked and others not, and the other natives taking their places on the walls and parapets surrounding the courtyard, were there to witness whatever action might come next.

Man,' thought Cody, I've always liked to wrestle oiled and naked, and if that's what they have in mind for me now, particularly with that Taino leader hunk, that's sure ok with me.

Then his mind came back to the possibility that they were preparing to cook him alive and then eat him. `Of course, if maybe that's only cooking oil they're using, and all this is just to set me up to cook me alive, then maybe that's not such a good idea anyway.

`Seems to me I recall those Spanish Inquisition people used to burn their enemies alive, which maybe they did to some of their Caribe Indian enemies too. If that was so, I wonder if that's what these Caribe Indian ghosts are planning to do with me now instead by way of revenge?'

He still figured, however, with all of them and no plan of his own, all he could do was now wait and see what would happen next.

As he thought about what had happened so far, and what might happen next, it was hard for him to realize that actually this whole thing, from when the big voodoo bird first leaped down in front of him, to the present, hadn't really been more than fifteen or twenty minutes as the whole thing had moved along pretty quickly.

Well, the night was still young, the air was warm and still, and it sure looked like it wasn't over yet, or maybe it hadn't yet even hardly begun?

He didn't have long to wonder what would happen next. The warriors oiling him had completed their job and now returned to the other powerful warriors circled around him. All of their dark and almost naked muscular native skins also glistened with oil, with their masked heads and faces facing him.

And in their center, in front of him and now facing Cody not ten feet away, was the most muscular and powerfully built one of all of them, their leader, Taino, also oiled and naked and wearing nothing but his studded gemstone collar, similar to Cody's, and the black mesh mask which concealed all of his features making him look almost eerily headless.

For both of them, their powerfully muscular bodies waiting to battle each other, their manhood now hard and jutting straight out from their bodies ready to give and take all the punishment that the rest of their bodies would soon feel for what both knew would be an `anything goes' 'no holds barred' wrestling match between the two, just like it was between the original Caribe Indian and the Spanish conquistador soldier more than three centuries ago.

Who knew how long their fight would last, and who knew what the outcome would finally be? Cody surely didn't know, but he knew he would give it all he had anyway.

Actually, for some reason, he now didn't mind at all what it looked like he was about to get into. So far, in the back of his mind, he realized they hadn't really done anything to him yet except try to frighten him, and that only worked for the first few minutes down on the trail with their surprise of the whole thing.

And then ever since he first saw the exceedingly muscular and hunky leader of all the hunky warriors, the man or ghost they were calling `Taino,' Cody knew he sure wouldn't mind wrestling around with him if he ever got a chance. Which now looked like it was actually about to happen.

Also by now he had gradually come to figure out that the warriors, at least below their masks, were actually only real live native men, and very hunky studs at that. So if he could just make it through whatever happened next, he might come out of the whole thing ok anyway.

At least that was what he hoped.

So far, as it looked like he was indeed about to fight Taino, nothing had been said about any rules. Cody recalled that the original fight between the single Caribe Indian and the single Spanish Conquistador soldier was also a fight without rules, and eventually the decision would go to whichever wrestler would ultimately conquer the other.

Cody recalled that it was the Caribe Indian who had conquered the Spanish conquistador. Well, if that meant he was going to be conquered by the very hunky Taino, he knew he really wouldn't mind that at all.

He could now only do his best to fight it out with the warrior they called Taino, and wait to see how it would eventually come out.

Part 3 1 2 4

Cody found himself now surrounded by more than twenty Caribe Indian ghosts in and around the courtyard of the old Spanish fort ruins. It was night, and only the moon and the flaming torches surrounding the courtyard provided any light to see what was happening. The tropical air surrounding them was warm and still. Cody wasn't quite sure what the ghosts and live warriors with their hideous masks surrounding him and Taino were thinking and might do, but he saw all of their eyes trained threateningly on him.

Cody stood in the middle of the circle they, including Taino, made around him, their powerfully dark almost naked native bodies glistening with oil. His own powerfully muscled and deeply tanned body, also glistening with oil, faced them back.

As if at a silent signal, all of the warriors slowly dropped to the ground, with some sitting cross legged, others kneeling, and some lying on the soft grass with their muscled legs stretching out either in front of or behind them to watch whatever would happen next.

Facing him was the warrior they called Taino with his powerfully muscular, oiled and naked body ready to wrestle him, but with his features still totally hidden under his black full head mask, with only it's three red-circled openings for his eyes, nose and mouth. It would be like wrestling with a masked and headless ghost, but Cody was very much liking the idea of wrestling with him, however it would come out.

Now Taino stepped forward, while Cody waited to see what he would do next.

As he came to within two feet of Cody, Taino slowly reached out and placed his strong hand firmly on Cody's shoulder and began to squeeze it. Cody had to admit to himself that that first contact felt real good, for sure, while he tensed his own muscled body, but otherwise didn't make any move in return.

Then Taino moved in closer, and crouching slightly like a tiger about to jump on his prey, he moved his hand to the back of Cody's neck and began to squeeze his neck instead.

It was just like, Cody knew, a wrestler's beginning position and he almost automatically took the same position and hold back on Taino.

Cody liked the feel of Taino's strong hand on the back of his neck, and his own just as strong hand on the back of Taino's neck, and now he couldn't resist trying to pull Taino down to the soft grass under them. For a moment, Taino resisted him, but then slowly dropped down first to just his knees, and then all the way to both his hands and his knees.

As soon as Taino dropped down to all fours, Cody dropped down to his own hands and knees beside him and dropped his muscled chest on Taino's equally muscled back, from which he tried to roll Taino over on to his back.

Taino resisted Cody on that move, and instead not only spread his big legs apart to give him some resistant leverage, but reached his hand closest to Cody to grab his naked and exposed male equipment, hanging low and hard rod like a horse going into stud, to roll Cody over instead.

It was nothing for Cody to resist, even though Taino had a good hold on his big tool. Instead, Cody just moved one of his arms and hands over Taino's back and between Taino's own legs and thick thighs to grab his own equally big and exposed man-sword hanging down between his own thick and powerful legs.

Now they'd each gotten a good hold on the other's big rod, both of them already long and hard and aroused from the earlier oiled massaging of them by the two warriors assigned to them. At the same time, Cody still kept his upper body dropped heavily on Taino's back to keep him in place. Neither minded at all the other's tight cock-hold the other had on him, knowing it was just an ordinary "anything goes" wrestling move.

In their first moves, Cody was also just finding out how Taino liked to wrestle. He knew every culture and wrestler had his own traditions and personal likes, just like the Turks, Greeks and Africans, and just like all the home styles of collegiate, pro, gay and private wrestlers back home.

Cody knew he liked the gay 'anything goes' wrestling style, so long as there was no injury which lasted after the match was over. Beyond that, everything was ok with him. He had the feeling that most likely the Caribe Indian style might be similar, `anything goes,' although maybe originally it was more brutal. Cody hoped it might be just a tad more moderate these days. But all he could do was wait and see how his match with Taino might turn out.

He did recall Rafe had told him earlier that legend had it that the original match between the individual Caribe Indian and the Spanish soldier, which he and Taino were apparently reenacting now, lasted all night long until even all the spectators had all fallen asleep. Then the two wrestlers themselves were found the following morning, still pretty much evenly locked together and themselves asleep. The matter was decided only when it was found the Caribe Indian was on top of the Spanish soldier, so he was declared the victor and the fort went under the control of the Caribe Indians.

As a result of that, Cody wondered if his match with Taino now might also go much the same way, with him being pretty evenly matched with Taino and their both liking to wrestle around getting into and out of a lot of different holds and moves, but with a lot of motionless deadlocks too, until who knew how it would turn out. but would Taino overcome him in the end?

Right now, each had seized the other's big tool and was squeezing it increasingly hard to see which might let go first. Neither had any problem with it, however, both giving and taking all the pressure they could, and so their first deadlock lasted a long time.

It was only when Taino lost his hold on Cody's junk due to the slipperiness of the oil which covered both of their naked bodies, and then Cody lost his own hold on Taino's big rod as well, that they went on to something else.

Being on top of Taino, however, Cody was able to follow up more quickly by getting on Taino's back and wrapping his muscular legs around his waist and his hands around Taino's big chest to grab hold of his big and thickly muscled pecs. Then he, Cody, leaned all the way back, pulling Taino back with him, until he had Taino in a tight body scissors from the rear, his own back on the soft grass beneath them.

From there, to increase his hold and punishment on Taino, he began to smash his heels into Taino's crotch and against his now long and hard cock and thick and bulging balls.

Mmmmm, yeah,' said Cody to himself, This sure does feel good, and I expect Taino isn't minding it too much either. And this'll signal him that I don't mind being treated the same way if and when he does the same thing back to me.'

Taino didn't have any trouble with the punishment Cody was giving him at all, just like Cody suspected. Nevertheless, after taking some long minutes of punishment from Cody, in their oiled slipperiness, Taino slowly began to slip down and part way out of Cody's scissors on him.

Cody felt him slipping away and tried to pull him back just by pulling on Taino's big pecs alone, but Taino was willing to take that punishment for what he had in mind to do next himself.

That was, after he'd gone down far enough, he managed to twist around within their oiled slipperiness until, while still caught in Cody's powerful leg scissors on him around his waist, he was able to get partially to his feet to face Cody directly.

Then, bringing up his powerfully strong hands, he began to reach down slowly until he reached Cody's throat as if to choke him to death. Looking up at Taino, whose whole head was still enshrouded in his black mesh mask, with only the small holes for his eyes, nose and mouth showing, he couldn't see what, if any, expression Taino might have on his face.

From Cody's point of view, he was wrestling only a ghostly and masked warrior, with no real idea yet of what was to come. Maybe he was only being worn down until he got too weak to resist any more, and then they'd fry him in all that oil anyway.

The only thing Cody really noticed, for the first time, was that the studded leather collar around Taino's neck, with its colorful gemstones, exactly matched his own, as if they were to be considered equal opponents in the match, just like the legendary Caribe Indian and Spanish conquistador soldier who represented their respective sides in their desperate fight to overcome each other centuries ago.

The only thing he did see on Taino, despite the pale moonlight which gave little light, was that on his powerfully muscled right arm just above the top of his big bicep, was a dark tattoo which hardly contrasted with the darkness of his skin. The tattoo was identical to the symbols he had seen on the masks and shields on the walls of the Café d'Or.

That was the eight-pointed star, four bones within the star, and those bones connected by chains, which Rafe had described to him after he had noticed it repeatedly at the Café d'Or. Rafe had said that was the symbol of the Caribe Indians on the island.

Cody felt Taino's powerful hands grab around his throat as if to threaten to choke him to death. But he figured he'd take his chances on that for a little while, and wasn't intimidated by Taino's move against him. Instead, he kept his own tight and crushing holds on Taino's big thick and muscled pecs, coming down on top of him, to squeeze them even more.

Taino, seeing he wasn't having any success threatening to choke Cody to death, slowly pulled his hands back from Cody's throat and then instead grabbed both of Cody's own big pecs in his fists, to squeeze and crush them as Cody was doing to him.

Again, Cody couldn't see Taino's reaction, but he knew Taino could see his own reaction of a combined grimace of pain and yet a grin as Cody was feeling, and liking, the pressure Taino was putting on him. Cody could only hope Taino was feeling it the same way.

For another set of long minutes, both gave and took the same pec punishment on each other until Taino figured he wasn't having any more effect on Cody by squeezing his pecs than he had crushing all of his male equipment earlier.

As a result, and still feeling the tightness of Cody's own powerful body scissors on him to keep him in place too, Taino slide down further in Cody's scissors on him until only his head was caught in the scissors. That then left him facing into Cody's big, long and hard naked and oil-covered cock and thick balls, now only a couple of inches from his face.

With that, Cody then used his two hands, after he'd lost his grip on Taino's big pecs, to reach out and pull Taino's head in closer and closer into his crotch until he was able to Taino's whole head and face right into and against all of his wet and oiled equipment to blind and suffocate Taino in it.

Yeah, man,' thought Cody, with a grin on his face, Get a good look at it, Taino, until I make you eat it!' He knew he liked to find himself in the same predicament, however, when another guy got him in the same hold and position, and he figured, with his build and what they were now beginning to do to each other, it wasn't a first for Taino either.

While Cody was focused on pulling on the back of Taino's head to pull it tighter and tighter into his crotch, he didn't notice that Taino had shifted his head slightly even while it was still pressed suffocatingly hard into Cody's crotch.

Nor did he notice it when Taino then opened his mouth, and sucked both of Cody's big and solid ball orbs through his mask deep into his mouth. Only when Taino had wrapped his lips around the neck of his balls so that Cody couldn't pull them back out did Cody notice that Taino had now trapped him with his own return move.

Oh man,' thought Cody, he's got my balls just as much as I've got his head!'

Cody knew what it was like to find his balls suddenly in the other guy's mouth, or the other guy's balls in his own mouth, as he'd gotten into the same predicament before when wrestling around with other guys. He expected Taino was just as familiar with it, and liking it just as he did too, so neither had any trouble with their new predicament now either.

For two or three long minutes they remained deadlocked, Cody unable to move with his balls caught in Taino's mouth, and Taino unwilling to let them go despite his still being almost suffocated with his whole head and face buried deep in Cody's hot wet crotch pressed against Cody's big and naked cock and balls, where Cody was holding him in so that he, Taino, couldn't pull back and take Cody's balls with him.

As Cody and Taino were focused totally on each other and the critical situation they were both in, they remained unaware that the other masked and powerfully muscular warriors surrounding them had gradually edged closer and closer and reduced the size of the circle around them. The moon, meanwhile, had risen a few more degrees and still provided the only light, along with the torches blazing on the old fort walls, for them to see the action taking place in front of them.

With Taino sucking on his balls, Cody felt his big tool get even more stimulated and knew it provided another target for Taino if he chose to make the move. Which he did.

Slowly Taino began to release his mouth-hold on Cody's solid globes as Cody felt Taino's tongue circle and massage them a couple of final times before letting them go entirely. But then even as he did that, Taino then reached around and seized Cody's big rod in his fist as if he were going to grab a spear which he was going to throw at an enemy in the jungle.

Except that Cody was attached to that "spear" and couldn't see it in quite the same way as maybe Taino was thinking.

With Taino still caught in Cody's powerful head scissors, facing down and trying to get a better hold on Cody's oil-slippery rod, he tried to roll both of them over so that he would be underneath Cody, but on his back, with Cody trapped on top of him and Taino still holding his big rod tightly in his fist and threatening to break if off if Cody didn't go along with the move.

It wasn't any surprise to Cody, however, as he'd been trapped and caught in that same predicament before, give and take, and guessed what Taino had in mind.

So, disregarding that the powerful muscular and still masked Taino was holding his big rod and threatening to rip it right off his body, he decided to ignore that, knowing his big handle was actually attached to his body pretty tight, and moved up so that, with Taino underneath him, he was able to position his solidly muscled and naked butt directly over Taino's face. Then he sat down sit down fully on Taino's face to blind and suffocate him another way.

Cody knew it felt sort of odd to be sitting on the other guy's face when he still had never seen it, but Taino's mask was fixed so tightly to his gem- studded leather collar that there was no real chance of ripping it off to see what he looked like underneath it.

Nevertheless, he could still feel Taino's nose, eyes and mouth slowly sink into the deep dark canyon of his wet, oiled and naked butt. He knew it felt good to him, and when he felt Taino's tongue come out to rim around his butt hole, he guessed Taino wasn't having too much trouble with it either.

Taino did try to bridge and flip out of his predicament but he was unsuccessful the first couple of times. And then the third time he tried flip out, Cody grabbed both of his powerfully thick legs and ankles to pull them back so that now he folded Taino's back until he was just about upside down, held down by Cody's still sitting on his face, but now with his big legs and feet pointing high up in the air and useless to get any leverage by.

Cody held Taino's that way for only a minute or two as he knew the strain that hold was putting on Taino, and soon began to let his legs down again as he didn't want to overdo it.

Which was a good idea. Up until now, the powerfully muscular Taino, who Cody figured was not only a really great body-builder, but was also a very good wrestler, but at least so far had remained pretty much on the receiving end of Cody's punishment. Which Cody realized too.

Cody figured it was likely Taino would be able to give him a harder time back sooner or later, while at the start he was pretty much letting Cody take the lead until he got more of his own confidence, considering the strange setting he was in. Cody just hoped that when the time came, Taino wouldn't be too much harder on him.

And then there was the question of what all the powerfully built masked warriors surrounding them might still have in mind for him too.

`Well,' thought Cody, 'One thing at a time, and I'm thinking I'm liking what Taino here, masked and whoever he is, is doing, so we'll just keep doing it and see what happens next.

Which wasn't long in coming, although it came on only gradually.

After Cody let Taino down, he paused just a moment to let him get reoriented, which Cody knew he always needed to do too if he was held upside down or locked in some predicament which tended to disorient him.

As soon as Taino recovered, however, still with his back on the soft grass beneath them, Cody quickly got back on him in a full body press, head to toe. And then from there he got Taino in a real good and solid figure- four head scissors before he could escape it.

But then Taino came back just as quickly to flip up his own powerfully muscular body-builder's legs and got an identical figure-four head scissors back on Cody. Now both of their heads were trapped tightly between the other's muscular thighs, cutting off all sound and light to both of them, and with the other's naked, wet and oily big rods and bulging balls pressed tight against their faces.

In addition to their double figure-four head scissors on each other, they'd gone even further, aimed just right, and also stabbed their big rods deep down into the other's mouth and throat to choke him on it as well.

Pretty evenly matched, Cody and Taino then felt themselves rolling blindly back and forth over the soft grass, with first one on top and then the other. A couple of times they rolled right into the outstretched feet of one or another of the warriors sitting in the close circle around them, who then pushed them back into the center of the ring with his bare foo to continue their battle with each other.

As the long battle of the two powerfully muscular, oiled and naked wrestlers went on in the moonlit dark courtyard of the old fort, they got into a lot of other holds, and positions and predicaments as well, with a lot of deadlocks and long periods of being almost motionless.

They were not only fairly evenly matched in weight, but it was obvious to the nearly naked and powerfully built warriors who surrounded them that Cody and Taino were also liking very much the sensual holds they were getting into and deadlocked time after time, and both were wanting to stretch the whole thing out as long as they could.

By now, their wrestling match had gone on for well over half an hour as they fought back and forth, give and take. It seemed every time one got a particular hold on the other, it wasn't long before the situation was reversed, and then they could give and take the same holds on each other even more.

Sometimes they got to their feet and wrestled standing up or on their knees, but then it wasn't long before both were locked together once again on the soft grass of the courtyard to continue their struggle.

And as they struggled back and forth, they were also both aware that it was becoming more a sensual and erotic battle all the time.

After they had been standing with their heads almost locked together, they dropped once again to the grass, this time with Cody on top, getting another full body press, this time head to head, on Taino. Then, to increase his body press and pressure on Taino, he dropped his head down until his face too was pressed tightly against Taino's masked face. From there, it wasn't long before their tongues found each other's mouth, so that they could tongue-wrestle each other even while the rest of their bodies remained deadlocked and motionless.

Cody was only dimly aware that by now they had already been wrestling back and forth for a good while, although he didn't know how long. Making their match last as long as possible, however, meant not only was he getting all the considerable and very sensual pleasure he was getting wrestling with this extremely hunky, black, oiled and masked warrior, but it was also postponing as long as possible whatever might happen after it was all over.

Maybe in some final move Taino would find some way to wipe him out, as he and his other masked and powerfully built warriors would so easily be able to do. But in the meantime, he was sure liking what Taino and he were doing with and to each other.

He had the feeling, however, that Taino was liking their wrestling around just as much as he was, and he was wanting to make the match last as long as possible too.

They continued to exchange and reverse a great many more different holds and predicaments as if to see which could enjoy their punishment of each other and themselves more. Cody was finding that Taino, as a native island wrestler, also got them into some holds and predicament which he liked even though he hadn't gotten into them before.

Now they had been wrestling back and forth for almost an hour, and Cody had fully gained confidence in Taino that at least he wasn't going to be beaten by Taino too badly. Or at least he hoped so.

And their match continued, just as it must have centuries ago between the single Caribe Indian warrior and the single Spanish conquistadore solider.

This time Cody was on his back with Taino standing at his feet. Then Taino picked up both of Cody's legs by his ankles so that only the top of his back and neck were on the grass under him. From there, Taino raised one of his big muscled legs and slowly but firmly jammed his bare foot into Cody's naked and exposed crotch, thereby just about crushing all of Cody's big and swollen basket under his foot and against Cody's crotch bones.

Man,' thought Cody, He's sure got me here,' being both pained by it but also liking the special punishment Taino was giving him. It felt real good, and it was only when Cody was able to struggle free of Taino's foot in his crotch and then grab Taino's ankle and pull him off balance and down to the grass as well, that Cody at the same time got to his feet, pulled up both of Taino's own legs, and now jammed his own bare foot into Taino's own naked and exposed crotch to even the score.

Cody liked that, and he expected Taino did too. Later on, when both were momentarily sitting on the soft grass closely facing each other, their muscled legs overlapping, that they got a similar hold on each other simultaneously when both seized one of the other's ankles and began to pull him in while, while with his free foot, he once again jammed it into the other's crotch to push him away. Cody grinned at Taino as he was jamming his bare foot into Taino's naked crotch, crushing his cock and balls, and, although he couldn't see Taino's expression under his mask, thought Taino's reaction was probably the same as Cody at the same time felt Taino's bare foot crushing against his own cock and balls.

Another deadlocked predicament they got into and held for a long time, was when Taino was on his back on the grass, and Cody came down on top of him, head to toe, and got a solid mid-body leg scissors on him. But then Taino just as quickly reacted and got the same mid-body leg scissors on him. For long minutes they stayed locked together, like two dogs in heat, rolling back and forth over the grass, with neither wanting to be the first to let the other go.

But of all their holds, both Cody and Taino maybe liked best and repeatedly returned to, was to get the other in a powerful head scissors whenever he could, and neither ever had any problem with it when he was caught in a tight head scissors by the other.

Cody, with his thick and muscular legs and thighs always liked to get a solid and tight hold on Taino's head, and Taino, with his even thicker legs and thighs, liked just as much to get the same tight hold around Cody's head.

Cody knew one of his favorite holds and predicaments always was to get caught in another guy's head scissors on him, forcing him to try and either pull out, or bridge or flip out. And, until he was able to free himself, or the other man let him go, he always liked the feel of the other man's legs rightly wrapped around his head.

Sometimes he didn't even try to escape until eventually he knew he'd have to sooner or later. He got the feeling that Taino liked to get caught in a head scissors too and be forced to try to escape, or just remain caught in his predicament while struggling to get free, for long periods too.

Another favorite hold of both, again involving their heads which in turn always governed so much of what they were feeling, were the headlocks they liked to get on each other. The headlocks weren't so much to twist the other's head unnaturally and cause them any neck injuries, although both had very strong necks indeed, but to pull his head in to their chests to immobilize him, and at the same time pull the other's face in tighter and tighter against their own bulging and muscled pecs. Or, if one was lying in a full body press on the other, face to face, the top man would shift until he positioned his thick and muscular pec and nipple directly over the other's mouth

And then from there, with either hold, try to stuff their own big pecs in the other's mouth until they couldn't stuff it in any further, while choking the other on it as much as he could.

For Cody, when Taino was on top of him in a full body press or tight headlock, and Taino was trying to stuff his big solidly muscular mahogany pec deep into his mouth, Cody felt like it was taking a huge piece of sirloin steak, all hot, oiled and wet, in his mouth, and being forced to suck on it as long as Taino held him down and into it.

But that was ok with him, and he figured it was no less agreeable to Taino when he later reversed their positions and managed to stuff his own big pec deep inside Taino's mouth inside his mask.

With all of their wrestling back and forth, Cody had gotten so used to wrestling the "headless" Taino that he just about forgot that he had still never seen Taino's face under his mask. So eventually he just pretty much forgot that and figured he was still wrestling some kind of "ghost warrior," and who knew how it would all end?

Soon, however, after now more than an hour of wrestling Taino back and forth on the soft grass, with the powerfully built masked Caribe ghost wrestlers still watching the action closely from the sides, Cody began to realize that it was going to have to come to an end soon, one way or another.

Of all their holds and deadlocks and torture of each other, they had increasingly made it more and more of a big sensual and erotic cockfight between the two, with both getting more and more sexually aroused as their big rods and thick balls, naked and exposed, were taking and giving more and more punishment all the time.

Cody knew he very soon wouldn't be able to go on any longer, and would then have to, ready or not, shoot the full load of all the hot white cum which had so long been accumulating in his body during all of his long match with Taino. He had the feeling Taino wasn't far from coming and shooting his load either.

The question was, when and how would he be forced to shoot his big hot load of cum, now waiting impatiently to explode out of his muscled body, and then what would happen after that?

Part 4 1 2 3

Cody and Taino had been wrestling each other, oiled and naked, in the moonlit darkness on the grass of the courtyard of the old Spanish fort for more than an hour. As the other masked warriors sat in a circle around them, their wrestling had become so erotic and sensual that Cody knew he had become so sexually aroused that very soon he wouldn't be able to hold back any longer all the hot white cum which had been accumulating in his man sac during all of their long match.

He sensed that Taino must be feeling the same way, although he wasn't sure. He was right, however, and Taino was about to come too.

Now he had only seconds left before he'd have to shoot his big load. Taino was once again on his back on the soft grass where Cody, who had just rammed his head once again between Taino's massive muscular legs and thighs. From there, he had just picked Taino up by the back of his neck, and slid him down off his back to the soft grass below.

Before Taino could recover, or maybe Taino could have recovered more quickly but chose not to in order to see what Cody had in mind for him next, Cody got him in another full head-to-toe body press.

And then from there, one final time, he managed once again to stab his steel man sword deep down into Taino's mouth and throat.

After it went in, he could feel Rafe's tongue almost immediately begin to swirl around his now almost bursting heart-shaped cock head to stimulate it even further until Cody could hold himself back no longer.

Suddenly, he felt all of the hot white cum in his body race through his big and bursting man-sac to explode and pulse out into Taino's waiting mouth and throat. On and on it flooded out, and only after what seemed like long minutes did it finally ebb and then cease. And with the total outflow of all the hot creamy cum in his body, Cody felt all of his remaining energy, after his long battle with Taino too, being exhausted too and now all he could do was roll over on his back on the damp grass and be at Taino's mercy.

He couldn't resist, therefore, when Taino jumped on top of Cody one final time in return, got Cody in the same full body press which Cody had just taken on him. With that, Taino's solid and muscular mahogany body-builder's body, all oiled, wet and hot, captured Cody completely in the same and final figure-four head scissors hold.

He then stabbed his own enormously thick, wet and hard man-spear deep down into Cody's own mouth until he couldn't stab it in any further, while at the same time his big globes pressed hard against Cody's face, one big ball jammed against each of Cody's eyes to blind him completely.

By now, however, Cody had recovered just sufficiently to feel he'd gone to heaven with what Taino was doing to him, And even more so when he suddenly felt and then tasted all of Taino's huge load of hot, wet and tangy cum explode out of his bursting cock and flood deep into his own mouth and throat. It was just the same as when he'd just a few seconds before given all of his own hot cum to Taino.

And, like Cody, Taino's huge load of man-juice continued to flood and pulse out until he too was completely drained and exhausted.

For the next moment or two, the two of them just lay there in a heap, with Taino exhausted but still on top of Cody.

Cody, beginning to recover, began to remember what Rafe had told him earlier. That was when he was describing the legend which told of the almost night-long fight between the Caribe Indian and the Spanish soldier. That fight had only been decided the following morning when both fighters were discovered, fast asleep, but with the Caribe Indian lying on top of the Spaniard, and that he was therefore considered the winner, with the fort then going to the Caribe Indians.

`Man,' thought Cody, 'Looks like the Caribe Indians have done it again, or at least their ghosts have, 'cause here I am with Taino on top of me and it looks like our fight has ended with him the winner. Which sure is ok with me, as I got everything out of it that I possibly could.'

As that thought came to Cody's mind, he quickly became aware that all of the masked Caribe Indian warriors who had been surrounding them during their long match now suddenly gotten up and began to circle around them wildly in a victory dance!

For the first few seconds, neither Taino, nor Cody under him, moved. But then both slowly got up as they soon began to recover from their exhaustion.

And then with that, with both of them now back on their feet, Taino turned around to face Cody, grabbed his wrist and raised it high in the air, just like the way a champion prize fighter is recognized for a win.

Cody, however, knowing and gladly acknowledging that Taino was the real winner, loosened Taino's hold on his wrist, and then grabbed Taino's wrist instead to raise it even higher to declare him the real winner.

Cody still couldn't see what expression Taino might have on his face at that moment as his whole head still remained hidden by the full black mesh mask he continued to wear. Cody just hoped he was doing the right thing.

But then, after the moment of victory and as the end of the match had come, Cody couldn't help but ask himself `I wonder what's going to happen now - do they let me go or, Taino having beaten me, do I go into some big cooking pot for them to eat me up anyway?

Cody just didn't know what to think. But then, as he stood next to Taino waiting for him and the powerful masked warriors dancing around them to make the next move, two of the warriors came up to him carrying his previously removed jock strap, t-shirt, camo shorts and track shoes, which they helped him put back on again. They let him continue to wear, however, his colorfully gem-studded collar, which was the only thing he had worn during his long oiled and naked wrestling match with Taino.

At the same time, two other warriors came up to Taino with a colorful full robe and jacket, such as an Indian warrior chieftan would wear, and Taino was re-dressed as well.

From there, all of the masked warriors surrounding them then suddenly broke into two groups, with half of them standing in front of Cody and the other half behind him. Then one of the warriors, who looked to be the biggest and tallest and had maybe the most hideous mask of all, took Cody's hand and placed him between the two groups.

'Oh, oh,' thought Cody, 'I wonder if we're now going to the prisoner's cooking pot from here, and I'm dead meat?'

Then three drum beaters appeared from somewhere, as did three wood knockers, and slowly, the big Indian indicated that Cody was to march between them as they all proceeded in a single file toward the path they had previously come up on, and which would now lead them back down through the ruins of the old fort to the main trail.

Once, when he turned around to see who was behind him, he saw the powerfully muscled figure of Taino, still masked and in his colorful victor's robes, bringing up the rear of the entourage.

'Yeah,' thought Cody, 'thinking back to his match just ended with Taino, that sure was good - and I wouldn't mind some more of it any time I could!'

Cody still didn't know exactly what was going on nor what else to do, and still wondered if maybe they were still leading him to some grand festive area where they would have a grand victory dinner and maybe put him in some great big cooking pot and that he would be their main dinner entrée.

Fortunately, that didn't seem to be happening yet as they continued to carefully descend the narrow path illuminated only with the limited light of the now setting moon, until close to the end Cody saw that they were once again approaching the main trail.

As they reached the bottom, where the path led closely along the ruined bottom wall of the fort, Cody saw the figures of the two monks he'd seen at the start, and beyond them, the huge and looming figure of the big bird which had originally jumped down from the wall to frighten him at the start of the whole proceedings.

Then he and his masked warrior escort passed the two monks and the big bird and regained the main trail. But still there was no way to tell what they might have in mind for him now.

And then the whole procession stopped and, one by one, every one of the powerful warriors, some masked and others with their faces painted in all sorts of grotesque patterns, who were escorting him came up to him and raised his right hand, palm out, toward him.

Cody didn't know what they had in mind. All he could think of was to raise his own right hand similarly to give each one of them a "high five" and hope for the best.

That was apparently exactly what they had in mind, as each of them then returned the own "high five" back to him.

After that, all of the warriors, now eight of them again, reassembled on the main trail, half in front of him and half behind, with Cody still in their middle, and they all headed back in the direction of town.

They walked along easily, neither fast nor slow, with all of the warriors once again silent. As they walked quietly along the darkened trail, it gave Cody a chance to think about the experience he just had with all of the masked warriors, the two monks, the big black bird, the old Spanish fort ruins, and of course, most importantly of all, his great wrestling match, naked and oiled, with the powerfully muscled and masked ghost Taino.

Cody wasn't thinking of anything else in particular, except how dark and thick the jungle looked on both sides of the trail, but then he suddenly noticed that apparently two of the warriors had disappeared somewhere along the way, and now there were only three in front of him, and three behind.

And then a few minutes afterwards, there were only two in front and two behind, and then finally only one and one. Just when and where the other warriors had disappeared to, he couldn't tell, but it must have been silently and into the jungle surrounding them that they had disappeared.

He then noticed that the trail had begun to widen and become firmer under foot, and the first lights of the town appeared just around the last bend of the trail. He was back! And now he was alone, the last two warriors having also suddenly and mysteriously melted back into the dark jungle just as the earlier ones had.

But now that he was back, he no longer needed them to find his way. And then he realized that, indeed, they had been providing him a full and solid protective escort until he could find his own way back from where they finally left him.

As Cody entered the small lobby of the Sapphire Seas Hotel, it was deserted except for Chris, as usual, standing behind the desk looking at him.

"Good evening, Mr. Cody. Have you had a pleasant walk and evening? You look just slightly disheveled - I wonder have you been swimming, or fallen into a ditch somewhere, or maybe gotten into a fight at the Café d'Or? Or maybe you met some ghosts down at the ruins of the old Spanish fort and they've been chasing you?" he asked Cody with what Cody thought looked like a sly grin on his face.

As he came in the lobby door, he had glanced at the clock on the wall to see what time it was. It seemed like he'd been out all night, but it was only eleven, so he'd actually been out only about three hours.

"Oh yeah, Chris, I sure did run into those Caribe Indian ghosts, just like you said could happen! And man, they sure did scare the bejeezus out of me at first. Then a whole bunch of the ghost warriors caught me and led me up to some open and grass courtyard of the old fort. And then I met up with this awesomely hunky Caribe Indian native ghost, or whatever he was. He wore a ghost mask all the time so I never saw his face, and he never said anything either, but his name was Taino.

"From there the ghost warriors stripped us both naked, except this great gemstone and leather collar I'm wearing here, got us all oiled down, and then we wrestled each other. For a short while they had me wear this gold and silver helmet too, like representing me as a Spanish conquistador soldier, and this masked Taino ghost as the most powerful of all the native warriors representing the Caribe Indians, to fight it out just like Rafe talked about in the old legend.

"So then this hunky ghost Taino and I wrestled back and forth, naked and oiled, in the moonlight, for close to an hour, it must have been, with all these other masked warrior ghosts surrounding us watching, with then still more ghosts sitting or standing up on top of the various parapets and walls watching us too.

"Man, talk about experiences. But you know how I like to wrestle around anyway, and naked and oiled is even better, and then me and the ghost warrior I was wrestling with, Taino, that really was the greatest! We were pretty well matched, although I think he really was a lot better than me but he didn't let on about that, and we sure did get in a lot of good licks with each other.

"In fact, him being as hunky as he was, and we wrestling naked and oiled, anything goes, no holds barred, we got into some real good cockfighting too.

"Which then got us not only pretty well worn out after wrestling around for almost and hour, but pretty horny too. And then it got to be so much, 'cause Taino was getting just as turned on as I was, that finally I was able to get on top of him, got him in a real tight figure-four head scissors, stabbed my big hard rod deep down into his throat, and couldn't help but shoot my full hot cum-load right into his mouth and throat.

"But then that weakened me so much I couldn't go any more. So then he got on top of me and shot his big load into me the same way. Man, I sure liked that, give and take, and I'm thinking probably Taino did too, and then that pretty much ended our fight.

"With both of us then too tired to continue, however, and him shooting his big load into me at the end and being on top of me as we ended it, he was declared the winner.

"It was, in fact, just like the old legend of the two original wrestlers, the Caribe Indian and the Spanish soldier, which the Caribe Indian won that time too, and which therefore turned the fort over to the Indians, to create the whole legend in the first place.

"From there, with Taino on top of me and with both of us just beginning to recover, all the masked Indian ghosts began to whoop and holler and dance around us, and Taino and I both raised each other's hands as victors, although he was the real victor, 'cause I know we both really had a great time and felt real good about the whole thing.

"Then from there, the masked warriors got us re-dressed and then they gave me a full escort down the ruins and back to the main trail, where these two hideous ghosts who looked like monks in their robes, and this huge black ghost bird, which was the first to come at me right after I got to the ruins, were there too.

"Then, after we got back to the main trail, my ghost warrior escort led me back to town, except that one by one, they dropped away and disappeared back into the jungle until only a couple were left, and they disappeared too soon's I could see the town lights again.

"And so now here I am back again. Yeah, it was tough, but it sure was good," said Cody, tired from his night's experience, but with a grin on his face that went from ear to ear.

"My, my, Mr. Cody, it would appear that you've had quite an experience this evening, haven't you?" exclaimed Chris.

"In fact, I've never heard anything quite like it. Are you sure you didn't have too much to drink after dinner at the Café d'Or and then fell down in the ditch somewhere and hit your head, which would account for your disheveled appearance and your very imaginative description of what you've been doing these last few hours?" said Chris in a kindly but apparently concerned manner.

"Nope, it really happened, I tell you," replied Cody, the grin still on his face.

"But right now I'm sort of tired from the whole thing and I know I look like a mess, so I think I'd better get going and get washed up and call it a night.

"But I sure would like to talk with you about it some more tomorrow. Are you going to be at the Café d'Or again tomorrow morning for breakfast, as you usually are?" asked Cody.

"Oh yes, Mr. Cody, and I will be very glad to hear more of your interesting experience this evening. And perhaps, if that's part of your problem, you'll also have sobered up just a bit more in the morning too, you know!" was Chris's smiling reply before Cody headed off to his room.

He didn't see the wide smile that crossed Chris' face as he walked away from the desk toward his room.

The next morning Cody woke up, as he usually did, around seven, got washed and dressed. Despite his experience with the Caribe Indian ghosts last night, with the big black ghost bird and the two ghostly monks with all of their hideous appearances, with all the warrior ghosts and, above all, his great wrestling match with the exceedingly hunky head Caribe Indian ghost Taino, who he knew he sure wouldn't mind getting into it again with him any time he could, he felt real good and ready to start another, and his final, day on St. Lauren.

But first, breakfast. As he came down the hall and into the lobby, he saw, as usual, Rafe behind the hotel reception desk. But this time there was something a little different about his appearance.

As usual, his tight muscle shirt barely stretched over his powerfully big body-builder's physique. But this time both sleeves were rolled up all the way to his rippling shoulders, showing the full length and size of his powerful biceps.

Rafe was on the phone as Cody came in, but he noticed him come in and nodded to him in greeting. Even though he was on the phone, when he looked at Cody he had an even bigger grin on his face for Cody than he usually did.

Then, while he was still on the phone, he leaned on the counter and flexed his powerful arm and big bicep right where Cody would most notice it when he passed him by.

Cody couldn't help but look and admire Rafe's ripped muscles. Then he stopped and looked again, and a wide grin began to cover his own face to match the grin on Rafe's own face. It was just at that point Rafe finished his phone conversation and turned to Cody with the huge grin on his face.

"Damn it all to hell - it was you all the time, wasn't it!!" Cody said, the grin on his face widening even more to match Rafe's own grin, when he saw the Caribe Indian tattoo on Rafe's shoulder just as it had been on Taino's shoulder.

They were one and the same.

He was almost convulsed with surprise and pleasure, and almost overcome by suddenly realizing he had actually been Rafe he'd been wrestling with the whole time in the old Spanish fort ruins!

Rafe, the man he most wanted to wrestle ever since he saw him that first day, and now he'd been wrestling with him more than an hour without even knowing it! And it sure had been good too!

Rafe grinned at him and flexed his bicep two or three more times, making the bones and chain in the Caribe Indian symbol, tattooed on his bicep, roll back and forth, just to impress Cody that much more.

With Rafe off the phone now and leaning over the counter flexing his big bicep just to lead Cody on even more, Cody couldn't help but lean over the counter himself and wrap his own powerful arm around Rafe's neck, just to pull Rafe toward him as much as he could without overturning the counter.

Then he let that hold go but, for good measure instead, gave Rafe a couple of quick hard punches right square in the middle of his bicep. Rafe didn't even flinch, and only grinned back at Cody some more.

"Oh man," he finally said to Rafe, the grin still on both of their faces, "I can't believe it was you all the time. But you sure had me going, and I surely did enjoy it too!"

"Same here, Cody, you are one great man, and it surely was all my pleasure," was Rafe's immediate reply.

But then a couple of other guests came up to the desk to check out and Rafe had to turn his attention to them, while Cody was headed over to the Cafe d'Or for breakfast with Chris.

"I'll see you soon's I get back from breakfast at the Café d'Or," said Cody as he headed out the door, "and then we'll have to talk about this some more."

As soon as he got over to the Café d'Or and joined Chris at his table for breakfast, he said to Chris, with a big grin on both of their faces, "You knew all the time, didn't you! And you just set me up, you and Rafe, and you let me walk into all that, scaring the bejeezus out of me at first. But then I've got to admit I sure did enjoy what came afterwards, and liked the whole big scare thing too.

"I've got to hand it to you, you surely did a great job on the whole thing, and I'm really impressed. And messing it up with Rafe up there at night in the ruins, him totally masked like a ghost warrior and them calling him 'Taino,' with both of us naked and oiled wearing nothing but our gemstone collars like the original legend of the fight between the original Caribe Indian and the Spanish conquistador solider, was just the best ever.

"But tell me, that whole thing was a lot of work and effort, and there sure were a lot of guys involved in the whole thing. How did you ever set the whole thing up and then pull the whole thing off?"

"Very simple, my good friend Mr. Cody," replied Chris.

"The tradition and legend of the old Spanish fort and how it came to be under the control of the Caribe Indians, for at least a couple of decades, is our oldest and greatest legend, as you already know.

"As a result, we celebrate that legend every year for a two-week period. We call it our 'Festival of the Spirits,' and it is not unlike your Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

"We start the celebration by having it take place in the ruins of the old fort around dusk, and then it runs into the night. Then we have all sorts of "ghosts," who also just happen to be some of our most delectable and powerfully muscled natives dress up in ghost masks and costumes, and have them stationed in and around the fort and its approaches.

"Our local natives know the full story of the legend, of course, but then we also tell it to our many tourists too. When they hear about the legend, and of course the ghosts which haunt the old fort, naturally they want to come to see and experience it for themselves. It's just the same as you do with your "haunted houses" at Halloween to scare the people that way.

"After the townspeople and tourists have been duly scared and frightened on the trail below the fort, they are led up to the higher levels of the old fort and guided up to the courtyard near the top of the fort by the various warrior ghosts they've already encountered.

"Then in that upper courtyard of the old fort, under the light of the moon and surrounded by two score or more other warrior ghosts, who are only local natives, but very well built ones at that, even more excitement is given to the scene.

"And then there is the epic struggle around which the legend is built. That is, the single combat between the Caribe Indian who fights the whole night through with the single Spanish conquistador soldier, and which struggle eventually ends with the victory of the Caribe Indian, only because he is found the next morning on top of the Spanish soldier, with both of them fast asleep.

"Nowadays, of course, in the interests of our tourists who need to get a good night's sleep for their next day's adventures, and our local natives who need to get back to their own duties the next day, the big match between the "Caribe Indian warrior" and the "Spanish conquistador soldier" lasts only an hour or so - which is probably enough for the two fighters too.

"Every year a new native Caribe Indian is selected for that most important of all roles. And, of course, he must not only be a very good wrestler, but of course it is very desirable that he should be a very good looking hunk too. Three years ago, in fact, that honor fell to Marcel, whom you have already met.

"This year it fell to Rafe, who is also in charge of many of the arrangements of the whole festival, particularly the big fight scene. The hero is always allowed to select his own name for the role, and this year Rafe selected "Taino" after one of our largest and most ancient Caribe Indian tribes," concluded Chris.

"Well, you guys really took me in on the whole thing, which I surely ate up, for sure," exclaimed Cody, grinning from ear to ear when he heard the whole story. "But how did you figure me into it?"

"Quite simple," was Chris's smiling reply.

"Each year we also need to select, of course, an equally talented and hunky white man for the role of the Spanish soldier. Generally, we select from the local high school or our St. Lauren College on the other side of the island a hunky young man who is also a very good wrestler. At other times, there is a US Navy Seal training base on the island, and they are an excellent source for very talented and hunky young men who are also very talented wrestlers too. As a practical matter, we always have more volunteers for the role than we can use, so the winner is very special indeed.

"This year, in fact, our 'Spanish soldier' was to have been one of the Navy Seals, a man with a very similar build and inclinations as yourself and Rafe, by the name of Jeremy Gomez. He is of Spanish descent, so he would have been, and still is, very suitable for the part.

"However, Jeremy had to be on special duty unexpectedly just last night and tonight, and so was unavailable to us for these two nights. So Rafe, of course, lost no time in selecting you as a substitute, having been noticing you ever since you first arrived. And he also thought you would not only be most suitable for the role, but you might also very much like the thought and action of the whole thing too."

"You guys are the greatest," said Cody, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry over his good fortune to play, if unknowingly, his part in the whole event.

Then Chris continued, "The performance last night, where you wrestled so pleasurably with Rafe, or Taino as he was called, was only a private dress rehearsal for the festival. A public dress rehearsal is scheduled for tonight. However, there will be no need for another full wrestling match as Jeremy and Rafe have already wrestled with each other privately a number of times, and will do so again during the festival, of course.

"Rafe and Jeremy will be slightly more restrained as to the outcome of certain aspects of their fight due to the public nature of the event, of course, even though the result you both came to last night is not unknown in private native fights.

"And with Rafe not wrestling tonight, that will also give him a chance to rest up some more for his coming fight scenes, if he likes, during the remainder of the festival."

Yeah,' thought Cody, and it might also might just let us, being my last night on St. Lauren before I head home tomorrow, get into it again ourselves tonight too!'

As Cody looked around the Café d'Or while he was eating, he noticed the same well muscled natives he'd seen eating there before, and when he looked at them, a number of them looked back at him and grinned. Cody wondered if most likely they were some of the "ghost warriors" from last night, and were in on the whole thing too?

As a few of the hunky natives finished their breakfast and were leaving the Café d'Or, they came over to his table and squeezed his shoulder as they went out, although saying nothing, the grin on their faces expressing what they were thinking. Cody reached up and squeezed their hands on his shoulder in return by way of thanking them for their part in the whole thing.

After Cody left the Café d'Or from his breakfast with Chris, he headed back to the hotel.

As he went into the lobby, he saw Rafe was busy at the desk with a couple more guests who were just leaving, and waited for him to finish.

When Rafe was free again and no other guests were in sight, Cody said to him with another wide grin on his face "Ok, Rafe, Chris just explained the whole thing, and you guys really are the greatest!

"He also said last night was just a private dress rehearsal, and that you wouldn't be on again tonight for the second and public dress rehersal before the actual opening of the festival.

"So I'm wondering if maybe you wan't to get into some more of this rehearsal stuff anyway `cause we sure wouldn't want you to go into it too unprepared or anything!" said Cody.

"Just what I was thinking, Mr. Cody, I need all the rehearsing I can get, particularly with you, for sure!" was Rafe's grinning reply.

Then he said to Cody, "You know that gym where you saw some of our local men working out back there in the native quarter? They've got some mats in the back of the gym, like you saw, where a number of the local men like to wrestle around, naked and oiled, for however it eventually comes out, just like we did last night.

"How about if we head over there around nine, after I get off work here and get washed up? I know I would like very much to wrestle around with you again," said Rafe.

"Oh yeah, man, nine it is, for sure!" was Cody's instant reply.

That night, in the darkened open air gym back in the back of the native quarter Cody and Rafe wrestled again, give and take, naked and oiled. This time it lasted even longer than the previous night up in the courtyard of the oldfort ruins.

It came to the same ending too, except this time it was Cody who ended up on top.

It could have gone either way, but neither really cared one way or the other. Both knew, however, it sure was good!

And it turned out even better the second time around that second night!

THE END

Ron Nelson

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